History Main / CyberPunkIsTechno

** Daft Punk is one of the best excuses to go see Tron Legacy, for this reason.

If the future consists of massive computer networks, corrupt corporations/governments and augmented humans, and is dirty and grim (i.e. CyberPunk), you can bet that the music of choice will be techno, electronica, and/or industrial music. Ambient music of choice? Techno. Hanging out at the CoolestClubEver? No hip-hop, punk rock, or any dance music here, just techno.

Since techno, industrial music, and electronica require electronics (hence the name) to work, the use of such can bring a futuristic feel to it. The music is usually played to give a dystopic mood. Since cyberpunk is usually set in Dystopia, and in a technological world, this kind of music is perfect for that setting.

* Played with in the Tech Noir nightclub in ''TheTerminator'': the music is initially normal 80s pop, until the eletric/metallic {{Leitmotif}} of the Terminator kicks in.

* The original ''{{Tron}}'' score was composed by Wendy Carlos, a pioneer in electronic music. It was not so much techno as (much like her ''Clockwork Orange'' score) a symphonic score with electronic sound effects and instrumentation. The score to the upcoming sequel ''Tron: Legacy'', however, will be done by French techno duo DaftPunk, who explained in an interview that the new soundtrack will be a mix of straight orchestral violins and pumping electronic beats.

* ''QuakeII'' has an IndustrialMetal soundtrack by Sonic Mayhem, and ''QuakeIIIArena'''s soundtrack was produced by the {{Industrial}} band FrontLineAssembly.

* ''Vegas Stakes'', a casino game by [[{{Kirby}} HAL]] [[SuperSmashBros Laboratory]] for the {{SNES}}, has the [[TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture "2020"]], a futuristic, CyberPunk-themed casino complete with repetitive techno music blaring in the background.

* In ''{{Game/Dystopia}}'', all music packaged with the game is techno, and a muffled techno track can be heard near a club.

* ''{{Quake}} II'' has an IndustrialMetal soundtrack by Sonic Mayhem, and ''{{Quake III Arena}}'''s soundtrack was produced by the {{Industrial}} band FrontLineAssembly.

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* ''Vegas Stakes'', a casino game by [[{{Kirby}} HAL]] [[SuperSmashBros Laboratory]] for the {{SNES}}, has the [[TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture "2020"]], a [[{{Zeerust}} futuristic]], CyberPunk-themed casino complete with repetitive techno music blaring in the background.

** On the other hand, given that the games appear on the Game Boy Advance system, it could very well just be {{Retraux}} 8-bit style music (a la the {{NES}}).

* ''{{Contra}}: Shattered Soldier''.

* Its SpiritualSuccessor ''{{Texhnolyze}}'' also puts techno on the opening theme.

* ''SensoryOverload'' for the Macintosh had techno-Industrial music. Awesome, although there were only four BGM tracks.

* The ''RaySeries''.
* ''{{Rez}}''.
* ''{{Quake}} II'' has an IndustrialMetal soundtrack by Sonic Mayhem, and ''{{Quake III Arena}}'''s soundtrack was produced by the {{Industrial}} band FrontLineAssembly.

* The original ''{{Tron}}'' score was composed by Wendy Carlos, a pioneer in electronic music. It was not so much techno as (much like her ''Clockwork Orange'' score) a symphonic score with electronic sound effects and instrumentation. The score to the upcoming sequel ''Tron: Legacy'', however, will be done by French techno duo Daft Punk.

* The ''{{Wipeout}}'' series is noted for its all-star techno soundtracks.

* ''{{Wipeout}}'' series. The soundtrack to the third game was produced by well-known DJ/producer Sasha, and included his previously-released song "Xpander".

* Most of the ''[[JudgeDredd Judge Dredd: Dredd vs. Death]]'' soundtrack.
* ''DeusEx:'' The night clubs are all techno. The music has a very dark feel to it.
* ''{{Hackers}}''. Mid-90s techno music is almost constant throughout this film.
* ''BatmanBeyond''

* ''TheLongestJourney''
* ''MegaManBattleNetwork'': Although Battle Network is more of a PostCyberPunk, because of its more positive view of massive networks, electronica and techno are the music of choice during the game.
** On the other hand, given that the games appear on the Game Boy Advance system, it could very well just be {{Retraux}} 8-bit style music (a la the {{NES}}).
* ''{{Shadowrun}}'': Sometimes averted, Hair metal is the music of choice at times.
** The ''Cyberpunk'' RPG sometimes averts this as well: the music of choice is "chromatic rock", which is hair metal set to techno beats (so basically industrial?), but supplements imply that hip-hop, spoken word and more stripped-down forms of rock still exist.
* ''{{Caprica}}'', despite having fashions inspired by the 1950s, used a lot of techno.
* ''{{Armitage III}}''
* ''BubblegumCrisis: Tokyo 2040'' uses techno for its background music.
* The soundtrack to ''San Francisco Rush 2049'' (excluding the N64 version) is almost entirely techno.

* ''{{Descent}} I'' and ''II'' had industrial/EBM soundtracks. The third game uses dark minimal techno.
* The ''{{Wipeout}}'' series is noted for its all-star techno soundtracks.
* [[FZero F-Zero AX/GX]] has tons of techno tunes. A little polarizing since F-Zero X had nothing but rock music.
* ''DieHard Trilogy 2: Viva Las Vegas'' has a techno soundtrack produced by Brian "BT" Transeau.

* ''PN03'', with some of it reused for ResidentEvil4's mercenaries mode (as well as the game engine).
* TruthInTelevision, somewhat : in LiveActionTV soundtracks, industrial and rock music has largely replaced the vaguely orchestral, brass-dominated scores that were the norm pre-''[[DoctorWho Who]]''.

* One scene from ''Robocop'' takes place in a club, where Robocop arrests one of Clarence Boddicker's minions. Industrial techno plays in the background.

* Somewhat subverted in ''PerfectDark Zero'', where the Nightclub Stakeout music starts with a banging techno track, then changes to the disco-house tune "Limelight"(a real song by Kepi & Kat). Much of the other in-game music is rock/metal.