History UncommonTime / VideoGames

** ''VideoGame/PokemonColosseum'' and ''VideoGame/PokemonXD''

* VideoGame/{{BEMANI}}:

* ''VideoGame/{{Touhou}}'':

*** "Theme of Eastern Story" has been used at least once in every Touhou game, with varying time signatures!
** In Touhou 11, "Hellfire Mantle" alternates between 10/4 and 3/4. ZUN seems to be a fan of oddball time signatures.
** Like "Makai City", [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hBeftXHkrAI the ending theme]] to ''Imperishable Night'' is in 17/8, switching between signatures of 9 and 8.

''VideoGame/PokemonScarletAndViolet'':
** The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6dmSCUHPTaw East Province]] theme from alternates between 5/4 and 6/4, except for the bridge, which is fully in 6/4.
** Elite Four battle theme has occasional 5/4 time signature thrown in.

*** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJfeYHbneZw Meta Knight's battle theme]] is in 5/4, very similar to Ridley's theme from ''Super Metroid''. According to Jun Ishikawa, this was a deliberate choice to drag himself away from his original prompt from Creator/MasahiroSakurai, which was to write a rave track in the vein of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juliana%27s Juliana's Toyko]].
*** The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93y80BKdiqU Milky Way Wishes world map theme]] is primarily in 7/8 with some 8/8 (4/4) to complete melodies, while the final part is in 7/4.
*** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=icv3vnvxZ0A "Meddlesome Marx"]]... oh, boy. The main song comes in at one measure of 13/8 (7 + 6), then one measure of 9/8 (7 + 2), then one measure of 6/8, then two measures of 5/8, then two measures of 6/8. It sounds like a carnival ride gone off the rails -- it has a rhythm, but the rhythm is so demented and off-beat that it seems impenetrable -- which aptly describes the boss in question.

* The famous "Moon" theme from ''VideoGame/DuckTales'' starts off in 15/16 until the main song gets going, at which point it gains one more sixteenth note beat and turns into straight 4/4.

*** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJfeYHbneZw Meta Knight's battle theme]] is in 5/4, very similar to Ridley's theme from ''Super Metroid''.

*** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=icv3vnvxZ0A "Meddlesome Marx"]]... oh, boy. The main song comes in at one measure of 13/8 (7 + 6), then one measure of 9/8 (7 + 2), then one measure of 6/8, then two measures of 5/8, then two measures of 6/8. It hardly sticks in one time signature for long.

* In the [[UsefulNotes/SuperNintendoEntertainmentSystem SNES]] version of ''VideoGame/{{Gradius}} III'', the final stage theme, "[[https://youtu.be/TrJarj-QfJQ Uncharted Territory]]", has its intro in 25/16 (or 5/4 divided into quintuplets), and main melody in 20/16.

* The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wRHyH824KIM beach theme]] from ''VideoGame/{{Plok}}'', showing Tim Follin's {{progressive rock}} influences, starts out in 7/8, shifts to 4/4--with rhythmic ambiguity and one bar in 17/16--and then back to 7/8. Since the sound tracker for the [[UsefulNotes/SuperNintendoEntertainmentSystem SNES]] can't do time signature changes mid track, the song ends up with a time signature of 4.5/4. Also, "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJhIkBmmfII Akrillic]]" is mostly in 3/4, but has two bars in 13/8.

** The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YF99oeiaznk Mushroom Hill Zone (Act 1) theme]] in ''VideoGame/SonicAndKnuckles'' starts with 7/8 + 5/8 + 7/8 + 9/8 + 7/8 + 9/8 before switching to CommonTime. This is kept in the Act 1 remix for the UsefulNotes/Nintendo3DS version of ''VideoGame/SonicGenerations'' (though not the Act 2 remix).

* In ''Super C'' (the [[UsefulNotes/NintendoEntertainmentSystem NES]] version of ''[[VideoGame/{{Contra}} Super Contra]]''), The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZLRGWoIULY theme played in stages 4 and 7]] is in primarily 7/8. It then changes to 6/8, then 4/4, and then finally one bar of 6/4.

* ''Uncanny X-Men'' on the [[UsefulNotes/NintendoEntertainmentSystem NES]] has [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPf4uyEVBLU one song]] that is simply all over the place (just try to keep up with the bass line in the beginning!)

* All three versions of the UsefulNotes/NintendoGameCube [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ctYQ08gxkqA intro music]] are in 7/8. [[MickeyMousing The animation is also timed to the beat.]] Each corner formed = 1 beat, and the logo is completed on the 7th.

** ''[[MeaningfulName Pandemonium]]''[[note]]'''P-2: THE WAIT OF THE WORLD'''[[/note]] starts in 7/8, goes to 4/4, then one measure of 6/4, then back to 4/4 for a spell, another measure of 6/4, and back to 7/8 for much longer, then a single measure of 9/8, then another stretch of 4/4, before finally concluding with four measures of 11/4.

* The songs of ''VideoGame/FridayNightFunkin'' are all in 4/4, with [[TheLastOfTheseIsNotLikeTheOthers one exception:]] "Monster", the last chart of [[BigBoosHaunt Week 2]]. Featuring a constantly shifting tempo, its time signature goes from 4/4, to 7/4, back to 4/4, then to 7/8, 5/8, back to 7/8, 5/4, and then ''finally'' settling once again in 4/4. It fits the [[VileVillainSaccharineShow ghoulish nature]] of the Lemon Monster very well.

* ''Franchise/{{Kirby}}'' composer Jun Ishikawa is fond of this.

** The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6dmSCUHPTaw East Province]] theme from ''VideoGame/PokemonScarletAndViolet'' alternates between 5/4 and 6/4, except for the bridge, which is fully in 6/4.

* In ''VideoGame/Mother3'', you can rack up damage combos by tapping the attack button in time with the battle music's rhythm after your attack lands. While the majority of the battle tracks are in the standard 4/4 and 3/4 times and are simple enough to follow, this grows difficult later in the game, especially in tracks mostly reserved for bosses. For instance, [[https://youtu.be/Qn_mWKeuD8A "Strong One"]] is in 15/8 time (tapped out something like '1-2-3, 1-2, 1, 2, 3'), while the [[https://youtu.be/2L4NjsuQoHM Masked Man]] variation adds tempo fluctuations; some analyses instead interpret it as ''29/16'' time. The songs "[[https://youtu.be/7868r7BnYXY Fate]]" and [[https://youtu.be/C2NXVGtp1qM "Serious"]] are considered ''the'' hardest to combo to (even more so than "Strong One" due to it's American Sports cheer beat of "1, 2, 1-2-3, 1-2-3-4, 1, 2" which require precise hits to combo with.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Iji}}'''s soundtrack, "Tor" uses 7/4, 10/4, and 5/4 time, while "Seven Four" is named after its 7/4 time signature.

** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4Fz3XqftbI "The Wastes Where Life Began"]] from ''VideoGame/KirbyAndTheForgottenLand'' is in 3/4 and 5/4.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Iji}}'''s soundtrack, "Tor" uses 7/4 and 5/4 time, while "Seven Four" is named after its 7/4 time signature.

** ''VideoGame/MarioKart8'''s [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gf1kIIcPid8 Wild Woods]] is 10/8 (3+3+2+2).

** ''He is the Light in My Darkness'''[[note]]'''5-2: WAVES OF THE STARLESS SEA'''[[/note]] time signature is 7/4 during the first phase.

** Perhaps not surprisingly, quite a few commenters on Website/YouTube videos of "Space Walk" have said it reminded them of Sagat's theme...