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7%% Soundtrack Dissonance is an objective trope. Music being awesome is subjective, so please don't shoehorn that you find a song awesome in your examples.
8-> ''Why is this music so very happy?\
9It doesn't fit Dr. Wily at all,\
10It makes the tower sound like a theme park,\
11It doesn't make any sense.''
12-->-- '''Letsplay/RoahmMythril''' [[WithLyrics regarding]] the music for [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TlLxfIUaS4g&t=23s Wily Tower: Stage 2]] in ''VideoGame/MegaManTheWilyWars''
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14SoundtrackDissonance in VideoGames.
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16[[foldercontrol]]
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19* When [[spoiler: Dick Gumshoe]] bursts into the room for a BigDamnHeroes moment in ''VisualNovel/AceAttorneyInvestigations'', his theme music plays. While this makes sense, since he's become the focus of the scene, his theme song is a not-particularly-exciting piano and guitar piece that makes it feel a little less epic.
20** Likewise, [[spoiler:Shih-Nah/Calisto Yew]]'s reveal is an intense dramatic moment, but the mood is rather ruined by her theme song being a happy, bubbly piece of jazz.
21** Yet another ''Investigations'' moment. In the fourth case, it's a bit jarring that heroic "Great Revival" theme is heralded by the arrival of [[spoiler: [[AmoralAttorney Manfred von Karma.]]]]
22** ''Dual Destinies'' has [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFhaRDTCtmg Bobby Fulbright's theme]], an incredibly upbeat jazz song, still plays when [[spoiler: he's on the stand in the final case, and you've all but figured out he's actually a murderous international spy known as "The Phantom", and the real Fulbright is long dead.]] It actually starts to sound ''really'' unsettling.
23* Because the Platform/SegaGenesis version of ''VideoGame/Action52'' reuses its music quite a bit, this happens every now and then. For example, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eHyH6-LVVbM#t=7m32s this]] was used in a racing game, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCMooOb0GBM this]] ended up being used in a shooting gallery-type game and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCMooOb0GBM#t=5m45s this]] ended up being used for a game based on ''Jack and the Beanstalk''.
24* ''VideoGame/AloneInTheDark'':
25** The [[VideoGame/AloneInTheDark2 second game]] keeps a light, upbeat track for most the game, even when Elizabeth is summoning black magic.
26** The [[VideoGame/AloneInTheDark3 third game]] uses bouncy banjo music (albeit with a more appropriate dark tune playing alongside it) for most of it.
27* In ''VideoGame/AnimalCrossing'' for [=GameCube=], the music that plays from 2:00 AM to 2:59 AM is dissonant and upbeat compared to the quieter, more subdued songs that play during the rest of the early morning.
28* ''VideoGame/AnnieLastHope'' have a level where you fight hordes and hordes of zombies, in the middle of a square filled with dead civilians, while an unattended loudspeaker plays Tchaikovsky's "The Nutcracker" in the background. It's very likely intentional to emphasize on the game's horror atmosphere.
29* ''Videogame/ArtOfRally'' is about rally racing in bright, colorful, and sunny environments... with dark (although energetic) synthwave as the soundtrack.
30* ''VideoGame/ArTonelicoQogaKnellOfArCiel'':
31** The final boss battle is accompanied by a generally soft, peaceful choral/orchestral number whose composer says represents rebirth. This is appropriate, considering [[spoiler: that's the goal of said final boss(es)]]. It helps that the lyrics are in Hymnos, and thus verses like "I will never forgive even the slightest mistake / Let's praise so the sinners can be judged" go generally uncomprehended.
32** EXEC_VIENA/., one of the most cheery and upbeat songs in existence. Its purpose is to create a path up to the satellite Sol Marta while ''destroying a third of the floating continent because otherwise there would not be enough power to create the pathway up''. The general game atmosphere doesn't help, what with everyone's mood in the game essentially being "YES, THEY'RE FINALLY DOING IT!!", even ''some of the people who were forced to move out because they have lived their entire lives on the part of the continent that's about to fall in.''
33* Mission twelve of ''VideoGame/AsurasWrath'' features a wonderful sequence of Asura transforming into his [[OneWingedAngel berserk state]] after watching [[TheWoobie The Girl]] die and destroying an entire fleet of enemy ships, all the while [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BXDwSsb48gM In Your Belief]] is playing in the background while Asura screams in absolute rage and sadness.
34* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FnSd05B3ji0 This trailer]] for ''VideoGame/AtomicHeart'' features footage of the protagonist exploring various creepy abandoned places while fighting mutants and killer robots, set to some oddly jaunty Russian folk music.
35* "Sweet Georgia Brown" is used during the DuelBoss in ''VideoGame/BarkleyShutUpAndJamGaiden''. Also the background is inexplicably switched to a basketball court (ItMakesSenseInContext given that "Sweet Georgia Brown" is the Harlem Globetrotters' theme.)
36** While it could ''slightly'' fit, the first phase of the final boss fight is set to the game's theme song, which is a remix of the ''Film/SpaceJam'' theme. ItMakesSenseInContext.
37* An example of this done ''to great effect'' is the final battle of ''VideoGame/BatenKaitosOrigins''. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lz-jFRuvA2o This]] is the music that plays.
38* ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamCity'': As the end credits roll, the Joker sings a sickly, sad rendition of The Platters' "Only You (And You Alone)" — here, for Batman. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5UfsIvwzMeY It actually sadly explains their relationship quite well.]]
39** It doesn't end there. After the Joker's had his Swan-song, the credits continue to roll to some [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=smnJLkLbisE extremely disturbing ambient track]] (begins at 4:29) which sounds like wind blowing lightly, some infernal humming noise, and periodically uprising high pitched string noises. It is the exclamation point to how dark the game turned out to be and how things aren't [[FromBadToWorse getting any better from here on out and the worst for Batman has only begun]].
40* ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamKnight'' uses "I've Got You Under My Skin" by Frank Sinatra while Joker's corpse is being cremated.
41* ''[[VideoGame/LegoAdaptationGame LEGO Batman]]'' plays with this when in the Arkham Asylum Hub World, with the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VAPy0wvHPV8 background music]] teetering between a peaceful waltz and deep, brooding tones while the inmates run around and beat the crap out of each other. It also happens to be [[https://youtu.be/JwvVJaJm5b0?t=15s the same music]] played in ''Film/Batman1989'' when The Joker kills Carl Grissom, and later when he and Vicki Vale are dancing.
42* ''VideoGame/Battlefield4'' starts off with a song called "Total Eclipse of the Heart" by Bonnie Tyler,[[note]]a song about vampires in love[[/note]] which is the first song you hear... while you and your squad are trapped in a sinking car. It's also {{lampshade|Hanging}}d, as the first line of dialogue you hear in the game is Pac noting that he doesn't want to die to that song.
43* ''VideoGame/Battlefield1'': The intro ''Storm of Steel'' plays the song [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dream_a_Little_Dream_of_Me Dream a Little Dream of Me]] in the opening scenes while American and German soldiers slaughter each other in a hellish warzone.
44* ''VideoGame/{{Bayonetta}}'': Not a huge surprise, since the game does NOT take itself seriously. Still, in a setting where Angels [[LightIsNotGood are kind of jerks]] their [[{{Leitmotif}} musical accompaniment]] sounds quite benign. Most angel tracks are {{Cherubic Choir}}s and gentle {{One Woman Wail}}s, no OminousPipeOrgan in sight, and only bosses get outright [[OminousLatinChanting Ominous Enochian Chanting]]. Hell, even the most violent-sounding boss loops feature 10-30 second interludes sound like something you'd actually hear in a church.
45* In ''VideoGame/{{Bejeweled}}'', the '''whole game''' is playing cheerful and calm music while [[MadBomber you]] are busy blowing stuff up with '''[[StuffBlowingUp exploding gems]]'''.
46** Averted in ''Bejeweled Blitz'' for iOS version, it has a fast paced music which suits the speedy and explosive atmosphere.
47* ''VideoGame/BioMetal'' for the SNES had two soundtracks by region — the Japanese version and the North American/European version. The Japanese soundtrack is generally considered to better fit the rather dark mood of the game, while the English soundtrack is much-hated by the shmup community because the [[OrchestraHitTechnoBattle 2 Unlimited music]] used spoils the mood.
48* ''VideoGame/{{BioShock|1}}'', a game set in a horrific undersea dystopia, features a lot of dissonant music from the 1940s and 1950s playing in the background at certain points. Don't be surprised to find yourself in a shoot-out with some splicers while a song like "Beyond the Sea" (which was used in [[https://vimeo.com/43415677 one excellent commercial for the game]]) or even "How Much is That Doggy in the Window?" plays in the background.
49** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2P81NLAtjjs The fans like]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3QECuDudWoI doing this too.]]
50** Even more memorably, at around the halfway point in the game there is a combat sequence where MadArtist Sander Cohen sics a whole bunch of splicers on the player at once. His choice of background music? "Waltz of the Flowers" by Tchaikovsky.
51** The complete soundtrack listing is [[http://bioshock.wikia.com/wiki/BioShock_Soundtrack here]]. Points for the most ironic song (considering the theme of the game) has to be "The Best Things in Life" by The Ink Spots. Another particularly creepy one is "God Bless the Child" by Billy Holiday, especially since it's played the first time you get the choice to harvest or free a Little Sister. If there's any game where this trope is a significant part of the experience, ''[=BioShock=]'' is it.
52* ''VideoGame/BlastCorps'' for the Nintendo 64 had an ill-placed theme, to quote composer Graeme Norgate, "Oh, Jesus. One of my tracks for ''Blast Corps'' on the N64. It was when the space shuttle took off. It was completely inappropriate. I still cringe every time I hear it."
53* From ''VideoGame/BlazBlue'', there's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U158VC5u6kk this]]. [[HotBlooded Bang]] [[HighlyVisibleNinja Shishigami]] attempts to use [[SuperMode Fu-Rin-Kazan]] and the accompanying [[Music/JAMProject Hironobu Kageyama]] track "Beat a Nail With Your Hammer" plays... only for [[RobotGirl Nu-13]] to use her [[FinishingMove Astral Finish]] and kill him. The music keeps playing. [[EpicFail Humiliation]] {{b|uttMonkey}}eyond belief.
54* One trailer for ''VideoGame/Borderlands2'' has "Wimoweh" playing as the main cast are laying carnage to bandits, Hyperion, and all of Pandora's ecosystem.
55** In game there is Sawtooth Cauldron, which the ambient music could ranging from unnerving to sad. However the place houses some of the funniest quests in the game.
56* ''VideoGame/BreathOfFireIV'' has a soundtrack consisting of medieval age European or Asian music themes, depending on which continent the player is on. Then we have [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKW8-Yqz6Kw Ershin's theme]] that's very techno-ish, and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwwaXsK9qFE Kahn's theme]] which is like 50's beach rock and acts as his {{Leitmotif}} and boss fight music.
57* The music in boss battles in ''Bubble Memories'', a NonLinearSequel to ''VideoGame/BubbleBobble'' (and possibly also in other games in that series) just doesn't fit the severity of the situation. It's not "doom-y" enough.
58* ''VideoGame/BuckBumble'', a somewhat obscure bee-themed CuteEmUp for N64. The music? [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JEEkyp2UdAc Drum-and-bass]], of course!
59* ''VideoGame/BurnoutParadise'' features the ability to select various classical pieces as part of the in-game soundtrack. Nothing quite like smashed vehicles [[WebAnimation/ZeroPunctuation pirouetting through the air]] to Vivaldi's Four Seasons or Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata.
60* An advertisement for ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyBlackOps'' is set to "Gimme Shelter" by Music/{{The Rolling Stones|Band}}. Said song is a famous protest song written during UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar, and the ''VideoGame/CallOfDuty'' series has often been accused of being pro-war. This creates a confusing message, [[DoNotDoThisCoolThing to say the least...]]
61** In the game proper, the first mission has Mason and his squad fighting their way through Cuban law enforcement and then piling into a car to make their getaway, with [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TxRWQHCSmUg this tune]] playing on the car's radio.
62* ''[[VideoGame/ModernWarfare Call of Duty 4]]'' includes a cheat mode called "Ragtime Warfare" which speeds up the game, makes the video sepiatoned, and adds Ragtime Piano music. It's especially jarring in the disturbing levels "Aftermath" and "All Ghillied Up".
63* ''VideoGame/CastleCrashers'' sorta did this, while fighting an extremely hard boss (the Conehead Groom) it plays a modified version of "Here Comes the Bride".
64* ''Franchise/{{Castlevania}}'':
65** ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaRondoOfBlood'' has a BrutalBonusLevel with some of the worst jumps, frustrating bats, medusa heads, all the most devious combinations of enemies and jumps, as well as loads of bottomless pits. The music? A [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1dRzjA_Xlc&fmt=18 really peppy pop style track]] that perfectly embodies the early 90s (when this game was released).
66** Most of ''Franchise/{{Castlevania}}'', especially early ones, are filled with upbeat and cheerful music, despite that one of the main themes of the game is horror.
67** Eventually averted in ''[[VideoGame/CastlevaniaLordsOfShadow Lords of Shadow]]'', replacing the pops with dark, poignant choral and orchestral works that fit the mood of the game precisely.
68* ThatOneBoss Miguel from ''VideoGame/ChronoCross'' is the guy that will make sure you get to see how pretty the GameOver screen is. It also features one of the most relaxing [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VDbfOdvFBrA battle themes]] ever.
69* Parodied in ''VideoGame/ChronoTrigger''. When Dalton fires up the [[spoiler:newly stolen and upgraded Epoch]] to attack the party, the BGM that starts playing is, of all things, ''the theme of the main character, Crono''. Even Dalton notices the music is off and tells his mooks to play something more dramatic in a moment of BreakingTheFourthWall.
70** A more subtle example occurs when you fight Spekkio. The later forms of Spekkio are some of the toughest opponents in the game, but the music used during the battle continues to be the jolly, cheery, light-hearted "Delightful Spekkio".
71* Depending on the background music playing at the time, this can also apply to Sid Meier's ''VideoGame/{{Civilization}}'' series. It's unsettling watching your army slaughter an entire race while pleasant classical music plays in the background.
72* Episode 1 of ''VideoGame/Code7'' has the [[NightmareFuel horrific lab]]. Main character Alex can see a single room filled with humans on their map that their partner Zoya can't enter as it is locked. Logging into the microphone of that room reveals that they are listening to some sort of Salsa music.
73* Unlicensed ''VideoGame/{{Columns}}'' clone [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s5scYfg9HHA Magic Jewelry]] on the NES has this for the entire soundtrack, with 8-bit renditions of (among others) All Kinds of Everything, Greensleeves and ''Film/TheGodfather'' theme.
74* ''VideoGame/CommandAndConquerGenerals'' has a rather intense music the entire time, even when you just start the game and you're in charge of a bulldozer and a command center [[note]]a military building with a large antenna array and a bulldozer bay to the left[[/note]]. No, awesomeness does not belong in telling your troops to set up camp.
75** Then there's the ominous, foreboding and outright sinister [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ux2AXR8JZFQ 9th Chinese in-game soundtrack]] as opposed to the fast classical Chinese mixed with marching songs usually played. Given [[ChinaTakesOverTheWorld the ending of the expansion]] however, it's possibly intended.
76* ''VideoGame/CovertFront'' features an opening scene where a SpinningPaper and eerie monochrome photos introduce the player to the AlternateHistory UsefulNotes/WorldWarI -- all while soothing waltz music plays.
77* When Jun hopped from Konami to Capcom to make songs for the ''VideoGame/CrossBeats'' series, she didn't stop making cute and happy songs with surprisingly difficult charts. "HONEY♡SUNRISE" in particular is no less cheerful than any of her other usual songs, yet its Master chart, at level 88, is the highest-rated chart on the default songlist!
78* In ''VideoGame/{{Cuphead}}'', we have [[FoulFlower Cagney Carnation's]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3roEYISMsM battle theme called "Floral Fury"]], which appropriately spices up the battle with adrenaline-pumping fast Latin/samba music; a pretty fine tune to go along with getting yourself drugged and/or killed by a psychopathic flower.
79* Any ''Bemani'' (like ''VideoGame/DanceDanceRevolution'' and ''VideoGame/{{Beatmania}}'') game has songs that don't fit in with the theme of the game, mainly the crossovers from one game to another. ''Osamu Kubota'' and ''Hirofumi Sasaki'' songs are the biggest offenders mainly. Of course, ''everyone'' has went to a nightclub and heard the DJ play a piano etude or a slow, Japanese instrumental.
80** ''Pop'n Music'' has any number of songs that contradict the series' light-hearted, cartoony tone; everything from death metal, to moody-sounding trance, to a "nightmare carousel" song, among others. Additionally, some of the characters do not fit their respective songs; a librarian for [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8DJIO9X498&fmt=18 Days]], a "smirking kid on a skateboard" (to quote a review on [=GameFAQs=]) for a classical medley song in ''Beat'n Groovy'', among other issues. Oh, and wanna know what song has a reputation as the [[ThatOneBoss hardest song in this series]]? [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKxQRk1CwGI This song!]]
81** As of the 21st installment, ''Pop'n Music Sunny Park'', a new song has beat that song as the hardest song in the series: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yFx54TIiZwo this one]]. Yes, that "Flora" character is supposed to be a ''personified flower''.
82** Would you believe that [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kth4oQlBt7I KIMONO PRINCESS]] is a ''VideoGame/DanceDanceRevolution'' boss song?
83* ''Franchise/{{Danganronpa}}'' has Monokuma's theme, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2SdPZ9yJvsM Monokuma's Lesson]], which is such a strange and goofy theme for such a twisted monster.
84* In ''VideoGame/DarkChronicle'', the final stage of the fight with Emperor Griffin has a version of Alexandria's Garden theme playing in the background.
85* In ''VideoGame/DayOfTheTentacle'', Dwayne, a suicidal novelty item inventor who laments that none of his inventions have ever caught on, is found in a hotel room with an extremely peppy and serene instrumental tune playing on an endless loop. The music stops as soon as Bernard finds a way to get him to leave.
86* The trailer for the first ''VideoGame/DeadIsland'' {{exaggerate|dTrope}}s this; the only thing more emotionally destructive than watching a family get torn apart by zombies (including ''a little girl'') [[FromBadToWorse is the unbelievably]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ialZcLaI17Y melancholy soundtrack.]]
87* ''VideoGame/DeadRising'' follows the adventures of Frank West, photojournalist, as he tries to single-handedly fend off a zombie apocalypse from inside a shopping mall. Its soundtrack consists almost entirely of blandly cheerful muzak wafting over the mall's sound system... except when you get into boss fights. That's when the dissonance fades and more appropriate music kicks off. Fighting a MonsterClown to the tune of muzak might make YourHeadASplode.
88* ''VideoGame/DeadlyPremonition'' has a rather... limited number of tracks to play, and is rather bad at sticking to one mood. This results in scenes where, less than a minute after someone is murdered in the brutalest possible way right in front of the protagonist, a chipper guitar-and-whistling ditty starts to play as he makes a little joke.
89** In another sequence a doctor explains how a murder victim was killed as a track of pretty spooky, slow jazz plays in the background. At one point the doctor gets visibly excited and goes on a rambling monologue, and at the same time the music changes to a bombastic and upbeat piece of Cop Show-esque chase music.
90** There's a few instances of ''intentional'' SoundtrackDissonance though. Most notably, the Original Raincoat Killer sequence near the end of the game, which features AmazingFreakingGrace.
91* Overlaps with IronicNurseryTune when ''VideoGame/DeadSpace'' uses "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" -- most noticeable in [[http://www.gametrailers.com/player/36332.html?type=flv this trailer]], but it also pops up in the game proper, where it is -- if possible -- even more chilling.
92** ''VideoGame/DeadSpace2'' uses "Ring Around the Rosie" in a similar manner. "Ring around the rosie/this evil thing, it knows me/lost ghosts surround me, I can't fall down..."
93** Dead Space also has an unusual, non-musical version of this, thanks to the automated systems of the ship you're on. After planting an emergency-beacon on an asteroid -- possibly your last chance for survival -- you are making your way through the dangerous environment of a half-derelict spaceship, while constantly alert for Necromorphs -- and suddenly, the ship's comm-system pipes in merrily "Dinner will be served in the Mess Hall in one hour."
94* Kenji Kawai's music may be the only genuinely good thing about ''VideoGame/DeepFear'', but the songs rarely seem to match the tone of the scene they're in.
95* The PC version of ''VideoGame/{{Descent}}'' [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iU2IQ-UTL6U has this bouncy tune]]for its Level 7 (the level with the first boss) music. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pYKf0H-irtM Averted with the Macintosh version]].
96** Ditto for the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2byxjT0F3b8 Titan Mine]] music.
97** The MIDI music for the boss levels in ''VideoGame/{{Descent}} II'' is [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hrxyl7JU458&feature=related this relaxed downtempo electronica track]].
98* In the third level of Solaris in ''VideoGame/DestroyAllHumans 2'', all your hard work there pays off when you manage to cause the Soviets to revolt against their alien overlords, causing a giant battle between them inside to base, while "She Changes Like The Weathers" by Nic Armstrong And The Thieves plays in the background.
99** In the first game, during the massacre at the Santa Modesta pool party, the radio plays "So Nice" by Summer Samba. The same song also plays at the modern art exhibit in the second game, right before the KGB release Blisk spores.
100** ''Path of the Furon'' had the Paris massacre mission. What's more fitting to listen to while incinerating hundreds of the French than "Y.M.C.A." by the Village People.
101* The Japanese and European opening of ''VideoGame/DigitalDevilSaga'' have Sera singing "Life shine in the heaven" while the opening itself get a bit gory at time.
102* In contrast to the somber [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=moy2gSOgFvU Tragic Marionette]] and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DdtJj5hwDGc Sinful Rose's Fragrance]] that play of the {{Game Over}}s of the first two ''Franchise/{{Disgaea}}'' games, ''VideoGame/{{Disgaea 3|AbsenceOfJustice}}'' has the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eywOADyH7JM Maritsu Evil Academy Entrance Applicant Recruiting CM Song]]: a tune so peppy and cheerful that most fans suspect that the game is making fun of them for dying.
103* Normally, ''[[VideoGame/DonPachi DoDonPachi]]'' sets the TrueFinalBoss battle to ominous, high-speed music. But in ''[=DoDonPachi=] Resurrection'''s iPhone Mode? You get the rather upbeat number [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UBLPGD8kv8w "Battle for the Last"]] by Music/{{Hyadain}}.
104** On the subject of Cave shmups, ''VideoGame/MushihimeSama'' has peaceful, enchanting music being played during the TrueFinalBoss battles in both games, intended to numb out players' psyche amidst the hellish bullet rain and topping even the high-speed, ominous Zatsuza battle in ''[[VideoGame/DonPachi DoDonPachi Daifukkatsu]]''.
105* ''VisualNovel/DokiDokiLiteratureClub'' starts out as a lighthearted RomanceGame, or AffectionateParody of one, with a soundtrack to match. After the DisguisedHorrorStory GenreShift sets in, it still mostly uses the same soundtrack.
106* ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry2DiddysKongQuest'' especially has a fantastic soundtrack with a powerful series of songs that are by turns, epic, haunting, intense, unsettling, and uplifting. Most of them wouldn't be out of place in an epic TV show or blockbuster movie, but instead they're used in a game where you play two monkeys fighting pirate-themed reptilians in a feud that stems from the reptiles' ongoing attempts to steal said monkey's bananas.
107** The NintendoHard bramble levels are backed with the most insanely relaxing music in the history of gaming. (This might be deliberate, as an attempt to keep the player from experiencing [[RageQuit a psychotic episode]].) [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=73n7HTcmb5g Just have a listen.]]
108*** The last bramble level was an exception. It was a race against an evil parrot that used intense music for a good portion of the level. However, the music still played during the rest of the level, and to make up for this brief period of fitting music, this was the last level before the epic battle to save DK. That means that if you go straight into the next area, ignoring the map screen's music, you go straight from the above song to [[strike:a different song that the Japanese record industry doesn't want us spoiling]] the ultra-tense and driving [[https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=WyyVst6XhGI "Crocodile Cacophony"]].
109** "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Xa2wHCErJ8 Forest Interlude]]" is equally, if not even more relaxing than the above song. It shows up in a ''haunted'' forest.
110** Or what about when you go into a Bonus Level and that jazzy rendition of the Jungle Hijinx theme starts playing? Sure, it is for a bonus game, without the danger of being killed, but [[NightmareRetardant it sounds really funny (and quite relieving)]] when you've been navigating your way through a claustrophobic shipwreck.
111** The ''Donkey Kong Land'' series, being based on more limited hardware, naturally had to excise a few songs to stay within the Game Boy's space restraints. The second game in particular has several JustForFun/{{egregious}} examples: the claustrophobic "ship hold" music, for example, tends to show up on ''every'' stage related to a pirate ship in any way. Even the rigging stages, which are not claustrophobic in any sense of the word.
112** ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry3DixieKongsDoubleTrouble'' has an incredibly moody, restrained soundtrack which contrasts ''very'' heavily with how silly and cartoony the rest of the game is (even compared to its predecessors). The contrast ends up giving it a rather creepy and unnatural vibe that pushes it squarely into DarkerAndEdgier territory. You think swimming around a coral reef as a literal giant baby feeding your goofy fish friend with even goofier clownfish (complete with CHOMP and BURP sound effects) sounds like silly, light hearted camp? [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NrP5QuCcBZM&list=PL1vrUSpeKCa04qze_1Ia9js5QZEQRj2qv&index=9 Think again]].
113*** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5-8OaOxz-I Boss Boogie]] is possibly the most menacing boss theme on the SNES. The bosses it plays over include a snowball fight against a ''WesternAnimation/FrostyTheSnowman'' expy, and a giant barrel with a face that burps up smaller barrels.
114*** When the game was [[UpdatedRerelease ported to the GBA]], the music was redone, including the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vP8Gs5hWpuY trees track]] being replaced by [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W7fbzUxEkLE this]] ditty. However, one of these levels involves a giant saw destroying the tree under you. To quote one of the Website/YouTube comments:
115---> "This song does not suit a situation involving a rising bandsaw. It just doesn't." [[note]]It ''does'', however, fit the situation for every other stage with that theme, which includes things like jumping spiders and monkeys throwing coconuts. [[/note]]
116* For all its blatant violence, anti-religion and sexually-charged action, infamous ''Doom 2'' [=WAD=] ''VideoGame/Grezzo2'' manages to pull off a fantastic example of this trope when you pick up a specific item. All enemies slow down to a crawl, you become invulnerable, and in the background an A Capella version of Bach's ''Air'' begins to play. It's time to cause as much mayhem as you possibly can.
117* ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins'' and ''VideoGame/DragonAgeII'' both play pop songs during the credits.
118** To be fair to Dragon Age II, the credits song is Music/FlorenceAndTheMachine "I'm Not Calling You a Liar" and the lyrics fit Anders pretty well, especially a romanced Anders.
119* There is only one track of music to ''VideoGame/DwarfFortress'', a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHDRwWG5-lQ relaxing guitar]] played by the game's creator [=ToadyOne=]. It plays as the goblins siege your fortress. It plays as the walls cave in on your Dwarves. It plays as they get dismembered by elephants. It plays as they go insane from not having shiny metal bars. It even plays as they [[DugTooDeep dig too deep]].
120[[/folder]]
121
122[[folder:E-H]]
123* ''Earth 2140'' (which is, naturally, the prequel to ''[[VideoGame/Earth2150 Earth]]'' ''[[SequelDisplacement 2150]]'') is set in a post-apocalyptic world covered in war, which is somewhat pictured in the first three tracks of the local Redbook soundtrack... Right after that, you get to hear a couple of calm jazzy songs, a flamenco-ish piece and, to top that, a really nature-friendly string-instrument melody with birds singing in background. Although, [[ZigZaggedTrope between that,]] you get to hear ''Earth 2140'''s theme tune and its' remix which somehow match the pace of what's going on the screen.
124* A large part of ''VideoGame/EarthwormJim'''s comedy relies on the use of lighthearted music during its many inappropriate and dark moments which is just the perfect icing on the surreal gummy worm cake. One hilarious example stands out in the first game. In the level What the Heck?, which takes place on [[PlanetHeck Evil the Cat's home planet]], the intro of Modest Mussorgsky's "Night on Bald Mountain" starts playing, but suddenly changes to... elevator music accompanied by random screams in the background. "Oh, the humanity!" indeed.
125** The Psycrow race is humorously compared to a rodeo show with Jim riding his Pocket Rocket instead of a horse. The fight with Psycrow that may follow also sounds a bit too festive for the theme of an intergalactic criminal.
126** The game seems to think what better theme to accompany the hero's delving into the darkest corners of an evil scientist's laboratory and meeting various failed experiments that are so [[NothingIsScarier horrific that only their eyes are visible to the viewers]], than an uplifting piano burlesque number of course?
127** The second game takes it to infinity and beyond with ''Puppy Love''. The track is an amalgamation of ''Tarantella Napolitana'' and ''Funiculi Funicula'' so it brings thoughts about Italians enjoying life to the mind, while Psycrow is really the only who enjoys himself by [[KickTheDog attempting to defenstrate adorable, little, innocent puppies]] forcing Jim to frantically try to save them with a giant marshmallow over a foggy abandoned space station. About the only relation that one could conceive of is that the puppies are under threat of being turned into pizza.
128* In ''VideoGame/EliteBeatAgents'', one of the bonus levels was supposed to be a light-hearted AffectionateParody of zombie movies. With the song ''Survivor'' playing instead of the more upbeat happy tunes in the rest of the game, you forget it's supposed to be a parody.
129* In ''VideoGame/EndlessOcean Blue World'', the music that plays when you're swimming in the Triton Village Ruins area of Ciceros Strait gives off a tense feeling. It's appropriate... the ''first'' time, when you first encounter [[spoiler:a shark that isn't calmed by Pulsar shots.]] All the other times you go there, however, there is no danger, and still the music plays. (However, you can later buy a jukebox that overrides the music until you leave Nineball Island and return.)
130* ''Franchise/{{Fallout}}'':
131** The original ''VideoGame/{{Fallout|1}}'' begins with a close-up on a TV flashing classic 1950s images and icons, while Music/TheInkSpots' "Maybe" plays. Slowly, the "camera" pulls out to reveal the TV set is in the midst of a landscape utterly devastated by warfare.
132*** To make it worse, "Maybe" is played again in the ending. Y'know, [[spoiler:as the hero is exiled from Vault 13, and marches depressingly into the wastes. Alone.]]
133** ''VideoGame/Fallout2'' goes the same route; "A Kiss To Build A Dream On" by Louis Armstrong is played over a slightly humorous instructional video about leaving the Vaults and the tools they'll be using to build their new life, which ends with the people doing so... and running smack into the Enclave soldiers waiting for them at the entrance. The folks wave "hello" to the Enclave, and then the miniguns open fire.
134** ''VideoGame/Fallout3'' opens similarly, with "I Don't Want To Set the World on Fire" by the Inkspots playing on a bus radio while the camera pans slowly over the bus interior. The camera then zooms out from the bus, which is now shown to have been blown in half, and, while the song echoes faintly and ominously in the background, reveals the burnt-out ruins of Washington DC.
135*** "I Don't Want To Set the World on Fire" was, appropriately, the first choice of music for the first ''Fallout'', but had to be dropped due to confusion over the rights of the song. For many fans, seeing the teaser trailer for ''Fallout 3'' is a pretty amusing taste of WhatCouldHaveBeen.
136** For the second trailer to ''Fallout 3,'' the happy-go-lucky "Dear Hearts and Gentle People" was the music used. It played over images of the nuke-scarred wasteland and both mutants and people alike being blasted to pieces with shotguns, grenades and miniguns.
137** There is also a radio in the game, so you can listen to more cheerful tunes from TheForties and TheFifties as you blow things apart and/or are blown apart.
138*** There are radios in game as well as built into the player character. So while the ambient sound track is germane to the reality of a blighted world, if the player chooses not to play the recommended GNR Radio at all times, you can still hear cheery tracks like 'Let's Go Sunning' drift in during three-way firefights between super mutants, mercenaries and genocidal fascists.
139*** The Enclave radio station plays Sousa marches and other patriotic American music, as a counter-point to walking around the wrecked hellscape of the former American capital.
140*** In [[spoiler: the last mission in Tranquility Lane the game plays relaxing, happy-go-lucky music that you would hear in a 50s sitcom set to your character going around and violently stabbing all of the residents of the town with a knife]]
141*** ''Fallout 3'' is a bit of a subversion, as well, since the radio is both under the player's control as well as being a larger plot device. Being replaced by a more fitting dark ambient soundtrack if you choose to not keep the radio on adds to this.
142** Soundtrack mods for Galaxy News Radio in ''Fallout 3'' play this up even more. Bob Crosby's "Dear Hearts and Gentle People" starting up just as you get tossed out of Vault 101, anybody?
143** VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas has this in its [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-x-1fm2cq8 E3 reveal trailer]]: a montage of violent gunfights and sinfulness... to "Jingle Jangle Jingle", a song which is basically impossible to frown to.
144** Just like the aforementioned examples in ''1'' and ''3'', ''New Vegas'' begins in a similar way, with Music/FrankSinatra's "Blue Moon" playing over a long, slow pan across New Vegas and the Mojave. Included in the scene are an abandoned, empty casino, an NCR ranger blowing the head off a Fiend (with blood splattering the camera), members of Caesar's Legion setting up a camp, and a man digging a grave (as you soon learn, it's ''your'' grave). Pretty much the only connection between the song and what's being shown is that the moon is briefly shown on a poster in the casino and is visible in the outdoor scenes.
145** New Vegas itself has the same Radio-pick "problem", as you can pick up the Mojave station and blow giant scorpions apart while listening to cheery cowboy songs, tune in to the New Vegas radio and get in massive firefights while Frank Sinatra sings, or listen to ''Old World Blues'''s Mysterious Broadcast and let slow Jazz accompany you as you're assaulted by robot scorpions while a MadScientist yells at you.
146** ''New Vegas'' also has an odd example, in that the music is actually playing in-game and the cause of your ensuing predicament: [[spoiler: In ''Dead Money'', the only way to get the casino to open is to trigger the Gala event. As this was intended to be a time for celebration, it comes complete with [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58MZ8ECtPTw this cheery tune]] played at full volume all across the villa. Yes, the same villa which was, and still is, crawling with [[HazmatSuit Ghost]] [[HumanoidAbomination People]]. Ghost People who ''[[OhCrap hate loud noises]]''. The subsequent rush to get to the Casino gates is widely recognized as one of the game's most difficult sequences, as well as one of the scariest.]]
147** The ''VideoGame/{{Fallout}}'' series as a whole can probably be seen as a great example of this: cheery 50's pop and post-apocalyptic nuclear wasteland.
148*** Quite possibly intentional in universe, either for GallowsHumor or some other way to cope with the environment.
149*** ''VideoGame/FalloutBrotherhoodOfSteel'' is an odd exception to the rule; interjecting boss fights with metal instrumentals from bands like Music/{{Slipknot}}, Music/{{Chimaira}} and Music/KillswitchEngage.
150** And Finally (most recently), the upcoming [[Creator/PrimeVideo Amazon Series]] ''Series/Fallout2024'' gets in on the action too. The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0kQ8i2FpRDk teaser trailer]] features Music/NatKingCole's soothing love-song "I Don't Want to See Tomorrow". While the song is playing, the teaser shows several violent things happen, such as: the irradiated desert wasteland, bloody gunfights, disturbing creatures, a dog happily holding a severed hand in its mouth, a violent riot in a Vault (with a woman having a Fork [[EyeScream jabbed into her eye]]), and several nuclear explosions destroying L.A.
151* ''Franchise/FarCry'':
152** Anytime you're in a vehicle in ''VideoGame/FarCry4'', you hear the local radio station play songs as you drive around and either outrun or gun down the Royal Army. Most notably is in the prologue mission where you are desperately fleeing an intense warzone at [[TheDragon De Pleur's]] mansion and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ld5ShO2NyRE You Me Bullets Love]] plays, and when driving a fuel truck to blow open a wall (a major turning point in the game for [[LaResistance The Golden Path]]) and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GMCRWlDv4JE The Bombay Twist]] is in the cassette player (both are ''Bombay Royale'' songs).
153** Vehicles in ''VideoGame/FarCryNewDawn'' give the player the choice of two radio stations - one playing exclusively hardcore rap, the other 60s era pop songs. Depending on the circumstances and the player's tastes, this has the potential to leave them listening to the likes of [[Main/{{Doowop}} "Duke of Earl"]] or [[Music/TheMonkees "Daydream Believer"]] while fighting for their lives.
154* Around half the soundtrack of ''VisualNovel/FateStayNight'' is played at odd times. You'll have the ultra dramatic battle music going on while Taiga is complaining about girls staying in your house, and when Ilya is brutally murdering you her theme song is playing. And her theme song is pretty much exactly what you'd expect the TokenMiniMoe's theme song to be in a visual novel like this.
155** During Shirou's battle with [[spoiler:Archer]], rather than having the amazing "Emiya" play in the background, they have [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6GbctgywNBg this]] play instead. Rather than present the battle as epic and amazing, it is presented as tragic.
156* ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'':
157** The final battle of the original version of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyI'' pits you against the BigBad Chaos, and the background music is...the normal battle music.
158** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'':
159*** Kefka's theme is a whimsical tune which you soon learn to equate with "something horrible is about to happen". To be more exact though Kefka's theme only STARTS with whimsy. After a minute or so, it suddenly becomes a bombastic, military march... then goes back to whimsy when it loops. At first it's silly, ("AHEM, there is SAND on my boots!") later it's obvious scary how well the music parallels how quickly and seamlessly he shifts from silly one-liner jokes to quite-serious declarations of worldly destruction.
160*** The epic ''Dancing Mad'' final boss theme in has an unexpectedly peaceful segment during the third tier of the fight. It's a [[OminousPipeOrgan virtuoso organ piece]] that borrows from Kefka's own {{Leitmotif}} if you're listening close enough. It also shamelessly rips off "Music/ToccataAndFugueInDMinor" and draws on a distinct similarity to Handel's "Messiah", appropriately enough considering that the third stage has you fighting against a rather blatant case of PietaPlagiarism.
161** The DS version of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV'' has Whyt's training. It's kind of weird hearing Rydia's beautiful theme music playing over the solving of simple math problems.
162** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'' played Aerith's theme music over the Jenova LIFE boss battle to show Cloud's complete disconnection from the fight in light of Aerith's death. More subtly, it also showed the whole of Sector Seven being obliterated; we cut to President Shinra, who ordered the destruction, sitting in his office watching it all while listening to (ironically) "The Creation" by Music/JosephHaydn.
163** A more amusing instance was the serious boss music playing while you fought Palmer, who spent most of the battle dancing around or spanking himself.
164** In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIX'' Black Waltz 3 kills a group of black mages while Vivi looks on in horror; a soft, sad piano theme plays in the background. Yeah, it's a TearJerker.
165** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'':
166*** Lulu's calm and melancholic theme song plays [[spoiler:when you fight the soul of the summoner she failed to protect, who had morphed into a fiendish version of her Aeon]].
167*** In a similar example, the battle music in [[spoiler:Zanarkand]] is the same bittersweet tune that plays out of battle.
168*** For a much less emotional example, the Monster Arena always plays the standard battle theme...even when fighting against the Arena Creations, which are all {{Superboss}}es that have more powerful parameters and more HP than even the FinalBoss. ''Even'' when you're fighting the last Creation, Nemesis.
169** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX2'' has the gentle and sad "Yuna's Ballad" play over the chapter-ending and intense battle against [[spoiler:Dark Bahamut]].
170** ''VideoGame/DissidiaFinalFantasy'' has bonus songs, one for each game, that are purchasable through the game's PP catalog. The bonus songs are all in their original game's style, so the ones for the first three games are 8-bit chiptunes, which is dissonance on its own. The bonus song for the original Final Fantasy, however, is an 8-bit track of the quiet, peaceful town theme. Just try taking your epic battles seriously while listening to [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YFfsX5RmxQk this]].
171*** And in case that wasn't strange enough, ''Dissidia 012: Final Fantasy'' gives us the beautiful, romantic, and heartwarming [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZB99VS1X1I Theme of Love]] from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV'' as a battle theme... '''''how does that even work'''''?
172** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyRecordKeeper'' has this during the Festive Fantasy event: the battle theme is the Chocobo theme -- the same one that plays when you're picking the daily dungeon.
173** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII2'' has "Yakusoku no Basho" or "New World" playing during the ending sequence in an initially cheerful scene, and continuing while everything starts to go wrong and [[spoiler:Serah]] dies.
174** ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' seems to have something going on with this, as it comes back in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'' with the main theme, Answers. Only part of it qualifies however, and that's the part after the choir intro with the harp. From there until it comes back in with the choir and a pipe organ, it's a bit dissonant in that it sounds quite peaceful...when set to a scene of all-out war in the End of an Era cinematic. This is NOT a bad thing; in fact, it works quite well. [[spoiler:MUCH later, it comes back in just as masterful a usage in the final battle with Bahamut (the form fought known as Bahamut Prime), the same Primal from that same cinematic that nearly obliterated the planet. It's a four-phase battle, and the harp portion begins and loops through the second phase. Once again, it ''works''.]]
175** The 2006 trailer for ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXV'' (originally ''Versus XIII'') features an ''excruciatingly'' bloody battle juxtaposed with a soulful, operatic song. Watch it here: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_qKmTomLa4I&fmt=18]]
176* ''Final Zone II'' has [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jm79-nK7wig Momoko's theme]], which only plays if you select her in the fourth stage. It feels out of place considering that said level is a jungle war zone.
177* ''VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar'' has a song for fighting recruitable enemies -- something that none of the other ''Fire Emblems'' have. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_dSi0JqA2zs It may be due to the fact that FE4's "Comrade Turned Enemy" is extremely cheery for the undertones that the song carries]].
178** ''VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses'' brings us "Paths That Will Never Cross". It's one of the most traditionally ''Fire Emblem'' pieces in a game that doesn't sound like ''Fire Emblem''. It's triumphant and heroic. And if it kicks in, you're in part two, and almost certainly about to kill someone [[spoiler: who would have been your comrade in another path. There are precisely five cases in the whole game where this can kick in and *not* mean you're about to kill a could-have-been comerade. Two of those only apply if they were your comrade earlier this playthrough, two more are cases where you can, under the right conditions, let the enemy retreat and vanish. Only one indicates a classic ''Fire Emblem'' combat recruitment.]]
179** Also from ''Three Houses'', we have "Those Who Sow Darkness" and "Shambhala", 2 pieces associated with a certain faction who's been manipulating events for their own benefit (a Fire Emblem staple trope). The theme itself is done in dubstep, making it out of place with [[MedievalStasis the generally medieval setting]]. However, this makes a lot more sense when you consider that [[spoiler:said faction are descendants of an {{Abusive Precursor|s}} race with [[TechnologicallyAdvancedFoe advanced, nigh-futuristic techs.]]]]
180* ''VideoGame/FiveNightsAtFreddys'': If you lose the game by running out of power, Freddy will appear while you're stranded in the dark and play a music-box version excerpt of "Votre toast, je peux vous le rendre" (better known as [[StandardSnippet the "Toreador Song"]]) from ''Theatre/{{Carmen}}'' to the player. [[JumpScare He then bites your head off]].
181* ''VideoGame/{{Frogger}}'', seems indicative that this trope is OlderThanTheNES but in truth it turns out to be a subversion. Those deep enough into Japanogaphy will eventually figure out that the Frogger opening theme is the first verse of a Japanese children song called '''Inu No Omawarisan - 犬のおまわりさん''', a song about a police dog trying to help a lost kitten. Now there may not not be any dogs or kittens, but like the kitten in the song, but the frogs are lost and need to get home, and if you count the player as being part of the game, they need help finding it; the player is that help, doing more or less what the police dog tried to do. So "Inu no Omawari-san" is a perfect fit for the soundtrack.
182* ''Creator/FromSoftware'':
183** ''VideoGame/DarkSouls'' does this with many of its bosses, but none moreso than the final boss fight. Rather than the epic blaring choir or chanting that most bosses have had, the last boss has a simple, [[SadBattleMusic sorrowful sounding piano melody]] that [[WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds very much fits the character]], but may feel a bit anticlimactic for one of the [[NintendoHard hardest games in recent memory]].
184** ''VideoGame/{{Bloodborne}}'' does this again to Lullaby for Mergo, the exact same song played in [[ChekhovsGun Tiny Music Box]] is being played during the fight against [[DiscOneFinalBoss Mergo's Wet Nurse]], you're '''clubbing a nanny to death''' while hearing a lullaby. [[spoiler: It makes sense however, as this song isn't made for humans, it's played for an EldritchAbomination, rather than you. should you played it with your music box after clubbing the nanny to death. Mergo reacts with a smile. Yes, he/she was also listening to this with you all along.]]
185*** Averted for [[SadBattleMusic The First Hunter]]. It is very fitting TheLastDance between the Hunter and [[DeathSeeker Gehrman, The First Hunter]].
186** The original theme song for ''VideoGame/DragonsDogma'' was "Into Free -Dangan-" by Music/{{Bz}}. The music actually starts off appropriate, beginning as a LonelyPianoPiece, before suddenly kicking up in intensity and becoming a very up-tempo, modern J-rock song with GratuitousEnglish lyrics. The actual lyrics fit very well with the storyline of the game, but the style of music was all wrong for a medieval fantasy. The ''Dark Arisen'' stand alone expansion did away with the song, replacing it with a far more appropriate melody.
187* A ''VideoGame/GearsOfWar'' commercial uses Gary Jules' [[CoveredUp cover of]] Tears for Fears' "Mad World" to this effect. While not a happy song, "Mad World" is an unusually reflective song, and Jules' version is particularly slow and moody, not the kind of song to evoke images of carnage involving alien monsters. A slightly extended version of the trailer [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t7Ig2JJRpdo&feature=related is here]]
188** And then there is the ad for the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYWF2-WkDvU sequel]], with "How It Ends" by Devotchka.
189*** The ''VideoGame/GearsOfWar2'' campaign does this with [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhp27o6sQ78#t=5m22s elevator music]]. The building in question however, has been toppled over, so you ride the elevator sideways as you watch the Locust rampage through the burning cityscape through the holes blown in the wall of your building.
190*** [[SugarWiki/FunnyMoments "Unbelievable."]]
191** ''VideoGame/GearsOfWar3'' continues the trend with "Heron Blue" by Music/SunKilMoon and the frankly bizarre choice of "Into Dust" by Music/MazzyStar, a minimally arranged ballad that's even more reflective than "Mad World".
192*** Then there's the campaign where Gary Jules' version of "Mad World" makes a comeback when [[spoiler: Dom drives a truck into a fuel tank filled with immulsion, killing himself along with most of the lambent attacking his friends in a massive chain of explosions and pyrotechnics.]]
193* ''VideoGame/GianaSistersTwistedDreams'' invokes this constantly. While in the nightmarish landscapes, 8-bit chiptunes play, whereas in the cutesy and cheerful areas, heavy metal plays. This is a deliberate stylistic choice to illustrate Giana's unstable mental state.
194* Several titles in the ''VideoGame/{{Gradius}}'' series have the first part of their final stages set to oddly-happy, almost holiday-like music.
195** Lampshaded in their own series of parodies of Gradius, Parodius. A game that not only parodies the Gradius games with strange enemies, but also with unfitting music playing almost all the time.
196** Another dissonant game over music occurs in ''[[VideoGame/{{Gradius}} Salamander / Life Force]]'', which sounds like a SuspiciouslySimilarSong of "Unchained Melody". ''Gradius II'' has [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0E6E6jv-dHM a Game Over tune that sounds like something you'd hear around Christmas time]].
197** The music in the Cell Stage in ''VideoGame/{{Gradius}} V'' is rather new age-ish, while this is one of the more tense and dangerous levels of the game.
198* ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAuto'':
199** In ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAuto2'', you'll find [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=swQULRb2oH4 this Christian pop song]] in what should be a dark cyberpunk future, coupled with lyrics that preach the exact opposite of what a player would normally be doing in a GTA game.
200** ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIII'' and ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoLibertyCityStories'' have Double Clef FM, which is a station that plays classical music & opera. Feels extremely strange listening to it, especially when shooting down gangs and the LCPD.
201** Do you enjoy running over pedestrians, slaughtering police officers, and destroying all the vehicles you come across with all over [[VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoViceCity Vice City]] while listening to romantic music like "[[Music/SqueezeBand Tempted]]", "[[Music/LutherVandross Never Too Much]]", "[[Music/KateBush Wow]]" or "[[Music/{{Toto}} Africa]]"? Emotion 98.3 is the station for you.
202** In ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoSanAndreas'', there is at least one deliberate example: When you have to go to Liberty City to execute a hit in a restaurant that turns into an [[MoreDakka action packed gunfight]], quiet classical music is playing in said restaurant.
203*** Radio X contains [[Music/PrimalScream 'Movin' On Up']], a heartwarming and inspirational song that simply doesn't mesh with the drive-bys and manslaughter.
204*** Radio Los Santos typically plays type 1 and 2 GangstaRap that suits the game perfectly. But then we have '[[Music/TooShort The Ghetto]]' and 'Hood Took Me Under', both of which are certainly not glorified takes on gangster culture.
205*** In the original sixth-generation console releases of ''San Andreas'', if CJ took his girlfriend on a bad date, "Killing In The Name" by Music/RageAgainstTheMachine would accompany the resulting cutscene. In all subsequent re-releases, however, said song is removed from the game due to the license for it expiring, so the "good date" music plays in its place during bad dates. The result? Happy music playing over CJ's girlfriend berating and throwing food at him, clearly not enjoying their time together.
206** ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIV''[='s=] extensive library of songs can get kind of depressing depending on what's on the radio at the moment. For instance, they have 1979 by Smashing Pumpkins, which is gentle and sad, and a touching rap track by Russian hip-hop group Basta which is about a youngest son of the family apologizing to his mother in his verge of death asking her what his life is worth now. If you understand Russian, it takes some of the fun out of gleefully speeding around the city.
207*** ''IV'' also has The Journey, which is a station that plays ambient music and the like. Feels weird driving on the sidewalk and using pedestrians as brakes to Jean-Michel Jarre.
208*** Defied by Niko towards the end of the story, after [[spoiler:he either kills Darko or spares his life]]. On the ride back, he turns the radio off so that he doesn't have to put up with ads, [=DJs=], or dissonant music while he mulls over what just happened.
209** In ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoV'', there's Too $hort's "So You Wanna Be a Gangsta" and MC Eiht's "Streiht-Up Menace" on West Coast Classics, "If You Leave Me Now" by Music/{{Chicago}} & "What A Fool Believes" by the Doobie Brothers on Los Santos Rock Radio, and also in the enhanced version, there's "I Want It That Way" by Music/BackstreetBoys on Non-Stop-Pop FM. A non-radio example occurs in "Unknowing the Truth," where the Epsilon program theme-[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Iwi-TAEYc0 a trippy-sounding ambient piece]]-continues to play [[spoiler:even if you choose to fight the Epsilon {{Mooks}}.]]
210*** A specific example of this trope is in effect during the beginning of the level ''Crystal Maze'' where Trevor Philips goes on a RoaringRampageOfRevenge against the [[HalfWittedHillbilly O'Neil Brothers]] for stealing his competition. When he gets into his car to go drive to the O'Neil farm, "What A Fool Believes" by the Doobie Brothers plays and Trevor groans that the music is "all fucking wrong" before automatically switching channels to something more aggressive-sounding.
211---->'''Trevor''': (after changing the channel) That's what I'm lookin' for!
212* If you fail a license test in ''VideoGame/GranTurismo 4'', "Oh Yeah" by Yello plays.
213* Towards the end of ''VideoGame/GuitarHero III'', you and your band are dragged down to Hell and must play a gig to free yourself from the devil’s contract. Songs in the set list include “One” by {{Music/Metallica}}, “The Number of the Beast” by Music/IronMaiden, “Raining Blood” by {{Music/Slayer}}, all of which fits the hellish aesthetic... but then there's the rather uplifting and definitely not hellish “Cliffs of Dover” by Eric Johnson.
214* ''VideoGame/GunFuFighter'' have several levels where the background song is The Blue Danube by Johann Strauss, set to you killing legions and legions of enemies in the foreground.
215* There are actually a lot of moments in the original ''Franchise/{{Halo}}'' trilogy that feature intense firefights with rather serene music.
216** Example: Elevator-jazz-style music during the indoor battles in ''VideoGame/HaloCombatEvolved''[='s=] "Assault on the Control Room". One of these musics is the "lost song" that wasn't featured on the OST.
217** The cutscene at the end of ''VideoGame/Halo2''[='s=] "Regret" where the temple is being destroyed by the Covenant fleet is accompanied by sad string music.
218** The ending of ''VideoGame/Halo3'', where [[OurHeroIsDead Master Chief is presumed dead]] ("Were it so easy"), is set to {{Triumphant Reprise}}s of the MC's and Arbiter's {{leitmotif}}s.
219** The FinalBoss battle in ''2'' is set to "Destroyer's Invocation", the underwhelming ambient piece played during the intro of "The Arbiter".
220* ''VideoGame/HeroinesQuest'' has a heavy, bombastic, and ominous tune heralding the entrance of... Ratatosk, a cute little squirrel [[IneffectualSympatheticVillain threatening to steal from your nut cache]].
221* ''VideoGame/HitmanBloodMoney'' has "Ave Maria" as the main menu song. And on some maps, upbeat music is playing while you can happily slaughter your way through the innocent crowd. [[spoiler:Ave Maria even returns at the very end of the game; revealed to have been the background video of the start menu, 47 awakens from his induced coma at his funeral, promptly murdering through the villain's mooks.]]
222** Ave Maria returns in ''VideoGame/HitmanAbsolution'', when [[spoiler:47 murders Skurky in a church; since 47 guns down a villain at a funeral,]] it even doubles as a CallBack.
223** "The Meat King's Party" in ''Hitman: Contracts'' has 47 finding a mutilated body while Paul Anka's "Put Your Head on My Shoulder" plays.
224[[/folder]]
225
226[[folder:I-N]]
227* ''VideoGame/{{The Incredibles|Game}}'' video game has a level with music that sounds directly like it came out of a Franchise/JamesBond movie, but when you enter an elevator, the Bond music stops for about ten seconds and is replaced by elevator music.
228* In ''VideoGame/IndianaJonesAndTheFateOfAtlantis,'' you are given the arduous task of rescuing Sophia from the Atlantean prison and the single [[MadeOfIron nearly-invincible]] Nazi soldier guarding her. The solution is to power up an ancient guard robot, which [[SugarWiki/FunnyMoments stomps the Nazi to death before malfunctioning and shattering into useless rubble.]] And it does this to ''the lively tones of a marching band!''
229* ''VideoGame/JetForceGemini'': A few strange examples:
230** During Walkway, a level with no music otherwise, the Rith Essa theme plays during the elevator ride back up to the surface, barely getting started before the 5 second ride is over.
231** The underground cave in Water Ruin is a short run down a corridor to a hidden ship part, with no combat taking place or mechanical elements on show, yet here the S.S. Anubis theme plays with its dramatic melody and soundscape evocative of the mechanical level it's usually heard in. These three cases would double as LongSongShortScene if it weren't for the fact that they are all heard in full (and more sensible contexts) earlier in the game.
232** During Asteroid, the unique and climactically urgent sounding theme is replaced by the theme of Eschebone for a single room - while Eschebone's theme becomes plenty dramatic as it goes on, you're unlikely to spend long enough in the room to reach that point, making it ill-fitting.
233** While every single boss fight sharing the same music fits just fine, the same can't be said of the upbeat Robot Mission theme, which plays as usual on the sixth one of the game, [[spoiler:which is not only the final playable part of the game overall, but features Floyd flying towards [[HeroicSacrifice his death]].]]
234* ''VideoGame/JonesInTheFastLane'': The newspaper always makes a serious and grim sound when it pops up, even if the news are positive, like "Housing market looks good".
235* ''VideoGame/{{Karnov}}'' has what might be the most cheerful GameOver music of all time, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jO2wyZ-hnqE&feature=related which will just make its difficulty all the more frustrating.]]
236* ''VideoGame/KickMan'' has [[StandardSnippet the traditional circus music]] "Entry of the Gladiators" play when you lose a life.
237* ''VideoGame/Killer7'' features a finale in which we are shown flashbacks of brutal murders while someone faintly whistles "Greensleeves" in the background. (Note, however, that "Greensleeves" and "What Child is This?" have the same melody; the latter would fit quite nicely.) Then there's "Rave On", an incredibly fast techno number, which plays... on a ''completely empty staircase'' as you head for the level's boss. No enemies, no background, just a brown staircase on a black void. That takes maybe ten seconds to traverse. The song itself is five minutes long and gets ''really'' good around the last minute.
238* The "ballet of death" trailer for ''VideoGame/{{Killzone}} 2'' is scenes of death and destruction scored to "The Flower Duet".
239* ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsII'': in the Final Mix version of the game during the difficult battle with Roxas, a BossRemix of his theme song accompanied by the piano plays. It lies in stark contrast to the game's typical agitated battle music.
240** ''358/2 Days'' brings in the battle with [[spoiler: Xion]]'s OneWingedAngel form, which is also a melancholic BossRemix of the character's theme
241** An example that doesn't have to do with mood, but [[WesternAnimation/TheNightmareBeforeChristmas "This is Halloween"]] still is the background music... in Christmas Town.
242*** This is changed in the Final Mix version to include new themes composed just for Christmas Town.
243** And in ''VideoGame/KingdomHearts3DDreamDropDistance'', try listening to ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6R6thWee6g The Nutcracker]]'' while beating the crap out of (or getting the crap beat out of you by) Dream Eaters.
244* In ''VideoGame/KirbysReturnToDreamLand'', the second FinalBoss theme is a BossRemix Medley. Included in the songs remixed is the series theme song, the incredibly cheerful Green Greens. It has a dark spin on it, so it sounds fine if you've never heard the original theme, but it sounds very odd for fans of the series who've heard many cheerful renditions of the song before.
245* It happens agains in ''VideoGame/KirbyTripleDeluxe'', the third FinalBoss theme remixed Green Greens.
246* And it happens yet again in ''VideoGame/KirbyStarAllies'', where the 4th phase theme for the FinalBoss remixes Green Greens.
247* In ''VideoGame/TheLastOfUs'', when Joel [[spoiler:carries Ellie out of the Firefly hospital]], the ridiculously beautiful and tragic song "All Gone (no escape)" starts playing the while [[spoiler:the Fireflies]] are opening fire at Joel.
248** The ''Left Behind'' DLC also features Ellie and Riley running for their lives from Infected through an abandoned mall while Etta James' "I Got You, Babe" plays over the speakers.
249* In ''VideoGame/TheLastRemnant'', the GameOver music is a fanfare that sounds like you won the battle rather than lose.
250* ''VideoGame/TheLastStory'' has a standout example when fighting one tricky DuelBoss - a fun surf-rock theme plays instead of the game's usual fantasy fare. It becomes notably less so should you take advantage of the music to repeatedly shoot Prank Bananas at the boss.
251* ''VideoGame/Left4Dead2'':
252** At one point during "The Parish" the survivors activate a parade float to use it as a makeshift platform to get to other side of a gap. Upon doing this, "The Saints Will Never Come", a cheery instrumental rendition of "When The Saints Come Marching In", plays from the float while the survivors fight off waves of zombies because the music alerted the horde.
253** Some missions feature jukeboxes at some points. Players can invoke the trope by activating it and starting some zombie killing with some of the upbeat tunes featured in them.
254* ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsInTheSky'' FC has an incredibly upbeat Latin jazz battle theme called [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Um5EbReY7rA "Sophisticated Fight"]], get used to it, you'll be hearing it constantly.
255* ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsOfColdSteel'' has [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjAZ7GXhmx4 an upbeat rock song]] for its credits theme. The game ends on [[spoiler: the country being taken over by terrorists who have revealed unforseen superweapons, and are being backed by the AncientConspiracy Oroboros, and TheReveal that they've being led by one of your classmates, who proceeds to curb-stomp the main character, [[BolivianArmyEnding forcing him to flee while the rest of the party is trapped with no hope of escape.]]]] So it's ''kind of'' unfitting...
256* ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime'' has a fishing hole where you can catch fish. The music playing is from Kakariko Village, which is calm and peaceful. When a fish is biting on your line, the music suddenly shifts to the generic battle theme heard when fighting enemies. Not quite fitting for a climactic pull in fishing.
257* In ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'' game ''VideoGame/HyruleWarriors'':
258** Before a battle starts, the battle music can be customized to a tune other than the normal one. Setting the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=79Cyk8DDeSM Bazaar theme]] to play makes the battle a ''considerably different'' experience.
259** A few Adventure Mode battles take place at Ganon's Tower, the desolate wasteland version of Hyrule Field, but play the triumphant main theme remix usually heard on the lush, green Hyrule Field. [[spoiler:The same thing occurs in the last scenario of Linkle's Tale, although the skies have cleared up and the start-of-scenario pan gives the name "Hyrule Field".]]
260* ''Franchise/LifeIsStrange'':
261** After completing Episode 4 of [[VideoGame/LifeIsStrange the first season]], the idyllic sunset in the main menu is replaced by a massive tornado and violent thunderstorm. The peaceful guitar music in the background, however, does not change.
262*** [[spoiler:In Episode 5, If Max asks Mr. Jefferson to put on some music as a last request before he kills her, he will agree and turn on his sound system, treating Max to [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YjzBqZWHw7w Jeff Meegan's "Crazy Like Me"]] as he prepares a lethal dose of drugs to inject into her.]]
263** A flashback sequence in ''VideoGame/LifeIsStrangeTrueColors'' has Alex invoke this by donning a pair of headphones and listening to Dido's "Thank You" to drown out the sound of her father and brother arguing.
264* ''[[VideoGame/{{Lisa}} LISA: The Painful]]'' uses "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oBvrO3Syimk Ode to the Oblivious]]" as the music for the character select screen during Russian Roulette. Because peppy, arcade-style music totally fits with sending characters to their potential deaths, right?
265** Likewise, "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8N1x4KzGDDE My Lord, My Wally]]" is a slow, sedate piece of music, running somewhat at odds with the [[ThatOneBoss challenging]] and [[MonsterClown nightmarish]] Wally whose theme it is.
266* ''VideoGame/LittleBigPlanet'':
267** The song "Volver a Commenzar" by Cafe Tacuba is used for "Reception", a wedding-themed level in the story mode. However, the context of the song is about a rich man on his deathbed wanting to go back in time to fix his mistakes, before deciding that all the material things would be meaningless when he dies, so he might as well give them away before he dies. It's by no means fitting for a wedding.
268** The community levels are prone to have this trope invoked by the players, thanks to LevelEditor and Music Sequencer.
269* Alright, everybody who played ''VideoGame/LiveALive'': rise your hand if you tought an almost joyous and solemn orchestral piece was appropriate for [[spoiler:the [[ApocalypseHow Armageddon]] ending]].
270* The opening of ''VideoGame/MadRatDead'' has the protagonist getting vivisected in full view of the player as they answer a series of questions. The song that accompanies this gory imagery is the track [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1uXu6I5z0-0 MAD RAT, ALIVE?]], an upbeat tune that also serves as the game's tutorial track.
271* The battle music in the ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigi'' games is usually fast-paced and energetic, but in ''Partners in Time'' the final battle theme is a slow, somewhat melancholy theme.
272** Speaking of that series, ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiBowsersInsideStory'' only had, barring the Giant Bowser fights and the FinalBoss, one boss theme, for EVERY BOSS. You don't get a different theme for Alpha/Beta Kretin, which kidnapped Peach earlier and is coming back for revenge, the fight between the Bros. and Bowser, [[spoiler:the Shroobs under Bowser's Castle, which is even more egregious because it's optional, and major late game bosses, most notable the Dark Star and Dark Fawful.]] [[VideoGameRemake The Nintendo 3DS remake]] at least gave the latter two spoiler examples their own boss themes, but the other bosses listed are still stuck with the standard one (as well as having it now play during the tutorial fight against Bowser at the beginning of the game).
273* ''VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcom2'' features epic battles between uber-powerful warriors and friggin' ''superheroes'', yet it's scored with a bizarre mix of elevator muzak and lounge tunes that would be out of place in pretty much any setting that isn't an elevator or a lounge. The absurd dissonance here is about on par with using zydeco music in ''Franchise/SilentHill'', and even better: you can neither turn it off nor adjust the volume. Oh, it's gonna take you for a ride, all right...
274** That is true... until you make a [[GameMod custom Dreamcast ISO]] of the game with custom music on it.
275** And the Platform/XboxLiveArcade / Platform/PlayStationNetwork UpdatedRerelease allows custom soundtracks too.
276* The sequel to the above game, ''VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcom3'' did a good job of making Comicbook/DoctorDoom's theme suit the idea of him being a more [[GeniusBruiser intelligent]] and sinister villain than most hammy superfoes... except it's so slow and melodic that it's actually very soothing. You could drift off to sleep to the theme of the most dangerous supervillain that ever lived.
277** ComicBook/{{Taskmaster}}'s theme, although not as bad, sounds oddly heroic for a mercenary that's [[HeelFaceRevolvingDoor neutral at best.]] This has lead to comment thread jokes about how 'he copied it from a superhero's theme after listening to it once.'
278* The aptly titled "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x5JvbD2Zc9I An End Once and For All]]" that plays over the ending cutscenes of ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'' is a classic example of this. You get to watch all sorts of explosions, deaths, and heartwrenching shots of your squadmates as a beautiful, quiet piano plays over the scene, while most of the audio is muted. It's [[TearJerker utterly heartbreaking]], ''especially'' with the Extended Cut DLC.
279** In a similar vein, you have the music in the opening cutscene [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iak_Gg-UFY4 Leaving Earth]]: A soft piano/orchestral piece, which plays while you watch hundreds of enormous mechanical [[EldritchAbomination Eldritch Abominations]] lay waste to Vancouver.
280* ''VideoGame/TheMatrixPathOfNeo'' unlike the movies epic music, the final boss music in ''Path of Neo'' is comparable to the music in a cheesy, 1950's alien invasion movie with it's electric screeching and 'bee-op' style. It's an invoked trope, because serious music really wouldn't have fit the changed ending.
281* ''VideoGame/MegaMan3'' has incredibly cheerful music at one point which sounds more fitted to the credits of a GoldenEnding than a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3DBNRClTb20 Game Over screen]]. Also notable is that this game is ''[[NintendoHard very]]'' [[NintendoHard hard]], meaning you'll hear this song a ''lot''.
282** Also, the UpdatedRerelease of ''3'' on ''Complete Works'' and ''Anniversary Collection'' with Navi Mode enabled features arranged music for some of the levels. Notably, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jc-12guILlE Top Man]]'s level theme gets replaced with [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SAiERYeVvho a remix of the intro stage]] from ''VideoGame/MegaMan7''. While it's still great music, it doesn't really fit the aesthetic of Top Man's stage, and seems to be more fitting for Needle Man's stage.
283* When Midna is in critical condition and is about to die a third of the way through ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess'', a SimpleScoreOfSadness called Midna's Lament plays as you race to get her to Zelda. It's a melancholic piano rendition of the game's main theme that highlights the urgency of the situation and how Midna has begun to care about Link more than herself...and it is constantly interrupted by standard enemy BattleThemeMusic in both the original and the HD remake.
284* Another commercial example: The [[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment commercial]] for ''Mercenaries 2'' has a lighthearted, upbeat song playing through all the havoc and destruction going on in the background... which, while its ''tone'' is perhaps against the game's subject matter, including the lyrics ([[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NcJyCdbC08c listen here]]) the song as a whole is ''very'' fitting for the game.
285* "Born To Be Free", Stage 1 music of ''VideoGame/MetalBlack''. An upbeat, hopeful tune played over the landscape of an Earth utterly devastated by aliens draining the planet's resources to near-exhaustion and infested with not only re-animated remains of Earth's military forces that fell during the invasion but also organisms of the said alien occupiers.
286* ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4GunsOfThePatriots'' has interactive soundtrack dissonance. Snake has an [[ProductPlacement iPod]] loaded with orchestral pieces, some old-style light jazz/blues, and "Oishii Two-han Seikatsu", an utterly vapid, super-perky J-pop piece absolutely ideal for brutal gunfights. You're even encouraged to, since Snake's Psyche slowly restores when he listens to it.
287** If you listen to "Oishii Two-Han Seikatsu" while fighting one of the beautiful female bosses, they'll do a little dance routine for you, and then immediately return to walking towards you [[FanDisservice sexy-creepily]]. Bear in mind that the soundtrack during these sequences is usually a sound-effect mangle of women and babies laughing/snarling/crying/screaming.
288** Used in cutscenes, the very opening scene involves a brutal, ''Saving Private Ryan''-esque scene of war carnage, set to the hauntingly beautiful 'Love Theme'.
289** Oh, ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolidPeaceWalker''!:
290*** The AI Weapons (with the exception of Peace Walker itself) sing a haunting [[Film/TwoThousandOneASpaceOdyssey "Daisy Bell"-like tune]] in their Music/{{VOCALOID}}-generated voices. During their boss fights, you have to learn to predict their attacks by listening to the little musical phrases that they sing (for instance, just before Chrysalis fires her missiles, she sings two long notes of equal length that rise a semitone).
291*** "Love Deterrence", a peppy J-pop song about a TeacherStudentRomance sung by Creator/NanaMizuki [[spoiler: which becomes final boss battle music, [[DualMeaningChorus gaining a strong nuclear war subtext in the process]].]]
292*** [[PsychoLesbian Dr Strangelove]] loves the song "Sing" by The Carpenters, and plays it to Big Boss while she tortures him for the first time (possibly in homage to the use of "Stuck In The Middle With You" ''Film/ReservoirDogs'').
293** ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolidVThePhantomPain'', like the fourth installment, also has interactive soundtrack dissonance. Snake has a Walkman loaded with some 80's songs. Granted, there are a few rock songs that fit the war setting like "The Final Countdown" or "Rebel Yell", but then there are a few songs that are a bit too soft. Nothing says tactical espionage quite like sneaking into a base and killing the guards to the tune of Spandau Ballet's "True" or Hall & Oates' "Maneater".
294*** A-ha's "Take on me", while still a bit jarring, downplays this quite a bit. After all, it wouldn't exactly be the first time their music appeared in [[Film/TheLivingDaylights a spy thriller that takes place in Afghanistan.]]
295* The "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lLiRgNFvfGw Arnhem Knights]]" level in ''VideoGame/MedalOfHonorFrontline'' is a heated battle in the streets and ruins of Arnhem set to slow, melancholy Dutch CherubicChoir music. Actually somewhat justified, as the Allies are losing the battle.
296** The "Rough Landing" level has similar choral music, which evokes images of serene countryside, but said countryside is in the middle of a war zone.
297* In the Super NES version of ''Mickey Mania'', the Stage Clear music is played at the Game Over screen.
298* ''VideoGame/{{Minecraft}}'' has a rotating selection of calm, soothing background music that plays whether you're just calmly gathering materials, building projects, tunneling through dark caves filled with monsters, or about to die to an exploding Creeper.
299* In ''VideoGame/MonsterParty'', a jolly game over music plays while the background consists of skeletons in a pool of blood.
300* ''VideoGame/{{MOTHER}}'':
301** ''VideoGame/EarthBoundBeginnings'' does this as well, also during the final boss: [[spoiler:You defeat the primary antagonist, Gigue/Giygas, by singing him a lullaby.]]
302** Also from ''VideoGame/EarthBoundBeginnings'', [[spoiler: Ninten and Ana have a dance on Mt. Itoi, but the song itself is very melancholy.]]
303** ''VideoGame/Mother3'': During the final boss fight, the battle music starts off with a heavy bass line with some creepy distortion, but as the battle goes on, [[spoiler:it fades into a soft leitmotif of the Love Theme, while Claus's attacks get weaker and he starts to [[IKnowYoureInThereSomewhereFight regain control of his emotions]]]].
304** Another example from ''VideoGame/Mother3'': In Chapter 1 of the game, [[spoiler:Flint goes berserk after hearing of his wife's death, injuring two of the town folk with a two by four, while a lovely piano song plays in the background.]]
305* The {{True Final Boss}}es of ''VideoGame/MushihimeSama'' and the ExpansionPack to its sequel, ''Mushihime-sama Futari Black Label'', have soothing, almost-ending-theme-like music.
306* ''VideoGame/MushroomKingdomFusion'' in general has quite a bit of this, with about half the levels usually some kind of metal soundtrack even if what's going on screen doesn't match at all. It's most noticeable with the standard Mario bosses being fought to a tune from Gradius (or the Koopalings and their 'epic' boss music remix) or the fight with Caliope the Clown in Toyland complete with the same standard boss tune.
307** Similarly, ''VideoGame/SuperMarioFusionRevival'' uses music (most of it comes from the Korean MMORPG ''VideoGame/RagnarokOnline'') that is very, very dramatic when played in levels of the first world, the Mushroom Kingdom, a world consisting of purely Mario-themed levels. The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xgobJOq2Dv8 Raiden III boss theme]] does not fit most of the World 1 bosses, being some of the most dramatic boss music in history (especially when played during a fight against the Koopalings in a standard Mario style battle). Similarly the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJuaHyVA-Ps Fortress music]] (from ''VideoGame/RagnarokOnline'') is ridiculously dramatic for a Mario styled fortress level. Like ''Mushroom Kingdom Fusion'', worlds past the first take place in more serious locales, such as [[WelcomeToTheRealWorld the real world Earth]], a hellish dimension, a fantasy-themed world, and a sci-fi world. Unlike ''MKF'', however, ''Super Mario Fusion Revival'' uses a universal soundtrack, so while this trope is played straight in World 1, it is averted in worlds past that and the music fits many of the levels in those worlds.
308* In ''Manga/{{Naruto}} [[VideoGame/NarutoShippudenUltimateNinjaStorm2 Ultimate Ninja Storm 2]]'', the music for the final intense, pulse pounding, mind blowing battle against Pain is...an incredibly slow, melancholic combination of bell chimes and violins.
309* ''VideoGame/TheNewOrderLastDaysOfEurope'':
310** Both the Second Night of the Long Knives and June of Deceit superevents (stemming from the same incident, marking either success or failure) begin with a relaxing waltz before a man with a rough German voice starts ranting; both events involve attempted coups, aggressive purges, and plenty of death.
311** The more downbeat British Reunification superevents delight in this. UsefulNotes/MargaretThatcher's got "Rule Britannia" playing with downplayed triumph while a manhunt (complete with helicopter) is carried out in the background, under [[DirtyCommunists Reg Birch]] "The Red Flag" starts getting increasingly wavery as Britain has a Tiananmen Square moment, and [[PsychoSidekick David Stirling]]'s reunification sounds outright cheery with "Soldiers of the Queen" playing loud and proud, right until the military starts unleashing full-auto on a screaming crowd while the march continues playing like nothing's wrong.
312* The first time you hear [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QrgEoov-RBc this]] BossRemix of the Song of the Ancients in ''VideoGame/NieR'', it's a moment involving ThePowerOfFriendship. The ''second'' time you hear it, [[spoiler: you're being forced to brutally kill two of your friends right after they've dropped the bombshell that your actions have DOOMED THE HUMAN RACE TO EXTINCTION]]. It suddenly sounds a lot less upbeat.
313** And ''then'' [[spoiler:After you kill one of said friends, the background music of the second phase changes to the version heard in the game's DoomedHometown, because the boss version is a duet and you just killed one of the singers. The last part of the boss against these two is set to a relaxing town theme.]]
314* ''VisualNovel/NineHoursNinePersonsNineDoors'': [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WjNi14fKSow This]] plays over the final puzzle. [[spoiler: Said puzzle, in the original DS release, is ''[[GridPuzzle sudoku]]''.]]
315* Before fighting Travis in an epic DuelToTheDeath in ''VideoGame/NoMoreHeroes'', [[LeftTheBackgroundMusicOn Dr. Peace sings a rousing karaoke song]] called "The Virgin Child Makes Her Wish." It sounds uplifting, but too uplifting to be sung before the start of a "two men go in, one comes out" kind of fight.
316** It ''sounds'' uplifting, but the song itself qualifies as LyricalDissonance. The song is about a young girl [[DrivenToSuicide drowning herself after her mother died]].
317[[/folder]]
318
319[[folder:O-S]]
320* ''VideoGame/{{OFF}}'' has two instances, both times with Batter fighting a boss with the usual quirky music. When the boss finally decided to [[OneWingedAngel get serious]], the music instantly changes accordingly.
321* The ''VideoGame/OneNightAtFlumptys'' series is a fan of this:
322** In the second game, after [[VillainSong Flumpty's jingle that vaguely explains the goal of the game]], the background music is a peaceful and pleasant "classical-ish" song (as it's named on the soundtrack). At least until around the 3 AM mark, where the music fades away and you're left with silence and the occasional eerie ambient tone. For [[HarderThanHard Hard-Boiled Mode]], it plays the Toreador March instead.
323** In the third game:
324*** For the final and most intense two hours of Flumpty Night, the music shifts from [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QEgqxNaHVzw this intense and ominous ambience]] to [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7P9s3wqBBmI this upbeat and jaunty tune titled "Eleggtroswing"]].
325*** If you play the game on Hard-Boiled Mode, its choice for music is a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=csF9MtyonhM beautifully calm cover]] of Schwanengesang D 957: No. 4 Ständchen, by Music/FranzSchubert.
326* ''VideoGame/TheOregonTrail II'' both subverts and plays this straight. The game music starts off cheery, but gets less hopeful and eventually ScareChord filled the worse off your party's health gets. But if the sick member of your party passes away, THE MUSIC RESETS TO THE HAPPY MELODY IT WAS PLAYING WHEN EVERYONE WAS ALIVE!
327* In ''VideoGame/OriAndTheBlindForest'', [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Sorrow Pass]], [[NintendoHard one of the most treacherous areas in the game]], has a serene NewAge [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cx06VKCP8z0 soundtrack]].
328* ''VideoGame/PacManWorld'' features several: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BrFrkahgbtI this one]] plays when you're [[AdvancingBossOfDoom trying to outrun a giant moaning mummy's hand]]. Then there's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7KGHBxbZFQ this one]], a Samba-esque tune in a level where the factory is falling apart and you're trying to outswim giant metal sharks.
329** The sequel features [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nx2FaW2_4L4 this theme]]. It's a rather cheery, Christmas-y theme used for one of the bosses. [[spoiler:But that's just the start- the theme turns more sinister. Fitting, as you're dealing with the resident StalkerWithACrush.]] To quote the description (and comment that became the video description):
330--> "Pac-Man gets deadly snowballs thrown at him while Namco plays unfitting music! :D"
331* Throughout ''VideoGame/PanelDePon'', the music remains pretty calm and happy to fit the mood, but if you manage to beat hard mode, you are confronted by the real Final boss. The music it plays during her battle and when she first appears sounds more like it should be in ''Final Fantasy'', especially when in danger mode.
332** ''Tetris Attack'' also has the opening, but Bowser was given Thanatos's theme, so Cordelia's Theme remains unused.
333** Both games have, as a whole, an upbeat and happy soundtrack; the ending theme, while still happy-sounding, is very melancholy and nostalgic.
334* ''VideoGame/PaperMarioColorSplash'':
335** When Mario recovers a Big Paint Star, it plays relaxing music over an object being restored. Usually, this is something good, such as the Violet Passage captain able to get back to shore after being stranded, or the gate in Sunglow Ridge regaining its colors and opening up. Get the purple Big Paint Star, and it'll fill in a ''sinkhole'' that a cafe-owning Toad is relaxing over, which he promptly falls into.
336** There's an upbeat folk-style tune called "Shy Guys, Circle Up!" that plays in the first level of the game, as a set of low-level {{Mook}}s prepare to steal some paint. This returns in Sunglow Ridge, another similarly low-level area. The next time you hear the song is in TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon, where the game's penultimate boss traps you and closes in on you, even doing the same dance.
337* The original ''VideoGame/{{Persona 1}}'' usually used the electronica tune "Dead Line" for its boss fights. But when you fight Robo-Rat/Tesso... [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2HCfcNcURzQ this]] is the theme. Even better, it's called "Child Abuse". Even ''better'', it appears to be the one song they '''didn't''' change for the PSP remake!
338* ''VideoGame/{{Persona 3}}'' does it deliberately for "Operation: Babe Hunt". Junpei and his quest for chicks is set to "Deep Breath Deep Breath", an intense and dangerous theme that usually plays during Full Moon operations. The joke is that Junpei treats this, a relatively silly vacation scene, just as seriously as fighting for his life.
339* ''VideoGame/{{Persona 4}}.'' Nothing was more jarring than going through a dramatic, dark part of the game just to hear the ''horribly'' upbeat high school tune. (The second one, that is; the others weren't bad.)
340** Even worse, the tune for you house, a calmly cheery and sweet piano tune, that plays when [[spoiler: Dojima is in the hospital and Nanako is either kidnapped or may or may not be dying of a mysterious illness herself]]. [[MoodWhiplash Ouch]].
341** Played for dramatic effect with [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hufv8MFlRdE the music for Naoto's dungeon]], a soft piano piece that doesn't fit infiltrating a highly-fortified secret base at all. [[spoiler: This is most likely to emphasise Naoto's hidden lonliness beneath her stoic facade.]] Gets even more dissonant in ''VideoGame/Persona4ArenaUltimax'', where it's ''Shadow Naoto's battle theme.''
342* ''VideoGame/PineappleOnPizza'': As soon as [[spoiler:the volcano's eruption takes its first victims and they start screaming]], the music becomes even more upbeat than before.
343* In ''VideoGame/PN03'', the music for the FinalBoss's first form is a driving IndustrialMetal[=/=]DrumNBass fusion track that unfortunately suffers from LongSongShortScene, while the second form's theme is a slow, lumbering orchestral piece that sounds more appropriate for the first phase of a battle.
344* ''[[VideoGame/PokemonStadium Pokémon Battle Revolution]]'' has the Courtyard Colosseum, the second-last colosseum of the game. The music for the stage itself is rather fitting, but the boss of the stage, Kruger, the game's ThatOneBoss, has [[http://audio.isg.si/audiox/?q=node/24799 this]] as his theme.
345* The original versions of ''VideoGame/PokemonGoldAndSilver'' had a likely unintentional example: the happy music from Pewter City plays in Cinnabar Island, which has been destroyed during the TimeSkip that separates these games from ''VideoGame/PokemonRedAndBlue''. This was possibly due to space limitations, as the cartridges were already stuffed with Kanto being a playable region again in the first place. The remakes corrected this, and have a slow, solemn rendition of Cinnabar's original theme play on the now-ravaged island.
346* A subtle subversion from ''VideoGame/PokemonBlack2AndWhite2''. The melancholy music plays during the flashback scene where the Nimbasa Musical theatre owner dances around with [[VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite Hilda or Hilbert's]] musical props -- which was left behind. You wonder why the serious music in a seemingly silly scene. [[ItMakesSenseInContext It actually make sense when you later find out]] that [[spoiler:Hilda/Hilbert left Unova at the end of the previous games to search for their long lost friend, and has not returned home ever since! And his/her mom have been waiting for their return, all this time!!]] [[TearJerker The above points strongly imply that Hilda/Hilbert abandoned their musical career (and possibly lots of other things) in the process.]]
347* At the end of ''VideoGame/{{Portal}}'', the player is introduced to a devastated outside world after having escaped from a facility where she was subjected to psychological torture. The camera then moved to spare parts of the BigBad [=GLaDOS=], waiting to be reassembled. Then the game ends, and chipper, upbeat music starts playing. [=GLaDOS=] is singing about how she is "[[MemeticMutation still alive]]" and will continue the very same experiments she just performed on the player. ...of course, as [=GLaDOS=] was an interesting and somewhat sympathetic character, some players are actually happy to see her survive, thus flipping the soundtrack back into appropriate-ness.
348** An upbeat version of ''Still Alive'' plays on every single radio in the facility, most noticeably in the relaxation vault at the very beginning and in the latter stage of the test chamber where the deadly turrets are introduced. Fighting for your very life while murderous turrets try to gun you down while chirping sweet platitudes is made even more disturbing with the radio playing its cheerful little tune in the next room over. Plus, this test chamber also features the first "Rat Man" den, where the hints that the Enrichment Center is not entirely what it seems start dropping.
349** [[InvokedTrope Invoked]] and PlayedForLaughs in an early test chamber in ''VideoGame/Portal2''. A pre-recorded message includes smooth jazz "to help you remain tranquil in the face of almost certain death". [[LettingTheAirOutOfTheBand It fades out after a few seconds, though.]]
350* ''VideoGame/Prey2006'' tore a whole Native American reservation apart -- the main character's DoomedHometown -- while "Don't Fear The Reaper" played on the jukebox in his grandfather's bar. (This ''might'' be a double-subversion. The song ''is'' about the acceptance of death as part of life -- but the scene could hardly be called an example of "natural causes".)
351* ''VideoGame/PrinceOfPersiaWarriorWithin'' falls into the same trap. Your first meeting with the Dahaka plays [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYjZK_6i37M I Stand Alone]] by Godsmack, to get you pumped up for an epic fight. Instead, you're forced to avoid it by running for your life.
352* Who has the most epic and fearsome battle theme in the Platform/{{Wii}} ''[[VideoGame/PunchOut Punch-Out]]''? [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c82PzoFuFMA Von Kaiser]], the second ''weakest'' opponent in the game. Similarily, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJFio4jcMRw Super Macho Man]] has a comparably upbeat and silly theme despite being the second ''hardest'' opponent in the game.
353* ''VideoGame/QuakeII'' shipped with a hard-driving industrial metal soundtrack CD put together specifically for the game to put you in an ass-kicking mood. Without it, the game's dark areas, ultra-violence and horror themes really take over.
354* In ''VideoGame/RailroadTycoon 2'', the soundtrack is limited to instrumental bluegrass music. It's not exactly appropriate when you're building railroads in the Russian Empire or 19th-century Japan.
355* The final mission to VideoGame/RainbowSix: Raven Shield is this, mopping up what's left of the BigBad's forces. To whit, it begins with disarming a bomb planted on a grim reaper float as the sounds of the parade echo in the background. The battle then shifts to a bar filled with lounge music and upstairs laid back latin rythems.
356** Earlier in the game you are tasked with killing everything that moves in a mansion, with the classical piece "Ave Maria" playing in the background.
357* Invoked with ''VideoGame/RatchetAndClankFutureToolsOfDestruction'' at the end: [[spoiler: after Clank suddenly is kidnapped by the Zoni, Ratchet looks to the sky in shock and sadness, and his compatriots stay silent in sympathy for the loss of his first, best and true friend, even the normally bumbling Captain Qwark and Rusty Pete. The camera slowly pulls away and up to the stars... cue heroic, uplifting victory music!]]
358* Most of the soundtrack to ''VideoGame/RayCrisis'' is smooth techno-elevator jazz, even during {{boss battle}}s.
359** Even more JustForFun/{{egregious}}; the track "Formless Living Bodies" played during the first FinalBoss battle, which of course is ThatOneBoss, is a chilled trip-hop track.
360** "Antithese" is an somber piano-laid orchestral track that plays during the [[ArrangeMode Special Mode]] fight against the aforementioned Dis-Human.
361* The original ''VideoGame/{{Rayman}}'' tends to play relaxing and downright pleasant music, even when you're fighting for your life or facing a boss. Since the game is [[NintendoHard so]] [[TheComputerIsACheatingBastard frigging]] [[FakeDifficulty hard]], they might have been trying to keep you from [[RageQuit smashing your Sony Playstation]].
362* ''VideoGame/RedFaction II'' commercial. [[StandardSnippet "White Rabbit."]] FEEEEEED YOUR HEEEEEEAD! Not quite dissonant, because it feels pretty epic, actually, but come on. That's just insane. And awesome.
363** A commercial for ''VideoGame/LostOdyssey'' used the same song. And it was glorious.
364* In ''VisualNovel/Remember11'', Inubushi Keiko is an infamous spree killer, who murdered 12 patients inside a hospital and narrowly escaped a death sentence. Her {{Leitmotif}}? [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eAg-chx7_xY This]] little charming piece. Creepy as hell.
365* What might be the scariest song in ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil2'' actually plays in the SAFE ROOMS. [[http://youtu.be/53aDI5K49F4 Listen for yourself.]]
366** [[http://youtu.be/8tMIOyDI_BY An even scarier tune]] plays in empty rooms in ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil3Nemesis''.
367** Speaking of ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil3Nemesis'', the credits theme does not ''quite'' match the sepia-toned shots of [[spoiler:Raccoon City's destruction via nuke]], especially considering the President's solemn speech that came before it.
368* ''VideoGame/{{Resistance}} 2'' had a lot of old love songs playing over the radios in the homes of people now encased in alien incubation sacs. Even worse was the final jazzy song in the ending credits, [[spoiler: right after Nathan Hale is shot in the head because he turned into a chimera]]
369* ''VideoGame/ReturnOfTheObraDinn'': The soundtrack is quite catchy, and can make discovering the grisly fates of the crew rather jaunty, all things considered. "The End", "Escape", and "The Doom" are roughly in line with what you'd expect given the content and reveals of those chapters -- but when you get to the synthy bells of the upbeat sea shanty tune in "Soldiers of the Sea", [[spoiler:that plays during the gruesome battle with the [[GiantEnemyCrab crab riders]] on the lower decks]], the tone of the game takes a [[BlackComedy decided turn]].
370* ''VideoGame/RiskOfRain'' has more than a few, with a gentle, relaxing song that wouldn't be out of place for a wanderer looking at the night sky in a particularly difficult level swarming with GoddamnedBats, and the final level having a haunting, slightly sad, soft piece when you're facing hundreds and hundreds of the game's nastiest foes.
371* Would you believe the title theme of the ''Franchise/RoboCop'' video game for the Game Boy and C64 sounded [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhZBDNQ3gas like]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFgXGw_kXpc this]]? It was so incongruous that the Game Boy version was used in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YUVs7vXNZiw a surreal British TV commercial for home appliances]].
372* ''VideoGame/RockBand Blitz'' can do this at times, since it ditches the concert setting for more of an arcade aesthetic. The sounds of pinballs and rockets can drown out softer, more somber songs like "Something in the Way" or "Moonlight Sonata."
373* In the final chapter of ''VideoGame/RuleOfRose'' the music is an annoying, downright maddeningly cheerful tune that's in complete contrast with the fact how it rubs in that despite of all her efforts to be liked, everybody hates Jennifer's guts, and seemingly all the struggles in the game have been in vain. It doesn't help that it's implied that Mr. Hoffman is playing this music over the loudspeakers to cover the fact that he's molesting Clara in the sickroom.
374** In fact, most of the soundtrack is gorgeous orchestral pieces, which (together with the lovingly-rendered detail of the graphics) starkly contrast with the brutality, cruelty, pettiness and TraumaCongaLine that is the story.
375* ''VideoGame/SaintsRow'' has the EZZZ radio channel which, as implied, plays nothing but easy listening. Easy listening in the deliriously upbeat mode, not so much in the whale songs and drone mould. It certainly adds another level of lunacy to the already hyperbolic scenarios. Altogether now, 'Na-na-na-na, na-na-na-na, na-nananana (KABOOM!)/ na-na-na-na, na-na-na-na, na-nananana (AIIEE!)
376** This continues into the sequel. There's also channels like The Mix 107.77 (80s music -- stuff like [[Music/AHa Take On Me]], [[Music/{{Europe}} The Final Countdown]], and so on) and Klassic 102.4 (classical music, of course). Nothing quite like mowing down the gangs in Stilwater to the tune of Culture Club's "Karma Chameleon" (red gold and green... just like the three enemy gangs!) or Down Under by Music/MenAtWork... and then there's always buying a copy of Ride of the Valkyries at the Scratch That stores for the helicopter missions. Sadly, nobody seems to comment on the Boss' listening habits, except one incident with Pierce.
377** VideoGame/SaintsRowTheThird keeps the tradition, but a couple of instances lock your music selection. One in the "Murderbrawl XXXI" mission, Joe Esposito's "[[Film/TheKarateKid You're the Best]]" starts playing when someone hands you a chainsaw to [[ItMakesSenseInContext start mowing down crowds of masked luchadores]]. And in one of the missions of the Genkibowl DLC, you have to please Professor Genki while driving his Genkimobile, by running over pedestrians and burning them with the car's mounted flamethrowers... and while Professor Genki is riding with you, the radio gets locked into Klassic 102.4, so enjoy your carnage to the tune of Hallelujah.
378** 102.4 offers extra hilarity in ''VideoGame/SaintsRowIV''. Since [[WickedCultured the main villain]] hosts it, you can tune in while doing a [[WreakingHavok Fraud mission]] and be regaled with the first chapter of ''Literature/PrideAndPrejudice'', delivered in [[EvilSoundsDeep baritone]], while bouncing down the road slamming your face into cars.
379* The ''Franchise/ShinMegamiTensei'' games for the SNES had a heavy dissonance when it came to the final boss battles. ''[[VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIIINocturne Nocturne]]''[='=]s final boss battle themes against Kagutsuchi, [[spoiler:an avatar of God]], are ''techno''.
380* Every single ''Franchise/SilentHill'' game has this ''at least'' once. The most frequent user is definitely [[VideoGame/SilentHill2 the second game]], in which the opening cutscene alone has the beautiful "Theme of Laura" playing over scenes of madness, delusion, suicide, and incredibly suggestive images.
381** "Angels Thanatos" is an upbeat heavy metal tune, but is played during the credits of the "In Water" (suicide) ending in SH 2.
382** ''VideoGame/SilentHillShatteredMemories'' has a scene where Harry is trapped in a car underwater, is apparently about to drown, and there are monsters swimming around outside. The solution is to turn on the radio, to the right station, which will start playing Michelle's voice, singing Willie Nelson's "Maybe I Didn't Love You."
383** ''VideoGame/SilentHillDownpour'' features a jarring, albeit thematically appropriate, use of Andy Williams' "Born Free". It's remarkable how disturbing that song becomes when you overlay it with static and echoes.
384* PlayedForLaughs in ''VideoGame/TheSimpsonsHitAndRun'' with the track [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGYIGhv_wYA Vox Nerduli]]. It's easily the single most epic-sounding track in the game, and is clearly inspired by [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AphxyjrH4SE this fight]] from [[Recap/StarTrekS2E1AmokTime Amok Time]]. All you do during the mission though, is help Comic Book Guy race a rival nerd to an internet cafe so he can be the first to post a scathing review of a movie he didn't like.
385* ''VideoGame/TheSims3'' has this happen now and again. A Sim can quite easily be animated as rocking out on the guitar, but actually playing a gentle and contemplative ballad.
386* Deliberately invoked with ''VideoGame/{{Skullgirls}}'' -- The light, happy, peaceful and soothing Maplecrest theme is also the character theme of [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Painwheel]], a young innocent girl who's been tortured and mindraped into being a LivingWeapon. Not only does the dissonance add to how disturbing [[BodyHorror Painwheel is as a fighter anyway]], it also shows that under the experimentation and brainwashing Painwheel is still a terrified schoolgirl [[AndIMustScream trapped powerlessly in her own body]].
387* ''VideoGame/{{Skullmonkeys}}'' has the level Castle de los Muertos, a level with a creepy red skyline and ominous black castle towers. Skullmonkeys poke out from the ground with spears and you can barely see Klaymen with how dark it is. The level theme? A polka song about ''Mexican food.'' Yeah, it's that kind of game.
388* ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'':
389** ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehogCD'' has mainly bouncy and upbeat songs for the Japanese and European soundtrack. The less popular American soundtrack, on the other hand, is the musical version of AmericanKirbyIsHardcore, as much of the music, particularly the boss, final boss and game over themes, sounds more appropriate for a shoot-'em-up than a ''Sonic'' game. Wacky Workbench's BadFuture is accompanied with a disco-like theme in the American version (the Japanese and European versions have something much more appropriately sinister), while its Good Future has more emphasis on work tools in the background despite the zone being turned into a [[ToyTime toy land]].
390** In ''VideoGame/Sonic3DFlickiesIsland'', the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5BrZjdLKiU Final Fight]] theme on the Genesis version seems oddly relaxing for a final boss theme, and almost sounds more like ending credits music.
391** ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehogPocketAdventure'''s music is composed entirely of remixes of songs from ''VideoGame/Sonic3AndKnuckles'', making for 4 boss themes without the original ''Sonic 3'' boss theme (after the Music/MichaelJackson controversy led to it being cut from ''Knuckles''). Act 1 boss is used for the Eggman fight in Gigantic Angel, Act 2 boss is the standard boss theme, final boss is used for the boss of Last Utopia, Doomsday Zone is used for the fight against Mecha Sonic, so for Chaotic Space there's... [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhGaX3a3rkE the extremely upbeat Sky Sanctuary theme]].
392** ''VideoGame/SonicGenerations'' allows for one to select from music from all over the series' history. One can face some of the most intense bosses of Sonic's history with Green Hill zone's music in the background.
393* This is done intentionally at multiple points throughout ''VideoGame/SpecOpsTheLine'', courtesy of the Radioman broadcasting his playlist across the Dubai airwaves. One of the game's first unsettling moments is gunning down insurgents to the tune of Deep Purple's "Hush", a song that would sound cool in most other games, but clashes chillingly with the more serious context of this game's gunfights. Much later on, Walker's slaughter of the American soldiers guarding the Radioman is set to [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6JQ2Vzr0bQ "Nowhere to Run" by Martha and the Vandellas]]; the lyrics are somewhat appropriate, but the mood of the song itself? Not so much.
394* ''VideoGame/SpiderManWebOfShadows'' starts InMediasRes in the middle of a battle against Venom symbiotes in a ravaged New York, set to Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata.
395* In ''VisualNovel/SpiritHunterNG'', a crazed man chains up a group of people, kills one of them when they try to reason with him, and then coats a child in gasoline and sets them alight. Because this horrific scene is taking place in a department store, 'Jingle Bells' can be heard in the background, the dissonance just making it all the worse. The song continues after the flashback is over and Akira sets about investigating the burnt remains.
396* In the initial U.S. Release of ''VideoGame/SpyroYearOfTheDragon'', due to a glitch, the final boss battle is backed, not by a dramatic battle theme, but by the theme of the game's first hub world. The European version recycles a boss theme from earlier in the game, and the Greatest Hits re-release gives the battle its own proper battle theme, which is kept in the ''[[VideoGame/SpyroReignitedTrilogy Reignited Trilogy]]''.
397* In ''VideoGame/StalinVsMartians'', UsefulNotes/RedsWithRockets fight colorful cartoony aliens while techno music, Hong Kong pop and {{camp}}y GlamRock plays in the background. Then again, given its premise, it's doubtful if ''any'' soundtrack could be made for this game without falling into this trope.
398* ''VideoGame/StarWarsJarJarsJourneyAdventureBook'' contains a song about the planet Tatooine, which is a cheerful little ditty that describes the planet as home to fun, sunshine, and strange creatures. This is at odds with the fact that Tatooine is considered a terrible planet to live on, with the residents having to harvest moisture in order to survive, and the planet is also rife with crime and slavery.
399* ''VideoGame/StubbsTheZombie'' twists this trope all around. The soundtrack consists of 50s tunes like "Earth Angel", "My Boyfriend's Back", "Mr. Sandman", "If I Only Had a Brain" and others, covered by modern alt bands. (Which are appropriate in the RaygunGothic setting.) Played straight with such upbeat tunes playing while you eat peoples' brains and turn them into mindless zombie minions. Subverted in that, if you notice, ''all'' of the song titles could have alternate, ominous meanings in the context of the game. Further subverted in that the whole ''point'' of the game is to [[AffectionateParody parody]] more serious zombie games & movies and the soundtrack helps make it all the more silly.
400* ''VideoGame/SunlessSea'': Approach the Iron Republic, and you get [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gd0Ct88V4xY this jolly Irish-esque song]]. Pretty nice, until you actually look at the descriptions and find out the Iron Republic is a WorldOfChaos extraordinaire, where Hell repealed the laws of men and nature and allowed all sorts of weirdness to happen for no particular reason other than amusement. It's a place where your ropes coming to life and ''biting you'' as you approach is a reliable sign you're getting closer, and any report you write has a chance of exploding in your admiral's face. Definitely ''not'' a nice place to settle down for a dockside party. Either the contrast is deliberate, or they even repealed the laws of Narrative so that kind of dissonance would pass.
401* The ending credits theme for most video games is a triumphant or happy piece, or a medley of the various songs throughout the game. However, in ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiPartnersInTime'', the ending credits theme is instead played by [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ujQwJdykk68 a very sinister-sounding oom-pah band]] for some odd reason
402* The Japanese soccer game for the Super Famicom/SNES ''Super Formation Soccer '94'' has one of the most weirdest soundtracks choices for many of the national teams that appear in that game. The biggest offenders are the Mexican team, since, instead of using stereotypical Latin American music, the theme for Mexico sounds more like ''Japanese ethno-rock'' than Mexican music, the Bolivian team, who uses a wierd mix of Latin American music and ''Russian beats'' and England, whose theme is ''friggin' Punk music mixed with Dance!''
403** A majority of ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'' series games will actually have extremely cheerful, optimistic music playing over some of the most difficult levels in those games.
404* The ''VideoGame/SuperMarioWorld'' GameMod Drama Mistery (the mispelling is part of the name) has this in a secret level, where a brutal massacre themed area has the incredibly illfitting Nyan cat theme playing in the background. It's rather jarring to be going through an area filled with murdered Toads with constant meow sounds in the background.
405* ''[[VideoGame/MeatBoy Super Meat Boy]]'' has the Cotton Alley theme, the most cheery and upbeat song in a generally excellent soundtrack. The catch? The Cotton Alley is absurdly difficult in an already hard game - so you have a cheery song to go with controller-breaking frustration. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_5nFS5xxJU Listen to it yourself.]] Just to rub in how cheerful this song is, it's titled "[=McLarty=] Party People".
406** It's so dissonant, some fans of the game say the song is about Meat Boy (and the players themselves!) becoming BoredWithInsanity. Some fans say the song is mocking you (One commenter on Youtube quips "Hey, this is a girly level! But it's not a fucking joke!")
407** The 2015 soundtrack's rendition of Cotton Alley goes even further in this regard, with [[https://laurashigihara.bandcamp.com/album/super-sweet-boy-music-from-smb-5th-anniversary song so soft and cheery]] that they wouldn't sound out of place in a ''Franchise/{{Barbie}}'' commercial.
408* ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'':
409** ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosBrawl'' has 314 songs to choose from, many of them perfectly fitting for jumping into the heat of battle and getting pumped up -- with a few exceptions. It's always amusing to see the most villainous fighters duking it out to the strains of "[[VideoGame/{{Pikmin}} Ai No Uta]]" in the background or to hear the chirpy, slow "[[VideoGame/KirbyAndTheAmazingMirror Forest/Nature Area]]" song on the menacing, fast-paced Halberd stage.
410** The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K783SDTBKmg original game's commercial]] by Advertising/{{KCL Productions|NintendoCommercials}} is set to 'So Happy Together'. It also incorporates MoodWhiplash.
411** And of course, the game ''also'' has [[VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry2DiddysKongQuest Stickerbush Symphony]], and it's as maddeningly calming as ever, on what some consider the most frusturatingly difficult level to fight on because it scrolls upwards faster than [[MightyGlacier some characters can jump]]! (It fits in perfectly with the Subspace stages that it plays with though).
412** Let's not even get started on the [[Film/{{Titanic 1997}} "My Heart Will Go On"]][[SuspiciouslySimilarSong -esque]] "[[VideoGame/MetalGearSolidPortableOps Calling To The Night]]".
413** Sakurai enjoys playing with the trope, though. The above-mentioned "[[VideoGame/{{Pikmin}} Ai No Uta]]" is actually about how Pikmin resolutely risk their lives for an alien, with no concern whether or not he loves them. And that's not even getting into "''VideoGame/Mother3'' Love Theme", which might be the first song in video gaming to be used for this trope twice. And then there's "Snowman".....
414** Don't forget the fact that the Pokémon Center theme plays on one of the Pokémon stages. Think about it for a minute. A piece of music that normally plays in a place of healing, in a fighting game.
415** For fans of the ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'' games, it's also rather jarring to hear the [[EternalEngine Scrap Brain Zone]] theme playing in a stage based on ''[[VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog1 the]]'' GreenHillZone.
416*** Not as jarring as listening to the ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure''-and-beyond songs on Green Hill Zone, which would have been much more appropriate in a stage based on ''Sonic Adventure''-and-beyond.
417** "Route 209", which is remixed to be even more upbeat and cheerful, can be played on the grueling stage of Spear Pillar, which has the legendaries of ''VideoGame/PokemonDiamondAndPearl'' attacking you with huge beams and exploding platforms.
418*** Similarly, "[[VideoGame/PokemonRedAndBlue Road to Viridian City (From Pallet Town/Pewter City)]]", an adventurous and relaxing/leisurely travel song, may at times seem unfitting as background music during intense battles on the Pokémon Stadium 2 stage.
419** "[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess Midna's]] [[LonelyPianoPiece Lament]]" is a bit strange to hear when you're in the middle of an over-the-top battle on the Bridge of Eldin.
420** The intro. It's a calm, if rather awesome, Latin song singing over Nintendo characters beating each other up. The lyrics fit a ''little'' better. Maybe.
421** Whose idea was it to put "Eight Melodies" into the second BGM mix for the [[VideoGame/EarthBound1994 Onett]] stage anyway?
422** For ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosUltimate'', Sakurai has decided to take a different tack, due to seeing the effects of Soundtrack Dissonance firsthand. While in the game's planning stages, he watched a Smash Bros tournament, and was mortified when the final battle was scored to the placid, romantic "The Roost" track from ''VideoGame/AnimalCrossing''. Sakurai still admits it's a great song, but perhaps it breaks the mood too much. So he made two changes: first, any song from a relevant franchise can be played on any stage. And second, while he stays mostly hands-off in allowing his music team to choose whatever song they want and what arrangement they use, he asked that any new music for ''Ultimate'' have a sense of "immediacy", to better suit the battles. [[https://www.smashbros.com/en_US/sound/index.html Browsing the sample tracks on the official website]] shows how well this is working. Although there's nothing stopping the player from deliberately making an entire Soundtrack Dissonance playlist for every stage. Want to play ''VideoGame/SuperMarioOdyssey'' music on the ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros2'' stage? Go right ahead!
423** Possibly the greatest example of this is the addition of "Ring-a-Ding" from ''VideoGame/StyleSavvy'' as a song. It's a cheery, upbeat pop tune that's absolutely hilarious to fight to. The best part is that, due to it being in the "Other" category of songs, it can play in the ''[[VideoGame/StreetPassMiiPlaza Find Mii]]'' stage, which is a dark and dreary castle location with a Mii locked up in a cage and an EldritchAbomination as a stage boss.
424** As of the 8.1.0 update, players can play any of the current '''986 tracks''' they want in the following stages: Battlefield, Big Battlefield, Small Battlefield and Final Destination. Saying that this increases the chances of Soundtrack Dissonance is simply not enough. Go ahead, try fighting in Final Destination while [[VideoGame/StyleSavvy "Ring-a-Ding"]] or [[VideoGame/AnimalCrossing "Plaza/Title Theme"]] plays in the background.
425** While [[Franchise/KingdomHearts Sora's]] addition to the roster was [[SugarWiki/AndTheFandomRejoiced much welcomed,]] the soundtrack selections he brought with him were more hit-or-miss, due to the fact that all of them came from ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsI'' exclusively. This is a particular problem for spirit battles, because other than Kairi and Riku[[labelnote:*]](and Riku still has this problem to a lesser extent due to not getting his own {{Leitmotif}} until ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsII'')[[/labelnote]], every other ''Kingdom Hearts'' spirit comes from a game ''after'' the first one, meaning [[AwesomeMusic/KingdomHearts iconic boss themes]] like "The 13th Struggle" (for Axel), "Vector to the Heavens" (Xion), and especially "The Other Promise" (Roxas), were left out of their owners' spirit battles and replaced with more generic choices (like "Destati" for Roxas, a song that he has never been associated with before ''Smash''). One of the first things many {{Game Mod}}ders did after Sora's release was patch in the appropriate songs where they belonged.
426* ''VideoGame/SystemShock2'' has mall background muzak and announcements contrasting heavily with the infected humans trying to bludgeon you to death and moaning "kill me". And that's without mentioning the speech of the chipper and polite droids that want nothing more than to help you in any way they can -- as long as it involves [[EverythingIsBetterWithExplosions accidentally detonating in your vicinity]].
427** The original ''Shock'' uses actual elevator music (perjorative sense) on the elevators. After a prolonged firefight (to a vaguely techno soundtrack) the hacker bursts into the elevator, collapses against the back wall, and pushes the button for the next level. Dooo de doo de dooo...
428[[/folder]]
429
430[[folder:T-Z]]
431* ''VideoGame/TaikoNoTatsujin'' has many, many songs that you'd expect to be the last songs to play a taiko drum to, with medleys/remixes of music from ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1PTUmHtOcs&fmt=18 Xevious]]'' and ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CcfzuYj8c6g&fmt=18 Darius]]'', just to name a couple examples.
432* In the ''VideoGame/{{TaleSpin|Sega}}'' LicensedGame for the Platform/SegaGenesis, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVsaOdaNoVY surprisingly cheery music plays in the Game Over screen]], wherein [[ItsAWonderfulFailure Higher For Hire is bought out by Shere Khan]]. [[DramaticThunder The thunder and lightning]] in the background certainly does not help matters.
433* ''VideoGame/TalesOfTheAbyss'' has the final boss where Tear sings the Grand Fonic Hymn in the background. And the final boss is [[spoiler: her own brother and Luke's swordmaster]].
434* ''VideoGame/TalesOfVesperia'' has the boss fight with [[spoiler: Estelle]]. In the first phase, the standard battle theme plays. Then the game gives the biggest PlayerPunch in the second phase. The climactic battle theme is dropped in favor of the heart-wrenching ''The Full Moon and the Morning Star'' as the boss in question begs Yuri to kill [[spoiler: her]].
435* One ending of ''VideoGame/TheTalosPrinciple'' features a beautiful piano melody aptly titled "Heavenly Clouds" playing as the protagonist walks through a dark corridor [[spoiler:leading to a sight of a dilapidated city]].
436* ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2'''s "Meet The Pyro" video. As the Spy says, "One shudders to imagine what inhuman thoughts lie behind that mask... what dreams of chronic and sustained cruelty." [[spoiler: ''[[Music/TheLovinSpoonful Do you believe in magic]], in a young girl's heart..."]]
437* The ''VideoGame/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtlesSmashUp'' TV Spot uses a peaceful song about the Turtles... While The Turtles, Shredder, April, Foot Soldiers, Casey, Utrominator, among other characters are kicking each others asses.
438* In the Playstation port of ''VideoGame/Tekken2'', contrasting heavily with the OrchestraHitTechnoBattle [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqkoO5i2L7k arrangement used in the arcade version]], the [[{{Trance}} trancy]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HikefwlNaCo remix of the Mid-Boss theme]] is surprisingly chilled-out for a fighting game tune, let alone a boss battle theme.
439* In ''VideoGame/{{Tenchu}}: Stealth Assassins'' you take the role of a ninja sneaking about, slicing and sometimes decapitating random {{mooks}} to beautifully choereographed orchestral pieces. Just listen to [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wU6odaJDpkM Onikage's theme music,]] not something you'd expect from an undead demon from Hell, is it?
440* ''VideoGame/{{Terraria}}'':
441** The Hallow themes (above and underground) are {{Triumphant Reprise}}s of their mundane counterparts, despite the Hallow being as much a DeathWorld as the Corruption and Crimson, which got more-fitting {{Dark Reprise}}s instead.
442** The Frost Moon is an event where you slaughter (or get slaughtered by) hordes of elves, living Christmas trees, Santa Mechs and frost spirits. The music playing during the event is [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DBCR-yMtTBM a rock piece interluded with jingle bells and merry chimes]]. In a game where every boss or invasion has an ominous or frantic musical score, it's quite the change of pace.
443* In ''VideoGame/TetrisTheGrandMaster 3'', if one player is playing Sakura mode, and the other player is playing any other mode, the Sakura music will override the non-Sakura player's music. This can lead to some interesting situations for Sakura's cheerful music, such as hearing it ''while in the last 300 levels of [[HarderThanHard Shirase mode]].''
444* The peaceful, subdued soundtrack of ''VideoGame/{{Thwaite}}'', a homebrew ''VideoGame/MissileCommand'' clone for [[Platform/NintendoEntertainmentSystem NES]], sounds like tunes that might be played in a laid-back social sim. It doesn't fit with the frantic StuffBlowingUp action, emphasizing how abnormal the action is to the characters themselves.
445* The unlicensed game ''VideoGame/{{Titenic}}'' is based on the smash hit film ''Film/Titanic1997'', so at first it makes sense that the soundtrack consists of covers of the film's music. It makes less sense when you learn it's a BeatEmUp, meaning you pummel the crap out of everyone on board to the tune of ''Nearer My God to Thee'' and ''My Heart Will Go On''.
446* Most of ''[[VideoGame/TonyHawkProSkater Tony Hawk Underground 2]][='s=]'' soundtrack is comprised of rock or hip-hop songs of varying styles, but generally sounding as though they fit into Skater culture. Except for Frank Sinatra's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KIiUqfxFttM That's Life]], which seems like a very random choice.
447** Johnny Cash's ''Ring of Fire'' can also be found in the same title.
448* ''Franchise/TouhouProject'' boss themes are often very sedate and elaborate for a frantic BulletHell series. This is often done deliberately, not to make an artistic point, but because ZUN knows players will be [[SchizophrenicDifficulty hearing them a lot]] and didn't want them getting tired of it because the music was annoying.
449** In addition, how many players got owned by a ''Touhou Project'' boss because they were too busy listening to her pretty, pretty boss theme?
450** Special mention goes to ''VideoGame/TouhouChireidenSubterraneanAnimism'', the game which involves you entering {{Hell}}[[note]][[AHellOfATime Former Hell]], since WordOfGod states that Hell was moved due to overpopulation and thus there are no souls of the damned there, so the light?heartedness is justified to a certain extent.[[/note]], has [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0IjO9zRnFcs oddly upbeat music]] and arguably [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V9IVFXjZ3Uc the most cheerful title theme]] in the series.
451* At [[https://youtu.be/1rd9Y8bsqBY?t=6m14s Ubisoft's E3 Conference Presentation in 2018]] they showed a trailer for ''VideoGame/TrialsRising'' with ''The Blue Danube Waltz'' as background music while horrendous dirt-bike accidents are seen on screen.
452* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m1bZVY2wWVU This amusing piece]] from ''[[VideoGame/{{Turok}} Turok: Shadow of Oblivion]]''.
453** Notice the title: it's a SuspiciouslySimilarSong of "[[TheElevatorFromIpanema The Girl from Ipanema]]".
454* The "Snowy Roads" level in ''[[VideoGame/TwistedMetal Twisted Metal: Black]]'' is a heated close-quarters battle, but the music is beatless, spooky, dark ambience with a OneWomanWail. No BattleThemeMusic here, strangely, except for the "final opponent" theme, which averts this trope.
455** The Holland level in ''TM 2'' is a nowhere-to-hide fight to the death in a barnyard while happy 60's-style rock-n-roll music plays.
456* ''VideoGame/AVeryLongRopeToTheTopOfTheSky'': [=BeBop Deluxe=]'s commentary on "The Core of Things (Metal Mix)":
457--> Those drums were completely unnecessary! This was supposed to be a very tender moment!
458* In ''VideoGame/WanganMidnight Maximum Tune'', after clearing Story Mode for the first time, you can, after selecting a chapter, pick whatever background music you want. As a result, you can, for example, play a "boss" song on the first stage.
459** Or try the reverse -- pick an "ordinary", or even a "happy" track (eg "Driver's Delight" or "Upbeat Gas Junkie") on a Boss Stage (preferably one that doesn't have a ThemeMusicPowerup to override what you selected), or better yet on the level where you battle the R200 Club (which normally plays an ominious theme).
460** The cheerful result music plays when you finish a story or VS race, ''even if you lose''. Though, it doesn't play if you fail a 10-Outrun stage or force-quit; ''Maximum Tune 3'' has the result music play during those occasions as well.
461* Kat and Ana's segment in ''VideoGame/WarioWare Inc.: Mega Microgame$'' has you playing cutesy Nature microgames with a serious samurai epic song in the background.
462* In ''VideoGame/WeHappyFew'', the scene where Arthur [[spoiler: escapes the Wellington Health Institute in the midst of an all-out brawl between Doctors and Plague Wastrels]] is set to a [[https://youtu.be/1_4_o3YMP-E?t=29m30s soft, sweet pop song]] about smiling and being happy.
463* The videogame ''VideoGame/WestOfLoathing'' has some ''really'' awesome tunes... for a {{slapstick}} comedy game made by the makers of ''VideoGame/KingdomOfLoathing''. It's all PlayedForLaughs, though.
464* ''VideoGame/WhatRemainsOfEdithFinch'': The sequence of [[spoiler:the infant Gregory drowning in a bathtub]] is set to Tchaikovsky's "Waltz of the Flowers".
465* The DS version of ''VideoGame/TheWorldEndsWithYou'' hardly has any dramatic music as boss music; only one song plays exclusively during boss battles. The boss battles that don't use that song use regular battle music instead. The final battle does, however, use its own remix of "Twister", the game's main theme. Averted in the ''Remix'' versions, which incorporate more remixes throughout the game, including for the boss battles.
466* ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles1'':
467** While the SadBattleMusic "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCHt8Eaesyo Tragic Decision]]" is used only a handful of times during some of the most dramatic moments over the course of the story, it's used a fourth time for a deliberately jarring effect as the theme of the {{Superboss}} fought at the end of [[SidequestSidestory a long sidequest chain]]. The dissonance? The boss is a blatant CardCarryingVillain [[spoiler:''and'' a member of the local RidiculouslyCuteCritter race at that]].
468** After the [[WhamEpisode events at the Mechonis Core]], you regain control in [[NPCBoomVillage Colony 6.]] The town features EvolvingMusic that get more and more upbeat as the town is reconstructed, and if you've gathered enough materials and done enough quests for one of the highest two tiers you'll hear an ''extremely'' happy tune that doesn't fit the party's DarkestHour at all.
469** Those introduced to the series from ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'' or other sources may think "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g7yNyhLOIa4 You Will Know Our Names]]" is the game's ThemeMusicPowerUp, and it certainly sounds the part. However, it's actually the theme of the notorious [[BossInMooksClothing Unique Monsters]], and the outcome of those battles is often anything but triumphant. However, the track does get used as a more traditional boss theme later on.
470* ''VideoGame/{{Xenosaga}} III'':
471** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGye3lBCrJ0 This music]] plays in the background during a very dramatic boss fight instead of the more traditional boss fight music.
472** In the same game, the background music during the Miltian Conflict, one of the bloodiest incidents in the series' backstory, is a heartbreakingly beautiful piano piece.
473** Also, the Song of Nephilim is an in-game phenomenon that actually ''causes'' this: while eerily beautiful, it causes susceptiple listeners to go (like Realians) AxCrazy, and also has the effect of summoning the Gnosis to wreak havoc. Whenever it plays, destruction and mayhem ensues, all to the tune of a haunting, melancholy female voice...
474* ''VideoGame/YoshisIslandDS'' has a mini-boss theme that sounds like it would be more at home in a grassy meadow type level. It has a very cutesy, upbeat theme that suggests the furthest thing from a boss fight.
475** ''Yoshi's Island DS'' in general is pretty bad about this. Nearly every track is cheery, upbeat, and full of xylophones, sounding like something from a preschooler's educational TV show. The levels that play them? Well, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s3fdRoYcUfs this]] plays in an auto-scrolling level full of Chomps and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vDDN2QyQo4U this]] plays in some of the [[BrutalBonusLevel Brutal Bonus Levels]] of the game, among [[NintendoHard other]] [[PlatformHell things]].
476* The ''VideoGame/{{Ys}}'' series does this all the time, with soundtracks consisting of hard rock, funk, electronic music, and world music in a standard fantasy setting. [[Administrivia/TropesAreTools It's awesome]].
477** "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m0KbYMIpv_Y Defend! And Escape!]]" in ''VideoGame/YsVITheArkOfNapishtim'' is a rather depressing piece, played during an intense EscortMission with downright mournful strings and Drum N' Bass.
478** Naturally, the relaxing, downright triumphant downtempo synth-rock tune of "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jTZheAo7nCs Quatera Woods"]] is played in a forest with EverythingTryingToKillYou.
479** "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZLvOEXoAiuc Valley of Quicksand]]" from ''VideoGame/YsIVTheDawnOfYs'' is a funky Latin beach tune, played, of course, in a harsh quicksand pit-riddled desert.
480** From ''Ys Book [[VideoGame/YsIAncientYsVanishedOmen I]]-[[VideoGame/YsIIAncientYsVanishedTheFinalChapter II]]'' from the Turbo-CD, there's the PointOfNoReturn, The [[TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon Tower of Darm]]. It's so huge it takes up half the first game where the BigBad dwels, so you buy your best gear, ready your potions, prepared for hell, only to be greeted by [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HbqL-yo-oEg a jazzy, electronic rave tune]]...for a song called "Shadow of the Tower of Death", it's almost as if there's a joke at the player's expense. There's also "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pp4NNv8LTmU Palace of Destruction]]", which is suitably epic, but in this case [[MundaneMadeAwesome a bit much]], seeing how it sounds like a final boss theme for what's only the first dungeon in the game.
481** The [[TheElevatorFromIpanema elevator music-style]] Platform/PCEngine version of [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGvSf8s1OWU "Crimson Wings"]]. The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4zpD3ipNb0 Super Famicom version]] of the song, which is much more upbeat, averts this trope.
482* ''VideoGame/ZombieClaus'' has Jingle Bells playing throughout the house you're frantically searching for presents through while being pursued by the titular undead old elf.
483* The first ''VideoGame/ZombiU'' trailer does this, with a hardy cover England's national anthem playing as you watch still scenes of zombies destroying London.
484[[/folder]]

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