Suspiciously Similar Song / Video Games O to S

O

• In Odin Sphere, the battle theme of Ringford Forest resembles Petula Clark's "Downtown."
• OMORI:
  • "Poems In The Fog" has a similar melody to Resident Evil's save room theme, though the instrumentation is closer to the remake's version.
  • A few of the more disturbing tracks somewhat sound like some tracks off of Silent Hill 2; "Fleur" resembles the in-game version of "Black Fairy", and a low, watery drone in "Your Catastrophes" resembles part of the Blue Creek Apartments ambience.
  • There's a certain section of "White Surf Style 6" with a melody that closely resembles the title theme of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.
  • The main melody of "Take a Load Off" starts off similar to the chorus of Tom Petty's "Free Fallin'".
  • "Distance" sounds a lot like Peer Gynt's Morning Mood, albeit in a twisted, distorted form.
  • "Crossroads" is reminiscent of "Wet Hands" from Minecraft.
  • The beginning of "Respite" is similar to Madotsuki's bedroom theme from Yume Nikki.
  • As pointed out by a top comment on the first linked video, a certain section of "Friends Boss Battle" resembles "Breakout" from 3D Dot Game Heroes, better known as the pre-2022 outro theme for Scott The Woz.
• The main battle music in Opoona, heard in most fights in the game, draws a lot of clear inspiration from the classic "frenetic action" tune "Sabre Dance."
• Ori and the Blind Forest:
  • "Naru, Embracing The Light" resembles the My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic theme.
  • The first half of First Steps into the Sunken Glades sounds similar to "Border Town" from Medal of Honor: Frontline, while the piano section in the second half is similar to the Prologue theme from Beauty and the Beast.
  • "Finding Sein" sounds like "Ghosts of Reach" from Halo 2.
  • The Spirit Caverns theme is similar to the Dark Forest theme from Disney's Magical Quest.
  • "Lost in the Misty Woods" and "Hiding From Kuro" are highly reminiscent of the Wild Wood soundtrack from The Wind in the Willows (1983).
  • "Racing The Lava" is very similar to one of the "danger music" cues from Tomb Raider III.
  • "Fleeing Kuro" is similar to "Duel of the Fates" from Star Wars: The Phantom Menace as well as "Neodammerung" from The Matrix Revolutions.
  • The first two thirds of "The Sacrifice" sound like a Musical Pastiche of the main theme with "Ashes" from Halo: Reach.
• In Ori and the Will of the Wisps:
  • The main melody of "Separated By The Storm"(Inkwater Marsh) sounds like Secret Garden's "Nocturne" crossed with Ku's leitmotif.
  • In turn, Ku's theme, particularly the "First Flight" arrangement, is reminiscent of the main theme from Titanic (1997).
  • "The Ancient Wellspring" is suspiciously similar to the Pillars of Eternity theme.
  • "Sanctuary in the Glades" resembles the fourth trail theme from The Oregon Trail II.
  • "Turn, Turn, Turn Again", once it gets going, sounds like the theme to The X-Files.
  • The counter-melody in "Amelioration" is suspiciously similar to "The World in My Eyes" by Talla 2XLC.
  • "Baur's Reach" sounds like the Four Giants theme (Oath to Order) from The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask, with hints of the Game of Thrones theme mixed in.
  • The beginning of "The Story of Niwen" sounds like the overture from Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake.
  • The main Mouldwood Depths theme resembles Albinoni/Giazotto's "Adagio in G minor", but in C minor.
  • "Mora the Spider" sounds like a composite of Giuseppe Verdi's "Dies Irae", Modest Mussorgsky's "Night on Bald Mountain", and "Nothing To Lose" from the Castlevania series.
  • Part of "Luma Pools" is similar to the verses of "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds" from The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.
    • "Burrowing" resembles "Within You, Without You" from the same album.
  • The main hook of "Kwolok's Malaise" is basically a pastiche of Kwolok's theme with "Metal Gleamed In the Twilight" from Child of Light, complete with Ominous Latin Chanting that appears to recite his name.
  • "Resolution in Paradise" has a bridge section that's blatantly similar to the City of Tears theme from Hollow Knight.
  • Kwolok's theme itself is said to be inspired by Emperor Palpatine's theme from the Star Wars films.
  • Aside from the aforementioned leitmotif, the main phrase of "Kwolok's Hollow" sounds alot like "Scattered and Lost" from Celeste.
  • "Seir" is suspiciously similar to the Chozo Artifact Temple theme from Metroid Prime.
• The main menu theme from Outer Wilds sounds very similar to "Chasing Cars" by Snow Patrol. At least three fans of the game have made mashups of the two songs.

P

• Paradise Killer: The second half of "House of Bliss" sounds highly similar to "Give Me Tonight" by Shannon of "Let The Music Play" fame; even directly copying the intro synthesizer riff.
• Parappa The Rapper: The cinema before the fourth level includes a short ditty that sounds remarkably like the song "Tijuana Taxi".
  • The driving lesson song is a pretty blatant ripoff of "Turtles Have Short Legs" by Can.
  • Also, "Parappa's Live Rap With MC King Kong Mushi" sounds a little like the rap version of "December, 1963 (Oh, What a Night)" by Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons.
• PAYDAY 2:
  • The music for the Collector Pack (April Fool 2015) is similar to the first theme for Pokémon: The Series, which the event was parodying.
  • The Background Music for the Butcher's Western Pack trailer is similar to the theme for The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.
• Perfect Dark:
  • "Dark Combat" (selectable in the "Combat Simulator" multiplayer mode and the default BGM in the single-player bonus level Mr. Blonde's Revenge) is the Terminator theme with the Serial Numbers Filed Off.
  • The orchestral section of the Carrington Villa BGM is similar to the River of Souls theme from Turok 2: Seeds of Evil.
  • Fitting with the game being a Spiritual Successor to GoldenEye (1997), the main theme is a suspiciously similar take on the Bond theme.
• The last few bars before the loop in "Child Abuse" (the Robo-Rat/Tesso fight theme) from Persona is basically "It's a Small World".
• Persona 5:
  • The electric piano riff in "Wake Up, Get Up, Get Out There" and the strings riff in "Last Surprise" sound awfully similar to parts of "Canned Heat" by Jamiroquai. Perfectly fitting, given the soundtrack was inspired by acid jazz.
  • Yaldabaoth's theme sounds like a heavily edited version of the first few notes of Jared Dines's Djent Wars Round Three solo.
  • The main piano riff in the track "Swear to my Bones" sounds similar to a Recurring Riff from The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, found in the tracks "Courage", a section of Hyrule Field theme, and possibly others. The electric guitar section that comes in later also resembles the "Love Theme" from Final Fantasy IV.
• In Petz Dogz Fashion, there is a song that plays during a frisbee minigame which sounds similar to the theme from The Simpsons.
• A version of "Another One Bites the Dust" by Queen is heard in Pictionary for the NES.
• In Pilotwings 64, the climax of the Gyrocopter music sounds like the main riff of Kool & The Gang's "Celebration". The Hang Glider music sounds like a softer and slower version of "Dance Hall Days" by Wang Chung.
  • The Skydiving theme from the original Pilotwings sounds similar to the theme from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1987).
• The music played on the main menu in The Pinball Arcade (as well as both its predecessors, the Pinball Hall of Fame collections) sounds like an instrumental version of, appropriately enough, The Who's "Pinball Wizard". In 2016, Farsight obtained the rights to use the actual song instead, complete with vocals.
• The song used during the intros for several trailers for Portal 2 (seen here) sounds very similar to the later part of Santorini by New Age superstar Yanni.
  • The co-op credits song "Robots FTW" is a remix of Brodyquest, of all things.
• The theme for the third boss in the NES version of the SNK arcade Beat 'em Up game P.O.W. Prisoners of War sounds similar to the saxophone riff in the Glenn Frey song The Heat is On, which was the opening theme to the first Beverly Hills Cop movie.
• In Power Blazer/Blade, the first half of the Sector 2 BGM is suspiciously similar to Cut Man's stage theme from Mega Man. Not surprising, since the protagonist of the original Japanese version was a Mega Man expy.
• Power Rangers:
  • In the SNES game (Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie), the Player Select music is a complete ripoff from X Japan's "Sadistic Desire".
  • The Megazord fight with the Minotaur in Mighty Morphin Power Rangers for the Sega Genesis sounds very similar to DIO's I Speed At Night.
• "Lost Forest" in Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box starts like "The Legendary Hero" in 'The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker''.
• The Pretty Rhythm song "Step! Step! Step!" sounds a lot like the theme song to the reality show American Idol.
• The theme for Levels 7 through 9 in the SNES version of Prince of Persia resembles Gemini Man's theme from Mega Man 3, as well as "Arabian Nights" from Aladdin. Also on the subject of Aladdin, the Level 13-15 theme from PoP1 SNES sounds like "Prince Ali".
• Princess Maker 2's summer theme has a resemblance to "Muchacha Triste" by "Los Fantasmas del Caribe".
• The fight theme in Pro Wrestling, the title theme to the Macintosh helicopter game Apache Strike, and the first Underworld music (around 4:00 in this clip) in Keith Courage in Alpha Zones, all resemble the iconic theme tune from Airwolf, the second most blatantly so.
• Project Wingman:
  • "King's Court" has some parts that sound an awful lot like the infamous "Coffin Dance" part of "Astronomia" by Vicetone and Tony Igy. The composer has stated it was an accident.
  • The bells and percussions in "The Independance Force" are mostly inspired by "SIEGE ON SILVAT" from Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation.
• The Leitmotif for Kogoro and Mii, the Original Generation characters of Project × Zone, Wanderer's Road, has an opening riff that sounds similar to the opening riff of the Double Dragon theme.
• The rhythm dance game series Pump It Up features several suspiciously similar versions of songs created by an in-house production band, BanYa. Among these include "Extravaganza" (Burnin' by Daft Punk), "Mr. Larpus" (Wipeout by The Surfaris), "Miss's Story" (Beethoven's 5th Symphony), "Beethoven Virus" (Beethoven's Sonata Pathetique), "Beat of the War" (Holy Wars...The Punishment Due by Megadeth), and "Love is a Danger Zone 2" (Motorbreath by Metallica).
• "Theme of Puyo Puyo" from Puyo Puyo (1992) is similar to the chorus of "Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini" by Brian Hyland, with the instrumentation of Yellow Magic Orchestra's "La Femme Chinoise".

Q-R

• Quake:
  • The title theme of the disastrous N64 port of Quake resembles "Terrible Lie" by Nine Inch Nails, who also produced the music for the original PC version, and the N64 intermission music is a soundalike of the PC's.
  • Quake II:
    • "Quad Machine" resembles Metallica's "No Remorse".
    • "Rage" sounds rather similar to Pantera's "Cowboys from Hell".
    • "March of the Strogg" is likely an intentional reference to "March of the SOD" by Stormtroopers of Death.
    • The intro of "ETF" from the Ground Zero expansion pack is suspiciously similar to "Plasma Rock" from The Journeyman Project.
  • "Fuel My Game" from Quake III: Arena sounds suspiciously similar to The Prodigy's "Smack My Bitch Up".
• In Quest for Glory III, the music playing in the background at the Apothecary's store is a somewhat mediterranean Suspiciously Similar Song to Jefferson Airplane's "White Rabbit". Very suitable, given the Apothecary's profession (sells drugs...) and hippie-like demeanor.
• The sound effect as QWOP takes a step strongly resembles the famous riff from Vangelis's theme to Chariots of Fire.
• R-Type: the iconic first stage theme is very similar to "El Diablo" by Peruvian band Compay Quinto.
• The Final Boss music in R-Type Final is suspiciously similar to the Halo Gregorian chant, as well as the Temple of Time theme from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.
• In Raiden, the main riff of "Rough and Tumble" resembles "Skull Castle Part 1" from Mega Man 2.
  • Can't Retrace from Raiden IV sounds like Act 1 Boss from Sonic 3 & Knuckles.
  • Lightning War from Raiden I takes riffs from two Toaplan shmup game songs: the Level 2 music from Flying Shark / Sky Shark and the Level 1 music from Truxton/Tatsujin.
    • Considering the first Raiden game was basically a big Toaplan homage, this makes sense.
  • The main riff of "Atomic Resistance" (Stage 2) in Raiden III is suspiciously similar to "Vampire Killer".
  • The first part of Lightning Strikes, also from Raiden III, resembles Knight Man's theme from Mega Man 6. The last part is suspiciously similar to the second part of the Stage 1 theme from Gekirindan, another Toaplan-inspired shmup.
  • "Fighting Thunder" sounds like a faster version of the intro to "Moskau" by Dschinghis Khan.
  • The Game Over theme sounds similar to Journey's Faithfully.
• The original arcade version of Rainbow Islands uses an upbeat remix of "Over The Rainbow" (yes, the song from The Wizard of Oz!) as its Background Music. Needless to say, there were some issues with licensing the music when the game was released on home systems. Many home computer ports of the game got away with using the original tune, but the North American NES and Master System releases use a very noticeable Suspiciously Similar Song; the European NES release uses an entirely different tune altogether. Later re-releases, including the PC and Arcade Archives versions, use the American NES song.
  • The arcade port found on Taito Legends is an aversion. It uses the same theme, but with the offending melody simply muted.
  • Also, Parasol Stars, the sequel to Rainbow Islands, uses a Suspiciously Similar Song to the Lambada as the boss battle music!
• Same franchise example: the NES Rambo game features a suspiciously similar version of the original First Blood theme as the title theme, as well as a suspiciously similar version of "Peace in Our Life" as the ending theme.
• RAY Series:
  • The first Special Mode final boss theme from the PlayStation port of RayCrisis sounds strikingly similar to Seal's Kiss From A Rose.
  • The first boss theme (2:00) in Rayforce sounds suspiciously similar to the alert theme from Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake.
  • Raystorm's name entry theme, "Endless Stairs", is a near-verbatim soundalike of "Unchained Melody" from Unchained and Ghost (1990).
  • The main melody in Lavande bleu is blatantly similar to Andy Williams' Music To Watch Girls By, even more so than Sonic the Hedgehog's Marble Zone theme.
  • The first half of "Vision" resembles the Angel Island and Special Stage themes in Sonic 3 & Knuckles.
  • "Into Darkness" sounds suspiciously like "Rainbow Road" from Super Mario Kart.
  • "Quartz", to the Light World dungeon BGM from The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past.
  • The main melody in "Son Dessein" is similar to the theme tune from Enter the Dragon.
  • The first part of "Penetration" sounds similar to Napalm Man's theme from Mega Man 5.
  • Ray Storm's Final Boss theme, "Intolerance", is similar to Gerard McMann's "Cry Little Sister" from The Lost Boys.
• Rayman Series:
  • Rayman 2: The Great Escape has the Bayou level background music, which sounds very similar to the Pink Floyd song "Shine on you Crazy Diamond" in many parts. Interestingly, the big 4 repeating guitar notes are played in the exact way!
  • The "musical stages" from Rayman Legends use this; "Castle Rock" is pretty much a Simlish cover of "Black Betty", while "Mariachi Madness" features a mariachi version of "Eye of the Tiger".
• While lots of the music in Red Dead Redemption is original music In the Style of Ennio Morricone, some of it edges just a little bit closer to this:
  • The little riffs that play as you wonder around in New Austin contain a melody that for a few notes more would be the theme of The Good, the Bad and the Ugly played on an atomic guitar. There's also a slow rhythmic guitar and English horn piece which is obviously reminiscent of the repeated "Per Un Pugno Di Dollari" cue from A Fistful of Dollars, but slowed down and without the key changes, and a harmonica riff reminiscent of the "Man With A Harmonica" theme from Once Upon a Time in the West.
  • The bounty hunting, raiding a hideout and ambient battle music in New Austin is basically "L'Inseguimento" from A Fistful of Dollars in a swung time signature.
  • The harmonica piece occasionally played by harmonica-playing NPCs is very, very similar to the "Marcetta" melody from The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (the one that plays when Tuco and Blondie are being led into the prison camp).
  • There's an ocarina playing the coyote-call from The Good, the Bad and the Ugly amongst the ambient riffs in Mexico, although with a couple of notes added on the end, or with slightly different articulation. Sometimes it's even followed up with a harmonica playing a 'waa waa waa' reply, with the same pitches in a different order. The battle music while attacking banditos in Mexico also contains the screaming voices associated with Tuco in the same film.
• Games based on The Ren & Stimpy Show:
  • The cutscene music in The Ren and Stimpy Show: Veediots! is a similar song to "Turkey Trot" by John Longmire, used in the actual show many times.
  • In Stimpy's Invention, the jingle that plays during the customized Sega logo sounds very similar to the Log theme song.^note Log itself even appears leading the logo with its parade conductor's hat and baton.
• "The Code Is Veronica" from Resident Evil – Code: Veronica, and "Dimension 26" from R-Type Final.
• Retro City Rampage, being an homage to the 8-bit era, has many examples:
  • Retro City Rampage Theme: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1989) title theme
  • Renegade: Kunio-kun Stage 2
  • Karaage: Double Dragon I Mission 2
  • Do or Die: Skate or Die Downhill Race
  • Not Mega: Mega Man 2 opening theme
  • Battaglia Dietro la Cascata A and B: Monster Dance and Bloody Tears from Castlevania II: Simon's Quest
  • Brewskiing: Battle Toads Turbo Tunnel Race
  • Smut Peddler: Paperboy theme
  • Dr. Von Buttnick: Robotnik's theme from Sonic the Hedgehog 2
  • Biffman: 1960's Batman theme
  • One Last Quest (intro): Ys: Ancient Ys Vanished ~ Omen First Step Towards Wars
  • Incident: Jungle theme from Metal Gear (NES) and/or Frequency 140.85 from Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake
  • Across Rooftops: Angel Island Zone Act 2 and Hydrocity Zone Act 2 from Sonic 3 & Knuckles
• The creators of Rick Dangerous seem to have liked John Williams... or something like that...
• In Rigid Force Alpha/Redux:
  • The intro theme, and by extension the final stage theme, are similar to "Enter The Fury" from Kung Fury.
  • The main melody of the title theme is suspiciously similar to "Around The Planet" by Laserdance.
  • The starting synth riff of the Vermis Research Institute theme sounds similar to the Devo song "Peek-A-Boo", while the B-section sounds like a synthwave take on the riff from Cheap Trick's "Mighty Wings", and the C-section resembles another Kung Fury song, "From The Future".
  • The A-section of the first boss theme, "Versus Machines", sounds like "Poison of Snake", the boss theme from Salamander (Life Force).
  • The Final Boss Preview theme, "Haste" AKA "Hurry Up", sounds like "Theme of Adol '93" from Ys IV pastiched with "BGM 1" from Rad Racer.
  • The first third of the third boss theme, "Don't Lose Your Head", sounds like Ridley's theme from the Metroid series.
  • The B-section of "Return to Base" is similar to Mike Mareen's "Double Trouble". The main melody is also similar to the bridge of the Escape from New York theme.
• In Ring King, when you win a match in one player mode, you get a tune that is very similar to the one from "The Walrus and the Carpenter" from Disney's Alice in Wonderland... you know, the part where it goes, "The time has come, the Walrus said, / To talk of many things: / Of shoes, and ships, and sealing wax, / Of cabbages and kings."
• "Summer Break" from Riptide GP: Renegade is a carbon copy of "Sunstorm" by Hurley & Todd.
• Risen's title theme is quite similar to that of Fallout 3.
• "Crying World" is the BGM of Stage 6-1 in Ristar and sounds similar to Prince's "P Control," which came out the previous year.
• The entire first radio station in the Western release of Road Trip Adventure is clearly based on the music of American keyboardist Michael Walthius. Some tracks do deviate from the original arrangements they were based on, but others are blatant carbon copies. To top it all off, the original artist was not credited.
• The late-1980s game Rock 'n' Roll used suspiciously similar rock-and-roll tunes as its soundtrack. Here's an example. Though unlike many suspiciously similar songs, they were actually licenced.
• Prairie Rider, a song meant to be used in Western-themed areas in Roller Coaster Tycoon 3, is based on the theme of The Magnificent Seven (1960). Surf Shack, meant for aquatic areas, is very much "Wipe Out" by The Surfaris.
• The "Backyard" track from Rugrats: Search for Reptar sounds like the Colonel Bogey March.
• Freeware game Rumble Pack has the Elbe Dresden Night stage, with BGM based on the theme from 12 Monkeys.

S

• The menu of the Nintendo DS game Sailor Moon: La Luna Splende features a song very similar to the anime's theme, probably changed due to copyright problems with the song. It's funny because "Moonlight Densetsu" itself isn't a fully original composition at all.
• In Sam and Max Season Two: Ice Station Santa, "The Friendly Demon Song" is an intentionally obvious Suspiciously Similar Song version of "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer".
  • Sam's homoerotic daydream about getting engaged to Max in The Penal Zone is accompanied by a very close version of "Pallidio" by Karl Jenkins.
  • In They Stole Max's Brain!, the music that plays when Sam fights Skun-ka'pe is a version of the Star Trek: The Original Series fight music.
  • More as homage and less as parody, the theme to the The History of Sam and Max featurette on the Season 3 DVD is a live-instruments version of the theme to Sam and Max Hit The Road; particularly nice, since the Office Leitmotif from the Telltale series serves as their 'theme' in those. Unusually, the actual theme from Hit The Road is played in one of the episodes - perhaps Telltale had the rights to play the theme, but not to rearrange it?
  • "TKO" from season 2 is a blatant nod to the fight theme of Mike Tyson's Punch-Out! Warranted as it's used for a boxing minigame.
• "Crazy Train" by Ozzy Osbourne, and "Amiga-ish" from Rush 2: Extreme Racing USA, which is used in a level with alot of (subway) trains. The intro riff is also similar to "Refugee" by Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers. From the same game, "Low Ridin'" is very similar to "South Bronx" by Boogie Down Productions.
  • "Blue Fog" from the first game sounds similar to "Green Onions" by Booker T. and the MG's. "STL" sounds like the main riff of The Just Brother's "Sliced Tomatoes".
  • In San Francisco Rush 2049, the Noon track BGM bears a suspicious resemblance to Paul Hardcastle's "19".
• Part of Sega Gaga's final boss theme sounds like "Crucified" by Army of Lovers.
• Senran Kagura Shinovi Versus:
  • "I am Dedicated to Lord Kurokage", the theme of Yumi, is a combination between Mozart's Requiem and the third movement of Beethoven's Sonata No. 8, Pathetique.
  • She's just one. All her classmates from Gessen Death Cram School typically have their Leitmotif built around a recognizable piece of classical public-domain music, and Ryouna usually has a few bars of Swan Lake hidden in the metal guitar chords.
• Serious Sam: The Second Encounter: "Grand Cathedral" sounds like a less sinister version of Magus' theme from Chrono Trigger.
• Shantae and the Pirate's Curse:
  • Streamworks (Saliva Island) has a part that sounds similar to Stardust Speedway (Bad Future, JPN) from Sonic the Hedgehog CD.
  • "We Love Burning Town" sounds like "One Jump Ahead" from Aladdin, which was admittedly one of the series' inspirations.
• Shin Megami Tensei: The soundtrack seemingly drew influence from contemporary metal music, with the boss theme being heavily reminiscent of the chorus of Gangland by Iron Maiden, and the Ginza and Ikebukuro theme being a one-for-one remake of Judas Priest's "Between the Hammer and the Anvil".
  • Shin Megami Tensei II has "Disco", which sounds a bit like New Order's "Blue Monday".
  • Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne: The standard Cathedral of Shadows theme resembles the introductory music of Lufia & the Fortress of Doom.
  • Digital Devil Story: Megami Tensei II has "Dawn of the Human Being", which sounds a little bit like the theme song from Star Trek: The Motion Picture.
    • The Casino theme, "I Love Money" sounds a lot like "Johnny B. Goode".
  • "I'll Face Myself" from Persona 4 resembles "At Doom's Gate" from Doom.
    • The verses in "Your Affection" sound like The B.B. & Q. Band's "On the Beat". The chorus likewise resembles that of "Hikari/Simple And Clean" from Kingdom Hearts.
    • "Heartbeat, Heartbreak" follows a rhythm very similar to that of "Investigation - Opening 2002" from Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Justice For All, as SiIvaGunner pointed out.
• This stage theme from Shinobi sounds similar to the Wham! song Everything She Wants.
• The Stage 1 theme from the Mega Man clone Shockman has suspicious similarities with the first boss theme from Super Contra.
• One of the boss themes from Shock Troopers: 2nd Squad, Intruder, sounds similar to Kare Koso Saikyo, Igniz's theme from The King of Fighters 2001.
• In Shovel Knight, part of "In the Halls of the Usurper" is very similar to "Gensokyo Millennium~History of the Moon" from Touhou Eiyashou ~ Imperishable Night. Better yet, SiIvaGunner's "high-quality rip" of "Usurper" directly interpolates "Gensokyo Millennium", along with the theme from The Flintstones.
• In Sid & Al's Incredible Toons, one of the stage themes is a soundalike of Raymond Scott's "Powerhouse." The Theme Tune proper sounds more than a bit like "The Merry-Go-Round Broke Down" in the Looney Tunes arrangement.
• SimCity 2000:
  • The track Key of Success sounds suspiciously similar to the George Michael song "Killer / Papa Was A Rollin' Stone".
  • "Disaster Decision", particularly the FM-synth version, sounds like the arcade version of the Paper Boy theme.
  • "The SIM Magic" sounds like George Gershwin's "Summertime" mixed with Irving Berlin's "Blue Skies".
• The Simpsons:
  • Part of the "Springfield" theme in The Simpsons Game sounds suspiciously similar to the main theme of Super Mario Bros. 3.
  • "Long Black Probes" from The Simpsons Hit & Run sounds suspiciously like the theme from UFO (1970).
  • The Evergreen Terrace stage in The Simpsons: Road Rage has a theme that borrows elements from both "Aqua Boogie" by Parliament and "Ffun" by Con Funk Shun.
• Skate or Die:
  • The Freestyle theme in the first game sounds like "Digital World" by Trans-X.
  • The Downhill Race theme is similar to The Bangles' "Walk Like An Egyptian".
  • The Streets theme in the second game is similar to Pete Shelley's "Homosapien".
  • Also from the second game, the Sewers theme is copied verbatim from the intro of Black Sabbath's "Under The Sun".
• In Skullgirls, Bloody Marie's theme, which also incorporates the game's main theme, copies a lot from "Part Time Lover" by Stevie Wonder. Mashup proving it. The main theme also blatantly rips off "The Monster's Lair" from Wonder Boy III: The Dragon's Trap, which itself is a derivative of the Haunted Mansion theme from Wonder Boy III: Monster Lair.
• The theme song of the NES/Famicom video game Sky Destroyer sound similar to the iconic "Raiders March" from Indiana Jones
• Sly Cooper's Back Alley Heist bears a striking resemblence to California Love.
• "This" BGM off the Small Soldiers PlayStation 1 game sounds a whole lot like "One Winged Angel" from Final Fantasy VII.
• The title theme to Snake Rattle 'n' Roll is, as one might expect, a knockoff of "Shake, Rattle and Roll".
• Simon Lane of The Yogscast is available as a charity DLC character in Sonic & All-Stars Racing: Transformed. However, instead of using the Yogscast's intro theme, "Gay Activity" by Clive Richardson, as his All Star theme, Sega went with a knockoff version. Which is ironic because "Gay Activity" is an old piece of production music and is in the public domain.
  • Another racer in the game is B.D. Joe, whose All Star Theme sounds very similar to an instrumental version of the main guitar riff of All I Want by The Offspring. Fitting, as All I Want is often considered the unofficial theme of Crazy Taxi, being the most prominent licenced song in the game.
• The original N64 South Park game features the "Alien Dancing Gizmo" weapon, a callback to the show's pilot where aliens shot beams that made people spontaneously sing and dance to the title song from the Looney Tunes cartoon "I Love To Sing-a". In the game, however, a similar-sounding original song is used.
• The battle theme song for the Raisins Girls in South Park: The Fractured but Whole is clearly inspired by the opening theme of The Powerpuff Girls.
• Space Channel 5 Part 2 had Michael Jackson reprising his role Space Michael, but couldn't use Michael Jackson's music. So the level where Ulala saves him is played to a medley of merely Jackson-esque riffs and dance moves lifted straight from the likes of "Thriller," "Billie Jean" and "Smooth Criminal."
• The main theme of Space Harrier sounds similar to both the theme tune from Blake's 7 and the 1980 City Pop song "Do You Remember Me?" by Yuki Okazaki. It's also drawn comparisons with "Dreaming" by Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, though that song came out three years after Space Harrier hit arcades.
• Space Quest:
  • The Theme Tune of the first three games is either a suspiciously similar version of "Attack of the Hawk Men" from Flash Gordon (1980) or the Superman: The Movie theme tune. The fourth game's version sounds more like the Star Trek: The Next Generation theme. The fifth game's theme is similar to the theme of Star Trek: The Original Series.
  • In addition to the cameos by the Blues Brothers and ZZ Top and their respective songs, the "alien trio" music in the Rocket Bar copies the bass riff of Styx's "Too Much Time on My Hands" ad verbatim.
  • In Space Quest IV: Roger Wilco and the Time Rippers, when traveling back in time to Space Quest I, the Rocket Bar music is incredibly similar to Chuck Berry's "Johnny B. Goode".
  • The music while fighting Vohaul in Roger, Jr.'s body is suspiciously similar to the Snowspeeder Rescue/Hyperspace theme from The Empire Strikes Back, with a bit of the Battle of Hoth mixed in. Also, Vohaul's leitmotif is a soundalike of the Imperial March.
  • The Sewer Slime's theme resembles the "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy" from Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker, as well as the pizzicato sections of the Sandcrawler theme from A New Hope.
  • The software store music incorporates a pastiche of Ambrosia's "You're The Only Woman" In the Style of the King's Quest I theme (itself derived from the folk tune "Greensleeves").
• The 4th Miniboss Theme of Spark the Electric Jester has a similar beat to the Boss Theme of Prince Dail from Freedom Planet.
• Spectre VR:
  • Cyber 1 sounds like Jean-Michel Jarre's Moon Machine.
  • "Jaws 1", fittingly, is similar to the Jaws theme.
  • "Hendrix", despite its name, sounds similar to Deep Purple's "Smoke on the Water".
  • "Submergence 1.1" is suspiciously similar to the Castle Theme from Super Mario Bros..
  • "Sitar Shuffle" sounds like the main riff from the title track of Ministry's Psalm 69.
  • "Funky" sounds like a mix of C+C Music Factory's "Gonna Make You Sweat" and Snap!'s "The Power".
  • "Marky" sounds like the Mission: Impossible theme rendered In the Style of Marky Mark & The Funky Bunch.
  • "House VR" is a soundalike of New Order's "Blue Monday".
• Spider-Man and Venom: Maximum Carnage: The Beat 'em Up game for the SNES and Genesis was advertised as featuring a soundtrack composed by Green Jelly (later Green Jello) - who came up with an original title tune and Suspiciously Similar Songs to metal classics for the rest of the game. Most notable as well as fitting was Black Sabbath's "The Mob Rules" for boss fights. Unsurprising considering the band is best known for its copyright infringement lawsuits from Metallica for using their riffs in their songs ("Electric Harley House of Love" went as far as lampshading it).
• The theme to 'Splosion Man sounds very similar to "Winston", a song by Ed Bogas from Fritz the Cat.
• The SpongeBob Movie Game's final boss theme sounds similar to "Rock You Like A Hurricane".
  • The music that plays in the Jellfyish Rodeo level in "Revenge Of The Flying Dutchman" sounds incredibly similar to "Oh Susanna."
• The main theme of the Wii Shovelware FPS Spy Games: Elevator Mission is similar to the Dave Brubeck Quartet's "Take 5", but with a 6/4 time signature instead of 5/4.
• Spy Hunter (1983) of course used the Peter Gunn theme for its main music, and supposedly this was licensed. Ironically, Super Spy Hunter, which was not originally titled as a sequel, instead being named Battle Formula in Japanese, used a Suspiciously Similar Song to Peter Gunn music in its second stage.
  • In another ironic twist, the Spy Hunter game also provides an aversion of this trope. The makers of the game originally wanted to use the James Bond theme song, but couldn't obtain the rights to it. Instead of using a Suspiciously Similar Song to it, they went with the Peter Gunn theme.
  • Also in Super Spy Hunter, the Stage 1-1 BGM sounds like the overworld theme from Fester's Quest.
• One track from Squirrel King sounds like a remix of the Donkey Kong Country theme.
• The theme for SWIV sounds a lot like Depeche Mode's "People are People", even going as far as containing samples from the song.
• Star Trek: Voyager Elite Force: Danny Pelfrey manages to rework the Voyager theme into something both new and familiar.
  • The main battle theme from Stella Deus: The Gate of Eternity resembles the refrain of the "Raider's March" as well.
• In Rogue Squadron, the "Volcano Battle" music is a modified version of "The Battle In the Snow" from The Empire Strikes Back. This alternate take is also used in the game's actual Battle of Hoth bonus mission.
• Streets of Rage:
  • The intro music from Streets of Rage sounds similar to Sadeness by Enigma.
  • Streets of Rage 2's stage 4 theme is a faster version of the Shamen's Move Any Mountain.
  • The "Percussion" song from Streets of Rage 3 has a very similar feel to the Peter Gunn theme as well.
• The theme of the first stage of Strider 2, Defeat the Terrorists in the Occupied City sound quite a bit like Ozzy Osbourne's Shot in the Dark.
• In Stuntman, most of the films you work on are Lawyer Friendly Cameos of existing ones, complete with suspiciously familiar music that's surprisingly good in matching the mood of the original while never being identical. For example, see this video of a scene from the latest Dakota Scott movie.
• The Great Plains theme of Super Amazing Wagon Adventure is remarkably similar to Gloria Estefan's "Turn the Beat Around".
• Super Animal Royale uses some for its No Celebrities Were Harmed in-game pop stars. Kelly Larkson's is in a style reminiscent of "Since U Been Gone" (it's much more blatant in the verses, which are only in the full version that's on the soundtrack album), Lady Caw Caw's features a chant like the one from "Bad Romance" over music inspired by "Poker Face"... and if you go up to a bunch of crabs on the beach and do a dance, they'll start dancing to a tune inspired by the Crab Rave meme. Also, bonus points for managing to make a song that's Suspiciously Similar lyrically to a real song despite being in Simlish: Ella Fishgerald's song on the Penguin Palace stage sounds distinctly like "Weather is frightful/Fire delightful/We no place to go/Let snow, snow, snow."
• On the SNES version of Super Battleship, a part of the victory theme sounds similar to the hymn All Glory Laud and Honor.
• Super Double Dragon:
  • The title theme for the US version (also present in the Japanese version's Sound Test) resembles the Enter the Dragon theme.
  • The Airport music is similar to the Lupin III (1978) theme.
  • The music to the Golden Gate Bridge stage in (used for Duke's Hideout in the Japanese version) sounds like the Big Blue theme (with a touch of Port Town's theme) from the F-Zero series.
  • The Forest theme, originally meant for the Bridge mission, sounds like a swing version of the Peter Gunn/Spy Hunter theme.
• The boss theme for the game Super Cat Tales: PAWS is extremely similar to Kirby 64's boss theme.
• The Special theme from Super Gussun Oyoyo is a near-perfect copy of the Japanese/EU version of Tidal Tempest Present from Sonic the Hedgehog CD.
• The second part of the first boss theme from Superman game for Sega Genesis sounds almost exactly like a second part of Stage 6 theme from the Famicom platformer Kaiketsu Yanchamaru 3. Likewise, the Stage 7 theme from Yanchamaru 3 sounds vaguely similar to Stage 1 theme from Superman. Not surprising, considering that both games share the same composer.
• "Into the Super Battle (Stage 1) from Super Star Soldier sounds like "Burning in the Third Degree" from The Terminator.
• In Syphon Filter: The Omega Strain, the first part of the Quarantine Zone "danger" music resembles "The Port of Adia" from Turok 2.
  • Quarantine Zone (Suspense) sounds like Runway from GoldenEye (1997) as well as the theme from Requiem for a Dream.
  • "Warehouse District (Action)" is reminiscent of the Mission: Impossible theme.
  • The techno tune during Syphon Filter 2's opening cutscene and end credits sounds like "Spybreak" by the Propellerheads.
  • The Slums District alert theme in the second game is similar to Cool City by Purple Motion of the Future Crew.

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