Suspiciously Similar Song / Ys

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• In General
  • The item acquisition fanfare used throughout the Ys series is a blatant copy of the item fanfare from Metroid, as admitted by Yuzo Koshiro in his liner notes (see comments for track #17, "Lucky".) Note that the fanfare cribs from the Famicom Disk System version of Metroid specifically, which was the only version released in Japan, and was the basis for later iterations.
  • Dreaming', the climax of Subterranean Canal, Valley of Quicksand, and Theme of Adol '93 all have suspicious similarities to T-Square's "Travelers", and by extension Guile's theme from Street Fighter II. "Quicksand" also cribs elements of the Stage 4 (second half) and Stage 5(first half) themes from Raiden II. In turn, "Tragedy Flame" (Stage 2 & 8) from that game sounds similar to "Ice Ridge of Noltia" from Ys II.
• Ys: Ancient Ys Vanished ~ Omen and Ys II: Ancient Ys Vanished – The Final Chapter
  • "Termination" somewhat resembles "Cross Fire" from Life Force/Salamander, and in turn it has a suspiciously similar song in Gradius III, "Fire Scramble".
  • The primary riff of "Holders of Power" sounds like a faster version of the opening riff of "Flash of the Blade" by Iron Maiden.
  • "Palace", especially the latter half, is also suspiciously similar to their song "Strange World".
  • "Tower of the Shadow of Death" sounds suspiciously similar to BGM 11 from 720 Degrees.
  • "First Step towards Wars" subtly resembles the Inspector Gadget opening theme.
  • Ruins of Moondoria, to Bloody Tears from Castlevania II: Simon's Quest.
  • Moat of Burned Bless sounds suspiciously like Heart of Fire.
  • "Feena" is suspiciously similar to the Metroid title theme. The composer for Super Metroid apparently returned the favor, as "Brinstar Red Soil Swamp Area" sounds suspiciously like "Beat of the Terror".
  • "A Still Time" is similar to the name entry music "Last Wave" from OutRun.
  • The B-section of "Noble District of Toal" is similar to that of "Firecracker".
  • The beginning of "See You Again", the credits theme from the first game, sounds like a cross between Prince's "1999" and Van Halen's "Jump".
  • In the Famicom version of the first game, the True Final Boss theme sounds like the Pac-Man "Game Start" fanfare combined with the Robot Master battle theme from the first Mega Man.
• Ys III: Wanderers from Ys and Ys: The Oath in Felghana
  • The beginning of "A Searing Struggle" resembles "Cross Fire" from Life Force/Salamander. In turn, the first level theme from Jim Power for Amiga and SNES bears a striking resemblance to "A Searing Struggle". Chris Hülsbeck had indeed played Wanderers From Ys before composing the music for Jim Power, but claims that the inspiration was purely subliminal— he had mostly forgotten about the Ys soundtrack by that point.
  • The opening theme to the PC Engine/TurboGrafx-16 CD version of Wanderers From Ys sounds suspiciously like "Try To Star" from the arcade version of Gradius III.
  • Morning of the journey pulls the arpeggio in the beginnins straight from the title theme of Zelda II: The Adventure of Link, specifically from the Japanese Famicom arrangement.
• Ys IV: Mask of the Sun and Ys IV: The Dawn of Ys.
  • "A Great Ordeal" is lifted straight from Yngwie Malmsteen's "Far Beyond the Sun'', being practically note-for-note at several points. The track was conspicuously omitted from the remake, Ys: Memories of Celceta.
  • "Lava Field" sounds very similar to the first level theme from Taito's Demon Sword (Fudou Myouou Den).
  • "Bronze District" is a soundalike of the Area 1 music from The Guardian Legend. Both also resemble the chorus of Spandau Ballet's "Gold".
  • The intro of the Five Disciples theme has a suspicious similarity to Stairway to Heaven by Led Zeppelin.
  • The main melody of A Teary Eyed Young Swordsman sounds like the riff of the italo-disco song Boom Boom Dollar by King Kong & D Jungle Girls.
  • The "House" theme from Dawn of Ys (Riverside Village in Mask of the Sun) is strikingly similar to "Simoon" by Yellow Magic Orchestra.
  • The Bronze District theme in Mask of the Sun is similar to Beginning from Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse
  • Crater, originally composed for Mask of the Sun/Dawn of Ys but not used until Memories of Celceta, sounds like a composite of Aquatic Ruin Zone from Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (A-section) and the Albatross battle theme from Bionic Commando (B-section).
  • "Crimson Wings", particularly the Dawn of Ys arrangement, resembles George Michael's "Careless Whisper".
• Ys VI: The Ark of Napishtim
  • The Ruined City Kishgal sounds like a hybrid of Underwater Rampart from Battle Garegga and Aquarium from RayStorm. "Underwater Rampart" is itself a sped-up ripoff of "Jupiter Jazz" by Underground Resistance.
  • Ernst's Battle Theme Music is a carbon copy of "Moon Over The Castle" from the Gran Turismo series.
  • The boss theme, "Mighty Obstacle", cribs much of its melody from Rainbow's "Gates of Babylon".
  • The Port Rimorge theme, "Reconciled People", especially the intro, is suspiciously similar to the Guardia Millennial Fair theme from Chrono Trigger.