The SNES had an advanced-enough sound chip that it wasn't that restricted in music. The NES was trickier. If we're gonna talk about music in terms of the technical limitations I think it makes more sense to talk about the NES.
I like the rock licks in the Mega Man series (2 and 3 especially). The Super Mario Bros. theme is obviously a classic. These songs focus on melody and rhythms where the chiptune isn't limited. In terms of which games did best at pushing the technology, Journey To Silius is a masterpiece. Castlevania III's worth mentioning too.
It Just Bugs MeNaoki Kodaka is a video game music god. He milks the NES for all it's worth. His Journey To Silius stuff is brilliant and he also pumped out great tracks for Batman and Blaster Master.
He later composed Albert Odyssey: Legend of Eldean for the Saturn, with a lot fewer technical limits....and it's still amazing. RPG music at its best. Here's an excerpt:
edited 21st Oct '10 1:14:21 PM by Longfellow
It Just Bugs Me^^ I didn't know that he composed the soundtrack to Albert Odyssey! I was used to the style of his NES compositions, so I didn't recognize it as one of his own.
This is exactly the kind of videogame music to show to somebody who thinks that game music isn't "real music"!
edited 21st Oct '10 1:51:17 PM by Fuzy2K
You can not go to Utah again after you have eaten Utah and have not eaten.Also. The Underworld Theme.
is pretty rockin'. Then there is also the obligary Super Mario Bros. Overworld Theme
, Legend Of Zelda Overworld Theme
for the NES and the Super Mario World Overworld Theme
for the SNES.
edited 21st Oct '10 4:04:21 PM by PippingFool
I'm having to learn to pay the priceIf you try even older systems than this, the music for Prohibition was way cool.
(note that this is both a cracked version and an old one. I used to have a version with a taller screen and a picture showing the main character hide behind a wall. (Edit: And the "kill the mob boss" sequence that's missing in this version)
I could never find an emulated version that had both these traits and the "save high scores on disk" feature my copy had.
edited 23rd Oct '10 6:49:31 AM by Medinoc
"And as long as a sack of shit is not a good thing to be, chivalry will never die."![]()
Quite the contrary, the three questions were for cheat options (unlimited lives, unlimited time, and unlimited hiding) embedded in the crack. If any of the first two are enabled, the game can never end since it's (as far as I know) a Kobayashi Mario.
Then, the bit with the arrow symbols was simply the user redyfining the keys for his use (I usually used O/P/Q/A with space for fire an Esc for hide).
edited 23rd Oct '10 6:51:20 AM by Medinoc
"And as long as a sack of shit is not a good thing to be, chivalry will never die."

Bleep bleep bloop.
Old gaming systems had limited capabilities. Very limited capabilities. To get an image consisting of a few pixels and barely enough colors to fill a hand with to look good, you had to know just where to put those pixels. And to make the music sound good... you needed mad skills.
But restrictions breed creativity! To make the most of the tools you're given... It takes effort, smarts and finesse. But if you managed to pull it off and created a great composition using what little you had to work with, the results will be amazing. To anyone who doesn't have to hold their ears shut anyway.
So, on all those older gaming consoles (perhaps including somewhat newer ones with limited capabilities, like the GBA?), which do you think is the most well-composed song on each?
For the NES, I can't think of anything better than the famous Ducktales Moon Theme
. The high-pitched bleeps help the atmosphere with a sweet-sounding melody of chimes, with the bloops providing back-up in the background, and the blaaps (for lack of a better word) create a catchy, fun and energetic melody. The tracks aren't overstated and the whole thing manages to sound very clean aside from the natural shrillness of the high notes that can't be helped with an NES. Around the :39 mark in that video, it even manages one of those hard-to-describe things that I adore in songs.
It just doesn't get better than that.
So when you're working with such limited and shrill sounds, your best bet for composing nice-sounding music is probably to be subtle. That, or you can go ahead and embrace it all like you mean it. The Gameboy has even more limited capabilities, and the Route 27 theme
from Gold/Silver makes the best possible use of the shrill crassness for a seriously badass marching tune. Feel the rawness! Tune up the volume and let it shake your bones! It makes the updated version
sound like elevator music!
Now, the SNES... I'm supposed to pick one? That's a decision no man should be forced to make.