The Absolute Best Music on a Genesis/MD!

Like the title implies, I'm trying to compile a list of the absolute best music available for the Sega Genesis/MD. I know perspective, nostalgia and personal opinions have a lot to do with it, but I welcome all three anyways.

So, if there was a list of, say, 5, 10 or 20 titles that provide the very best music for the Genesis/MD, what games do you think should be included?

P.S.> This thread goes hand-in-hand with "The Absolute Best-looking Titles on a Genesis/MD!" and "The Absolute Best Gameplay on a Genesis/MD!"

MUSHA gets my vote as some of the best music ever on the Genny.

umm sonic 1 and 2

Vectorman is definatly on there. And Comix Zone for that matter.

Thunder Force 3
Sword of Vermillion
Wonderboy in monster world
Streets of Rage 2
Joe and Mac

Not sure about best music overall, but Earthworm Jim (and EWJ2 especially) have to be the best use of the generally mediocre to downright poor GEMS sound engine of any MD/Genesis title.

I agree with kool kitty89 about EWJ and GEMS.

- This would be the much more interesting conversation btw: Find out which games using GEMS aren't totally unbearable.



Finding the good music on MD however is extremely easy. Just take this list and cross out all games using GEMS, Sound Images/Accolade' or Electronic Arts' sound drivers and you'll end up with a list of the absolute best MD music.

Ristar
Alien3
Mega Turrican
Thunder Force III and IV
Contra Hard Corps
Wiz 'n' Liz
Sonic 3 & Knuckles
Verytex
Sonic 3D Flickies' Island
Soleil / Crusader of Centy
Battle Mania Daiginjou
Devilish / Bad Omen
Midnight Resistance
Socket / Time Dominator #1
Streets of Rage 2
Batman
Adventures of Batman & Robin
Red Zone
Sub Terrania
Zero Wing
GleyLancer

I think I have enough titles from my side for now


and Christuserloeser is is quite right about the list, though most of the unknown customs are crap too and need to be taken off :P

Streets of rage series
Combat cars
Shinobi
Wonderboy 5
Sonic 1-3

Midnight resistance!

Alien3
Battle Mania Daiginjou
Batman
Devilish / Bad Omen
Dragon Slayer 1-2
Elemental Master
Chuck Rock 2
Gauntlet IV
Hybrid Front, The
Langrisser II
Master of Monsters
Midnight Resistance
Mega Turrican
Ristar
Rolling Thunder 3
Star Cruiser
Sub Terrania
Sonic 2, Sonic 3 & Knuckles
Sonic 3D Flickies' Island
Socket / Time Dominator #1
Streets of Rage 2
Thunder Force III and IV
Verytex
Zero Wing

There are many more... :) I once tried to cover them all in a similar project: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=859n2...response_watch

Hey, your list overlaps with mine quite a lot :)

Ecco 1
Streets of Rage 1
Sonic 1/2/3
Aladdin
Golden Axe 2
Turtles Tournament Fighters
Shining Force 1
Comix Zone

Phantasy Star II
Phantasy Star IV
VectorMan
VectorMan 2
Sonic the Hedgehog
Monster World IV

Flashback
Ecco the Dolphin
Sonic CD

Toejam & Earl and Streets of Rage 1 & 2.

While the music in MUSHA absolutely fits the game, I think it just doesn't click on its own.
Now what I'd definitely have in my portable mp3 are Streets of Rage 1, Zero Wing, Sol-Deace, Verytex, Thunder Force III/IV, Jewel Master and Gaiares (just found out about the awesomeness of this one - 3rd stage onwards at least).

Midnight Resistance
Hellfire
Mega Turrican
Streets of Rage 2
Streets of Rage
McDonald's Treasure Land Adventure
Air Buster
ESWAT: City Under Siege

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Christuserloeser

Finding the good music on MD however is extremely easy. Just take this list and cross out all games using GEMS, Sound Images/Accolade' or Electronic Arts' sound drivers and you'll end up with a list of the absolute best MD music.

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Some early Saga games (particularly pre-SMPS) are kind of bland sounding, not bad, but bland, like Altered Beast, Golden Axe, or Columns. (kind of have an adlib/soundblaster sound like GEMS, not the unbearable GEMS stuff, more like the bland GEMS like in Aladdin or Comix Zone)
Toy Story uses GEMS fairly well as well.

Now, I don't think anyone's mentioned Crusater of Centy yet, awsome music.

Streets of Rage 2
Sonic the Hedgehog 2
Sonic the Hedgehog 3
Comix Zone
Shinobi III: Return of the Ninja Master
Michael Jackson's Moonwalker

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Kollision

While the music in MUSHA absolutely fits the game, I think it just doesn't click on its own.
Now what I'd definitely have in my portable mp3 are Streets of Rage 1, Zero Wing, Sol-Deace, Verytex, Thunder Force III/IV, Jewel Master and Gaiares (just found out about the awesomeness of this one - 3rd stage onwards at least).

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i agree the opening theme is pure awesomeness and galvanic gear(second stage) is the single greatest track in the history of video games and is one of my favorite songs be it video game or anything. but the soundtrack as a whole is pretty overrated

my top 10 genesis soundtracks in no perticular order

shinobi 3
revenge of shinobi
musha
streets of rage
streets of rage 2
sonic the hedgehog 2
castlevania bloodlines
road rash 3
eternal champions
ecco the dolphin

highly underrated soundtracks: beavis and butthead(some pretty heavy tunes) bill walsh college football 95(hard to believe but what little music there is is pretty top notch as if ea actually put some effort into it)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Jesse813

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not too shabby!

Streets of Rage 3 (someone had to say it)
Out Run 2019
The Ooze
Comix Zone
Contra Hard Corps
Phantasy Star IV
Toejam & Earl in Panic on Funkotron
Mega Turrican
Adventures of Batman & Robin
Sub-Terrania
Red Zone
GleyLancer
Sonic 3
Sonic 3D Blast
Outlander
ResQ
Viewpoint
Soldiers of Fortune
Skeleton Krew

Sorcerian, the Fm synth sounds identical or even better than the PC MT-32 version.

Sorcerian :Underground Dungeon


Sorcerian: Menu


Sorcerian: The Dragon King

These are probably my absolute favorite Genesis soundtracks-

Streets of Rage (entire series, with 2 taking the cake)
Shining Force 2
Shinobi 3
Gunstar Heroes
Castlevania Bloodlines
Vectorman
Phantasy Star IV

OT but what do you guys think of this http://wagz.siamey.com/

Also I wish someone would bother to make more covers for Shinobi 3 tracks. They're absolutely awesome.



Edit - Who else thinks MK2 has the best score in an MD fighting game? Comparing it to the generic MIDI music of the PC port it's brilliant.:p
Edit - I can't fathom why SoR3 music doesn't get more love. It's possibly the 'thumpiest' soundtrack played on 16-bit technology!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Pulstar

OT but what do you guys think of this http://wagz.siamey.com/

Also I wish someone would bother to make more covers for Shinobi 3 tracks. They're absolutely awesome.



Edit - Who else thinks MK2 has the best score in an MD fighting game? Comparing it to the generic MIDI music of the PC port it's brilliant.:p
Edit - I can't fathom why SoR3 music doesn't get more love. It's possibly the 'thumpiest' soundtrack played on 16-bit technology!

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I completely agree. SoR3 is much more experimental than the others, which is the only reason why I think many people aren't as fond of it. I personally love it.

This is one of the best tracks in the series.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Pulstar

OT but what do you guys think of this http://wagz.siamey.com/

Also I wish someone would bother to make more covers for Shinobi 3 tracks. They're absolutely awesome.



Edit - Who else thinks MK2 has the best score in an MD fighting game? Comparing it to the generic MIDI music of the PC port it's brilliant.:p
Edit - I can't fathom why SoR3 music doesn't get more love. It's possibly the 'thumpiest' soundtrack played on 16-bit technology!

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thank you so much for posting this its definitely my fav shinobi tune(maybe tied with mandara) ive heard china town and some sor 2 tracks covered on piano but i didnt know anyone took the time to cover whirlwind its pretty awesome!!!

how do you guys put youtube vids in youre posts i cant figure it out

Quote:

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Originally Posted by shinobimusashi

how do you guys put youtube vids in youre posts i cant figure it out

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Click the youtube button at the top of the message body and insert the video number (comes after watch=) in the URL of the video.

Alas, no music from the Genesis has really moved me that much, at least not that I can remember.

To date, the only music that has really moved me was the music from the Wewelsburg: Dark Camelot Valhalla level from MOH: Underground for the PS1. Particularly, the low-key notes before you enter the castle. Definitely eerie and mood setting.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by deadpixels

Click the youtube button at the top of the message body and insert the video number (comes after watch=) in the URL of the video.

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You can also do it manually by inserting the video number bracketed by "[youtube]" followed by "[-slash-youtube]"
or "[music]" "[-slash-music]" for just the audio.
like so:

Shining Force II has some awesome music.

Most of the the games I would list are already posted on the first page. But so far I guess I'm the only one that likes the music in Phantasy Star III. I love PSIII's music.

#1 Adventures of Batman and Robin
#2 Contra/Probotector
#3 ThunderForce III
#4 Gauntlet

I'm gonna take another stab at this topic:

Here's my updated list:

Castlevania Bloodlines (probably the most incredible soundtrack on the Genesis or for any game period)

Mega Turrican (awesome soundtrack)

ESWAT: City Under Siege (godly music for early gen)

Midnight Resistance (incredible soundtrack for another early gen title)

Sparkster (yep I'm serious, some great music here)

Hellfire (great soundtrack for a shmup)

Streets of Rage 1&2 (both have incredible soundtracks)

McDonald's Treasure Land Adventure (some of that music blows me away)

Earthworm Jim 2 (my god, the music is incredible here. It's easily some of the best on the Genesis period.)

Aladdin (godly music)

Trouble Shooter Vintage (some thumpin' high powered tunes)

Comix Zone (a late gen title that shows it's technical power in every category including musical score)

Decap Attack (great music here)

Marko's Magic Football (some great tunes in certain levels)

Those are the ones that stand out in particular. There are many others that have good music in their own right though.

Musha i think has the best audio track

Just off the top of my head.I grew up playing most of these games, and I never understood why people said the Genesis had bad music.IMO real VGM died with the Genesis.