From the days of Pac-Man and Donkey Kong, video games have almost always been accompanied by music. Music in video games began as brief jingles to start a level, and then it began to play during the level. As video game systems advanced, their sound capabilities also advanced. With more available channels and new techniques, composers were able to create more elaborate and better sounding pieces.
One of the best things about video game music is that there are so many different kinds. It certainly doesn't fit in a specific genre. Video game music can sound like classical, country, jazz, new age, rock, techno, modern, or ethnic music, as well as many others, plus combinations of any of those. It doesn't have to loop over and over, as there are quite a few pieces that are only meant to be played through once. It isn't necessarily devoid of lyrics, either, as a few CD games feature singing voices.
Of the countless video game tunes that have been written, a few stand out as superior to the rest. They are truly memorable pieces which evoke strong emotion within the listener. They stick in your head, and are easily hummable. They are the masterpieces of their composer.
I have created this page as an homage to these tunes. Here you'll find my personal favorite video game songs. But I certainly haven't played every videogame ever made. That's why I need you. If you've got a favorite piece that isn't in here, by all means send it in! If I deem it worthy, it will be inducted into the Hall of Fame. There are three levels: gold, silver, and bronze, gold being the highest, bronze the lowest, and silver in the middle (of course.) I'll try to place it on an appropriate level. But even I make mistakes. If you think one of the songs is placed too high or too low, mail me and I'll reconsider it.
If you wish to send music to me, please email me at webmaster@gamemusichits.cjb.net. If you have constructive criticism about any of the music I have here, email me at the same address. Notice that I said CONSTRUCTIVE. Do NOT just say "Song X is awful. I can't stand it being on the page. Take it off." Give me a reason, or else I'll ignore you. In the future, this site might actually have a style and images, but I need suggestions. If you want to ask a question dealing with the site, you can email that to me. Before sending any music, please read the next paragraph.About MIDI: MIDI stands for musical instrument digital interface. It is a file format that stores synthesized music in a compact format. Some people think that MIDI quality stinks, and they're partially right. The sound differs vastly depending on your sound card. You're also limited to using the 128 General Midi voices (instruments.) However, due to the fact that no actual sounds are recorded, most MIDI files are minute in size and therefore easy to download. Because MP3s and modules, the other two main types of digital music, are not nearly as small (both can easily be over one megabyte), at present I am only accepting MIDI files. If you want a MIDI of your favorite game song, go to The Videogame Music Archive.
About SPC files: Some of the files on this site are in SPC format. SPC format comes the closest to the original piece, because in one sense SPCs are the original piece. They are recorded from ROMs of SNES games using the emulator ZSNES. The emulator is legal, but the ROMs are not, so the legality of SPCs is questionable. Fair warning. On a less ominous note, you need an SPC player to play SPC files. You can download SPCplay, the commandline player, or SPCAmp, the WinAmp plugin, by going to the ZSNES homepage. GeoCities does not accept SPC files for security reasons, so the "SPC" links point to ZIP files.
All SPC files found on this site can be downloaded here. This file last updated 11/12/01.
One final thing: I don't want remixes/arrangements. Although they can sound quite cool, they often afford a song more quality than it originally had.
About this site: This site was created by me, The Silent One. None of the MIDIs here, however, are my creation; most of them may be found at the Videogame Music Archive. You are free to use them for personal purposes; however, if you wish to put them on your website, you should really get the sequencer's permission. Email me at webmaster@gamemusichits.cjb.net and I'll see if I can get you the sequencer's address. You may link to this site or the files on it as much as you want; I'm not the one paying server costs. If you like this site, tell a friend. If you don't like this site, tell me, and I'll see what I can do to change it.
The video game song of the update is: "First Step Towards Wars" from Y's I.
