50 Fun Facts About Video Game Music

Which puzzle game's best-known Game Boy tune is an arrangement of the Russian folk song Korobeiniki?

Tetris got its Game Boy 'Type A' tune in 1989, when Nintendo's Hirokazu Tanaka rearranged a song about a peddler haggling with a girl. The folk song grew out of an 1861 poem.

Which pop star composed music for Sonic the Hedgehog 3 but left the project and went uncredited?

Michael Jackson's part was only a fan rumour until a Sega studio director mentioned it in a 2005 interview. Sources still disagree on how much of his music stayed in the finished 1994 game.

Which strategy game's theme, Baba Yetu, became the first piece of video game music to win a Grammy Award?

Civilization IV opens with Christopher Tin's setting of the Lord's Prayer in Swahili. The Grammy came in 2011, six years after the game, once Tin had re-released the piece on his debut album.

Which British music legend wrote and recorded the song Hope for the Future for the 2014 shooter Destiny?

Paul McCartney also worked with composer Martin O'Donnell on Music of the Spheres, an eight-movement symphonic suite written for the game and finished in 2013.

Which sandbox game has a gentle ambient soundtrack by the German musician known as C418?

Minecraft's composer, Daniel Rosenfeld, met creator Markus Persson on an indie developers' forum and made the sound effects too. His albums Volume Alpha and Volume Beta collect the score.

Which composer's Super Mario Bros. theme was the first video game tune in the US National Recording Registry?

Koji Kondo wrote six pieces for the 1985 game and said this one took him the longest. The Library of Congress added it in 2023 for its cultural significance.

Which company designed the Super Nintendo's sound chip, years before launching a rival console of its own?

Sony engineer Ken Kutaragi took on the chip in secret and was nearly fired when his bosses found out. He is now known as the father of the PlayStation.

Which arcade game inspired a novelty hit by Buckner & Garcia that reached the US top ten in 1982?

Pac-Man Fever peaked at number 9 on the Billboard Hot 100 in March 1982. The duo's follow-up single, Do the Donkey Kong, stalled at number 103.

Which PlayStation game was scored by Gustavo Santaolalla, a two-time Oscar-winning composer from Argentina?

The Last of Us was Gustavo Santaolalla's first game score, after Oscars for Brokeback Mountain and Babel. He had refused other developers' offers, wanting a project focused on story and characters.

Which Xbox launch game opens with a theme of chanting monks co-written by composer Martin O'Donnell?

Halo: Combat Evolved got its monks from O'Donnell, his writing partner and three colleagues they had recorded jingles with. The theme was first heard at the game's 1999 Macworld unveiling.

Which Final Fantasy composer was working in a Tokyo music rental shop when a Square employee offered him work?

Nobuo Uematsu took the job as a way to make some money on the side and kept his part-time shift at the shop. Classic FM has since called him the Beethoven of game music.

Which 2005 rhythm game from Harmonix was sold in a bundle with a miniature Gibson SG controller?

Guitar Hero came from Harmonix and publisher RedOctane, who wanted to bring a game like Japan's Guitar Freaks to the United States. The launch bundle cost $69.99.

Which Japanese company created both the arcade dance hit Dance Dance Revolution and the DJ game Beatmania?

Konami launched Beatmania in Japanese arcades in December 1997 and renamed its music-game division Bemani in the hit's honour. The controller copies a DJ's mixer and turntable.

Which 2007 game ends with the song Still Alive, sung over the credits by the villainous computer GLaDOS?

Portal's closing song was written by Jonathan Coulton and sung by Ellen McLain, who voices GLaDOS. Two Valve developers commissioned it from Coulton, himself a fan of the studio's Half-Life games.

Which wind instrument does Link play with the controller's buttons in his 1998 Nintendo 64 Zelda adventure?

An ocarina gives the game its title, and Link learns 12 melodies on it to solve puzzles and teleport. The Nintendo 64 controller's button layout resembles the instrument's holes.

Which role-playing game has a main theme sung by a choir in a fictional dragon language?

Skyrim composer Jeremy Soule recorded a choir of 30 men and layered three takes to sound like 90 voices. The game's director had pictured the series theme sung by barbarians.

Which Grand Theft Auto game filled its car radios with licensed 1980s hits, also sold as a seven-album box set?

Vice City is a fictional Miami in 1986, so the developers researched the decade's music to fill its stations. It also has about three times as much talk radio as Grand Theft Auto III.

Which rock band's logo decorates ammo boxes in the 1996 shooter Quake, a nod to the group that made its soundtrack?

Nine Inch Nails and frontman Trent Reznor built the score from ambient soundscapes and synthesized drones. The logo sits on the ammunition for the Nailgun, and Reznor voices the protagonist.

Which Britpop band licensed its hit Song 2 as the theme music for FIFA: Road to World Cup 98?

Blur agreed to the deal on condition that the band got free tickets to the 1998 World Cup final. Guitarist Graham Coxon has said the song began as a joke on their record company.

Which fighting series inspired the dance track Techno Syndrome, built on a shout sampled from a TV advert?

Mortal Kombat lent its name to the scream, sampled from the 'Mortal Monday' advert for the home console release. The Immortals' track grew more famous still through the 1995 film.

One-Winged Angel, with Latin lyrics drawn from Carmina Burana, is the theme of which Final Fantasy villain?

Sephiroth grows a single black wing in the game's final battle, echoing the title of his theme. The designers kept players chasing him so they would not face him until very late.

Which monster-catching series got its first Game Boy music from the composer and programmer Junichi Masuda?

Pokémon's first games had Masuda writing the music, the sound effects and even the program that played them. He counts the Russian composer Shostakovich among his inspirations.

In which Nintendo series does a musical dog named K.K. Slider perform for the villagers once a week?

Animal Crossing's travelling musician is a caricature of Nintendo composer Kazumi Totaka. His Japanese name, Totakeke, is a contraction of Totaka K.

Which band got its own Rock Band game in 2009, sold with a controller modelled on a Höfner bass?

The Beatles: Rock Band grew out of a chance meeting between an MTV president and George Harrison's son Dhani. A Ludwig drum controller was sold in the bundle too.

Which Hollywood film composer provided the main theme for the 2009 shooter Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2?

Hans Zimmer wrote only the theme, and Lorne Balfe composed the rest of the score. The soundtrack's iTunes page wrongly listed him as its sole composer.

Which battle royale game hosted an in-game Marshmello concert in February 2019 that drew over 10 million players?

Fortnite followed the Marshmello set with in-game shows by Travis Scott, Ariana Grande and Metallica. The events often bring themed outfits for players' characters.

Which 1978 arcade shooter has a looping four-note bassline that speeds up as the player destroys the enemies?

Space Invaders owes its sound to Michiyuki Kamei, who spent four to five months on the audio circuitry while also working on another game. The aliens speed up along with the bassline.

What name is given to electronic music made with the sound hardware of vintage consoles and home computers?

Chiptune is also called 8-bit music, though not all of it is 8-bit. Early sound chips had so few voices that producing rich harmony was one of its composers' main challenges.

Which 1993 shooter has a Bobby Prince soundtrack inspired by bands such as Alice in Chains and Pantera?

Doom designer John Romero asked for techno and heavy riffs, while Prince argued for ambient music and wrote both. He composed the tracks before the levels were finished.

Which indie game has a big band score that topped a Billboard jazz chart?

Cuphead's 51 tracks were performed by jazz and big band musicians under composer Kristofer Maddigan. Guinness lists it as the first game to reach first place on a Billboard chart.

Which composer made the Streets of Rage soundtracks on an outdated PC-8801 using his own audio programming language?

Yuzo Koshiro, a dance music fan who names Soul II Soul among his favourite Western bands, kept it in the family: his sister Ayano designed characters for the same games.

Which British composer wrote the underwater piece Aquatic Ambience for the Super Nintendo's Donkey Kong Country?

David Wise was demonstrating a music computer in a shop when two customers, Rare founders Tim and Chris Stamper, offered him a job. He had written the demo tunes himself.

Which Super Nintendo role-playing game gave its main composer, Yasunori Mitsuda, stomach ulcers from overwork?

Chrono Trigger went to Mitsuda only after he gave a Square executive an ultimatum: let him compose or he would quit. A veteran colleague finished the remaining tracks while he was in hospital.

In the 16-bit classic Final Fantasy VI, the heroine Celes famously takes the stage in which kind of show?

An opera gives the game its best-loved scene, yet nobody really sings: the Super Nintendo's sound chip could not manage a vocal track, so a synthesized 'voice' carries the aria.

Which composer wrote all but three pieces of the Street Fighter II soundtrack before leaving Capcom for Square?

Yoko Shimomura joined Capcom straight from the Osaka College of Music in 1988. She later named the fighting game's soundtrack as one of the three turning points of her career.

Which Super Nintendo title, packaged with a mouse, included a music composer that fans still use for covers?

Mario Paint bundled its composer with a drawing editor, an animation program and a fly-swatting minigame, all built around the Super NES Mouse. Fans make remixes within its limits.

Which Japanese instrument maker developed the FM synthesis sound chip inside the Sega Genesis?

Yamaha gave the chip six FM channels, making it a stripped-down relative of its YM2608. Some early Genesis music was even written around the distortion in its output.

Masato Nakamura, composer of the first two Sonic the Hedgehog games, is the bassist of which J-pop band?

Dreams Come True formed in 1988 and went on to sell over 50 million CDs. Nakamura was in the middle of recording the band's fourth album while he wrote the first game's music.

Which 1991 Sega Genesis game has a jazz-funk soundtrack inspired by Herbie Hancock and The Headhunters?

ToeJam & Earl parodies 1980s and early-'90s urban culture, and its score has been described as both jazz-funk and hip-hop. A sequel sent the pair home to the planet Funkotron.

Which opening level of the first Sonic the Hedgehog has a famous theme written by Masato Nakamura?

Green Hill Zone was built by level designer Hirokazu Yasuhara, and beating Dr. Robotnik there sends Sonic on to the lava-themed Marble Zone.

Which indie game has a soundtrack written entirely by its creator Toby Fox, including the boss theme Megalovania?

Undertale's best-known track had a life before the game: Megalovania first appeared in one of Fox's EarthBound ROM hacks and in the webcomic Homestuck.

Which role-playing series has theme songs written and performed by pop star Hikaru Utada, including Simple and Clean?

Kingdom Hearts players in Japan know Utada's first theme by another name, Hikari, and Simple and Clean is its English version. Utada wrote and performed themes for two sequels as well.

Bloody Tears, first heard in the NES sequel Simon's Quest, is a recurring song in which series?

Castlevania's heroes, the Belmont clan, have battled Count Dracula for centuries with a whip called the Vampire Killer. Simon's Quest swapped pure platforming for a world map to explore.

Which stealth series brought in film composer Harry Gregson-Williams for its 2001 sequel Sons of Liberty?

Metal Gear Solid creator Hideo Kojima picked him after watching the action film The Replacement Killers. Gregson-Williams shared the score with Norihiko Hibino.

Which 1995 PlayStation racing game courted clubbers with tracks by Leftfield, The Chemical Brothers and Orbital?

Wipeout was aimed at a fashionable, club-going audience, with packaging art by The Designers Republic. A mock-up of it even appears in a nightclub scene in the 1995 film Hackers.

Which indie game had the first video game score nominated for the visual media soundtrack Grammy?

Journey composer Austin Wintory left his first meeting about the game and had the core of the main theme before he reached his car. He recorded its cello melody that same night.

Which Dragon Quest composer conducted one of the first video game music concerts at Tokyo's Suntory Hall in 1987?

Koichi Sugiyama arranged the first two games' music as symphonic suites for the Tokyo Strings Ensemble. He went on to hold his Family Classic Concerts in Japan every year until 2019.

Which home computer's SID sound chip was designed by Bob Yannes, who later co-founded the synthesizer firm Ensoniq?

Commodore 64 owners got a chip that Yannes and a small team finished in five months in 1981. He was unimpressed by the computer sound chips of the day and drew on synthesizer design instead.

Which studio patented iMUSE, a system that makes music change seamlessly to match the action on screen?

LucasArts composers built the system out of frustration with the audio tools used on The Secret of Monkey Island. One of them likened it to a pit orchestra waiting for its cues.

Which composer scored the first Medal of Honor games before winning an Academy Award for Pixar's Up?

Michael Giacchino scored the first four Medal of Honor games and the original Call of Duty. His Oscar for Up was Pixar's first ever win for Best Original Score.