Dcubed Posted September 15, 2016 Share Posted September 15, 2016 (edited) Games with fantastic music? That's so blasé... This topic is about something way more interesting... Sound effects and sound design! The great unsung heroes of our favourite games! In this topic, we celebrate the games that delight our eardrums, not with their music (though they might well have great tunes as well), but just their sound effects and general sound design! To kick things off, I'm gonna go ahead and mention two of my favourite games for their sound effects... Banjo Kazooie/Tooie This one just goes without saying really. From the ridiculous "voices" to the sounds of farting and flushing; these games' sound effects are every bit as musical as the background tunes! (and let's also not forget how gloriously interactive the music was as well, even navigating the file select screen is a joy because of how the music changes dynamically!) I can only pray that Yooka-Laylee follows its fine tradition! Star Fox 64 Those oh so meaty and satisfying explosions! Koji Kondo may have not worked on the soundtrack, but he did create all the sound effects! And it shows! Oh and while we're at it, Star Fox Zero needs to be commended for its absolutely amazing 5.1 surround sound mix! It's astoundingly good! Especially when you combine it with the Gamepad 3D Audio effect! It's easily the most impressive surround sound effect I've ever every heard in any game! They were clearly very proud of the sound design in that game and for good reason! If you're not playing it in 5.1, you're only getting half of the experience! There's obviously plenty more examples that I could mention (eagerly awaits someone posting about Mario's lovable hamster esc footstep sounds in SM64), but I'm handing it over to you! Post and rave about the games whose sound effects and sound design just make you smile! Edited September 15, 2016 by Dcubed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glen-i Posted September 15, 2016 Share Posted September 15, 2016 I really like the sound effects in the Golden Sun GBA games. They really hammer home the point that "This attack hurts". Spark Plasma is a particularly satisfying one. It's just one sound effect, but somehow repeating it over and over makes it sound 10 times more painful! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dwarf Posted September 16, 2016 Share Posted September 16, 2016 Crazy Taxi 1) announcer's voice 2) near-miss dollar bonus when zooming past cars SSX 1) Score announcer e.g 'Trick boost!' 2) Slo-mo music and rapid score-ticker when pulling off tricks 3) Voice acting of Moby character 4) Glass shatter shortcuts Super Stardust HD - score multiplier/general bleep sfx Dark Souls 1) menu music/selection sfx 2) swordplay sfx Smash Bros. Melee - everything Metroid Prime - everything Zelda OoT - everything WipEout HD - Could play your own music, which would warp when entering and exiting tunnels. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drahkon Posted September 16, 2016 Share Posted September 16, 2016 Not sure if it fits the"sound effects and sound design" topic but I found the music levels in Rayman Legends incredibly well designed. God, I want a new Rayman game... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bob Posted September 17, 2016 Share Posted September 17, 2016 The sound design in Battlefront is pretty awesome. Of course, most of that is just how good the Star Wars sounds and music are, but I think they use them well. Really immersive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happenstance Posted September 17, 2016 Share Posted September 17, 2016 I was just coming here to post about Battlefield's sound design as well. Really good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dcubed Posted September 17, 2016 Author Share Posted September 17, 2016 Not sure if it fits the"sound effects and sound design" topic but I found the music levels in Rayman Legends incredibly well designed. God, I want a new Rayman game... That definitely fits the topic! It's anything involving sound effects or overall sound design (interactive music, surround sound, reverb and EQ effects, clever editing etc). Those levels were pretty great, definitely my favourite part of that game Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ashley Posted September 17, 2016 Share Posted September 17, 2016 Mark Brown actually did a video about adaptive soundtracks (which is kind of on point...) and it mentions a lot of Nintendo titles: I imagine it's because they were such a part of our collective childhoods, but Nintendo's use of sound effects is still quite revered. I was reading about how some company (forget which and where I was reading this) that has a dashboard of various details and every time a new user signs up it plays the Super Mario World coin sound and every time they get something like 100 sign ups a day it plays the fanfare at the end of a level. With that and Zelda they know how to use sound effects as feedback. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fierce_LiNk Posted September 18, 2016 Share Posted September 18, 2016 Cool thread. I grew up being a massive fan of Ridley Scott's Alien and each of the subsequent sequels. The original holds a special place in my heart and a large part of that is down to the look of the Nostromo ship, the sounds, the aesthetics of the machinery and clothing that the crew wore. It felt very metallic in places yet warm and homely, too. The sound of the sirens as Ripley made her escape stayed with me for a very long time, as did the footsteps of the deadly Alien as it prowled the corridors. Alien : Isolation absolutely nailed all of these aspects, most notably the sound design. It is like somebody created a portal that you could jump into and land in Ridley Scott's nightmare. It's fantastic. Even down to the little details like the sounds of the air shafts opening and closing, the doors opening and making a thudding sound as they slam shut, the sound of your footsteps on the ground, the sirens echoing throughout the hallway, the motion tracker detecting signs of movement...it's all perfect. I'm a huge fan of that game anyway, but the sound design contributed so much to it being more than just an average horror game. The AI, the graphics, the lighting, sound and gameplay all came together to make one of my most memorable experiences of the past decade. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nolan Posted September 18, 2016 Share Posted September 18, 2016 P.T. The sound obviously helps to set the atmosphere, but more than that it had a actual gameplay mechanic. Listening for the double footsteps, to know if it's safe or not, the requirement of an actual headset/microphone just to beat the demo. No More Heroes The boss themes were particularly fantastic, and every sound effect was essentially a tell of some sort. Incoming attacks, blocked attacks, low battery, battery full. Simple things, but useful and under utilized in some games that could use audio tells. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dwarf Posted September 18, 2016 Share Posted September 18, 2016 Mark Brown actually did a video about adaptive soundtracks (which is kind of on point...) and it mentions a lot of Nintendo titles: I imagine it's because they were such a part of our collective childhoods, but Nintendo's use of sound effects is still quite revered. I was reading about how some company (forget which and where I was reading this) that has a dashboard of various details and every time a new user signs up it plays the Super Mario World coin sound and every time they get something like 100 sign ups a day it plays the fanfare at the end of a level. With that and Zelda they know how to use sound effects as feedback. Thanks for posting, this channel is dope. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedShell Posted September 20, 2016 Share Posted September 20, 2016 Splatoon is a good recent example. The fact that they bothered to have varying splash sound effects (relative to the height of your dive into the ink) is impressive, and there are quite a lot of very subtle audio details like that throughout the game. You must have JavaScript enabled on your device to view Miiverse posts that have been embedded in a website. View post in Miiverse Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ganepark32 Posted September 21, 2016 Share Posted September 21, 2016 Surprised it hasn't been mentioned yet but The Witcher 3 has some of the best sound design I've heard in a game. Turning off the music and just listening to the ambient sounds is incredible and really does help to flesh out the world they've built. The attention to detail in that when you're out in the middle of nowhere, with the trees and bushes rustling and birds chirping, or in towns and cities is amazing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kav Posted September 22, 2016 Share Posted September 22, 2016 Metroid Prime Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drahkon Posted November 23, 2016 Share Posted November 23, 2016 Can't believe I didn't mention the incredible Crypt of the Necrodancer. Skip to 1:55 to hear one of the things I love about the game's sound design. The shopkeeper chimes in and sings And in zone 3 there's a switch in music style depending on what "colour" you're on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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