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[West Texas CEO]

The OSTs for Ninja Gaiden and Ninja Gaiden II for the NES were balls out awesome. Some of the best game music to ever come out of the 8 bit era, period.

I think Ninja Gaiden III's OST was competent, but not nearly as tight as the previous two.

And Ninja Gaiden as a series deserves every accolade it gets. One of the great franchises. Always challenging, always fun.

Only the anime was bad.

 

[Punished Miku]

A lot of people really can't grasp how insane Ninja Gaiden 1 actually was. It had music better than anything Uematsu did on NES. Like, A LOT better. It had cinematics better than anything Final Fantasy accomplished on NES or SNES. It was that ahead of its time. Oh and it's one of the best action games of the time period as well.

 

[AJUMP23]

Because the creator looked at the constraints as a way to make some real bangers and not as a hinderance.

 

[Trogdor1123]

A lot of people really can't grasp how insane Ninja Gaiden 1 actually was. It had music better than anything Uematsu did on NES. Like, A LOT better. It had cinematics better than anything Final Fantasy accomplished on NES or SNES. It was that ahead of its time. Oh and it's one of the best action games of the time period as well.

It was awesome but let’s not go overboard here.

 

[Metnut]

Great games. Wish the rebooted series was this style.

 

[Punished Miku]

It was awesome but let’s not go overboard here.

Nothing about that is overboard. That's what I'm trying to get across. People just can't handle how ahead of its time it actually was. Nothing I said is exaggerating. The cinematics are still incredible today, and they were done on an NES. No one listens to Final Fantasy OSTs from the NES at all today or talks about them. Uematsu's 1st great OST was FFIV. And this is from an action game. It's insane.

 

[Bring Back Scalebound]

Holy shit, I LOVE the drums in the Ninja Gaiden 2 OST. They are really lively.

I skipped around the videos, and liked everything I heard beyond the drums too.

I never heard Ninja Gaiden music from that era.

(Battling Precausiously is great!)

 

[IAmRei]

for me, it's gate to heavy metal further back then.
well, this and nes bucky o'hare i think.

 

[Punished Miku]

for me, it's gate to heavy metal further back then.
well, this and nes bucky o'hare i think.

I think it was for a lot of people. Contra as well.





At least one of these guys is in Hella also.

 

[Musashipan]

Very good indeed

 

[TintoConCasera]

Some games came with extra sounds on their cartridges, like Super C, which allowed them to make very cool stuff.

Wonder if the Ninja Gaiden games are amongst those.

 

[IAmRei]

I think it was for a lot of people. Contra as well.





At least one of these guys is in Hella also.

these one, the intro part 2 especially, Konami opens my brain into heavy metal after i heard the song.



this medley is the cumulative of them. very strong

but yes, my first ninja gaiden is NG2,
which the intro itself also open my interest to metals

 

[miklonus]

I'm old so I grew up on this game, I'm here for the praise. This was the first cinematic game for me.

 

[Hollowpoint5557]

I feel the exact same way about Shinobi on Game Gear.

 

[ssringo]

I'm old so I grew up on this game, I'm here for the praise. This was the first cinematic game for me.

Probably the same for all us older folks. I'm struggling to think of another NES game with proper cinematic storytelling. Everything else that I can think of was more simplified and less epic.

 

[Rran]

Nothing about that is overboard. That's what I'm trying to get across. People just can't handle how ahead of its time it actually was. Nothing I said is exaggerating. The cinematics are still incredible today, and they were done on an NES. No one listens to Final Fantasy OSTs from the NES at all today or talks about them. Uematsu's 1st great OST was FFIV. And this is from an action game. It's insane.

FF2 and 3 weren't part of western gamers' childhoods etc but they have pretty great soundtracks in their own right, especially 3. NG has a strong OST as well.

 

[INC]

Limitation breeds creativity

 

[REDRZA MWS]

The OG NES version got me hooked forever on the series. PS1 took it to another level.

 

[Hudo]

It had music better than anything Uematsu did on NES. Like, A LOT better.

Do you mean on a technical level? If so, shouldn't he more apt comparison be to Konami's Castlevania games since these used a special additional chip? At least the Japanese version of Castlevania III did.

Do you mean on a compositional level? I am not sure I would agree here...

 

[cireza]

The sound of metal. Ninja Gaiden has a great soundtrack.

Whenever there is a 8 bit music discussion, I like to leave this in the topic :

 

[cartman414]

Do you mean on a technical level? If so, shouldn't he more apt comparison be to Konami's Castlevania games since these used a special additional chip? At least the Japanese version of Castlevania III did.

Do you mean on a compositional level? I am not sure I would agree here...

Tecmo, Sunsoft and Konami were all S tier when it came to Famicom/NES music. The latter two did have special chips in a few of their games. All 3 knew how to use the special sample channel to get all those awesome beats.

 

[Arsic]

I wish team ninja had continued this franchise.

Feels bad man.

 

[butane bob]

Limitation breeds creativity

You're saying that as someone in 2024 looking back at the NES as "limited". When in fact it wasn't limited at the time at all. It was cutting edge.
Also ninja gaiden style games are a dime a dozen on the NES.

 

[Drell]

Because of the DPCM drums.

 

[INC]

You're saying that as someone in 2024 looking back at the NES as "limited". When in fact it wasn't limited at the time at all. It was cutting edge.
Also ninja gaiden style games are a dime a dozen on the NES.

The soundtrack /midi was limited

Hence my statement

All nes games were, most of mario sound fx are just the music sped up extremely fast, to save space on the cartridge memory

Limitation breed creativity

 

[pepodmc_]

A lot of people really can't grasp how insane Ninja Gaiden 1 actually was. It had music better than anything Uematsu did on NES. Like, A LOT better. It had cinematics better than anything Final Fantasy accomplished on NES or SNES. It was that ahead of its time. Oh and it's one of the best action games of the time period as well.

For me captain tsubasa 2 for Nes is the game with the best soundtrack overall on the system in general.

Another Tecmo game








the cutscenes elevated even more these tracks, its a game with a very good story.
At the point that the manga took this game as a base for the story.

 

[Kagoshima_Luke]

For me it's the Streets of Rage soundtrack. Every time I listen to it, I'm shocked all over again that it was able to be done on the MD/Genesis.

 

[Alebrije]

Not only NG games. Lot of NES games have very good OST

 

[KuraiShidosha]

First videogames I ever played in my life. 1989, was only 2 years old. These games, especially the first one, are ingrained in my DNA. They are in my very humble opinion, the absolute best the NES has to offer and the pinnacle of the 8-bit era.

 

[Kagoshima_Luke]

Oh, and I'll just leave this here:

 

[SHA]

The magic of MIDI.

 

[LavitzSlambert]

The team had a great vision for what the game could be. Keiji Yamagishi and Ryuichi Nitta were in charge of music and sound for NG1 and 2, they also worked on Tecmo Super Bowl which is full of bangers too.

I think Ninja Gaiden III's OST was competent, but not nearly as tight as the previous two.

You would be right, because Yamagishi and Nitta had nothing to do with 3. Almost nobody with creative control remained on that project and that's why it was so disappointing, it basically went against everything that the first two NG games established the series to be.


Also, I always have to drop a recommendation for The Messenger whenever it comes to MIDI soundtracks, or Ninja Gaiden. The game is fucking awesome and the soundtrack by Eric Brown (Rainbowdragoneyes) is killer.

 

[RavageX]

Nothing about that is overboard. That's what I'm trying to get across. People just can't handle how ahead of its time it actually was. Nothing I said is exaggerating. The cinematics are still incredible today, and they were done on an NES. No one listens to Final Fantasy OSTs from the NES at all today or talks about them. Uematsu's 1st great OST was FFIV. And this is from an action game. It's insane.

Gonna have to agree fully.

 

[March Climber]

It was awesome but let’s not go overboard here.

I'm sorry but he's right. Look at this:

Very, very few games were even attempting to be on this level, cinematically. This stuff reminds me of what the team behind MGS: Ghost Babel was doing on the Game Boy Color, and that was a few years after Ninja Gaiden:

 

[digdug2]

I think it was for a lot of people. Contra as well.





At least one of these guys is in Hella also.

This band was my first introduction to math rock in 2004 and I've been a huge fan ever since.