Worst NES game music

[BlackVega | 583]

So there are a handful of topics regarding great, beautiful and superb blasting tracks composed for NES sound chip but how about the polar opposite? How about music that is so awful, foul, disgusting and impossible to listen to to the point you wonder how did they even get away with releasing such sludge to the general public??

I suspect over 80% of posts are going to consist unlicensed titles. However here I have something that is licensed actually and I think I have a contender and winner of this category. This is Sherlock Holmes for NES. I heard better music from old electronic toys. Every time I hear this my ears literally just bleed. Just WTF man???

 

Edited July 1, 2023 by BlackVega

[MagusSmurf | 577]

 

[Famicuber | 54]

For NES, easily the second level of Rocky and Bullwinkle for me, especially with the bombs that corrupts the audio to make it actually ear-piercingly high in pitch at some points.

If we're counting FDS as well, I'm going for a very obscure title that was given attention by a veteran NES audio ripper in the NESDev Discord server called "Titanic Mystery: Ao No Senritsu". That title theme and other music in the game is pure pain to listen.

 

Edited July 1, 2023 by Famicuber

[guitarzombie | 927]

Rocky and Bullwinkle, as well as Terminator.  Both made by Radical Entertainment

[Estil | 1,265]

Or as Jeff Rovin would say, ones that sound like a kazoo or a toy out of a cereal box?  Or as Garfield once said, it merits a D and it smells and sounds like a zoo!  

[DefaultGen | 5,423]

9 hours ago, BlackVega said:

So there are a handful of topics regarding great, beautiful and superb blasting tracks composed for NES sound chip but how about the polar opposite? How about music that is so awful, foul, disgusting and impossible to listen to to the point you wonder how did they even get away with releasing such sludge to the general public??

I suspect over 80% of posts are going to consist unlicensed titles. However here I have something that is licensed actually and I think I have a contender and winner of this category. This is Sherlock Holmes for NES. I heard better music from old electronic toys. Every time I hear this my ears literally just bleed. Just WTF man???

 

Lmao, I just recorded a podcast last week where this game came up, we looked it up live, and I said it had to be the worst 8-bit music I'd ever heard!

@Johnny This game is notable now.

Edited July 1, 2023 by DefaultGen

[Tulpa | 3,526]

 

And how it was supposed to be:

I mean, without the synthesizer, it's still not great, but at least you can hear what they're going for.

Edited July 2, 2023 by Tulpa

[DefaultGen | 5,423]

3 hours ago, Famicuber said:

For NES, easily the second level of Rocky and Bullwinkle for me, especially with the bombs that corrupts the audio to make it actually ear-piercingly high in pitch at some points.

If we're counting FDS as well, I'm going for a very obscure title that was given attention by a veteran NES audio ripper in the NESDev Discord server called "Titanic Mystery: Ao No Senritsu". That title theme and other music in the game is pure pain to listen.

 

Whoa, nice graphics though!

[Tulpa | 3,526]

Dracula has some horrid music. This might be the worst.

 

[mbd39 | 2,026]

Hunt For Red October. A monotonous single notes dirge plays through most of he game.

 

Edited July 1, 2023 by mbd39

[DoctorEncore | 3,691]

13 hours ago, MagusSmurf said:

 

There are some real stinkers in this thread, but this one takes the cake. My poor ears.

[Webhead123 | 687]

10 hours ago, Tulpa said:

Dracula has some horrid music. This might be the worst.

This game came to mind right away. Even attempting to call this "music" in the first place feels like a stretch. It's just a headache-inducing mess of random blips and fart sounds. Just awful. Not quite as ear-piercing as something like 1942 but at least 1942 has a semblance of composition, however basic.

Edited July 2, 2023 by Webhead123

[DefaultGen | 5,423]

11 hours ago, Tulpa said:

Dracula has some horrid music. This might be the worst.

 

this is a straight bop

[DoctorEncore | 3,691]

9 hours ago, Webhead123 said:

This game came to mind right away. Even attempting to call this "music" in the first place feels like a stretch. It's just a headache-inducing mess of random blips and fart sounds. Just awful. Not quite as ear-piercing as something like 1942 but at least 1942 has a semblance of composition, however basic.

 

8 hours ago, DefaultGen said:

this is a straight bop

I feel like the Dracula soundtrack at least had some effort put into it, even if it was misguided. If you start listening around 1:45, there is a semblance of melody. If you removed the awful rhythm, some might even call this portion of the song good.

1942 sounds like it was literally made to torture someone.

[cj_robot | 545]

On 7/1/2023 at 9:16 AM, MagusSmurf said:

 

I bought this game from a flea market way back when. I actually thought I got a busted cartridge, because there was just no way I could believe that the music was really supposed to sound like that.

[Tulpa | 3,526]

2 hours ago, DoctorEncore said:

 

I feel like the Dracula soundtrack at least had some effort put into it, even if it was misguided. If you start listening around 1:45, there is a semblance of melody. If you removed the awful rhythm, some might even call this portion of the song good.

 

I dunno, I have a friend who likes "noisy" music; Pere Ubu, Sonic Youth, etc.

I sent him the Dracula and asked him his opinion, and he was like, "WTF is this shit?"

1942 is pretty horrid, too. To be fair, it was trying to emulate the arcade's music. (Which sucks balls, too.)

 

Edited July 2, 2023 by Tulpa

[fcgamer | 4,739]

A large portion of the music being criticized in this thread is being criticized unfairly. Perhaps the only actual turd of the bunch is the Titanic one, and possibly Dracula (though I've been somewhat swayed by DoctorEncores recent post.

[guitarzombie | 927]

29 minutes ago, fcgamer said:

A large portion of the music being criticized in this thread is being criticized unfairly. Perhaps the only actual turd of the bunch is the Titanic one, and possibly Dracula (though I've been somewhat swayed by DoctorEncores recent post.

 

[fcgamer | 4,739]

1942's music is not good, but it's trying to mimic the not good arcade music, which sounds like it's trying to be more atmospheric than actual music, i.e. rotating propellers and gunfire.

Hunt for Red October, I feel that music fits extremely well with the game, again the atmosphere - the music should be dark and heavy.

Sherlock, I don't see anything particularly offensive about the tunes, though they don't particularly match the feeling of the game, being better suited for a carnival game or something.

[Webhead123 | 687]

11 hours ago, DoctorEncore said:

 

I feel like the Dracula soundtrack at least had some effort put into it, even if it was misguided. If you start listening around 1:45, there is a semblance of melody. If you removed the awful rhythm, some might even call this portion of the song good.

Yes, I'll agree there. If the terrible, cacophonic rhythm didn't almost completely drown it out, I'd say the underlying melody sounds like it has potential. But it's kind of like mixing onions in your breakfast cereal...the sheer discordance of one ingredient ruins the whole thing.

[DoctorEncore | 3,691]

18 hours ago, guitarzombie said:

 

I've got a synthesizer with three working keys and a 24 pack of Mountain Dew. Let's write this shit.

[fcgamer | 4,739]

On a different note, I always found the Back to the Future tune catchy, albeit monotonous. Never saw the film, therefore it never crossed my mind that it was a sped up version of a Huey Lewis song. Likely, once again, the criticism is unfair; watching the second video posted, if the tune synced with the real one, it'd never get anywhere as the stage would be finished, hence why it was sped up. I think it's more than passable.

[Tulpa | 3,526]

I guess we now know Dave's live music set list consists of a cover of 1942 and methed out versions of pop songs.

 

Also, you haven't seen Back to the Future? Remedy that now, like right now, before I petition Gloves to permaban you and Optout. 

Edited July 3, 2023 by Tulpa

[Webhead123 | 687]

33 minutes ago, fcgamer said:

On a different note, I always found the Back to the Future tune catchy, albeit monotonous. Never saw the film, therefore it never crossed my mind that it was a sped up version of a Huey Lewis song. Likely, once again, the criticism is unfair; watching the second video posted, if the tune synced with the real one, it'd never get anywhere as the stage would be finished, hence why it was sped up. I think it's more than passable.

I agree. While I can understand why someone would find the theme annoying (especially with how repetitive it is throughout the whole game) I've always thought the tune was pleasant enough. Then again, I also unironically like the game itself and it was one that I had growing up, so maybe that skews my opinion.

Edited July 3, 2023 by Webhead123

[CT | 98]

Worst music on a game I want to play:

Little Samson. I would have loved to have stage music instead of each character having there own song. Samson's is the most suspect, with some interesting parts but overall gets annoying.