Music has had a vital role in video games for decades, both serving as beautiful set dressing for dramatic moments and, in the case of rhythm games, creating the backbone of a primary gameplay loop. However, those aren’t the only two scenarios for music to serve in a game.
Just like video games themselves, music takes many forms, and has just as many applications. In some games, incidental music can be an element in itself, supplementing an existing primary gameplay loop or serving as a means of controlling the world.
10 Video Games That Shaped Our Taste In Music
Our Spotify playlists are littered with these gems.
In others, the action may follow the beat of a backing track, but that’s in addition to gameplay elements from other genres.
Basically, we’re talking about games where music isamechanic, rather thanthemechanic. It’s not just about hitting notes on a trackbar, it’s about combining music and gameplay in novel ways. These are the games we think of when it comes to novel uses of music.
The AI Director Has A Song For You
Left 4 Dead 2
The best way for you and your compatriots to survive inLeft 4 Dead 2is to hone your dominant senses. Not only do you need to keep a watchful eye out for special infected and nearby hazards like active car alarms, you also need to listen.
Different infected types have distinct vocalizations that alert you to their presence. In addition to those vocalizations, though, there’s another thing you should be listening for: music.
Various major events in this game, conjured forth by the AI Director, often have accompanying musical stings. If a Smoker has just spawned, for instance, a creeping piano tune will play, while a nearby Hunter prompts a discordant violin sting.
Even if you’re not close enough to an event to see it happening, when a theme starts playing, you know it’s time to hoof it. If you suddenly hear fast-paced drums, a teammate may be under attack by a horde. Or, if you hear a dramatic orchestral track starting up, a Tank is about to drop on your head.
9Rayman Legends
Platforming To The Classics
Rayman Legends
The majority ofRayman Legendsis a traditional sidescrolling platformer affair, with no particular music elements to speak of. However, once per world, there is a level where you’re being pursued by an instant-death wall and need to quickly rush forward, bashing punks and bouncing off pads as you go.
In these levels, the game takes on a musical tinge, with every enemy, item, and obstacle strategically placed to sync up with the background track.
Theoretically, you might be able to get through some of them without paying attention to the music, but it’d be pretty ugly, and it’s more fun to try and follow the beat.
What makes these levels particularly cool is that several of them are backed by remixed versions of real-life songs, including Ram Jam’s Black Betty, Survivor’s Eye of the Tiger, and The 5.6.7.8’s Woo Hoo.
Others are original compositions made for the game, but they still sound pretty awesome on their own.
Electronic Music, Electronic World
Rez Infinite
If you took a casual glance at a screenshot ofRez’s gameplay, you’d probably have difficulty guessing what kind of game it is at all, to say nothing of its musical elements.
It’s a very abstract game, after all, the kind of thing that only really makes sense when you play it yourself. In practice, Rez is an arcade-style railshooter, wherein you fly through a virtual space and shoot down enemies.
All the enemies that appear are timed to the thumping techno music playing in the background, which means when you lock onto them and fire, your shots will also fire off on the beat. It’s not necessarily a rhythm game, though, because you may play it even if you can’t hear the music.
The purpose of Rez is to create a sort of feeling of synesthesia. That’s why the game also places a big emphasis on rumble feedback, to give you a good kick whenever you fire off a shot. To play Rez is kind of like playing Space Invaders in a car with really bass-y music cranked up.
Bash To The Beat
Mother 3has a lot of similarities to Earthbound in terms of its combat system, from how HP gradually ticks down to how menus are formatted. One big difference, though, is the Sound Battle system.
Whenever one ofyour party membersuses their basic attack, you can tap the A button in time with the beat of the soundtrack to continue layering on blows, up to a maximum of 16.
Every single enemy in the game, bosses included, has its own unique soundtrack, which means you need to learn the patterns for all of them. If you can’t discern the beat, putting an enemy to sleep will allow you to hear their “heartbeat,” i.e. the beat of the track.
There’s no particular reason for this system to exist in-universe; it’s not a music-themed game. It’s exactly the kind of weirdness that this series likes to indulge in, though, so it’s fine.
Fiery Notes Underfoot
When Everhood first released, many likened it toa fusion between Undertaleand Guitar Hero. This is an apt descriptor, as the game’s combat features the same heavy emphasis on dodging and weaving, but with the added wrinkle that the attacks you’re dodging are synced to the backing track.
In every combat encounter in Everhood, your opponent will rapidly launch colored projectiles across several vertical lanes. At least in the game’s first act, you have no way to fight back, so your only options are to either jump over them or just step out of the way.
It’s not so much that you’re following the track as you’re trying to move against it, find your own rhythm that doesn’t place you in harm’s way.
In the game’s second act, you gain the ability to “catch” attacks, and by catching enough of the same color, you can unleash an attack of your own.
This means you occasionally need to place yourself in the line of fire, but then resume dodging until the color you need pops up again.
5The Legend Of Zelda: Ocarina Of Time
Music Moves The World
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D
Link has always had something of a knack for music throughout the Legend of Zelda series, with a particular fondness for woodwind instruments like flutes.
Link’s musical efficacy comes into clearer focus inThe Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, the reason for which should be readily apparent in the title.
Originally with Saria’s loaned Fairy Ocarina and later with the titular Ocarina of Time, Link can playa variety of short tunesto influence the world around him.
Some of these songs are relatively simple in their applications, such as playing Epona’s Song to call Link’s horse. However, others have outright supernatural properties, such as the Sun’s Song changing the time of day or the Song of Storms conjuring a squall.
After Link retrieves the Master Sword and ventures into the future, Sheik begins teaching him the Warp Songs for each of the elemental temples. This makes traversing Hyrule much easier, if you don’t mind the occasional jog from a temple back to civilization.
4Hi-Fi Rush
The Rhythm Makes You Stronger
Hi-Fi Rush
InHi-Fi Rush, the new abilities obtained by our protagonist Chai cause the movement of the world and everyone in it to sync up to the beat of the music player in his chest. How? I dunno, electromagnetism or something, don’t worry about it.
As the game’s tutorial explains, both Chai’s and his enemies’ attacks will always come out on the beat. Even if you’re not pressing attack buttons on the beat, they’ll just come out on the next beat instead.
Hi-Fi Rush: All Bosses, Ranked
Hi-Fi Rush offers some stellar boss fights with even more stellar music, but which are the best of the best?
However, if you sync up with the beat, your attacks will deal more damage, as well as increase your score.
Just following the beat isn’t enough, though. This isa proper character-action game, which means you need to be aware of your surroundings, dodge and parry incoming enemy attacks, and occasionally switch up your strategy. Some bosses won’t just let you endlessly wail on them, on the beat or otherwise.
3No Straight Roads
Dodge In Time
No Straight Roads
Part of the overarching theme ofNo Straight Roadsis disrupting an orderly society built around EDM with the raucous rampage of rock n’ roll.
Fittingly for this, all of the enemies and bosses are largely confined to following the backing track, but you’re not. The spirit of rock marches to no drum’s beat but its own.
Nearly every attack unleashed in the game’s big boss fights will be telegraphed ahead of time and unleashed in time with the track. The only time you need to follow the track yourself is if you’re trying to parry their attacks back at them.
Otherwise, you’re free to run around the arena as you please, creating turrets with your rock power and unleashing combo strings. Some of your attacks, particularly Zuke’s drumlines, need a basic modicum of rhythm, but they don’t have to follow the soundtrack’s rhythm.
2Crypt Of The NecroDancer
A Deadly Dungeon Dance
Crypt of the NecroDancer
Have you ever gotten really invested in a run ofa roguelike game like Binding of Isaac, and everything sort of starts to settle into a pattern?
You can see where enemies are going, trace the trajectory of attacks, know exactly when to deploy an item, and so on. If you feel confident in your ability to keep up that kind of state, you might be good atCrypt of the NecroDancer.
Crypt of the NecroDancer shares a lot of that common roguelike DNA, having you traverse large, randomly-generated dungeons full of monsters.
However, both yours and the monsters’ movements and actions must occur on the beat to have any effect. If you try to move off beat, you’ll get stalled out, giving your foes the perfect chance to get the drop on you.
This game requires you to not just internalize that usual roguelike grind, but juggle that with a constantly evolving soundtrack. Hope you’re good at parallel processing.
1Metal: Hellsinger
Hell Takes Metal Seriously
Metal: Hellsinger
When you play a high-octane arena shooter like Doom Eternal, it kind of feels like “dance” in itself. Jumping, shooting, and tearing heads off all meld together into a ballet of carnage.
All it really needs is a backing track, and it’s a full-on rendition of “Violence: The Musical.” That’s exactly whatMetal: Hellsingerbrings to the table.
Metal: Hellsinger’s core gameplay loop is roughly identical to those of the modern Doom games. You enter a big arena, a bunch of ugly demon dudes spawn in it, and you make them die with guns and swords.
The difference is that, by following the beat of the soundtrack, your abilities become more powerful.
As long as you stick to the beat, you’ll reload your guns faster, move more quickly, and gain more consistent access to powerful ultimate attacks. Of course, you may’t just stand there and fire away; just like in Doom,you need to keep moving and dodging, or you’ll end up as swiss cheese.
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