1996-2000
1996
Nintendo 64
Nintendo launches its Nintendo 64 in the US. The beefed-up, cartridge-based 64-bit system breaks tradition by relying on its exceptionally powerful CPU to handle much of the task of creating music and playing back sound effects.
1996
Quake and Nine Inch Nails
If ever there were a marriage made in hell (and we mean that in a good way), it has to be Quake plus Nine Inch Nails. The venerable first-person shooter was, upon release, a breakthrough in terms of dark and scary immersive action. The same can be said for the soundtrack, put together by Trent Reznor of the industrial angst flag-bearer Nine Inch Nails. Look closely, and you can see the NIN logo embedded in the game.
1996
Creepfest Resident Evil
The release of Capcom's Resident Evil for the PlayStation, Sega Saturn, and PC marks the creation of a new genre: survival horror. The game borrows from the more exceptional horror films and raises ambient sound to a new level of spookiness--from the gristly crunch of a skull-gnawing zombie to the creepy ticking of a grandfather clock.
1996
Techno Meets Wipeout XL
Psygnosis unveils Wipeout XL for the PlayStation. The kicking techno soundtrack includes contributions from marquee names such as The Chemical Brothers, The Prodigy, and Future Sound of London. You can choose the track you want to listen to as you race, a feature that would become more or less standard in extreme sports and racing games. The soundtrack is still available today from Amazon.
1997
Enter PaRappa the Rapper
A top-selling hit in Japan, SCEA's PaRappa the Rapper hits the US. The bizarre premise and gameplay strike a chord with gamers thirsting for originality. As the insecure puppy PaRappa, you must master various styles of rap and hip-hop "singing" to impress the girl puppy you have a crush on. The music is both funky and funny, and the 2D painted paper-doll animation is distinctive. The soundtrack placed in GameSpot's Top 10 Video Game Soundtracks feature and appeared in the Readers' Choice vote as well. Though the sequel, Parappa 2, wasn't as good as the original, you can still get a good idea of what PaRappa was like in these movie clips.
1997
King of the Castlevania
Konami's superior 2D action title, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, brings a slick and menacing new vibe to the soundtrack arena. Themes range from sinister heavy-metal riffs to grand, gothic classical tracks. Mixing classical and hard-rock compositions with the overarching gothic theme makes for a bloody good soundtrack. The voice acting is superior as well. The game disc holds a secret music track.
1998
The Legend of Zelda Returns
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time debuts on the Nintendo 64. Besides boasting an amazing soundtrack, it's one of the first titles to feature music-making as part of its gameplay. In the game, you use the ocarina, a kind of flute, to teleport, open portals, or summon allies. There's also a musical puzzle in which you must follow the bass line of a song to make it through the Lost Woods.
1998
Let's Dance
Konami releases Dance Dance Revolution, probably the best known of the various "Benami" music games to hit arcades in Japan. It's safe to say that Dance Dance Revolution employs a novel form of player interface: As songs are played, the screen scrolls a pattern of arrows, which float to the top of the screen. When the arrows hit the action bar, you must step on corresponding arrows on the dance pad. The closer you are to the beat, the more points you score. Other Benami games include Guitar Freaks (play a guitar to music), DrumMania (play a drum kit peripheral), and HipHopMania (scratch turntables to music). The movies available at Bemanix.com show how creative DDR players can get with their moves.
1999
Enter the Dreamcast
The highly anticipated Dreamcast hits stores with its powerful 128-bit central processor and superintelligent sound processor, which has a 32-bit RISC CPU with 64 channels.
1999
Skate Punks Unite!
Rockstar Games ups the ante in the licensed soundtrack department with the release of Thrasher: Skate and Destroy for the PlayStation. The old-school hip-hop lineup includes licensed favorites from Run DMC ("King of Rock"), Public Enemy ("Rebel Without a Pause"), Sugarhill Gang ("Rapper's Delight"), Grandmaster Flash ("White Lines"), Afrika Bambaataa ("Planet Rock"), and Eric B. and Rakim ("I Know You Got Soul"). The competing title, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater, goes alt-punk instead, with songs by the Dead Kennedys, Goldfinger, and Primus.
1999
A Word From the Subculture: The 8bitpeoples
A collective of artists sharing a common love for classic video games, the 8bitpeoples first came together in 1999 and have since recycled and repurposed classic video game music in one thousand and one different directions. Contributors have built entire series of records around sound samples from arcade games, and others play live shows incorporating classic home console hardware. It's great stuff, with a solid DIY ethic: Almost all the music is free and comes with downloadable cover art so that anyone can "manufacture" physical copies of the albums.
1999
The DIY Soundtrack
Released in Japan and the UK only, the truly strange Vib-Ribbon takes the relationship of music and gameplay in an entirely different direction. Playing the rabbitlike creature Vibri, you must navigate levels that are themselves determined by the music track that's playing. Moody mope-rock equals slow and steady; frantic techno equals fast and furious. The kicker is that you can pop your own audio CDs into the PlayStation to generate entirely new levels based on the tempo of the music. It's a cult classic.
2000
The PlayStation 2 Hits Stores
Sony's much anticipated PlayStation 2 finally gets a limited US release on October 26, 2000. Along with the 128-bit Emotion engine CPU, the system boasts 48 channels of sound plus 2MB of dedicated sound memory. Significantly, the PS2 can also play DVD movies, another step toward the promised land of home entertainment convergence.
2000
The Hitmen of Budapest
The popular Hitman series from Io Interactive launched in 2000, bringing stealthy third-person assassination fun to the whole family. Io initiated what has since become an increasingly popular practice: commissioning an entire orchestra to score the action--in this case, the Budapest Symphony Orchestra. Everyone got along, evidently, and the BSO has gone on to score more Io games including subsequent Hitman titles and the Red scare strategy title Freedom Fighters. Hitman 2's soundtrack was also scored by the orchestra, and was every bit as good. Click below for a sound clip.
2000
The Art of Conversation: Seaman
Sega's virtual-pet simulation for the Dreamcast, Seaman, invites you to actually converse with onscreen characters rather than simply yell at them ("Dammit, Lara, flip sideways--then shoot!"). The game employs sophisticated voice-recognition technology, which lets you gradually hold adult conversations with the little aqua critters on everything from politics to baseball. Check out GameSpot's very own Jeff Gerstmann harassing Seaman in this video
2000
Talk With the Pokémon, Walk With the Pokémon...
Nintendo releases a surprisingly fun entry into the voice-recognition arena with Hey You, Pikachu! for the Nintendo 64. The game is aimed squarely at the younger crowd but is endless fun for anyone with a short attention span. Using the included microphone and voice-recognition pad, you converse with and guide Pikachu through a literally endless series of miniquests by issuing voice commands.
A History of Video Game Music
This feature offers a timeline of significant milestones in the evolution of video game music. It includes details ranging from pong on up to the modern era, with audio clips of some landmark games, as well as links to video clips of more modern games.
