Ever since programmers learned how to capture voice in a file, video game developers have been having their characters say catchy phrases that we repeat endlessly to each other. The biggest challenge in creating this list of 10 Memorable Video Game Sound Bites was keeping it to one bite per franchise. Many franchises are known for their witty writing and it was tempting to fill this list with 10 quotes from Borderlands 2's Torgue. Nonetheless we managed to whittle it down to just 10 quotes from 10 different franchises. So take a look (and a listen), at 10 Memorable Video Game Sound Bites.

  • 10

    Snake? Snake!? SNAAAAAAAAAAAAKE!!!!!!!

    There likely isn’t a more memorable death screen than the Metal Gear Solid one. Hearing Snake’s allies call out to him while the Metal Gear death theme plays has become a subject of memes all around the internet. It’s also been reason for more than a few… er… questionable fanfictions featuring Snake and Otacon. It’s easily a candidate for our list of 10 Memorable Video Game Sound Bites.

  • 9

    BOOMSHAKALAKA!

    NBA Jam was known for its awesome hype man, and BOOMSHAKALAKA was his cheer of choice. You’d hear this while dunking from half court, shattering backboards, and generally being on fire. If you heard this voice quip, you knew that your arcade had a NBA Jam cabinet set up, just waiting to eat your quarters. More modern quips like “boom goes the dynamite” just don’t measure up.

  • 8

    SPAAAAAAAAAAAAAACE!

    There’s nothing more annoying than someone screeching something in your ear, yet for some reason we are all in love with the space core from Portal 2. Perhaps it’s his obsession with Space. Perhaps we have gotten sick of the weighted companion cube’s silence. Either way, this sound bite has become memefied several times over and can now be found on geek t-shirts at any hot topic.

  • 7

    …Then I Took An Arrow to the Knee

    Speaking of memes, the Skyrim excuse for giving up your life of adventuring is one of the most prominent in current day video game fandom. This is a world where dragons attack towns and giants hurl boulders at you, but a simple arrow to the knee can end your adventuring world forever. Many gamers theorize that the doctors are actually in cahoots with assassins in the Skyrim world to create an epidemic of knee shots in order to drive up medical bills. Makes sense since this is a world where you can just cast healing spells to make yourself better.

  • 6

    Multi-Kill!

    Unreal Tournament wrote the book on rewarding you with voice quips when you are absolutely ruining your opponent. DOUBLE KILL! TRIPLE KILL! MULTI-KILL! DOMINATING! We heard these all the time in Unreal Tournament. In fact, you probably hear these in other shooters like Team Fortress 2 or Counter-Strike as well. In a way, these were the first kill-streak rewards, even if they were just taunts.

  • 5

    You Must Construct Additional Pylons

    Come to think of it, most of the entries on this list of memorable video game sound bites are quotes that can be made into memes. "You Must Construct Additional Pylons." is one of those, partially popularized by Kajetokun’s parody videos on Youtube. Now, you can find T-shirts with the famous Protoss quote remixed over and over again. That's why it belongs on a list of 10 Memorable Video Game Sound Bites.

  • 4

    C-C-C-COMBO BREAKER!

    The Killer Instinct combo breaker sound bite isn’t really a meme. It’s more of a function of forum etiquette at this point. Let’s say that a bunch of people are talking about their favorite SNES games and you post a Genesis game instead. C-C-C-COMBO BREAKER! Or what if everyone is ordering a round of drinks at a bar and you leave before it’s your turn. C-C-C-COMBO BREAKER! Come to think of it, this quip is used more often when people are being douchebags than anything else.

  • 3

    Get Over Here!

    How can anyone forget the famous Scorpion “GET OVER HERE!” More popular than the Hadoken and Shoryuken sound bites. More popular than Mortal Kombat’s own TOASTYYYY and FINISH HIM! Sound bites. Get Over Here! May be the most noticeable sound bite from fighting game history.

  • 2

    It’s-a Me! Mario!

    For a long time Mario didn’t talk. For a while, Mario’s voice was synonymous with Captain Lou Albano from the Super Mario Brother’s Super Show. However, when the N64 came about, all of that changed. Mario’s high pitched squealy and almost offensive Italian accent was written into the Mario series’ cannon. Now, we all know how Mario introduces himself, not that you would ever mistake him for anyone else. In fact, Nintendo actually riffed on their own voice work when Wario said, “It’s a Wii, Wario.” in the beginning of the Wii title, Warioware Smooth Moves.

  • 1

    Do a Barrel Roll!

    Finally, we have the #1 spot in our list of 10 Memorable Video Game Sound Bites -- the classic Peppy Hare command to “DO A BARREL ROLL!” This voice quip became memed before memes were a thing. It made the round on YTMND far before Youtube was popularized. It was the subject of many animated GIFs and several parody pages. The popularity of this voice quip had made playing StarFox 64 a whole new experience. Just fire up the first stage and watch everyone around you erupt into laughter as soon as Peppy instructs you to do a barrel roll. Fun facts, To barrel roll, you press Z or A twice, and the maneuver shown isn’t even really a barrel roll. It’s an Aileron Roll.

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