Arcade Sushi Asks: What Video Game Do You Wish You Created the Soundtrack For?

I would have to say Tetris. It's a staple, it's legendary and even though it already has a well known theme, I would like to try and make the music super ethereal to compliment the logical nature of the game. Ethereal, instrumental music for a logical and strategic game.

Wow! The classics are the classics, and I have to go with the original Super Mario Bros. Those little tunes in that game set the standard for video game sounds. I would sing some of the more dramatic tunes in real life situations, they fit so well.

I think throwing down on some old school Super Mario Bros. would be awesome. All the fun music, built from sample or 808s, drum machines. Very programmed and "digital," then overdub it with some awesome sound effects. The running and block smashing, jumping... there are so many options and at the time, the world of "sounds" in video games had only been cracked open, the possibilities were endless. It would be just as cool to be done modernized with upbeat music from Slayer to Maroon 5, anything that makes you "move." Make the sound effects huge with bass drops and crazy stuff from a Pro Tools rig. Haha. My mind is already racing with ideas.

Is it cheating to say Brütal Legend? Cause that would mean that I wrote "Children of the Grave" and "Fast as a Shark!"

Other than that it is a tie between Mega Man 2 and Chrono Trigger. "Frog's Theme" remains one of my favorite pieces of music period, so I would have enjoyed those bragging rights.

I wish I could have done the soundtrack to the The Legend of Zelda. I would have put a bunch of heavy metal on that soundtrack and turned a bunch of video game geeks (including myself) on to the greatest musical genre in Middle Earth.

The video game that I wished to have written a soundtrack to is The Legend of Zelda for the NES! I think the current game has a really mystical vibe when comes to music. I'm huge fan of that soundtrack. When I play Zelda, I feel as if I want to continue the game, just based on soundtrack alone. There's something about the mid- to late '80s and early '90s Nintendo midi that sounds hilarious to me. I don't necessarily think that I would like to re-write anything from the original soundtrack. I just wish that I had the opportunity to expand on it and write more for different levels. I'm sure every game Nintendo ever made was just whipped together because of a timeline. I just know that I could've partied with that soundtrack.

I wish I wrote the soundtrack to Super Mario Bros. 3 for the original Nintendo. That's just such a classic game that I grew up playing constantly, those songs bring back all kinds of crazy good childhood memories.

Anything that Nobuo Uematsu has done, particularly the original soundtrack for Final Fantasy VII. It explores such great depths of composition and covers such a wide array of emotions (across many different versions, fan-made or otherwise) that it is hard to deny the profundity of his compositions. Also, the OSTs for the Toejam & Earl games for Sega Genesis. Pretty sure I could have never saved Funkotron without those tasty jams.

If we were to write a soundtrack for any game I would say it would be Mortal Kombat. The reason would be it's a fighting game and it is just f---ing awesome! I would want to write a song for each stage, too, so it would fit the mood of the area. Plus many of our masks look like they belong in the game, so I think it would be the right choice.

Mark: The Final Fantasy VII soundtrack would be my pick. I know that's a fan favorite and maybe a bit of a cliché choice, but for me it's nostalgic. All through middle school and high school I would spend my time either playing guitar or playing video games with a great friend of mine. This game was a huge influence for RPG games to come. It had such a compelling, edgy story and took game play to a whole new level. I believe it may have been one of the first games to have cursing in its dialogue as well as touch on some pretty big philosophical ideas. With so many great things going for it, the soundtrack had to be just as graphic, honest, memorable and groundbreaking.

Paul: Tough question. There's so many great game soundtracks out there. For me, the old NES games are the best because they remind me of being a kid and annoying my older brother, begging to let me play his console back in the day. If there had to be one, it would be The Legend of Zelda hands down. Mark and I actually used to work the "Great Fairy's Fountain Theme" into the intro of our bass solo in the live show. We even started calling it "Hookshot" based on my favorite item in the game. It was always nice seeing fellow gamers faces in the crowd light up when we would break into that piece of music. Hopefully we can find a way to blend our stuff with more game soundtracks in the future.

If I were to create a sound track for any game it would be Mortal Kombat. I would have made the soundtrack death metal. Now hear me out; imagine you're with your friend and as the countdown is happening you hear the intro to "Slaves Shall Serve" by Behemoth playing and right as the song kicks in, BAM! the fight starts. You're going to be so pumped and that's what makes that game so much fun. Along with hearing the wonderful noise we call metal, you get to beat the hell out of some pretty gnarly monsters.

Metal Slug. The evergreen shooting platform, always fun to play and with tons of action. Our music may match. Or maybe the first, legendary Mortal Kombat. We would also insert a special punishment called Pandality in which you become slow and dumb and die of hunger and boredom for you are condemned to eat bamboo forever.

One game that would be a blast to score would be Warcraft II. Not to say I don't love the existing soundtrack (It's actually one of my all time favorites), but think about it: I'm an experienced metal songwriter, and the subject matter/overall vibe of the game lends itself perfectly to the kind of songs I write.

Hordes of hideous creatures armed to the teeth with axes and necromancy emerge through a portal from another dimension and crush armies of paladins and wimpy-looking elves. It's basically a metal album cover. You can almost hear the dissonant, creepy melodies and spooky chords just thinking about it. Getting the chance to score a game like that would make my life.