Impressive Video Game Music By Sound Chip
For multiplatform yearly lists, check out the Impressive VGM By Year page.
As a tribute to the efforts and accomplishments of game composers and sound designers using the limited sound chips and tools of the 80s and 90s, here's a page to highlight the soundtracks that used them to their fullest. Each page features links to what I consider to be the top tier soundtracks for that chip, and some info on what you could do with the chip itself that can be tricky to find elsewhere. Note that the categorization of sound chips here should be taken with a grain of salt - the PSG-based chips can produce sample-based music, many FM-based chips can produce sample-based as well as PSG synth-based music, the PC Engine's wavetable-based chip usually sounds like a PSG chip, the Amiga's chip can produce PSG synth-based music in software, wavetable synthesis via the Octamed tracker, as well as use an effect similar to FM synth, and so on.
I was asked what my qualifications are in ranking each OST so let me explain. I've looked mainly at technical achievement here (frequency range, dynamics, clarity, punch/oomph or impact, emulating effects like reverb, chorus and echo on the more primitive chips, sample quality, how closely a synth instrument resembles an acoustic one if that appears to be the goal, use of chip specific effects, if all available channels are used, etc) but inventiveness in terms of genre or arrangement and using a chip/setup in an interesting way factors in too. So for example an early hip hop soundtrack among contemporary or traditional soundtracks, or one that sounds distinct due to some tricks like heavy use of arpeggios and mixing percussion and bass in the same channel (as became common on C64 for example) will rank higher unless there are some serious technical flaws.
For the yearly lists I've also prioritized for example a late 8-bit soundtrack that I find impressive although technically it doesn't stand a chance against some of the others from that year. This is for variety and so that for example GB soundtracks aren't completely buried way down in the lists as the SNES, Amiga and PC soundtracks start to dominate. I try to keep my taste out of it; I'm not that big on most jazz, fusion, 90s dance or blues for example but will still rank those tracks highly if they are well executed. I am into punk, shoegaze, noise rock and industrial but I realize many people will just consider soundtracks that sound like those genres as noise, so they won't "clog up" the top tier on each page.
For more info on each chip, click the picture on their respective pages. If you'd prefer a spoken explanation, I recommend checking out the Retro Game Audio podcast.
Programmable Sound Generator/Software-Controlled Sound Generator (PSG/SSG) Synthesis Chips:
As a tribute to the efforts and accomplishments of game composers and sound designers using the limited sound chips and tools of the 80s and 90s, here's a page to highlight the soundtracks that used them to their fullest. Each page features links to what I consider to be the top tier soundtracks for that chip, and some info on what you could do with the chip itself that can be tricky to find elsewhere. Note that the categorization of sound chips here should be taken with a grain of salt - the PSG-based chips can produce sample-based music, many FM-based chips can produce sample-based as well as PSG synth-based music, the PC Engine's wavetable-based chip usually sounds like a PSG chip, the Amiga's chip can produce PSG synth-based music in software, wavetable synthesis via the Octamed tracker, as well as use an effect similar to FM synth, and so on.
I was asked what my qualifications are in ranking each OST so let me explain. I've looked mainly at technical achievement here (frequency range, dynamics, clarity, punch/oomph or impact, emulating effects like reverb, chorus and echo on the more primitive chips, sample quality, how closely a synth instrument resembles an acoustic one if that appears to be the goal, use of chip specific effects, if all available channels are used, etc) but inventiveness in terms of genre or arrangement and using a chip/setup in an interesting way factors in too. So for example an early hip hop soundtrack among contemporary or traditional soundtracks, or one that sounds distinct due to some tricks like heavy use of arpeggios and mixing percussion and bass in the same channel (as became common on C64 for example) will rank higher unless there are some serious technical flaws.
For the yearly lists I've also prioritized for example a late 8-bit soundtrack that I find impressive although technically it doesn't stand a chance against some of the others from that year. This is for variety and so that for example GB soundtracks aren't completely buried way down in the lists as the SNES, Amiga and PC soundtracks start to dominate. I try to keep my taste out of it; I'm not that big on most jazz, fusion, 90s dance or blues for example but will still rank those tracks highly if they are well executed. I am into punk, shoegaze, noise rock and industrial but I realize many people will just consider soundtracks that sound like those genres as noise, so they won't "clog up" the top tier on each page.
For more info on each chip, click the picture on their respective pages. If you'd prefer a spoken explanation, I recommend checking out the Retro Game Audio podcast.
Programmable Sound Generator/Software-Controlled Sound Generator (PSG/SSG) Synthesis Chips:
TIA (Atari 2600)
Beeper (ZX Spectrum)
6581/8580 SID (Commodore 64, PC)
POKEY (Atari 400 & 800, 1200XL, 800XL & 600XL, Atari 5200) - WIP
RP2A03/APU (Nintendo NES) & Audio Expansions (VRC6, FDS, etc)
SN76489/SN76496 (Sega Master System & Game Gear, Tandy 1000, Arcade)
AY-3-8910/AY8910/YM2149/AY-3-8912 (MSX/MSX2, Arcade, ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Vectrex)
Oki MSM5232 (ARC) - WIP
PC Speaker Sample-Based Music Via Pulse Width Modulation/PWM (PC)
LR35902 (Game Boy & Game Boy Color (PSG & Limited Wavetable Synthesis))
Mikey/65SC02 (Atari Lynx)
T6W28 (Neo Geo Pocket & Neo Geo Pocket Color)
Frequency Modulation (FM) Synthesis Chips:
Beeper (ZX Spectrum)
6581/8580 SID (Commodore 64, PC)
POKEY (Atari 400 & 800, 1200XL, 800XL & 600XL, Atari 5200) - WIP
RP2A03/APU (Nintendo NES) & Audio Expansions (VRC6, FDS, etc)
SN76489/SN76496 (Sega Master System & Game Gear, Tandy 1000, Arcade)
AY-3-8910/AY8910/YM2149/AY-3-8912 (MSX/MSX2, Arcade, ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Vectrex)
Oki MSM5232 (ARC) - WIP
PC Speaker Sample-Based Music Via Pulse Width Modulation/PWM (PC)
LR35902 (Game Boy & Game Boy Color (PSG & Limited Wavetable Synthesis))
Mikey/65SC02 (Atari Lynx)
T6W28 (Neo Geo Pocket & Neo Geo Pocket Color)
Frequency Modulation (FM) Synthesis Chips:
YM2413/OPLL (Sega Mark III (SMS), Arcade, MSX) - WIP
YM3526/OPL (Arcade, C64 w/ Sound Expander)
Y8950 (ARC, MSX w/ MSX-Audio Module)
YM2203/OPN (Arcade, PC-8801/PC-9801)
YM3812/OPL2 (PC w/ AdLib/Sound Blaster card, Arcade) - WIP
YM2612/OPN2 (Mega Drive/Genesis (w/ SN76489) & Audio Expansions (Mega CD, 32X), FM Towns (w/ RF5C68))
YM3438/OPN2C (Arcade)
YMF262/OPL3 (PC w/ Sound Blaster Pro 2 (or later) card, Arcade, PC-9801) - WIP
YM2608/OPNA (PC-8801/PC-9801, Arcade) - WIP
YM2151/OPM (Arcade, Sharp X68000 & Audio Expansions (MT-32, GM), X1) - WIP
YM2164/OPP/IMFC (PC w/ IBM Music Feature Card or Yamaha FB-01 & Roland MPU-401 Midi Interface) - WIP
YM2610/OPNB (Neo Geo, Arcade)(PCM & FM)
YM2610B (Neo Geo, Arcade)(PCM & FM)
YMF271/YMF271-F/OPX (Arcade, )(PCM & FM) - WIP
YMZ770C-F (Arcade, ) WIP
Wavetable Synthesis Chips (essentially a very limited form of PCM that also lets the user "sculpt" custom waveforms):
YM3526/OPL (Arcade, C64 w/ Sound Expander)
Y8950 (ARC, MSX w/ MSX-Audio Module)
YM2203/OPN (Arcade, PC-8801/PC-9801)
YM3812/OPL2 (PC w/ AdLib/Sound Blaster card, Arcade) - WIP
YM2612/OPN2 (Mega Drive/Genesis (w/ SN76489) & Audio Expansions (Mega CD, 32X), FM Towns (w/ RF5C68))
YM3438/OPN2C (Arcade)
YMF262/OPL3 (PC w/ Sound Blaster Pro 2 (or later) card, Arcade, PC-9801) - WIP
YM2608/OPNA (PC-8801/PC-9801, Arcade) - WIP
YM2151/OPM (Arcade, Sharp X68000 & Audio Expansions (MT-32, GM), X1) - WIP
YM2164/OPP/IMFC (PC w/ IBM Music Feature Card or Yamaha FB-01 & Roland MPU-401 Midi Interface) - WIP
YM2610/OPNB (Neo Geo, Arcade)(PCM & FM)
YM2610B (Neo Geo, Arcade)(PCM & FM)
YMF271/YMF271-F/OPX (Arcade, )(PCM & FM) - WIP
YMZ770C-F (Arcade, ) WIP
Wavetable Synthesis Chips (essentially a very limited form of PCM that also lets the user "sculpt" custom waveforms):
Namco WSG (Waveform Sound Generator) Chips (Arcade)
Konami SCC/KO51649 & SCC+/KO52539 & Proto-SCC/K005289 (MSX Audio Expansion, Arcade)
Seta X1-010 (Arcade (Wavetable/PCM))
HuC6280 (PC Engine/TurboGrafx 16 (WSG, Wavetable Synthesis & PCM))
Ensoniq 5503 DOC/ES5503 (Apple IIGS)
VSU-VUE (Virtual Boy)
Custom WSG (Wavetable or Wavetable & PCM or PCM)(Bandai Wonderswan & Wonderswan Color) - WIP
Linear Arithmetic Synthesis Chips (sample-based and subtractive synthesis combo):
Konami SCC/KO51649 & SCC+/KO52539 & Proto-SCC/K005289 (MSX Audio Expansion, Arcade)
Seta X1-010 (Arcade (Wavetable/PCM))
HuC6280 (PC Engine/TurboGrafx 16 (WSG, Wavetable Synthesis & PCM))
Ensoniq 5503 DOC/ES5503 (Apple IIGS)
VSU-VUE (Virtual Boy)
Custom WSG (Wavetable or Wavetable & PCM or PCM)(Bandai Wonderswan & Wonderswan Color) - WIP
Linear Arithmetic Synthesis Chips (sample-based and subtractive synthesis combo):
Roland MT-32 (PC, Amiga, Atari ST, Sharp X68000, MSX, PC-9801)
Roland SC-55 & SCC-1? (PC)
Sample-Based Synthesis (PCM) Chips:
Roland SC-55 & SCC-1? (PC)
Sample-Based Synthesis (PCM) Chips:
Paula (Amiga (PCM, Wavetable Synthesis & Software Synthesis))
Oki MSM6295/OKIM6295/OKI6295 (Arcade, ) - WIP
Konami K007232 (Arcade, )?
SPC700 (Super NES/Super Famicom)
Sound Blaster (PC w/ SB-SB AWE64 card (PCM, MOD variants, MIDI)) - WIP
Namco C219 (Arcade, ) - WIP
ES5505/OTIS (Arcade) - WIP
ES5506/OTTO (Arcade, PC w/ Soundscape S-2000/Soundscape Elite/SoundscapeDB) - WIP
GF1 & AMD InterWave (PC w/ Gravis Ultrasound card)
SS-3016-NCD/OPUS (PC w/ Soundscape OPUS card)?
Konami K054539/K058141 (Arcade, ) - WIP
QSound/Q1 (Arcade, Mega CD?, Saturn?, Dreamcast?) - WIP
Sega MultiPCM/YMW258-F/GEW8 (Arcade)
Namco C352 (Arcade)
BSMT2000 (Arcade)
DCS Sound System/DMA-driven DAC (Arcade) - aka ADSP-2105
Jerry (Atari Jaguar)
YMF278B/OPL4 (PCM & FM)(ARC, MSX2+ w/ Moonsound card, PC w/ SoundEdge SW20-PC card) - WIP
General MIDI and post-AWE32/MT-32/GUS MIDI (PC, X68K, )
YMF292/YMF292-F/SCSP (Arcade, Sega Saturn) - WIP
16-Bit Sony SPU (Sony Playstation, Arcade) WIP
YMZ280B/PCMD8 (Arcade, )
DCS2 Sound System/2x DMA-driven DAC (Arcade)
Reality CoProcessor/RCP (Nintendo 64 & Audio Expansions (64DD))
Toshiba TA8201AK (Capcom CP System III/CPS3)(Arcade)
Direct Sound/PCM & LR35902 (Game Boy Advance) - WIP
Miscellaneous '80s VGM (PSG, Casette Tape, DAC):
Kingdom (Atari 800, Dual Track Tape)
Reactor (ARC, Votrax SC-01)
Sammy the Sea Serpent (Atari 8-bit Dual Track Tape)
Turtles (Odyssey 2 Voice)
Wizardry (AII PC w/ SD Music card?, 1984-1987?)
Deus Ex Machina (Spectrum/C64, Casette Tape started at the same time as the game by the player)
Pitfall II (A2600, Custom 4-channel chip) - 1984
Hard Drivin' (ARC, DAC) - 1989
Mad Planets (ARC, DAC)(in-game) - 1983
Power Drive (ARC, DAC) - 1986
Chiller (ARC, Custom sample-based chip) - find rip, 1986
Stompin' (ARC, 6x CEM3394) - 1986
Monster Bash (ARC, TMS36XX & DAC)(in-game)
Sarge (ARC, DAC)(in-game) - jingles only? find rip, 1985
Rampage (ARC, DAC)(in-game) - two short jingles only? find rip, 1986
Misc. '90s VGM:
Fighting Bujutsu (ARC, Ricoh RF5C400 w/ 3D Effect Spatializer & TMS57002)
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Oki MSM6295/OKIM6295/OKI6295 (Arcade, ) - WIP
Konami K007232 (Arcade, )?
SPC700 (Super NES/Super Famicom)
Sound Blaster (PC w/ SB-SB AWE64 card (PCM, MOD variants, MIDI)) - WIP
Namco C219 (Arcade, ) - WIP
ES5505/OTIS (Arcade) - WIP
ES5506/OTTO (Arcade, PC w/ Soundscape S-2000/Soundscape Elite/SoundscapeDB) - WIP
GF1 & AMD InterWave (PC w/ Gravis Ultrasound card)
SS-3016-NCD/OPUS (PC w/ Soundscape OPUS card)?
Konami K054539/K058141 (Arcade, ) - WIP
QSound/Q1 (Arcade, Mega CD?, Saturn?, Dreamcast?) - WIP
Sega MultiPCM/YMW258-F/GEW8 (Arcade)
Namco C352 (Arcade)
BSMT2000 (Arcade)
DCS Sound System/DMA-driven DAC (Arcade) - aka ADSP-2105
Jerry (Atari Jaguar)
YMF278B/OPL4 (PCM & FM)(ARC, MSX2+ w/ Moonsound card, PC w/ SoundEdge SW20-PC card) - WIP
General MIDI and post-AWE32/MT-32/GUS MIDI (PC, X68K, )
YMF292/YMF292-F/SCSP (Arcade, Sega Saturn) - WIP
16-Bit Sony SPU (Sony Playstation, Arcade) WIP
YMZ280B/PCMD8 (Arcade, )
DCS2 Sound System/2x DMA-driven DAC (Arcade)
Reality CoProcessor/RCP (Nintendo 64 & Audio Expansions (64DD))
Toshiba TA8201AK (Capcom CP System III/CPS3)(Arcade)
Direct Sound/PCM & LR35902 (Game Boy Advance) - WIP
Miscellaneous '80s VGM (PSG, Casette Tape, DAC):
Kingdom (Atari 800, Dual Track Tape)
Reactor (ARC, Votrax SC-01)
Sammy the Sea Serpent (Atari 8-bit Dual Track Tape)
Turtles (Odyssey 2 Voice)
Wizardry (AII PC w/ SD Music card?, 1984-1987?)
Deus Ex Machina (Spectrum/C64, Casette Tape started at the same time as the game by the player)
Pitfall II (A2600, Custom 4-channel chip) - 1984
Hard Drivin' (ARC, DAC) - 1989
Mad Planets (ARC, DAC)(in-game) - 1983
Power Drive (ARC, DAC) - 1986
Chiller (ARC, Custom sample-based chip) - find rip, 1986
Stompin' (ARC, 6x CEM3394) - 1986
Monster Bash (ARC, TMS36XX & DAC)(in-game)
Sarge (ARC, DAC)(in-game) - jingles only? find rip, 1985
Rampage (ARC, DAC)(in-game) - two short jingles only? find rip, 1986
Misc. '90s VGM:
Fighting Bujutsu (ARC, Ricoh RF5C400 w/ 3D Effect Spatializer & TMS57002)
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