In general, the reviews found at GameFAQs have absolutely no value whatsoever - 90% of them are either written by fanboys blindly showering endless praise, or morons with no real sense in how to review, or perhaps even play, video games. This review of Capcom's Onimusha was one of things that inspired this topic - our friend Gruel actually suggests that the works of Limp Bizkit and Everclear supplant Mamoru Samuragoch's gorgeous orchestral score.

Simply stunning, folks.

You'll have to understand that 90% of my music CD collection is made up of video game soundtracks - I own all of one CD with "real" music on it...Weezer's Blue Album, which is actually quite good (and also my only CD that works well with Vib Ribbon, oddly enough.) It's not that I hate regular music on the radio...it just lacks a lot of what I find most appealing about video game music (genre variety, melody, varied instrumentation, etc.) A lot of that is encapsulated in Castlevania.

Enough of this intro, onto the subjects...

Wow, my favorite topic of all time - video game music. First, I'd like to take a moment to voice my opinion and say that video game music, especially that on newer systems, is the best music there is. The composer actually takes the time to convey a feeling through the music rather than through lyrics. Every time I attempt to listen to the radio, I turn it off after about ten seconds because all I hear are short 5-second loops with some person spouting lyrics on top of them. They never take the time to actually write decent music, unlike video games where they rarely use lyrics (although the use of lyrics seems to be increasing slightly). I'm sure there's some decent stuff on the radio, but there's so much crap you have to go through to find it, I don't think it's worth it. I'll just listen to my 11 various videogame soundtracks (probably my favorite $300~ worth of stuff I've ever had). Now back to the topic. I like all styles of music except country and stuff that's played on the radio. My favorites (in no particular order) are jazz, electronica, rock, and orchestral. I like the improvisational qualities (randomness) of jazz, while electronica reminds me of the good old days when all game systems had cheesy sound systems and all MIDI was FM Synth. Rock has a driving beat and most often uses electric guitars which are one of my favorite modern instruments, while orchestral music just sounds beautiful (you can't beat well-played oboes with a 38 foot pole). As for composers, I'd like to see Limp Bizkit do the soundtrack for one. No I'm not serious, I'm just curious as to what it would feel like to be shot in the face. Seriously though, it's an interesting decision to make, but I definitely wouldn't choose any bands that are played on the radio. There are many game composers that I like, but it all depends on which one would convey the mood best. These are the composers I like: Yoko Shimomura, while I like her work, seems to make more upbeat music (listens to Parasite Eve and Super Mario RPG) which wouldn't fit too well in the Castlevania setting, unless it was more like Dracula X, and even then it's a bit questionable. Nobuo Uematsu can do music that fits a creepy setting (I still have nightmares with Sephiroth's theme playing in the background every so often), but again, it probably wouldn't sound like Castlevania. Yasunori Mitsuda could probably do something that fits Castlevania nicely, and there are a few pieces from Chrono Cross that I think could actually fit better if put in for certain tracks from SotN. Michiru Yamane definitely did an excellent job on SotN, and I doubt it would be a mistake having him compose for another CV game, but it is nice to get a variety of styles. Actually, if I had to pick someone to do the music for another Castlevania game, I would probably choose Jake Kaufman (http://virt.zophar.net). Just listen to some of his stuff and you'll probably agree that he would do an incredible job. He has done two arrangements of Castlevania music which definitely feel like they would fit right into a new Castlevania game (except the little sound effect in the Castlevania 2 arrangement), and his skill as a composer/arranger is amazing. (Yeah, he's my friend so I guess I'm a little biased, but I do think he'd do a great job as a composer for CV.) Castlevania music has always been great (except Circle of the Moon which could've been done a lot better, although it was decent), and with any luck, they will continue the tradition of excellent music in the next generation of Castlevania games. Now that the 3 major game systems use DVD media, hopefully we can get some fully orchestrated streaming audio soundtracks. (Not that synthesizers are bad, but who can honestly say they don't want to hear Vampire Killer, Bloody Tears, Beginning, and/or Theme of Simon fully orchestrated?)

Castlevania on a full orchestra? Mmmmm.....

I'm surprised that, since the introduction of the CD medium to video gaming, we haven't seen very many orchestrated game scores. There are a handful (Medal of Honor, Onimusha, the upcoming Xenosaga) and the occasional arranged album, but otherwise, you don't see it very often. Maybe it's too expensive...?

I'd definitely give a thumbs up to Yoko Shimomura, without a doubt (she did Mario RPG, Parasite Eve, Legend of Mana, and upcoming Kingdom Hearts.) If you've ever heard the Super Famicom game Live A Live - she composed a great variety of themed music, from the western style to ancient Japanese to futuristic. She's certainly a very versatile composer, even if most of what she's done so far is really a bit too cheery for Castlevania.

While I love Yasunori Mitsuda - Chrono Cross is one of my favorite soundtracks - I can't help the shake the feeling that he'd just be a bit too laid back for Castlevania. He can compose decent action music too, but it often ends up being rather bombastic (see any of the Xenogears battle themes.) Still, it'd be interesting to hear.

I've heard some of Virt's tunes before, and they're quite good - the NES Konami game inspired songs show that Virt knows what he's doing. If nothing else, it's worth heading over to his page to hear nifty stuff like Sisqo's Thong Song as it would sound on a Gameboy. Thongththonthongthong.

This is a differnt topic. However as we all know the music of Castlevania is about 50% of the game, even in games today we still hear remixes of the old original Vampire Killer and Wicked Child. Even in Circle of the Moon we heard three redone themes from Castlevania III. In my opinion if they want to know who the best music composer is for the Castlevania games, that would be Michiru Yamane, from Symphony of the Night. Grant it the music from Castlevania Chronicles was good, it was too techno for me, we are dealing with Dracula and hellish creatures. As far as a band re-doing the Castlevania music, i wold have to say that no band should. Get an Orchestra, listen to some of the music from the CD Dracula New Classics. That is the best remixes because they sound like the original music but have that dark, mystic atmosphere to them. However some music could be redone very well with the rock style to it, more of the later tunes from Dracula X are probobly better off being remixes using hard rock and techno. The problem is that i can't think of and band out there that uses a good mix of the two, rock and techno. However some of the soundtrack music from the CD's found on this very web site, are Extremely good. Why not use those.

As much as I love redone classic versions of the tunes, I can't help to think that occasionally the composers get carried away. Circle of the Moon was like half older music, especially from Castlevania 3.

I don't see how music being techno would exclude it having an association with vampires though. Electric guitars didn't exist back in 1792, but we still have songs like "The Tragic Price".

I have noticed that almost every game that I've played over and over again is a game that has excellent music. The Castlevania games (the ones I've played so far) are some games I play just to hear the music. I remember playing Castlevania: Belmont's Revenge and how I always enjoyed hearing the boss music. In Super Castlevania IV I loved going through the library and treasury areas just to hear the music. Now let me mention some other games with great music: Crystalis had some pretty good music (I liked the music in the Sky Tower), the Mega Man series also had good music but I noticed some kind of difference after having played part 5, 6, and 7. Part 8 was good. And then I started playing the Final Fantasy series. It began with part 7. Boy was I blown away, especially after hearing One Winged Angel, which some may say sucked but not me. Then I played part 8 and again I was amazed. Nobuo Uematsu is one extraordinary composer. Then I went back and played part 6, which was part 3 in the U.S., just to see how it sounded and it also sounded good. I played parts 1, 2, and 3 on emulators and even they had good music knowing that they were released on the NES. Then I bought Final Fantasy Anthology to play part 5 and Final Fantasy Chronicles to play part 4 and both were amazing. There is a point to all I'm saying so please be patient. I bought part 9 and recently purchased part 10. If I had one word to describe Nobuo Uematsu's music it would have to be epic. What is it about his music that makes me feel different, I wonder. If I were to pick a composer for the Castlevania series it would have to be Nobuo Uematsu and here is one reason why. In Final Fantasy 8, when I got to Ultimecia's Castle, the music sounded as if it belonged in a Castlevania game. If you have not heard it you should. That is when I said to myself,"I wonder what Castlevania music would sound like if he composed it." That is why I am glad you brought this topic up. I've also thought that Konami and Squaresoft should team up to make a Castlevania RPG. This would be a great way to give us more background on the Belmont clan and on Dracula. Capcom and Squaresoft teamed up to create Breath of Fire so why shouldn't Konami and Squaresoft. If that were to ever happen boy would that be a major event in gaming history. I'm telling you this would be THE Castlevania game as long as it had a great story, references to previous Castlevania games, not just bringing back the Grim Reaper, it would have to be challenging, it would explore more of Europe countryside not just the castle, and of course, it must have excellent music. Good battle, boss, and last boss songs are a definite must. A man can only dream. Hey, maybe this could be another column topic: Konami and Squaresoft. Should they or shouldn't they? Well, thanks for listening.

A lot of people mentioned Nobuo Uematsu in their letters - undoubtedly, he's one of the most known video game composers, at least in the United States, mostly due to the populairty of Final Fantasy. While he can still do some excellent stuff, I have to admit that my fanatacism in him is waning a bit - if only because I've heard other games that diversify a bit more.

Still, Ultimecia's Castle theme from FF8 is a great example. Those organs were freakin' cool.

I have to laugh when people compare videogame music to traditional music. Videogame music has been judged against classical music, movie scores, and techno.  People do not realize the true potential, the advantage that the music in this interactive medium holds.  It should be obvious by its very nature, if the medium is interactive, so must be the music. This goes beyond simply changing the track when encountering a boss.  Those who have played Banjo-Kazooie may or may not have realized that at certain locations, the instruments change based on where you are.  The song was the same, but because the player interacted with the scene and moved to a different location, the instruments indigenous to the new location faded in.  This instrument swap is interactivity at its one of its most basic levels. Ocarina of Time takes this one step further.  In Hyrule Field, when the player is confronted with an enemy, the song's tempo increases and the melody changes.  The song itself does not change; it simply adjusts to the new situation.  This is also used in Majora's Mask. This form of interactive music is still developing.  An entire genre of gaming has been established based on this.  Games such as Rez and Frequency come to mind. So what, pray tell, does this have to do with "Castlevania?"  One of the finer points of the series, as many pointed out in the "Castlevania" v "Metroid" debate, is the ability to create mood.  Castlevania (on the Nintendo 64) lacks melodic music; however, the ambient sounds create a soundscape of the location so that one can distinguish one location from another.  Having the music change based on what location of the level you are on will greatly enhance Castlevania's atmosphere. Mood is not set by just ambient tunes.  Rather, melodious music is also key.  Depending on what era the game occurs, the music should follow suit.  Symphony of the Night did a great job with the 18th century concertos, which conveyed that the game took place in the 1700's.  I make reference to "Dance of Gold," "Dance of Pales," "Wood Carving Partita," and "Requiem for the Gods."  Bloodlines was another game with splendid music, which fit its epoch.  Such songs are "Iron Blue Intention," "A Prayer for a Tragic Queen," and "Requiem for the Nameless Victims."  The song "Dwelling of Doom" from Simon's Quest is also noteworthy. Although historical accuracy in the "Castlevania" series is nice, it is not important, as I would rather hear ingenious tunes such as "Wandering Ghosts," "Bloodlines," "Entrance," the Castlevania 64 theme, "Invisible Sorrow," "March of the Holy Man," and, of course, "Wicked Child" and "Vampire Killer." With that said, having one band perform the music for "Castlevania" would be a huge mistake.  Bands generally tend to perform one genre of music.  There must be a huge variety of music to achieve the range of moods that the series evokes.  And to seamlessly blend moods such as suspense, ambience, adventure, action, and frustration (damn those medusa heads when I leap; damn those later-level bosses) into an interactive medium, a band would fall short. Videogame music is in a category in and of itself.  "Castlevania" and other games should explore this new mean of developing music.  This is the future of music in "Castlevania," the future of music for games. --  Anon Y Mous

Skies of Arcadia is another game that uses the technology you mention - when you fly around in your airship, the music changes subtly (and sometimes, not so subtly) depending on what airspace you're in. Very neat effect.

Great points otherwise too.

My favorite CastleVania music is the music from the NES games and "Battle of the Holy". That's because I'm mostly familiar with the NES games. I do plan to get SotN soon, so maybe my preference will change. As for who I'd like to create music for a CastleVania game, my choices would be Darling Violetta (the theme to "Angel"), Kristopher Carter ("Batman Beyond"), or Linda Park (who plays Hoshi Sato on "Enterprise" and is also a talented piano player). Hell, just have them each do a few tunes for the game! Mark Moore

I'm not familiar with most of the artists you've mentioned, although the Batman Beyond music is definitely quite cool, so I'd imagine it'd work well.

personally i like it all. there are a lot of different types of music that excel in communicating the sort of atmosphere that you need in a castlevania game. SOTN certainly had the best soundtrack, not only for castlevania games thus far but for ANY videogame (though GTA3 is growing on me). the reason its soundtrack is so fantastic is because its so eclectic. there's classical waltzes, experimental ambient pieces, jazz fusion, trip-hop, but it pulls it all together in a nice tight package and no one really thinks of the music as out of place. if i could see ONE artist that i know doing the entire soundtrack to a castlevania game? i would probably say Frontline Assembly. they've mellowed in recent years but still have the ability to get your pulse up a bit. just listen to Everything Must Perish from their new album. later kurt -batman

I found it amusing that one major video game site or magazine - I forget which - gave Grand Theft Auto 3 "Best Soundtrack of the Year" award, and that just strikes me as a bit off. Obviously, an incredible amount of effort went into the music and sound, but it is, for all intents and purposes, "real" music. I'm not going to like rap and hip-hop, even if it is in a videogame. Still, I did like the choice between radio station - the techno one was actually fairly decent, and I got a kick out of the 80s station ("I played the trumpet a lot back then, if you know what I mean.") That, and the Chatterbox radio station was utter genius. The people that wrote and acted the dialogue for that should be given a nice big steak dinner.

So you want a letter thingy, hmm? I think if they have another CV game on a larger screen console, they NEED Michiru Yamane. I mean, if you do a good job for one project, doesn't it stand to make sense to rehire that person that you know is quality and will deliver for you instead of depending on an unknown? I'm not really sure that one style works best for CV. I think having a whole slew of musical styles for one castle is a good idea. The castle IS a creature of Chaos, so Alucard says. So doesn't it make sense that the castle can't decide on just one piece of music to express itself? I think the series needs to stay away from bands. It's perfectly fine the way it is. Besides, if you have bands, invariably you have singing and if you're in some area of the castle that involves the need for fine jumping skills with your dhampir or your Belmont and just as you take off, some whiny bandleader screeches out the lyrics to his song and you fall in a pit a of spikes...yeah, you see where I'm going. Somehow hearing the same background music isn't so bad because it can fit with the area where you are. Listening to the same words over and over would be repetitive, unless you had some function that would turn off song words. --- Setzer Stand tall and shake the heavens!

One recent game that actually used lyrics - Sonic Adventure 2. Ugh. So much good guitar work ruined by a moronic singer and crappy lyrics.

Actually, Michuru Yamane's track record hasn't been all that great since Symphony of the Night. She worked on the Japanese-only PSX games Gungage and Elder Gate (along with Sota Fujimori of the Chronicles remixes) and, to be honest...Gungage isn't very good, and I've heard Elder Gate isn't either. Too bad...

To me the music in the Castlevania series has always been one of its most unique elements. Not many other games can claim the nostalgic hooks that reside within each Castlevania tune. It truly is one of the game's strong points. I do believe however that the game music does change quite drastically from year to year. Simon's Quest really did it for me in terms of Castlevania music. Well actually I dug that game for just about every aspect of it. But the music was stand out for an NES game. After this game I think the developers at Konami picked up on this Castlevania traight and really had fun with it. Personally I cannot tell you the shock and amazement I felt when i first turned on Dracula X for my PC engine. Hearing the chant "Kyrie eleison" if thats what it was, and experiencing tune after tune of nostalgic Castlevania remix bliss. This after the last castlevania I'd played was Castlevania 4, was totally mind blowing. Konami actually bested their own record. Even though Dracula X did not have the new organ heavy "simon's theme", it did resurrect so many oldies but goodies and remixed them. Wallace Esch is right, in saying that the game's composers were not without their influences from the Baroque and Romantic periods. SotN was a perfect example of this.  Alucard's game was chock full of professionally scored classical fusion. At times SotN sounded like a movie's score rather than a Playstation game. Circle of the Moon did well too in my opinion. There was nostalgic riffs thrown in. The score wasnt as deep as SotN, however, due to hardware limitations, but good nonetheless. If I had to pick a favorite, it would be Dracula X (PC engine) for the best score. Although it was mostly rock and not much orchestra (synth), it really pumped the game up for me and coupled with the already slightly nostalgic controls it made for an unforgettable gaming experience. I would like to add that Simon's Quest should take home a prize for best ORIGINAL score as most of those tunes were so damn good for an NES game and had never been used before. So it wasnt like Dracula X which was full of remixes. If we had to decide on a real band and/or composer to do the ultimate Castlevania score? I'd cast my vote for either Reznor or Badly Drawn Boy. Some of Trent's mid 90's stuff was dark and haunted enough to suffice. Damon of Badly Drawn boy has some worth there too as his album "Hour of the Bewilderbeast" was equally haunting at times and the Ep's that preceded it were even more dark and damp. Good tunes, all of em.   cough!   alwaysinit

The sound quality in Simon's Quest still blows me away - it's absolutely incredible for a NES.

Personally, I find the baroque and hard rock styles to be the best. They can be used in various areas or stages and present emotion accordingly. These two styles of music are also presented as tunes that can be hummed while walking down the street. As for choosing a composer, I would pick Danny Elfman. Given, movies and television are his territory but entering the world of CD based games allows any music to break through. Danny Elfman works with Tim Burton often and combines his brilliant musical genius with Burton's dark, mysterious style. It works for Castlevania. As for a band...Bon Jovi. Tony T. Tiger

Danny Elfman rules.

Too bad Planet of the Apes was....not up to standards.

First off.. Metroid still rocks.. (Heck I was playing it this morning) You oughta know by know if you're fighting some boss and all of a sudden, the room heats up and you don't have the Varia Suit.. that dire situation will make you pee on yourself.. (as a thirteen year old playing at the time of.. 1992 when Super Metroid came out.. this was pretty intense) Hell, the boss was easy. What wasn't easy was that music in the background...it made me think that like a lava flow was catching up to my ass or something.. that kinda music gets the adrenaline goin' and makes you try to whip his ass fast before you fry to a crisp.. On the other hand... Castlevania 3... I remember fighting Death as Trevor/Alucard.. God.. Death's music was so damn annoying I had to turn down the volume on my TV. It was in my interest to end that battle quick..or else have that dull annoying music screech into my brain like a cerebral bore... Of course I died because I concentrated on the crappy music.. Most Castlevanias fail to Grasp the situation and take advantage to it (music) If you've ever played Atlus's Fighter "Guilty Gear".. you'll know that game had some of the best damn music in the whole video gaming world. Nobuo Uematsu (I hope I spelt it right) would be perfect for Castlevania.. (Just for the record Guilty Gear is my FAVORITE 2d Fighter) If not Uematsu.. I'd bring in Matt Uelman (The genius behind the music of Diablo 2) his music is very eerie at times.. and brings you up and PLOP right back down.. (anybody who has ever gone back to Act 1 in Diablo 2 just to hear the wilderness theme, you'll know what I mean) As far as Bands go.. I've heard that System of a Down did a song of Zelda.. with lyrics and everything.. Kinda funny. If there were one band I'd have to do Castlevania, It'd have to be Creed. Something I forgot to mention before.. The circumstances for music would be different depending on the type of game.. The RPG castlevanias need the music more for the game to attempt to grasp at the situation.. Tell me, Kurt, who would be the ones to do YOUR fantasy version... music-wise.. of Castlevania?

My version? Why, how thoughtful of you to ask.

Motoi Sakuraba - one of my personal favorites, whose best works include Valkyrie Profile, Golden Sun, Star Ocean: The Second Story, Tales of Destiny II, Mario Tennis, and many, many others. He oozes talent from almost every pore - he can do quiet, peaceful town themes, suspenseful, moody dungeon themes, and absolutely ass-kicking battle music. Just give a listen to Imperfect Body and Integral Soul from the Star Ocean 2 Arrange Album, a superb blend of goth-techno, or Illuminating Magic Links from Valkyrie Profile, and you'll probably be convinced that Sakuraba is one of the best composers out there. His drumwork would also qualify him as a great composer for a new Ninja Gaiden game as well - that is, if Tecmo drops its obsession with bouncy women and actually makes the damn game.

Yoshitaka Hirota - This guy's a bit of a rookie, but the one game he has composed for - the PS2 RPG Shadow Hearts - has shown that this guy knows his stuff....dark, atmospheric pieces that really set the mood for the game (and the guitar driven pieces kick quite the bit of ass as well.)

Yoshihiro Sato - He's only done one game that I know of, and that's the Japanese action game Cyberorg. The man can do some nice power rock though - listen to the tune Transilvania (aptly named, though misspelled) and try to tell me he wouldn't be a good candidate.

Daisuke Ishiwatari - the guy behind the Guilty Gear and Guilty Gear X soundtracks (the latter of which was more or less the best soundtrack of 2001.) Incredible power rock, especially when packed up with organs like Holy Orders - Be Just or Be Dead and Writhe in Pain.

I admit, my list is leaning more towards guitar-driven rock, but I love the Dracula Battle albums, so I that'd probably be the style I'd prefer for my Castlevania games.

I think we can all agree that was pretty fun. Now for something a bit more topical.

Once again, the new Castlevania is bound for a handheld - perhaps at the expense of a full console game for the PS2. So...how do you feel about the Game Boy Advance? For many 2D fans, it's the last bastion of hope - especially when we see favorite series transformed into 3D, the GBA is the only way to go (see: Metroid.) The problem is - the thing's small. As much as I loved Circle of the Moon, I got a backache from sitting in my chair, hunched over the screen, underneat my dining room table light just so I could see it.

Does the fact that the new White Night Concerto is going to the GBA bother you? Or would some of the nifty third-party periphreals, like the GBA TV (play GBAt games on your TV) or Pocket Monopoly (install a backlighting), make you reconsider the handheld?

-Kurt, already on level 28 and near the end of Act II in Progress Quest