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Posted: 10/28/2011 10:36 PM
Post subject: Top 100 NES tracks ever
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juef
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Location: Québec, Canada
Hello all! I am pleased to present you the results of a project I started last year in hopes of finding out which were the best individual tracks for the Nintendo Entertainment System. Long story short, 1725 nominated tracks were rated by people from The Shizz community. Thousands of ratings have been cast, and many efforts were made to make this as objective as possible (notably, to rate a track, one had to listen to at least one loop of it, and the game or track title were not revealed until the rating had been cast. 115 tracks stood out and have made the podium. Initially, we planned on more epicness with the revealing of the results (such as hardware recordings from a modded NES), but for a few reasons, we gave up on some of them. Nevertheless, please enjoy the results!
Posted: 10/29/2011 2:05 AM
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TASManiac
Joined: 7/30/2011
Posts: 129
Location: Watching a TAS in the basement...
Me likey! Quick question, why don't you reveal all the results right away? I hate suspense...
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Posted: 10/29/2011 2:14 AM
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Patashu
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I am already liking these. I'll remember to keep coming back every day :D
My Chiptune music, made in Famitracker: http://soundcloud.com/patashu My twitch. I stream mostly shmups & rhythm games http://twitch.tv/patashu My youtube, again shmups and rhythm games and misc stuff: http://youtube.com/user/patashu
Posted: 10/29/2011 2:45 AM
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DarkKobold
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Patashu wrote:
I am already liking these. I'll remember to keep coming back every day :D
Remind me in 38 days....
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Posted: 10/29/2011 3:33 AM
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Brushy
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Joined: 11/13/2005
Posts: 1587
This is awesome, thank you for compiling this!
Posted: 10/29/2011 3:39 AM
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ledauphinbenoit
Joined: 8/29/2005
Posts: 148
Location: Dayton, OH
I agree. I'll be checking this everyday. Love the review comments as well. They point out many things I probably would overlook while listening.
Posted: 10/29/2011 7:41 AM
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Twelvepack
Joined: 5/2/2006
Posts: 1020
Location: Boulder, CO
I will be supremely disappointed if the moon theme from ducktails doesn't win. It gets no better
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Posted: 10/29/2011 7:49 AM
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CoolKirby
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This is really neat. I haven't heard of so many of these, since I just learned that the system existed 1-2 years ago. The NES has some truly awesome music.
Posted: 10/29/2011 9:03 AM
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Kyrsimys
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Joined: 4/16/2004
Posts: 1286
Location: Finland
Thanks for sharing, I will also be following this. I'm expecting to see some Megaman and Castlevania tunes at the top of the list (Megaman 3 intro or Megaman 2 1st Dr Wily stage anyone?). Also hoping to see some of these lesser known tracks on the list.
Posted: 10/29/2011 12:39 PM
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juef
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Glad you all seem to enjoy! I didn't reveal all the results right away for three major reasons:
    1) Many would simply skim through the list looking for titles they already know. One of the points of the list is to allow people to discover hidden gems, as the track rating was 'blindfolded'. 2) Suspense :) 3) Track reviews aren't finished yet :P
I know it's impossible to please everyone with such a list, but since this is a collaborative effort, hopefully the results will be satisfying to most!
Posted: 10/29/2011 1:24 PM
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nesrocks
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Expecting a lot of sunsoft and capcom there.
aka Nesrocks http://www.youtube.com/user/UoBtExFODA https://nesrocks.com https://twitter.com/bitinkstudios
Posted: 10/29/2011 2:35 PM
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Mukki
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I look forward to following this. To be honest I'm most interested in seeing which obscure tracks do well before Mega Man and Castlevania start placing. It was cool to see level 2 of Bad Dudes today, I was playing through this game a few days ago and found the music to be pretty weak with the exeption of this awesome track
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Posted: 10/30/2011 1:20 AM
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RT-55J
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Location: WA State, USA
Judging by the results thus far, I predict that 1/3 of the songs on this list will be from Shatterhand.
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Posted: 10/30/2011 6:36 AM
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feos
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RT-55J wrote:
Judging by the results thus far, I predict that 1/3 of the songs on this list will be from Shatterhand.
Another third from Crisis Force.
Warning: When making decisions, I try to collect as much data as possible before actually deciding. I try to abstract away and see the principles behind real world events and people's opinions. I try to generalize them and turn into something clear and reusable. I hate depending on unpredictable and having to make lottery guesses. Any problem can be solved by systems thinking and acting.
Posted: 10/30/2011 7:08 AM
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Patashu
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Joined: 10/2/2005
Posts: 4017
I'm kind of hoping we don't get a thousand mega man songs just because they're instantly recognizable, myself. I want things I wouldn't have thought of looking up without this contest.
My Chiptune music, made in Famitracker: http://soundcloud.com/patashu My twitch. I stream mostly shmups & rhythm games http://twitch.tv/patashu My youtube, again shmups and rhythm games and misc stuff: http://youtube.com/user/patashu
Posted: 10/30/2011 1:09 PM
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juef
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I can't deny the list will include many tracks from the Mega Man and Castlevania series. However, I can assure you there will be some hidden gems as well! Also, when the list is done being revealed, I will post the full ranking of the 1725 tracks we rated. Between tracks #115 and #200, there are many I had never heard about and yet are still incredible.
Posted: 10/30/2011 4:20 PM
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Derakon
Joined: 7/2/2007
Posts: 3960
My question is, will there be more MM3 tracks than MM2 tracks? I have trouble convincing my friends that MM3's soundtrack is stronger than MM2's...
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Posted: 10/31/2011 6:44 AM
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IronSlayer
Joined: 5/30/2007
Posts: 324
I was very pleasantly surprised; I expected to see an overload of tracks from a few popular sources, like Castlevania, FF, Metroid, and Megaman. Thus far though, there has been a lot of variety, with a bunch of quality themes that are rarely mentioned. Excellent job, juef!
Posted: 11/1/2011 12:35 AM
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juef
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Ahhh yes, the eternal MM2 vs MM3 debate... In the same community where this project began, there was once a 'Top NES soundtracks', in which MM2 and MM3 actually tied! IIRC, MM2 won just barely after a tie breaker. Any particular track from MM3 makes you prefer it? Thanks IronSlayer, but it's a community's opinion, not mine :) I share your opinion entirely, though!
Posted: 11/1/2011 1:08 AM
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Dada
Joined: 11/22/2004
Posts: 1468
Location: Rotterdam, The Netherlands
Elec Man and Snake Man are great from MM3. Hope to see the rest up soon.
Posted: 11/1/2011 3:32 PM
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Derakon
Joined: 7/2/2007
Posts: 3960
juef wrote:
Any particular track from MM3 makes you prefer it?
It's more that MM2 has tracks that I don't especially like than that MM3 has tracks that are OMG-amazing. Metal, Air, and Quick are all examples of themes that, if solid, aren't anything I'd listen to while not playing the game, say. But all of MM3's tracks are great, modulo the weapon-get theme. While I will freely admit that MM2 Wily 1 is the best track from both games combined, that doesn't make up for weaker tracks elsewhere. Back on-topic, are any of the songs cutting off for anyone else? For example, the Ninja Gaiden Opening 2 piece cuts off before really getting started, for me.
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Posted: 11/1/2011 5:19 PM
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CoolKirby
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Derakon wrote:
While I will freely admit that MM2 Wily 1 is the best track from both games combined, that doesn't make up for weaker tracks elsewhere.
Yeah, I would think MM2 Wily 1 would be up near the top. I wonder where it'll rank.
Posted: 11/1/2011 9:05 PM
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juef
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Joined: 1/29/2007
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Location: Québec, Canada
Derakon wrote:
Back on-topic, are any of the songs cutting off for anyone else? For example, the Ninja Gaiden Opening 2 piece cuts off before really getting started, for me.
Aw crap. I don't understand why FlashNSF does this, but no, you're not alone. I'm gonna try to fix it, but until then, downloading the NSFE (or NSF) is the best way to listen to the track.
Posted: 11/1/2011 10:17 PM
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Noxxa
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Dada wrote:
Elec Man and Snake Man are great from MM3.
Waaiit... (Pretty sure you meant to say Spark Man here instead)
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Posted: 11/2/2011 12:06 AM
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Truncated
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This is nice. I hope for some Batman and Rygar. And Blue Shadow of the Ninja. Judging by how similar the music there is to Shatterhand, I'm guessing it will be popular.
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