Games for which there are two soundtracks, and both are good

exodus

I do feel like Sega specifically did this stuff a lot - they really cared about the music presentation across format and region, and ecco is another excellent example!

yeso

obvious answer falcom

16 minute vid of different versions of a single ys III track

exodus

These are versions of the same song though! I’m talking same game (or port/version of it), totally different music.

robinhoodie

exodus I am hard pressed to think of examples of this other than the one’s mentioned.

The more notorious examples from the last 20 years are games where the soundtrack was changed for licensing reasons. Crazy Taxi’s Offspring free re-releases from the PSP onward being a notorious example. Super Meat Boy is another one with a slightly different kind of licensing issue. The only other thing I can think of is the multiple versions of Crypt of the Necrodancer though I think its just different artist doing their own take on Baranowsky’s original soundtrack.

Going more the Valis IV route though, Aubrey Hodges’ more atmospheric soundtrack for Doom on PS1 is easily the equal of the midi versions of metal songs from the DOS version

gsk

The Korean version of Guilty Gear XX #Reload was not only dubbed in Korean but featured a new soundtrack by the late guitarist of the Korean band N.E.X.T., and if you like one version of the soundtrack you’ll probably like the other. They made the Korean music available internationally for the first time as part of the recent GG20th release, as an optional soundtrack for AC+R, and IIRC they patched it into the standalone Steam version too.

A lot of early Japanese conversions of western RPGs have different soundtracks… Eye of the Beholder’s notable in that Yuzo Koshiro worked on two different ports and contributed two different scores: the PC98 version (written with assistance from Yuji Yamada) is laid-back FM music and perhaps not as fantasy-tinged as you might expect, and the MCD version (written in collaboration with Motohiro Kawashima) is very club-infused and is a mix of more ambient stuff and harder-edged tunes.

robinhoodie

gsk I love Guilty Gear and I did not know this! I have the Switch release and didn’t even notice this option. Yay! This will be a fun excuse to replay the game. Though I might go for the full experience and play the PS2 version

Syzygy

gsk
Ah, yes, I should have thought of this: it was available unofficially before that on the legendary Wingdreams netplay server. They cleaned up their pirate downloads around when Xrd came out, though they were up for so long you can still pull them off the Wayback Machine if you dig a bit.

rejj

It feels like cheating, but almost every DOS release could kinda fall in to this category. There was the bleeps that would come out of the pc speaker, and then when you finally got an Adlib or SoundBlaster everything was different

robinhoodie

rejj I’ve been learning more about this through the Mister 486 core and how it can be used to sync up with another device simulating a Roland MT-32

and yeah, once I started hearing some of those pc soundtracks played back via the Roland. It like when I heard the FM version of Phantasy Star 1 versus the PSG version (does that count?). Just such richer sound.

rejj

robinhoodie related, I quite enjoyed SQ4. Messing with the title bar felt so clever, for such a simple trick. You never actually get to play SQ4!

fugazi57

Futari no Fantavision! It’s 5:40 am here I should go to bed but I will post examples later.

wexley

fugazi57 I’ve been on such a Soichi Terada kick since watching those Ape Escape 3 streams with Tim recently. Everything he touches is gold. From what I understand Futari no Fantavision has 3 versions? Other than Terada’s I haven’t listened to them much. Love “Gigantic” on that one, would be interested to hear more about the 3 versions.

Sonic CD was essentially the first game I ever played, so I can’t help but be partial to the US version. The original is definitely more cohesive, but while being very good it still sounds somewhat similar to a lot of great soundtracks from Japan of that era to my ears. I love the “naive optimism” description for the US soundtrack. It’s a unique one.

billy

Sonic 3D had completely different soundtracks on the Mega Drive and Saturn.

While the Mega Drive version (by Jun Senoue) is almost certainly catchier and more memorable, the Saturn version (by Richard Jacques) drives to your house and dumps a huge pile of that particular 90s Sega sound on your lawn. Which is nice sometimes.

Both versions are ‘canon’, with themes from both occasionally re-used, remixed or otherwise plundered in modern games.

milo

billy

Great example!! Love the Saturn version of Rusty Ruin zone.

fridgeboy

Only kind of shitposting….

antillese

exodus
You picked the exact two examples I would have used for Sonic CD. One of the things that I think the Japanese version does better is provide variations on motets throughout the different time periods. This is exacerbated by the fact that the Past tracks in the US version are the same synth tracks brought over from the Japanese version.

milo
The Genesis version of The Vents is wonderful. I get what the CD version was going for, but I don’t care for the Ecco 1 CD soundtrack. Ecco 2 CD’s soundtrack feels like it was done intentionally rather than as an afterthought like I suspect the CD soundtrack to 1 was.

The Mega Man Wiley Wars soundtrack is like you explained the NES Mega Man instrumentation to someone who doesn’t speak the same language that you do, then handed them sheet music. It’s super weird and interesting.

The character themes from BlazeBlue changed circa Continuum Shift II and the new II remixes are all over the place in quality. Example is how Noel’s theme from BB (1) changed to the CSII theme. In general, I don’t care for the II remixes. I think they changed them just to change them. I guess… both of these aren’t good so maybe not a great example!

robinhoodie

antillese A similar example to Blazblue is the way the characters themes changed entirely from Street Fighter Alpha 2 to Alpha 3. In Alpha 2 they are remixes of their Street Fighter 2 or Final Fight themes. In Alpha 3 it some weird high energy but ultimately forgettable tunes. I don’t want to be stodgy, but Yoko Shimomura knocked it out the park with so many of those character themes the first time around. Shoot, Capcom vs SNK 2 is also guilty of removing the old character themes in a way I never liked.

ALSO, I will always be thankful the the Dreamcast TDC final disc which lets me play Marvel Vs Capcom 2 with either the Third Strike or Super Turbo soundtrack. A far more enjoyable experience

antillese

Just thought of another NES -> Genesis conversion. Battletoads! I know that the game (rightly) is unloved around here, but I’ll stand up for the Genesis version because they fixed all of the NES bugs, and it’s simply more enjoyable. Fun fact - Battletoads for Genesis is one of Arc System Works’ earlier work for hire games.

The NES version has a very minimalist vibe to it independent of the 4-channel audio on the NES. Lots of silence in the compositions and not much harmony.

The Genesis version has more harmony, but the mix and levels are the primary change. Some of the melodies in the NES that had a “sound effects” feel to them have been considerably de-emphasized. Surf City is a good example of this.

robinhoodie Oh, I totally forgot about the Alpha 3 soundtrack situation. I enjoy the announcer yelling DON’T GIVE UP! at me, but the music is very forgettable. The Alpha 2 Sagat theme is incredible.

Also, it looks like you made a mistake picking your tunes. You should move your cursor either up, or to the left. It’s OK, it’s an easy mistake to make. :-P

robinhoodie

antillese Ha ha, this is a youtube grab, but I generally go for the Third Strike soundtrack. Its not earworm-y, but it fits. For me the real crime of Alpha 3 is losing Adon’s theme

fugazi57

A bit late but let’s talk a bit about Futari no Fantavision!

wexley yup! it’s got three versions, one for each console region.

The Japanese one by Ape Escape’s Soichi Terada is most definetely the best one.

I really like the PAL version as well! It’s a bit more trance-y

The American one sucks

Syzygy

Sonic CD was essentially the first game I ever played, so I can’t help but be partial to the US version.

Wow, how did that happen?

wexley

Syzygy Ah good question, it’s because it was bundled with my mom’s Windows 95 PC. Interesting thing I’m reading now is that this bundled version was the only way to play Sonic CD on computers in ’95, not being sold in stores until a DirectX version came along in ’96. Yeah, it would be pretty strange if someone’s first console was a MegaCD haha