Games with musical numbers

[Huz]

A couple of things over the past few days has made me realise that games with musical numbers are far too rare. After all, who can forget the sheer joy of

and

? Nobody, that's who. At least, nobody with a soul.

So, I thought it'd be nice to have a thread documenting these semi-rare gems, hopefully with some Youtube links for those who've been missing out. I'll kick things off with the two games that got me thinking, namely:

. Perhaps this falls into the much more common category of "games that have a bit of a song at the end, kinda like Rainslick Precipice of Darkness and piles of others to be honest", but it's so great and in keeping with the rest of the game, I think it deserves a special mention.

Secondly (and brilliantly),

. Don't listen if you're susceptive to awful, annoying songs getting lodged in your brain, spreading through your psyche like an unstoppable wasting disease, because... man. You'll regret it.

[Thrik]

My God, that LotL song. :~~~~~~~~

[brkl]

Oh, man, Rusty Anchor. Nostalgiaaa.

[Noyb]

Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon:

One of the weirdest N64 games I ever played. The plot revolved around a pipe-wielding ninja, a fat pervert who can shrink himself at will, a ninja mermaid, and a mechanical robot who can use his hair as a weapon all trying to stop a popular music group from abducting all of Japan to be a captive audience in a non-stop concert. The best part: whenever you summon the giant robot Impact for boss fights, that hilarious musical number plays.

Final Fantasy 6:

:

:

The opera scene. Classic.

Never played it, but I remember this from a magazine a while back. Wiki puts it best: "Rhapsody, along with its sequels, are considered musical RPGs, meaning in place of FMV cutscenes, there are musical numbers, complete with vocals."

And Rusty Anchor may well be the best secret ever.

[miffy495]

Nobody's mentioned

yet? I guess it's my duty then...

[thorn]

The second Discworld game had a song in the intro:

EDIT: I remember being entranced as a kid by that video playing in the store. Looks like my sensibilities have changed a little.

[vimes]

And

too.

[ThunderPeel2001]

Sam & Max's "Conroy Bumpus" musical number!

Also, I think Portal was part game and part song. Would it have had such a love for it if it was just a series of puzzles? I don't think so.

[Huz]

Ah man. You only had to mention the N64 to remind me of this absolute classic:

"How about some scat you little twat?"

A phrase equally applicable to the game world as to everyday life.

Also, I think Portal was part game and part song. Would it have had such a love for it if it was just a series of puzzles? I don't think so.

Absolutely. A huge part of the appeal of Portal was in its jokes and its presentation, from the cutesey turrents to The Cake Is A Lie. But that's how Valve roll nowadays - they understand that to elevate their games above 'another puzzle game' and 'another team-based multiplayer FPS', they have to inject a touch of something different. That's a great thing!

[Huz]

And wow. I knew That's Death existed but had no idea it was so awesome. Great stuff!

[Thrik]

Ah man. You only had to mention the N64 to remind me of this absolute classic:

"How about some scat you little twat?"

A phrase equally applicable to the game world as to everyday life.

Hee, God yes. Ever see the Xbox remake's take on that? ;

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=0w5neFPat1w

[Huz]

Hee, God yes. Ever see the Xbox remake's take on that? ;

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=0w5neFPat1w

Well, unless it looks just like the N64 version in all respects, I think you've pasted the wrong link. But no matter, I found the droids I was looking for! Censorship eh - it's a terrible thing. :~

[Thrik]

Heh, yes. It's mental. You'd think of all of them, Nintendo would be the one pulling that bollocks.

[LOPcagney]

FF8 had a funny moment where you had to choose instruments for a musical number, and depending on which combinations you chose, a romantic moment either goes well or poorly.

Conker was an amazing game, and the musical fight with the sludge monster was definitely the highlight.

One game that had a musical moment: Guitar Hero.

[n0wak]

There are a lot of games with really lousy songs in them, almost all of which are by SEGA, it seems. The Sonic games are particularly atrocious. And Nintendo did have the Donkey Kong Rap in Smash Brothers. But these aren't what you're after.

However, if you are posting one "credits" song (Portal) then I do need to point out another (funny enough, by SEGA): Anu Orta Veriya. It deserves a nod because, the song, is true to the game and its universe... it is sung in Panzer Dragoons fictional language. That's worth a mention, I think.

[DanJW]

Yeah I think there's a difference between a 'musical number' (as in the broadway musical sense) and simply use of music or a song in a game. After all most games use music (Max Payne 2 made nice reoccurring use of a song by Poets of the Fall).

In terms of games that are based on the sensibility of The Musical, I feel honour bound to mention Space Channel 5 and Guitaroo Man.

As for more regular games that have a musical intrusion, I can't think of any that haven't been mentioned. I'll ponder it a bit more though.

[Scrobbs]

Ah man. You only had to mention the N64 to remind me of this absolute classic:

That game was top. A bit OT, but I remember in the multiplayer, you could be a french weasel, complete with blue stripey jumpers and berets, while all they said was, "hoh-hee-hoh-hee" while running about. Who said stereotypes are dead?

[twmac]

There are a lot of games with really lousy songs in them, almost all of which are by SEGA, it seems. The Sonic games are particularly atrocious.

Are you dissing the Sonic Heroes theme tune? How dare you!

[miffy495]

Made me think of the horrible opening cinematic in Sonic CD...

[Tommy Gun]

Never played it, but I remember this from a magazine a while back. Wiki puts it best: "Rhapsody, along with its sequels, are considered musical RPGs, meaning in place of FMV cutscenes, there are musical numbers, complete with vocals."

I own it, and beat it. I'm not crazy about RPGs, but I love musicals! I should point out, it's coming to the DS soon! (okay, the game isn't that great, but whatever, I liked it)

[ThunderPeel2001]

Absolutely. A huge part of the appeal of Portal was in its jokes and its presentation, from the cutesey turrents to The Cake Is A Lie. But that's how Valve roll nowadays - they understand that to elevate their games above 'another puzzle game' and 'another team-based multiplayer FPS', they have to inject a touch of something different. That's a great thing!

That's a good argument. I just was kind of dissapointed that BioShock didn't win GotY, as Portal was really just an interesting and short puzzle game with stellar presentation and good storyline (at the end).

[Cigol]

That's a good argument. I just was kind of dissapointed that BioShock didn't win GotY, as Portal was really just an interesting and short puzzle game with stellar presentation and good storyline (at the end).

Whereas Bioshock was a...