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Anyone else feel we've got a dearth of lazy damned composers in the modern age? I could swear the music from classic games are more thought through than the blur of techno and mock-epic symphony we've been subject to lately.

To finish the tangent, here's some samples.

Sonic 3 & Knuckles: Flying Battery

Original:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-pe3JGsmpQ
Fan-Remix:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RgQphn5eOX0

Eggman Boss Battle:
Original:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B93QQvL0C...ed&search=
Remix:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=399mtrhVv...ed&search=

Koji Kondo and Nobuo Uematsu.

Musical genius.

are...you comparing original scores with fan-made remixes? the sound on this computer doesnt work, so i'm going by what i see. if thats the case, then you can't compare the two.

there are a lot of soundtracks out today that are brilliant, and very thought through. people are starting to look for orchestrated soundtracks, and composers are listening. just as games and technology are evolving, so is the music.

i can't say that old is better or worse than today's. theres music from both sides that i love, and music from both sides that i can't stand.

Recent composers that hold my attention?

Yasunori Mitsuda [Chrono Cross]
Hitoshi Sakimoto [Vagrant Story]
Koh Otani [Shadow of the Colossus]
and of course,
Akira Yamaoka [Silent Hill(s)]

But to continue, I was going to edit some samples of current sonic game music in there as comparison to the original game and fan-made remixes, but got lazy.

[Edits]
...I'm a poor liar.

Sonic Adventure 2 Boss Music:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WlVNKl3IdQA
vs.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZkNTKV3Bt...ed&search=
vs. (modern fan-made version)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BoXFWax6t...ed&search=

Just seems they tried a lot harder in the older games with limited sound quality, hell, even the fans themselves did.

Koji Konda [Zelda]
Nobuo Uematsu [Final Fantasy]
Harry Gregson-Williams [Metal Gear Solid]
Kenji Yamamoto [Metroid]

There's a few bland orchestral soundtracks out these days that I just don't care for, but on the whole I'd say video game soundtracks today are more or less as good as they've ever been.

Some of my favourite composers, with examples of their work:

Yuzo Koshiro [Streets of Rage, stage 5]: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-z75vsm9yY

Koji Kondo [Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Forest Temple]:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MuVtu7bp0YY

Kenji Yamamoto [Metroid Prime 2, underground area of Torvus Bog (remixed from Super Metroid)]:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ZX2N9_7NO8

Yuka Tsujiyoko (woooo female)

Fire Emblem, (also some paper mario 1&2 as well)