Retro Gaming Music

Retro gaming music genres remind me not only of the game tunes but also embrace a celebration of the collective atmosphere of being a kid in the 80s – It was not just about the game you took home after school and played for 6 hours straight, but also good times spent against a backdrop of TV shows, movies of the time, riding BMX bikes, attitudes, and other 80s pop culture icons.

Although I’d known about chiptunes, mods, demo scenes, remixes, and some interesting game theme a capella on youtube, when I saw names like Minibosses and NESkimos on convention schedules, it definitely sounded like the ‘next level’! Speaking of ‘next level’, many of us who played around on machines like the Commodore 64 , Atari 800 or the Amiga, at some stage inevitably started to dissect those games to see what made them work.

Though not limited just to retro gaming, the Nerdcore genre in the style and hacker-related lyrics of artists like YTcracker, Dual Core, MC Frontalot, and Dale Chase definitely shares some common roots with old-school games and deserve a mention here.

Many of the listed bands play at gaming, demo, or hacker conventions, and can be easily missed with lots of things going on. It really pays to know a few and remember to stop-by when you’re there. To get you started, here’s a list of great retro gaming-related live acts to check out one night or at least have a listen to.

A few bands that rock out some of those great memorable retro game themes:

Minibosses
The Oneups
Brentalfloss
Video Games Live
The Advantage
Axes Denied
Bit Brigade
Year 200x
The Greatest Bits
Sixto Sounds (technically a re-mixer but with guitar sounds)

A small sampling of Nerdcore artists with retro gamer-related lyrics and styles:

Although there’s a plethora of awesome artists out there, here’s just a few choice video clips from the above list to start with. I’ve tried to grab the live versions where possible to give some idea of the audience experience, which is often fairly up-close and personal, especially in the case of Nerdcore shows I’ve been at. Crank it up!

Minibosses : Super Mario 2 at Penny Arcade Expo 2006

source: Vaguely Qualified Productions

The OneUps: A number of tunes at Nerdapolooza 2013

source: Jason Roop

Video Games Live : Medley at Hamilton Palace Theatre 2011

source: Montreal Metal Shows

Axes Denied : Commando theme

source: Axes Denied

Year 200x : Ghosts ‘n Goblins theme

source: The LoverlyLiz

Sixto Sounds : Castlevania

source: LKH9

MC Frontalot : It is pitch dark

source: MC Frontalot

Zealous 1, Shaffer the Dark Lord, MC Lars and YTCracker : Do the Bruce Campbell (anyone remember that old c64 Evil Dead game?)

source: 1jwells
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