Feature: Top 5 Gaming Guitar Riffs

20/06/2012 by James Sterling

We take a look back at some of the best guitar riffs that gaming has to offer. You can keep your Guitar Hero and your Rock Band. We’re going back to basics. To a time when original compositions were King. Join us.

Videogame soundtracks of today are of a consistent high standard, with developers going all out to create the ultimate gaming experience through the right musical accompaniment.

However things weren’t always this way. In the past, developers might not have had the funds to employ a pricey composer, while others may not have seen music as important to us gamers. This resulted the occasional soundtrack that was so bad, it quite literally made you want to plug your ears with cheese, just to stop the notes bleeding through (no names mentioned…ahem…Yoshi’s Story) or worse still, stop playing the game all together.

For the most part though, developers have and will continue to get their soundtracks spot on, and we salute them. Today we’ll be looking at a few that managed to create an awesome atmosphere, with a focus on an instrument that is brimming with cool. The Guitar.

So without further adieu, I bring you, PopBucket’s Top 5 Gaming Guitar Riffs!

5. Roar of the Departed Souls – Lost Odyssey

Anyone who has played Lost Odyssey will know that one of the best things that it had going for it was the soundtrack. Roar of the Departed really stood out as one of the best songs for me though. Imagine the love-child of Dream Theater, a group of Cistercian Monks plus some classic J-Pop and you’re probably 75% there. Check it out!

http://youtu.be/lzFTGvLVJmM

4. Galacta Knight Theme – Kirby’s Return to Dreamland

Kirby is not generally a series that you would associate with electronic drums and pulsing Guitar riffs. Which leads me to believe that Galacta Knight is clearly into his Death Metal. Perhaps a bit repetitive in part, but a good one all the same.

3. Lu Bu’s Theme – Dynasty Warriors 4

Come on, you had to know that Dynasty Warriors would feature here somewhere eh? The series is absolutely crammed full of tasty solos and catchy riffs. The perfect soundtrack for massacring thousands of enemies in one of the biggest button-bashers of all time. Lu Bu was one of the toughest enemies in Dynasty Warriors 4 and when you heard his theme, you knew it was time to either stand and fight, or flee like a big wimp-face. Usually the latter.

2. Great Fox Rock – Starfox Adventures

Starfox was a quality gaming series, and Adventures was an interesting departure from what the fans were used to. Fox spent most of his time on foot and the title adopted gameplay and combat mechanics that were not too dis-similar from recent Zelda titles. Great Fox Rock was a track brimming with Guitar-awesomeness, that was featured a couple of times in game. The most memorable occasion being played on jukebox, which Slippy managed to break. Another reason to despise that Toad.

1. Burnout Main Theme – Burnout 2: Revenge

Ah Burnout, how we loved your blend of white knuckle racing and suicidal joyriding. Your soundtracks were also pretty damn good, then after Burnout 3, they got a tad…Emo. Burnout 2: Revenge was one of the series’ best titles and I loved the incredible riff-man-ship on the soundtrack.

So many great tunes, but one really stands out. The theme from the Main Menu (or Burnout Main Theme as it’s known). I spent about a week humming this tune, unable to get it out of my head after falling asleep with the game on in the background. The notes are still strongly embedded in my brain, as a bench-mark to which every other riff is now subconsciously compared. This is Burnout 2′s legacy.

So that’s our Top 5 Gaming Guitar Riffs. We hope you enjoyed them! Let us know what you think, or tell us if there are any you think we’ve missed. Who knows, we might include them in the next feature and credit you.