If you could choose, would you rather each boss in a game has their own theme playing or do you prefer a standard "boss battle" theme that is used for every boss?
choose a own theme, so it outside less monotonous the game
Personal Boss Battle Themes of course!
Made these 2 for a game years ago. The first one was the theme from a troll boss battle (a lot of percussion work and ostinato - string and brass shorts) while the second one was the theme against THE main villian, an evil mad wizard - you had to loose the battle because he was far too strong and defeats the whole party with full force - thats the first time you face him in the game.
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Unpublished Submission
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Unpublished Submission
Thats just an example why i find it always better to have special music for each character to add more personality ad depth.
At 11/5/16 02:34 PM, SoundChris wrote: Personal Boss Battle Themes of course!
Made these 2 for a game years ago. The first one was the theme from a troll boss battle (a lot of percussion work and ostinato - string and brass shorts) while the second one was the theme against THE main villian, an evil mad wizard - you had to loose the battle because he was far too strong and defeats the whole party with full force - thats the first time you face him in the game.
http://www.newgrounds.com/audio/listen/587955
http://www.newgrounds.com/audio/listen/586058
Thats just an example why i find it always better to have special music for each character to add more personality ad depth.
Those themes sound good.
An example of games where the bosses have their own theme would be Metal Gear Solid 3 & 4.
Devil May Cry series also has unique theme for all bosses, some with lyrics (although I prefer instrumentals-only).
At 11/5/16 10:32 AM, Goldsickle wrote: If you could choose, would you rather each boss in a game has their own theme playing or do you prefer a standard "boss battle" theme that is used for every boss?
If you can. Every boss battle has a different theme. The theme will then represent the character which you are fighting against.
However, it's more common to have a boss battle the same all the way, until you reach the final boss, which is a bigger event with custom music. You can hear in the Original MGS the boss theme was always the same, MGS2 themes became per boss. In Final Fantasy the boss battle tends to be the same, until you reach the end fight. This is good for saving game space if you have that as a concern (mobile).
So it's really up to yourself. Themes that run synonymously with the character design/traits tend to give the gameplay and scene more individuality. However, the difference is when you have a Boss theme people can identify on the importance on that fight due to reoccuring usage. While also identifying the level milestone. So there's Game Design reasons too which should be considered when making your call.
At 11/6/16 11:13 AM, PeterSatera wrote: You can hear in the Original MGS the boss theme was always the same
It was, until the remake (The Twin Snakes) gave every boss their own theme.
Psycho Mantis for example now has a creepy theme playing when you fight against him, complete with his "hymn" mixed into the song.
Metal Gear Rising takes the whole "unique boss theme" to another level, where each songs contains lyrics that somehow represents the bosses you're fighting.
But they don't just play the songs in the background but it's done in a dynamic manner.
For example, only the instruments are played early in battle.
When the boss is dying or you're in the final phase of the battle, the lyrics are added into the music.
The music also plays the ending notes as you are dealing the finishing blow and wraps up just in time for the battle results to display on-screen.
I recommend checking out the boss battles of Metal Gear Rising to see how the music is used.
That's a tough one.
Well if the game didn't have that many boss battles then yeah I would say each boss have its own boss theme. If there are a ton of bosses though then yeah you should have a standard boss theme and a standard mini-boss theme. However, no matter what, the Final Boss should always have their own theme.
At 11/5/16 10:32 AM, Goldsickle wrote: If you could choose, would you rather each boss in a game has their own theme playing or do you prefer a standard "boss battle" theme that is used for every boss?
Different tracks so it makes each enemy more unique.
Mini bosses are a different story though
At 11/7/16 12:41 AM, Goldsickle wrote: I recommend checking out the boss battles of Metal Gear Rising to see how the music is used.
Yeah I've played it, that and twin snakes when it was on game cube. I was just giving an example that both is acceptable. And pretty much a game design question and creative choice. One is not better than the other, purely on preference. There's also software specs, production time and costs which impact the decision.
At 11/5/16 10:32 AM, Goldsickle wrote: If you could choose, would you rather each boss in a game has their own theme playing or do you prefer a standard "boss battle" theme that is used for every boss?
Unique themes for each boss as long as quality isn't compromised. One song would generally get too repetitive and was a more common practice in older games when space was more limited.
Out of my currently uploaded tracks here are 2 that are more suitable as boss themes.
At 11/8/16 08:21 PM, connorhawke wrote: Out of my currently uploaded tracks here are 2 that are more suitable as boss themes.
http://www.newgrounds.com/audio/listen/709405
http://www.newgrounds.com/audio/listen/705461
I prefer Ranger.
Torture Device sounded a bit too repetitive.
At 11/8/16 08:21 PM, connorhawke wrote:At 11/5/16 10:32 AM, Goldsickle wrote: If you could choose, would you rather each boss in a game has their own theme playing or do you prefer a standard "boss battle" theme that is used for every boss?Unique themes for each boss as long as quality isn't compromised. One song would generally get too repetitive and was a more common practice in older games when space was more limited.
Although my personal preference is separate themes, I argue that good boss themes don't get repetitive. Final fantasy series are among the largest games, games had several disks (so HD wasn't a factor), some games over 40 hours gameplay and the repetitiveness helps establish the boss, and actually can become nostalgic and more enjoyable for that fact.
