Mister VCS Posted January 7, 2007 Share Posted January 7, 2007 (edited) I am always surprised to read that PII has the best ever music for the 2600. It has a nice little tune for me, but what's about the GHOSTBUSTERS music? What' s about PRESSURE COOKER, SMURF, BMX AIR MASTER or DOUBLE DRAGON?? My ranking: 1. Ghostbusters 2. Double Dragon 3. BMX Air Master (would be Nr.1 if it has not only a starting music) 4. Smurf 5. Pressure Cooker 6. Pitfall II 7. Crystal Castles 8. Moon Patrol 9. Miner 2049er 10. California Games Edited January 7, 2007 by Mister VCS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
homerwannabee Posted January 7, 2007 Share Posted January 7, 2007 I could not disagree more. Pitfall II is the best music. Just the other month a Ice Cream truck came down my street playing Pitfall II music. I sincerly believe he did not know that this was video game music. A little history on the Pitfall II music. They actually hired a music composer to make Pitfall II music. They told him though that he could only use these certain notes. Because of this it is one of the few games that plays exactly to the song. Most of the video games you mentioned are actually off key from the original version because the Atari could not play those notes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thomasholzer Posted January 7, 2007 Share Posted January 7, 2007 best is Gyruss anyway, can't beat Bach Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+batari Posted January 7, 2007 Share Posted January 7, 2007 Pitfall II music is called the best mainly because it uses a special chip on cart for generating the music. It allows for three voices out of one of the 2600's sound channels, with a nearly unlimited number of pitches, as opposed to the standard 2600, which allowed for only one voice per channel and a handful of pitches, most of which were out of tune. In this sense, Pitfall II music is technically superior to that any other game, including Paul Slocum's new stuff. Whether it actually sounds better is a matter of personal opinion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaybird3rd Posted January 7, 2007 Share Posted January 7, 2007 They actually hired a music composer to make Pitfall II music. They told him though that he could only use these certain notes. Because of this it is one of the few games that plays exactly to the song. Most of the video games you mentioned are actually off key from the original version because the Atari could not play those notes.I heard a similar story about 2600 Pressure Cooker. The music in that game was written to use only the notes that the 2600 can play on-key (which is something like five notes; the others are usually flat). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JacobZu7zu7 Posted January 7, 2007 Share Posted January 7, 2007 Pitfall II in general seems a bit overrated to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Jentzsch Posted January 7, 2007 Share Posted January 7, 2007 They told him though that he could only use these certain notes. I don't think this is right. By using the DPC chip, Pitfall II should be able to play each note. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deteacher Posted January 7, 2007 Share Posted January 7, 2007 Not only does the PII theme rock, but it uses some pretty cool percussion sounds too. I've always like the rhythm pattern that accompanies the theme, mostly because it's not the standard driving "rock" style. It sounds like a jungle-style rhythm. Fits the theme beautifully. That's just my opinion, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inky Posted January 7, 2007 Share Posted January 7, 2007 The three note story is definitely about Pressure Cooker and not PII Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deadmeow Posted January 7, 2007 Share Posted January 7, 2007 Pitfall II was a great game back when it came out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jboypacman Posted January 7, 2007 Share Posted January 7, 2007 Pitfall2 is a great game.It has check points! i had never played a game before that had these.And the music is pretty good too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fire!fire! Posted January 7, 2007 Share Posted January 7, 2007 The best music is in Gunfight, hands down. I know it is a new game but I can get anyone to play that game with me because of the music. Everyone should have a copy of Gunfight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cybergoth Posted January 7, 2007 Share Posted January 7, 2007 Everyone should have a copy of Gunfight. Amen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
homerwannabee Posted January 7, 2007 Share Posted January 7, 2007 They told him though that he could only use these certain notes. I don't think this is right. By using the DPC chip, Pitfall II should be able to play each note. You are probably right about Pitfall II being able to play more notes. But even with the chip it can not play every note on a keyboard. So the composer had to limit his range on the keyboard. I was at the 2003 CGE in Vegas and I remember David Krane specifically talking about this in relation to Pitfall II Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Urchlay Posted January 7, 2007 Share Posted January 7, 2007 Not only does the PII theme rock, but it uses some pretty cool percussion sounds too. I've always like the rhythm pattern that accompanies the theme, mostly because it's not the standard driving "rock" style. It sounds like a jungle-style rhythm. Fits the theme beautifully. That's just my opinion, though. The Pitfall II theme does rock... but damn, it gets repetitive. I played with my brother not long ago (him actually playing, me trying to remember where everything is on the map), and after half an hour we're both ready to turn off the sound, but each one of us thinks the other likes it, so we didn't for another half hour. It's too bad there's no in-game option to turn the music off while leaving the rest of the sound effects on. I guess that's sacrilege to some people, but after a while, the opening notes of the slow music (when I get killed) make me want to throw the joystick at the TV. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Jentzsch Posted January 7, 2007 Share Posted January 7, 2007 You are probably right about Pitfall II being able to play more notes. But even with the chip it can not play every note on a keyboard. So the composer had to limit his range on the keyboard. I was at the 2003 CGE in Vegas and I remember David Krane specifically talking about this in relation to Pitfall II The music is generated digital at a rate of ~15.7kHz, so every tone up to ~7.8kHz should be possible. No? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PressureCooker2600 Posted January 7, 2007 Share Posted January 7, 2007 Pressure Cooker, of course.....has the best music....hands down never heard Gunfights music yet? hope to get the game itself soon.........looks like outlaw on crack Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
liveinabin Posted January 7, 2007 Share Posted January 7, 2007 I do admire the Pitfall II music from a technical point of view, but the actual tune gets on my nerves. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
homerwannabee Posted January 7, 2007 Share Posted January 7, 2007 You are probably right about Pitfall II being able to play more notes. But even with the chip it can not play every note on a keyboard. So the composer had to limit his range on the keyboard. I was at the 2003 CGE in Vegas and I remember David Krane specifically talking about this in relation to Pitfall II The music is generated digital at a rate of ~15.7kHz, so every tone up to ~7.8kHz should be possible. No? [/quote YOu definetly know way more about the 2600 than I do. But I do remember this story very clearly and David Krane was talking about Pitfall II. True David Krane could of been making up the story, but I think he knows something that you or I don't know in regards to Pitfall II. I know other people were there as well. I hope someone else who was there can validate what I am saying. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StanJr Posted January 7, 2007 Share Posted January 7, 2007 The Pitfall II balloon riding music is the best in any game anytime anywhere. The rest of you hush. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NE146 Posted January 7, 2007 Share Posted January 7, 2007 Just the other month a Ice Cream truck came down my street playing Pitfall II music. Really??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
homerwannabee Posted January 7, 2007 Share Posted January 7, 2007 Just the other month a Ice Cream truck came down my street playing Pitfall II music. Really??? Yeah, really. I was going to make a topic about it, but I forgot too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starhopper Posted January 7, 2007 Share Posted January 7, 2007 Pitfall II in general seems a bit overrated to me. On the contrary! Pitfall II taught me how to swear in blue tapestries the likes of which I never thought possible! When I play alone, of course Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpfalcon2003 Posted January 7, 2007 Share Posted January 7, 2007 Pitfall II's Music is good, I'll give it that, but i also like quite a few others just as good. It's not that special to me.lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supercat Posted January 7, 2007 Share Posted January 7, 2007 The music is generated digital at a rate of ~15.7kHz, so every tone up to ~7.8kHz should be possible. No? Interesting question. I've read that touching a certain spot on the DPC will cause the music to go slightly out of tune, suggesting that the DPC is using an RC timing circuit to generate pitches. I'm not sure why the DPC would be doing that, but if it is there would be no reason the DPC couldn't be constructed to generate any and all desired pitches. On the other hand, if the DPC is generating square or rectangular waves (as I understand it to be), certain pitches would sound somewhat nasty in in the absense of any anti-aliasing filters. Using an RC timing circuit in such a context would be absurd, since there would be no way of predicting what pitches would be good or bad. Using DPC-style music, the best pitches would be submultiples of 15.75KHz. For example, 525Hz, which is 15.75KHz/30, would sound perfectly clean. Something that was a bit off, like 520Hz, would have a noticeable 5Hz warble. I haven't noticed any such warbling, so I would think it likely the DPC designers would want to use 15.75Khz as the timebase for everything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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