![]() And chiptunes have such strong ties with Pixel Art that they very easily fit with each other. The effectiveness of game music is proportional to how well it fits the game. In a way, it's similar to Pixel Art games using modern visual effects on top of the pixel visuals to expand its vocabulary. These hybrids combine the old-school chiptune sound with realistic/modern sounds to create fresh-sounding music that still preserves the retro connotations that connect so well with the Pixel Art visuals. Interestingly, somewhere in-between these two there's a rising trend of Hybrid 8-bit/16-bit soundtracks, seen in games like Celeste or Ikenfell. Some modern Pixel Art games have strayed away from the old sound path and use other types of sounds instead, while others keep using purely chiptunes music. Klystrack, a chiptunes “tracker” (software used to emulate the sound of early games) However, as technologies evolved, and at the same time that Pixel Art evolved from being a necessity to being a choice, so did its sound. For many years, Pixel Art games meant an 8-bit and later 16-bit soundtrack, and there was no other possible way things could be. Generally speaking, the further a game moves from Pixel Art graphics and dives into the realm of realism, the less melodic and more atmospheric its soundtrack tends to be.Īnd we associate chiptunes with Pixel Art simply because, in the beginning, they always went hand in hand. Compare the simple but memorable soundtracks of the first Mario and Zelda games with the rather atmospheric music of (most) modern AAA games. The most prominent was a preference for catchy melodies, which led to most of the iconic video game melodies we all have ingrained deep in our gamer brains. ![]() Only a few layers of sound could play at the same time, forcing composers of the time to adopt certain ways of composing. These limitations not only shaped the sound, but also the way composers made music. ![]() While early games had to rely on only a handful of pixels to create a fictional world, early video game soundtracks - especially 8-bit soundtracks - had to be created with extremely simple synthesized sounds which result in what we know as the characteristic "blip blop" chiptunes sounds. In a similar way that Pixel Art visual magic comes from the technical limitations of the early games, so does 8-bit and later 16-bit music. While many realistic-looking games (especially AAA) borrow the Hollywood approach of using orchestral scores, Pixel Art games have their own sound: 8-bit and 16-bit music, also called chiptunes.īoth are shaped by the same minimalist philosophy. ![]() An aesthetic of a soundīut the Pixel Art aesthetic is not only about visuals. Hyper Light Drifter by Heart Machine and Abylight S.L. This is what Jo-Remi Madsen (Owlboy) defined as Hi-Bit. By dropping the old 4:3 format of old games and adopting the 16:9 widescreen format, they can achieve more visual complexity without sacrificing the retro flavor. Instead, they take the pixelated flavor and enhance it with larger screen resolutions. Most modern Pixel Art games aren't just replicating the technical limitations of the past. But that's just a part (a pixel, you may say) of the full picture. Because of this, Pixel Art has become a synonym for indie games. Pair the lower production costs with the nostalgia factor and it's no surprise that Pixel Art became popular again. It's not a coincidence that most Pixel Art games since the 2000s were (and are) made by indie developers. Compared to realistic-looking games, Pixel Art visuals are more efficient to produce, meaning reduced production costs. Cave Story (2004) by Daisuke "Pixel" Amayaīut emulating the past wasn't the only reason that motivated these developers - cheaper costs were an equally important motivation, if not the main one.
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