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/vr/ - Retro Games

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File: 1 KB, 320x224, S2_Menu_Screen.png [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
9298289 No.9298289 [Reply] [Original]

Why did games use to have sound test on the options menu but now anymore?

>> No.9298295

>>9298289
Likely to boost soundtrack sales, also most Nintendo games, even on NES and SNES, lacked sound tests and seemed to be a Sega thing.

>> No.9298305
File: 6 KB, 256x224, 325962-tin-star-snes-screenshot-options.png [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
9298305

>>9298295
Tin Star for Super Nintendo had it.

>> No.9298319

>>9298289
music on games suck now

>> No.9298321

>>9298305
As did CV4, I guess third parties were open to them. Still, I seem to notice Sega games tended to have more sound tests.

>> No.9298351
File: 2.41 MB, 225x255, 1653671735784.gif [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
9298351

>sound test is locked behind game completion

>> No.9298359

>>9298351
Kirby Dream Course comes to mind

>> No.9298365

>>9298351
I remember Kirby's Dreamland and Final Fantasy Legend II having a sound test that you'd need to enter a code for. Kirby's Dreamland you'd get it after you beat extra mode but you can easily find out if you press similar buttons that unlocked extra mode. In FFLII they didn't give you a hint and the only reason I found out is because it's a similar button combination as KDL.

>> No.9298683

>>9298295
>Likely to boost soundtrack sales
partially. it was mainly to stop unauthorized recordings. this all started off during the late 1980s when arcade games started putting timers onto sound tests that would stop playing after a few seconds or the sound test was reduced to an automated system that played the first few seconds of each track and moved onto the next song/sound effect. thankfully you can get cheats for mame that can let you listen to all the songs in a game, if the sound test has been gimped or whatever.

>> No.9298691

>be kid bad at games
>play sound test
>listen to music from levels I have never been able to reach

>> No.9298692

>>9298351
There's a sound test in Minish Cap (I think it's the only Zelda game to have one) but you have to collect all of the figurines to access it.

>> No.9298694
File: 2.62 MB, 320x224, soulerino_jam.gif [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
9298694

SOULERINO

>> No.9298712

>>9298691
Like Hidden Palace Zone?

>> No.9298735

Sound tests are a debugging feature for the devs, like background or sprite tests. They usually disabled the later before release but left the sound test since it's pretty harmless and because why the hell not. Now though, it's no fun allowed.

>> No.9298739

>>9298289
There isn't really a point since most people would rather look it up on youtube instead of launching the game and sitting on a menu.

I think sound tests are like game manuals. They're nice to have and it's a shame that they're gone, but I hardly used them to begin with.

>> No.9298741

>>9298735
Sonic had debug mode, but other games with sound tests also didn't have debug mode, which is why Sonic games have the superior retro SOVL

>> No.9298757

Games still have them. They're just called jukeboxes or something.

>> No.9298763
File: 38 KB, 500x375, 1463276085011.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
9298763

>>9298351
>music gets unlocked in the sound test after you hear it in-game
It satisfies my completionist-tism. But ideally there should also be a cheat code to unlock all of them.

>> No.9298797

>>9298289
>game soundtrack is garbage
>game has sound test
>game soundtrack is the best thing you've ever heard in your life
>game does not have sound test
makes me mad as fuck

>> No.9298804

>>9298797
oh yeah, this and
>has in-game jukebox you can interact with
>lets you play some of your favorite tracks of the game
>jukebox stops playing as soon as you leave it instead of the game letting you listen to what you chose in-game for a while
fucking hell

>> No.9298808

Because in those days you had composers making sick ass beats on Yamaha synthesizers. Nowadays it's all sanitized "orchestral" music or FL studio shit.

>> No.9298813

Sound tests are sick because you can sample sweet one-shot sound FX

>>9298694
I liked being able to listen to all of the main game music in this. The promo scans and video clips were cool, too.

PS get fucked mods, KH sucks ass

>> No.9298838

>>9298804
>jukebox stops playing as soon as you leave it instead of the game letting you listen to what you chose in-game for a while
What are games where the music keeps playing then?

>> No.9298846

I want to give a shout-out to Atelier Totori which lets you customize the music in downs, dungeons, and battles to damn near anything from the entire Atelier franchise.