A Brief History of Music Games

Mario Paint (Nintendo, 1992) - Platform: SNES

A paint program among our favorite music games? Well, Mario Paint featured the very much entertaining Composer, which basically let you compose music in a fun kind of way. Instead of using traditional notes, you would use funny symbols like flowers or mushrooms and Nintendo characters like Yoshi (ahh.. we <3 Yoshi). We would spend hours arranging songs like “Eye of the Tiger” with barking dogs. No wonder, that the Mario Paint Composer is still around and a lot of interesting music is featured for example on youtube.

Thriller by Michael Jackson composed on Mario Paint composer@youtube

Beatmania (Bemani/Konami, 1997) - Platform: Arcade/Playstation 1

Beatmania might have been one of the first games around that nowadays accounts for the music game genre. Basically, you had to hit the keys in the right rhythm in order to get points and achievements, and with advancing levels this could easily lead to one serious challenge. It featured beautiful songs like the cat song, which is still on heavy rotation in our playlists (well, not really)

The Cat Song@youtube

Dance Dance Revolution (1998, Konami) - Arcade/Playstation 1

Who doesn’t remember the arcade halls filled with people jumping around like kids on a bouncy castle, using their hands and feet to hit the buttons beneath them like a speeded-up version of Twister? Well, that was Dance Dance Revolution, and a lot of [ENTER CURRENCY HERE] went into the machines until it came out for the home consoles.

DDR Freak@youtube

Singstar (2004, London Studio) - Playstation 2

Singstar, bringing the cosy atmosphere of a Karaoke club into your home! Well, you get the idea: Add song, remove original vocals, add your own vocals using the microphones that were included in the set.

Guitar Hero 3 - Legends of Rock (2007, Harmonix) - Platform: Playstation 2

And probably one of the most known games of course… Guitar Hero! It featured a small plastic guitar that is connected to your Playstation and you had to “play” some great tunes like Bulls on Parade by Rage against the Machine, Sabotage by the Beasty Boys or Suck my Kiss by the Red Hot Chili Peppers. In the game you were playing in front of a crowd that would go YEEEHAAAW in case you we’re doing good. And to be honest: in the expert mode, this was quite tough.

Bulls on Parade - Guitar Hero 3@youtube