I give up. The Genesis is true 16Bit and the PCE is a 16Bit imposter.

[spenoza]

I thought of using the Uncanny Valley reference, and I think I did in one of my drafts before finally posting my earlier rambling mess of a thought process, but I'll quote myself here as I pretty much described my Uncanny Valley relationship to the SNES APU.

"PSG and FM sound tend to be very distinct and don't sound much like existing real world instruments, but SFC sampled sound could mimic said instruments closely enough that it was easy to compare to the real thing, and that sometimes led to disappointment, just as computer generated characters that look too much like real people actually create distance and seem creepier and less human than obviously unreal characters."

And yes, when I referred to "cheap MIDI" I was referring to crappy sound banks.

[SignOfZeta]

Unfortunately the end result is incredibly un-incredible.

Just like the "real" thing!

If this game looks as good as Macross or R-Type 3 on SFC to you then...you and I have a seriously different outlook on things. It looks horrible to me, and this is coming from a guy who actually kind of likes the game. Why would they...do what they did? Its that supposed to look that bad? I don't understand. I guess maybe they were trying to do a thing that looked like a SFC game but ended up with monkeys hitting rocks with sticks. Its crap.

[Tatsujin]

As always some peeps could get out very nice sounds out of the SFC (synth and sample mix).

The speaking is of good old legend Tim Follin:


Composition wise, it just sounds so c64ish .

[BlueBMW]

The best music ever can be made with Mario Paint.

[Arkhan]

The best music ever can be made with Mario Paint.

SQUIRREL.

I might change that project name to f*ckYEAH. lol

[_joshuaTurbo]

As always some peeps could get out very nice sounds out of the SFC (synth and sample mix).

The speaking is of good old legend Tim Follin:

Composition wise, it just sounds so c64ish .

[Vecanti]

I don't think SNES music was better or worse.  At the time is was different than other game music.  The first time I played Mario and heard the echo it was awesome.  Zelda music I liked, Actraiser I thought was really awesome, but then everything sort of started sounding the same.  The keyboard reference is a good one.  It just seemed like a lot of the same instruments were always used like on a keyboard, Sound #2 Organ, Sound #17 Orchestra hit, and then the drums always seemed to some demo from a bad keyboard. 

It seemed more like it just had like these limited selection of default instruments that all game makers just selected from.  So everything just sound the same, but just musically arranged a littler different. 

Zelda is a good example.  I like the music, but it's a very typical MIDI music like feeling.  It's horns and strings, but not real smooth but more stepped/stuttered.

[Arkhan]

Zelda is a good example.  I like the music, but it's a very typical MIDI music like feeling.  It's horns and strings, but not real smooth but more stepped/stuttered.

I'm pretty sure there was a default set of sounds for the SNES with official devkits and crap to get you started.

Thats a big problem with sampled music. You hear it alot on the Amiga too..  You can hear definite retriggering.

Even when they sample PSG and stuff, it doesn't sound as smooth.

When real humans play acoustic instruments, its simple to blend things and not stutter/jerk around.


I like Mystic Quests tunes on SNES.   It was pretty rockin' even if it was corny.
and Secret of Mana

[Tatsujin]

Let's say most of the SFC/SNES musics have aged very badly. They were new and exciting back then, but if you lissen to them now, yo definitely can feel and recognize similarities and repeatings which more leeds to borings than excitement nowadays.

As already said, there are always exceptions from some mor talented musicians teams.

[Arkhan]

Kinda funny that SID tunes aged fine but SFC didn't and SFC is half as old.

[Tatsujin]

SID = analogue and therefore max. variable.
SPC = mostly given and therefore boring over time.

[Joe Redifer]

The speaking is of good old legend Tim Follin:

Composition wise, it just sounds so c64ish .

That sounded good until the drums started.  The sound quality of the drum hit sounds very bad (re: muffled).  The rest of the tune has ACTUAL HIGH FREQUENCIES  which the SNES is not known to produce very well.

[RyuHayabusa]

Come on, guys. I love the PC Engine too, but I think some of the fan boy talk is getting out of hand here. You show me a HuCard that sounds as good as Super Adventure Island, Axelay, Donkey Kong Country, or Chronotrigger and I'll eat my hat.

[shubibiman]

I hate how the SNES sound chip sounds. Period. I'm not saying the PCE's one is better, it's just that I prefer the way it sounds.
This is not being a fanboy, it's just having different tastes.

[grahf]

I personally think the SFC sounds amazing.
Why do people always hate on the echo? It adds a lot to the atmosphere in some games.