Songs in the Key of Panic: Difference between revisions

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*** This music is also used for other things (like if the thing you're standing on is starting to sink into quicksand).

** The music also gets faster when you damage most bosses enough. Naturally, they get harder.

* ''[[Final Fantasy V]]'' has the theme appropriately named [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DpSU_hbjrAA "Hurry! Hurry!"] that most memorably plays during the timed escape from the burning Karnak Castle... and when you're starting to run out of time, the already frantic theme ''[[Up to Eleven|speeds up even further]]'', thus also making this an example of Song in a Key of Warning.

* ''[[Bubble Bobble]]''

* ''[[Mappy]]''

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** Also played if you're nearing the 10-minute time limit, or if you're in a 2-player match in ''[[Sonic the Hedgehog]] 2'' and the 1-minute time limit that plays when one player finishes the stage is down to 12 seconds.

** Also, ''[[Sonic 3 and Knuckles]]'' does this again in The Doomsday zone, speeding up the music when your rings run low as [[Super Mode|Super/Hyper Sonic]].

* ''TMNT Tournament Fighter'' on the NES

* ''[[Mendel Palace]]''

* ''[[The New Zealand Story]]''

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* One level of ''[[Splinter Cell]]: Chaos Theory'', where you have to disarm [[Time Bomb]]s, integrated the beeping of the bombs into an increasingly frantic techno piece.

* In the 3D ''Zelda'' games, music will speed up in minigames when time is almost out. Similarly, timed switches in many of the games emit a series of rhythmic clicks or ticks which gradually become faster until the switch deactivates itself.

** In ''[[The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask|The Legend of Zelda Majoras Mask]]'', the theme in Clock Town is slightly faster on Day Two, and even faster, with a frantic undertone, on the Final Day. It gets even worse [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZQa4iY0Fj0 in the last 6 hours].

* In ''[[Battletoads]]''' Rat Race level, the music speeds up as Scuzz gets closer to the bomb.

* [[Spelunky]] inverts it: The music slows down when you have only 30 seconds left to finish the level before the ghost appears.

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'''Music speeds up:'''

* In ''[[Street Fighter]] II'' (all five of them), the music becomes more urgent when one of the fighters' health bars is low.

* In ''[[Tetris]]'' NES version, the music speeds up when the stacked blocks are nearing the top of the screen.

** ''[[Columns]]'' does the same thing.

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*** ''Tetris DX'''s music has three levels of speed. the type B track has an entirely different second part which can only be heard on the second level of speed.

* An interesting subversion: in ''[[Mother 3]]'', when you are trapped by the Ultimate Chimera, the music doesn't change, but Lucas's ''heartbeat'', which you can hear over the music, goes faster and faster as his situation becomes increasingly dire.

* ''[[Banjo-Kazooie]]'' has a maze in a desert level with [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hAmF0oW7lVQ music] that gradually increases in speed, and goes up a pitch or two every so often to boot.

* ''Winback'' does this at 50% health, then again at 25% health.

* As mentioned above, the ''[[Final Fantasy V]]'' example doubles as this once the timer hits one minute.

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* ''[[GoldenEye 007 (1997 video game)|Golden Eye 1997]]'' did this in [[Timed Mission]] or high-alert situations. ''[[Perfect Dark]]'' takes it even further with every stage's track having an alternate "X" version that plays when an alarm is triggered or you are at a mission critical point.

* Many [[Battle Theme Music|boss battle themes]] are [[Boss Remix|sped-up remixes]].

* ''[[Star Trek Bridge Commander]]'' has a very good version of this. The battle music comes in 3 distinct flavors, though it's still the same tune: Optimistic, Neutral, and Danger. The game keeps track of your shields, weapon status, and hull integrity compared to the enemy. So you can be at 100% health, but if you're facing half a dozen Romulan Warbirds, you get the Danger music.

* ''[[Star Trek: Bridge Commander]]'' has a very good version of this. The battle music comes in 3 distinct flavors, though it's still the same tune: Optimistic, Neutral, and Danger. The game keeps track of your shields, weapon status, and hull integrity compared to the enemy. So you can be at 100% health, but if you're facing half a dozen Romulan Warbirds, you get the Danger music.

'''Different tune is played altogether:'''

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* ''[[Wizards and Warriors]]'' has a different, more sinister song that starts playing when you're low on hit points.

* ''[[Anarchy Online]]'' switches between different themes considering how well you are doing in combat.

* In ''[[Panel De Pon]]/[[Tetris]] Attack'', the "panic" theme varies depending on what stage you're playing on.

* In ''[[Panel de Pon]]/[[Tetris]] Attack'', the "panic" theme varies depending on what stage you're playing on.

* In the ''[[Metal Gear]]'' series, fitting music plays if you trigger an alert. The first ''[[Metal Gear Solid]]'' deserves special mention, as it provides [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vnQRWJ7bIhs one of the more (in)famous examples] of this trope.

* In ''[[Pokémon]] Trozei'', as the screen fills up, dramatic music starts to play.

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* In ''[[Kirby Super Star]]'' [[Musical Spoiler|Heavy Lobster's theme]] is pretty much [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xdjcBIDIqy4 despair in musical form.]

* In the original MSX version of ''[[Valis]]'', the music turns ominous at low health.

* The ''[[~~Soldner~~ X]]'' series plays a different, more frantic track when the player is below 25% health.

* The ''[[Söldner-X]]'' series plays a different, more frantic track when the player is below 25% health.

* In the 3D ''Zelda'' games, a dissonant music piece [[Variable Mix|segues in]] when enemies are nearby.

* In ''[[X Wing Series|X-Wing]]'', the music switches to a more intense one when enemies arrive, and calms down when enemies are gone. This was dropped in the collector's edition, which played music from the CD (and only changed on victory/loss) instead of synthesizing it.

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* When the music starts to change in ''[[F.E.A.R.]]'', you know something big and/or bad is about to happen.

* ''Zok Zok Heroes'', an obscure Japan-only [[Game Boy Color]] RPG, changes to a different battle theme when your hero is at critical HP.

* In ''[[Resident Evil 3 Nemesis]]'', when Nemesis appears in the vicinity, "Feel The Tense" [[BGM Override|overrides]] the normal music.

* In ''[[Resident Evil 3: Nemesis]]'', when Nemesis appears in the vicinity, "Feel The Tense" [[BGM Override|overrides]] the normal music.

* The game show ''[[The Cube (TV series)|The Cube]]'' switches the music to a more intense track when the player has only one life left.

* In the [[.hack GU Games]], if you stay out in an outdoors area for too long, a Doppleganger will appear on the map. If it notices you nearby, it deliberately invokes [[Nightmare Fuel]] as it slowly and [[Implacable Man|implacably]] walks towards you. The music will change from a generally calm and serene tune into something that can only be described as ''exceptionally scary'' and fear inducing. It also speeds up the closer it gets to you. Activating a Battle Zone in order to engage another monster will not stop it from following in after you.

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* The [[Think Music]] on the Japanese game show ''[[Time Shock]]'' (hear it [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6V5whgQF-Y here]) starts becoming increasingly tense starting at 30 seconds left. Also qualifies as the Hurry Music variant, as the same music is used in the "12 Answers" rounds, where a single contestant has only one question with multiple answers and 60 seconds to rattle off as many of them as they can (up to a maximum of 12).

* In a similar vein, on ''[[Late Night Liars]],'' as your 43 seconds counted down (and, no, that's not a typo), the music sped up, eventually reaching a really frantic pace in the last four seconds or so.

* And then there are the Nickelodeon game shows of the late 80s/early 90s, where in the [[Bonus Round]], the music changes keys (going up) every few seconds. [[~~Finders~~ Keepers]] combined this with the Hurry Music variant, since the Room-to-Room Romp music moved to a "double time" feel in the last 30 seconds of the round.

* And then there are the Nickelodeon game shows of the late 80s/early 90s, where in the [[Bonus Round]], the music changes keys (going up) every few seconds. [[Finder's Keepers]] combined this with the Hurry Music variant, since the Room-to-Room Romp music moved to a "double time" feel in the last 30 seconds of the round.

* In ''[[Touhou Project|Perfect Cherry Blossom]]'', once you got to the last phase of the Final Boss fight, a tenser remix of the Final Boss theme would play.

* In [[Wario Land]] Shake It, the music picks up at some hard to judge point in the middle of the third boss battle. Then even later it speeds up again to the point the creepy circus music is going by at mach speed.

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[[Category:Score and Music Tropes]]

[[Category:Video Game Tropes]]

[[Category:~~Songs in the Key of Panic~~]]

[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]