Suspiciously Similar Song/Video Games: Difference between revisions

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* In ''[[Diddy Kong Racing]]'', TT's theme bears more than a passing resemblance to Kool and the Gang's hit song "Celebration".
** Then there's the [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EU2dbx6GwKQ Secret Song], which sounds like a screwed-up version of "[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGHQ5iBJkzA Jib Jig]" from ''[[Donkey Kong Country]] 2''.
** The winter-themed tracks in the [[Slippy -Slidey Ice World|Snowflake Mountain]] hub courses borrow heavily from Christmas songs. Walrus Cove has pieces of "Here Comes Santa Claus" ("Bells are ringing, children singing...") and "Winter Wonderland" ("In the meadow we can build a snowman..."). Frosty Village has "Winter Wonderland" right off the bat.
** Not to mention Snowball Valley, which is a blatant ripoff of the Chicken Dance and actually copies the entire second part verbatim. Why on earth anyone would ''want'' to include [[Ear Worm|that awful song]] in any video game is a mystery.
*** There's a part of that song that sounds exactly like ''[[The Brady Bunch]]'' theme, of all things.
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** Same company example: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCu4hHKbUBg Stage 7] of ''[[Blaster Master (Video Game)|Blaster Master]]'' and [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CUSNNFyCujs Stage 4] of ''[[Journey to Silius]]''.
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9oi2G-9EccU The hidden Hell Level from Ganbare Goemon 2] on the Super Famicom. It's a vague soundalike of [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9boVDep-diw Gegege no Kitarou's ever-so-iconic opening theme].
* One scene in ''[[Hamtaro (Anime)|Hamtaro]]: Ham-Ham Heartbreak'' involves finding a spoon (which later gets used in a catapult). The scene wherein you remove the spoon from its pedestal is [[Shout -Out|a direct send-up]] of the "removing the Master Sword from its pedestal" scene from ''[[The Legend of Zelda a Link To T He Past (Video Game)|The Legend of Zelda a Link To T He Past]]'', and the music that plays during the removal is suspiciously similar to the "opening a large chest" music from the 3D incarnations of ''Zelda'' - where the original arpeggios go up, these arpeggios go down.
** Not only that, but pay attention to the tune that plays when [[Big Bad|Spat]] appears. Ring any bells? Well, let's just say it's one of the reasons a reviewer said Spat was practically Hamster [[Final Fantasy VI (Video Game)|Kefka]].
* In ''[[Mega Man X|Mega Man X3]]'', the music in Neon Tiger's stage bears a remarkable similarity to "My Michelle" by [[Guns N' Roses (Music)|Guns N' Roses]]. (But the ''MMX'' designers are probably GNR fans, considering [[Theme Naming|the bosses of X5 are named after the band members]], and the latter installments have a character named Axl).
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** ''Mega Man X5'' had a couple itself. The opening theme borrows from both the first Mega Man X game (the dramatic piece when Zero dies) and from ''Mega Man 3'' (the "get power" theme [[Mega Man (Franchise)/Awesome Music|which was quite awesome]]). The Shadow Devil music is a homage to the Yellow Devil music from the original Mega Man, and Lamdabamda's music is from the first Mega Man X. And the Duff McWhalen/Tidal Whale stage song...well, just [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MdBsmlGT0so compare it] to X2's [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lg2Lc3v7_D0 Bubble Crab stage song].
** From the first ''Mega Man X'': compare [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ja5QUTlgZ3Y Armored Armadillo's theme] to [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6q9nBusrq8 "That Smell" by Lynyrd Skynyrd]. There's no way that's ''not'' intentional.
* In ''[[The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (Video Game)|The Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time]]'', the music in the Fire Temple bears a remarkable resemblance to the Torla Mountan dungeon in ''Alundra'', right down to the [[Ominous Latin Chanting|Muslim-esque chanting]].
** Even weirder, "Saria's Song", the iconic theme music for [[The Lost Woods]] from the same game and ''[[The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (Video Game)|Twilight Princess]]'' is suspiciously similar to the Jupiter suite from Gustav Holst's ''The Planets.''
** Additionally, ''Twilight Princess'' features a hidden area in the form of a town that's been abandoned for years, composed of one main street lined with buildings... with dust and tumbleweeds everywhere... and the buildings full of enemies launching arrows at you, necessitating a big bow-and-arrow shootout through the town. The music for this set-piece did a wonderful job of capturing the feel of Ennio Morricone's spaghetti Western scores.
** For that matter, the Kakariko Village theme from ALttP bears resemblance to the second movement of ''Pathetique'' by Ludwig van Beethoven.
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* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hBG7TWaZHIY Area H] from ''Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers 2'' is a Haunted House level that sounds VERY Castlevania [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FpIQt5qUHDk inspired].
* The NES RPG ''Hydlide'' has an overworld tune that sounds suspiciously close to John Williams' "Raiders' March", the theme song to the ''[[Indiana Jones]]'' films. (This tune was actually borrowed from ''Hydlide II'', which was otherwise unreleased outside Japan.)
* ''[[A Boy and His Blob]]'' for [[NES]] opens with Suspiciously Similar Songs to both [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2vj9YbRPu9Y the theme music and the logo] of ''[[Raiders of the Lost Ark (Film)|Raiders of the Lost Ark]]''. However, this was clearly meant as either a parody or a [[Shout -Out]].
*** One of the tracks in [[Crash Bandicoot|Crash Tag Team Racing]] also features a section which closely resembles "Raider's March" from the Indiana Jones film series.
**** Yet another game played with the "Raider's March" theme: The Aztec bonus level in ''Gex: Enter the Gecko''.
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* The [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dw0DsmMvu1k Heliport theme] in ''[[Double Dragon]] II: The Revenge'' sounds very similar to the [[Phil Collins]] song "[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O1kDmnHyOBg Easy Lover]", as well as Dire Straits' "Money For Nothing". [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQENAqNXc9s "Escape to the Forest"] sounds similar to [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0qBaBb1Y-U&ob=av2e "Sussudio"], another Phil Collins song, which itself was a Jimmy Hart version of [[Prince]]'s "1999".
* "Heian Alien", the [[Bonus Boss]] theme in ''[[Touhou|Undefined Fantastic Object]]'' is suspiciously similar to "U.N. Owen Was Her?", the [[Bonus Boss]] theme from ''Embodiment of Scarlet Devil'', to the point of referring to the former as "UFOwen Was Her?"
** "Our Hisoutensoku" from Touhou 12.3 is an intentional [[Shout -Out]] to the theme from ''[[Mazinger Z]]''.
** In a similar vein, doing Reimu's [[Awesome but Impractical|Fatal KO move]] in the same game makes the background music jump to a suspiciously similar version of [[Fist of the North Star (Manga)|Ai Wo Torimadose]]. Like "Our Hisoutensoku", this was an intentional [[Shout -Out]], due to the move being called "Musou Tensei".
** Sakuya's "Flowering Night" theme from "Phantasmagoria of Flower View" sounds an awful lot like the beginning of [[Iron Maiden (Music)|Iron Maiden's]] [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PSSHk0U9gv4#t=16s "The Trooper"].
** The first portion of Suwako's theme "Native Faith" is pretty heavily based on the final boss theme from ''[[Night Striker]]''. This isn't random; ZUN used to work at Taito, so there's a good chance that this was his version of a tribute to Mar (''Night Striker'''s composer).
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*** Considering the first ''Raiden'' game was basically a big Toaplan homage, this makes sense.
** The main riff of [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ls1F3mMG60Q "Electric Resistance"] (Stage 2) in ''Raiden III'' is a Jimmy Hart version of "[[Castlevania|Vampire Killer]]".
* The music used in the ''[[No More Heroes]]: Desperate Struggle'' "toilet" promo video sounds an awful lot like the B-section from the theme to ''[[A FistfulofFistful of Dollars]]''.
* When [[Frogger]] was included on a Konami compilation for Game Boy Advance, all of the musical themes (including the anime themes, and even "Inu no Omawari-san" the traditional Japanese nursery rhyme that serves as the "game start" music) were given Jimmy Hart versions.
* When ''[[Track and Field (Video Game)|Track and Field]]'' was included on a [[Nintendo DS]] compilation, "Chariots of Fire" (which was heard in the original arcade release) was turned into a Jimmy Hart version.
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** [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJ44d9cgrj4&feature=autoplay&list=PL8DDCDFCEAC111BCC&index=19&playnext=1 Another track] from ''Lethal Skies 2'' sounds like a rock JHV of the ''[[James Bond (Film)|James Bond]]'' theme.
* The music in the trailer for the unreleased ''[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUFiDeZsViA Thea Realm Fighters]'' for the [[Atari Jaguar]] sounds suspiciously like [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=egne2ZCMM_0 the theme from] the [[Mortal Kombat]] movie, except that the [[Mortal Kombat]] theme is good. The never-finished game in question was a pretty blatant [[Follow the Leader]] attempt to be like MK, even starring members of MK2's cast, so you might even file this under [[Plagiarism]].
* The [[Final Boss]] music in ''[[R Type]] Final'' is a Jimmy Hart version of the ''[[Halo]]'' [[Ominous Latin Chanting|Gregorian chant]]. It also somewhat resembles the Song of Time from ''[[The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (Video Game)|The Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time]]''.
* Whenever a video game wants to evoke ''[[The Wild West]]'', the song of choice is the [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9iteRKvRKFA main theme] from ''[[The Magnificent Seven]]''. Probably the closest rip-off is [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1jA853YFJ0 this tune] from ''[[Cool Spot]]'', but there are many others.
* The last few bars before the loop in "Child Abuse" (the Robo-Rat/Thesso fight theme) from ''[[Persona]]'' is basically "It's a Small World".
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* ''[[Parappa the Rapper]]'': The cinema before the fourth level includes a short ditty that sounds remarkably like the song "Tijuana Taxi".
** The driving lesson song is a pretty blatant ripoff of "Turtles Have Short Legs" by Can.
** Also, "Parappa's Live Rap With MC King Kong Mushi" sounds a little like the rap version of "[http://en.[wikipedia.org/wiki/:December,_1963_%28Oh 1963 chr(28)Oh,_What_a_Night%29 What a Nightchr(29)|December, 1963 (Oh, What a Night)]]" by [[Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons (Music)|Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons]].
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGjWOmyHCMg Lost Forest] in [[Professor Layton|Professor Layton and Pandora's Box]] starts like [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rEoRavExhfo The Legendary Hero] in [[The Wind Waker]].
* You can't not notice the similarity between the start of Ken's theme from ''[[Street Fighter II (Video Game)|Street Fighter II]]'' and [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLoSzlq57Ps Cheap Trick's Mighty Wings].
** The [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pHlhcqctS9Y Volcanic Rim stage theme] from ''[[Street Fighter IV (Video Game)|Street Fighter IV]]'', arguably the game's best piece of music, has pieces seemingly borrowed from [[Professional Wrestling|pro wrestler]] Masato Tanaka's theme song "[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTGjQ4SunEM Dangan]", [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CYdSLaVu9p4 Spark Mandirll's stage theme] from ''[[Mega Man X (Video Game)|Mega Man X]]'', and Little Mac's [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=68tfAq8oFts knocked-down] theme from ''[[Punch Out (Video Game)|Punch Out]]!!'' It's basically a Suspiciously Composite Song at this point.
* While lots of the music in ''[[Red Dead Redemption]]'' is original music [[In the Style Of]] [[Ennio Morricone]], some of it edges just a little bit closer to this:
** The little riffs that play as you wonder around in New Austin contain a melody that [[The Joy of X|for a few notes more]] would be the theme of ''[[The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (Film)|The Good the Bad And The Ugly]]'' played on an electric guitar. There's also a slow rhythmic guitar and English horn piece which is obviously reminiscent of the repeated "Per Un Pugno Di Dollari" cue from ''[[A FistfulofFistful of Dollars]]'', but slowed down and without the key changes, and a harmonica riff reminiscent of the "Man With A Harmonica" theme from ''[[Once Upon a Time In The West]]''.
** The bounty hunting, raiding a hideout and ambient battle music in New Austin is basically "L'Inseguimento" from ''[[A FistfulofFistful of Dollars]]'' in a swung time signature.
** The harmonica piece occasionally played by harmonica-playing [[NPC|NPCs]] is very, very similar to the "Marcetta" melody from ''[[The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (Film)|The Good the Bad And The Ugly]]'' (the one that plays when Tuco and Blondie are being led into the prison camp).
** There's an ocarina playing the coyote-call from ''[[The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (Film)|The Good the Bad And The Ugly]]'' amongst the ambient riffs in Mexico, although with a couple of notes added on the end, or with slightly different articulation. Sometimes it's even followed up with a harmonica playing a 'waa waa waa' reply, with the same pitches in a different order. The battle music while attacking banditos in Mexico also contains the [[Leitmotif|screaming voices associated with Tuco]] in the same film.
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* Wario Land: Shake It contains a few. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dq_ffUzGydU "Soggybog River"] is clearly a Jimmy Hart version of "Eye of the Tiger" and [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqGcjmPflo0 "Gurgle Gulch"] being one of the original Underground theme from Super Mario Bros.
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-4Eg2onR7Gs "Rage"] by Sonic Mayhem, from the ''[[Quake II (Video Game)|Quake II]]'' soundtrack, sounds rather similar to Pantera's [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2DfYLar2QGI "Cowboys from Hell"].
* The late-1980s game ''[http://en.[wikipedia.org/wiki/Rock_%27n%27_Roll_:Rock chr(computer_game27)nchr(27) Roll (computer game)|Rock 'n' Roll]]'' used suspiciously similar rock-and-roll tunes as its soundtrack. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rluzNA1k5lw Here's an example].
** Though unlike many [[JH Vs]], they were actually licenced.
* "[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JLvslBJ9i64 Fuel My Game]" from ''[[Quake III Arena (Video Game)|Quake III Arena]]'' sounds suspiciously similar to [[The Prodigy]]'s "[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JgGA-hHWxtA Smack My Bitch Up]".