Hey, everyone! Due to time constraints I have decided to shift Play It By Ear from a weekly to a monthly series. To fill in the gaps and provide another opportunity to discuss video game music, I have created a new series – Sound Test! (Named for the Sound Test mode present in many games that allows you to listen to the game’s soundtrack.)

What is Sound Test? Inspired in part by Brakeman’s Genre Savvy series, each instalment will have a different prompt – whether that be a genre, a category, an emotion, or even a specific franchise – and then you will be given the chance to share or talk about some of your favorite video game tracks that meet the prompt. This series will run weekly (except for the one week each month when a new Play It By Ear drops).

And what better way to start us off than to discuss Title/Menu Themes? Usually the first thing you hear when you boot up a game, a well-made title or menu theme can become synonymous with the game itself.

What are some of your favorite title or menu themes? What is it about them that works so well for you? Are there any title or menu themes that you feel just don’t work for one reason or another?

You can include YouTube links or just mention the name of the game/song – whatever works best for you! The goal is to have fun and maybe get some new recommendations along the way.

Here are a couple of my favorites:

I have made a list of potential future prompts available here. If you have any ideas you’d like added, let me know!

(For those interested, Play It By Ear’s next instalment will likely be on December 13 and will cover Klonoa: Door to Phantomile.)