name that game!

August 27, 2011 8:58 AM

How many video games can you identify by their sound effects? How many can you guess from their music? (part 2, part 3) Can you name video game consoles by their start-up sounds?
posted by flex (27 comments total)

Few, fewer and one.
posted by clvrmnky at 9:06 AM on August 27, 2011

I remember when some NES games had a menu in which you could play some or all of their sound effects. I think that my long-time passion for messing around with sounds, noises and samples can be traced back directly to making songs with sound effects from The Adventures of Bayou Billy!
posted by ddaavviidd at 9:09 AM on August 27, 2011 [2 favorites]

None, none and none.

NONEtheless, I look forward to checking out the links!
posted by flapjax at midnite at 9:09 AM on August 27, 2011

that is, none none and no.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 9:10 AM on August 27, 2011

Those start-up sounds. I recognized so many and could name so few.
posted by penduluum at 9:10 AM on August 27, 2011

This sound DEFINED my childhood and most likely my adulthood (or lack).
posted by Fizz at 9:18 AM on August 27, 2011

14/18 on the sound effects and I'm not a virgin. Woohoo!
posted by phaedon at 9:18 AM on August 27, 2011

11 of 24 on the sound effects (I was a titch young for the arcade era stuff.) 6 of 18 on the start-up sounds - only the ones I own (and the Dreamcast on an educated guess).

So yeah, I know the eras I played obsessively and can make an educated guess on the ones I didn't. That's as good as anyone can claim, I suppose....
posted by The demon that lives in the air at 9:19 AM on August 27, 2011

There are no answers to the music quiz? HOW DO I KNOW IF I AM CORRECT?
posted by specialagentwebb at 9:19 AM on August 27, 2011

HOW DO I KNOW IF I AM CORRECT?

There are secrets where faeries don't live.
posted by Fizz at 9:21 AM on August 27, 2011 [1 favorite]

Effects1: 13/18
Effects2: 12/24
Startup: 7/18

I recognized several of the music pieces but I can't be sure.
posted by zombieflanders at 9:30 AM on August 27, 2011

i'd love to have a quiz like this from games I actually played
posted by rebent at 9:34 AM on August 27, 2011 [1 favorite]

15 out of 18 on the first quiz.

To this day there must be a reason that they still use sound clips from the 2600 versions of Pac-Man and Donkey Kong for video productions. In commercials and TV shows if their is a shot of the back of a TV and someone in front of it holding a game controller, you can almost bet that the sound clip that will be playing will be from one of those two games. They must be in a readily available sound bank somewhere.
posted by GavinR at 9:34 AM on August 27, 2011 [1 favorite]

Effects 1 I got 18/18. Effects 2 I got 21/24, but I know for a fact I got 23 of them right (the 23rd one was the Zelda low life sound, but it's almost never heard in game like that -- it usually has background music). Effects 2 shares so many effects with 1 it's probably another ebaumsworld rip-off; to hell with those guys.

I am somewhat offended that both effects quizzes give a sound as Pac-Man, when it's the Atari 2600 version.

The music quizzes take way too long to hold my interest -- I have programming to get done today.
posted by JHarris at 9:44 AM on August 27, 2011

Chemical Plant Zone is from Sonic 2, not 1.
posted by Bangaioh at 10:06 AM on August 27, 2011

17/18. Who knew never owning a NES would be my Achilles' heel.
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 10:34 AM on August 27, 2011

This sound DEFINED my childhood and most likely my adulthood (or lack).

It's my text tone! My ringtone is Navi saying, "HEY" every few seconds.
posted by adamdschneider at 11:01 AM on August 27, 2011

8/21/5
posted by Lucien Dark at 11:09 AM on August 27, 2011

"You shot the food" was one of the most dreaded sounds in the pizza parlor arcade back in the day.
posted by smirkette at 12:55 PM on August 27, 2011

I really liked listening to the console/handheld start-up sounds with the answers showing. It gave me a warm, fuzzy, nostalgic feeling.

I almost never fail to say "SEEEEGAAA" when I turn on my Mac. They don't even sound that similar, but it's turned into a habit. :D
posted by lemuring at 1:45 PM on August 27, 2011 [1 favorite]

17/18
22/24
14/18
I make games for a living.

These four facts probably relate.
posted by andreaazure at 2:50 PM on August 27, 2011

17/18 and 20/24, but I guessed at a bunch of them. Oh, and a whopping 2 start-up sounds.

What amazes me is how some of the really nondescript sounds stick with you. You'd know them anywhere. Like the tank crash from Combat.

I think in one of the few times I tried to watch Babylon 5, the sound they used as doorbells drove me absolutely crazy, because I was convinced it was the refueling sound from River Raid. Maybe it was.
posted by Durn Bronzefist at 4:50 PM on August 27, 2011

Console-specific test.

(see the same poster for the excellent "Let's Compare" series of videos)
posted by Durn Bronzefist at 5:13 PM on August 27, 2011

Please don't send traffic to ebaumsworld.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 7:06 PM on August 27, 2011 [4 favorites]

Yeah, the ebaumsworld used every single sound from the first quiz. Every single one. Complete rip-off.

Oh, and 18/18 and 21/24.
posted by evilangela at 9:43 PM on August 27, 2011

I did a lot worse than I thought I would!
posted by planetrain at 10:13 PM on August 28, 2011

I tried the startup sounds one, but found it insanely frustrating. Just give me a single sound file for each one and let me guess. Don't make me try to figure out what time matches up with what text field. Grr.

Also, I totally was hoping to hear the Sega Genesis Startup Sound, as that was the console that I PROBABLY played the most out of any other console out there (before I got more into PC games for 10 years or so). But it wasn't there, probably because it's hardly rocket science to guess that one.
posted by antifuse at 6:42 AM on August 30, 2011