Songs That Sound Like Video Games

Gamers and producers have a lot in common, including sitting in one seat for extended periods of time, staring at screens. Unsurprisingly, most of you

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Complex Original

Image via Complex Original

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Gamers and producers have a lot in common, including sitting in one seat for extended periods of time, staring at screens. Unsurprisingly, most of your favorite producers are also gamers. There were jokes that when Grand Theft Auto V dropped, there'd be a decline in dance music being produced as a result. The love of gaming can go hand-in-hand with the love of making music at times, and video game sounds and soundtracks have been ripe for the picking for years. And while electronic music producers sampling/flipping video games can be seen as the pinnacle of electronic nerdery, the results are also pretty awesome. Take a look at some of these dance tracks that sound just like video games.

Power Pill - "Pac Man"

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Label: Ffrreedom / London

Year: 1992

What game does it sound like?: Pac-Man

Records like this just couldn't be made in 2013, especially from Richard D. James (who you now know as the legendary Aphex Twin).

Jo - "R-Type"

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Label: Awesome
Year: 1993
What game does it sound like?: R-Type

Another record that benefits from being on a historic jungle label in the 1990s. This is a bit of an anthem.

D Double E - "Street Fighter Riddim"

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Label: Dirtee Stank
Year: 2010
What game does it sound like?: Street Figher II

UK grime never sounded so aggressively quirky.

Doctor P - "Tetris"

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Label: Circus Records
Year: 2011
What game does it sound like?: Tetris

That intro is so true to the game, you might need to duck a falling tile.

Zedd - "The Legend Of Zelda"

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Label: Bazooka Records

Year: 2011

What game does it sound like?: The Legend of Zelda

Before "Clarity," this was one of the songs that brought fans to Zedd's output. He even dropped this during Jimmy Fallon's Video Game Week earlier this year.

Excision & Datsik - "8 Bit Superhero"

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Label: Mau5trap
Year: 2011
What game does it sound like?: Mega Man

Who doesn't remember Mega Man? This classic Nintendo actiong ame gets the drumstep-y update.

DJ Cable ft. Goldfinger - "Cartridge"

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Label: Slit Jockey

Year: 2013

What game does it sound like?: Super Mario World

Cable's a huge gamer, especially a lover of the old school, so a total Mario send-up was necessary at some point.

MUST DIE! & CRNKN - "Tokyo Police"

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Label: SMOG

Year: 2013

What game does it sound like?: Streets of Rage

Such an homage to those cheesy-yet-classic Sega Genesis side-scrollers.

Gant-Man - "Bowser's World 8-4"

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Label: n/a

Year: 2013

What game does it sound like?: Super Mario Bros.

Juke master Gant-Man takes it down a notch and churns out a boss trap rework of a boss level gem.

Joker - "Sega Joker Drive"

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Label: n/a

Year: 2013

What game does it sound like?: Sonic the Hedgehog 2

Seriously, Joker needs to be scoring Sonic games for Sega. Someone make this happen.

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