The Soundtrack

What do you think of Pokémon's soundtrack? Has it improved over the past few ways; or has it gotten worser. Do you think over time the soundtracks have gained more quality? Is there certain soundtracks in the franchise that you like? Or dislike?

I generally think that Pokémon soundtrack has increased. This could be easily because of hardware upgrades, etc. If you compare R/S/E's soundtrack and music to X/Y's you can definitely tell a difference. I can't really say that Pokémon's soundtracks get better every Generation, as for many people R/S/E's trumpets etc sound better then X/Y, it terms of style. What about you?

Oh, good question!

I feel that town/city themes in particular have gotten much catchier and overall better as of B/W and X/Y, but it feels like the Champions' battle themes have gotten progressively less climactic with each passing game. That's not to say I dislike the newer Champion themes, it's just that they feel a little less suited for a final boss fight than I'd prefer. Iris's theme in particular sounds more like it would belong to a group of Frontier Brains, I wonder if I'm the only one that feels that way...

As far as individual games go, I'd have G/S/C and R/S/E tied for best battle themes, and X/Y has the most... I guess the word would be epic, it has the most epic-sounding Route themes, I love 'em. B/W/B2/W2's electronic sound seemed kinda half-baked in a few instances, notably with the obligatory Hall of Fame theme...

can't really say that Pokémon's soundtracks get better every Generation, as for many people R/S/E's trumpets etc sound better then X/Y, it terms of style.

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Who are these people...? The trumpet sample in RSE is pretty darn poor imo. They don't sound much like trumpets, let's be honest. Bap-bap-bap-BARRP, ba-bap-ba-baap....

Yeah, imo the instrumentation gets better every gen. But the tunes not necessarily so! GSC tunes for imo win out overall, although I'm hard pressed to say which gen has the next best for my liking. It tends to vary after all. Take 5th gen for instance - generally I quite liked its town themes, but the route themes were less memorable by far... save for Route 10 which is amazing. Each game tends to have its strengths too. B2W2 had nice touches in having unique gym themes for example, but not all were great (e.g. 2nd gym in English, urgh).

And while X&Y have the best instrumentation and allow for more styles than before (electronic sound), not all of the execution for it was that great imo, as mentioned above.

Iris's theme in particular sounds more like it would belong to a group of Frontier Brains, I wonder if I'm the only one that feels that way...

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I don't know about Frontier Brains, but I have heard other people not feel that her theme fits for a champion battle. Each to their own I suppose. Frankly I don't quite recall it that well enough at this very moment!

I love reading your blog because it has very useful,effective and interesting topics. Best of luck for your efforts.

I think in terms of the advancements they've made in the game music, they've improved a lot. I love listening to the X and Y soundtrack. But just because it's more advance doesn't necessarily mean it's better.

Every gen has it's great route/city tunes.

I think my favorite soundtrack would have to be Sinnoh's though, especially Oreburgh City.

While the soundtrack didn't blow me away, it was still very well done. Some of the tracks are pretty catchy and I found myself humming along sometimes. Overall I think it's a solid soundtrack.

I loved 2nd gens music especially the rival's theme.