Scary game levels and music

[Sydian]

I didn't think that y'all would find the Silent Realms to be scary. They didn't seem scary to me at all.

maybe you don't have a soul

Also... fortress music from Super Mario World? So foreboding

Unless you're me and you made up lyrics to almost every song in the old Mario games and they're all about toilets and Bowser having a big butt. JUDGE ME.

 

[TRIFORCE89]

Unless you're me and you made up lyrics to almost every song in the old Mario games and they're all about toilets and Bowser having a big butt. JUDGE ME.

Please share all these lyrics thx

 

[Nah]

maybe you don't have a soul

I sold my soul to Grima long ago.

 

[pkmin3033]

I think the scariest (or at least, the most atmospheric) video games don't use music at all, save for special instances like boss battles...it builds up the suspense, so when music does play, you notice it, and you know something special is coming...and, if you're like me, you start worrying about what it might be. Dark Souls did this quite effectively in my opinion, keeping you in utter silence most of the time, then ramping it up to eleven with ominous and/or pulse-pounding boss battle themes.

That said, one of the most disturbing game levels/music combination that I can think of is the section of Metal Gear Solid just before you fight Psycho Mantis. It's a quiet, mostly deserted area, noticeably more ornamental than the rest of the base, and there is that haunting, eerie melody playing in the background, occasionally building to a vocal climax before getting a lot lower in pitch...it had me jumping at shadows the first time around.

Final Fantasy VIII has some good eerie moments, as well. A Sacrifice and Succession of Witches are both very creepy themes, with the Ominous Latin Chanting and messed-up visual distortions and general acid-trip-possession thing Edea has going for her.

 

[Cheshireson]

River Twygz Bed (Super Paper Mario)

Yes, this piece of music is a stark contrast to anything else Nintendo has ever produced. Very eerie and atmospheric. On a lighter note, a fair majority of people think that the unintelligible voice is repeating the words "apples and ****," which is sort of funny.


This is not video game music in the traditional sense, but here is what the title screen music of Crazy Bus for the Sega Genesis sounds like when slowed down 800%.

Spoiler:

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Let that sweet dissonance burn into your subconscious.


As for areas and such, I always found the environments and ghost encounters in Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly to be consistently unnerving.

Also, when I found out that the Headcrab Zombies from Half-Life 2 were crying out these phrases in reverse, I was sincerely creeped out.