Video Game Music is Our Underrated Therapy
Don't be afraid to level up your mood with your favorite video game music
Video game music is more than a third-party experience. It’s a therapeutic companion piece that allows me to zone out perfectly.
When we search for it and feel those moments all over again, it’s like an instant download to our brain. All we have to do is let the melody download. Then, we can research it and curate several of those songs into a playlist.
The Sims 2, Animal Crossing, and Dance Dance Revolution were just some games I grew up with in my 2000s childhood that shaped my love of music. When life got me down, I would play these games to take me to an alternative kind of therapy.
My imagination blended with my reality whenever a song would come on. The original and sometimes reimagined songs emerged in the gaming experience, where I was the villager catching butterflies or the robot girl dancing in front of a crowd.
As a preteen, video game music was the thing I looked forward to coming home from school. For me, hearing it was a therapy when I had a tough homework assignment or needed a catchy pick-me-up.
Science talks a lot about how music affects the brain, but it's easy to say that gaming and music together create a double effect.
Studies have shown that video games can increase your focus and memory enhancement. So whenever we hear the songs, we feel nostalgia. With games, it can suit every mood on the right journey. We can feel joy when it’s a rhythm game or find the right aggressive mood, or when a nu-metal song comes on in a wrestling game.
More importantly, I like how video game music suits various personalities. They know how to give us comfy, laidback jingles on Animal Crossing, for instance, when they know the target market is young girls. Depending on the day of the week, the song's mood may change. When I was playing Animal Crossing: Wild World, I remember how chill the Sunday songs would feel in the evening air. There’s a song for any extrovert or introvert who needs a cathartic release.
For bubblegum/dance pop lovers like myself, I became a fan because of the video games it came from. Going back to DDR, I had my song preferences. At five or six years old, I became a pop fan of playing songs like N.M’s “Higher” (which was the only song I knew to play, by the way.) It didn’t matter how bad I was, I just reveled in having to play the song on repeat. It was a coming-of-age song about love and joy.
The Sims 2 had the luxury of making artists sing original songs in a Sims language while also having calm loading music. My side hobby was seeing them dance awkwardly to salsa and Katy Perry’s Simlish “Hot n Cold.” The Sims: Urbz in the City does the same thing by utilizing pop culture. Their Sims version of Black Eyed Peas, “Get It Started,” gave the game the perfect urban vibe.
Video game music is also cheap therapy (after you purchase the game, of course). You just turn on your console and feel the effects of diegetic music in your universe. The best part is that you don’t have to curate the songs; it just fits you. And it's perfect background music.
As I got older, I moved away from video gaming, but the songs still stick with me. There was an old video game like Bust a Groove 2, where the music still comes to me now and again. I think some songs like “The Heat is On” could’ve been a hit because of the stellar production. In under ten seconds, I’m taken to nostalgia.
I like how Gen Z is preserving the greatness of video game music and effects. It coexists with lofi music when you need a soothing sound to study. VGM evolved with Artificial Intelligence, too, where it's okay to adjust an Animal Crossing sound to a real-life song. For example, when Sabrina Carpenter’s “Espresso” became a big hit, editors used Isabel to cover her song. (Wonder if Sabrina knows about it?)
Teenagers may not realize it, but listening to this type of music is a form of therapy. Just for those few minutes, it keeps you from falling apart. You understand the humor if you get the cultural reference. Even just the thought of creating the alternative song was creative stimulation. YouTube having a list of these covers couldn’t feel more cathartic to gaming and music fans alike.
We can look back at “Baka Mitai” and make it a meme, or Wii Fitness failed music and reflect on the times. Most importantly, video game music is the feel-good treat that preserves pop culture and keeps us happy.
What are your favorite video game songs?
My son is a gamer and is exposed to all kinds of music via games. It’s become a huge sync industry!