5 of the Funkiest Flavas in Retro Games

A good soundtrack is as integral to a videogame as chocolate is to a Hobnob. A particularly good one can elevate a not-so-good game to a must-play, as I'm certain is the case with Bubble Bobble. I'm not educated enough to talk about music in anything but the abstract, but I knows what I likes. Get on these!

1) SASAPARILLA FIELDS (THE SMURFS)

I've never been young enough to not find the smurfs annoying. What was their appeal exactly? They didn't even have the decency to give us a theme tune. It could well be that the only music of theirs you're aware of is that ridiculous covers album. Don't let that fool you. Those condom-hatted critters could bring it when they needed to. This otherwise-forgettable platformer brings instant joy to the soul.

2) TITLE MUSIC (PLOK!)

A hidden-gem SNES platformer which saw you throw your arms and legs at enemies in a bid to retrieve a flag from a gang of giant fleas. And they said Megadrive stuff was experimental. It worked though, and the whole soundtrack is just lovely. They brought the big guns for this opening tune, and showed the eponymous leper playing along with a giant harmonica. This may explain why the franchise never took off. No matter how good you are at playing harmonica, you will never be as cool as someone who doesn't play harmonica.

3) ROCKIN' (THE LIGHT CORRIDOR)

This strange ZX Spectrum game, best described as a 3D Breakout, was as obscure as it was difficult. Progress was about 80% luck and you would usually die within a few minutes. Unfortunately for the composer of this beauty, you would have to play for about an hour to reach it. So if you're not one of the twelve or so people that ever heard it (and most of those YouTube views are mine), give it a go!

4) WARPTANK - RED (UFO 50)

This collection of faux-retro games launched last year and it's brilliant. The premise is that a (fictional) software company wrote games throughout the 80s on the (fictional) LX consoles, which have been packaged together for a new generation. You can just feel the love that went into it. I'll be playing it forever. Anyway, Warptank is one of the better offerings and this tune is super catchy.

5) I WANNA PHUNK (GTA2)

Remember I said I had zero musical education? I could listen to this for days before I got fed up. It must trigger the same neuron that lights up in dogs when you throw a stick again and again and again. It's simple and I love it. I was delighted to learn I'm not alone, when I heard it show up in Simon Pegg's The World's End. Do yourself a favour and check out the whole soundtrack if you haven't already. Larger than Malcom XXL!