Dynamic Music Demo: Rooftop Run

Those of you who read my posts have probably picked up on my keen love of dynamic music in video games. I recently came across this YouTube video by baldfalk, and was positively enthralled. It's a brilliant proof of concept for how dynamic music might be seamlessly integrated into gameplay, and it even uses a Sonic game! I'll let the (well-annotated) video do the the talking.

One of the key differences between baldfalk's Sonic Unleashed clip and the Mass Effect 2 example is that Sonic Unleashed's gameplay is much more linear. The goal in most Sonic games is quite straightforward: get from Point A to Point B as quickly as possible. This allows the composer to make some assumptions about players' behavior. For instance, players will all reach (or at least attempt to reach) specific areas in the level, making these areas perfect cues to transition to new musical content. These distinct sections provide a nice sense of evolution in the music, rather than something that just loops incessantly. At the same time, it was a nice touch to retain multiple activity levels within the same section, lending the music an even stronger sense of dynamism.

What do you think? Could/should dynamic music like this start seeing regular employ in video games? I'd love to hear your thoughts. And please support the author of this video by subscribing to his channel; he's doing some truly excellent work!

~David