The two game sounds i’ll be comparing are Mario kart and another well known racing game known as GT aka Gran Turismo.
both games have the same goal of attracting players from all over to play their racing game. The two games are of the same genre, they both have the same goal of competing against racers on a track, they both require skill and determination and the both give the players a sense of accomplishment after completing a match. what sets them apart (apart from the obvious like: graphic, art style and controls) is the sound choice in the two games.
for example throughout the Mario kart series, the games have been widely known for it’s upbeat, melodically, jazz like tunes, which are a motivator for the ears as well as enhancing the pace of the game. as even though the Karts are slower than the average racing game, the music makes you almost forget it. in the Mario kart games there are power ups, and each power up has a high pitch noise to accompany it, high pitch sounds are often associated with children games (on the exception of horror games, which use the high pitch noises or childlike music to shock and scare the player). Also unlike other racing games the music is a huge factor in ever match, with catchy tunes as well as constant music throughout every part of the game, even the options screen has it’s own unique noise. i believe this was decided to keep the younger audiences attention upon as if it was void of music they would get bored of it a lot more.
Gran Turismo however often has rock like music subtly playing in the background of every race which really get’s the player’s adrenaline pumping. the music is also accompanied near perfect car sounds depending on the function, which varies depending on the action the player is using. the cars in this game are a lot faster and is shown through the sounds choice of the game, when a car speeds up on screen, there is an accompanying sound with the represents the actions perfectly. the game does not have as much variety in music like Mario kart does and the soundtrack is not that memorable at all. however this game has a lot more realistic looking cars, with more realistic sounds. and as adults often have a higher attention span than younger kids, they are not in need of as much music to fully enjoy this game. The pace of the game is also very fast and is shown by the subtle sounds of the car cutting through the wind, or the sounds of the tyres screeching around a corner. this game is probably the most realistic driver due to all the sounds being accounted for, not one detail has been missed out and it honestly feels like a real car due to the sound of it all.
During my course we have been studying efficient ways to use sound in interactive media to enhance the current project we’re working on. sound is often overlooked as a less important aspect of the project as people are often more interested in the creating of a game or an animation. but at the end of the day Sound is the key component of anything. and an animation or a game could not function without sound. but Sound can work without visuals, as music as a whole plants an image in your mind depending on the melodic frequency of the track. Sound in interactive media is by far the most important aspect of the project.
Ryan Williams’ Interactive Games 