Sound Design/Audio Direction

[Allyourbased]

yesterday i finished system shock 2 and while a lot of things about it stood out to me, the audio direction was on another level. the way they had parts of the ship in certain areas making mechanical ship sounds that were similar in frequency to some of the enemy voices had me questioning if i was hearing voices in a super immersive way.

anyway this got me thinking, what are some other retro games with standout audio direction or sound design? one that jumps to mind for me is the ea skate series, the way different materials make subtly different sounds when you ride across them or grind on them subtly adds a lot of variety in gamefeel. scraping across a curb doing a 5-0 feels different than a smooth tailslide across marble and a lot of that is down to the sound design.

also rez, and all the other games that mizuguchi guy had a hand in

 

[Scotty Scotty]

"Flashback" on Sega Genesis immediately comes to mind. In the New Washington area, you explore a series of rooms; one of which has an air ventilation system. The closer you are to the vent, the louder the sound.

Another instance of superb sound design is the final area of the original "Paper Mario". Similar to completing a world in "Yoshi's Island", the instrumentation becomes more complex the further you progress - resulting in a very tense and climactic journey to Bowser.

 

[moonbits]

Doom 3 and F.E.A.R. are still awesome.
Shenmue on Dreamcast has very relaxing environmental sounds, it immerses you easily into it's world.

 

[bjork]

It's primitive by today's standards, but being able to hear monsters in a different room in the original Doom and having it be louder if you were closer, was pretty cool at the time.

 

[Allyourbased]

Doom 3 and F.E.A.R. are still awesome.
Shenmue on Dreamcast has very relaxing environmental sounds, it immerses you easily into it's world.

fear is a great example i love the radio chatter of the enemies, you could even flick on your flashlight and they'd yell "flashlight!"

shenmue is also a great call, it goes a long way toward making the world feel more lived in and bustling with the sounds of life everywhere. and the attention to detail in little sound effects goes a long way too

It's primitive by today's standards, but being able to hear monsters in a different room in the original Doom and having it be louder if you were closer, was pretty cool at the time.

no thats a great call, it also fed into both pillars of dooms game design imo. it fed the combat side because the enemies made distinct sounds and often you'd be able to prepare for a specfic threat by hearing it in advance. it fed into the exploration side because you would hear enemies in places you didn't know how to get to, and it would help you in your search. it also just had great sound effects in general, that shotgun sound effect is immaculate

 

[Ikagura Ikagura]

Doom 1&2 and Half-Life.

I can also add The House of the Dead 2 (which shares many sound effects with Phantasy Star Online) and probably Mario 64.

 

[aviaovrumvrum]

Idk if it could be considered retro, but Silent Hill 2 got some amazing sound design