GAMEOV3R

You know the gates that you have to drive through in some of the Mario Kart Wii competitions? I just love the sound they make. There’s something very relaxing about parking alongside a gate, sitting back and letting the twinkly surreal sound fill your head. I’m pretty sure the final few bends of Rainbow Road, with the sparkly starry tunnel make a similar if not the same sound.

A couple of Sunday’s ago I did just this and used the sound as medication for the stress of trying to get a lap of Koopa Cape, through all the gates, in under a minute. I didn’t manage any better than a 1.01 and so pulled up by a gate to chill out before heading off to bed.

A little while later and I’m in bed trying to get off to sleep and all I can hear is the sound of the gate ringing in my ears and I start thinking about other game sounds that I really like. Kind of odd at 1am but I put it down to Sunday night insomnia again. So I stare at the ceiling and in my head put together my top five video game audio moments….

5. The very first time I heard the lightsaber in Super Star Wars on the SNES. Still great Star wars sound even now.

4. Another Star Wars one, the Imperial Storm Trooper’s blaster effect on SW Battlefield 2 on the PS2.

3. Conker spewing after binge drinking in Bad Fur Day.

2. The Mario Kart Wii Twinky Gate/Rainbow Road sound.

1. The hugely satisfying noise that the Xbox 360 makes when an Achievement is unlocked or a friend comes on-line.

I’m surprised, sitting here all this time later, I have slept many times since then, that I can remember any of this but there you go. Since then I’ve remembered Miner Willy getting squashed by the boot on the game over screen of Manic Miner, Mario going 2x after eating a mushroom, and there’s Yoshi’s Island DS and when you open and close the DS. Most of the sounds from the Wii menu buttons are very appealing too.

Before I go, I thought you might like to know that I found my DS. It was under my wife’s pillow. No one is owning up to putting it there so I can only conclude that my wife is having midnight games with Professor Layton…….

Hang on a minute!!

Play away on the Gameov3r FORUM.