Least favorite song from the games?

I'll throw in the Firered / Leafgreen Battle (VS Trainer) theme as being one of the battle themes I dislike the most (especially compared to the RBY Version)


The RBY version was pretty simple, but fits well as a battle theme that you are going to hear frequently. The base progression of the song and the loops used within give it enough distinction without distracting the player. Around 0:17-0:21 and 0:28-0:31 I especially enjoy, a nice fast few second movement to help distinguish from the overall droning notes (used again later, but wanted a example in the first 30 seconds). The Gameboy is pretty restrictive in terms of what sounds can be used, but this theme does a pretty good job at not distracting the player while not being so boring as to annoy the player by how often it is used.

Firered/Leafgreen's version adds a ton on top of the basic underpinnings, but imo I dislike how it goes about adding it. Every time I hear the theme I can instantly recognize it, but it's not in a good way. While the structure of the RBY version is used, but a ton of instruments and new movements are stapled on top of the original structure in a way what does not mesh well. The GBA's soundfont is really expressive in what it can convey, and other parts of the Firered / Leafgreen OST really does thrive having more at their disposal, but the trainer theme never feels like it adds to the base theme, just piling more on top of it. One that really shines is the Pokemon Gym theme, being able to distinguish more between instruments and sounds using the GBA rather than the GB beeps allows the theme to feel more triumphant. Battle! (VS Trainer) doesn't really improve much in comparison, the extra sounds allowed by the GBA, yeah there is more sounds, but it no longer conveys a similar message that the RBY version was able to capture with the GB.
 
I absolutely despise the Sinnoh soundfont and almost every single song that isn't purely piano(pretty much just Canalave and cynthia's prebattle theme) sounds garbage, the midis just sound ear grating at best and just a clunky mess at worst.
biggest offender of this is Eterna City's theme, it's just a gross sounding clunky mess of a song and none of the instruments sound good together at all. Messy.
I also really dislike Veilstone's theme, it's just a really poor attempt at some "funky" jazz and just again ends up sounding messy and clunky.
Also not the worst but I find Snowpoint(day and night) to be probably the most overrated song in the games and it's just honestly really fucking dull and boring, I don't see the appeal especially after coming from those slow hellhole of routes that precedes it.

Most of the songs are ok but honestly very forgettable, can't tell you what any of the battle themes sound like except Arceus' cause he has one of the worst legend themes in the series. And to add a slight bit of positivity, route 214's theme is good as well as day canalave(night's is honestly pretty meh). Jubilife is another theme that's just random piano embellishments in a poor attempt to sound "jazzy" but the song as a whole is passable albeit extremely forgettable. Hearthome is alright, sounds like happy elevator music which is about as much praise I'll get for this game for a song that doesn't exclusively abuse piano.
The plus to all of this is if they ever remake the gen 4 games, the awful soundfont will be gone and we'll actually hear sinnoh tracks that doesn't range from please mute the game to forgettable. In a similar vein to how RSE victory road was garbage due to GBA sound limitations and how they had to layer french horn on top of each other to produce a fake orchestra sound; then ORAS happened and the song is one of the best in the game because of a proper full orchestration of the song. :pray:
The Sinnoh soundfont has actually grown on me in the years after playing the games, though most of that is probably the piano parts. However, there is one song that drives me up the wall whenever it starts, and that's the DPPt bike theme.

Most of the song is fine but I honestly can't remember it because I can't get past the awful, shrill, staccato piano notes at the beginning. It sounds haphazard and unfortunately leads into a section that is also uncomfortably high. My hatred for this intro is compounded by Diamond and Pearl's gates forcing you off your bikes, meaning that you have to get on your bike and hear the intro again if you want to travel by ground quickly.

Agreed with the songs that are mostly piano being good, though; the Mt. Coronet top music is one of my favorite pieces in the franchise. A city song I like is Sunyshore, but I think that's in spite of the instrumentation.

That's honestly the only song that I am aware of that actively upsets me, though there are probably some others. Various remixes from HGSS took away some of what I loved from the originals (Violet City comes to mind), and agree on XY's music mostly being forgettable. When I was making a list of favorite Pokémon songs, the only mainline games I drew a blank on were them. I was going through the soundtrack to find songs I liked, and did find a few, but never finished. The majority of the music just sounds... bland.

I know someone is probably going to say the SM Elite Four for being too stressful, but I have anxiety issues it doesn't bother me at all. I actually really like it. The Smash Bros remix though, that's too much. I'm not sure how to describe it, but the original version has a part that's like it's two layers of chaotic stuff and the Smash remix added a third layer.
The SM Elite Four theme is fine; I used to think it was an inferior version of BW's theme, but in retrospect it at least builds better IMO. But Smash remixes are almost largely inferior to the originals. Not sure how but they just seem to lose the spirit of the originals (and the only true-to-game inclusions are from XY) :pikuh:

Oh, this isn't a "I don't like this piece" but rather a "I think another composition is better" opinion, but I think the Gen 4 Frontier Brain isn't as good as the Gen 3 one. It's a great piece of music in its own right, but I really enjoy how Emerald's theme builds on the pomp of the Frontier's base theme, and generally gives off more of a feel of achieving something that only a few people ever have. It distinguishes itself from the more generic "big battle" theme that the Gen 4 Brains use and thus I think it's better.
 

Celever

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There’s only one track I can think of for this thread, and from a scan it hasn’t specifically been named by others yet. But it’s the XY Wild Battle theme.

I wish I could explain why I hate this music so much but it’s difficult through being so non-descript. XY has boring music in general but it’s largely permissible. However, when I train in XY I actually have to turn the sound off because this theme annoys me so much. Maybe it’s because it’s so disjointed — it doesn’t really have a beat or well-constructed melody, and kind of just sounds like some notes being emitted from time to time.

Now, I remember this opinion from the very first playthrough of XY I did so many years ago, but there’s also a special reason why I dislike this theme so much. By default, in Smash 4 and Smash U, this theme is by far the likeliest to play on the Lumiose City stage. And I’m too lazy to change this, so every time my random omega stage selector chooses Lumiose City, I hear the intro to this theme and immediately get annoyed at myself for not turning the chance of this track playing down to 0. But hearing it playing in this context of a real battle really exposes how toneless it is; it’s too laid back to be battle music, but also too loud and screechy to be relaxing. And both Smash and Pokémon use it only in a battle setting, so it feels really out of place (even though I can’t figure out what its place SHOULD be).

I really hate this track lmao. And TBH I can’t think of even a second place. Even the rest of XY’s soundtrack is fine enough to not earn silver. Maybe SwSh’s gym battle theme like somebody else suggested — it’s a little grating but overall does fit the environment of it being a battle, which is more than can be said for XY’s wild battle theme.
 
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Guzma's theme is wonderful

So Pokemon Masters took that theme and then, in a stunning twist, made it sounds absolutely terrible
Only Gacha games can turn something good into something this bad. :blobnauseated:

I'm kinda surprised nobody talked about Wally's disgustingly bad 16 measure(38 second long) "theme" from ORAS
I remember hearing it the first time and getting hype at the guitars... then it started looping and I was like: :smogduck:
 
The original Wally theme was the rival theme that May and brendan has...yk one of the best arrangements in ORAS as a whole, yet they replaced it with this garbage????????? Gamefreak honey, stop.
Um, no? His "original battle theme" was just the regular trainer theme lol

There’s only one track I can think of for this thread, and from a scan it hasn’t specifically been named by others yet. But it’s the XY Wild Battle theme.

I wish I could explain why I hate this music so much but it’s difficult through being so non-descript. XY has boring music in general but it’s largely permissible. However, when I train in XY I actually have to turn the sound off because this theme annoys me so much. Maybe it’s because it’s so disjointed — it doesn’t really have a beat or well-constructed melody, and kind of just sounds like some notes being emitted from time to time.

Now, I remember this opinion from the very first playthrough of XY I did so many years ago, but there’s also a special reason why I dislike this theme so much. By default, in Smash 4 and Smash U, this theme is by far the likeliest to play on the Lumiose City stage. And I’m too lazy to change this, so every time my random omega stage selector chooses Lumiose City, I hear the intro to this theme and immediately get annoyed at myself for not turning the chance of this track playing down to 0. But hearing it playing in this context of a real battle really exposes how toneless it is; it’s too laid back to be battle music, but also too loud and screechy to be relaxing. And both Smash and Pokémon use it only in a battle setting, so it feels really out of place (even though I can’t figure out what its place SHOULD be).

I really hate this track lmao. And TBH I can’t think of even a second place. Even the rest of XY’s soundtrack is fine enough to not earn silver. Maybe SwSh’s gym battle theme like somebody else suggested — it’s a little grating but overall does fit the environment of it being a battle, which is more than can be said for XY’s wild battle theme.
I don't dislike it but this is my least fav wild battle theme mainly because it borrows waaaay too much from BW wild battle theme, except it isn't as good.

Oh, this isn't a "I don't like this piece" but rather a "I think another composition is better" opinion, but I think the Gen 4 Frontier Brain isn't as good as the Gen 3 one. It's a great piece of music in its own right, but I really enjoy how Emerald's theme builds on the pomp of the Frontier's base theme, and generally gives off more of a feel of achieving something that only a few people ever have. It distinguishes itself from the more generic "big battle" theme that the Gen 4 Brains use and thus I think it's better.
I also prefer Gen 3 epic rendition over Gen 4 more techno-ish theme. There's a hackrom, Pokemon Vega, that plays the Gen 4 Frontier theme and I think it nails the "big battle" feel.
 
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And I was just talking positively of Ranger's ost...

This doesn't scream "oh god this volcano is about to erupt we are going to die!", it says "omg where's the bathroom omg all the toilets are taken noooo". And btw, they also reuse it for Shadows of Almia :P
 

Tenshi

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Um, no? His "original battle theme" was just the regular trainer theme lol
ahh my bad, I must be remembering the fact that Steven has the rival theme in Emerald. Honestly though the regular trainer theme is still a better fit imo lmao
 




While not exactly the worst themes ever, I find these to be very repetitive and bland. Worse yet, these themes originate from games whose battles move at a glacial pace. As a result, these themes make these fights seem even longer than they already are.
 
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Ema Skye

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Probably an 'ultra bad hot take', but my least favorite Pokemon song is Route 209. It's just too soft for this point in the game. It would fit better as an early route song. Granted, it has a problem shared by a lot of the Sinnoh route songs in that the instruments are soft and mellow, and I guess I'm more into the loud tracks.

Contrast to other routes that are at a similar point in the game:
Route 209 doesn't contrast well with any of them, and I'm sure you can hear similarities between the three of them in how they construct their melodies and build motif.

Even if we look to newer genrations, it seems they learned from Route 209's 'how not to design a midgame route song'.
209 is just so different, and while that's probably why it has such a devout following (that I will never understand), it's contrast is just so jarring.
 

TMan87

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I have a lot of beef with the Gen III soundfont (probably a big part of why I really don't like the OG Gen III games), and it shows with the most basic theme in the game: the Wild Battle Theme.
To this day I still can't bear listening to this for more than a couple seconds. It sounds like it was made on Mario Paint's music composer, but unironically.
 
I have a lot of beef with the Gen III soundfont (probably a big part of why I really don't like the OG Gen III games), and it shows with the most basic theme in the game: the Wild Battle Theme.
To this day I still can't bear listening to this for more than a couple seconds. It sounds like it was made on Mario Paint's music composer, but unironically.
Hard agree with this. I love Hoenn and gen 3 but I can take my nostalgia goggles off and realise that the bleepy beginning segment is so darn annoying, especially when you're continually running into mons. Luckily the ORAS version is a pretty big improvement imo.
 
Man I haven't played a pokémon game with sound in so long. I don't remember which part of swsh has it (i think its the wild area but im not sure?) but theres a song that starts with bagpipes and I hate the way it sounds.
 

ScraftyIsTheBest

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Ah, an interesting thread. Honestly, it's hard to pick any track I dislike since Pokemon soundtrack is GOATed 99% of the time, but here's one:


This is probably my least favorite Victory Road theme, the Sinnoh Victory Road one. This is not a bad track in and of itself, and it fits a typical cave environment, but it's very ill-fitting for the Victory Road idea. Every other Victory Road has a victorious, majestic feel to it that makes it feel like a true "Victory Road" in that you're walking the path to Victory, but this? Not even close. It's just a cave theme, and it could very well be used for any other cave. It's also worse when you consider how ridiculous and tedious Sinnoh's Victory Road is.

It's just an incredibly odd one out but also just unfitting for what is supposed to be the "Champion Road".

Probably an 'ultra bad hot take', but my least favorite Pokemon song is Route 209. It's just too soft for this point in the game. It would fit better as an early route song. Granted, it has a problem shared by a lot of the Sinnoh route songs in that the instruments are soft and mellow, and I guess I'm more into the loud tracks.

Contrast to other routes that are at a similar point in the game:
Route 209 doesn't contrast well with any of them, and I'm sure you can hear similarities between the three of them in how they construct their melodies and build motif.

Even if we look to newer genrations, it seems they learned from Route 209's 'how not to design a midgame route song'.
209 is just so different, and while that's probably why it has such a devout following (that I will never understand), it's contrast is just so jarring.
To be fair, Route 210 in Sinnoh is also a mid-game route, and its theme is honestly more in-line with the themes of the mid-game routes you mentioned. Sinnoh has a ton of routes and while Route 209 is different, 210 is traversed around the same point of the game off the top of my head and it sounds much more like those other midgame route themes than Route 209 does, in terms of motif and build-up.

I think Route 209 gets praised mainly because it's a unique route theme that no other game has done before or afterwards, and it has a distinctly serene feel to it that's particularly interesting to listen to, irrespective of where it plays. It's almost soothing in a sense, which fits Route 209's description (it has streams that flow in a very soothing+calm manner, and it's also the place for a burial ground, also giving it a bit of a melancholy feel as well at the same time).
 

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Man I haven't played a pokémon game with sound in so long. I don't remember which part of swsh has it (i think its the wild area but im not sure?) but theres a song that starts with bagpipes and I hate the way it sounds.
Maybe this one? Same idea here though. I (still) have not played swsh, however on release I remember watching a few people do their playthroughs.


Hearing the first few seconds of this song start over and over again as various character themes displace it for cutscenes has given me a deep hatred for it.
 

Pikachu315111

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BW2's Pokemon World Tournament - Vs. Hoenn Gym Leader
The music is fine, but what's with that strange sound effect in the background? It's sounds like a synthesized voice but I can't make out if its supposed to be saying anything. The original Hoenn Gym Leader theme did not have anything you could say that noise was the replacement for and the ORAS remix doesn't either. It's very distracting and I would say completely ruins the music (though tbh this remix would still score pretty low with me as I don't feel it has the "punch" the original and the ORAS version has. Doesn't make it bad, but does hold it back).
 
Maybe this one? Same idea here though. I (still) have not played swsh, however on release I remember watching a few people do their playthroughs.


Hearing the first few seconds of this song start over and over again as various character themes displace it for cutscenes has given me a deep hatred for it.
THATS IT the rest of the song is ok but the start hurts my ears so much. Doesnt help that the part i hate loops too :pikuh:
 
I'm seeing a lot of hate for the Gen VI soundtracks on this thread and I will not stand for it. (But that's why we have the opposite thread.)

Here's a couple of FRLG tracks I personally can't do:

I've warmed up on the FRLG soundtrack over the years; I used to despise much more of it than these two. But for reasons I can't really explain, these two just sound grating. The Gen III soundfont does not do them justice.

Also, I think this version of Celadon is way too slow.
 
I can agree with DP having the weakest E4 and Victory Road theme. The former one is just the Gym leader theme (SwSh Tournament remix does a better job imo) and the latter feels tedious, but to be fair it fits the dungeon lol.

Also, Route 6 is literally just a short edit of Wild Area 2 theme. And it plays for half of the game...
 
I hate that bingo-was-his-name-o song that plays sometimes during tutorials (like when the guy shows you how to use the camera early in SM), but that barely counts.

I like most of the Alola music, but this route track is just brutally bad and kind of makes me hate the whole third island portion of those games. I think it has to be the worst song in any of the games for me.

 

Possibly the worst version of the Regis theme, it almost like if it were an unused sound beta test that the devs decided to reuse it just like that for a refined game.....oh wait.


I think all of ORAS's remixed tracks are great, some slighty better of worse than the og. This is the exception, what they have done to this track?! It's supposed to be an intense, suspenseful, intimidating trumpet fest for stopping the evil teams. This...why is it slow and funky? It's so dissonant...
 

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Honestly, for me, ... most of Sinnoh is a jumbled cacophony. It's as if every track shouts "Listen to how many instruments we have! And we can make them all play at the same time!"

Sinnoh has some gems like the Underground, Route 201, or Pokémon Laboratory, but far too many of its tracks are explosions of instruments without any regard for melody or coherence.
 

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