The Vampire Survivors soundtrack has no business being this good
Well ok, of course it does—but I need to get your attention so I can hold this in front of you enthusiastically.
Quick recap: Vampire Survivors is a wildly addictive, deliciously simple game released a couple of years ago that's won a small pile of awards and is now available on every major gaming platform, phones, the web—even Teslas. Yes, really. Still, none of this sounds particularly distinctive until you realize that we're not talking about some mega graphics showcase AAA extravaganza here. This is an indie game that looks like it fell out of an arcade cabinet circa 1993.
And it makes me so happy that a game that looks like this:
Sounds like this:
Sometimes it feels like this industry is the only place left where there's still a powerful appetite for well-crafted, joyfully sincere orchestral music. Recorded live or otherwise. I'm biased, of course, but I miss it and am happy to see it alive and well in the always-verdant musical gardens of gaming.
The original soundtrack, penned by Daniele Zandara, Filippo Vicarelli, William Davies, and Lorenzo Floro, ranges from pieces that sound more like you might imagine music from the era implied by the graphics to sound...all the way to pieces like the one above.
If you enjoy music, particularly with Castlevania vibes, I encourage you to give this soundtrack a try. It'll keep you on your toes even before the kazoos show up.
It's nearly 70 tracks long, so let me offer you a few cues to sample:
- Forest Night Fever
- Tales of the Foscari
- Song of Mana
- Moms are Tough
- Dust Elementals
- It's Raining Minotaurs
- Barely Staying Alive
- Born to be Undead
- Remedy in the Snow
- Legacy of the Moonspell
- Festive Breeze
- No Ghosts Among Us