ULIMATE Music Problem

[Mardemonneko]

I have no problems against any songs made in ultimate. I love almost every single one of them, that isn't the issue here.

The issue I have here is the way music is now categorized. Yes it's nice you can almost choose any song for any stage as long as they are in the same series, but that's just my problem.
AS LONG AS THEY ARE IN THE SAME SERIES.

Let me give you a strong example:
Remember the Orbital Gate Assault stage from smash 4? Wasn't a great stage despite the cinematic feel to it. The omega version is the one I am focusing on here.

I always had one song playing when I would go on for glory and/or friends and this stage was chosen: Tunnel Theme (from) X-Scape
I thought it was a calm retro sounding song to have battles in space to as the stage whirled by the giant space stations.
That stage didn't make it to ultimate, but even if it did, it wouldn't have this song anymore. It would have ONLY Star fox songs.

And you know where the x-scape song(s) have gone, along with every "OTHER" type of song?
They have gone to these stages: Summit, Hanenbow, PictoChat 2, Tomodachi Life, Find Mii, Living Room, Balloon Fight, Wuhu Island, Pilotwings, Wrecking Crew, and Duck Hunt.
NONE OF WHICH ARE SPACE LEVELS, WHICH THIS THEME IS MADE FOR.


That yoshi's island stage from melee returns to ultimate, but now it only has yoshi island music. It has lost that guitar jamming theme.
Now it only has yoshi categorized music. Despite it originating not from a yoshi game ironically enough, but a MARIO GAME.

Gaur Plains no longer have the Valedictory Elegy music present in it.

Warioware no longer has PERFORMANCE.

THE MARIO CIRCUIT STAGE NO LONGER HAS ANY MARIO SPORTS THEMES. Like, what the actual ****? Stage based on mario a spinoff doesn't get the mario spinoff music.

And I could go on and on about the songs missing from stages originally, most of which I felt fit the visuals.
I love ultimate but I feel the music was a step in the right direction at first, but now I only feel like it is a step backwards.

AT THIS POINT JUST LET US PUT ANY SONG INTO ANY STAGE.

 

[KIRBY MAIN]

Meh, to me, keeping the franchise songs unique to levels from that franchise simply makes the most sense. I mean on some stages, the list of songs are ALREADY pretty crazy. If you were able to select any song from any stage, they would need and organized “Pre-Menu” that shows the different franchises. You pick on a franchise, then goes to the actual song select menu. If they were to input something like that, I would be SO for it! But otherwise, I don’t know how I feel about having to go through one giant list of hundreds of songs every time lol

 

[Mardemonneko]

Meh, to me, keeping the franchise songs unique to levels from that franchise simply makes the most sense. I mean on some stages, the list of songs are ALREADY pretty crazy. If you were able to select any song from any stage, they would need and organized “Pre-Menu” that shows the different franchises. You pick on a franchise, then goes to the actual song select menu. If they were to input something like that, I would be SO for it! But otherwise, I don’t know how I feel about having to go through one giant list of hundreds of songs every time lol

Why not just introduce playlists?
Have the original stage playlist, then allow users to create their own.

 

[KIRBY MAIN]

Why not just introduce playlists?
Have the original stage playlist, then allow users to create their own.

That would also be good! Basically anything other than one giant list of songs would be good lol

 

[Luigifan18]

You forgot the Golden Sun final boss music on Norfair. Considering that that track originally played in a fight with a freaking dragon, it makes sense for it to play on a stage with fire and lava constantly getting in the way. Alas, none of the miscellaneous stages fit that description.

However, I love playing the Shin Onigashima medley on Pilotwings. Something about that track screams “climactic infiltration of and battle aboard an airship” to me.

 

[Veggieburger_802]

I share your frustration, Mardemonneko; it's natural to form strong emotional connections between songs and places. I always liked hearing Fire Emblem's "Story 5 Meeting" on the Hyrule Temple stage.

From a UX design perspective, the decision of which songs to allow on each stage is a balancing act between user freedom and interface simplicity. Giving us more music options would require either a list of 800 songs (which would be a nightmare) or a directory involving playlists or categories (which would mean more button presses and navigation). I'm sure the decision to simplify the process was made in the interest of getting into the game as soon as possible, since 95% of players probably don't even care that they can only play music from the same series as the stage, and they would see the additional music options as unnecessary clutter in the interface.

However, if I were designing it, I would solve this problem with a simple "More Songs" button at the bottom of the list, which would let you select a song the same way you can in the battle arena waiting room. It would be a bit of a hassle to pick the song you want every time, but making a small percentage of users go through an inconvenient process to get what they want is generally a better option than not letting them do it at all (as long as it doesn't make the process any less convenient for the majority of users who have no use for the extra functionality).

 

[lucasla]

Despite having some losses, I still think it's a thing that makes sense, BUT I wouldn't care if anyone could put any music in any stage. Smash is a mix of things, so, even having songs in stages not related to the series of the stage, it would still makes sense and would please people that want 100% control of the music of the game.

But personally, the only thing that I really miss is the Super Smash Bros Brawl Main Theme, that you can only use it on the MENUS of the game. I think it's still the best music of all and I expected to play it at least on Battlefield and Final Destination stages, but nop, only menu. That epic song only to click buttons, not on fights. No sense at all. Feels that all the work I had to finish World of Light to change the Menu music was not totally rewarded.

 

[DarthEnderX]

Honestly, I wish I could just set the stage music to play a random song from my playlist no matter what stage I'm on...