2008 Aggie Awards page 11
Best Music: Sam & Max: Season Two
Music in videogames is a quality that is hard to get right: it's often intrusive, endlessly repetitive, and rarely in keeping with what is happening on screen. That is not the case with Sam & Max: Season Two, which hits all the right notes (literally) for every possible situation. Just as he did in the first season, Jared Emerson-Johnson composed the soundtrack for the new episodes, and has once again delivered a variety of scores that fit each game like a glove. To name just two of many deserving examples, Moai Better Blues boasts a gorgeous, tropical-tinged soundtrack while Night of the Raving Dead’s zombie dance anthem and movie monster themes are highlights of the series.
It's an even greater testament to the high standard of game music when it can be appreciated outside the context of the games and still be just as enjoyable on its own terms, and it’s little wonder that Telltale has found a market for the soundtrack of this series all on its own. It’s simply that good. And just for extra measure, Season Two treats players to a smattering of in-game musical numbers that you’ll remember long after you’ve heard them... Musical numbers in games. How often do you hear those words spoken in the same sentence?
Runners-Up: Outcry, Mystery Case Files: Return to Ravenhearst
Readers’ Choice: Mystery Case Files: Return to Ravenhearst
So this is what happens when you hire a high quality, professional orchestra to perform the soundtrack for your game. Who knew? Well, apparently Big Fish Games knew, turning to the Deutsche Film Orchestra in Berlin for Mystery Case Files: Return to Ravenhearst, and gamers were listening, giving the casual adventuring hybrid the nod over Sam & Max: Season Two and A Vampyre Story.
Next up: Best Voice Acting... the envelope, please.
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