Metroid (NES/FDS) Audio Comparison

A full comparison video between the audio differences of Metroid on the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) and Famicom Disk System.

NOTE: Both versions of the game were recorded from original hardware (an original front loading NES, and an AV modded Famicom equipped with the Famicom Disk System).
None of this is emulated.
Timestamps:
Title Screen
0:00 NES
01:35 Famicom Disk System
Samus Appearance Fanfare
03:10 NES
03:18 Famicom Disk System
Item Fanfare
03:25 NES
03:29 Famicom Disk System
Low Health and Death
03:33 NES
03:43 Famicom Disk System
Doors
03:56 NES
04:00 Famicom Disk System
Morph Ball
04:04 NES
04:07 Famicom Disk System
Specific Enemy Screeches
04:09 NES
04:13 Famicom Disk System
Morph Ball Bomb
04:15 NES
04:18 Famicom Disk System
Ice/Wave Beam
04:21 NES
04:23 Famicom Disk System
Damage
04:25 NES
04:28 Famicom Disk System
Screw Attack
04:31 NES
04:39 Famicom Disk System
Boss Grunt
04:45 NES
04:57 Famicom Disk System
Boss Statues
05:07 NES
05:13 Famicom Disk System
(sound effect doesn't exist in Famicom version)
Elevator (same as Morph Ball)
05:17 NES
05:20 Famicom Disk System
Metroids
05:23 NES
05:37 Famicom Disk System
Mother Brain
05:47 NES
05:52 Famicom Disk System
Escape Alarm
06:06 NES
06:47 Famicom Disk System
Ending
07:42 NES
09:57 Famicom Disk System

[@GiveMeMyFuckingHandleBack]

I love how the bosses in the FDS version scream 'ow' when you hit them lmao

[@Sedifet]

I liked the NES a lot, until I heard the FDS. Now I can't unhear it.

[@ClassicTVMan1981X]

3:43 -- In the FDS version, when Samus gets hit, you get the exact same sound effect from The Legend of Zelda as to when Link is injured. The low health buzzer is just the jumping sound looped over and over, but for the NES release it's a proper beeping sound (to be specific, the sound the cursor makes on the select and password entry screens).
3:52 -- The NES' death sound is more like Pac-Man dying, but the FDS' sounds more crazy.

[@yzzysgames6294]

I always found the FDS death sound weird and comical. It borderline sounds like a cartoon sound effect.

[@ClassicTVMan1981X]

@@yzzysgames6294 The more I listen to the FDS' death sound, it sounds like that sound effect in Ice Climber whenever you hit a Nitpicker (the pink bird) with your hammer.

[@Jayden.williams583]

Nes death sound sounds like ms pacman dying

[@ambershit]

I love the way the disk system version sounds.
However I do feel like the sounds of the NES version are a bit more creepy and match the games feel much more. A battery backup would have been nice, though.

[@MoyanoJerald]

A Battery-powered cartridge was more expensive to make

[@CHamlin86]

The FDS in general sounds better, but there are some sounds that I think were done better on NES. Namely, the damage, death, and screw attack sounds.

[@jessbelyandjacobquestions]

I like how some sound effects on the FDS version sound more like the nes version

[@watcherman222]

The Samus amiibo costume in Super Mario Maker WiiU uses the FDS sound effects.

[@OSW]

Thanks! Swings and roundabouts for me, sometimes NES is nicer and sometimes Famicom. Famicom - did it have a more expensive sound chip?

[@yzzysgames6294]

Specs wise, the Famicom and NES' sound chips are identical. It's the Disk System add on that offered 1 additional sound channel (a wavetable synth coming from the Ricoh 2C33 chip), which is utilized in many Famicom Disk System games.

[@MoyanoJerald]

​@@yzzysgames6294 The Famicom Disk System was like a Forerunner for the Sega CD? For the Audio Enhancements, Sonic CD had it's music (Except "P" Mixes) in RedBook CD Audio

[@NAFEDUDE]

​@@MoyanoJerald FDS used floppy discs instead of carts, but yes, in concept it was similar.

[@MoyanoJerald]

@@NAFEDUDE i know

[@ls190v2]

Man, the FM channels the Famicom Disk System had lend themselves well to great retro tracks, eh?

[@Hutch2Much]

thru switch online i played the FDS version and wow, the NES version sounds so weird to me

[@ClassicTVMan1981X]

I think the NES' escape alarm sound could've been the same as in Hogan's Alley whenever you messed up (miss the right target or shoot the wrong target).

[@karuma6635]

oh my god
the fds sounds are like 100 times better i can't belive i've been playing the inferior version this entire time

[@ls190v2]

The Item jingle was always how it is. The NES version simply misinterpreted it.

[@karuma6635]

@@ls190v2 yup!

[@matiasmoreno3562]

FDS sounds better, all people commenting otherwise just because of nostalgia ....

[@user-ch7oe7zx7b]

in the Japanese version the screw attack sounds very strange 🤨🤨🤨

[@maxrichards5925]

It is kinda weird lol

[@just_jay7078]

Clearly the US version (NES) sounds much better than JAPAN version (FDS). Probably why it wasn't a huge success over there.

[@matthewbertrand4139]

i mean it's okay to be wrong sometimes Jay.

[@just_jay7078]

@@matthewbertrand4139 Was the Metroid series popular in Japan???

[@maxrichards5925]

@@just_jay7078I think he meant that the music doesn’t sound better in the nes version. I’d say it’s subjective since some sounds sound better in the nes version while some sound better in the FDS version because it had an extra sound channel

[@just_jay7078]

@@maxrichards5925 Yes music & many things in life are subjective, however Metroid as a whole has struggled in its home market of Japan, with the exception of Dread. I'm just spitballing here but music can sometimes make or break a game, movie, etc.......in the end it is about choice.