Guess the game from the sound effect

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How many of these iconic sounds do you recognise?

Number 7:

Did you get it? The clue was in the number. Final Fantasy VII's menu cursor sound may be short, but any fan will know it anywhere.


Above: First time we played this, we called Red XIII 'Fred'. Yes, we are sorry

Number 8:

An old one, sure, but Space Harrier is a classic shooter and its appearance in Shenmue's arcade was welcome indeed. You hear this noise every time you fire. And seeing as the game has one fire button and you need to press it constantly, this sound effect soon becomes ingrained into your mind.


Above: This is the arcade version, but we recorded the sound from the brilliant GBA port

Number 9:

You hear this sound whenever you try to open a locked door in Doom. Or if you try to open a wall. OK, so some walls are secret doors, but most of the time they're just walls.


Above: To think this used to be scary. Still plays beautifully, mind

Number 10:

Pick up Aku Aku in Crash Bandicoot and you get this jungle vibe.


Above: All together now - "He's behind you!"

Number 11:

Mario enters a pipe in the original Super Mario Brothers and millions of players get hooked for life.


Above: After Mega Man 9, surely a new 8-bit Mario is in order

Number 12:

Once you pick up the hammer in Donkey Kong, you can destroy the barrels that used to be invincible. And when you do, you hear this 'ascending' noise as your score rockets.


Above: Donkey Kong, Micro Machines, Hammering Harry... no game that features hammers is crap. Oh, except for Trash It

Number 13:

Street Fighter II's starting noise says 'lets have some quality fighting fun' in 1992. We still do, and the sound effect hasn't aged one iota.


Above: Don't keep going on about Chun Li's hips - she's clearly big boned.

Justin Towell
Justin Towell

Justin was a GamesRadar staffer for 10 years but is now a freelancer, musician and videographer. He's big on retro, Sega and racing games (especially retro Sega racing games) and currently also writes for Play Magazine, Traxion.gg, PC Gamer and TopTenReviews, as well as running his own YouTube channel. Having learned to love all platforms equally after Sega left the hardware industry (sniff), his favourite games include Christmas NiGHTS into Dreams, Zelda BotW, Sea of Thieves, Sega Rally Championship and Treasure Island Dizzy.