History Main / RecurringRiff

* "All Come Together" from ''Amaluna''.

* ''Anime/DigimonAdventure'', ''Anime/DigimonAdventure02'' and especially ''Anime/DigimonTamers'' all did several takes on their opening themes for use as background music, more often than not with a more melancholic bent, with the ''Tamers'' theme in particular lending itself very well to this and getting more such takes of it done; ''Anime/DigimonFusion'' had background music that used tunes from the openings, various characters' themes, and the Bagra Empire's theme. [[Anime/DigimonXrosWarsTheYoungHuntersWhoLeptThroughTime Xros Wars' sequel series]] continues the pattern.

* ''Anime/DigimonAdventure'', ''Anime/DigimonAdventure02'' and especially ''Anime/DigimonTamers'' all did several takes on their opening themes for use as background music, more often than not with a more melancholic bent, with the ''Tamers'' theme in particular lending itself very well to this and getting more such takes of it done; ''Anime/DigimonFusion'' had background music that used tunes from the openings, various characters' themes, and the Bagra Empire's theme. [[Anime/DigimonXrosWarsTheYoungHuntersLeapingThroughTime Xros Wars' sequel series]] continues the pattern.

* Franchise/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles tends to do this with a recurring riff in many of the level themes. In the old arcade game look out for '[[http://youtu.be/XTWCnjyJmqo?t=22s Heroes]] [[http://youtu.be/7rTVHFfqD_o?t=25s in]] [[http://youtu.be/dUydvsoRMjE?t=10s a]] [[http://youtu.be/2QVNUXGlddI?t=16s Half]] [[http://youtu.be/BfTrejmnbYo?t=33s Shell]]' to come out,

** Many recurring themes abound throughout the original trilogy: ones originating from ''VideoGame/HaloCombatEvolved'' include "Enough Dead Heroes" (the middle section is often heard during battles with Hunters), "Brothers In Arms" (most notably heard in ''VideoGame/{{Halo 3}}''), "Perilous Journey", "A Walk In The Woods", "Under Cover of Night" (one of the most common themes), "Shadows" (the Flood theme), "On a Pale Horse", and "Perchance To Dream", while those coming from ''VideoGame/{{Halo 2}}'' include "Broken Gates", "High Charity Suite", "The Last Spartan", the Delta Halo theme, and the Arbiter's theme

** The opening cinematic of each game in the original trilogy feature a characteristic strings motif, which also appears in the intro to the "Delta Halo" level in ''Halo 2'', and the Legendary ending of ''VideoGame/{{Halo 3}}''.

** ''VideoGame/{{Halo 2}}'':

** ''VideoGame/{{Halo 3}}'':

** ''VideoGame/{{Halo 4}}'':
*** Although Marty O'Donnell stopped composing for ''Halo'' after Creator/ThreeFourThreeIndustries took over, ''4''[='s=] title theme briefly reprises the "Finish the Fight" piano motif from ''VideoGame/{{Halo 3}}''. ''3''[='s=] "Never Forget" is also reused during the "Midnight" mission and ending credits.

* ''[[VideoGame/GoldenEye1997 GoldenEye (1997)]]'' does this in spades, featuring roughly ''fifty'' tunes that utilize the James Bond theme in some way.

** ''Kirby's Dream Land'' has "BubblyClouds", which often appears in cloudy or sky areas. ''VideoGame/KirbyCanvasCurse'' is an exception, though.

* In the ''{{VideoGame/Contra}}'' series, the "Stage Clear" jingle from the first game and the "Game Over" jingle from ''Contra III'' are frequently reused. ''Shattered Soldier'''s fifth mission features a remix of the first game's first stage music.
** VideoGame/HardCorpsUprising has many from older ''Contra'' games, including the boss themes from ''Super C'' and the "Game Over" theme from the first game.

** All recurring bosses have their themes remixed throughout the original trilogy (this is kept in ''VideoGame/CrashBandicootTheHugeAdventure / XS'' as well, albeit mixing up the roster each theme plays for). The ''VideoGame/CrashBandicoot3Warped'' title theme is also remixed into several later titles, acting as a BootstrappedTheme of sorts. The ''Videogame/CrashTwinsanity'' theme is also reused in numerous segments of ''VideoGame/CrashTagTeamRacing''.

* ''VideoGame/{{Portal 2}}'''s '[[BilingualBonus Cara Mia Addio]]' can be heard here and there throughout the game-- most notably in (the suitably named) "Love as a Construct"

* ''Videogame/AiWarFleetCommand'' features it's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lkjgPwbl2lw title theme]] frequently in it's soundtrack. You can hear it during the start of [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2TelMy0THI Voyage to Zenith]], towards the middle of [[https://youtu.be/j7_iieOAAM4?t=152 The Hurricane]] or [[https://youtu.be/tM9TSSlfVdY?t=147 AI Revolution]], and a couple of other tracks. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMh8mb8T5oQ Victory]] and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KV6XDNb0CBI Defeat]] are remixes of the title theme.

** The spin-offs have their own riffs as well. Among other songs, the VideoGame/PokemonMysteryDungeon games use a variant of the same song whenever you choose your species, and each [[OneGameForThePriceOfTwo set of games]] has its own internal riffs; even In the Future of Darkness, despite being a side story that doesn't feature the player outside of flashbacks has its own distinct jingle.

* ''VideoGame/{{MOTHER|1}}'' introduced several themes that appear elsewhere in the series - "Pollyanna (I Believe in You)", "Eight Melodies (Queen Mary's Lullabye)", "Humoresque of a Little Dog", and the theme to the NewAgeRetroHippie. ''VideoGame/EarthBound'' also introduced "Eight Melodies (Sound Stone)", which was also reused multiple times (including being remixed with the first "Eight Melodies" tune to make "Sixteen Melodies" in ''VideoGame/{{Mother 3}}'').

* ''VideoGame/MonsterHunter'' Often has the theme of the first game in the series pop up, particularly when fighting Elder Dragons.

* ''VideoGame/{{Touhou}}'': Elements of ''[[https://en.touhouwiki.net/wiki/Theme_of_Eastern_Story Theme of Eastern Story]]'' appear in the music for almost every menu screen, and in a great number of other themes. A sped-up version is even used as the pause jingle.

* ''VideoGame/{{Splatoon}}''

* VisualNovel/NineHoursNinePersonsNineDoors has Morphogenetic Sorrow, which plays before a puzzle room, is the main theme of the game and it's sequel, also serving as [[spoiler:Akane's]] {{Leitmotif}}.
* Parts of [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BFSWlDpA6C4&list=PLc5ZKngbAPXMG4yjq9ESGfqblQfL9g4-p the main theme]] for ''VisualNovel/DokiDokiLiteratureClub'' appear in some form or another in nearly theme in the game.

* ''Anime/DigimonAdventure'', ''Anime/DigimonAdventure02'' and especially ''Anime/DigimonTamers'' all did several takes on their opening themes for use as background music, more often than not with a more melancholic bent, with the ''Tamers'' theme in particular lending itself very well to this and getting more such takes of it done; ''Anime/DigimonXrosWars'' had background music that used tunes from the openings, various characters' themes, and the Bagra Empire's theme. ''[[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Anime/DigimonXrosWarsTheYoungHuntersLeapingThroughTime Xros Wars' sequel series]]'' continues the pattern.

* ''Mekakucity Actors'' actually has a few similar patterns of notes that make their way into multiple songs from the series. A prominent one can be heard both in Lost Time Memory and Headphone Actor.

* ''[[VideoGame/{{Touhou}} Scarlet Weather Rhapsody]]'' has a very distinctive riff that plays in some fashion in ''every single song in the game'' that isn't a battle theme (so, the opening theme, the title, every pre-battle sequence, the credits...)

* ''VideoGame/{{Turok}} 2'': The River Of Souls and Lair Of The Blind Ones musics are both somewhat based on the main title theme, the Death Marshes theme uses riffs from both the Hub and Save Room musics, and the Lightship music in turn reuses a hook from Death Marshes, as well as the Oblivion Portal theme in its latter half.

* "CallOfDutyModernWarfare2" had a six-note recurring riff throughout the game, most notable in the campaign but occasionally heard in multiplayer matches.

* The theme from ''Videogame/CrashBandicoot3Warped'''s [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kxsu3ytYark hub]] appears several times in bonus stages, as well as the title screen.

* The song ''Cara Mia,'' better known as [[spoiler:The Turret Opera,]] plays a few times throughout VideoGame/{{Portal 2}}.

** ''VideoGame/{{Mother 3}}'' also has Tazmily's theme and its "Love Theme", both of which reappear throughout the game to great effect. Particularly jarring is the penultimate appearance of the love theme, which begins [[spoiler:in the middle of a hellishly discordant final boss theme as a similarly discordant, echoing version of itself before transitioning into a more natural-sounding rendition (this makes a lot of sense if you consider the events of the final battle).]] The Pigmasks' theme also shows up in a ton of different variations.

* [[VideoGame/LunarTheSilverStar Lunar Silver Star Story]] has "Thoughts Far Away" and "Wings", and ''VideoGame/LunarEternalBlue'' has "Lucia's Theme" and "Rondo of Light and Shadow".

* [[VideoGame/TalesOfTheAbyss Tales Of The Abyss]] Does this for both the first and third phases of the final boss fight. In the first phase, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HcZgujbU1Bs&list=PL6akIKaXBeU1mb4pVAcVHepVZysNoNG_m&index=83 Time To Raise The Cross]], a remix of the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oxnhSwpFd7g menu theme]] plays, and for the third phase, the player is [[SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic treated]] to [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6EGnFgsdDnM&index=27&list=PL6akIKaXBeU1mb4pVAcVHepVZysNoNG_m Finish The Promise]] which features the [[Main/EleventhHourSuperpower Grand Fonic Hymn]], a [[Main/MagicMusic powerful musical incantation]] made up of six smaller Hymns that the main heroine [[Main/WhiteMage Tear]] learns throughout the story.

* ''VideoGame/{{Touhou}}'':

* ''Anime/{{Stratos 4}}'' has a number of tracks, including one labeled "Mikaze's Theme" (for the lead main character), that all share a tune. At the last episode, this is revealed to be the tune of the second ending theme (which is used for the ends of whole seasons).

* ''Anime/MaiHime'': The tune in Hime Hoshi (the first track in the first disc in the OST) appears many times, [[spoiler:up to and including in the final battle versus the Obsidian Lord]]. If you wonder which one, it's the one with OneWomanWail "[[{{Foreshadowing}} come ye, come ye]]".

** The Japanese version of ''Super Double Dragon'' actually plays the original theme on its title screen. The City Slum theme from the original was also remixed in ''[=SDD=]''.

* Almost every ''VideoGame/DragonQuest'' game has the same introduction music, as well as the same "item found!" five-note tune.

* Franchise/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles tends to do this with a recurring riff in many of the level themes. In the old arcade game look out for '[[http://youtu.be/XTWCnjyJmqo?t=22s Hero's]] [[http://youtu.be/7rTVHFfqD_o?t=25s in]] [[http://youtu.be/dUydvsoRMjE?t=10s a]] [[http://youtu.be/2QVNUXGlddI?t=16s Half]] [[http://youtu.be/BfTrejmnbYo?t=33s Shell]]' to come out,

*** On ''Wind & Wuthering'', one of the riffs from "Eleventh Earl of Mar" is reprised in the second half of "...In That Quiet Earth".

* ''VideoGame/{{Rayman 2}}'' has one which is played constantly. You hear it every time you die, and almost every song starts with it. However, there is no actual song from which all the others are borrowing, it's simply a few notes which most of the songs use.

*** ''Selling England by the Pound'' opens and closes with the same melody. As with the ''Duke'' example below, these songs[[note]]"Dancing with the Moonlit Knight", "The Cinema Show", and "Aisle of Plenty"[[/note]] were [[WhatCouldHaveBeen initially composed]] as a single suite, but the band split it up to [[{{bookends}} bookend]] the album after deciding it was too similar to "Music/SuppersReady".

*** ''A Trick of the Tail'' ends with "Los Endos", which reprises elements from "Dance on a Volcano" and "Squonk", as well as two lines from the band's earlier song, "Music/SuppersReady".

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* Nintendo composer Kazumi Totaka has hidden [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eLMAgcGA8Dw a short song]] in many of his titles, often in very obscure places. It has now achieved Easter Egg status.

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*** Not to mention, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZCZ7M_lifM this version]] used in ''Pokemon 2000''.
** Each game's theme for entry into the Hall of Fame is always remixed from ''Red & Blue''. It was extended slightly beginning with Gen III.
** The spinoffs have their own riffs as well. Among other songs, the VideoGame/PokemonMysteryDungeon games use a variant of the same song whenever you choose your species, and each [[OneGameForThePriceOfTwo set of games]] has its own internal riffs; even In The Future Of Darkness, despite being a side story that doesn't feature the player outside of flashbacks has its own distinct jingle.
** Since it's introduction in the Admin Battle Theme of ''Pokemon Colosseum'', a riff is featured prominently in the console installments of Pokemon battling, commonly referred to as Cipher's theme. Both ''Pokemon XD: Gale of Darkness'' and ''Pokemon Battle Revolution'' use it in multiple songs, despite the latter having nothing to do with Cipher.

* ''Franchise/MassEffect'' has a strong recurring theme, one that plays quite prominently in ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'' when the ''Normandy'' SR-2 is revealed. The riff also has a {{dark reprise}} in the ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'' ending theme, "An End, Once and For All" .
* ''{{VideoGame/Fallout}}'' saw ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 3}}'''s title motif is used in the exploration, [[BattleThemeMusic battle]], GameOver, and LevelUp themes. Also, the music box tune heard during "Baby Steps" is reprised for the "Tranquility Lane" quest. The ''[=FO3=]'' title theme returns in ''[[VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas New Vegas]]'', which was also scored by Inon Zur and includes some of Mark Morgan's themes from the first two games. ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 4}}'', in addition to the main title theme, contains reworks of several ambient pieces from ''Fallout 3'', at least one of the battle themes is based on the ''New Vegas'' theme, one of the exploration themes is similar to Caesar's Legion's theme from said game, and Diamond City's theme appears to be based on that of Primm.

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** There's a comical mix of "Theme of Tara" during the indoor infiltration segments in ''Snake's Revenge'', all the more unusual because it was for the NES, and the NES version of ''Metal Gear'' featured a completely different infiltration theme. The TX-55 Metal Gear theme from the first game is also used in the attract mode and when Snake faces the new Metal Gear at the end of the game.

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* Negative example: One of the criticisms for the ''VideoGame/{{Halo 3}}'' soundtrack was the repetition of the piano theme from the debut trailer.

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* ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog'':

** The boss music in ''[[VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog2 Sonic 2]]'' also seems to be loosely remixed from the ''[[VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog1 Sonic 1]]'' boss theme, which, in turn, was remixed and used in the final boss for that game.
** Although it had a different composer, the first half of the [[VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog3 Sonic the Hedgehog 3 &Knuckles]] main boss music is a MusicalPastiche of ''[[VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog1 Sonic 1]]'''s boss theme, more resembling the FinalBoss remix of it.

** ''Yoshi's New Island'', too. ''VideoGame/YoshisWoollyWorld'' is just about the only Yoshi game past the first that doesn't follow this trope, and it still has a "main theme" heard in a few tracks.

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* "I'll Face Myself" from ''VideoGame/{{Persona 4}}'' has a main riff that appears in several other pieces: "Corner of Memories", the main menu theme [[spoiler:which reappears in the good and true ending sequences]], and "Never More", [[spoiler:the good/true credits theme]]. The guitar-laden BossRemix of "I'll Face Myself" oddly does not contain said riff.
* ''VideoGame/{{Persona 5}}'': Bars from the opening theme, "Wake Up, Get Up, Get Out There", reappear in the heroes' PhantomThief theme, "Life Will Change". Parts of the Confidant {{Sidequest}}s max rank theme also reappear in both of the FinalBoss's theme [[spoiler:"Yaldabaoth"]], the AllYourPowersCombined theme "Swear to My Bones", and the ClosingCredits theme "The Stars and Us".

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* ''[[VideoGame/NiGHTSIntoDreams NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams]]'' does this with the main theme....a lot. The song occurs at least a dozen times. Once of the girl main character, once for the guy main character, twice for a duet between the two, once for the final stage, once for each of the four multiple endings, etc.

* ''VideoGame/OriAndTheWillOfTheWisps'', the sequel to ''VideoGame/OriAndTheBlindForest'', reuses a load of leitmotifs from its predecessor, including, in addition to the main theme, "Ori, Lost in the Storm", "Naru, Embracing The Light", "The Blinded Forest"(in the Silent Woods, appropriately), "Finding Sein"(used for miniboss-type enemy encounters and Combat Shrines), "Up Spirit Caverns Walls"(heard in parts of the starting area, just like in the first game), the Ability Acquired fanfare, "Dash Through Their Home"(after relearning the Dash ability, no less), "Restoring The Light, Facing The Dark"(during escape sequences and most boss battles), "Conundrum"(used for [[TimeTrial Spirit Trials]]), and "Fleeing Kuro"(this time used for the new BigBad, Shriek).

** ''Super Mario Kart'''s Bowser Castle courses use a remix of the FinalBoss music from ''Super Mario World'', and the Ghost Valley courses use the [[BigBoosHaunt Ghost House]] theme from said game.

%% ** It's also common for Sonic games that have Zones split into individual acts to have different tracks for each act (starting with ''VideoGame/Sonic3AndKnuckles''). Each track will usually share some kind of RecurringRiff between them, though.

** ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosForNintendo3DSAndWiiU'' has its own RecurringRiff , which is used just as much as Brawl's (but is less impressive).

* ''Disney/{{Aladdin}}'' has an ongoing theme in "Arabian Nights", "One Jump Ahead", "Friend Like Me", "Prince Ali", and the CutSong "Babkak, Omar, Aladdin, Kassim".

** ''VideoGame/OriAndTheWillOfTheWisps'', in addition to it's leitmotifs and reprises of the first game's themes, has a few recurring riffs not associated with a particular character or location, such as the motif heard in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qjO1_9TnET0 the E3 2018 trailer]], [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5QAqvXJKNwY&t=3m9s The Eyes of Kwolok]], [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ITctb2o12Io&t=2m Luma Pools]], and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=th0LBiIRQbA Windswept Wastes]].

* The VideoGame/{{Kirby}} series has several of these, most notably [[VideoGame/KirbysDreamLand Green Greens, King Dedede's Theme]], and [[VideoGame/KirbySuperStar Gourmet Race]]. While King Dedede's Theme started off as more of an exclusive {{leitmotif}} when battling him, later games would often use it in other places.

** The Invincible Candy theme plays when getting, well, Invincible Candy, with the only exceptions being ''VideoGame/Kirby64TheCrystalShards'' and ''VideoGame/KirbyMassAttack'' with have their own unique music.

** ''VideoGame/KirbySuperStar'' has the peaceful "Rest Area" theme (which itself is a remix of part of "Float Islands" from ''VideoGame/KirbySuperStar'') that returns in future games, usually in peaceful areas such as the rest area in [[BossRush The Arena]]. ''VideoGame/KirbyTripleDeluxe'' even returns it as the main menu song!
** In ''VideoGame/KirbySuperStar'', "Kirby's Triumphant Return" is heard in various songs, the most glorious example being during the destruction of the final boss (and his Cosmic MacGuffin). Its first appearance is in a Green Greens remix in the Crystal and Garden cave areas, and it's normally used for big or climactic events. While it was forgotten for a while, it reappeared in ''VideoGame/KirbyMassAttack'' in one if the minigames, and has been heard every game since then.

* The ''VisualNovel/AceAttorney'' series has a bunch of songs that can accompany its courtroom drama, but when it ''really'' counts, they use the first game's crisis theme, "Investigation ~ Cornered".
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qMxGHvoK9XI Search - Core 2001]] has appeared throughout the series whenever Phoenix discovers crucial piece of evidence during investigations.

* ''{{Terraria}}'' has a few examples.

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* ''{{Terraria}}'' has a few examples.
** The Corruption, Crimson and Hallow are three spreading biomes that can convert/"infect" normal biomes, and they all have their own distinct themes. Rather appropriately, the underground versions of these biomes have a mixture of the surface biome track and the regular underground tracks.
** The surface Corruption and Crimson tracks share a DroneofDread at the beginning even though they're otherwise very different.
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* The Corruption, Crimson and Hallow are three spreading biomes that can convert/"infect" normal biomes, and they all have their own distinct themes. Rather appropriately, the underground versions of these biomes have a mixture of the surface biome track and the regular underground tracks.