The children of the 1980s most likely remember the synthetic, musical sounds from video games. Whether it’s the dungeon theme from “The Legend of Zelda” or the overworld theme from “Super Mario Brothers,” the jingles stay with you.

More than 40 years later, video games have evolved considerably since then, and so has the music that plays while you’re trying to defeat a powerful foe or completing a difficult objective. It has become as dazzling and complex as the soundtrack from any movie or television series.

I have always enjoyed the music from video games, but in recent years, I’ve become almost obsessed with it. After getting and playing “Super Mario 3D World” a few years ago, I wanted to track down the music for it. It took some time, but I found the soundtrack for it.

The only glitch was that the CDs were only made available in Japan, so even though I was able to order it, I had to wait about a month for the music to arrive. Once I did, though, I quickly copied the album onto my computer and my cellphone. For me, it makes it easier to exercise or even go for a walk when the music plays, as I can imagine myself strolling along the “3D platform” of nature.

Some of my favorite music from “Super Mario 3D World” include the challenging tone of “Bowser’s Highway Showdown,” when the main villain is egging on Mario and his friends from an evil-looking convertible, as well as the heroic tone of “Meowser” when the villain is chasing the heroes up a tall tower where the Sprixies are held captive. Of course, there are many more amazing tracks I like to listen to again and again, whether blasting them in the house or listening through headphones.

It turns out that the industry of composing music specifically for video games is much bigger than I could have imagined. On a quiet Saturday morning, I was browsing the front pages of various newspapers across the country when I found a story from the Lansing State Journal about a conference on the industry at Michigan State University, the North American Conference on Video Game Music.

According to the article, video games brought in $184 billion in revenue, much more than movies, with Forbes Magazine calling the industry “an entertainment behemoth.” There can be 75 people or more involved in creating music for video games—orchestrators, audio programmers and musicians. Music can range from electronic sounding to being like a full symphony.

Ricardo Lorenz, chairman of the music composition department, noted in the story that video game music is freer because it doesn’t have to be in perfect sync with the action like it is in a movie. Apparently, some universities are even offering degrees in music for the moving image, combining film music and video game music.

You need more music for a video game than a movie, with the latter being about two hours in length while finishing a game can take dozens of hours—assuming you’re any good at playing it. The newspaper article pointed out that “Final Fantasy VII Rebirth” had 410 different tracks, providing over 24 hours of music.

During the conference, there was a presentation of music inspired by video game music that was sold out. As a lover of the genre, I can understand why.

In recent years, I’ve collected more soundtracks, even tracking down music from the games I played in the 1980s and getting the MP3s for them. I’ve even found music from games I haven’t played, such as “Super Mario Odyssey” that kicked off Nintendo’s switch console, and “Super Mario 3D Land,” which preceded “Super Mario 3D World” but was part of Nintendo’s handheld game consoles.

I even found an album producing a more modern version of the music that’s part of the original “Final Fantasy,” and it was awesome to hear the non-electronic version of the theme that played during battle scenes. Playing the original version followed by the modern version was a treat.

Music has a way of provoking emotions, memories and other thoughts in people. For me, the music from video games can be incredibly relaxing, whether I’m playing the game or just imagining myself to be in the game.

Except for the tunes that play along with the words “Game Over.”