Pixelated Audio
184 episodes -
last episode 17 Oct 2023Video game music podcast and retro gaming that spans across multiple platforms in an attempt to bring game audio, history, awareness and some of the gaming culture to people that share a similar passion. So sit back and enjoy the melodies. Visit us online at pixelatedaudio.com
2023-10-17
In this latest mini episode we're talking about Solstice: The Quest for the Staff of Demnos, a childhood favorite on the NES composed by Tim Follin.
Solstice released on the NES in the US and UK in mid 1990. It was developed by Software Creations and published by various companies in different regions. It's a challenging isometric puzzle platformer in the vein of games like Knight Lore and Lumo. Solstice only released on NES, but it did have a sequel on the SNES called Equinox.
Tim Follin is a VGM composer that hardly needs an introduction. Master of VGM folk and prog rock and putting way more effort into game soundtracks than they usually deserved, Tim worked on games like Bionic Commando and Ghouls'n Ghosts for C64, Plok for SNES, Ecco the Dolphin for Dreamcast and a tons more games. More recently he's moved into game development with games like Contradiction: Spot the Liar.
2023-10-08
In this bite-sized installment we're exploring the soundtrack from Bomb Jack on the Nintendo GameBoy composed by the legendary DMG DJ, Alberto José González.
Bomb Jack released on the Game Boy in the UK in 1992 and Sweden in 1993. Adapted to the handheld by Bit Managers and New Frontier; published by Infogrames. Bomb Jack has had dozens of ports derived from the Tehkan Arcade game from 1984. CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 16, 64, Amiga, PC88, SG1000, ZX Spectrum, and even things like Java ME.
Alberto José González is a Spanish video game graphic artist, music composer, designer, and pretty much everything else. Notable games from French publisher Infogrames helped shed light on his early career and eventually helped found Bit Managers and later Abylight.
Twitter | YouTube | SoundCloud
2023-08-11
Another titan of the game industry, George "The Fat Man" Sanger, joins us live at MAGWest! George has done so much to shape the course of game audio in America that the best we can hope for is scratching the surface with this post. During his career he's worked on numerous games, alongside his legendary group of cowboy composers under the moniker "Team Fat" which consisted of himself, Dave Govett, Joe McDermott and K. Weston Phelan.
A short list of projects that George and Team Fat worked on: Thin Ice for Intellivision, Maniac Mansion and Rad Gravity for NES, Zombies Ate My Neighbors on SNES, a litany of computer games including Loom, The 7th Guest, The 11th Hour, Wing Commander I and II, Ultima Underworld, Putt-Putt Goes to the Moon, Putt-Putt Saves the Zoo, Pajama Sam 3, and many other games. He's done work for so many companies it'll be faster to just link to his Wikipedia or Mobygames pages.
His influence in PC game music is especially strong. He's created think tanks and collaborated with audio companies which led to the adoption of hardware like the MT-32, General MIDI, and even redbook audio as data on CD-ROM games like the 7th Guest. In the 1990s, he was also one of the first to bring American VGM composers together through "Project Barbecue", an early precursor to events like GameSoundCon, MAGWest and others.
We loved every minute of talking with George and hearing his hilarious stories; from his humble beginnings, to his lengthy career and accomplishments, to his work with Team Fat. He is a larger than life character in a suit and cowboy hat and we wouldn't have it any other way.
If you haven't got your fill of George yet, check out a few more things:
Team Fat Bandcamp page - buy some of their classic albums!
George's website - Learn more about the man himself
And a few plugs from George for good measure
The 7th Guest VR
Soups On - Remade music from 7th Guest and 11th Hour in a 4 vinyl set (fully funded Kickstarter)
Pixelated Audio and the Fat Man
Music composed by George Sanger or other members of Team Fat (Dave Govett, Joe McDermott, K. Weston Phelan) unless otherwise stated
0:00:00 (Bedding) Swing Commander (Rec Room) ver 1.7 - Wing Commander Remastered (MT-32) - Dave Govett and George Sanger
0:05:39 Surfin on Thin Ice - Intellivision Lives! (GC)
Based on "Carnival of the Penguins" for the 1983/1986 Intellivision game "Thin Ice" - George Sanger
0:13:49 (Excerpt) Main Music - Capture the Flag (Atari 8-bit)
0:15:08 (Excerpt) Surfin on Thin Ice (Live) - Intellivision Lives! (GC)
0:18:02 Planet Theme - Rad Gravity (NES)
0:22:19 Title Theme - Rad Gravity (NES)
0:23:31 Go Get 'Em! - Wing Commander Remastered (MT-32) - Dave Govett and George Sanger
0:26:22 (Excerpt) Main Theme - Loom (MT-32)
Based on "Pas de trois - Intrada" originally by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, transcribed by George Sanger and Gary Hammond
0:27:32 Main Theme - SSN-21 Seawolf (MT-32)
0:34:33 Putt in Tunisia - Putt-Putt Goes to the Moon Remastered
0:48:28 Bedspread - The 7th Guest Remastered
0:54:00 I R Sam or Sam's House - Pajama Sam 3 Remastered
1:01:51 Train: The Lost Puzzle Piece (Unused) - The 7th Guest Remastered
1:06:57 Zombie Panic - Zombies Ate My Neighbors (SNES) - Joe McDermott and George Sanger
1:18:13 Dave's Theme - Maniac Mansion (NES) - David Hayes and David Warhol
1:21:53 Welcome to the Zoo (Final) - Putt-Putt Saves the Zoo Remastered - George Sanger and Team Fat
2023-07-25
Today we're joined by composer g3ntlebreeze for a unique behind the scenes look at his work on Castle in the Clouds, a Castlevania-inspired hentai game (NSFW - not safe for work). The game was developed by Libra Heart and pixel-teishoku and published by Critical Bliss. Castle in the Clouds is a 2D pixel art platformer released on Steam in 2021 with lovingly crafted art and an incredible soundtrack. This "hornyvania" puts you in control of bounty hunter Lily on her quest to defeat hordes of monsters and maybe get a little something extra.
Critical Bliss is a rapidly growing developer/publisher that focuses on international releases of raunchy, fun, and unique erotic games that started around 2016. Libra Heart is a developer best known for their work on this game as well as the "Succubus" series, with additional help on Castle in the Clouds from pixel-teishoku.
g3ntlebreeze mixes together sultry sounds, nostalgic chiptune vibes, jazz and some truly wicked solos in this and other erotic games. He's worked on Tower & Sword of Succubus, Midnight Castle Succubus, Avaria: Chains of Lust and many other games that are best looked up with safe search on. We had a great time chatting about his musical background, composing for h-games, and some of the games and VGM composers that continue to inspire us. As always, we hope you enjoy the show!
For more amazing music from g3ntlebreeze check out the following links:
carrd.io | Bandcamp | Soundcloud | Spotify | YouTube | Twitter
Track List:
All songs composed by g3ntlebreeze unless otherwise stated
0:00:00 Title
0:05:12 Lily's Theme
0:13:27 Water Cave
0:21:57 Ghost Ship
0:25:16 (excerpt) Picture of a Ghost Ship
from Castlevania: Rondo of Blood (PCE-CD) composed by Keizo Nakamura
0:32:52 Ice Cave
0:39:13 Desert (Dunes)
0:47:20 Hell
0:53:55 Heaven
1:06:21 Final Area
1:11:53 Boss 2
1:15:16 Final Boss
1:27:09 Ending
For more adult games with great VGM mentioned on the show, check out some of our past episodes:
47 - Grounseed
66 - Hole Chaser with Masahiro Kajihara
119 - Eve Burst Error
146 - Heart Heat Girls
165 - Mime
169 - Expansion Pack XXX - Adult VGM with Hammock
2023-06-27
Pixelated Audio is back for the second annual Masters of VGM (@MastersofVGM), an event every June where podcasts come together to highlight some game music composers, either personal favorites or some that deserve a bit more attention. The event was created by bedroth, host of Very Good Music and BGMania podcasts. Check out some of the other participating shows in Masters of VGM and see what people are up to, or discover some new VGM podcast favorites!
We picked a selection of 8 more VGM Masters, all of them amazing women composers, covering a mix of music from the 80s to today.
Track List:
0:00:00 Ruins - Brandish (PC-98) by Mieko Ishikawa
0:09:25 Goodbye, Adol (Unused track) - Ys II (PC-88) by Mieko Ishikawa
0:15:35 Centaur Man - Mega Man 6 (NES) by Yuko Takehara
0:18:19 Charlie's Theme - X-Men vs. Street Fighter (ARC) by Yuko Takehara
0:24:37 Shoo-Bee-Doo Hullabaloo - Sackboy: A Big Adventure (PS4/PS5/Win) by Winifred Phillips
0:33:30 Area 4 - Planet Ocean (Aquabomber) - Bomberman World (PS1) by Jun Chikuma
0:41:02 Imminent Defeat - Neo Nectaris (TGCD) by Jun Chikuma
0:44:10 Main Theme - Assassin's Creed Origins (Various) by Sarah Schachner
0:53:34 Versus Oz - Sword of Etheria / OZ (PS2) by Michiru Yamane
0:57:37 Haunted Manor - Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom (Various) by Michiru Yamane
1:02:16 Fighting Chance - Dicey Dungeons (Various) by Chipzel
1:07:43 Authority - Octahedron (Various) by Chipzel
1:15:39 Welcome to Moonglow Bay - Moonglow Bay (Various) by Lena Raine
1:22:01 Exhale - Celeste (Various) by Lena Raine
Other links
Mieko Ishikawa - VGMPF wiki
Yuko Takehara - Capcom DB fansite
Winifred Phillips - Website, NPR interview transcript
Jun Chikuma - Les Archives, Midas Touch (Bandcamp albums)
Sarah Schachner - Website
Michiru Yamane - Website
Chipzel - Bandcamp
Lena Raine - Bandcamp
2023-06-09
We're joined today by Emily Reese; Minnesota Public Radio newscaster, VGM podcast legend and co-creator of the Level with Emily Reese and Top Score podcasts with Sam Keenan.
She is a trumpet player, and studied music education and jazz studies at the University of Colorado, Boulder and received her master’s degree in Music Theory from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Emily is an avid gamer (RPGs and FPS games are a favorite), and a lover of music with jazz and classical in particular.
Today's show began as an interview with Emily but quickly turned into the three of us talking shop about the inner workings of creating the best possible podcast. All the discussion of audio editing and interview planning you can handle, as well as some career highlights from the trio. It's not our typical show format, but we had a great time talking with a fellow podcast host and kindred spirit.
Emily started her radio career in 2005 and began working at Minnesota Public Radio in 2008, where she and Sam created Top Score in 2011. Top Score was one of the earliest and most prominent video game music podcasts which featured interviews with some of the most famous composers in the industry. It ushered in an era of mainstream game music appreciation, as well as being a huge inspiration to many aspiring VGM podcasters including us here at Pixelated Audio! After Top Score ended in 2015, Emily and Sam created a new podcast to carry the torch, Level with Emily Reese, which focuses on broader game audio topics including composers, sound designers, voiceover actors and performers. Her vast musical and audio knowledge make Emily's interviews with composers and audio professionals some of the most in-depth around.
If you'd like to hear more, check out Level with Emily Reese, which currently has over 200 episodes and releases on an almost weekly cadence. The show can be found on their website, on YouTube, on your favorite podcast platform, or on their Patreon page.
To learn more about Emily and Sam's other projects, check out their company page Joon Media.
Track List:
0:00:03 "Towhee Grove" Oxenfree - by scntfc
0:14:49 "Welcome Home" The Aquatic Adventure of the Last Human - by Karl Flodin
0:29:23 "Star Forge" Straylight - Rob Kovacs
0:44:11 "Lauren Winter's Theme" Heavy Rain - by Normand Corbeil
1:08:32 "Anka" Signs of the Sojourner - by Steve Pardo
2023-05-26
How do you do justice describing Brian Schmidt's contribution to gaming? His impact on the global trajectory of games has been immense. There's no doubt in our minds that Brian is one of the most important figures in videogame history, and we couldn't be more honored to have him joining us on the show. This next paragraph is only a portion of what Brian has been up to for the last 35 years or so.
Brian Schmidt began his career in games at Williams around 1987. He soon began working on music and sound programming on iconic pinball games like Swords of Fury and Black Knight 2000, as well as the infamous arcade game NARC. He later went freelance and worked on mechanical and redemption games, dozens of licensed pinball games like Data East's Batman and many for Sega. Fun fact: the 1991 Batman pinball game was the first to use Brian's BSMT2000 hardware board designed for sample playback which went on to see use in pinball games for around 10 years. He then went to Electronic Arts and did sound for a ton of console games like Crüe Ball, Desert Strike, Mutant League Football and a variety of sports games. He contracted with QSound to work on 3D imaging in stereo sound and helped create the hardware used for in a number of games, including many Capcom CPS2 arcade machines. Eventually he moved onto Microsoft where he created the audio architecture for the Xbox and Xbox 360, as well as creating the OG Xbox startup sound. In 2009 he created GameSoundCon, the premier conference for industry professionals to learn how to write and implement music for games. He has been the current president of Game Audio Network Guild (G.A.N.G.) for over a decade, an network of audio professionals based around growing the influence and legitimacy of video game music globally. G.A.N.G. along with many other groups paved the way for the recent acceptance of videogame music as a Grammy category. He's currently the audio director and composer for Digital Dreams Entertainment's recent games Mutant Football League 1 and 2, spiritual successors to the EA games he worked on all those years ago.
We had the privilege of talking with Brian about his entire career in games from the very beginning to the present. We cover tons of FM music, pinball, NARC, the Pixies, QSound, EA Games, the Xbox, and his current work on Mutant Football League. This is definitely an episode to catch and we are absolutely thrilled to share it with everyone. If you'd like to learn more about Brian, check out Brian Schmidt Studios where you can see his game credits among many other things.
Track List:
All tracks composed by Brian Schmidt unless otherwise stated
0:00:02 Space Station - Main Theme (Pinball - 1987)
0:06:25 Swords of Fury - Pre-launch, Main Theme, Ball Lock, Two Ball Lock (Pinball - 1988)
0:13:05 (Excerpt) "Lionman vs. Balrog" Swords of Fury cover by Stemage
0:26:58 Black Knight 2000 - Main Theme (Pinball - 1989) co-composed with Steve Ritchie
0:37:42 Black Knight 2000 - Multi-ball composed by Dan Forden
0:39:23 NARC - The Stick (aka K.R.A.K. Street) (Arcade - 1988)
0:46:23 (Excerpt) "Theme From Narc" cover by the Pixies
0:48:22 Batman - Main Theme (Pinball - 1991)
0:55:09 Checkpoint - Jazz (Pinball - 1991)
0:58:11 Checkpoint - Classical
0:59:39 Checkpoint - Rap
1:01:13 (Bedding) Checkpoint - Soul
1:04:56 (Excerpt) "Virtual Haircut" binaural audio demo by QSound
1:07:03 Crüe Ball - Stage 6 (Genesis - 1992)
1:10:59 Desert Strike - Main Theme (Genesis - 1992)
1:13:43 Madden 95 - Halftime (SNES - 1994)
1:19:14 Madden 97 - Menu (PS1 - 1996)
1:21:08 NBA Live 97 - Song 3 (Genesis - 1996)
1:28:23 Xbox startup sound (Xbox - 2001)
1:46:16 Mutant Football League - Cold Steel and Ice (Various - 2017)
Big thanks to ctr for his work on QSound support and ValleyBell for help with Checkpoint/Batman audio dumps. Appreciate it!
2023-05-02
Today we're joined by composer and graphics artist Robert Vroemisse for Angelic Warrior DEVA, a modern indie game for the MSX2 released in 2020. Together we talk about the game, the development process, Team DEVA and gaming in the Dutch MSX scene.
Angelic Warrior DEVA is a fast-paced, tough as nails action RPG for the MSX2 created by Team DEVA; made up of Robert Vroemisse (pronounced "Fru-miss-uh") on graphics and most music, John Hassink another MSX scene legend on additional music, and Bart van Velzen the mad lad behind the coding of the project.
Robert Vroemisse who typically works on graphics is the main composer out of necessity but what a killer job he did. The soundtrack is absolutely jam packed with amazing music written for the combo of MSX-AUDIO (OPL1) and MSX-MUSIC (OPLL) and we couldn't be happier to talk with Robert about it.
For more info about Robert check out his MSX.org profile. For the soundtrack to DEVA itself, you can listen to it on Robert's YouTube, on VGMRips, or for download on MSX.org.
For more music by John Hassink, check out his YouTube channel
To purchase Angelic Warrior DEVA, either email Team DEVA frantically for a physical copy or buy it digitally here.
Tadahiro Nitta's album Coordimates with cover art by Robert
Track List:
All songs composed by Robert Vroemisse unless otherwise stated
0:00:00 Title Screen
0:00:29 DEVA Audio Test Menu
0:11:33 Area I - VR testing facility
0:22:00 Introduction Demo II
0:27:01 Area II - Sky Aquaducts
0:35:56 Boss Theme
0:41:53 Area III - Geyser Plains - by John Hassink
0:46:12 Area IV - Plasma Factory
0:53:53 Area VII - Construction Site
0:59:11 (Excerpt) Construction Site rearranged
1:03:42 Area VIII - Death Zone - by John Hassink
1:12:32 Mid Demo II
1:15:58 Area X - Arctic Mines
1:24:39 Shop Theme (Neutral)
1:28:11 Shop Theme (Bad)
1:29:23 Shop Theme (Good)
1:36:09 End Demo II
1:40:27 Game Over
2023-04-12
We're back with another stellar euro platformer, this time in the form of Wolfchild, developed by Core Design. Your father Kal Morrow, expert in genetic research and creation of human-animal hybrids, has been kidnapped and the rest of your family was brutally murdered by the terrorist organization CHIMERA. You take control of his surviving son Saul to exact revenge against CHIMERA and their leader Karl Draxx.
Core Design is best known for their work on the first few Tomb Raider games, as well as other games like Rick Dangerous, Jaguar XJ220 and the Fighting Force series.
Simon Phipps, one of the early members of core and a lead graphic designer on Wolfchild published a great article on his website which is where we gathered a lot of the information for this episode. He talks about the origin of the game, the inspiration for its design (Strider, Island of Dr. Moreau, etc) and some notes about animation and the various releases.
Music this time around is handled by Martin Iveson on the original Amiga, Atari ST and later reimagined Mega CD version, with the Genesis, Game Gear and Master System covered by Pixelated Audio veteran Matt Furniss, and down porting duties from the Mega CD to SNES by Steve Collett. There's more good music than you can shake a stick at across the 7 different platforms and we hope you enjoy it!
Track List:
0:00:00 Stage Select (Mega CD)
0:02:08 Title (Amiga)
0:10:11 Title (Atari ST)
0:15:33 Title (Genesis)
0:24:05 Wolfship (Amiga)
0:29:15 Wolfship (Genesis)
0:33:22 (excerpt) Wolfship (Mega CD)
0:33:48 (excerpt) Wolfship (SNES)
0:34:10 (Bedding) Wolfship (Mega CD)
0:35:23 Jungle (Amiga)
0:42:04 Jungle (Genesis)
0:47:23 Jungle (Mega CD)
0:54:36 Temple (Amiga)
0:59:03 Temple (Genesis)
1:02:19 Temple (SNES)
1:05:59 Stage 4 - Chimera Base (Genesis)
1:08:25 Final Stage - Chimera Base (Amiga)
1:12:41 Final Stage - Inner Core (Mega CD)
1:17:09 Ending (Game Gear)
1:19:23 Ending (Mega CD)
1:23:01 Ending (Amiga)
Wolfchild
Amiga, Atari ST (1992) Mega CD (1993) Composed by Martin Iveson
Sega Genesis, Game Gear, Master System (1993) Re-arranged by Matt Furniss
SNES (1993) Adapted from Mega CD by Steve Collett
2023-03-28
Today we're joined by industry legend Neil Biggin in an absolutely massive show! Neil regales us with hilarious stories as we cover a wide range of his electronic music during his time at Gremlin Graphics from about 1992-1996. He walks us through some memories of landmark events during the 16 and 32-bit eras: the launch of the CD32, the first days of the Playstation, and being at a company with one of the world's first motion capture studios.
Neil Biggin began his career with Zool 2 on Amiga, and continued with games like the CD32 versions of Zool 1 and 2 and Top Gear 2, Top Gear 3000, the Actua (or VR) sports games, Loaded, Re-Loaded, a number of FIFA games from 1997-2000, and music porting duties for the Desert/Jungle Strike games. His earliest works are teeming with the lovely sounds of Rave and House music, but as his sound progresses he gets deeper into other genres like Metal, Jungle, Drum and Bass and much more. Whether you're new to his work or an old fan, Neil's music continues to sound great to this day.
Neil is also in the process of re-releasing much of his music. Check out his Spotify as more gradually starts appearing over the coming months. He's also working on the latest iteration of the Amiga Immortal album series where Amiga legends like himself, Barry Leitch and many others come together to remaster their own works for modern audiences.
Neil's Links:
Spotify | SoundCloud | Twitter
The kooky song that Neil was thinking of was indeed Martian Hop by the Ran-Dells, a kitsch classic that's still pretty entertaining today.
Track List:
All tracks composed by Neil Biggin unless otherwise stated. Tracks marked with a * indicate previews, newly released tracks or exclusive unreleased material shared from Neil.
0:00:00 Zool 2 - Mount Ices (Amiga)
0:08:09 (Bedding) Zool 2 - Bulberry Hill (Amiga)
0:12:38 Zool - Track 6 (CD32)
0:25:51 Top Gear 2 - Track 1 (CD32)
0:33:18 Top Gear 3000 - Track 2 (SNES)
0:40:15 (Bedding) Top Gear 3000 - Track 3 (SNES)
0:44:32 (Excerpt) Zool 2 - Bulberry Hill (Remaster)*
0:44:54 (Bedding) Desert Strike - Title (DOS - Adlib)
0:47:57 (Bedding) Jungle Strike - TItle (SNES)
0:50:07 Bedding) Jungle Strike - The Madman's Son (SNES)
0:51:00 (SFX) Jungle Strike (SNES)
0:51:43 Premier Manager 3 - Title (Amiga)
0:59:48 Loaded - Track 6 (PS1)
1:14:24 Zool 2 - Tooting Common (CD32), demo also used in Loaded as a hidden track
1:19:48 Actua Golf - Main Menu (SAT)
1:26:19 Actua Golf - Options (SAT)*
1:38:59 Re-Loaded - Purpid (PS1)
1:59:40 Shoot For Loot - Title Theme (Arcade)*
2:01:22 Shoot For Loot - Track 5 (Arcade)*
2:15:54 Hardcore 4x4 Flea's Dreams (PS1 - Unreleased OST)*
2023-03-01
Going back to the NES we get The Guardian Legend, a curiousity developed by Compile that is best described as Zelda plus Zanac. Originally released in 1988 for the NES, The Guardian Legend or "Guardic Gaiden" is the pseudo sequel to MSX game Guardic from 1986. While the developers insist there's no story links between the games, there's enough gameplay and music shared between the two that we decided to play a lot of Guardic music for comparison.
The music was composed by two individuals: Masatomo Miyamoto and Takeshi Santo. Masatomo Miyamoto worked with Compile from around 1985-1990 and soonafter left the game industry. Takeshi Santo worked as a sound programmer at Compile from 1987-1989 and then went off to found Sting where he's spent most of his career in a producer capacity.
The Guardian Legend (NES) - 1988 | Guardic (MSX) - 1986
Composed by Masatomo Miyamoto (both games) and Takeshi Santo (TGL only)
Track List:
0:00:04 Title Screen
0:03:16 Approaching NAJU
0:05:16 Boss Theme 1
0:06:58 Message Room
0:12:18 Main BGM (MSX)
0:14:05 NAJU Overworld
0:19:39 Empty Room
0:21:04 Title (MSX) | Password & Outer Space (NES)
0:23:19 Oceanic Area Overworld
0:24:20 Oceanic Area Corridor
0:25:29 Name Entry (MSX)
0:28:44 Boss Theme 2
0:30:27 Corridor Done (NES) | Stage Selection (MSX)
0:31:43 Randar (MSX) | Blue Randar Room (NES)
0:32:57 Forest Area Overworld
0:39:37 Forest Area Corridor
0:43:10 Stellar Area Overworld
0:44:13 Stellar Area Corridor
0:53:01 Organic Area Corridor
0:56:13 Wasteland Area Overworld
0:57:16 Wasteland Area Corridor
0:59:19 Boss (MSX) | Boss Theme 3 (NES)
1:00:48 Last Corridor
1:03:31 (Bedding) Ending (MSX)
1:04:02 Ending
The Guardian Legend (NES) - composed by Masatomo Miyamoto and Takeshi Santo
VGMrips credit to NewRisingSun
Guardic (MSX) - composed by Masatomo Miyamoto, sound programming by Takayuki Hirono
VGMrips credit to GTheGuardian
2023-02-03
Today we're joined by composer and indie game developer Timmie aka DDRKirby(ISQ) to talk about their music for Super Mega Zero, an awesome fast-paced puzzle platformer for PC and Switch. We also spend a good deal of time talking about DDRKirby's work in the indie game scene, as well as their upcoming game Rhythm Quest which sounds amazing.
Super Mega Zero was developed by Silkworm and Rogue Games and released in April of 2022, it's a mix of VVVVVV and Celeste, so fans of those games will feel right at home. Pick up your copy on Steam or Switch, you'll be glad you did!
DDRKirby has been involved in composition and indie game development for a long while and their signature "9-bit" style is on full display here. If you like what you hear, check out more from the links below:
Website | YouTube | Patreon
Bandcamp | Super Mega Zero OST
Rhythm Quest | Discord
Links to some of the other things mentioned
Kat Jia's website featuring her wonderful art
Cocoa Moss - DDRKirby and Kat's game studio
One Hour Compo (OHC) - The weekly music competition that DDRKirby has participated in for years
Ludum Dare - The game jam competition website
Episode Track List:
All music composed by DDRKirby(ISQ) from Super Mega Zero unless otherwise stated
0:00:05 Super Mega Zero
0:04:03 Cyclic Oscillations
0:12:28 Pursuit of Infinity
0:19:54 Irrational Space
0:30:27 I Love The Sky (arranged) - From Kiwis Can't Fly
0:41:07 Null Terminator
0:52:30 Tritonal Tribulations
1:04:05 Infinity
1:17:16 Midnight Marauder
1:27:41 Sequential Success
2023-01-05
Kicking off the new year with a Famicom banger! Uchuu Keibitai SDF is a vertical shooter released by HAL Laboratory in 1990 for the Japanese market only. While the game leaves a bit to be desired, the soundtrack is great and definitely worth exploring. It was composed by HAL veterans, Jun Ishikawa (known for Kirby Super Star, Alcahest, and Hyper Zone) and Hideki Kanazashi (known for F1-Race, Mach Rider, Eggerland, Rollerball, and Adventures of Lolo). Great music and plenty of space babies to keep it interesting.
Uchuu Keibitai SDF (宇宙警備隊 SDF)
Famicom - 1990 HAL Laboratory
Composed by Jun Ishikawa & Zap Rodeo (aka Hideki Kanazashi)
Track List:
00:06 Start Demo
02:24 Stage 1
07:03 Boss
08:08 Stage 2
10:13 Stage 3
15:47 Stage 4
18:06 Stage 5
22:48 Stage 6
25:30 Stage 7
31:19 Unknown
33:45 Final Boss
36:49 Ending
Uchuu Keibitai SDF @ VGMrips #credit to GTheGuardian
2022-12-19
Following up our last show on CANYON.MID, we're joined by the artist that closed out the show, Austin Green. Austin is a guitarist and leader of the band WASD. We're going all in on PC game music today with a mix of Austin's favorites as well as PC game music covers from his recently released album Escape.
For more info about Austin and WASD, check out the following links:
Linktree | Bandcamp
Don't forget to catch WASD live at MAGFest 2023
January 5-8, 2023 (Thursday to Sunday)
Episode Track List:
0:00:00 Jazz Be Damned - Jazz Jackrabbit 2 (1998) - Alexander Brandon
0:05:33 Welcome to Fyrestone - Borderlands (2009) - Jesper Kyd
0:15:03 Fyrestone (WASD cover) - Borderlands (2009) - Jesper Kyd
0:21:37 Progressive - The Incredible Machine 3 (1995) - Chris Stevens, Tim Clarke, Jan Paul Moorhead
0:25:30 Programmable Rock (WASD cover) - The Incredible Machine 3 (1995) - Chris Stevens, Tim Clarke, Jan Paul Moorhead
0:36:23 Brain Freeze - Command and Conquer: Yuri’s Revenge (2001) - Frank Klepacki
0:42:29 Buy Mode 1 - The Sims (2000) - Jerry Martin, Marc Russo
0:47:02 Goin' Down the Fast Way - Rise of the Triad (Christmas 1994) - Lee Jackson, Bobby Prince
0:54:16 The Cathedral - Heretic (1994) - Kevin Schilder
0:57:56 Blighted Sanctuary (WASD cover) - Heretic (1994) - Kevin Schilder
1:07:55 Baba Yetu - Civilization IV (2005) - Christopher Tin
1:14:51 Stand the Test of Time (WASD cover) - Civilization IV (2005) - Christopher Tin
2022-11-21
Today we're talking about one of early PC computing's most iconic songs, "Trip Through the Grand Canyon" also known as "CANYON.MID" with none other than the composer himself, George Stone! We take a trip down memory lane and discuss how the song was written, how it ended up on millions of PCs around the world starting with Windows 3.0, and its status as a song that remains beloved to this day.
George Stone is a multi-talented jazz musician who has been active for over 35 years; he's a performer, composer, arranger, and long-time professor at Cuesta College (Music, Recording Arts, Jazz performance/arrangement/composition). In addition to teaching and live performance, George recently did orchestration and arrangement for the 2022 film Amsterdam. After our interview, George was kind enough to send us a number of gifts that bring us joy: a signed PDF copy of CANYON.MID for Bryan and Gene to cherish (yes really), an unreleased MIDI from 1991 which we included in the show, the above charming side-by-side photo of George 30 years apart (1991 to 2021) as well as a screenshot showing some of the original musical cues he worked on way back when!
We checked our facts and sorry George, we forgot to credit you specifically in our talk at the Library of Congress, continuing the unfortunate trend (whoops). Hopefully this episode serves as a decent apology and as always, we hope our listeners enjoy the story and the music as much as we do!
Special thanks to virt (aka Jake Kaufman), "The Smash Brothers" and the band WASD for their lovely arrangements of the classic CANYON.MID
All tracks composed by George Stone unless otherwise stated
00:00 CANYON.MID - full title 'Trip Through the Grand Canyon'
07:40 CANYON.MID arranged by virt (YouTube)
20:31 Untitled cue from 1991
35:33 CANYON.MID (excerpt) performed at MAGFest 7 by the Smash Brothers (YouTube)
48:03 CANYON.MID performed by the band WASD from the album C:\WINDOWS\MEDIA
LINKS
George Stone
Bio on Hal Leonard website
George Stone Big Band - on Discogs
Other mentions mentioned
Passport Designs - the company that started it all
Amsterdam (film) - wiki page
Texting and Driving - album by Dave Tull
Libretto jazz club website in Paso Robles
2022-10-23
We're once again joined by our guest host from the last episode, KVGM host Hammock and his father figure Craig Stadler in this milestone show. It's Expansion Pack XXX - Episode 169, covering the music from adult visual novels and adventure games. Hammock is an expert spelunker in the world of adult VGM jams and the numeric convergence was just too good to pass up. We've got a selection of tunes both sexy and unusual in this show, and we hope you enjoy it!
In other golf related news, happy belated 69th birthday to our guest Craig, and check out episode 69 - Neo Turf Masters with Takushi Hiyamuta.
If you like what you hear, check out more from Hammock on KVGM - The Last Wave on iTunes or your favorite podcatcher, on Twitter at @kvgmradio, on YouTube, or online at kvgmradio.com
For more amazing adult game VGM check out some of our past shows: Grounseed, Eve Burst Error, Hole Chaser, Heart Heat Girls, and Mime
Track List:
0:00:00 Emily (Mellow) - Futa Fix Dick Dine and Dash (PC, 2020) - g3ntlebreeze
0:09:26 House of Leathers & Chains - Cobra Mission: Panic in Cobra City (DOS, 1992) - Inoue Hosadairi, Itou Shin, Team Neuronous
0:14:05 BGM 4 - Twilight Theater (PC, 2000) - Naotoshi Nishino
0:19:18 Track 01 - Mesuneko Hishoshitsu (PC-98, 1995) - Panda (Izuho Yoshitani? formerly believed to be Yuki Nakayama)
0:25:26 Movement - YU-NO: Kono Yo no Hate de Koi wo Utau Shoujo (PC-98, 1996) - Ryu Takami, Ryu Umemoto, Kazuhiro Kanae
Alternate title: "Yu-No: A girl who chants love at the bound of this world"
0:32:31 Raffiné - Rendezvous (PC, 2000) - Panda (Izuho Yoshitani?)
0:38:53 Initial Velocity (Stage 1A) - Night Slave (PC-98, 1996) - Panda (Izuho Yoshitani?)
0:45:31 Wander - Ladykiller in a Bind (WIN/Mac/Linux, 2016) - Isaac Schankler
Full title: My Twin Brother Made Me Crossdress As Him And Now I Have To Deal With A Geeky Stalker And A Domme Beauty Who Want Me In A Bind!!
0:52:35 Tokyo Streets - Language of Love (Various, 2019) - Yuzuki
1:01:16 Evening - Kimi to Mezameru Ikutsuka no Houhou (PC, 2018) - Arte Refact
2022-10-07
KVGM's host Hammock joins us once again in this expansion pack to talk about the many lovely tunes produced for T&E Soft golf games over the years. We also have the voice of another special guest from 1995's hit game Pebble Beach Golf Links, arguably the crown jewel of T&E golf games.
Kick back, relax and and enjoy an Arnold Palmtree in the golf clubhouse along with some relaxing tunes. If you like what you hear, check out more from KVGM - The Last Wave on iTunes or your favorite podcatcher, on Twitter at @kvgmradio, on YouTube, or online at kvgmradio.com
Track List:
00:04 Pebble Beach Golf Links (SAT) - Opening Movie by Yumi Satake
01:19 (Bedding) Pebble Beach: The Great Shot (ST-V) - BGM by unknown
02:08 (Bedding) True Swing Golf (DS) - BGM2 by Katsumi Yokokawa
04:55 Masters Harakanaru Augusta 2 (SFC) - BGM2 by Yumi Satake
09:37 New 3D Golf Simulation Eight Lakes G.C. (PC98) - Menu by Yumi Satake
13:55 Golf / T&E Virtual Golf (VB) - Options ~ Map Screen by Ken Kojima
18:36 (Bedding) Masters Harukanaru Augusta 3 (SAT) - Settings by Yumi Satake
22:30 New 3D Golf Simulation: Devil's Course (GEN/MD) - Music 4 by T&E Sound Staff
27:35 True Golf Classics: Waialae Country Club (GEN/MD) - BGM1 by T&E Sound Staff
33:09 Swing Away Golf (PS2) - Scorecard by Katsumi Yokokawa, Kiyoe Ohashi
36:31 (Bedding) Pebble Beach Golf Links (GEN) by Yumi Satake, Shigekazu Kamaki, Yusaburo Shimojyo
38:46 Pebble Beach Golf Links (SAT) - BGM1 by Yumi Satake
42:27 Pebble Beach Golf Links (SAT) - "Breaktime at the Clubhouse" (Movie BGM) by Yumi Satake
44:15 (Bedding) Masters: Shin Harukanaru Augusta (PS1) - Track 35 by unknown
44:55 Valora Valley Golf (SAT) - Tutorial by Yumi Satake?
49:01 (Bedding) Pebble Beach Golf Links (3DO/SAT) - Settings by Yumi Satake
53:24 Junclassic C.C. & Rope Club (SAT) - BGM by Yusaburo Shimojyo
2022-09-20
The hotly anticipated Spider-Man and the X-Men in Arcade's Revenge is here for your listening pleasure! The game saw several releases between 1992-1994 on the SNES, Genesis, Game Boy and Game Gear. It was developed by UK games company Software Creations Ltd., published by LJN on Nintendo systems and by Acclaim subsidiary Flying Edge on Sega systems. It's a bad game where you control 5 different characters: Spider-Man, Storm, Wolverine, Cyclops and Gambit in a gauntlet of tedious stages with great music (except Wolverine).
The soundtrack was originally composed by brothers Geoff Follin and Tim Follin, no strangers to writing amazing soundtracks for mediocre games, many of them for Software Creations throughout the 80s and 90s. The arrangements for other systems were done by "Sound Images" on Genesis, John Loose on Game Boy, and Alastair (Allister) Brimble on Game Gear. We've disliked the game for almost 30 years but we hope you enjoy the music!
Track List:
0:00:01 Title (SNES)
0:01:56 (Bedding) Title (GG)
0:02:38 (Bedding) Title (GB)
0:03:04 (Bedding) Title (GEN)
0:06:29 Briefing (SNES)
0:11:12 Spider-Man (SNES)
0:16:19 Spider-Man (GG)
0:20:42 Gambit (GEN)
0:27:05 Storm (SNES)
0:35:29 (Bedding) Storm (GG)
0:39:30 (Bedding) Storm (GEN)
0:43:27 Cyclops (SNES)
0:51:58 Wolverine (SNES)
0:56:36 Unknown / Unused (GEN)
0:59:21 Final Stage (SNES)
1:01:58 Ending (SNES)
1:04:41 (Bedding) Cyclops (GEN)
1:07:15 High Score Table + Game Over (SNES)
Spider-Man and the X-Men in Arcade's Revenge
Super Nintendo (1992) Composed by Geoff Follin, Tim Follin
Sega Genesis (1993) Arranged by "Sound Images"
Game Boy (1993) Arranged by John C. Loose
Game Gear (1994) Arranged by Alastair (Allister) Brimble
2022-09-01
Another year another MAGWest, we're back in person this year exploring the depths of what makes 'water music' with a legend of VGM analysis, 8-bit Music Theory! We put him through the paces as we goof off in our usual Pixelated Audio style. First we 'get to the bottom' of what makes water music sound so wet with some examples and audience commentary, followed by a silly but fun quiz!
Check out 8-bit Music Theory's YouTube channel. 8bmt is a music theory expert, drummer, pianist, and all around nice guy who was so kind to join us on the panel!
Thanks also to special audience appearances by friends and previous PA guests:
Chase Bethea (Eps: #156 and #20)
Street Cleaner aka Jesse Bishop (Eps: #150 and #161)
As well as comments from new musician friends Audio Mocha and winner of the sad prize, Mason Lieberman!
Apologies about the audio quality, but that's live baby! We still hope you enjoy the show as much we did!
We did our best to make our show as enjoyable for regular listeners, but we have also included our presentation slides which help enhance the experience. Click through the presentation below to see the visual aids and video examples we used during our talk.
Track List:
0:00:00 [Bedding] Medusa Bay - Ecco the Dolphin CD (SCD) - Spencer Nilsen
Water Music Examples
0:05:02 Underwater Frigate Reactor Core - Metroid Prime (GC) - Kenji Yamamoto and Kouichi Kyuma
0:11:05 Lake Theme - Pokemon Diamond and Pearl (NDS) - Go Ichinose
0:18:03 Sea of Serendipity ~ The Abyss - Rayman Origins (Various) - Christophe Heral
0:22:34 Zora's Domain - Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (GC/Wii) - Toru Minegishi, Asuka Ota, Koji Kondo
0:29:08 Beyond the Deep Blue Sea - Final Fantasy V (SNES) - Nobuo Uematsu
0:32:32 [Excerpt] A Secret Sleeping in the Deep Sea - Final Fantasy VII (PS1) - Nobuo Uematsu
0:33:27 Whale sound / opening - Secret of Mana (SNES) - Hiroki Kikuta
0:33:54 Splash Down!! (Planet Undertow) - Ristar (GEN) - Tomoko Sasaki, Naofumi Hataya, Masafumi Ogata
0:37:10 Comb Reef / Diving 6 - Endless Ocean (Wii) - Ayako Saso
Quiz Examples
0:44:39 Drowning - Sonic The Hedgehog (GEN) - Masato Nakamura (Just as a joke)
0:45:12 Swimming - Super Mario World (SNES) - Koji Kondo
0:46:23 Aquatic Ambiance - Donkey Kong Country (SNES) - David Wise
0:48:16 Lower Brinstar - Super Metroid (SNES) - Kenji Yamamoto, Minako Hamano
0:49:23 A Thousand Leagues Below - Shovel Knight (Various) - Manami Matsumae
0:50:08 City of Tears - Hollow Knight (Various) - Chris Larkin, vocal by Amelia Jones
0:52:24 You Can Hear the Cry of the Planet - Final Fantasy VII (PS1) - Nobuo Uematsu
0:53:33 United Forest G.C. Winter - Hot Shots Golf 3 (PS2) - Shingo Okumura
0:55:00 Forbidden Memories - Panzer Dragoon Orta (XBOX) - Saori Kobayashi
0:56:02 Eruyt / Eryth Sea - Xenoblade Chronicles (Wii) - Manami Kiyota
0:57:20 Underwater 1 - Croc (PS1) - Justin Scharvona
Post Quiz Music
0:58:50 Medusa Bay - Ecco the Dolphin (GEN) - Spencer Nilsen, Brian Coburn, András Magyari
1:05:26 [Bedding] Map - Waterworld (SNES) - Dean Evans
1:06:36 [Bedding] Storm - Spider-Man and the X-Men in Arcade's Revenge (SNES) - Geoff Follin, Tim Follin
1:11:44 Title - Ecco the Dolphin: Defender of the Future (DC/PS2) - Tim Follin
2022-08-03
Trying out a new format today with MIDI Spotlight starting on a PC98 title called Mime, published and developed by Studio Twinkle and composed by Hiroaki Sano. For a while now, VGMRips stalwart ValleyBell has graciously streamed music to our Discord channel featuring somewhat less common MIDI versions of the soundtracks on authentic hardware. We wanted to share his work more broadly with our audience and we hope you enjoy it. Due to timing it's Bryan solo today, but it's a lightweight radio program style show, light on commentary and heavy on music. If you like the format let us know!
Mime was composed by Hiraoki Sano, an MVP of adult-oriented video games and anime. He's composed some great soundtracks to Japanese PC games like Division Guardian: Twinkle Star, Mirage 2, and one of the earliest English translated adult themed games, Knights of Xentar (for you old school DOS afficionados)! He's typically associated with FM soundtracks, but like many composers of the mid-90s wrote a number of MIDI compatible soundtracks like this one.
Dedicated listeners may also remember Studio Twinkle's most famous game Grounseed. The music in it is so good you owe it to yourself to listen. Today's game Mime is a first person dungeon crawler released in September of 1995 for the PC-98. The story is a fairly straightforward tale of restoring the balance of the four elements, once guarded by four kingdoms. It features a handful of adult scenes, typical of Japanese PC games of the era.
More music by Hiroaki Sano, Studio Twinkle and many others is available at VGMRips. Thanks again ValleyBell for providing us with the stream.
Track List:
All music composed by Hiroaki Sano and logged by ValleyBell. Playback is using the SC-55 mkII MIDI Module
0:00:00 My Dream
0:07:49 Medley
0:09:54 Be Asleep
0:11:06 Pendulum Clock
0:12:42 Noah's Saloon
0:14:43 Labyrinth of Calnaval (Carnival)
0:18:13 Labyrinth of Fun
0:20:00 Labyrinth of Tears
0:23:24 Labyrinth of Nothing colors
0:26:30 Labyrinth of Lost sheep
0:31:03 Labyrinth of Phantom
0:34:54 EAGLE WINDEED
0:38:42 TEAR MARE
0:41:55 HENZOE LANCASTER
0:47:55 ELDELYCA CUTREY
0:50:39 Shadow inhabitant
0:52:38 Night Safe
0:54:27 Black Rose
0:57:04 dance to a tune
0:59:51 Night Mare
1:00:50 Tear Curse
1:03:23 Doubtful eyes
1:06:04 Kind Time
1:08:34 Chirp a Hello!
1:09:49 A friend you are!
1:11:06 Crystals Whisper
1:13:55 Time Fish
1:17:28 a Fairy Tale
1:19:26 Biased mind
1:21:14 Holy Space
1:26:47 Mother…
1:30:08 Be Ruined The Wind
1:31:47 Wish
1:35:50 in the Darkness
1:37:53 Nonentity
1:39:49 Chain of fortune
1:45:08 See You
2022-07-02
Pixelated Audio joins the many podcasts participating in the Masters of VGM (@MastersofVGM) event organized by bedroth, host of Very Good Music and BGMania. Masters of VGM is a month long event of participating podcasts and their own take on who they think are the best of the best!
We picked 8 veteran VGM Masters and aimed for a good blend of well known and lesser known tracks to keep things interesting. As always we hope you enjoy!
Track List:
0:00:02 Flower Garden - Yoshi's Island (SNES) by Koji Kondo
0:04:40 Helicopter - Pilotwings (SNES) by Koji Kondo
0:08:53 Dampe's Cabin - Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures (GC) by Koji Kondo
0:12:20 (Bedding) Time of the Falling Rain - Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (SNES) by Koji Kondo
0:13:13 (Bedding) Forest of Mystery - Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (SNES) by Koji Kondo
0:13:57 (Bedding) Priest of the Dark Order - Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (SNES) by Koji Kondo
0:14:50 Little Sweet Cafe - Seiken Densetsu 3 (SNES) by Hiroki Kikuta
0:19:57 Patience - Koudelka (PS1) by Hiroki Kikuta
0:23:19 (Excerpt) Main Theme - Last Labyrinth (Oculus, WIN, PS4) by Hiroki Kikuta
0:27:32 Ogre's Theme - Tekken Tag Tournament (PS2 version) by Keiichi Okabe
0:30:52 (Bedding) The Overture of Battle (Remix) - Demons' Score (iOS, Android) by Keiichi Okabe
0:33:24 Robot No.28 - Ibara (ARC, PS2) by Shinji Hosoe
0:37:31 (Bedding) Phantom Bomb - Street Fighter EX2 Plus (ARC, PS1) by Shinji Hosoe
0:39:41 Boss4 Excessive Information - iS: internal section (PS1) by Ayako Saso
0:43:35 (Bedding) Gabbiano Deck - Endless Ocean (Wii) by Ayako Saso
0:46:09 Positive Mind - Di Gi Charat: DigiCommunication (GBA) by Manabu Namiki
0:50:28 (Bedding) To Shinju Forest (Stage 1) - Mushihimesama (ARC, others) by Manabu Namiki
0:53:28 Be Absentminded - Tales of Phantasia (SNES) by Motoi Sakuraba
0:57:52 Stab the Sword of Justice - Star Ocean: The Second Story (PS1) by Motoi Sakuraba
1:01:49 Stand on the Earth - Last Ranker (PSP) by Yoko Shimomura
1:07:28 (Bedding) Round 3 - Block Block (ARC) by P-Chan (Yoko Shimomura) and T'Yomage (Masaki Izutani)
1:08:48 (Bedding) Trade City - Breath of Fire (SNES) by Yoko Shimomura
1:10:56 (Bedding) The End! - Super Mario RPG (SNES) composed by Koji Kondo, arranged by Yoko Shimomura
1:13:37 Mechanical Kingdom - Radiant Historia Perfect Chronology (3DS) by Yoko Shimomura
2022-05-20
We're joined today by another amazing and prolific guest; composer Jeff van Dyck. Instead of focusing on a specific game we take a tour through Jeff's entire career from Skitchin' all the way to recent games like Unpacking. Jeff began his career in 1992 with EA (Electronic Arts), working on games like the FIFA, NHL series, and Need for Speed 1 & 2. He went on to do music for many of the major games in the Total War series, starting with the original Shogun: Total War, and continuing with the Medieval and Rome Total War games. In recent years, Jeff has written music for a number of indie titles like Assault Android Cactus, Hand of Fate 1 & 2, Submerged, Forts, Paint the Town Red and Unpacking.
In this interview we talk about a great many things; working in a constantly shifting industry, evolving as a composer, writing music for AAA games as well as indies, a bit of light hardware discussion, and just life in general over the last three decades. 2022 marks 30 years for Jeff in the games industry, a landmark achievement for anyone, and he's still going strong. We crammed in as much music as we possibly could, and we hope you enjoy listening to some lovely selections of music that Jeff has written over the course of his career.
Episode Track List:
All music composed by Jeff van Dyck unless otherwise stated
0:00:04 "Title Screen" Skitchin' (1993 - Gen)
0:04:18 "Smells Like Tuna" bedding
0:07:20 "Silken Liver Slipper" bedding
0:10:32 "Song 1" Fifa 95 (1994 - Gen)
0:16:00 "Song 3" bedding
0:18:24 "Aaeeyaaeeyaa" The Need for Speed (1996 - PS1/SAT)
Vocals by Angela van Dyck
0:24:20 "Gore" Need for Speed II (1997 - PS1)
with Saki Kaskas
0:36:48 "Pi Pa Village" Emperor: Rise of the Middle Kingdom (2002 - WIN)
0:46:15 "Mobilize 3" Shogun: Total War (2000 - WIN)
0:50:50 "Melee Cafe" Rome: Total War (2004 - WIN)
0:57:06 "Divinitus" Rome: Total War (2004 - WIN)
Vocals by Angela van Dyck
Guitar and mandolin by Saki Kaskas
1:00:43 "Forever" bedding
Vocals by Angela van Dyck
1:02:45 "Cactus" Assault Android Cactus (2013 - Various)
1:10:40 "The Beginning" Hand of Fate 2 (2017 - Various)
Vocals by Angela van Dyck
1:20:06 "Infatuation" Unpacking (2021 - Various)
1:27:58 "I Like Water" excerpt
1:30:14 "Lost and Found" bedding
1:36:07 "Hog Wild" Paint the Town Red (2021 - Various)
[Correction: When discussing the song Forever, Jeff said Russian soldiers, but meant Roman soldiers]
Other links:
Jeff van Dyck
Bandcamp - purchase many of Jeff's wonderful albums!
YouTube - listen to a selection of Jeff's music
Unpacking: The Fun Behind the Foley - Talk at GDC
Recently released and upcoming games mentioned
TemPoPo by Witch Beam
Forts - High Seas - with music by Ella van Dyck
2022-05-03
We had a great time at VGMTogether presenting our talk on game audio logging and the dedicated communities around the world that have spent years archiving music as accurately as possible. It's a commonly overlooked topic that nevertheless supports a lot of activities in the game music scene.
You may have heard it referred to as "VGM ripping"; logging is the process of accessing, capturing, organizing and ultimately archiving game music in more accessible ways. There are a few ways that game music is stored in data, and a few ways that game music is captured for easier access. It's a time-consuming but rewarding process that requires some computer skills and a decent amount of patience.
In addition to the tracklist we've included a number of other resources: links to some of our past shows with a focus on logging and preservation, links to some of the more prominent game and computer music archives, and some other relevant talks. To all of those involved in VGM logging including our good friends ValleyBell and ctr, as well as the many folks we didn't mention, we thank you for all of your hard work and for everything you've done for the VGM community over the years.
We did our best to make our show as enjoyable for regular listeners, but we have also included our presentation slides which help enhance the experience. Click through the presentation below to see the visual aids and video examples we used during our talk.
Here's the link to our video presentation on YouTube
Track List:
0:06:50 Stage 2 – Yuurei-kun (MSX2)
By Manabu Saito
0:20:23 Ending 2 - Earthbound Beginnings (NES)
By Keiichi Suzuki & Hirokazu "Hip" Tanaka
Exclusive to the US version of the game
Logged by MrNorbert1994
0:26:12 The Mountains - The Smurfs (GB)
By Alberto Jose González (Twitter)
0:32:02 Isotoxin - Unreal (PC)
By Andrew "Necros" Sega, edited by Alexander Brandon
0:39:08 Security - System Shock (PC)
By Greg Lopiccolo, Tim Ries
Originally logged and fixed by Joey "Chicajo" D in 1998
0:47:11 Vigilante Shuffle - Interstate '76 (PC)
By Bullmark
Leader [Music Direction By] – Arion Salazar, Jason Slater, Kelly W. Rogers
Written-By, Bass, Keyboards – Arion Salazar
Guitar – David Shul
Drums – Bryan Mantia
Horns – Les Harris
Engineer, Mixed By – Eric Valentine
Executive-Producer – Kelly W. Rogers
0:51:24 Song of the Ancients [excerpt] - Nier (360/PS3)
Composed by Keiichi Okabe
Interactive audio demo example
1:01:26 Launching (Title) - Star Trader (X68000)
Originally composed by Mieko Ishikawa
Additional composers for X68k port: Hiroya Hatsushiba, Keishi Yonao
1:04:34 Elevator - System Shock (PC)
By Greg Lopiccolo, Tim Ries
Originally logged and fixed by Joey "Chicajo" D in 1998
Some past episodes
Logging community and audio format discussion
Namco C352 with ctr - Community member ctr discusses his custom playback software for 90s Namco arcade games "QuattroPlay" as well as some favorite picks
Hole Chaser with Masahiro Kajihara - Composer Kajihara-san talks about his music and developing the PMD sound driver, also used by his contemporaries to write FM music for 80s/90s Japanese computers
5 Years of VGMRips - A retrospective on some favorite music direct from the archivists in the VGMRips community
Roadkill - Jesse Bishop aka "Street Cleaner" talks about his work logging the audio from the game Roadkill. Check out our interview with Jesse about his game too!
Interview with Chase Bethea - Composer Chase Bethea talks about his music, including a live demo on dynamic audio
Hover Racing - Friend of the show electricboogaloo logged the music for the PS1 indie game on the "Net Yaroze" platform
KGB / Conspiracy - A great soundtrack and a discussion of the custom HERAD sound driver that makes the Sound Blaster music really shine
2022-04-14
Today we're joined be returning guest Jesse Bishop aka Street Cleaner to talk about Roadkill! It's an Amiga and Amiga CD-32 top down combat racing game released around early 1995, developed by Vision Software and published by Acid Software, both New Zealand based studios. The game's music was written by Blair Zuppicich, a composer and demoscene artist that went by the handle BaZ.
Jesse fills us in on some cool discoveries he made ripping the sound and music, along with some technical discussion on how Blair and his team implemented it all in the game. We talk 90s 'tude, combat racers and butt rock (yeah!) in this short but fun episode.
All music composed by Blair Zuppicich unless otherwise stated
Track List:
0:00:03 Race start stinger + Song 1
0:07:49 Car Select
0:15:00 Title Music
0:30:17 stingers and voice clips
0:38:06 Stats
0:38:35 Song 2
0:40:38 [excerpt] Ragnarok Canyon - Battletoads in Battlemaniacs (SNES) - composed by David Wise
0:46:18 End Theme
Street Cleaner game music
Street Cleaner: The Video Game
Game: Switch, Steam
Soundtrack: Bandcamp
Past show: PA150 - Interview with Jesse
Chex Quest HD
Game: Switch, Steam
Music: Bandcamp
Street Cleaner the Video Game sequel teaser video
Creaky Lantern Games
Other links
Demoscene Podcast: Impulse Project
Blair Zuppicich - DemoZoo, Bandcamp
More Street Cleaner Music Bandcamp
2022-03-24
The 8-Bit Big Band is a 30-65 member Jazz/Pops orchestra (led by Charlie Rosen) that formed to celebrate and realize some of the best musical themes written from various video games. The members of the 8-Bit Big Band come from all around the world, but most reside primarily in New York City, and are some of the most highly sought after musicians and performers, all gamers at heart who enjoy playing their favorite games of all time!
Charlie Rosen is extremely talented; he's a composer and arranger, professional bass player and multi-instrumentalist and does just about everything involved in producing the 8BBB albums. He's been playing professionally for years and has orchestrated and composed music for television, film and over a dozen Broadway shows. He's well-versed in all manner of Big Band and Jazz, and his expanded arrangements give new life to old classics.
Together with Charlie we cover a selection of tracks from 3 full-length albums and an EP. We talk music theory, arrangement, our favorite pop cultural references and so much more in this densely packed show. It was a blast start to finish and as always, we hope you enjoy it as much as we do!
Episode Track List:
All arrangements by Charlie Rosen of the 8-Bit Big Band
Soloists credits provided where available
0:00:05 "Bob-Omb Battlefield" Super Mario 64 (N64)
Alto Sax - Andrew Gould
Drums - Jared Schoenig
Originally composed by Koji Kondo
0:15:28 "Athletic Theme" Super Mario World 2 - Yoshi's Island (SNES)
Clarinet - Felix Peikli
Trumpet - Benny Benack III
Trombone - Jimmy O'Connell
Drums - Jared Schoenig
Originally composed by Koji Kondo
0:26:07 "Still Alive" Portal (PC)
Vocals - Benny Benack III
Originally composed by Jonathan Coulton
0:33:53 "Luigi's Mansion Theme" Luigi's Mansion (GC)
Clarinet - Mark Dover
Originally composed by Shinobu Tanaka and Kazumi Totaka
0:42:21 "Aquatic Ambiance" Donkey Kong Country (SNES)
Vocals - Danielle Gimbal
Bassoon - Jenice Rosen
Alto Sax - Andrew Gould
Piano - Sydney Kjerstad
Originally composed by David Wise
0:52:25 "Hydrocity Zone" Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (GEN)
Alto Sax - Grace Kelly
Originally composed by the Sega Sound Team
1:01:28 "Dire Dire Docks'" Super Mario 64 (N64)
Bass - Charlie Rosen
Originally composed by Koji Kondo
1:13:05 "Meta Knight's Revenge" Kirby Super Star (SNES)
Keyboard - Buttonmasher
Originally composed by Jun Ishikawa and Dan Miyakawa
1:23:04 [Excerpt] "Super Mario Land Underground" Super Mario Land (GB)
Baritone Sax - Leo P.
Originally composed by Hirokazu "Hip" Tanaka
1:26:37 "K.K. Moody" Animal Crossing: New Leaf (3DS)
Clarinet - Patrick Bartley
Originally composed by Kazumi Totaka
1:33:03 [Bedding] "Birdman" Pilotwings 64 (N64)
EWI - Zac Zinger
Originally composed by Dan Hess
1:37:07 "Super Mario World End Theme" Super Mario World (SNES)
Originally composed by Koji Kondo
Other credits:
Engineered and Mixed by John Kilgore
Mastered by Alan Silverman at Arf Mastering
Links to things mentioned in the show
The 8-Bit Big Band [Website]
Album 1 - Press Start! [Bandcamp]
Album 2 - Choose Your Character! [Bandcamp]
Album 3 - Backwards Compatible [Bandcamp]
The K.K. Sessions (Animal Crossing EP) [Bandcamp]
Smart Game Piano [Website]
Famikoto [YouTube] [Facebook] [Website (JP)]
Tom Brier - Athletic Theme [YouTube]
8-Bit Big Band upcoming events
March 25, 2022 - Howard Theater in Washington DC - Tickets
April 3, 2022 - Grammy Awards Nominated for category 65. Best Arrangement, Instrumental or A Cappella
Meta Knight's Revenge (From "Kirby Superstar") Charlie Rosen & Jake Silverman, arrangers (The 8-Bit Big Band Featuring Button Masher)
April 9,
2022-02-17
Six more tracks that we love but didn't quite fit anywhere else. As always we hope you enjoy!
Track List:
0:00:00 Dunk Shot (Arcade) - Toast! by unknown composer
0:07:18 Syd Mead's Terraforming (TG-CD) - Stage 1 by Katsuhiro Hayashi
0:14:16 Soldam (GB) - Theme of Sekiero
Gameboy conversion by unknown, original arcade version by Atsuyoshi Isemura and Yasuyuki Suzuki
0:21:54 Gurumin: A Monstrous Adventure (WIN, PSP, 3DS) - Sight of Silence
by Falcom Sound Team jdk, likely Takahide Murayama
0:30:51 Kid Chameleon (GEN) - Fantasy Area
by Mark Miller and his production company Neuromantic Productions
0:37:12 Vlad Tepes Dracula (PC) - Track 5 by Carl Hansson
2021-12-22
We've got a great show today with Dan Hess, the composer behind Pilotwings 64! It was released as a launch title for the N64 in 1996 by Paradigm Simulation and is the second in the series (Pilotwings, Pilotwings 64, Pilotwings Resort). Pilotwings 64 continues the tradition of a lightweight flight sim where you use a variety of flight tools like a hang glider, jet pack, gyrocopter to complete simple objectives, or just fly around more casually.
Dan Hess is a composer, performer and sound designer with over 30 years experience. In addition to his work on Pilotwings 64, Dan wrote the music for F1 World Grand Prix for N64. During the development of Pilotwings, Dan was the in-house composer for Paradigm Simulations / Entertainment. Dan plays a mean keyboard and has been performing since he was a teen, with the likes of Second Self and Skeleton Crew. Dan continues to work in tech, and is engaged in a number of side projects like recreating a lot of the Pilotwings 64 soundtrack for donors to his Patreon. Over the course of the show, Dan also shares a number of tracks related to his time in VGM, some of which he uploads to YouTube.
Also guest hosting with us is Ian Cowell, a guitarist and VGM musician who grew up with the N64 and loved Pilotwings 64 enough to put out a cover of Birdman, which we use to close out the show. If you enjoy his track, check out the rest of his recently released album Exceptional Goblins, with features a total of 12 awesome and laid back VGM tracks from the popular to the obscure. Those with a good memory will recall Ian also joined us at MAGWest 2018.
We had a fantastic time with both of our guests, and even though we like all of the shows we put out, this one might be one of our favorites already. We hope you enjoy it and all of the music as much as we do.
All tracks composed by Dan Hess unless otherwise stated
Track List:
0:00:00 Opening
based on music from the original Pilotwings, composed by Soyo Oka
0:00:36 (Bedding) Title Demo
0:06:22 (Bedding) Jumble Hopper
0:12:48 (Bedding) Earned a Badge
0:14:42 Game Menu
0:21:33 Mission Menu
0:30:10 Hang Glider
0:37:50 Cannonball
0:43:12 Rocket Belt
0:45:38 Rocketpack Inspiration
0:49:57 Opening from Pilotwings SNES by Soyo Oka
0:52:24 Birdman - feat. Zac Zinger (excerpt) by The 8-Bit Big Band
From "Album 3 - Backwards Compatible"
0:54:08 Gyrocopter
1:01:54 Sky Diving
1:06:16 Track 18 - From F-1 World Grand Prix
1:10:02 Track 6 (bass test) - From F-1 World Grand Prix
1:11:41 Synth 2 M2
1:12:54 Synth 1 M3
Unused alternate tracks intended for Spy Hunter (PS2) by Dan Hess
1:20:07 Birdman
1:32:22 Replay
1:40:28 Birdman Returns - rearrangement by Dan Hess
1:47:27 Bravissimo!
1:54:42 Ca-Caw, Brah by Ian Cowell
Cover of Birdman from the album "Exceptional Goblins"
LINKS
Dan Hess
Patreon - If he raises enough, he'll redo all of Pilotwings!
YouTube - has some of the tracks supplied by Dan
Ian Cowell
Exceptional Goblins - Album by Ian Cowell
listening party for the album
Other links
Album 3 - Backwards Compatible - The 8-Bit Big Band, band leader Charlie Rosen
Resampled Pilotwings 64 OST - by L. Spiro (upscaled samples)
Artist Panel: Dan Hess, Ian Cowell, Alpha Chrome Yayo (alternate link) - Nightride.FM
Wired article about Magic Edge from 1995
Personal account of Magic Edge's financial problems + a few photos
Bands mentioned
Dire Straits - Money for Nothing
Skeleton Crew - Dan's band beating Beyoncé on Star Search in 1992
Sly and the Family Stone
The Meters
The Wallflowers
The Rippingtons
George Benson
Kool & the Gang
Barry White
Vulfpeck, with Cory Wong
Snarky Puppy
Jacob Collier
Stevie Wonder (not mentioned but why not?)
2021-12-04
In this installment of Pixelated Audio, we're talking about Crisis Wing, a retro-styled 90s shmup that draws inspiration from many classic shooters. We're joined by Finnish one-man indie games developer and composer, Pauli, aka pieslice of Pieslice Productions (@PiesliceP). It's a modern take on all of your favorite retro shooters, with all of the tough bosses, bullet patterns, and FM music you can handle. Crisis Wing was released on Steam in 2020 and published for most major consoles (Switch, PS4/PS5, Xbox S|X) in 2021 by indie specialist publisher eastasiasoft.
We go through pretty much the entire soundtrack with pieslice and cover his unique twist on his inspirations, which range from PC game music, the demoscene and of course plenty of shmups like Gradius, Star Soldier, and the harder edged FM sound of Toaplan games like Out Zone and Zero Wing. We talk about composition as well as indie game development challenges and more. If you like the game and music of Crisis Wing, stay tuned as Pieslice Productions has got a late 90s shmup (and music) in the works! As always, we hope you enjoy the music.
All tracks composed by pieslice unless otherwise stated
Track List:
0:00:00 Introduction
0:00:27 URF! (Level 1 BGM)
0:08:54 Low Orbit (Level 2 BGM)
0:17:12 Gratify (Level 3 BGM)
0:20:51 Boss
0:27:04 M.S.D (Level 4 BGM)
0:30:45 Sally (Level 5 BGM)
0:37:32 Unpleasant (Level 6 BGM)
0:41:05 Tailwind (Level 7 BGM)
0:46:40 Boss Rush
0:50:37 Last Boss
0:53:27 Caravan - arranged by pieslice
Based on the mod file below
0:55:32 "Shoot" by Maniac (excerpt from original mod file)
0:57:21 Sound Test
1:07:16 High Scores - arranged by pieslice
Based on the mod file "Love is Hard" by unknown composer
2021-11-15
We're back to livestream for virtual MAGWest 2021, this time with composer and returning friend of the show, Chase Bethea! We talk with Chase about his music from games both released and upcoming, his process, as well as a short interactive audio demo, and some Q&A from the live chat.
Chase Bethea is a Composer & Technical Audio Designer that has received many accolades throughout his career. In 2016, Chase was nominated for Artists of the Year – Independent Composer by VGMO in the entire industry. In 2021, he won Best Original Soundtrack for the game AGROUND, from the NYX Game Awards. He has been a guest speaker at over 20 conferences/events such as PAX, GameSound Con, ADC, Berklee College of Music and Interactive Music Symposium. He has also appeared on other prominent game music podcasts like Level with Emily Reese and Sound of Play.
You can find more about Chase at his website chasebethea.com, purchase his music on Bandcamp, find him on Spotify or on social media @chasebethea
Track List:
00:00 Evaluations - Stardander (Win, Linux)
04:23 Battle 3v3 - Questlike Pocket (Android)
09:33 Challenge Accepted - Reclaim Earth (Win, Mac, Linux)
19:56 King's Port - Potions Please [interactive demo] (Android)
27:08 Wild Encounter - Aground (PS4, XB1, SWI, WIN, Mac, Linux)
36:35 Tater Bop - Jagaimo (TBD)
42:18 Trouble & Mystery - Stardander (Win, Linux)
46:54 Techtonic Showdown - "Project Bushido" (TBD)
58:51 Nexus Stratagem - Space Marmalade (Win)
LINKS
Episode live stream on Youtube
chasebethea.com [Bandcamp]
How to build a mini foley stage - article by Chase
Game pages
Stardander (demo) - full release Fall 2022
Questlike Pocket
Reclaim Earth
Potions Please
Aground
Jagaimo
Space Marmalade
Other links
teoria.com - music theory web resource
Elias software - middleware used for game audio
2021-11-02
Today we're talking about an old school dungeon crawler RPG called Advanced Fantasian. The game was released by Xtalsoft in 1988 for the PC-88 and Sharp X1 in 1989. Xtalsoft was a small RPG-focused developer that eventually merged with T&E Soft, a topic we covered last episode. The composers Chihiro Fujioka and Yumi Satake (nee Kinoshita) did a great job with the soundtrack and more than that they're both interesting people with a long history in game development going to the present day.
Advanced Fantasian is a dungeon crawler RPG based heavily on Wizardry and by proxy, Dungeons & Dragons. You take a fixed class (but customizable) party of 5 characters through various dungeons, walking around in 1st person Wizardry style until combat commences in a top down grid where characters move independently. We spend most of our time listening to the OPNA version of the soundtrack from the PC-88 with a short sample from the X1 version. As always, we hope you enjoy the music as much as we do!
All tracks using the YM2608 (OPNA) chip unless otherwise stated
Composers: Chihiro Fujioka and Yumi Satake
Track List:
0:00:00 Holy Legend (Opening Version)
0:05:40 Encounter
0:09:09 Quest
0:13:34 Chaser
0:16:22 Main Menu - Pebble Beach Golf Links (SNES) - by Yumi Satake
0:19:11 Chaser (excerpt from Sharp X1)
0:23:05 Dirty Cave
0:30:20 Omens
0:33:56 Black Knight
0:36:38 Ruin
0:42:38 Curst Valley
0:46:49 Bad Sigh
0:57:00 Finale
0:59:25 Ending
1:04:25 Wisdom
LINKS
Advanced Fantasian manual for the wonderful character art
2021-09-17
We're back with an episode covering Greatest Driver, a 2D Formula 1 racer for the MSX2 released in 1988. The game was produced by T&E Soft, a developer and publisher primarily known for golf games in the 90s, Red Alarm for the Virtual Boy and the Hydlide series. Composers Kazunori Hasegawa and Shigeru Tomita bring us some fun jams, especially the intro and ending tunes. Most of the music is using the OPLL / YM2413 FM chip with a few brief detours into other areas. It's a short show and we hope you enjoy the music!
All tracks using the YM2413 chip unless otherwise stated
Composers: Kazunori Hasegawa and Shigeru Tomita
Track List:
00:06 Opening Theme
05:27 Opening Theme (PSG)
11:03 Mode Select
13:07 Course Overview
13:50 Tuning Mode
19:30 Race Theme (PSG + OPLL) - from Greatest Driver 2D Special
21:25 Victory
24:39 Staff Roll
Special thanks to GTheGuardian for the rips of both the PSG and FM versions on VGMRips!
2021-07-27
Today's source of great music is the Pac-Man Championship Edition series. This is an audio companion to HG101's Top47k Games: Episode 420 where we were invited to review Pac-Man CE DX+ with Xerxes and Bobinator!
Bandai Namco's Pac-Man has been a mainstay for over 40 years and this is Pac-Man with a twist. You have your ghosts, your pellets and your maze, but now the maze is split in half and it's a frantic time attack with some excellent tunes to support up to 10 minutes of play at a time. The original Championship Edition launched in 2007, CE DX in 2010, the CE DX+ DLC in 2013, and the NES remake in 2020. We don't cover CE 2 from 2016 but check that one out for some great music as well. The tunes are long and dance-y and we hope you enjoy them!
Composer for M2 not confirmed, but credits for the sound team are: Tatsuhiko Kasuga, Sakuoki Kudo
Track List:
00:04 Entrance (DX) - Taku Inoue
04:32 PAC RAINBOW (DX) - Akitaka Tohyama
13:08 PAC MAN CE BGM (CE) - Junko Ozawa
29:39 PAC AVENUE (DX) - Taku Inoue
41:08 PAC STEP (DX+) - Taku Inoue
51:34 Normal Mode (CE NES) - M2 Sound Team
58:36 Extra Mode (CE NES) - M2 Sound Team
1:03:26 Results Screen (CE NES) - M2 Sound Team
2021-07-14
We're taking you out to the ball game in this short and fun episode covering music from 3 Sega System 16 baseball games: Major League, Super League and Excite League. It's late 80s baseball from Japanese arcades, so it's 2D sprites, digitized samples and YM2151 FM patches all the way down. No composers confirmed but Tohru Nakabayashi, Hiroshi Kawaguchi and Katsuhiro Hayashi are the prime suspects. We hope you enjoy the music!
Composers unknown but suspected to be: Tohru Nakabayashi, Hiroshi Kawaguchi and/or Katsuhiro Hayashi
Track List:
00:00 Select Level (Excite League)
04:24 Offense (Major League)
07:45 Pennant Race (Super League)
10:31 Japan Series (Super League)
15:24 World Series (Super League)
19:38 Pennant Race (Excite League)
21:44 Select Level (comparing Super League & Excite League)
22:47 Japan Series (Excite League)
25:24 Dream Game (Excite League)
31:57 Game Over (Excite League)
Special thanks to Sonic of 8! and HarmoDevil for the rips of all three games on VGMRips
2021-07-03
F-1 Super Battle is a racing game from 1994 for Jaleco's Mega System 32 arcade board. It's notable features are that it still features sprite graphics fairly late for an arcade game, and the upright arcade cabinet is a somewhat unusual egg shape. No composer information in this mini episode, but that doesn't mean we can't enjoy the music!
Special thanks to GTheGuardian for the original rip on VGMRips
Check out the weird egg shaped arcade cabinet at arcade-museum.com
Composer unknown
Track List:
00:05 Course Selection
00:28 Name Entry, Ranking (Background)
06:25 Attract Mode
14:07 Unknown BGM 1
17:59 Final Lap
20:51 Game Over
2021-06-04
Street Cleaner: The Video Game released for PC and Switch in 2021 is a classic 2D side-scroller inspired by NES action games like Ninja Gaiden, Castlevania and Sunsoft's Batman. It was developed by Creaky Lantern Games, an indie game studio run by Jesse Bishop and Brooks Bishop (no relation). It is a very real game based on the fictional Street Cleaner 80s revenge film(s) on which Jesse based his artist name. In the game you take the role of Jack Slade whose mission is to clean up the mean streets of San Diego with your trusty bat and gun.
Today's guest is Jesse, better known as Street Cleaner, a synthwave artist and video game music composer. Jesse has been producing synthwave for over a decade and in recent years his work has appeared in a number of games. Some of his projects include Wasteland 3, Hypergun, Exception and he recently had a track on Chex Quest HD! We had an absolute blast talking with Jesse about the game, the Street Cleaner project, Creaky Lantern Games, and life in general. As always, we hope you enjoy the show as much as we did!
Track List
All tracks composed by Jesse Bishop aka Street Cleaner unless otherwise stated
0:00:00 Stage 1 - Decaying City
0:09:32 Stage 1 - Boss Fight
0:16:12 Stage 2 - Courser
0:29:32 Stage 2 - Full Throttle
0:44:03 Full Throttle (studio arranged version)
0:51:20 Dark Pursuit
Excerpt from the album Payback
0:59:52 Stage 3 - Revenger
1:03:03 Stage 3 - Turbo Drive (excerpt)
1:07:48 Untitled Spy Hunter track (PA Exclusive!)
from an unreleased game concept by Creaky Lantern
1:16:17 Stage 5 - The Anvil
1:19:07 Stage 6 - An Unexamined Life
1:26:55 Terror Influx (feat. Aubrey Hodges)
Excerpt from the album EDGE
1:32:50 Stage 7 - Kindling of a Flame
1:35:22 Stage 7 - Filling of a Vessel
1:44:00 Stage X - End Theme
Links below
Street Cleaner: The Video Game
Switch, Steam
Street Cleaner music
Street Cleaner: The Game OST
EDGE
Payback
Revenger
Creaky Lantern Games
A Question of Character - Jack Slade - from our good friend Norm @NORMALLYRETRO!
2021-05-14
Today's special guest is Tom Salta, a hugely talented and accomplished artist and producer. He's worked in film, TV, ads and games for over 30 years and has produced with legends like Bobby Brown, Cher and Peter Gabriel. He's spent the last 20 years working in games including Cold Fear and Red Steel and some of the world's largest franchises like Tom Clancy, Just Dance, Prince of Persia, Halo, Killer Instinct, Wolfenstein and PUBG.
Join us as we chat with Tom about his game music career over the past 20 years, from his breakout tracks to more recent hits. He's a stylistic chameleon and no two tracks sound alike, so you're in for a treat! A big thanks to our previous guest Nick Marinelli of VGIC for connecting us with Tom Salta!
Tom also recently launched a fabulous online masterclass for game music composition called Game Music Essentials. If you're interested in game music composition, it's an incredible resource and well worth the price of admission. Use the special promo code "Pixelated50" for $50 off.
Track List
All tracks composed by Tom Salta unless otherwise stated
0:00:00 "2 Days or Die" (as Atlas Plug)
licensed for the games Rallisport Challenge 2 (Xbox)
from the album 2 Days or Die
0:14:48 "Angel's Heaven" from Red Steel (Wii)
0:23:38 "Artemis Ascendance" from Tom Clancy's H.A.W.X (360, PS3, WIN)
0:35:01 "The Menagerie of Legends" from Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands (Wii version)
0:42:30 "Dagomba" from Just Dance 2 (Wii)
0:50:18 "Onslaught" from Halo: Spartan Assault (WIN, 360, XB1, iOS, WP)
0:55:14 "Halo Theme Gungnir Mix (feat. Steve Vai)" from Halo 2 Anniversary (XB1, WIN, XSS/X)
Originally composed by Martin O'Donnell and Michael Salvatori
Adapted and Orchestrated by Tom Salta, Paul Lipson, Lennie Moore, Brian Trifon, and Brian Lee White
1:04:28 "Enter the Battletoad" from Killer Instinct: Season 3 (XB1, WIN)
Composed by Atlas Plug and Celldweller
Based on music composed by David Wise (Battletoads), Robin Beanland and Graeme Norgate (Killer Instinct)
1:17:43 "Maverick" from Lawbreakers (PS4, WIN)
For more info and work from Tom Salta, see the links below
tomsalta.com
TEDx Talk - Breaking into and staying in the game industry
Dance it Out - feat Samama - Official music video
Ghosts - Song by Atlas Plug and Celldweller
2 Days or Die album
Around the World Remix EP
2021-04-28
Today we have Nick Marinelli joining us, former head of MAGFest and longtime VGM aficionado. The focus of the show is on the development and history of the VGM community, from its awkward adolescence to the large and growing movement that it is today, which we are very happy to be a part of.
Nick brings to us a selection of arrangements, covers and remixes of the most tried and true classics, with some dating back over 20 years. While we don't always "play the hits" on the show, we love them all the same and their influence on VGM is undeniable. It's a huge reason why many joined the community and why we started the show in the first place. If you've been around VGM as long as we have, this will be a walk down memory lane. Join us as we talk about our shared memories of being in the VGM community over the past few decades.
Nick also runs Video Games in Concert, an organization that represents and books artists for live VGM performances as well as educational outreach. If you're interested in booking some of Nick's artists check it out for your home, venue or company party. Email Nick [at] gamemusic [dot] rocks for more info.
Episode Track List:
0:00:00 "Storm Eagle" Mega Man X (SNES)
Arranged by Jarron Woodsorrel from VGMusic.com
Composed by Makoto Tomozawa (as Tomozou)
0:08:58 "Castlevania 2" Castlevania 2 (NES)
Arranged by The Minibosses from the album The Minibosses (out of print)
Composed by Konami Kukeiha Club
Kenichi Matsubara, Satoe Terashima
Minibosses GoFundMe for the upcoming album
0:18:25 "Terra In Black" Final Fantasy 6 (SNES)
Arranged by Ailsean for the site OCRemix
Composed by Nobuo Uematsu
0:25:35 "Time Chill" Chrono Trigger (SNES)
Arranged by MV for the site VGMix
Composed by Yasunori Mitsuda
0:35:06 "La Hora Es Tarde" Castlevania III (NES), Castlevania Circle of the Moon (GBA)
Arranged by housethegrate for the site Dwelling of Duels
Composed by Konami Kukeiha Club
Castlevania III: Yoshinori Sasaki, Jun Funahashi, Yukie Morimoto, Hidenori Maezawa)
Circle of the Moon: Hidenori Maezawa, Jun Funahashi, Yukie Morimoto, Yoshinori Sasaki
0:48:00 "Dr Wily's Theme" Mega Man 2 (NES)
Arranged by Powerglove off the album Total Pwnage (out of print)
Composed by Takashi Tateishi
0:53:55 "Toejammin'" Toejam & Earl (GEN)
Arranged by The OneUps from the album Volume 1
Composed by John Baker
1:00:30 "J-E-N-O-V-A" Final Fantasy VII (PS1)
Arranged by Distant Worlds from the album Distant Worlds II: more music from FINAL FANTASY
Composed by Nobou Uematsu
1:08:33 "Splash Woman" Mega Man 9 (PS3/360/Wii)
Arranged by Mega Ran from the album Mega Ran 9
Composed by Hiroki Isogai
Dream Master: From the Stoop to the Stage to the Stars - Book by Mega Ran
1:17:35 "Bob-Omb Battlefield" Super Mario 64 (N64)
Arranged by Super Soul Bros. from the live album Stritch's Brew
Composed by Koji Kondo
1:35:50 "It's a Beautiful Day Outside (MEGALOVANIA)" Undertale (Various)
Arranged by Insaneintherain from the album Live at Grillby's
Composed by Toby Fox
More Links, sites and music mentioned
VGMusic
OCRemix
VGMix archive
Remix64
Dwelling of Duels
Battle of the Bits
Episode 29 - Double Dragon Deuce (for track by Sixto Sounds)
Episode 144 - Bonus Stage with Josh (for ErichWK's track)
2021-04-12
On today's episode we're joined by Rob aka Xerxes of Hardcore Gaming 101's "Top 47k Games" podcast. We talk about his background, how the podcast is made, the excellent resource Hardcore Gaming 101, along with our usual jovial banter. Rob brings us a selection of fantastic deep cuts of early to mid 90s Japanese VGM used in the show, most of which are intro and ending tunes. It's a really fun show and as always we hope you enjoy it as much as we do.
Shout out to our friend Norm aka @normallyretro for lending his voice to the HG101 Golf Remix and the main Top 47k Games theme song. Dogs Bower!
Also a big thanks to Dee Liteyears for providing the delightful episode artwork! Follow them on Twitter @DeeLiteyears. Dogs Bower (and Bubsy)!
Track List:
0:00:00 “Main Menu” Pebble Beach Golf Links (SNES) by Yumi Satake (née Kinoshita)
0:07:57 "HG101 (Golf Remix)" remix of Pebble Beach Golf Links arranged by Xerxes
0:15:21 “Howl of Crow” Black Bird: Tori Tachi no Tooboe (PC-98) by Takeaki Watanabe
0:24:02 “Character Making” Drakkhen (SNES) by Hiroyuki Masuno
0:28:38 (Background) “House in Fire Area” Drakkhen (SNES) by Hiroyuki Masuno
0:37:10 “Staff Roll (OPN)” Metal Force (PC-98) by Daisuke Takahashi
0:59:15 “Impossible One” - Cho Ren Sha 68k (X68k, PC) by Ruzarin Kashiwagi
1:13:22 “Opening Title” Division Guardian: Twinkle-Star (PC-98) by Hiroaki Sano
1:21:34 “Ending B” Puyo Puyo Tsu (GEN/MD) by Tsuyoshi Matsushima
1:31:17 “Ending 1” Rhyme Star (PC-98) by Takeshi Abo
1:47:23 "Ending” Possessioner (PC-98) by Hiroaki Sano
For more Hardcore Gaming 101, check out the links below:
Top 47k Games Podcast
The List
HG101 website
HG101 Discord
HG101 books
Article on Korean gaming (old site, mentioned in show)
Worst Video Game Ever - Drakkhen YouTube video mentioned on show, just for fun
2021-03-23
Heart Heat Girls is a lightly adult-oriented Japanese adventure game released for the PC-98 in December of 1993 by the company Panda House under their Cat's Pro label. Heart Heat Girls or H.H.G. is set in a futuristic world where humans and androids are at war. A specialized police force known as ACP ("Anti Criminal-cyborg Police") is tasked with eliminating them. The game begins with two young police officers named Angelica and Apple receiving an S.O.S. about an attack from a mysterious cyborg and arrive to the crime scene to find no survivors. Joined by their friend and colleague detective Keith Bailey, they set out to investigate the case. Despite the name, the game focuses more heavily on the narrative and setting as opposed to lewd content. The gameplay is fairly conventional with light interactions like "Talk" or "Examine" to move the plot along.
The music of H.H.G. was written by Muse and the mysterious Panda, owner of the game development studio Panda House and its subsidiary labels Cat's Pro and Melody, all companies largely associated with making adult games for the Japanese PC market. Little is known in the English speaking world about Panda and Muse, however they both worked on audio for the company Cocktail Soft, another adult games label.
A small correction: YouTube user Czarek7711 believes that Panda may be the alias of Yuki Nakayama (correction: or likely Izuho Yoshitani). The VGMdb entry for the Cat's Pro album lists him as executive producer so it does seem likely!
In any case, the music is full of lots of short but sweet tunes. Now leave playing the adult games to the professionals and enjoy this soundtrack guilt-free!
Track List:
All tracks composed by Panda and Muse for the YM2203 (OPN) soundchip unless otherwise stated
0:00:00 Opening
0:03:15 Title
0:13:24 SAIT
0:16:07 Department of Defense
0:20:15 Cat's Pro Jingle
0:24:53 Kurama Industries
0:26:58 Relief
0:29:23 3D Map
0:31:30 Final Battle: Abadon
Excerpt from Magician (NES) by Neil Baldwin
0:32:15 Shower
0:34:09 ACP
0:42:43 Infiltrate
0:44:40 Dawn
0:46:33 Mixed
0:49:46 Angelica's Tears
0:52:31 Counterattack
0:56:25 Reminiscence
1:01:22 Ending
Thanks to Bryan, Gnome, and Valley Bell of VGMRips for ripping the music!
2021-02-25
It's been a while since our last expansion pack, and the first of 2021. It's a relaxed show with a selection of 6 deep cuts but the music is great as always. Correction: The name of the writer was actually Miyazawa Kenji not Ihatovo.
Track List:
0:00:00 Tobituki-hime - Stage 3 - MAGICAL AMBER - (PC) by Masashi Yano
0:08:42 Gekitou! Crash Gear Turbo: Gear Champion League - BGM 1 (WSC) by unknown composer
0:15:54 Guldkorn Expressen / Kalas Puffs Expressen - Title (C64) by Jens-Christian Huus (JCH)
0:20:42 Nekketsu Oyako - Big Black - LV 49 (SAT) by Hyakutaro Tsukumo
0:28:25 Ihatovo Monogatari - Ihatovo City (SNES) by Tsukasa Tawada
0:36:48 Bakuten Shoot Beyblade - BGM 13 (GBC) by unknown composer
More links
Tobituki-hime Bandcamp soundtrack
"Travel Diary" from Ihatovo Monogatari - performed by Tsukasa Tawada
HG101 article about Ihatovo Monogatari
Kalaspuffs Wikipedia page for some reason
2021-02-03
Today we're joined by guitarist Josh of the VGM band The Runaway Four. Together we talk about his band and their music, as well as Bonus Stage, a very important project that came into being last year in April right in the midst of lockdowns. Bonus Stage is a monthly online series of live video game music concerts that feature a wide range of bands and genres. As hard as 2020 was, Bonus Stage (formerly Virtual VGM Fest) has become a bright spot in the community for VGM lovers and performers alike.
Josh comes to us from Vancouver Canada and brings with him some fantastic and varied VGM from across the spectrum, all sourced from Bonus Stage performers. We even included a teaser track for the upcoming Bonus Stage X event on February 13 and we hope you enjoy listening to the music as much as we did.
Below we've included links to the organization and some of their upcoming events, the track list, and all the bands appearing in the show.
Bonus Stage Vancouver
Twitch | YouTube | Twitter | Facebook
If you are interested in performing in a Bonus Stage event, email bonusstagevan [at] gmail [dot] com.
Upcoming Bonus Stage events
Rage Quit Vol. II Listening Party
Friday, Feb 5, 2020 - 6PM PST
Bonus Stage X
Saturday, Feb 13, 2020 - 3:30PM PST
The Runaway Four "The Fast" Listening Party
Friday, Mar 19, 2020 - 7PM PDT
Episode Track List:
0:00:00 This Game Is Baroquen (various)
Arranged by Runaway Four
Music from Final Fantasy IX, ActRaiser, Super Mario RPG, Columns, Katamari Damacy
0:10:10 Title - Robocop (C64)
Arranged by Marshall Art
Composed by Jonathan Dunn
0:21:26 Prelude - Final Fantasy (NES)
Arranged by 88bit
Composed by Nobou Uematsu
0:33:20 Jump Up, Super Star! - Super Mario Odyssey (Switch)
Arranged by Tiggs and Consoul
Composed by Naoto Kubo
0:47:30 You Will Be The Hero of this F***ing Gym - Violent Storm (Arcade)
Arranged by ErichWK
Composed by Kenichiro Fukui
0:58:58 Bright Minded Scientist
Composed and arranged by Press X
Based on story in Professor Layton and the Unwound Future
1:10:09 In My Heart - Kingdom Hearts (PS2)
Arranged by EyeQ
Composed by Yoko Shimomura
1:22:52 Fall (Ghost Synth) - Stardew Valley (various)
Arranged by Sybil Grace
Composed by Eric Barone
1:33:01 The End of the Battle - To Out World - Gunstar Heroes (Genesis)
Arranged by Monte
Composed by Norio Hanzawa
BAND LINKS
Runaway Four
Virtual VGM Fest 4.0 Performance
Bandcamp | Patreon | Instagram | YouTube | Twitter | Facebook | Website
Marshall Art
Virtual VGM Fest Ultimate Performance
Bandcamp | YouTube | Twitter | Facebook
88 Bit
Virtual VGM Fest Ultimate Performance
Bandcamp | Twitch | YouTube | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | Website
Tiggs & ConSoul
Virtual VGM Fest Ultimate Performance
Tiggs: Facebook | YouTube | ConSoul: Bandcamp | Website
ErichWK
Athletic Aesthetic Livestream
Bandcamp | YouTube | Facebook
Press X
Virtual VGM Fest Ultimate Performance
Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook | Instagram
EyeQ
Virtual VGM Fest Ultimate Performance
Bandcamp | Spotify | Twitch | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | Website
Sybil Grace
Stardew Valley - Fall (Ghost Synth) Single
Bandcamp | YouTube | Facebook | Website
Monte
Virtual VGM Fest Ultimate Performance
Bandcamp
2021-01-20
In June of 2012, Cipher Prime Studios released Splice, a puzzle game about organizing cells into increasingly complex patterns. It's a game that requires concentration and it's also a bit about tampering with nature. Splice can be purchased on a number of platforms: Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS, Android, PS3 and PS4 but no matter where you purchase it, it's a challenging and mentally rewarding game accompanied by a beautiful piano soundtrack composed by Dain Saint, who we have joining us on the show today.
Cipher Prime is a Philadelphia-based indie game and interactive art studio co-founded in 2008 by Dain Saint and Will Stallwood. With Dain as technical director and Will as creative director, the team has made more than 10 games including Pulse, Intake, Auditorium and Fractal. Cipher Prime has also been a driving force in the Philadelphia indie game scene for over a decade where they ran a co-working space and hosted numerous events for game developers over the years.
Dain Saint himself is an accomplished musician, artist and designer. In addition to his composition and technical work on games, he also writes poetry, produces music videos, and many other creative pursuits. His first and main instrument is the piano, and he also sings and plays guitar. The piano work on Splice features beautiful melodies, sweeping arpeggios thick with reverb and emotional highs and lows that switch from euphoric to dark at a moment's notice.
Join us for this captivating first interview of 2021 where we cover a range of topics from the music itself, to the metaphysical symbolism throughout the game, to current events and beyond.
All tracks composed by Dain Saint
Track List:
0:00:00 Barachiel
0:13:03 Gabriel
0:32:23 Eremiel
0:41:41 Darda'il
0:51:01 Cassiel
1:04:30 Ganymede
1:18:16 Reflection
Bandcamp
Splice OST
Splice epilogue OST
Earthbound album
cipherprime.com
Splice
sheet music
Lineweight
dainsaint.com and more
Instagram
City Don't Sing music video
martinobranding.com - shot and produced the video
YouTube
phillygamemechanics.com
2021-01-05
On the surface, Xixit is a pretty straightforward Columns clone. Go a little bit deeper and you find a columns clone with impressive coding, visual effects and music. Xixit was released for DOS in 1995 by Optik Software, a small American publisher that only ever released 3 games, the other two being a point and click called Igor and an RTS called War Inc. The gameplay is your typical match three game with a 1-player or 2-player versus mode and an impressive array of difficulty and graphics options.
All of the staff that worked on the game were active members of the demoscene at the time. If you like what you see and hear, thank the folks below:
"Tran" Tomasz Pytel - Programming
"Oman" John Hood - Art and Design
Music by
"Necros" Andrew Sega
"Mesonyx" Jon Dal Kristbjornsson
"C.C.Catch" Kenny Chow
"Nemesis" Andrew Wise
Link to the game Xixit on Archive.org
Link to Impulse Project Podcast - a sibling podcast about demoscene music
Track List:
00:00 Exuding Titleness - Necros
10:13 Music1 - Mesonyx
20:16 Music2 - Mesonyx
25:58 Music3 - Mesonyx
36:45 Pentagonal Dreams - Necros
43:10 Sacred Grounds - C.C.Catch
51:56 Visionary - Nemesis
2020-12-24
30 years later the film Home Alone remains a holiday classic. The games, not so much. The success of the first two films spawned a spate of 13 cheap cash-in games from 1991 to 1993 across just about every mainstream game system. Co-hosting alongside us, friends and longtime listeners Norm and UtopiaNemo join in what could be considered a holiday episode. We share some joy and laughter at the music that ranges from forgettable to miserable, with a few genuinely great songs in there for good measure.
2020 has been an exceptionally hard year for many of us, and we hope that you can find some joy in listening to the music of Home Alone as we close out our last show of the year. Whether you're just joining us or have been listening for a long time, we at Pixelated Audio wish you all well.
Track List:
Home Alone
0:00:00 Title Theme (GB)
0:04:50 House (NES)
0:15:10 Track 4 (GB)
0:21:15 Harry and Marv (SNES)
0:25:55 In-Game (DOS)
0:30:55 Outside (GEN)
0:35:18 Weapons (GEN)
0:41:00 Family House & Power House (SMS)
0:47:25 Haunted House (SMS)
Home Alone 2: Lost in New York
0:51:45 Airport / Game Over (GEN)
0:59:35 Street / Old House (GEN)
1:04:15 Dark Streets (GEN)
1:13:30 Title / Ending (GEN)
1:22:26 Ending (SNES) - From Home Alone 1
Home Alone
NES (1991) Composed by George Sanger
Super NES / Gameboy (1991) Composed by Mark Van Hecke
DOS (1991) Composed by Tom McMail
Genesis (1992) Composed by Rolf Weber and Clifford Falls
Sega Master System (1993) Composed by Matt Furniss
Home Alone 2: Lost in New York
Genesis (1993) Composed by David Delia and Paul Gadbois
2020-12-15
In the last installment we talked about Treasure Conflix, and today we're talking about the platform itself, the Nintendo Satellaview. The Satellaview was created as a partnership between the broadcasting company St.GIGA and Nintendo's R&D2 Division, the team responsible for the original Super Famicom. It was released as an add-on in 1995 and was a somewhat unique approach to an online service.
The system required a broadcast satellite just like you'd need for television, but instead it would broadcast digital data like games, news and hints through the service. It was reasonably successful with roughly 100,000 users at its peak and around 230 games were produced for it. Games ranged from ports of popular games, competition games for prizes, live broadcast games narrated by professional voice talent and original games. The weekly broadcast format was used to release certain games episodically over the course of several weeks, including games in the Zelda and F-Zero series. The Satellaview ran officially until 1999 when Nintendo dropped support but broadcasts from St.GIGA continued through June of 2000.
The Satellaview was like many online services in the mid 90s and featured a mini "world" where you moved your avatar around and communicated with NPCs to access the various features, similar to Nintendo's Miis in later consoles. Music plays while you're walking around the world and accessing the features, such as seeing the upcoming broadcasts or when downloading new games. The music for the Satellaview was composed by three veteran Nintendo composers: Akito Nakatsuka, Naoto Ishida & Yuichi Ozaki, which we believe are the primary composer and two sound designers respectively. The service may be offline but we can still enjoy some of the very characteristically Nintendo music, and we hope you enjoy it as much as we do.
All tracks composed by Akito Nakatsuka, Naoto Ishida & Yuichi Ozaki
Track List:
00:00 St. Giga Logo & Title
01:45 Naming Screen
04:03 Town
11:35 Overworld
14:11 Soundlink Schedule
20:50 Download 1
22:40 Download 2
26:55 Download 3
33:00 Breeding Charts (from Satesopo DX 4)
39:16 Error Screen
2020-12-07
In early 1996, Squaresoft released Treasure Conflix and three other exclusive titles for the Satellaview Broadcast Satellite system, an add-on for the Super Famicom. The soundtrack was written by longtime composer Junya Nakano. The game is an aerial combat and RPG hybrid where you split your time between fighting other airships in real time and traveling to small caves and towns to find upgrades for your airship. It remains untranslated but it isn't some long lost classic; the gameplay is serviceable and it can be beaten in just under 2 hours.
The Satellaview games do mark an interesting period of experimentation for Squaresoft. They sit between the earlier success of landmark RPGs like Final Fantasy IV, VI and Chrono Trigger and before the transition into the PS1 generation with games like Final Fantasy VII and Parasite Eve. Some of you might recognize Square's more notable Satellaview game Radical Dreamers which became the basis for Chrono Cross.
Composer and arranger Junya Nakano started his career at Konami in 1992. After that he moved on to Square from 1995-2009 and continues to work as a freelancer. As lead composer he's written the music for Threads of Fate and Final Fantasy IV: The After Years. More frequently he's been a co-composer and has worked on games like X-Men arcade and Tobal No. 1, as well as regular collaborations with Masashi Hamauzu on projects like Front Mission: Gun Hazard, Final Fantasy X, XIII, and the X/X-2 remasters.
Link
Bandcamp
Junya Nakano artist profile on VGMOnline
All tracks composed by Junya Nakano
Track List:
00:00 Title
05:40 Introduction
14:00 World Map
15:23 Battlefield
21:40 Town
26:58 Auction
28:30 Doom Triangle
31:40 Ending
35:00 Staff Roll
2020-11-30
The most interesting thing about Aworg: Hero in the Sky is that it was released on Sega Meganet, an early online service and precursor to the Sega Channel. Released in 1991 by Sega, Aworg is a short and fairly unremarkable action game where you traverse a maze in a robotic suit that can fly around, dash, and push enemies away with its jet stream. The game is short, and can be beaten in about 20 minutes with practice.
The music is credited to "Bambi" whose real name is unknown, but they were most likely a member of Sega's in-house sound team. It largely features early 90s piano house styled tunes and is more groove than anything, but catchy nonetheless. Enjoy what is perhaps our shortest episode ever.
Composed by "Bambi" (real credit unknown)
Track List:
00:00 Title
04:10 How to Play
09:21 BGM
15:02 Boss
17:50 Ending Theme
2020-11-23
Nothing beats Go on the go, and that's exactly what you get with 1500DS Spirits Volume 10: Igo! Game developer and cosmetics company Tasuke put out a number of these budget titles for the DS and DSiWare around 2007-2008, consisting mostly of board and card games. They're similar to the more well known D3 "Simple" series of budget titles. Igo is the 10th and final game in the 1500DS Spirits series, released in May of 2008.
We weren't able to find a composer for the game but it's another short episode with a nifty traditional Japanese soundtrack. Sit back and enjoy, and share your favorite Go strategies.
Composer unknown
Track List:
00:00 BGM1 / Title theme
07:57 BGM2
14:14 Rules
20:50 Mission
28:00 Puzzle
2020-10-17
In the late 90s, programmable robot toys were becoming popular and WonderBorg was no exception. Released by Bandai in 2000 for the WonderSwan and later for the PC, WonderBorg was a kit that included a programmable beetle robot and a application called Robot Works which allowed you to send basic commands to it.
The WonderBorg featured a number of sensors to give it some awareness of the world and it was capable of some moderately sophisticated conditional programming. It featured a simple code-free graphical condition builder and a few different modes like training, and even a Tamagotchi style "pet" mode in the Japanese release.
Sadly we couldn't find the composer of the music to give them proper credit but kick back and listen to some crunchy percussion and dance beats in this short episode. We hope you like it.
Composer unknown
Track List:
0:00:00 Track 1 - Title
0:07:10 Track 3 - Training
0:09:40 Track 5 - Map Theme 1
0:17:22 Track 6 - Map Theme 2?
0:23:35 Track 7 - Map Theme 3?
0:30:35 Track 9 - Map Won
2020-09-17
In 1995, the movie Waterworld was released and the real world was changed forever. As we pass the 25th anniversary, we attempt to rehabilitate the reputation of a perfectly competent mid 90s action film and then "dive" into the music of the many licensed cash-in games that followed the film's release.
The bulk of the Waterworld games were fittingly developed and/or published in 1995 by Ocean Software for the SNES, Virtual Boy, and Game Boy. They're a series of action games featuring a combination of swimming, platforming and boat combat stages. We also cover the unreleased Mega Drive port (based on the SNES) and briefly touch on the oddball PC Waterworld, a real-time strategy game published by Interplay in 1997. After we recorded the show we realized we missed a Waterworld pinball game, so apologies if you're sad that we left it out!
Each version features a different composer, and the music ranges from bad to excellent with no real correlation to gameplay quality. Join us as we go through 5 releases of the game, with a heavier emphasis on the SNES, VB, and MD versions.
Special thanks to Scooblee for ripping the Mega Drive version of the music on Project2612 earlier this year.
Track List:
0:00:00 Map (SNES)
0:04:26 Mission Theme 1
0:17:32 Diving
0:29:39 Attack 1
0:36:52 Misson Theme 3
0:43:10 Title (VB)
0:55:01 Gameplay
1:01:00 Track 1 (GB)
1:05:53 Title (PC)
1:10:25 Titles (MD)
1:17:18 Game Lost
1:20:45 In Atoll
1:28:45 Shop 1
Waterworld
Super Nintendo (1995) Composed by Dean Evans
Virtual Boy (1995) Composed by Dean Evans, Rearranged by Jonathan Dunn
Gameboy (1995) Composed by David "Uncle Art" Lowe
DOS / PC (1997) Composed by Richard Band
Mega Drive (Unreleased - 1995) Composed by Jason Page
2020-08-24
Aqua Kitty is an indie game success story. Developed by Tikipod and initially released in 2012 as a Playstation Mobile game, it saw continued releases with new features and improvements up to its most recent release on Switch in 2018, and it remains a blast to play today. We're very lucky to be joined by the game's composer, Mark Day (aka Electric Cafe) to talk about the music for Aqua Kitty in its various incarnations, as well as several other projects he's worked on.
The game is a tough as nails underwater arcade style horizontal shooter where you defend milk mining kittens from being abducted from waves of robotic fish. It borrows some of the best elements from games like Defender and R-Type and combined with the catchy soundtrack makes for an addictive experience that encourages "just one more game".
Developer Tikipod is an indie game studio started in 2009 by artist and designer Dugan Jackson. They specialize in modernized classic arcade style games with Dugan's beautiful pixel art. Their other games Rock Boshers and Iron Crypticle are top down 8-way directional games like Gauntlet and Robotron and are both great fun to play. They've also contributed dev work to other game studios like Curve's Stealth Inc, JAW Games Gravity Crash and Gravity Crash Ultra, and Omnisystems' Eufloria, among other projects.
Mark Day is a UK based composer also known by his production company name Electric Cafe. Mark's work on Aqua Kitty infuses chip sound reminiscent of the C64 and Amiga with modern styles and production for a pumping energetic soundtrack to keep you going throughout the frantic action. His new tracks for Aqua Kitty UDX in 2016 add flavor to the game while remaining true to its original spirit. Electric Cafe has been producing music for games and TV for over a decade, including music for popular British TV shows like "BBCs - The Apprentice" and "Top Gear" as well as games like Rock Boshers, Crazy Comets and Diner Dash.
In the later part of the show we talk with Mark and play music from several of his other projects, like his "imaginary RPG" album Shadow Spirits co-written with Cody Carpenter (son of the famous director John Carpenter), his ongoing remake of Double Dragon on the Amiga, and upcoming games Neopolis and the recently announced Aqua Kitty 2. As we often say on the show, let's take a listen to a wide range of music by Mark Day.
All tracks composed by Mark Day (Electric Cafe) unless otherwise stated
Track List:
0:00:00 Aqua Kitty - Aqua Kitty Theme
0:09:50 Aqua Kitty - Buttermilk Bay
0:20:05 Aqua Kitty - Creamy Cove
0:31:54 Aqua Kitty - Kitty Rock
0:40:39 Rock Boshers - Rock Boshers Theme
0:49:29 Aqua Kitty UDX - In The Hunt
0:55:48 Aqua Kitty UDX - Roll Tide
1:02:48 Shadow Spirits Vol. 1 - Victory Road
Composed by Mark Day and Cody Carpenter
1:14:42 Double Dragon (Amiga remake) - Industrial
Composed by Kazunaka Yamane
Remixed by Mark Day and Cody Carpenter
1:23:00 Neopolis - Teaser / Trailer
1:32:25 Aqua Kitty 2 - Stage 1
Links to the music:
Electric Cafe music (Bandcamp)
Shadow Spirits Vol. 1 (Bandcamp)
Composed by Mark Day and Cody Carpenter
Other links
Tikipod website
Aqua Kitty UDX
Articles by Tikipod lead designer and artist Dugan Jackson
A short history of Aqua Kitty
Creating the artwork for Aqua Kitty
Neopolis - Upcoming game with music by Mark Day
2020-08-10
In 1996, Sony opened the floodgates to indie console game development on the Playstation 1 through their Net Yaroze platform. Over the next several years, short games and demos of all kinds were created and distributed with game magazines on demo discs, including the focus of today's episode.
Hover Racing was created by a small team of university students led by designer Tomokazu Sato and primary composer Hiroaki Ohmori between April and November of 1997, a concise but polished clone of futuristic racing games like F-Zero X and Wipeout. The core gameplay consists of 3 Grand Prix with 3 tracks each, as well your usual practice and time attack modes. Like many games of the genre, you race at high speeds through sharp turns, boost pads, jumps and harsh terrain, all at a beautiful 60fps. Overall it's an impressive package from a team of novice indie game developers.
The core of the soundtrack was composed by Hiroaki Ohmori and features breezy tunes from popular electronic genres of the day; piano house, drum and bass, and techno. Ohmori went on to compose professionally for a few years, but lately seems to be more of a hobbyist musician. The second composer Tohru Kawakami contributed one joint track, but unfortunately we couldn't find any other info about him.
Join us as we discuss this unique moment in indie game dev history, and cover the music of Hover Racing.
Massive thanks to our friend electricboogaloo for show notes and research contributions as well as hardware recordings of all the music!
All tracks except Freezing Moment composed by Hiroaki Ohmori
* Freezing Moment composed by Hiroaki Ohmori and Tohru Kawakami
Track List:
0:00:00 A North Breeze
0:10:06 Laser Wind
0:15:58 Drop to the Sky
0:26:32 Mysterious Wave
0:38:51 Freezing Moment*
0:45:58 Groove On Night
All music was recorded using a model SCPH-1001 Playstation.
Hiroaki Ohmori's music (aka FlickerTone): Sound on the innerplanet (Apple Music)
Game download link
2020-07-23
We're joined once again by Swedish audio production team Sinephony, this time listening to the mellow jams from the 2017 game Airport CEO. The game is a tycoon and management sim from Swedish game developer Apoapsis Studios where you act as CEO of your own airport, in the tradition of games like Transport Tycoon and Sim Coaster. Airport CEO is currently available on Windows and Mac.
Sinephony is a multi-talented production team consisting of Daniel Rosenqvist and Anton Dromberg. They've worked on games like 198X, Planet Coaster, Elite Dangerous Horizons, commercials and even a few anime projects. Between the two of them, Anton and Daniel have a wealth of experience in audio production, composition and arrangement, and live performance. Anton has been a member of the Swedish Jazz scene for years and has toured all over the world. Daniel studied composition under former Konami and Square Enix composer Kenichiro Fukui, and also has experience with field recording, sound effects and mixing.
The music of Airport CEO is a stunning collection of breezy and jazzy tunes. It's full of amazing live performances including Anton on keys & synth and Daniel on bass & synth, and we hope you enjoy the music.
All tracks composed by Daniel Rosenqvist and Anton Dromberg (Sinephony)
Track List:
0:00:00 Like a CEO
0:18:35 JFK Cadence
0:35:40 Airport Elevator Pitch
0:54:55 Aerodynamics
Links to the music:
Bandcamp
Spotify
Performers on the recording:
Violin/viola: Isabelle Andö
Cello: Erik Hamrefors
Percussion: Mischa Grind
Guitar: Simon Löfstedt
Bass/synth: Daniel Rosenqvist
Keyboard/synth/piano: Anton Dromberg
Double bass: Samuel Löfdahl
Trumpet: Calle Stenman
Trombone: Hampus T. Adami
Saxophone/clarinet: Robert Nevén
Post production by Willem Bleeker of Baggpipe Studios
Other links
Making of Airport CEO video
Terraformers - an upcoming project with the music of Sinephony
Platina Jazz - Rasmus Faber's anime cover group
Monkey Kong - the early VGM band from Anton and Daniel
2020-07-16
Today we're joined by Swedish audio production studio Sinephony to talk about the 2019 indie game 198X from Swedish game developer Hi-Bit Studios. The game is a love letter to gaming in the 80s where you play through 5 different games (beat-em-up, shmup, racing, action platformer, and RPG) merged with cinematic storytelling. It started as a Kickstarter project and is now available for Windows, Mac, Switch and PS4.
Sinephony is a multi-talented production team consisting of Daniel Rosenqvist and Anton Dromberg. They've worked on games like Planet Coaster, Elite Dangerous Horizons, commercials and even a few anime projects. Between the two of them, Anton and Daniel have a wealth of experience in audio production, composition and arrangement, live performance. Anton has been a member of the Swedish Jazz scene for years and has toured all over the world. Daniel studied composition under former Konami and Square Enix composer Kenichiro Fukui, and also has experience with field recording, sound effects and mixing.
The music of 198X is an exploration of the era and shows off Sinephony's versatility as a composition team; from atmospheric synth music, to over the top 80s indulgence, melded with some of the best parts of Eastern and Western VGM tradition. There's even a few tracks from VGM legend Yuzo Koshiro in the game! There are also several tracks contributed by composer U.F.L.
We hope you enjoy the music as much as we have, and stay tuned for our next episode where we bring back Sinephony to cover the laid back music of Airport CEO
All tracks composed by Daniel Rosenqvist and Anton Dromberg (Sinephony), except "Cave" composed by Yuzo Koshiro
Track List:
0:00:00 Welcome to Suburbia
0:14:10 Beating Heart - The Final Fight
0:24:40 Out of the Void - Intro
0:27:46 Out of the Void - Stage 1-1
0:36:35 Out of the Void - Stage Boss
0:39:55 The Runaway - Intro + Route 86
0:50:48 Shadowplay - Cave (composed by Yuzo Koshiro)
0:58:06 Kill Screen - Motherboard
1:01:10 Kill Screen - Motherboard (Unused)
1:07:13 The Game Was Not Over
1:08:09 ...It was Just the Beginning
Links to the music:
Iam8Bit (vinyl)
Spotify
Apple Music
2020-07-03
Pixelated Audio is 6 years old! A lot has changed over that time, but the one constant is our love for game music of all kinds. Our theme today is a bit silly; games that are the 6th in a series (or at least have the number 6 in the title). We stretch the theme pretty far and come up with some fun tunes that we hope you'll enjoy.
Thanks to all of our listeners. We hope to keep doing what we love, listening to and sharing great game music.
Track List:
0:00:00 Rance VI: Zesu Houkai - Battle (WIN) by Dragon Attack!
0:08:00 Mega Man X6 - Commander Yammark (PS1) by Naoto Tanaka
0:16:35 100 Yen Disk 6 - THE LAST DAY (PC88) by Kamitama
0:26:15 Wizardy VI: Bane of the Cosmic Forge - Bane of the Cosmic Forge (SNES) by Kentaro Haneda
0:33:10 Hokuto no Ken 6: Gekitou Denshouken Haou heno michi - Falco's Theme (SNES) by Tomohisa Mitsuyasu (?)
0:39:38 Tantei Jinguuji Saburo: Yume no Owari ni - Silent Shadow (PS1) by Seiichi "ATOMIC" Hamada
0:50:02 Kenka Banchou 6: Soul & Blood - Battle Boss (3DS) by Salamander Factory
0:55:39 Leisure Suit Larry 6: Shape Up or Slip Out! - La Costa Lotta (DOS) by Dan Kehler
2020-06-16
KGB or Conspiracy is a 1992 game developed by Cryo Interactive Entertainment and published by Virgin Games for DOS and Amiga. KGB is a 1st person point and click adventure where you play as Maksim Rukov, an agent transferred to Department P and ordered to investigate possible corruption in the KGB after a former agent turns up dead. It's a challenging race against time that takes places in the gloomy final days of the Soviet Union.
The core soundtrack for DOS was composed by Stéphane Picq, with an original track and porting to Amiga handled by Alexandre Ekian. The music is a mix of moody electronic ambience and energetic melodic flourishes and features some of the best use of the Adlib (OPL2) soundchip from that era thanks to the custom HERAD music system by programmer and Cryo co-founder Remi Herbulot.
Stéphane Picq worked on a number of other titles, including the incredible 1992 Dune soundtrack, MegaRace, Lost Eden and Riverworld but left the industry around 1998. Alexandre Ekian worked on the Amiga port of Dune, and wrote the music for Super Burnout on the Atari Jaguar, but unfortunately we found little else about him. In any case, sit back and enjoy these long but excellent tunes.
Track List:
All tracks composed by Stéphane Picq, except Exxolove composed by Alexandre Ekian
05:10 Burokrat - OPL2
24:30 Kursk - OPL2
40:45 Exxolove - Amiga
53:00 Gorbi - OPL2
1:06:30 Paradise - MT-32
1:19:20 Gulag - OPL2
1:29:30 Machine - OPL2
2020-05-28
Today we're covering Psycho World, released for the MSX in 1988 and localized as Psychic World for the Sega Master System and Game Gear in 1991. The original MSX release was developed and published by Hertz, a short-lived Japanese game developer that also worked on number of ports with their final game being Vay for the Mega CD. The SMS and Game Gear ports of Psychic World were done through a partnership with SIMS and published by Sega.
Psycho World is an action platformer with a unique if somewhat unusual sprinting mechanic, that takes design cues from contemporary games like Metroid, Mega Man and Phantasy Star. The original MSX game features 8 lengthy stages, with the SMS and Game Gear getting scaled down ports with fewer stages, although each version has its merits.
The short and catchy MSX soundtrack was composed by Kenji Yamazaki and Yuko Yamazaki, who despite being listed by name in the credits have very little other info available. Kenji Yamazaki's other sole music credit was Hertz's RPG Sword of Legend Lenam. We couldn't find any other music credits for Yuko Yamazaki. The Game Gear and Master System ports were handled by Izuho Takeuchi aka "Ippo", a Sega veteran that also composed music for Phantasy Star III on the Mega Drive.
We focus mostly on the FM version of the soundtrack, with a few departures and comparisons to the other two. Join us as we listen and chat about the game in this lighthearted show.
Track List:
All tracks originally composed by Kenji Yamazaki and Yuko Yamazaki
SMS/GG arrangements by Izuho Takeuchi aka "Ippo"
3 Versions MSX FM, MSX PSG, SMS/GG PSG
00:00 Opening + Title - MSX FM
08:42 Stage 1 / Prairie - MSX PSG, SMS PSG, MSX FM
12:50 Stage 2 / Volcanic Area - MSX FM
21:40 Stage 3 / Ice Field - MSX PSG
24:48 Stage 4 / Ruins - SMS PSG, MSX PSG
33:53 Stage 5 - MSX FM
35:50 Boss 1 - MSX FM, SMS PSG
38:50 Demo (Cutscene) - MSX FM
41:49 Stage 6 - MSX PSG
43:14 Stage 7 - MSX FM
44:43 Stage 8 / Fortress - MSX FM, SMS PSG
49:20 Demo 2 / The Revelation - MSX FM
52:58 Boss 3 - MSX FM
1:00:02 Ending - MSX FM
2020-04-06
We once again return to the earliest days of game sound and music and trace the evolution from 1977 through 1984 in this historically focused episode. We go from the arcade boom, to early home consoles and computers, to the video game crash, and end just before the rise of the NES. The show is a much deeper dive on historical context, although we cover a lot more music in the second half.
We were very pleased to collaborate with special guests Alex Smith and Jeff Daum of They Create Worlds, a podcast, blog and book that focuses on getting nuanced and often untold stories from the game industry, with an emphasis on the lesser talked about business side of things. Their show does a fantastic job of capturing engaging context on everything from game genres, mega hits like Space Invaders and Tetris, to the founding of individual companies.
Our teams chose this specific time frame to both coincide with the first volume of Alex's recently released historical chronicle on gaming, and as a chance to explore music from a period that doesn't often get talked about. We also wanted to give a special thanks to another video game historian Ethan Johnson for connecting us with Alex and Jeff of They Create Worlds.
If you'd like more information on They Create Worlds, they can be found at:
theycreateworlds.com, on Twitter @tcwpodcast, or podcast.theycreateworlds.com
The book: "They Create Worlds: The Story of the People and Companies That Shaped the Video Game Industry, Vol. I: 1971-1982"
CRC Press
Amazon
For even more, Alex's older blog covers several more topics not discussed in the podcast videogamehistorian.wordpress.com
Track List:
0:00:00 Wandering Across Sosaria - Ultima III: Exodus (1983, APL2) - Kenneth W. Arnold
0:20:32 Circus (1977, ARC) - Edward Valleau, Howell Ivy
0:27:56 Space Invaders (1978, ARC) - Tomohiro Nishikado
0:32:06 Asteroids (1979, ARC) - Lyle Rains, Ed Logg, Dominic Walsh
0:34:11 Sheriff (1979, ARC) - Genyo Takeda
0:38:29 Targ (1980, ARC) - Unknown
0:40:15 Pac-Man (1980, ARC) - Shigeichi Ishimura, Toshio Kai
0:45:33 Wizard of Wor (1981, ARC) - Tom McHugh, Dave Nutting
0:47:44 Rally-X (1980, ARC) - Toshio Kai
0:48:00 New Rally-X (1981, ARC) - Nobuyuki Ohnogi
0:54:52 Venture (1981, ARC) - Ed Anderson
0:59:54 Snafu (1981, INTV) - Russell Libelich
1:04:05 Moon Patrol (1982, ARC) - Ichirō Takagi
1:08:47 Pengo (1982, ARC) - 1st version is a cover of "Popcorn" by Gershon Kingsley (likely the Hot Butter arrangement)
1:10:01 Super Locomotive (1982, ARC) - cover of "Rydeen" by Yellow Magic Orchestra
1:12:42 Xevious (1983, ARC) - Yuriko Keino
1:14:50 Mappy (1983, ARC) - Nobuyuki Ohnogi
1:18:05 Donkey Kong (1983, FC) - Yukio Kaneoka and Hirokazu “Hip” Tanaka
1:19:13 Necromancer (1984, C64 | 1983, Atari 8-bit) - Bill Williams
1:24:22 SubRoc (1983, ColecoVision) - Arnold Hendrick, Philip Taterczynski, David Wesely
1:25:55 Title - Forbidden Forest (1983, C64) - Paul Norman
1:28:52 Title - M.U.L.E. (1983, Atari 8-bit) - Roy Glover
1:31:33 In-game - Spy Hunter (1983, ARC) - cover of "Peter Gunn Theme" by Henry Mancini
1:32:46 Attract Mode - Tube Panic (1984, ARC) - Ryoichi Yamada, Ichirou Takagi
1:34:30 In-game - Pitfall II (1984, Atari VCS) - David Crane
1:36:30 Tower of Druaga (1984, ARC) - Junko Ozawa
1:40:07 Title - Dragon's Lair (1984, Coleco Adam) - Unknown
1:43:59 Intermediate Race - Marble Madness (1984, ARC) - Brad Fuller, Hal Canon
1:52:46 Rank Theme 2 - Road Fighter (1984, ARC) - Yoshinori Sasaki
2020-03-02
What does it feel like to soar through the skies in a hot air balloon? Kaze no Notam on the Sony Playstation attempts to answer that question. Released September 1997 by the mid-sized Japanese developer Artdink, Kaze no Notam is an easygoing flight sim in the vein of Pilotwings with some light objectives, although it's more tech demo than game.
The composer for the game is Ryuuji Nishida who also worked on a number of projects for Artdink like 'No One Can Stop Mr. Domino', Zeus II Carnage Heart, A-Train DS, and Sword Art Online: Lost Song. He's an accomplished composer and has been at Artdink for over 20 years and is currently the head of their sound department.
The game was chosen by friend of the show Brennan aka "Hammock" from his podcast KVGM – The Last Wave, which specializes in delivering breezy jams 30 minutes at a time from his native Aqua City. Hammock takes a break from drinking Arnold Palmtrees at the KVGM studio to bring us this hidden gem of a soundtrack featuring a wide range of relaxing styles of late 90's electronic sounds, and we hope you enjoy them as much as we do.
If you like what you hear, check out KVGM - The Last Wave on iTunes or your favorite podcatcher, on Twitter at @kvgmradio, or online at kvgmradio.blogspot.com.
Track List:
All tracks composed by Ryuuji Nishida
0:00:00 Opening Demo
0:00:40 Menu
0:12:12 Departure
0:17:36 Customize
0:26:32 Tranquility
0:34:00 Phantom
0:47:44 Task Completed
0:52:07 Task Failed
1:02:00 Nature
1:12:25 Solitude
1:22:19 Staff Roll
2020-02-13
Harald Hårdtand: Kampen om de rene tænder (or Harold Hardtooth in The Fight for Clean Teeth) or simply "Colgate" for short, is an advergame platformer released in 1992 for the C64, Amiga and DOS. The game was developed by SilverRock Productions, a Copenhagen-based Danish company founded in 1988 and renamed in 1992 to Interactive Television Entertainment (ITE), best known for developing and producing the Hugo the Troll media franchise.
The soundtrack is short and sweet with only 3 tracks, or 4 if you count the unused title theme. The music was originally composed on C64 by Thomas Mogensen, a.k.a. (DRAX) of the demoscene group Vibrants. Additional support for sound effects and music for all three platforms was handled by Jens-Christian Huus (JCH) and Jesper Olsen (JO) of Vibrants, and Thomas Engel. Join us as we dive into the music of an advergame for the first but probably not last time.
Track List:
Original music and C64 version composed by Thomas Mogensen (DRAX)
Amiga music ported by Jesper Olsen (JO)
DOS (OPL2) music ported by Jens-Christian Huus (JCH)
0:00:06 Title theme (Funk.SID) - C64
0:07:20 Unused title theme (Harald Hårdtand.SID) - C64
0:18:22 Title theme - DOS
0:23:06 Boss theme - DOS
0:25:30 Boss theme - Amiga
0:31:01 Hiscore theme - DOS
2020-01-29
Alex the Allegator 4 (aka Alex 4) is a freeware platformer released for PC, Mac, Linux and BeOS in 2003 by Free Lunch Design. Free Lunch Design was a small indie developer based in Gothenburg, Sweden, best known for their game Icy Tower. The company was started in 1998 by Johan Peitz with the goal of creating fun, high quality games with a focus on gameplay.
We're excited to have the composer for the game Anders Svensson calling in from Sweden. Anders spent the early 2000s writing music for indie games in the lesser known early social internet. In the intervening years he's devoted his energy to his acapella group Kvartetten DEO (Quartet DEO), whose wonderful music can be found at deo.se.
Listen with us through the soundtrack to the fun and charming Alex 4, and a number of other tracks from the heyday of Free Lunch Design.
Track List:
All tracks composed by Anders Svensson unless otherwise stated
0:00:06 Once I was an egg (Intro)
0:00:35 Once I was an egg (Menu loop)
0:09:22 Once I was an egg (Game Loop)
0:24:24 Lola's space fighter
0:31:41 Man of Constant Sorrow (excerpt) - From Icy Tower
Original folk song published by Dick Burnett (1913)
0:33:49 Gräddkola - Entry for Compusphere 2005
0:37:05 Once I was an egg (Boss Loop)
0:41:58 Menu Loop - From CubeAttack (Go Bots!)
0:45:22 Game Loop - From CubeAttack (Go Bots!)
0:48:49 Zombies - From Zombiepox
0:52:28 Ullared (excerpt) by Kvartetten Deo
1:01:11 Once I was an egg (Intermission + Game Over)
2020-01-17
Pixelated Audio reflects back on 2019 and welcomes in a new decade with a selection of tracks from a variety of systems. Here's to a lots more great game music!
Track List:
0:00:00 God of the Four Winds - The Legend of Xanadu (PCE-CD) - Falcom Sound Team jdk
0:06:31 Title - Yuu Yuu Hakusho-Bakutou Ankoku Bujutsu Kai (FC) - SWITCH-E
0:12:42 Stage 2-4 - God of Thunder (DOS) - Roy Davis
0:20:15 Deliverance - Assassin's Creed III Liberation (VITA) - Winifred Phillips
0:29:39 BGM 3 - Magical Drop (GBC) - Hiroaki Yoshida, Allister Brimble
0:33:14 Cross a Fear - Castlevania: Rondo of Blood (PCE-CD) - Keizo Nakamura
0:40:50 Game Point - Mario Tennis (GBC) - Motoi Sakuraba
0:46:44 The Stars Come Out - Digital: A Love Story (PC) - Brother Android
2019-12-17
Panzer Dragoon Saga or Azel has been on the Pixelated Audio radar for some time and we couldn't be happier that it's finally here. The stars aligned and with the help of Alex Aniel of Brave Wave Productions, Saori Kobayashi became the first confirmed Japanese guest to come to MAGWest 3 in California. We had the chance to interview her in-person, see her talk about her career and hear her splendid live concert featuring Stemage on guitar, Ronin Op F on violin and Michelle Dreyband on vocals.
The series began as a pair of rail shooters on the Saturn developed by Sega's in house group, Team Andromeda. In order to compete with games like Final Fantasy VII, Panzer Dragoon Saga was made into a JRPG and released worldwide on the Saturn in 1998. It features a semi-realtime 3D combat system, an evocative soundtrack and gorgeous art design. Although the game had a small print run in the West due to its relatively late release, it received critical acclaim and became one of the most well-loved classics on the system, remaining a cult favorite to this day.
Composers Saori Kobayashi and Mariko Nanba bring together an incredible album of exotic soundscapes that has rarely been matched. They combine the best characteristics of classic melody driven Japanese game music with the expanding richness that was becoming possible during the Saturn era to make a soundtrack that stays with you long after you stop listening.
Saori Kobayashi has become synonymous with the world of Panzer Dragoon, having written the music for Panzer Dragoon Saga, Orta, the spiritual sequel Crimson Dragon, her original album Terra Magica and the Panzer Dragoon Saga 20th Anniversary album. She's also worked on titles like Sylvan Tale on the Game Gear and Shadowgate 64.
Mariko Nanba is the lesser known composer of the two but she is no slouch herself. Nanba joined Sega in the early 1990s and in addition to writing some of our favorite songs in Panzer Dragoon Saga, went on to write music for Space Channel 5 Part 2, Sonic the Hedgehog (2006), Sonic Rush Adventure, Sonic Colors and many others.
Track List:
All music composed and arranged by Saori Kobayashi unless otherwise stated
0:00:00 Ecce Valde Generous Ale ~Behold the Precious Wings~ (Title theme)
Composed by Mariko Nanba, arranged by Hayato Matsuo
0:09:28 Premonition of War
0:14:31 Overworld - excerpt from Sylvan Tale
0:21:18 Mutation I
0:25:30 The Chaos Within the Silence
0:33:36 Giant Creature
0:43:23 Rest
Composed by Mariko Nanba
0:49:08 Seekers' Stronghold / シーカーの里 (20th Anniversary)
Composed by Mariko Nanba, arranged by Saori Kobayashi
0:54:36 The Expected Enemy / The Unexpected Enemy
Composed by Tomonori Sawada - from Panzer Dragoon Zwei
1:05:36 Paet's Theme
1:14:52 Zoah
1:26:12 Wandering
1:38:30 Atolm Dragon (20th Anniversary)
1:51:38 Forest Shriek / 森の悲鳴 (20th Anniversary)
1:59:34 Tears / 涙 (20th Anniversary)
Performed by Triforce Quartet
2:01:55 Tears (excerpt)
2:05:49 Sona Mi Areru Ec Sancitu ~Art Thou the Holy One~
Vocals by Eri Ito
Thanks again to Alex Aniel and the wonderful folks at Brave Wave Productions for giving us the opportunity to bring Kobayashi stateside and interview her. Check out their bandcamp page for tons of other great releases!
For more music from Kobayashi and the very talented musicians that work with her:
Resurrection: Panzer Dragoon Saga 20th Anniversary Arrangement album
Bandcamp, Apple, Amazon
Terra Magica
Bandcamp, Apple, Amazon
Crimson Dragon soundtrack
Apple, Amazon
Journey by 茜 -AKANE-
Bandcamp
Members:
Saori Kobayashi (Panzer Dragoon)
Yumiko Takahashi (Suikoden)
For links to the MAGWest content
MAGWest 2019 Concert
MAGWest 2019 Panel
And finally a link to the Polygon article
Panzer Dragoon Saga: An oral history
2019-10-18
MAGWest 2019 came and went in San Jose, California and what a ride it was! We cap off another jam-packed weekend with a panel featuring a very special guest; chibi-tech!
Chibi-tech is a world-renowned chiptune artist that is originally from the Bay Area. She now lives in Japan and works as an in-house composer and sound engineer for M2, the company responsible for stellar ports like the Sega Ages and Sega 3D Classics games. Join us as we chat with the talented and versatile chibi-tech about her career as a composer, sound designer, remixer and much more.
Track List:
0:00:00 Main Menu Mix - NEOGEO Station (PS3, PSP, PSV)
0:09:41 Camino a Mi Amor - 3D OutRun (3DS)
Based on tracks composed by Hiroshi Kawaguchi
0:18:37 Golden Axe II (Menu Theme) - Sega Vintage Collection (PS3, 360)
0:27:26 Monster World IV (Menu Theme) - Sega Vintage Collection (PS3, 360)
Based on tracks composed by Jin Watanabe
0:32:50 Untitled (Cinnamon Bun?)
0:38:13 Skyclad Observer 8BIT Mix (instrumental) - 8-BIT ADV Steins;Gate (SWITCH), from the album FAMICOLLE STEINS;GATE
Originally composed by Takeshi Abo
0:40:20 Moe Moe Kyunstep (PART II - キュン -)
0:51:47 A New Leaf Everyday - Tokyo School Life (PC)
0:54:54 Asteroid - N'th Driven Mix - from Psyvariar THE MIX album
Originally composed by Tetsuro Sato
1:01:55 ToeJam & Earl (Menu Theme) - Sega Vintage Collection (PS3, 360)
Based on tracks composed by John Baker
1:13:30 Return to Bounds - from Psycho Somatic Generation
Links
MAGWest 2019 Performance
Bandcamp, Soundcloud
Psycho Somatic Generation album and NES/Famicom: a visual compendium from Bitmap Books
MoeNES vol.1 album, contains Moe Moe Kyunstep
Sega Ages website
M2 website
PSYVARIAR "THE MIX" album
2019-10-01
Pixelated Audio is excited to bring Megan McDuffee into the studio to chat with us about her work for the recently released River City Girls!
River City Girls is a classic action beat-em-up with light RPG elements, building on the long legacy of the River City (or Kunio-Kun) games started by Technos in the 1980s. It was released September 5th, 2019 for the Nintendo Switch, PS4, Xbox One and Steam and developed by WayForward Technologies with oversight and some publishing handled by Arc System Works.
Megan McDuffee has been making a name for herself in the music community as a synthwave vocalist and producer, electronic music composer and sound designer. She has worked on several games with River City Girls being her biggest game to date. Megan brings the heat to this soundtrack with high energy dance music, thrilling vocals, and crisp production work on over 50 tracks with her signature 80's inspired synthpop sound.
Additional tracks in the game are provided by Chipzel, Dale North, NateWantsToBattle, and Cristina Vee, which can all be found on the full soundtrack. We hope you enjoy the music and this show as much as we do!
Track List:
All music composed by Megan McDuffee unless otherwise stated
0:00:00 Lunch Money
0:09:00 Bully
0:14:51 Knock Out (remix of Jail Fight)
0:18:38 Jail Fight from Shin Nekketsu Kōha: Kunio-tachi no Banka, composed by Hitoshi Yamane
0:23:35 Detention
0:32:55 The Hunt
0:45:33 Don't Give A...
remix of Street Theme / Main Theme from River City Ransom, composed by Kazuo Sawa
0:57:23 Watch Your Back
1:01:15 Skull Crackin'
1:07:57 Yesterday (Unused) - PA Exclusive!
1:09:57 Tidal Wave
1:15:37 Boardwalk
1:19:53 Boss: Noize
1:27:25 Azukay
1:37:08 Manga 5
If you'd like to hear more work from Megan McDuffee, check out the links below!
River City Girls Soundtrack - Link to purchase or stream
Website, Twitter, Bandcamp
Hero by Alex and Megan McDuffee - Album
Streets - Moonrunner83 & Megan McDuffee - Music video
Badass Ladies - Squashing The Gender Gap in Game Audio - Panel at MAGWest 1
2019-09-04
EVE burst error is an adult-oriented visual novel originally released for the PC-98 in 1995 by C's Ware with additional ports to Saturn and Windows.
In EVE you follow the interconnected stories of Marina and Kojiroh as they avoid death and danger at every turn in order to discover the truth behind their respective missions. Combine the powerhouse compositional forces of Ryu Umemoto and Ryu Takami with the storytelling finesse of Hiroyuki Kanno (lead designer of YU-NO) and you get a recipe for a gripping game whose impact reverberates all the way to contemporary visual novels like Steins;Gate.
EVE Burst Error launched a number of sequels and remakes, but few of the soundtracks hit as powerfully as the original PC-98 where we'll spend most of our focus. Join us as we listen to music from two of the greatest FM synthesis masters of their day; funky bass lines, hard hitting techno, soulful melodies and all.
[Ryu Umemoto]
Ryu Umemoto was best known for his work in the 1990s writing stellar FM music for games like Princess Maker 2, Desire, Xenon, and YU-NO. In the 2000s he also worked on many notable shmups like Psyvariar, Mushihime-sama, Espgaluda II and Akai Katana. Sadly we tragically lost Umemoto too soon; he passed away at the age of 37 in 2011. He was loved by his friends and peers and left us with a huge body of amazing music. Considering how obscure many of his early games are outside of Japan, it speaks volumes to his abilities that his work on games like Xenon, YU-NO and EVE burst error are are so well-traveled in VGM circles and his reputation as a skilled VGM composer is rightly deserved.
For many more details and kind words, read the memorial article and memorial blog post by Audi aka Audun Sorlie.
[Ryu Takami]
Ryu Takami is the secondary composer on EVE burst error but no slouch in the composition department. He was the primary composer for Grounseed, worked on the soundtracks for Cosmic Psycho, Rusty, and the console port of Deathsmiles. When he isn't composing, Takami is working on studio projects as a mix engineer and was the lead on the Xenon and EVE Burst remaster albums in 2008. He also released a track for the recent Ubiktune album SOUNDSHOCK 3. Make sure to check out his incredible work on both the OPNA and OPN soundtracks for Grounseed and episode 47 where we covered them in more depth.
[Hiroyuki Kanno]
Hiroyuki Kanno was a game designer, director and programmer on Japanese adult visual novels with EVE burst error being one of his biggest hits. Kanno was responsible for pushing forward branching character paths in the 90s, like the system used in EVE burst error. This concept would be expanded in Kanno's next hit game, YU-NO and and again on games like Exodus Guilty at his own company Abel. Many cite Kanno as a huge influence on otaku culture in general, and specifically on the Fate/stay Night and Steins;Gate games. Kanno tragically passed away in 2011 at the young age of 43. A successful game designer with a lasting impact, he will also be greatly missed.
EVE burst error (C's Ware, 1995)
Composed by Ryu Umemoto, Ryu Takami
Track List:
OPN (PMD) / OPNA (PMD PPZ8)
0:00:00 日常 (Everyday) / Day Marina (OPN) - Ryu Takami
0:12:36 あまぎ探偵事所 (Amagi Detective Office) / Office Kojiroh (OPNA) - Ryu Umemoto
0:22:44 Main (Noon) for Woman / Investigation Marina (OPN) - Ryu Umemoto
0:35:38 Main (Noon) for Man / Day Kojiroh (OPNA) - Ryu Umemoto
0:40:38 Bar (OPNA) - Ryu Umemoto
0:48:30 トリスタン号 (Tristan) (OPN) - Ryu Umemoto
0:52:03 錯乱 (confusion) (OPN) - Ryu Takami
1:01:24 甲野本部帳 / Office Marina (OPNA) - Ryu Umemoto
1:05:41 憩い (rest) / Shopping (OPNA) - Ryu Umemoto
1:11:19 憩い (rest) / Shopping (Saturn) - Ryu Umemoto
1:13:28 狂気 (madness) / Crisis (OPN) - Ryu Takami
1:16:08 ハッカー (hacker) / Hacking (OPNA) - Ryu Takami
1:20:18 決意 (determination) (OPN) - Ryu Umemoto
1:21:47 会話 (common) / Conversation (OPNA) - Ryu Umemoto
2019-08-06
What could be better than more sports games? Celebrity tie-in sports games!
We dug deep in the archives (and the bargain bins) and found some wonderful and obscure games with celebrity athletes representing sports from snooker to soccer (or football for those outside the US).
Whether you like sports or not, we hope you enjoy this varied selection of tunes in our latest expansion pack!
Track List:
0:00:00 "All_Comp" (title theme) Miyazato San Kyoudai Naizou - Sega Golf Club (PS3) - Unknown
0:07:38 Track 1 John Barnes European Football (Atari ST) - Matt Furniss
0:15:22 Title The Carl Lewis Challenge (Amiga) - Chris Huelsbeck
0:26:00 Title Nick Faldos Championship Golf (CD32) - Andi McGinty
0:34:14 BGM1 Jimmy White’s Cueball (GBC) - Manfred Linzner
0:43:51 Menu Shawn Johnson Gymnastics (NDS) - Unknown
0:52:50 Untitled Anna Kournikova's Smash Court Tennis (PS1) - Namco Sound Team
1:00:20 Win Tournament Jimmy Connors Pro Tennis Tour (SNES) - Roger Goede
1:06:13 Title Jimmy Connors Pro Tennis Tour (LYNX) - Paul Tonge
1:11:48 Shooting Stars Shimono Masaki no Fishing to Bassing (SNES) - Iku Mizutani, Kinuyo Yamashita, Shinya Kurahashi
2019-07-09
Basted (バステッド) is a Japanese exclusive PC-Engine CD game released in 1994 developed and published by NEC Avenue.
The game is a very lightweight action RPG. Over the course of its rather short 3 hour playtime, you'll see over 30 minutes of beautiful (and sometimes risque) cutscenes from AIC Spirits with the voice acting and music handled by 81 Produce.
The game uses redbook audio almost exclusively so prepare for CD audio spanning a wide range of genres from rock, dance, to honky tonk and beyond. We hope you enjoy the show and the various tracks Basted has to offer.
Track List:
All tracks produced by 81 Produce, with project management led by Touru Nakano
00:05 File Manager (Save Data Menu)
07:16 Overworld
12:15 The Town of Marisoon
18:58 Marisoon Aftermath
22:32 Battle Player Select / Battle
31:52 Ruins of Marisoon Castle
35:52 Boss Battle
43:12 Palace
46:20 Largryme Final Form
50:03 Staff Roll
55:40 Ending
2019-06-21
Inspired by our talk at the Library of Congress, we have a shorter show covering the music of Gyruss over about 25 years of releases.
Gyruss was originally developed by Konami in 1983 with ports developed and published by many companies over its history. We even find the game showing up in a few unexpected places.
The original theme is based on J.S. Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D Minor which is a fairly well known organ piece in the classical repertoire. You'll hear a few different takes on the Bach piece as well as a few new compositions. We hope you enjoy the show!
Track List:
00:00 Start + Main BGM 1 (ARC)
06:58 Main BGM 2 (ARC)
10:11 Main BGM 3 (C64)
14:58 Stage 1 (FDS)
21:11 Stage 2 (NES)
25:46 Bonus Stage (FDS/NES)
29:01 Jungle Theme 1 (PS1) - from Contra: Legacy of War
34:33 Main BGM (XBLA)
41:04 Ending (FDS)
Gyruss - (Arcade, 1983) Arranged by Masahiro Inoue
Gyruss - (C64, 1984) Arranged by Unknown
Gyruss - (FDS/NES, 1988/1989) Composed and arranged by Atsushi Fujio, Yuichi Sakakura, Harumi Ueko
Contra: Legacy of War - (PS1/SAT, 1996/1997) Composed by Attila Héger
Gyruss - (XBLA, 2007) Arranged by Jeroen Tel
We also want to thank Hardcore Gaming 101 for their excellent article on Gyruss which was the source of some of the episode information.
2019-06-07
Today we're joined by long time listener and friend to the show Norm as we cover the classic soundtrack of Quartet.
Originally developed and published by Sega in 1986, Quartet is a futuristic 4-player arcade platformer with elements borrowed from Gauntlet. Quartet only saw one major wave of releases in arcades and home consoles plus a Sega Ages rerelease, but it maintains a dedicated fanbase and the music composed by Katsuhiro Hayashi plays a big role.
Katsuhiro Hayashi, a.k.a. "Funky K.H" is a composer and former S.S.T. Band keyboardist with some impressive credits. In addition to Quartet, he worked on Super Hang-On, SDI, and Galaxy Force I/II in arcades, and many other console games over the years. Since 2005 he left the conventional games business to work mostly on pachinko games but his music has left a lasting impact.
Join us as we listen to the Arcade and Sega Master System versions of Quartet along with a few brief departures.
Track List:
All music composed by Katsuhiro Hayashi unless otherwise stated
Quartet - Arcade
Quartet - SMS
0:00:04 Miami Samba Machine (ARC)
0:00:16 Quartet Theme (ARC)
0:08:10 Quartet Theme / Stage 1 (SMS)
0:16:25 FM Funk (ARC)
0:19:56 FM Funk / Stage 4 (SMS)
0:23:38 FM Funk / Stage 2 (ARC) - from Spider-Man: The Video Game
0:30:12 Sky (ARC)
0:33:22 Sky / Stage 2 (SMS)
0:47:27 OKI_RAP (ARC)
0:49:43 OKI_RAP / Stage 3 (SMS)
0:52:10 OKI_RAP / Stage 3 - from Spider-Man: The Video Game
0:54:44 Rap Test (ARC) - from sound test
0:57:25 Stage 5 (SMS)
1:01:21 Stage 5 - FM arrangement by "For Me"
1:07:22 Stage 6 (SMS)
1:11:24 Subtune 6 (C64) - composed by David Whittaker
1:14:17 Final Boss (SMS)
1:15:46 Ending Theme (SMS)
1:23:38 Quartet Medley 2005 (PS2) - from Sega Ages Vol. 21: SDI & Quartet
Arranged by: Mitsuharu Fukuyama
Performed by (H.) the spiritual successor to the S.S.T. Band
Keyboard & Trumpet: Mitsuharu Fukuyama
Keyboard: Hiroshi Kawaguchi
Bass: Takenobu Mitsuyoshi
Guitar: Keitaro Hanada
Links
Check out Norm on his Twitter (Normally Retro), his YouTube channel featuring video game voice samples, and his excellent theme song for the Top 47k Games podcast from HG101
For more on character designer Rieko Kodama read interviews with her on her work on Phantasy Star IV, Skies of Arcadia or go to her Sega Retro page for a list of game credits.
Listen to Quartet FM arrangements of SMS exclusive songs by YouTube and NicoNico user "For Me"
Albums mentioned on the show
SDI & Quartet (2005 by Sega) (JP) - originals and arrangements
Sega Game Music Vol. 2 (JP) - Quartet main theme only
Sega System 16 Complete Soundtrack Vol. 1 (JP) - a 3 disc set from 2010
Sega Arcade Selection D-RAM Remix - Sega Remix album (info only)
Music
SMSPower - Quartet (SMS)
VGMRips - Quartet (Arcade)
2019-05-21
After a long break we're back with another Music Disk volume for more FM synth.
This episode's music comes from a disk titled Imagical Musion Depot Vol. 3 by the group Active Gamers, led by NT-3 for the PC-8801. The disk was released in 1996 and uses PMD ver3.9 (by KAJA). Get ready for another round of mostly originals from a slew of different musicians in a range of styles.
Imagical Musion Depot Vol. 3
Composed by: NT-3, Monden, Amakko 2go, OSATOH, MKR, SHYNER, JNY, yon, Stradivarius, Masaya Saito, Anima, Unira, MORU
activegamers.com
Track list:
0:00:00 The Second Mission - NT-3
0:09:02 Hangout - NT-3
0:13:31 Tricky - NT-3
0:18:35 Stranger - Monden
0:22:34 Euro Dance - Monden
0:24:53 Bad Scheme - Monden
0:29:05 Catch Me Tonight - Monden
0:33:46 Urban Cats - OSATOH
0:39:26 Schizoid - Masaya Saito
0:43:57 Imada Minu Chinohate ni - yon
0:47:39 Passed by - Anima
0:54:12 Yume no Naka no Chiisana Genjitsu - NT-3
2019-05-09
After the Library of Congress we're kicking off a new short episode format and making a return to the wellspring of great VGM with another sports title. This time we're listening to the music of tennis game Rackets & Rivals released on the NES in 1993 only in... Europe?
Developed and published by Konami or more accurately their European subsidiary Palcom, Rackets & Rivals is an unremarkable late-era NES game with a brief but excellent soundtrack worthy of some attention. The range of Konami technical tricks is on full display here.
Just after recording, Bryan confirmed with Hiroshi Takeyasu (of Bemani fame) that he did indeed compose 2 songs and create sound effects for the game. Although he couldn't recall which two tracks, stylistically Match Results and the Unused track sound most similar so that's our best guess. The other suspected composer Tomoya Tomita also responded to Bryan with a confident "no", so the second composer of the game remains a minor mystery. Enjoy!
Track List:
All tracks composed by Hiroshi Takeyasu and (?)
00:08 Title Screen
08:41 Main Menu
13:48 Next Opponent
17:52 Match Results
22:05 Tournament Victory
29:07 Unused (Ending/Staff Roll?)
2019-05-01
We're back from the Library of Congress and what a rare honor it was to be included in their inaugural weekend long event celebrating the music of games. Our talk, which you'll hear today, covered the early history of video game audio with a few detours into film and pop culture for context.
In addition to our talk, we also got to speak on a panel discussion alongside composer Austin Wintory (Journey) and game designer Rami Ismail (Nuclear Throne) for the world premiere of Austin's interactive piece Arrows. We also got to meet Winifred Phillips (Assassin's Creed III: Liberation) after her talk on interactive game audio!
The Library of Congress was a wonderful experience; certainly one for the history books (quite literally) and we hope you enjoy our talk. Here's a link to the video of the presentation.
We did our best to make our talk as enjoyable as possible for regular show listeners but we have also included our presentation slides which help enhance the experience. Click through the presentation below to see the visual aids and video examples we used during our talk. If it doesn't load for you, click here.
Track List:
0:12:57 Pong (ARC - 1972)
0:13:19 Gunfight (ARC - 1975)
0:13:43 Breakout (ARC - 1976)
0:14:44 Combat (VCS - 1977)
0:15:38 Space Invaders (ARC - 1978)
0:18:34 Vanguard (ARC - 1981)
0:20:07 Gyruss (ARC - 1983)
0:22:06 Alley Cat (IBM-PC - 1984)
0:24:01 Snafu (INTV - 1981)
0:24:40 Penguin Adventure (MSX - 1986)
0:26:40 Commando (C64 -1985)
0:30:54 Myth (C64 - 1989)
0:34:26 Super Mario Bros. (NES - 1985)
0:35:40 Journey to Silius (NES - 1990)
0:38:20 Marble Madness (ARC - 1984)
0:39:30 Outrun (ARC - 1986)
0:45:35 Shadow of the Beast (AMI - 1989)
0:48:26 Final Fantasy III (SNES - 1994)
0:51:33 CANYON.MID - (PC, Windows 3.1 - 1992)
0:53:54 Doom - Adlib version (PC - 1993)
0:54:54 Doom - Sound Canvas version (PC - 1993)
0:56:44 Ys I & II (TG-CD - 1989)
0:58:00 Myst (MAC - 1993)
1:00:03 Monkey Island 2 (PC - 1991)
1:01:45 Banjo-Kazooie (N64 - 1998)
2019-04-12
We're back from our break with a new episode, and this time we have an expansion pack with the many supportive friends and family members that joined us in Washington DC.
On the show we have Bryan, Gene and his wife representing Pixelated Audio, Ed and family members Logan and Myla of the VGMBassy, and Emily of Sound Test Roulette. Each person picked a song that holds a special place in their heart as we reminisce on our time over the weekend.
Though they couldn't be with us for the recording, we were also joined over the weekend by Rob and Pernell of Rhythm and Pixels as well as perennial VGM stalwart Chris Murray.
Stay tuned for our recording from the Library of Congress in the next few weeks, or wait until it's officially up in 3-4 months.
Track List:
0:00:00 World 1 - Yoshi’s Crafted World (Switch)
Composed by Kazufumi Umeda
Picked by Logan
0:08:16 Yarn Yoshi Takes Shape - Yoshi’s Wooly World (WiiU/3DS)
Composed by Tomoya Tomita, Misaki Asada, Kazumi Totaka
Picked by Myla
0:13:56 Isabella - Leader of the Resistance - Freedom Fighters (PS2/GC/XBOX/Win)
Composed by Jesper Kyd
Picked by Ed
0:27:05 Last Drive - Knight Arms: The Hyblid Framer (X68k)
Composed by Toshiya Yamanaka
Picked by Gene
0:33:02 Rainbow Road - Mario Kart 64 (N64/Wii/WiiU)
Composed by Kenta Nagata
Picked by Michelle
0:42:30 Stage 1 - Ginga Fukei Densetsu Sapphire (PCE-CD)
Composed by T's Music
Picked by Bryan
0:49:55 Dreamscape - Wandersong (Switch/PS4/Win/Mac)
Composed by A Shell in the Pit (Gordon McGladdery), Greg Lobanov
Picked by Emily
Links to our friends' VGM podcasts
The VGMBassy
Sound Test Roulette
Rhythm and Pixels
2019-03-07
Gabriel Knight was developed and published by Sierra On-Line on December 17, 1993 for DOS/Windows/Macintosh. Join Gabriel, a bookstore owner, would-be author, and a man with a love for the ladies as he follows the "Voodoo Murders". With the help of his trusty assistant Grace and longtime friend Detective Mosely, what starts off as searching for inspiration for a novel ends up uncovering ties to New Orleans' voodoo past, the present day criminal underworld and his own tangled family history.
The evocative score was composed by industry veteran Robert Holmes, and the game was written and designed by powerhouse creative Jane Jensen. Together their work perfectly captures a place in time so memorably it resonates even all these years later. We're honored to be joined by Robert Holmes for an interview that we've been looking forward to for a long time.
Robert Holmes grew up listening to the music of the 50s and 60s before playing in a number of bands in the Los Angeles music scene. Robert then worked in post production in Hollywood and shortly after joined Sierra On-Line as one of their in-house composers, initially doing Macintosh conversions and eventually composing original music for their games.
Holmes composed Hoyle Classics as well as most of the music for the Gabriel Knight trilogy, the recent 20th Anniversary remake of GK1 as well as Gray Matter and Moebius: Empire Rising. Over the years he's also worked as composer, arranger and producer for Sting, REO Speedwagon, The Scarlet Furies, and many others.
Robert Holmes website
In January 2019, Robert Holmes released two albums:
A Simple Refrain is a soothing piano album covering the most memorable themes throughout Holmes' lengthy game career, with piano performed by the talented Roger Hooper.
Purchase link: https://asimplerefrain.com/
Renewal is a beautiful album revisiting classic folk songs by The Brothers Four, a folk group that's been active for over 60 years. Holmes is both a performer as well as producer on the album.
Purchase link: https://www.renewalthebrothersfour.com/
Jane Jensen is the writer and designer of the Gabriel Knight trilogy. During her time at Sierra she worked on several games, including King's Quest VI as co-designer and co-writer. She later went on to found several companies, Oberon Media, and Pinkerton Road where she created a number of adventure and hidden object games including Inspector Parker, Deadtime Stories, Gray Matter, Dying for Daylight, and Moebius: Empire Rising. She's also written a number of novels under the pen name Eli Easton.
Pinkerton Road website
Link: Making of Gabriel Knight
Game purchase links:
GOG: GK1, GK1 Remake, GK2, GK3
Steam: GK1, GK1 Remake, GK2, GK3
Gabriel Knight, Sierra On-Line 1993
Composed by Robert Holmes
Episode Track List:
All tracks use Sound Canvas MIDI unless otherwise stated
0:00:00 Sierra On-Line Fanfare
0:00:13 Gabriel Knight Main Theme (20th Anniversary Edition)
0:06:20 New Orleans City Map
0:13:52 Dixieland Drug Store
0:21:30 Historical Voodoo Museum
0:30:51 Police Station
0:34:12 Interrogating Crash
0:42:52 A Priest to Cazanoux (20th Anniversary Edition)
0:46:18 The Bayou
0:52:09 The Inner Wheel (Wolfgang Ritter)
1:09:18 St. George's Book Shop
1:21:46 Gedde Estate
1:27:55 Return to New Orleans
1:37:46 GK1 Theme (from the album "A Simple Refrain")
1:50:00 Closing Theme
2019-02-21
Japan Pro Golf Tour 64 is a golf simulator developed and released by SETA and Media Factory in May of 2000 for the failed Japanese only N64 add on, the 64DD. Featuring Japanese pro golfers and official golf courses, it's a fairly conventional golf sim with the the unique distinction of being the only 64DD game playable online through the Randnet service.
The music was composed by Ken'ichiro Shinzawa (website in Japanese) a multi-talented pianist whose game scores are few, but with credits spanning almost every music medium imaginable.
The soundtrack of Japan Pro Golf Tour 64 is short and sweet, featuring the kind of mellow, jazzy, and tropical tunes you can reliably expect from a golf game.
Track List:
All music composed by Ken'ichiro Shinzawa
0:00:00 Opening Theme
0:11:13 Menu Selection
0:16:55 Course Overview
0:24:13 Liberty City (excerpt)
Originally composed by Jaco Pastorius
0:27:46 Snake Eater (Japanese version) (excerpt)
Originally composed by Norihiko Hibino from 'MGS3: Snake Eater - The First Bite' soundtrack CD
0:30:10 Tournament Exhibition
0:44:22 Spirit of a Champion
0:46:51 Becoming a Master
0:53:48 Final Score
0:55:06 Completing the Course
1:02:03 Going for Par
1:12:07 Staff Credits
Featuring excerpts from:
Liberty City
performed by Ken'ichiro Shinzawa with the Ginkgo Quintet
Original composition by Jaco Pastorius
Snake Eater (Japanese Version)
From "Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater - The First Bite"
Organ performed by Ken'ichiro Shinzawa
Composed by Norihiko Hibino
Special thanks to Hard4Games for providing some of the 64DD hardware rips used in this episode.
2019-02-07
Dangerous Seed is a vertical shooter released by Namco in arcades in 1989 and adapted by TOSE in 1990 for the Mega Drive, both released only in Japan. While not a groundbreaking shooter, it does feature an inventive tri-ship mechanic, allowing players to switch up their shot mid-game and introduces a bit of strategy in managing the three ships' health bars.
The music was originally composed by Yoshinori Nagumo and arranged by Yoshiki Nishimura, Akihito Hayashi, Yoko Shimokawa, and the mysterious Totsukurzwell of the TOSE sound team.
The episode focuses on the Mega Drive version which injects a more intense energy, with occasional forays into the more mellow arcade original. None of the musicians involved have many credits, but they all came together to create and elevate an already great soundtrack and we hope you enjoy listening as well.
Track List:
0:00:07 Stage Intro (MD)
0:04:12 Name Entry (ARC)
0:11:48 1st Tube (MD)
0:15:04 1st Tube (ARC)
0:18:37 1st Tube Boss - Triple Eye (MD)
0:22:43 2nd Tube (MD)
0:24:47 2nd Tube (ARC)
0:29:06 3rd Tube (MD)
0:31:58 3rd Tube Boss - Roller Snail (MD)
0:38:13 4th Tube (ARC)
0:40:14 Stage 5 - Mars (MD)
0:42:10 Stage 6 - Jupiter (MD)
0:44:09 Stage 6 - Jupiter (ARC)
0:45:23 Stage 7 - Uranus (MD)
0:46:35 Stage 7 - Uranus (ARC)
0:47:32 Stage 7 Boss - Twin-Claw (MD)
0:52:43 Ending (MD)
Thanks to Sonic of 8! from vgmrips.net for logging the arcade soundtrack.
And also thanks to DJ Squarewave from project2612 for logging the Mega Drive soundtrack.
2019-01-21
GRIS was developed by Nomada Studio and published by the hitmaker Devolver Digital in December of 2018 for Nintendo Switch/Mac/Windows. Gris is a hopeful young girl lost in her own world, dealing with a painful experience in her life. As the story unfolds, Gris will grow emotionally and see her world in a different way, revealing new paths to explore using her new abilities.
Pairing with the gorgeous art by Conrad Roset is the equally beautiful and emotional soundtrack composed by Berlinist. We are joined by Gemma and Marco of Berlinist as they discuss their unique approach to music, and their close relationship with Conrad and Nomada Studio in creating the atmosphere for this game.
Berlinist is based in Barcelona Spain and made up of Marco Albano, Gemma Gamarra, and Luigi Gervasi. Most of the dreamy compositions that makes up GRIS were written by Marco, with Gemma providing the vocals. The sweeping dream-like textures combine with acoustic elements, orchestral instruments and mellow synths to make the emotional landscape of the game. Gris takes its time to convey a wide range of emotions from the tense, to the mournful, to the sublime. The soundtrack to GRIS and other albums by Berlinist can be purchased at their Bandcamp page.
Conrad Roset is a multi-talented artist that works in a wide range of mediums of hand drawn art. From his bio "Conrad Roset spent the first part of his 29 years in Terrassa, his native city, among boxes of crayons, felt-tip pens and notebooks; the other part in Barcelona, surrounded by paints, moleskine notebooks, muses, colored pencils, and in the company of his gray cat." Conrad has worked for many high profile clients and exhibited works in galleries and museums throughout the world and he is currently a professor of illustration at the BAU Design College of Barcelona.
Nomada Studio is a small game developer based in Barcelona Spain with developers and artists experienced in illustration, painting and graphic design. After a few years spread around the world making AAA games and interactive experiences, long time friends Adrián Cuevas and Roger Mendoza met artist Conrad Roset back home in Barcelona who had an itch for bringing his art to the realm of videogames for a long time. They instantly clicked and set to create their first videogame, GRIS; which will bring the artist's unique style to an interactive world of wonder.
GRIS, Nomada Studio 2018
Composed by Berlinist
Episode Track List:
0:00:00 Debris
0:09:54 Gris, Pt. 1
0:25:09 Windmill
0:51:28 Chiasm
0:57:29 Gris, Pt. 2
1:15:59 Unagi
1:38:10 Komorebi
2018-12-22
Seasons greetings! We've got a new Expansion Pack with music, both new and old, fitting of the holiday season. With bright synths, bells and occasionally familiar melodies join us as we get ready to ring in the new year.
Track List:
0:00:00 Icicle Mines - Stardew Valley (Switch/PS4/XB1 and others)
Eric Barone
0:12:18 Winter - Story of Seasons (3DS)
Riyou Kinugasa, Noriko Ishida
0:19:17 "π" (pi) - Guilty Crown - Lost Christmas (PC)
Hiroyuki Sawano
0:28:52 Toy Day (Christmas Eve) - Animal Crossing: New Leaf (3DS)
Manaka Kataoka, Atsuko Asahi, Kazumi Totaka
0:37:51 Winter Bliss - Castle Crashers (360/PS3/Win/Mac/XB1)
Cycerin
0:44:48 Do Not Push Start ‘Till Christmas - Merry Gear Solid 2: Ghosts of Christmas Past (PC)
Gordon McNeil
0:52:32 Yukidama-Ondo (Ending) - Snow Bros. 2 - With New Elves (Arcade)
Osamu Oota
0:57:42 Dreams Dreams ~In Silent Memory~ Nights into Dreams (Saturn/PS2/PS3/360/PC)
Tomoko Sasaki
Links
Merry Gear Solid 2: Ghosts of Christmas Past
Link to game
Link to OST
2018-12-12
Illusion City is a cyberpunk JRPG from Microcabin, originally released for the MSX Turbo R in 1991, only in Japan. It was later ported to a number of other systems including the PC98, X68000 and Mega CD over the next few years. The game mechanics are fairly traditional RPG fare of the era, but the graphics, animations and music are top notch and really stand out for the hardware.
The soundtrack was composed by three Microcabin veterans: Tadahiro Nitta, Yukiharu Urita, and Yasufumi Fukuda all of whom went on to compose for a number of other titles. The Mega CD port was handled by AISYSTEM TOKYO with some additional redbook audio tracks composed and arranged by Hirokazu Oota.
Listen to the sounds of Neo Hong Kong in this episode brimming with fantastic tunes.
Illusion City: Genei Toshi (幻影都市 ILLUSION CITY), MSX Turbo R - Microcabin (1991)Composed by: Tadahiro Nitta (新田忠弘),Yasufumi Fukuda (福田康文), Yukiharu Urita (瓜田幸治)
Episode Track List:
All tracks are from the MSX version unless otherwise stated
0:00:00 Illusion Theme A - Tadahiro Nitta
0:09:06 Illusion Theme B - Yukiharu Urita
0:16:53 Indoor Combat - Tadahiro Nitta
0:26:21 Noises of the City - Yasufumi Fukuda
0:38:34 Crisis Area (PC98 ver.) - Tadahiro Nitta
Shop Music [version comparison] - Tadahiro Nitta
0:45:51 MSX
0:48:00 Mega CD
0:48:51 FM Towns
0:50:03 PC98
0:51:24 X68k
0:53:47 MT32 (MIDI)
1:00:32 Battle - Yasufumi Fukuda
1:06:46 Cavern - Yasufumi Fukuda
1:10:08 Hachibushu Battle - Yukiharu Urita
1:17:01 Home - Yasufumi Fukuda
1:20:02 Requiem (PC98 ver.) - Yukiharu Urita
1:28:07 Illusion Castle - Tadahiro Nitta
1:31:30 Matenno Battle - Yasufumi Fukuda
1:37:35 Illusion Theme A (Mega CD ver.) - composed Tadahiro Nitta, arranged Hirokazu Oota
1:40:57 Hachibushu Battle (Mega CD ver.) - composed Yukiharu Urita, arranged Yasufumi Fukuda
1:45:37 Matenno Battle (Mega CD ver.) - Yasufumi Fukuda
1:52:28 Final Battle - Yasufumi Fukuda
1:58:52 Victory - Yukiharu Urita
Purchase on EGG MUSIC!MSX Remastered Soundtrack¥1800 - 幻影都市 MSXリマスタード・サウンドトラックス LinkPC-9801 Soundtrack¥1800 - 幻影都市 PC-9801サウンドトラックス Link
Big shout out to everyone at MSX.org - the BEST site for MSX information
2018-11-14
Micro Maniacs is an isometric racing game (based on the Micro Machines franchise) for the Game Boy Color, released only in the UK and Australia in 2001. This offshoot originally began on the PlayStation, by Codemasters, but given the popularity of Nintendo's handhelds, it ended up making a transition to the portable market shortly after.
For the Game Boy Color adaptation, Codemasters had less of their hand in its development. This time it was published by THQ and development was subcontracted out to a small group called Hyperion Studios. THQ also found a composer to do the music, a mysterious contractor known as MESSY STUDIOS.
EDIT: User GBC Fan says that the composer is Laxity (Thomas Egeskov Petersen). We'll have to follow up but it does seem likely.
Even though it's a somewhat simple racing title, the C64 demoscene style soundtrack keeps the energy level peaked for the game. Take a listen as we explore the Micro Maniacs soundtrack on the Game Boy Color.
Track List:
0:00:00 Character Select
0:06:06 Title Screen
0:18:01 Gameplay #1
0:26:34 Gameplay #2
0:33:28 Gameplay #3
0:39:48 Gameplay #4 / Ending
0:46:01 Map Screen
2018-10-01
Developed by Tendershoot and A Jolly Corpse and published by Devolver Digital in 2015, Dropsy: A Point and Click Hugventure is the story of one clown's journey to make the world a better place. Take a mellow journey through various locales with your animal buddies and a fittingly chilled out soundtrack.
We're thrilled to have both the creator Jay Tholen and lead composer Chris Schlarb join us for a lively discussion about this surprisingly genuine story and talk about our shared love of 90s adventure games.
Jay Tholen is the creator and co-composer of Dropsy. The pastel 90s aesthetic of Dropsy can also be found throughout his upcoming game Hypnospace Outlaw where you explore an alternate 1999 internet, and if you're not careful you might just learn something. When he's not developing games, Jay writes music. In fact he's written 20 albums and counting which you can find on his Bandcamp page and he'll often explore the soundscape of his games years before they become a reality.
Chris Schlarb is a guitarist with an impressive resume; he's worked with some of the biggest indie groups like Wilco, The Mars Volta, The Minutemen, and Sufjan Stevens. In addition to Dropsy, he also wrote the music for the game NightSky by Nicalis. Chris runs his own recording studio Big Ego Studios in Long Beach, CA, and he's the leader of a genre breaking indie group Psychic Temple. Check out more of their fantastic music at Chris' Bandcamp page.
The Dropsy Soundtrack
composed by Chris Schlarb
Dropsy: Eternal Hug EP
composed by Jay Tholen, contains additional tracks in the game
Also mentioned in the episode is Twilight & Ghost Stories, Chris Schlarb's Debut album
Dropsy - (Behind the Scenes) - A short video in the studio during the Dropsy recording session
Episode Track List:
0:00:00 Eternal Hug Pt. 2 - Jay Tholen
0:21:55 In The Court of the Junkyard King - Chris Schlarb
0:41:00 Home Is Where The Pulmonary Artery Is - Chris Schlarb
0:42:38 Dropsy Theme - Chris Schlarb, arranged by Jay Tholen
0:53:54 Kierkegaard's Neon Lights - Chris Schlarb
1:10:38 Mothersbaugh on the Beach - Chris Schlarb
1:22:04 Last of the Lonely Tumbleweeds - Chris Schlarb
1:27:12 144 Gears Marching in 14/4 - Chris Schlarb
1:31:11 White Dub in the Psychic Temple - Chris Schlarb
1:48:34 Theme Park - Jay Tholen
1:58:24 Lee's Vampire Dub - Chris Schlarb
2018-09-19
Another year, another MAGWest, the West Coast Music and Gaming Festival (MAGFest) in Santa Clara, California (August 10-12, 2018). MAGWest brings it - with the bands, games and an awesome community of VGM fans!
This time we're joined by a whole slew of performers from this year and last year as they talk about their childhood gaming experiences and some of the ways that gaming and VGM shaped their lives as performers.
The audio quality isn't perfect (far from it - especially in the beginning. Sorry Michaela!) but everyone in the panel had a lot of fun!
Episode Track List:
Intro
0:00:00 "Mii Channel" - Wii System Menu
Kazumi Totaka
Tetrimino
0:10:13 "8PM" - Animal Crossing (GC) - Michaela
Kenta Nagata
0:17:23 "Pirate Lagoon" - Diddy Kong Racing (N64) - Kris
David Wise
LEX the Lexicon Artist
0:22:07 "Title" - Crazy Arcade (PC) - Lex
0:26:32 "Cemetery" - Crazy Arcade (PC) - Lex
Duong Duc Anh
B/I/R/T/H/D/A/Y
0:28:50 "Pkunk theme" - Star Control II (PC) - Nick
Eric Berge
0:34:54 "In the Wind" - Gradius III (SNES) - Ian
Kazuki Muraoka, Kazuhiko Uehara, Harumi Ueko, Yukie Morimoto
Vector Hold
0:39:29 "Final Takeoff" - Afterburner II (ARC) - Pete
Hiroshi Kawaguchi
E.N.Cowell
0:48:08 "Evil Preist" - Alisia Dragoon (GEN) - Evan
Mecano Associates, led by Fumihito Kasatani
Runaway Four
0:55:29 "Weapon's Factory" - Super Mario RPG (SNES) - Josh
Yoko Shimomura
1:01:48 "LBA's theme" - Little Big Adventure (PC) - Chris
Philippe Vachey
Outro
1:20:38 "Wii Shop Channel" - Wii System Menu
Kazumi Totaka
BAND LINKS
Tetrimino
MAGWest 2018 Performance
SoundCloud | YouTube | Facebook | Michaela's site (Mklachu)
LEX the Lexicon Artist
MAGWest 2018 Performance
Bandcamp | Spotify | Twitter | Facebook | Website
B/I/R/T/H/D/A/Y
MAGWest 2018 Performance
Bandcamp | Twitter | Facebook | Website
Vector Hold
MAGWest 2017 Performance
Bandcamp | SoundCloud | YouTube | Twitter | Facebook
E.N.Cowell
MAGWest 2018 Performance
Bandcamp | SoundCloud | Twitter | Facebook | Tumblr | Website
Runaway Four
MAGWest 2018 Performance
Bandcamp | YouTube | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | Website
2018-08-30
We begin a new chapter of Pixelated Audio with our first solo show, and our first full-length tribute episode, this time honoring Manabu Saito. Saito was a prolific composer for System Sacom from 1987 to 1991, composing and arranging the music for over 15 games.
You may have heard his music in Yuurei-kun on Episode 91, but this time we take a deeper dive over his entire career. Listen to Saito's growth as a composer over four years and 25 songs in a wide range of styles.
"Yuurei-kun" key production staff. Manabu Saito (left)
Episode Track List:
0:00:06 Opening - Euphory (Sharp X1 - OPM)
0:04:36 Vertes - Euphory (Sharp X1 - PSG)
0:07:13 Track 2 - Fire Rock (Famicom Disk System)
0:09:58 The Dome - Dome (X68000 - OPM)
0:14:52 RPG Theme - Soft and Hard Stories (X68000 - OPM)
0:17:27 Bar - Chatty (PC88 - OPNA)
0:22:43 Stage 1 - Evolution (FM Towns)
0:29:12 Cave of Plateau - Providence (PC88 - OPNA)
0:32:18 Hell Hole - Yuurei-kun (MSX2 - PSG)
0:35:15 Grassland - Valna (PC88 - OPNA)
0:39:48 Driving Before Dawn - Soft and Hard Stories 2 (X68000 - OPM)
380,000km of Emptiness / 38 Man Kilo no Kokuu
0:43:55 A Pack of Cigarettes (X68000 - MT-32)
0:47:02 Snappy Time (X68000 - OPM)
Manabu Saito and Sumeya Kunihiro
The Darkness of Kin / Yami no Ketsuzoku
0:50:44 Masayuki Izawa (X68000 - OPM)
0:53:22 Ending (X68000 - OPM)
The Darkness of Kin: The Final Chapter / Yami no Ketsuzoku: Kanketsu-hen
0:57:12 Kumaha's Attack (X68000 - OPM)
0:59:27 Lean Burned (X68000 - OPM)
The Darkness of Kin: Special / Yami no Ketsuzoku Special
1:02:53 Opening (FM Towns)
All Darkness of Kin music composed by Manabu Saito and Haruo Hosoya
Gemini Wing
1:05:33 Stage 6 (Arcade - OPL2)
Composed by Mikio Saito
1:06:20 Stage 6 (X68000 - CM-64)
Arranged by Manabu Saito
1:09:14 Darkness - Jerry Boy (Super Famicom)
Akira Yamaoka, Hirohiko Fukuda and Manabu Saito
1:12:49 Big Boss Attacks - Yuurei-kun (MSX2 - PSG)
1:13:42 Big Boss Attacks (Unused) - Valna (PC88 - OPNA)
1:14:58 Vertes Waterway - Euphory (Sharp X1 - OPM)
1:16:17 Vertes Waterway (Unused) - Soft and Hard Stories (X68000 - OPM)
1:22:53 Ending (Unused 3) - The Darkness of Kin: The Final Chapter (X68000 - OPM)
Manabu Saito and Haruo Hosoya
LINKS GALORE!
Purchase Manabu Saito's music at Egg Music (JP)
Manabu Saito Memorial Website (JP), Additional memorial site (JP)
Research sites: VGMRips, Zophar's Domain, VGMPF, VGMDB, GDRI, Mobygames
Other great podcasts mentioned: Game Music Gaiden, The Diad Presents, Forever Sound Version
2018-07-26
The original Crash Bandicoot games were developed by Naughty Dog and published by Sony Computer Entertainment. Crash answers the question of "What would Donkey Kong Country be like in 3D?"
The first Crash title debuted in September of 1996 on the Sony PlayStation and became an almost instant success, spawning numerous sequels and additions over the years. Although it was never official, Crash was the PlayStation's first mascot, and helped build Sony's console brand to become a household name the world over.
Join us as we chat about the original trilogy; Crash Bandicoot, Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back and Crash Bandicoot: Warped with none other than series composer Josh Mancell in our milestone 100th episode!
Crash Bandicoot (1996)
Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back (1997)
Crash Bandicoot: Warped (1998)
Developed by Naughty Dog
Published by Sony Computer Entertainment
Composed by Josh Mancell
joshmancell.com | @MancellJosh
Listen to the pre-console mixes played on our episode on Josh's SoundCloud
Also check the City Guys album mentioned during the episode
Episode Track List:
0:00:00 Crash Bandicoot - Main Theme
0:25:37 Hog Wild
0:45:23 Heavy Machinery
0:51:50 Ambient Papu Papu (demo)
0:57:10 Neo Cortex (Japanese version)
1:10:11 Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back - Main Theme
1:20:47 Komodo Bros
1:35:24 Out Spaced (demo)
1:41:56 Snow Go (demo)
1:49:32 Coco's Theme
2:04:48 Crash Bandicoot: Warped - Main Theme
2:07:38 Neo Cortex
2:14:24 N. Tropy
2:20:36 Future Frenzy
2:32:08 Dingodile
2018-06-04
The Adventures of Little Ralph, developed by NEW Corporation is a 2D platformer released only in Japan for the Sony Playstation on June of 1999. Like Ralph, there's a big game in this unassuming package. With its tight controls, engaging scoring mechanics, and a polished 1v1 fighting mini-game engine, this is one you're bound to keep coming back to. Composed by Hiroshi Kuronuma, Naoki Tsuchiya and Hideki Satou, The Adventures of Little Ralph features two complete versions of the soundtrack accessible right from the menu: the standard instrumental version and a "PSG" arrange version, both using the Playstation sound source.
Naoki Tsuchiya has the most game credits of the trio and composed for Victorious Boxers: Ippo's Road to Glory for the PS2 and Hajime no Ippo Portable: Victorious Spirits for PSP. He also did some sound design and is the voice of Little Ralph.
**UPDATE** A post-episode Q&A with Naoki Tsuchiya is now available here! [Q&A with Naoki Tsuchiya]
Hideki "Quintana" Satou is best known as a percussionist on the arrange albums for Clockwork Knight 1 and 2, as well as his work with Jun Takagi's Orquesta Del Sol ensemble throughout the 90s.
Hiroshi Kuronuma worked briefly for NEW Corporation and also composed the music for Boxer's Road for the PS1.
Listen in as we explore a selection of tracks from both versions of the massive soundtrack to Little Ralph's homage to the 8 and 16-bit eras.
The Adventures of Little Ralph
ちっぽけラルフの大冒険
1999, New Corporation
Composed by Hiroshi Kuronuma, Naoki Tsuchiya, Hideki Satou (黒沼弘, 土屋直樹, 佐藤英樹)
The Adventures of Little Ralph Original Soundtracks
ちっぽけラルフの大冒険 オリジナル・サウンドトラックス
Purchase the soundtrack (all 120 tracks) for ¥2100 at EGG MUSIC! http://bit.ly/2HdLMVR
Episode Track List:
0:00:10 Stage 1-1 - Departure
0:12:34 Casua Watersupply
0:16:53 Holy Battle
0:29:26 High and Alone
0:37:43 Stage 3-1 - Into the Darkness (PSG version)
0:40:45 Stage 4-2 - Ruins of Donan
0:57:03 VS Mode Select - Let's Begin the Battle (PSG version)
1:04:36 Stage 5-2 - In the Citadel of Ice
1:09:22 Stage 5 Boss Easy - Valgo
1:13:25 Stage 5 Boss Normal - Valgo the Artistic Murderer
1:22:15 Stage 6 - Great Battleship ~Queen Desta~
1:29:53 Stage 7 Boss - Ferica the Sad Goddess (PSG Version)
1:40:11 Stage 8 Boss Change - Destarroza
1:43:59 ETC2: Mt. Etona
1:53:22 Easy Ending - End of Nightmare
2:05:24 Normal Ending 2 - Little Hero's Story (PSG Version)
2018-05-04
Neural Gear, developed by Fill in Cafe and published by Cross Media Soft, is a 3rd person rail shooter (riding in the light of Space Harrier) released strictly for the Sharp X68000 on November of 1990. While the game doesn't win any awards in the visual department it makes up for it in audio. Composed by Keishi Yonao, Neural Gear features both a soundtrack designed for the OPM/OKI (FM/PCM) sound source and the MT-32 (MIDI) sound source.
Keishi Yonao, best known for Asuka 120% Burning Fest series, Mad Stalker, and Dies Ire, he's highly regarded in the Japanese chip tune community for his creativity and detail.
His first composition started on the MSX with a game titled Hydefos and from there he joined up with Fill in Cafe to work on many of their titles. Altogether he’s done over 30 soundtracks and in addition to game audio, he also composed a CD album series called Cyberphonic as well as other compilations like a track titled MASS PURPLE for 8bit Music Power
Listen in as we discover the music and also chat briefly with Yonao-san about his career and compositions.
Neural Gear - Sharp X68000, Fill in Cafe
Composed by Keishi Yonao
Track List:
0:00:00 What You Change
0:09:37 Town Scape
0:12:44 Depletion
0:18:09 Systematic Eyes
0:29:06 Vast
0:34:30 Vast (MT-32)
0:37:06 Invite
0:48:07 Super Sonic
0:51:38 Don't Tarry
0:56:28 Fluxion
1:00:16 Town Scape (SC-88 Pro)
1:07:23 Wake Up Everybody
1:09:28 Come To A Climax
1:18:48 Merry Dancers
1:33:52 Time Spirit
1:40:28 Time Spirit (MT-32)
The soundtrack is available for purchase! This includes not only the FM version of the audio but also the MT-32. Buy it now from EGG MUSIC
ニューラルギア オリジナル・サウンドトラックス
メーカー名 : フィルインカフェ
アーティスト名 : 与猶啓至
機種 : X68000
ジャンル : オリジナルサウンドトラック
アルバム / MP3
オリジナル発売日 : 1990-11-23年
配信開始 : 2008-03-28
1200円(税抜)
2018-04-02
SNK produced some of the best titles to grace the arcades but also covered the spectrum in genre and variety. Only twice in the company's history did they attempt to produce a wrestling game and Big Bang Pro Wrestling released in 2000 for the Neo Geo Pocket Color was out of this world. Taking lots of inspiration from the Fire Pro Wrestling series, the handheld quasi-adaptation delivers everything you'd expect and more. Big roster of characters, multiple modes, customizations, and of course, a rocking soundtrack composed by Takafumi Wada. Take a listen with us and we explore the soundtrack!
Big Bang Pro Wrestling (2000) Neo Geo Pocket Color
Produced by SNK, Developed by S-NEO
Composed by Takafumi Wada
Track List:
0:00:07 Opening
0:09:50 Beginning (Wrestler Bio)
0:11:53 Fight! (Normal Match BGM)
0:18:35 Knives (Brian's Theme)
0:24:49 Red 200X (Mike's Theme)
0:26:38 Night Saw (Deitz's Theme)
0:33:41 Samurai (Title Defense Match BGM)
0:40:23 Fujiyama (Sho's Theme)
0:43:51 I Scream (David's Theme)
0:51:24 Funky Dog (Alex's Theme)
0:53:06 Tokyo Man (Eagle's Theme)
0:59:58 Streaming (Josef's Theme)
1:02:02 Cocoa Milk (Kei's Theme)
1:08:10 Geisha!! (Final Match BGM)
1:16:03 You're Mine (Ending)
2018-03-01
After a short break, we're back! Starting off 2018 with a new episode featuring the music of Tetris DS on the Nintendo DS. In 2006, Nintendo did classic puzzle enthusiasts a solid by not only chalking the game full their 8bit all-stars, but also producing a phenomenal Tetris title with loads of new content. Join in as we take a listen to some new arrangements of some well-loved tunes.
Tetris DS, 2006 Nintendo DS
composed by Minako Hamano, Akira Fujiwara
Track List:
0:00:00 Mario, Link, and Yoshi (Title Screen)
0:09:20 Mario Tetris
0:14:03 Basement Tetris
0:21:59 Total Yoshi
0:27:07 Metroid Charge (Catch)
0:35:11 Ancient Tetris
0:39:33 10000 Tetris Points
0:44:55 Tetris Climber
0:47:55 Destruction Trip (Touch)
0:58:16 Zelda Tetris (Mission)
1:02:31 DK Push!
1:08:30 Mario Tetris 3
1:19:07 CongraTetris
2017-12-15
WonderBoy III: The Dragon’s Trap is a special game for a lot of people in a lot of ways. Today we will explore all the different paths to find its hidden gameplay and musical treasures. Much like the game, with its colorful cast of playable characters, we will not be alone on this journey of discovery. We are joined by the original composer Shinichi Sakamoto as well as Michael Geyre, Omar 'Bock' Cornut and Romain Gauthier from the amazing team that brought this game back to life in 2017 for the Nintendo Switch, PS4, Xbox One and PC.
Whether you played this back in the day on the Master System, picked this up for a modern console, or even have it on your 'wish list' we think you will enjoy this interesting (and chaotic at times) look into a game that was so ahead of its time it's still enjoyable today.
Track list:
Wonder Boy III: The Dragon's Trap (Sega Master System)
Sega, Westone - 1989
Music composed by Shinichi Sakamoto
0:00:10 The Last Dungeon
0:07:08 VS Mecha Dragon
0:12:48 Monster Town
0:22:12 Side Crawler's Dance
0:27:35 Mind of Hero (FM version) - based on the vgm pack name
0:30:28 Dragon's Trap (FM version)
0:33:55 Desert Zone (TG16/PCE version)
0:36:41 Monster's Lair
Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap (Remake)
DotEmu, Lizardcube - 2017
Music composed/arranged by Michael Geyre and Romain Gauthier
0:39:50 Introduction
0:51:21 The Last Dragon
1:02:49 Monster Town
1:17:12 Adventure Zone
1:25:10 Mind of Hero - Beach (Ukulele Backing)
1:38:11 Adventure Zone (Underground)
1:59:31 VS Dragon Meka
2:10:47 Endless War
The Dragon's Trap (remake) official website
Lizardcube - website | DotEmu - website
Michael Geyre and Romain Gauthier in the Lizardcube Dev Diary - youtube
Omar Cornut - Works and info - miracleworld
Available on Bandcamp for only €5 EUR (under $6 USD) or more!
Released July 12, 2017
Music by: Michael Geyre
Based on original work by: Shinichi Sakamoto
Additional Arrangements by: Romain Gauthier
Direction, Arrangements, Programming, Accordion, Piano, Synthesizers: Michael Geyre
Alto: Marie-Laure Prioleau
Bandoneon: Patrick Brugalières
Bansuri Flute: Émilie Calmé
Cello: Emmanuelle Faure
Clarinet: Eric Moncoucout
Double Bass: Mathieu Sternat
Drums: Ersoj Kazimov
Guitar: Loïc le Guillanton
Mandolin, Violin: Camille Raibaud
Oboe: Eric Cassen
Oud: Ziad Ben Youssef
Tenor Sax: Ernest W Hillard
Trumpet, Cornet, Trombone: Michael W Hillard
Violin: Yann Brébia, Jean-Christophe Morel
Whistle: Arnaud Bibone
Additional Arrangements, Programming: Romain Gauthier
Additional Drums: Gaétan Diaz
Additional Violin: Adèle Docherty
Recording: Pierre Delmas, Olivier Grall
Mixing, Mastering: Olivier Grall
Bonus Track 88 by: Kenneth C M Young
Recorded at Studio Patrick Brugalières, France.
2017-12-02
Today's Expansion Pack tends to lean heavy on the Sharp X68000 (not planned) but that's not a bad thing. Some amazing tracks selected from the Pixelated Audio team for your listening pleasure. Be sure to let us know your thoughts about the music as well!
Track List:
00:00:00 Victory is Imminent - Lord Monarch (FM Towns)
Mieko Ishikawa, Atsushi Shirakawa, Masaaki Kawai
00:10:15 Premonition - Lagoon (X68000)
Hideki Suzuki
00:18:35 Valley - Lagoon (X68000)
Hideki Suzuki
00:25:32 Launching (Title) - StarTrader (X68000)
Hiroya Hatsushiba, Keishi Yonao, Mieko Ishikawa
00:32:40 Lunatic Dance - Getsumen no Anubis (SFC)
Noboru Iwata
00:41:34 Legend - Sion II (X68000)
Zenji Nishikawa, Tetsushi Takahashi, Noriyuki Shindou
00:49:24 Title Screen - Deneb (Atari 8-bit)
Robert Drag
00:55:36 Ending “Last Drive” - Knight Arms: The Hyblid Framer (X68000)
Toshiya Yamanaka
2017-11-15
Pixelated Audio Music Disk Vol. 3 features the 7th and final music disk from GC-clusterz. Released in December of 1991, this compilation includes both arrangements of video game music AND original tunes made for the PC-8801 series of computers by NEC. Led by GEPPEL, this doujin group only lasted a year (as GC-clusterz) but produced a ton of music in that short span of time. Join in as we take a listen to some of our favorite tracks from this awesome indie music disk.
GC-clusterz Music Disk vol. 7
最後の悪あがきの水増し特集（笑）
December 23, 1991 - NEC PC-8801 - SoundBoard II - PMD v3.3
Track List:
0:00:08 MAYIM MAYIM Euro Arrangement - composed by Senhor.M
0:12:06 Air Battle (Thunder Cross II - Arcade) - arr. by GEPPEL
0:20:36 某Shooting Opening - composed by GEPPEL
0:28:42 Battle Field (Space Harrier - Arcade) - arr. by Kobuhei
0:32:44 某Shooting 1st Name place Entry - composed by Senhor.M
0:36:20 Talisman, Underground Dungeon (Sorcerian - PC-8801) - arr. by GEPPEL
0:40:11 PSG 3 Voices Brings Me to Tears - composed by GEPPEL
0:44:35 Gift of the Wind (Detana!! TwinBee - Arcade) - arr. Tetsuya Ootani
0:48:50 Opening (Demon II - PC-9801) - composed by Senhor.M
0:54:29 Gallantry (Raiden Densetsu - FM Towns)
1:00:41 The deal with Saturday night (土曜日の夜わ大騒ぎ) - composed by GEPPEL
GEPPEL's website http://neuzkraft.com
2017-10-31
Cuphead is the first game by the indie studio called StudioMDHR based in Canada, which was created by brothers Chad and Jared Moldenhauer.
In development since 2010, Cuphead graced the gaming world only last month but is the first of its kind. Now, we've seen many action platformers and many boss-battle systems pop up before (no short supply here) but a beautiful art style that is reminiscent of cartoons from the 1930s combined with a killer sound that marks an era, Cuphead is something of its own.
Join us as we chat with the current world record speed runner, The Mexican Runner, about the gameplay. And of course, composer Kristofer Maddigan about his composition.
Cuphead (Xbox One, Steam, Windows 10)
Studio MDHR, 2017
Composed by Kristofer Maddigan
krismaddigan.com | @KrisMaddigan
The Mexican Runner (current world record holder of Cuphead)
The Mexican Runner: Twitch | NESMania
Episode Track List:
0:00:00 Introduction
0:10:31 All Bets Are Off
0:17:49 Treetop Trouble
0:37:54 Porkrind's Shop
0:49:29 The King's Court
1:04:27 Floral Fury
1:16:04 Clip Joint Calamity
1:29:14 Sugarland Shimmy
1:39:10 Murine Corps
2:02:11 Closing Credits
2017-10-16
It's Halloween season and we're bringing out a soundtrack to one of the most terrifying adorable ghosts around (even makes your ghost emoji look scary). Yuurei-kun (aka Mr. Ghost) is a side-scrolling action game released for the MSX2 and higher compatible machines in 1989 both published and developed by System Sacom. While the soundtrack was written using simple PSG (3 voices), the late Manabu Saito delivered an enjoyable soundtrack that is wonderfully composed and hauntingly catchy.
A bit of a change from our normal episodes, James is sick this week so Gene taps in to fill the void in this late night recording. We hope you enjoy it!
Yuurei-kun (Mr. Ghost) - System Sacom (MSX2)
Composed by Manabu Saito
Track List:
0:00:00 Opening
0:07:31 Stage 1
0:16:35 Stage 2
0:21:00 Stage 3
0:26:26 Stage 4
0:28:57 Stage 5
0:37:06 Boss
0:39:36 Stage 7
0:42:54 Staff Roll
0:52:43 Ending
2017-10-02
In this installment we're exploring the soundtrack of an overlooked SNES Action-RPG released in 1994, titled: Brain Lord. It was developed by Produce! in conjunction with a sound group called Opus, and published by Enix for the Super Nintendo (or Super Famicom).
Composed by Masanao Akahori, the game has a totally catchy soundtrack and some truly wonderful moments that were clearly inspired by 80's Pop and Rock. Join in as we take a step into the town of Arcs with Remeer and friends.
Track List:
0:00:00 Dragon Legend
0:08:17 Town of Arcs
0:16:17 Tavern/Inn
0:19:19 Shop
0:23:52 Road to the Tower/Northern Highway
0:28:48 Before the Journey
0:35:41 Road to Toronto/Southern Highway
0:40:07 Town of Toronto
0:48:29 Natural Cavern/Underground Passage
0:57:31 Huge Roach/Cockroach Race
1:08:12 Site of Civilization/Ancient Ruins
1:11:24 Platinum Shrine
1:16:40 Unused Track
1:19:19 Road to Droog
1:25:22 Epilogue
2017-09-15
Riding on the heels of our last episode (MAGWest Panel), Gene co-hosts with us once again for a Sega Genesis/Mega Drive themed Expansion Pack. We've got a lot of great music and hopefully some new stuff that you might have missed!
Track List:
0:00:00 “Lively Town” (Shining Force II)
Motoaki Takenouchi
0:08:25 “Thought of the Holy” (Warsong)
Hiroshi Fujioka, Noriyuki Iwadare, Isao Mizoguchi
0:15:08 “Climbing the Temple” (X-Men 2: Clone Wars)
Kurt Harland
0:23:08 “Let’s Plow” (Skitchin’)
Jeff van Dyck
0:30:35 “Plague Factory” (The Ooze)
Howard Drossin
0:38:25 “Act 1: The Void of Space” (Verytex)
Hitoshi Sakimoto, Masaharu Iwata, Yoshio Furukawa
0:44:26 “Technocity Type - Stage 5-2” (Rocket Knight Adventures)
Masanori Ouchi, Aki Hata, Michiru Yamane, Masanori Adachi, Hiroshi Kobayashi
0:50:44 “Sound Test No. 4” (ATP Tour Championship Tennis)
Hikoshi Hashimoto
1:00:40 “Arab Rock 1” (Aladdin)
Donald Griffin
1:08:28 “Scarab of Glory No. 1 / Sakuraba Fight BGM 3” (The Hybrid Front)
Naofumi Hataya, Junko Shiratsu, Sachio Ogawa
1:14:28 "Lose Theme" (Kiss Shot)
Naofumi Hataya, Hiroshi Kubota
1:19:45 “Gotham By Night” (Adventures of Batman & Robin)
Jesper Kyd
2017-09-01
MAGWest was the first West Coast MAGFest event in Santa Clara, California (August 25th-27th) and we were stoked to be invited to do a panel this year. The topic we landed on was the sound system of the Sega Genesis/Mega Drive and how the two sound chips (Sega PSG/YM2612) complemented each other for a rich audio experience. This year we had two guests join in on the talk. Well-known chiptune artist and game audio advocate Inverse Phase and the master of the OPL2, Extent of the Jam. Sound chips, tunes, and some Inverse Phase originals included. There's also a mini game at the end :)
MAGWest had tons of bands, music, gaming, and awesome people in the community. It was a blast! Look below for the presentation ---Oh, and pardon the audio quality!
Inverse Phase > Website | Bandcamp | Twitter
Extent of the Jam > Website | Bandcamp | Twitter
Track List:
Tracks are for Mega Drive / Genesis unless otherwise stated
Tracks by Inverse Phase using Deflemask tracker in Genesis mode
00:15:10 Sewer Surfin' - TMNT: Hyperstone Heist composed by Masahiro Ikariko
00:32:10 Space Harrier Theme - Master System BIOS (SMS+FM) composed by Hiroshi Kawaguchi, arranged by (?)
00:34:12 Mountain Peak - Yuu Yuu Hakusho: Makyou Touitsusen composed by Katsuhiko Suzuki
00:37:06 Flood of Power - Midnight Resistance arranged by Hitoshi Sakimoto, Shogo Sakai
00:41:39 Transparent Obstacle - Gauntlet IV composed by Hitoshi Sakimoto, Masaharu Iwata
00:46:45 Bad Fairy - Rolling Thunder 3 composed by Rose and Dick Boy!!
00:55:11 Pinch it Off - composed by Inverse Phase
01:01:38 Sega Things - composed by Inverse Phase
01:18:29 Staff Roll - Thunder Force IV composed by Toshiharu Yamanishi, Takeshi Yoshida
For our panel, we included a visual presentation to help with some of the explanation. Please check below and follow along to see the oscilloscope view of both sound chips during some of the tracks as well as other visual aids. If it doesn't load for you, click here!
2017-08-15
Heading back to the YM2608 for a look (and listen) at a game called Starfire for the PC-9801. A system exclusive, 1st person action RPG, released on October 14th of 1994; developed and published by a small company called StarCraft Inc. It's an interesting game that, even though a Japanese only title, borrows heavily from Western games like "Might and Magic." More importantly, the music composed by Takeshi Abo, is a mixture of ambient, dance, and focuses on rhythm and pace to carry the mood.
Join in as we discuss the music of Starfire and also chat with Takeshi Abo about his music from over 20 years ago!
Starfire (1994, Starcraft Inc.)
NEC PC-9801, YM2608 (MUSDRV Sound driver)
Composed by Takeshi Abo (homepage)
- Interview transcript available at Patreon -
Track List:
0:00:00 Title Screen
0:07:33 Opening
0:10:28 Enemy Ship I
0:17:08 Galaxy II
0:20:11 Planet II
0:28:42 My Ship
0:41:07 Battle I
0:43:02 Boss Theme
0:45:49 Planet III
0:53:08 Event I
0:55:31 Enemy Ship II
1:12:15 Galaxy I
1:25:22 Unused Track
1:31:47 Ending
Thanks to tails_ at our partner site vgmrips.net for the logged data!
2017-08-01
The third Natsume NES/Famicom spotlight on the show features music from another strong composer. Dragon Fighter is a side scrolling action platformer, released for the Famicom in Japan in 1990, developed by Natsume and published by Towa Chiki. In 1992 the game was brought to the North American audience by a company called SOFEL Corp. Using the driver by Iku Mizutani, composer Kouichi Yamanishi delivers a similar style that retains everything we love about the Natsume sound. Join us as we listen to the music of Dragon Fighter on Nintendo's 8 bit powerhouse.
Track List:
0:00:09 The Frozen Battle
0:07:30 Don't Disturb
0:14:17 In to the Depth
0:30:33 Can You Chain Up
0:32:38 Initiative of a Ghost
0:37:09 Boss 1
0:38:52 Boss 2
0:46:50 The Dragon Fighter
0:54:02 Ending
...other Natsume featured episodes:
Episode 78 - Mitsume ga Touru (Interview with Hiroyuki Iwatsuki)
Episode 37 - Shadow of the Ninja
2017-07-16
We're taking a break... Don't worry, just this week. :) In this episode, we got together for a bit to listen to how we started (episode 1) that was released just over 3 years ago now. We talk a little about the show, how we've changed, the way it's produced, and the other additions as well. If you were expecting a normal episode, we do apologize but hope that you join in this mini retrospective on Pixelated Audio. - BRYAN & JAMES
2017-07-01
In this installment of Pixelated Audio, we're heading back to the Game Boy featuring a soundtrack from a Japanese-only title called Uchuu no Kishi Tekkaman Blade, developed by Sun L and published by Yutaka in 1992. This game is based off the short lived anime by Tatsunoko Production and Sotsu Agency. The game is a blast and has a great soundtrack composed by Norihiko Togashi, who has contributed to over 100 titles in his career (Battle Dodgeball, Ultraman, and Super Wagyan Land for SFC). Join us as we tear apart the audio from this cool action platformer.
Uchuu no Kishi Tekkaman Blade (宇宙の騎士テッカマンブレード)
Sun L / Yutaka (Game Boy, 1992)
Composed by Norihiko Togashi
Track List:
0:00:09 Title Screen
0:06:32 Stage 1
0:16:26 Stage 2
0:19:14 Stage Clear
0:28:23 Stage 3
0:40:17 Stage 4
0:42:42 Stage 5
0:47:22 Stage 6
0:49:45 Boss
0:57:30 Ending Cinematic
0:59:39 Staff Roll
2017-06-15
BlaZeon is a horizontal shooter, developed by A.I Co and published by Atlus in 1992 for the arcade. Originally a Japanese only release, Atlus ported the game to the SNES for Japan AND the US shortly after (in the same year, 1992) The music (composed by Tsukasa Masuko) is totally pumpin' and deserves a listen. Join in as we dive into the soundtrack.
BlaZeon (Atlus, 1992)
Arcade, YM2151
Composed by Tsukasa Masuko
Track List:
0:00:07 Next Step (Stage Clear)
0:04:54 Optimistic Departure (Title Demo / Stage 1)
0:09:26 Cosmic Ocean Blue (Stage 2 [First Section])
0:16:08 Cosmic Ocean Blue (SNES)
0:20:48 Alpha (Stage 2 [Second Section])
0:28:41 Infinite World (Stage 3)
0:40:06 Unlimited Attack (Middle Boss)
0:43:29 Intimidating Spaces (Boss)
0:57:12 Fighting Machine (Stage 4 [First Section])
1:01:01 Emergency Avoidance (Stage 4 [Second Section])
1:05:03 Battle of Silence (Stage 5)
1:11:25 Hop, Step, Jump! (Ending)
Thanks to 2ch-H from our sister site vgmrips.net. Grab the pack here!
2017-06-01
Originally, Lunar: The Silver Star was published by Game Arts for the Sega CD (Mega CD) in Japan in 1992, and the US in 1993 by Working Designs -developed Game Arts, Studio Alex.
In 1996, Game Arts completely reworked, and retold the story of Lunar by releasing Lunar: The Silver Star Story for the Sega Saturn exclusively in Japan. Later on, the remake made it’s worldwide release debuting on the Sony PlayStation in 1998, then in the US in 1999, titled Lunar: The Silver Star Story Complete.
Lunar touched many gamer's hearts as it told the story of a young boy whose dreams of becoming a Dragonmaster begin to unfold. The game has remarkable storytelling (wether you love or hate the translation) mixed with adventure, love, and friendship that's a must-play for any RPG fan. But the key to any good RPG is the music. Noriyuki Iwadare's (岩垂徳行) composition brings out the emotional quality that can emphasize the excitement or tear your heart out with despair. And without him, this would have been a very different game. Join us as we discuss the music of Lunar: The Silver Star and the remakes as well as an interview with composer, Noriyuki Iwadare.
Lunar: The Silver Star
Game Arts, Studio Alex, Working Designs - Sega CD/Mega CD - 1992
Composed by: Noriyuki Iwadare, Hiroshi Fujioka, Isao Mizoguchi, Yoshiaki Kubotera
Lunar: The Silver Star Story (Complete)
Game Arts - Sega Saturn, Sony PlayStation 1996~1999
Composed by: Noriyuki Iwadare
Lunar: The Silver Star Harmony
XSEED - Sony PlayStation Portable - 2009
Composed by: Noriyuki Iwadare
Noriyuki Iwadare (VGMPF | Wikipedia)
The Making of Lunar: The Silver Star Story Complete (YouTube)
Track List:
0:00:08 Now the Story Begins (PlayStation)
0:17:06 Toward the Horizon (PlayStation)
0:22:29 Burg (PlayStation)
0:25:58 Burg (Sega CD)
0:38:31 Fun Traveling (PlayStation)
0:45:33 Town by the Sea (Sega CD)
0:52:04 Have a Big Dream (Sega Saturn)
0:58:45 Traffic (PSP)
1:04:15 Mysterious Cave (PSP)
1:07:32 Go Go Go! (PlayStation)
1:10:43 Fighting Spirits (PlayStation)
1:18:45 Battle (Sega CD)
1:24:18 Fighters (PSP)
1:27:23 Four Heroes (PSP)
1:34:57 Recollection (PlayStation)
1:37:29 Sad Events (Sega CD)
1:41:58 Thieve’s Bazaar (PlayStation)
1:52:47 Solitary Wolf (PSP)
2:12:23 Hero In Town (Sega CD)
2:18:41 Meribia (PSP)
2:31:32 Determination (PSP)
2:37:02 The Tower (Sega CD)
2:39:33 Final Conflict (Sega CD)
2:44:00 Lunar Theme Arranged (Ending Credits) (PlayStation)
2017-05-15
The 90s were a particularly strong era for game audio on all fronts. The console market was thriving by creating a simpler way to play a game on the cheap, but the PC gaming scene continued to deliver unique experiences with many different hardware configurations. Guest, Gene Dreyband, joins us for a look at some 90s PC/AT music that rocked our world in this expansion pack.
Track List:
0:00:00 The Secret of Monkey Island Theme (IBM-PC Speaker) - Michael Land
0:06:32 Lagoon (Classic) - Fury of the Furries (YM3812/OPL2) - Frédéric Motte
0:14:20 Dream - Wacky Wheels (YM3812/OPL2) - Mark Klem
0:20:34 Transport Tycoon Deluxe Theme (YM3812/OPL2) - John Broomhall
0:27:49 Road 5 - Sky Roads (YM3812/OPL2) - Ott M. Aaloe
0:33:07 Intergalactic Travel 2 - Solar Winds: The Escape (YM3812/OPL2) - Dan Froelich
0:37:30 Dune Variation - Dune (YMF262/OPL3 - Adlib Gold) - Stéphane Picq
0:43:57 Industrious - Jazz Jackrabbit (ScreamTracker3 Module) - Robert Allen
0:52:39 Wolfgang Ritter - Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers (MT-32) - Robert Holmes
1:00:06 The Uninvited Visitors - Dubious Island - Sorcerian Forever (YMF262/OPL3) - Falcom Sound Team jdk
2017-05-01
We are back with another Music Disk volume to satisfy the craving for more FM synth!
Today we're featuring some select tunes from a disk title "Firecracker Music Collection vol.A: Comiket 42 Special" composed, arranged, and programmed entirely by CHEMOOL (Takahiro Yonemura). This disk was release for the PC-8801 on August 16th, 1992 and uses PMD v3.3 (by KAJA). Join us for some good ol' fashion doujin originals and arrangements.
Track list:
0:00:06 Tetrafreaks (Tetraforce)
0:04:05 Vapor Trail (Vapor Trail) - GAMADELIC
0:08:01 Minor-1 (Legend of Noten)
0:15:29 BGM-E (Atomic Robokid) - Mecano Associates
0:18:13 Wagiagare! Power (Midnight Resistance) - GAMADELIC
0:21:09 Running Up! (Bass enhanced version) (Dirt Fox) - Shinji Hosoe
0:27:19 Flash Flash Flash (Bosconian X68k) - Yuzo Koshiro
0:31:48 Activation (Martial Age X68k) - KIYO
0:35:59 Lost of Consciousness (Nouten Chokugeki III)
0:40:08 Exert all your Powers!!~ (Super Sonic Shooter)
2017-04-15
Arumana no Kiseki (The Miracle of Arumana) is a sidescrolling action game released by Konami in 1987 for the Famicom Disk System. The game bleeds Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. Seriously. Gameplay has similar bits and pieces from Castlevania and Bionic Commando but still sets itself apart as a nice little title. More importantly, the music is stellar and it's what we would expect from the 8bit publishing giant. Composed by Kinuyo Yamashita and Kouji Murata.
The FDS isn't a stranger to the show. We've also covered both Ai Senshi Nicol and Falsion before but there's something so special about the extra channel accompanying the NES sound hardware we can't resist talking about it again. During the show we listened to the different waveforms of the Ricoh 2C33 in the second tune. Here's a quick look on each one in order of appearance.
The waveform of each FDS instrument in Stage 1, 4, 6
Arumana no Kiseki (アルマナの奇跡) Konami, 1987
Composed by Kinuyo Yamashita and Kouji Murata
Track list:
0:00:07 Opening
0:03:42 Stage 1, 4, 6
0:10:22 Boss Theme 1
0:16:57 Stage 2, 3
0:27:13 Stage 5
0:36:00 Boss Theme II
0:38:17 Ending
0:43:58 Stage 1, 4, 6 (Remix using VRC6 by Shimoine)
Check out the game in action during Bryan's stream session: Arumana no Kiseki (アルマナの奇跡) FDS
Beware the Neck Dragon!!
2017-04-01
Mitsume ga Tooru might not have made a western appearance, but what's not to love? The gameplay is simple, accessible, and challenging - but not in a frustrating 'rage-quit' way, we loved it. Honestly, the soundtrack is awesome and going to be a lot of fun to listen to together with you. Composer, Hiroyuki Iwatsuki, makes an appearance as well to provide some extra insight on the game and his career.
Track list:
0:00:00 Intro (Fami)
0:07:34 Stage 1-1/Stage 2-1
0:13:58 Stage 1-2/Stage 5-1
0:23:43 Stage 2-2/Stage 4-2
0:36:46 Stage 3-1/Stage 4-1
0:39:41 Stage 3-2
0:45:36 Stage 1 (MSX)
0:48:13 Stage 5-2
0:55:46 Stage 5-3
1:03:02 Boss Fight
1:16:00 Ending (Credits/Staff Roll)
Mitsume ga Tooru (Fami) composed by Hiroyuki Itwasuki
See interview transcript here > Interview with Hiroyuki Iwatsuki
2017-03-15
In this episode we have a healthy dose of video game music from a variety of different games, systems and composers. Join in as we discuss the music and explore the games in Expansion Pack 18.
Track List:
0:00:00 B: The Prairie - Lucky Luke (GB/GBC) - Alberto José González
0:09:26 J: A Premonition - Styx - Ys III (X68k) - Mieko Ishikawa
0:13:31 B: Track 1 - Artist Tool (PCE) - Unknown
0:18:31 J: Stage 2 - Reon’s Adventure (PC) - Unknown
0:24:23 B: Perfect Transformation! Star Ruby - Bunretsu Shugo Shin Twinkle Star (PC-98) - Hiroaki Sano
0:30:07 J: CAMANIS - Tyrian (PC) - Alexander Brandon, Andreas Molnar
0:37:46 B: Round 1-3, 3-3, 5-1 - Riot Zone (PCE CD) - T's Music
0:47:29 J: I’ll Save you All My Justice - The Scheme (PC88) - Yuzo Koshiro
2017-03-01
Toaplan was one of the most well-loved developers in the shooter genre with a number of releases including Tiger-Heli, Twin Cobra, Hellfire, Truxton, and Zero Wing. In 1990, they released a different style of shooter called Out Zone which and is one of the most significant departures from the company’s catalog but still retains all the excitement, difficulty, and attention to detail. Join us as we dive into the soundtrack and have a chat with the composer of Out Zone (as well as many others) Tatsuya Uemura.
Track List:
0:00:06 Operation (Start) + To the Earth (Ch. 1) - Out Zone (ARC)
0:07:00 Pump Them with Bullets (Ch. 2)
0:12:58 Look Out - Tiger Heli (ARC)
0:20:08 Hired Gun in O,Z (Ch. 3)
0:35:41 Soldier a GoGo (Ch. 4)
0:39:07 Secret of Ogiwara (Ch. 5)
0:46:51 Close to Finish (Ch. 6)
1:07:23 Get the Last Laugh (Ch. 7)
1:32:26 Flower of Victory (Ending)
1:39:03 Eternal Life (Name Entry)
Out Zone アウトゾーン (Arc) Toaplan, 1990 composed by Tatsuya Uemura
Purchase the soundtrack on Amazon Japan here.
Out Zone • Snow Bros. G.S.M. 1500 SERIES アウトゾーン / スノーブラザーズ
VGM rip by 2ch-H
Special thanks to ctr for providing the hardware recording.
2017-02-15
Back with another selection of semi-random VGM tracks from a number of different systems. We've been a bit overdue for an Expansion Pack so listen in, join the fun, brush that 3D horse hair, and let us know what you think of the tunes.
Track List:
0:00:00 J Pick: Ultima - Dragon Saber (Arc) Shinji Hosoe
0:08:49 B Pick: BGM #5 - Wonder Classic (WSC) T. Fujitani
0:15:35 J Pick: Highly Responsive to Prayers - Touhou Reiiden (PC98) Junya Ota aka ZUN
0:23:26 B Pick: Minigame - My Horse 3D (3DS)
0:30:58 J Pick: Night Bird (Boss) - Grind Stormer/V-V (Arc) Masahiro Yuge
0:38:23 B Pick: Intro/Anarchy - TFX - (Ami) Barry Leitch
0:51:25 J Pick: Subterranean City - Zeliard (Tandy) Mecano Associates
0:57:37 B Pick: Title (Laughing Ghost) - Legend of Hero Tonma (TG16/PCE) Masahiko Ishida
2017-02-01
Want a game that's obscure but still has it all? Alisia Dragoon on the Sega Genesis/Mega Drive is exactly the game you're looking for. Fun game play, top-notch artwork, and some of the best music the system has to offer. It's too bad the title didn't get more recognition back in the day, however, 25 years later we can still fall in love with this work of art.
The composition was done by a small company called "Mecano Associates," led by Fumihito Kasatani. And with the help of the team, we believe that they hit this soundtrack out of the park. Join us as we explore the audio and hear about the process from the sound producer, himself.
Read our interview with Fumihito Kasatani of Mecano Associates
Track List:
0:00:10 Opening Theme
0:07:00 Stage 1-1
0:14:34 Stage 1-2
0:19:31 Stage 1-3
0:30:37 Stage 2
0:33:12 Stage 3
0:50:14 Stage 4
0:54:27 Stage 5-2
1:04:30 Stage 6-1
1:06:39 Stage 6-2
1:13:10 Boss Theme 1
1:14:18 Boss Theme 2
1:18:01 Stage 7
1:21:28 Final Boss 1
1:25:59 Final Boss 2
1:32:01 Staff Roll
Alisia Dragoon (アリシアドラグーン) Gen/MD - Game Arts/Gainax, 1992 composed by Mecano Associates:
Fumihito Kasatani, Nobuyuki Aoshima, Mamoru Ishimoda, Yoko Sonoda and Mariko Sato
2017-01-15
When it comes to the Sega Dreamcast there certainly is no shortage of odd titles. Bangai-O fits the bill. From the moment you start playing, it shatters your expectations into tiny pieces and when you're done it reassemble them into an unforgettable experience. If somehow you were thinking the Dreamcast version wasn't enough, we're also taking a look at the original Nintendo 64 version Bakuretsu Muteki Bangai-O (爆裂無敵バンガイオー) as well as the Nintendo DS sequel Bangai-O Spirits. Enjoy!
Track List:
0:00:09 Title Screen (Bangai-O, DC)
0:13:01 Step of Battle
0:18:27 Sorrowful Beat
0:25:16 Come Forward, Forward!
0:32:53 Mrs. M
0:40:18 Sorrowful Melody
0:46:21 Now Starts the Main Act
0:55:17 Bakuretsu Muteki Bangai-O Theme (Bakuretsu Muteki Bangai-O, N64)
0:57:34 Stage BGM 5
1:05:55 Machine! Core (DC)
1:13:42 Charge Energy (Bangai-O Spirits, NDS)
1:17:22 Armor's Extra March
1:20:33 Fierce Battle! Power Shooting
1:24:34 Aim for Victory! (DC)
1:31:37 Recovery
1:34:09 Hot Feelings! Male★
1:40:09 The Memory of Grateful Tears
Bakuretsu Muteki Bangai-O (N64) composed by Toshiya Yamanaka, Aki Hata
Bangai-O (DC) composed/arranged by Kazuo (Norio) Hanzawa
Bangai-O Spirits (NDS) composed by Kazuo (Norio) Hanzawa
2017-01-02
With the new year we'd like to introduce you to one of the two new show styles that we will be added into the mix. "Pixelated Audio Music Disk Volumes" are a mixture of game music arrangements and original tunes created by the doujin (同人) groups of the late 80s through the 90s and each episode will revolve around a single disk. This episode we'll be looking at the first Orphe Music Disk released in 1991 for the NEC PC-8801 and playing our selection from the 40 tracks created for the SoundBoard II by this killer music-centric team. Enjoy!
Track List:
0:00:00 Tower of the Shadow of Death - Ys (arr.)
0:06:38 Sky Shooting (YAMA)
0:16:11 Don’t Submit (YAMA)
0:18:51 Heart of Fire (Stage 5) - Castlevania (arr.)
0:21:33 Be Brave! (RIU)
0:24:49 Battle Master (YAMA)
0:30:12 Sand Storm - Gradius III (arr.)
0:33:03 Last Night (YAMA)
0:37:41 Glitter Sky (YAMA)
0:43:18 Shrine (RIU)
0:47:23 Nostalgic - Lightning Fighters/Trigon (arr. KIN)
0:51:39 Ambition (YAMA)
0:59:51 Oath (YAMA)
Orphe Music Disk (1991, Orphe) - PC-8801 for Sound Board II
Music Driver: SPLIT v.G3/Good_Software - Easy PCM Driver P-kun ver.2 by Hayashi
Composed/Arranged by:
Takayoshi Yamamoto (YAMA) 山本高義
Ryuichi Hasegawa (RIU) 長谷川隆一
Hijiri Kinbara (KIN) 金原聖
今回は、MUSIC DISKを御買上くださって、まことに有難うございます。本来ならば、RPGを売成させなければいけないのですが色々あって延期（？）となりました。（と、言っても実はプログラマーの僕が単にさぼっただけかも）そこで今回は仕方が無く（！？） MUSIC DISKということになってしまいました。僕の曲も入っていますので、よろしければ感想を送ってください。
山本 高義（プログラマー）
2016-12-22
It's no surprise that there aren't many Christmas specific games out on the store shelves. And after looking around we found a few Christmas games and some demo/expansions but nothing we were excited to share. Facing the possibility of not finding a game we felt worth a short holiday episode, we had to dig deep and go outside of the North American release market to find Daze Before Christmas on the Mega Drive and Super Nintendo. Wrapped up in this game we found something fun (and odd), so grab some eggnog and fire up that yule log for some retro Santa adventures!
Track List:
0:00:00 Daze Before Christmas (MD)
0:06:46 Santa’s Workshop (SNES)
0:19:11 Out in the Snow (MD)
0:26:44 I’m Anti Clause (MD)
0:32:49 Bad Character (MD)
0:37:22 Holiday Destroyer (SNES)
0:43:34 Cool Floors (MD)
0:48:51 Unknown Track 2 (MD)
Daze Before Christmas (MD/SNES) composed by KIM M. JENSON and GEIR TJELTA
2016-12-15
Today we bring you the tunes from a lesser-known Commodore 64 title called Quadrant composed by Thomas Detert. While the game might not be all that amazing, it has an awesome soundtrack that will definitely get you moving. We've also snuck in some bonus content to showcase Detert's other work around the time the game was released from the Game On Disk Magazines. Take a listen!
Track List:
0:06:51 Subsong 2 (Quadrant)
0:13:24 Subsong 5
0:26:46 Subsong 4
0:35:31 Game On Disk Magazine (Issue 11/93)
0:42:54 Game On Disk Magazine (Issue 12/93)
0:49:17 Game On Disk Magazine (Issue 09/93)
0:58:40 Subsong 1 (Gordian Tomb)
1:05:10 Game On Disk Magazine (Issue 06/93)
1:09:19 Subsong 7
1:16:17 Subsong 9
Quadrant (Commodore 64, CP Verlag/X-Ample, 1993)
Game On Disk Magazine Various Issues (Commodore 64, CP Verlag, 1993)
Gordian Tomb (Commodore 64, CP Verlag/X-Ample, 1990)
composed by Thomas Detert
Music from the High Voltage SID Collection #65
(using libsidplay2, reSID, reSID distortion patch)
2016-12-01
One of our favorite golf games ever made. Before they were part of SNK, Nazca proved to the industry that they could hang with the best of em. Neo Turf Masters, being one of their first, showcased arcade golf at its finest which drove the game to becoming one of our favorite sports titles ever made. It has great gameplay and clean graphics but the soundtrack is the star with its upbeat, jazzy-fusion and soaring solos composed by Takushi Hiyamuta.
Turf Masters was also ported to the Neo Geo Pocket Color and it's a faithful (albeit scaled back) conversion that simulates the gameplay of the arcade version quite well. Even the soundtrack made the jump and is a lot of fun to listen to. Join us this week as we listen to the soundtrack from both versions as well as chat with Takushi "HIYA!" Hiyamuta about his composition!
Track List:
0:00:12 Neo Turf Masters Title (ARC)
0:08:19 BADEN National Golf Course - Germany (NGPC)
0:10:33 BADEN National Golf Course - Germany (ARC)
0:24:16 Fujiyama Oriental Golf Club - Japan (NGPC)
0:27:39 Fujiyama Oriental Golf Club - Japan (ARC)
0:37:46 Blue Lagoon Golf Course - Australia (ARC)
1:01:39 Grand Canyon Golf Course - U.S.A. (ARC)
1:17:00 Grand Canyon Golf Course - U.S.A. (NGPC)
Neo Turf Masters (Arc) composed by Takushi "HIYA!" Hiyamuta
Neo Turf Masters (NGPC) arranged by M. Hataya (not Masahiko Hataya)
Pack contributed to vgmrips.net by GTheGuardian
2016-11-22
Join us as we celebrate 5 years of VGMRips with many of the people responsible, not only for its maintenance and up keep but its creation. We've asked our friends to share a song that has significance to them and to tell us about it in their own words. This led to an episode crammed with beautiful tunes (across many platforms) that we all think you'll enjoy.
Thank you VGMRips community, for all that you've done for video game music lovers and also preserving these tracks for generations to come. We're so proud to be a part of it. Here's to 5 more years!
Track List:
00:00:00 Bryan: "Battle Theme 1" Tsunyan Jaayao by Takeshi Abo (PC98)
00:05:45 MaliceX: "Tower of Destiny" Rusty by Ryu Takami, Kenichi Arakawa, Masahiro Kajihara (PC/AT)
00:13:49 Crimson1117: "Retro Nitro Girl" Minna de Mamotte Knight Hisayoshi Ogura - FM arr. by Wing (3DS)
00:20:56 ctr: "BGM3" Racing Hero by Hikoshi Hashimoto (ARC)
00:25:50 MusicFox: "Character Generation" Eye of the Beholder by Paul Mudra (PC/AT)
00:31:45 2ch-H: "Submerged City (Stage 1)" Dragon Saber by Shinji Hosoe (ARC)
00:36:35 Grauw: "BGM 1-1" Quarth by Kazuhiko Uehara, Norio Hanzawa, Tomoya Tomita, Yuji Takenouchi (MSX2)
00:40:46 Maxim: "Building 1" GG Shinobi II: The Silent Fury by Yuzo Koshiro (GG)
00:45:14 oerg866: "Sortie" Gauntlet IV by Hitoshi Sakimoto, Masahiro Iwata (Gen/MD)
00:53:30 kode54: "Menu" Tunnels of Armageddon by Dorota Błaszczak, Marcin Grzegorzewski (Apple IIgs)
00:58:53 tails_: "Field Music #2" Valna by Manabu Saito (PC88)
01:03:22 vampirefrog: "Fate" YU-NO by Ryu Umemoto, Ryu Takami, Kazuhiro Kanae (PC98)
01:11:28 ValleyBell: "Going on an Adventure" High Seas Havoc by Emi Shimizu (Gen/MD)
01:20:39 James: "Title Screen" Monty on the Run: Monty no Doki Doki Daisassou by Kazuo Sawa (FDS)
2016-11-15
This week we’re bringing you a special episode from our Extra-Life 2016 charity event (24 hour gaming marathon) that took place on Nov. 5th. We asked the other team members to pick a track from any game that was special to them and tell us why. As always it was a great time with awesome music and good friends. So we invite you to listen to us slowly lose our minds over the course of the 24 hour gaming marathon in another expansion pack.
Track List:
00:00:00 Intro: "Talk Dirty to Me" Shock Troopers by Masahiko Hataya and Masaki Kase (Arcade)
00:08:50 Pete: "Jungle Brinstar Theme" Super Metroid by Kenji Yamamoto and Minako Hamano (SNES)
00:17:45 Swendu: "Opening Cutscene" Ys: Memories of Celceta by Falcom Sound Team jdk (PS Vita)
00:30:02 Dusty: "Wings" Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete by Noriyuki Iwadare (vocals: Jenny Stigile) (PSX)
00:43:48 Soup: "Overworld" Faxanadu by Jun Chikuma (NES)
00:52:15 CJ: "Das Malefitz" Mass Effect 3 by Faunts (PS3/360/PC)
01:04:00 Josh: "Top Man Theme" Mega Man 3 by Yasuaki Fujita and Harumi Fujita (NES)
01:16:02 Brunk: "Toxic Caves" Sonic Spinball by Howard Drossin, Brian Coburn, Barry Blum (GEN/MD)
01:28:02 James: "Deep in the Forest" Rayman by Rémi Gazel (PS1)
01:36:52 Bryan: "Warehouse" TMNT: Fall of the Foot Clan by Michiru Yamane (GB)
2016-11-01
Some games are just flat-out terrible and destined to never to see overflowing love from the gaming world (but that’s okay). This describes Hole Chaser for the PC-8801 perfectly. If you were to pass over this game because of its graphics or because of the erotic storytelling you would be missing out on one truly amazing soundtrack by Masahiro Kajihara. In this episode of Pixelated Audio we’re making sure that this music isn’t forgotten and can receive some of the love it deserves plus an interview the composer!
Track List:
0:00:10 Opening (OPNA)
0:07:14 BGM 1 (OPNA)
0:13:23 BGM 2 (OPN)
0:15:55 BGM 5 (OPN)
0:22:35 BGM 2 (OPNA)
0:27:01 BGM 5 (OPNA)
0:39:39 BGM 3 (OPN)
0:40:29 BGM 3 (OPNA)
0:46:32 BGM 4 (OPN)
0:47:28 BGM 4 (OPNA)
1:05:02 BGM 6 (OPNA)
1:25:01 Ending (OPNA)
Hole Chaser (PC-8801) composed by Masahiro Kajihara
かぢゃぽんのお部屋 (Kajapon's Room)
Packs contributed to vgmrips.net by 2ch-H
2016-10-15
In the 90’s saying Nintendo consoles sucked would get you some new bruises on the at recess. Within 10 years they wrapped up the NES, blew our minds with the Super NES, and followed that with Nintendo 64. You could be thinking to yourself, “Maybe if I mentioned the how bad the Virtual Boy sucked my would-be playground attackers might leave me alone.” But seeing as how the system has been a sore subject for Nintendo fanboys (and girls) since its debut, they might even hit you harder.
Today we have the music from Red Alarm by T&E Soft to prove that no matter what you’ve heard about this system, it doesn’t mean it didn’t have some cool music with awesome stereo effects.
Track List:
0:00:00 Opening
0:15:31 Stage 1
0:23:43 Stage 1 Boss
0:35:29 Stage 2
0:37:41 Clear
0:49:58 Replay
0:58:35 Stage 4
1:02:58 Stage 4 Boss
1:18:06 Stage 5
1:24:21 Stage 5 Boss
1:29:00 The Final Stage
1:34:57 Ending
1:42:55 Red Dimension Remix by McVaffe at OCReMix
View the pack on vgmrips.net
Red Alarm (レッドアラーム) on the Virtual Boy (T&E Soft, 1995) Composed by Ken Kojima
2016-10-01
In this episode we (once again) have composer Naoki Kodaka in all his Sunsoft glory with Journey to Silius (aka [rʌf] World) for the NES/Famicom. This game has all the signs of what makes an NES title remembered as "classic." And it's dark visuals, gritty sound, and revenge-focused story draw their own highlights in the ocean of titles on the platform.
Join us as we take an in-depth look at the game, the composition, and it's unbelievably heavy DPCM low-end pumping through the NES APU.
Track List:
0:00:07 Title
0:17:33 Opening
0:25:31 Stage 1/Final Stage
0:35:14 Stage 2
0:49:37 Stage 4
0:51:43 Boss Battle
0:59:25 Stage 3
1:07:10 Ending
1:13:23 Super Hero Arranged by Johnny / Player: Orekore
Journey to Silius (ラフワールド) NES (Sunsoft, 1990) Composed by Naoki Kodaka
2016-09-15
Retro gaming and game audio tends to get associated with US, Japan, and Europe because of the shear volume of games and media. So, we thought to ourselves, why not look at some other countries take on game music.
Illusion Blaze (일루젼 블레이즈) was released in 1994 for Korea on the PC and was developed by Family Production. Their games were mostly composed by a duo known as D.A.C. that was producing a mix of rock and electronic music into a unique balance of "destructive harmony." So, join in as we dip into Korean gaming history, Family Production, and chat with Seung-Hwan Ro of D.A.C.
Track List:
0:00:00 Opening
0:17:13 Stage 1
0:26:05 Player Select/Stage 3
0:27:50 Stage Selection
0:39:36 Stage 2
0:43:22 Stage 4
0:50:49 Stage 5
0:52:06 Stage Movement
0:55:09 Stage 6
1:05:41 Unused 1
1:20:00 Unused 2
1:35:46 Stage 7
1:39:31 Ending
1:46:47 Hall of Fame
Illusion Blaze 일루젼 블레이즈 (1994, IBM PC/AT)
Composed by D.A.C. (Seung-Hwan Ro, Myung-Jin Ahn)
Thanks to MaliceX for a proper rip at our affiliate site vgmrips.net
Also thanks to Sam Derboo at HardcoreGaming101 for his research titled: A History of Korean Gaming
2016-09-01
Namco was known for their extravagant arcade systems and over-the-top designs, however, they also had one of the most impressive sound chips in the early 90s. The 32-voice C352 and it's driver "Quattro" were both innovative and polished but more importantly, they were utilized by an amazing roster of composers.
Guest-hosting the show, ctr (from our affiliate site vgmrips.net) joins in to discuss his latest playback and logging tool QuattroPlay which has been released today alongside the show!
Based on reverse engineering of the original "Quattro" sound driver, this program lets you play music and sound effects from over 75 Namco games, including "Ridge Racer", "Tekken", "SoulCalibur" and so on... It also supports channel muting, WAV and VGM logging, and a tracker-style pattern visualization (which looks really neat). Please see the readme included for instructions on how to use.
Bitbucket repository
Github repository
Windows binary
macOS binary
*Here's the California Extreme video of Pixelated Audio playing Prop Cycle. Periscope Broadcast
Track List:
0:00:09 Ridge Racer Power Remix - Ridge Racer - Shinji Hosoe
0:15:24 Wind Ride Kids - Cyber Cycles - Shinji Hosoe
0:22:45 Give it Together - Alpine Racer - Takayuki Ishikawa
0:31:43 Regret - Kart Duel - Unknown
0:43:54 Euphoria - Rave Racer - Ayako Saso
0:52:13 Capriccio - Fighting Layer - Ayako Saso
0:59:48 Duelists (Mitsurugi Theme) - Soul Calibur - Junichi Nakatsuru
1:07:51 A Song for the Man of the Future - Ehrgeiz - Takayuki Nakamura
1:16:29 SUN-J99Mix (Jazz Groove) - Paca Paca Passion - Takayuki Aihara
1:25:27 Georian - Mr. Driller - Masaru Shiina
1:35:42 Story BGM 01 - Golgo 13: Kiseki no Dandou - Jin Watanabe
1:41:20 Exeo - Nebulas Ray - Masahiro Fukuzawa
1:49:39 Area 1 - Xevious 3D/G - Ayako Saso
2:01:58 Wind Woods (ctr mix) - Prop Cycle - Yoshie Arakawa
2016-08-15
Imagine, if you will, a game that’s from an Amiga developer heavily influenced by the English rock band Sisters of Mercy. Add in some truly insane music coupled with artwork that's both sexy and demonic in the style of an 80’s heavy metal album cover (sporting a naked demon right on the title screen). The game you would get is Astaroth: The Angel of Death developed by Eldritch the Cat with music by none other than Jochen Hippel.
Track List:
0:07:35 Title (Amiga)
0:18:20 Astaroth4-fast.mod - Remix by Estrayk
0:27:08 Game Over
0:35:28 Hi Score
0:48:23 Ingame
1:05:38 Title (Atari ST)
1:18:37 Astro 2003 - Remix by Evilman of Bronx (C64 6581)
1:20:51 Santamagochi - Two in One - DMA-Sc of Sector One (Atari ST)
1:24:41 Astaroth Remix - Groovykid
1:29:22 Astaroth - Title Remix - ACC:Xess (youtube)
Astaroth: The Angel of Death (1989, Amiga/Atari ST) composed by Jochen Hippel (Mad Max)
2016-08-01
Herzog Zwei is a real-time strategy game that was developed by Tecnosoft and released for the Mega Drive in 1989 for Japan and for the Sega Genesis in 1990 for North America. With excellent music, you're in for a good time. Join us with guest-host Nathan Daniels and a special appearance from composer Tomomi Otani.
Track List:
0:00:00 Jagd Flieger - Herzog Zwei (Arai)
0:00:13 A Full Retreat (Otani)
0:12:26 There is No Time to Lose (Otani)
0:26:46 Take it Easy (Arai)
0:34:55 Back to Square One (Otani)
0:40:54 Sleight of Hand (Arai)
0:52:02 Sniper (Arai)
0:55:21 A Breach of Contract (Otani)
0:58:55 A Breach of Contract - Dragon's Fury (Otani)
1:01:50 The Mournful War (Otani)
1:22:12 It was Concurrent to the Accident - Herzog (MSX)
1:25:26 Sniper - Herzog (Sharp X1)
1:27:46 Sniper - Herzog (PC-88)
1:31:47 The Super Fighter Invigorated Us (Otani)
1:35:09 Be His Soul Rest in Peace (Otani)
1:44:04 Go With the Stream (Otani)
Herzog Zwei - Tecnosoft 1989 (Sega Genesis/Mega Drive)
Composed by Tomomi Otani and Naosuke Arai
Find new released music from Tomomi Otani: Youtube
2016-07-15
It’s safe to assume you’ve heard of Bandai, but did you know they developed a handheld console called the WonderSwan? If not, don’t worry, its obscurity comes from the fact that it was never released in North America and had the misfortune to be in direct competition with the Game Boy... ouch! This doesn’t mean it was bad, in fact it was quite amazing... just unlucky (and maybe marketed poorly). Buffers Evolution is a handheld VGM masterpiece and a great example of what this system could do both in sound and graphics. Enjoy!
Track List:
0:00:00 Title Theme
0:11:16 Character/Stage Select
0:20:41 Stage A1/D1
0:23:51 Stage C1
0:38:58 Stage B1
0:41:59 Stage A2/D2
0:46:34 Stage B3
0:56:51 BGM #8
0:58:30 BGM #2
1:05:35 Stage C3
1:08:36 BGM #16
1:18:21 BGM #15
1:27:23 BGM #20
Buffers Evolution (1999, Bandai/Koto Laboratory)
Composed by Sasaki Junana, HIRA and NIYAN
2016-07-01
Today marks the 2 year anniversary of Pixelated Audio and we decided to have a little fun by mixing things up a bit! It's hard to have played Sega Genesis games without hearing the amazing music of Matt Furniss. He is one of the most well-known Western composers and as luck would have it he joined us for a deep dive into some of his more obscure tracks. So listen in as we attempt to stump the legendary composer with his own tunes!
*Spoiler Alert* If you want to try to guess alongside Matt, don't view the track list ;)
Track List:
0:00:00 Level 1A - ResQ (Gen)
0:11:33 Intro - Torvak the Warrior (Amiga)
0:20:03 Title - Mad Professor Mariarti (Amiga)
0:30:49 Track 2 - Jahangir Khan's World Championship Squash (Atari ST)
0:40:06 Club Mediterrania - World Trophy Soccer (Gen)
0:47:23 Ingame - Laser Squad (Amiga)
0:59:00 Name Entry - Wiz 'n' Liz (Gen)
1:11:28 Up, Up and Away! - F-15 Strike Eagle II (Gen)
1:21:38 Shop Tune - BlowPipe (Archimedes)
1:27:16 Ronda Alla Turca - Lemmings (SMS)
1:33:36 Title - Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story (GG)
1:39:54 Menu/Options - Daffy Duck in Hollywood (Gen)
1:52:15 Main BGM - Mega Lo Mania (aka Tyrants: Fight Through Time) (Gen)
2016-06-15
In the world of retro gaming there is no shortage of shoot ’em ups. It’s hard not to fall in love with their intense gameplay, flashy sprites, and insane music. Today we return to Compile, a company that had shoot’em ups down to an art form and with Musha Aleste, we feel they hit the perfect balance of look, control and sound. Join us as we dissect one of the best top down shooters of the entire 16-bit era with composer Toshiaki Sakoda as our guest towards the end of the show.
Track List:
0:00:02 Theme of Musha Aleste
0:07:53 Fullmetal Fighter
0:10:47 Galvanic Gear
0:16:48 Divine Devise
0:22:29 Noh Specter
0:26:52 Offensive Overdrive
0:32:13 Aggressive Attack
0:41:57 Stratospheric Struggle
0:43:04 Alpha Wave
0:50:29 Armed Armor
0:56:49 For the Love of…
1:06:42 For the Love of… Rearranged by Toshiaki Sakoda
Musha Aleste/M.U.S.H.A (Sega Genesis, 1990) Composed by Toshiaki Sakoda
Toshiaki Sakoda English translation read by Pete McEvoy
2016-06-01
Compile was responsible for dozens of games in the 80's and 90's but well-loved for their amazing shooters like the Aleste series. Aleste got its roots on the Sega Master System but made a portable detour on the Game Gear for two installments: GG Aleste (1991) and GG Aleste II: Lance Bird (1993). These vertical shooters are a blast to play, look gorgeous on Sega's first handheld, and are bundled with music from the SN76489 that totally rocks our world.
Track List:
0:00:06 Round 1 GG Aleste
0:10:42 Round 3
0:18:52 Round 4
0:30:12 Round 7
0:31:36 Round 8
0:41:10 Ending
0:49:02 Title Theme/Bonus
0:58:30 Title Theme GG Aleste II (Power Strike II)
1:03:05 Ground Base
1:04:05 Bionic City
1:11:06 Cyber Road
1:11:54 Cyber Road Boss
1:17:48 Boss
1:19:39 Unknown #3
1:25:40 Ending
1:33:26 Ancient Ruins (FM Arrange) by Justin Hill (Jace) soundcloud.com/master-jace
GG Aleste composed by Toshiaki Sakoda and Keiji Takeuchi
GG Aleste II/Power Strike II composed by Imami Pon and Ba. M (Tomonori Minami)
2016-05-15
Granada is a top-down tank shooter developed and published by Wolf Team in 1990 for the Sharp X68000. It also saw a port to the Sega Genesis the same year. Join in as we listen to the FM synth as well as some MIDI versions of the soundtrack composed by Motoi Sakuraba.
Track List:
0:00:00 Advance Granada (Opening) - X68K
0:07:53 Heavy Line (Stage 1)
0:16:12 Windy Avenue (Stage 2)
0:24:11 Hopping Express (Stage 3)
0:28:18 Marching Way (Stage 4)
0:30:51 Nature Trail (Stage 5)
0:36:00 Mountain Path (Stage 6)
0:41:13 Take A Chance (Stage 7) - MT-32
0:49:27 Clap (Stage 1-4 Boss)
0:52:34 Tap (Stage 5-8 Boss) - X68K
0:54:56 Bumpy Road (Stage 8)
0:57:58 Smashing Street (Stage 9)
1:02:23 Goodbye Granada (Ending) - MT-32
Granada (1990 Wolf Team, Sharp X68000)
Composed by Motoi Sakuraba including Masaaki Uno and Yasunori Shiono
2016-05-01
In 1991, Konami was cranking out hits for pretty much every system available. However, Sunset Riders for the arcade, refused to blend into the herd of releases. While it's fun music, bright colors and its availability in a beastly 4 player cabinet made it hard to miss, the gameplay made it hard to forget. Join us as we bury you with pixels from the music of the arcade (Motoaki Furukawa) and console ports.
Track List:
0:00:00 The Magnificent Four (Arc)
0:06:55 Gunfight at the Sunset Corral
0:17:57 It's Time to Pay!
0:28:06 Butch Cassidy and Sunset Riders
0:29:32 Draw, Pilgrim!
0:38:14 Face with Courage
0:39:27 You and He, Big Trouble!
0:46:00 The Rosy Setting Sun
0:52:38 We're Gonna Blow You Away!
0:53:10 Adios, Amigo!
0:53:35 Me Ready for Pow-wow!
0:56:29 Ay, Chihuahua!
0:56:58 The Great Petal
1:00:21 Continue of Sorrow
1:03:09 The Big Win
1:06:05 Gunfight at the Sunset Corral (Gen)
1:07:30 Butch Cassidy and Sunset Riders (SNES)
1:13:44 Mr. Pink Poncho's Western Rock Band (remixed by Dr. Manhattan - OC ReMix)
Sunset Riders - Arcade, Genesis and Super Nintendo composed by Motoaki Furukawa
View the pack on vgmrips.net - ripped by RichterEX2
2016-04-15
Everyone knows that “Amiga love” flows thick in our veins; it’s just a fact. The humble home computer has had so many incredible composers write music for it's games that many of us in North America are a bit unfamiliar with. Today we bring you the music of Jim Power in Mutant Planet from one of the most prolific western composers in video game history, Chris Huelsbeck. Not only that, he's also a guest on the show!
Track List:
0:00:00 Title Theme (Amiga)
0:12:24 In game 1
0:24:00 In game 5
0:36:04 Mutant's Forest (SNES)
0:42:22 Flying Shellfish
0:47:31 Stage 2 (PCE CD)
0:57:23 Stage 4
1:01:50 Final Boss
1:17:18 In game 4 (Amiga)
1:26:30 Stage 5 (PCE CD)
1:37:45 Ending/Game Over (Amiga)
1:49:29 Title Theme (PCE CD)
Jim Power in Mutant Planet (Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST) Jim Power in Mutant Planet (PC Engine CD) + Jim Power: The Lost Dimension in 3D (SNES, DOS)
Composed by Chris Huelsbeck
huelsbeck.com | bandcamp.com | iTunes | Google Play Music | SoundCloud
2016-04-01
Madou King Granzort was released in 1990 by Hudson Soft (developed by Mutech) for the PC Engine SuperGrafx. Sure, it's a bit on the obscure side but we fell in love with this game almost immediately for its fun gameplay, challenging platforming, and vivid graphics. This little gem didn't get a whole lot of love (namely due to being an exclusive SuperGrafx title) but packs a great soundtrack composed by Norihiko Yamanuki.
Track List:
0:00:09 Title
0:00:32 Stage Select
0:09:43 Stage 1
0:17:41 Stage 2
0:28:01 Boss
0:39:36 Stage 3 & 5
0:44:48 Stage 4 & 6
0:56:51 Stage 7
1:00:57 Final Boss
1:07:27 Ending
Madou King Granzort - 魔動王グランゾート NEC PC Engine SuperGrafx
Composed by Norihiko Yamanuki
VGMrips pack by 2ch-H can be found here!
2016-03-15
Back in episode 24 we covered an amazing Konami game for the Famicom Disk System titled Ai Senshi Nicol. Today we are covering another 1987 Konami game for the Famicom Disk System titled Falsion and you’re in for quite an auditory ride. This Japan-only released game has an excellent soundtrack and we couldn’t help but share it with you... (plus we are overdue for some more Disk System ear-gasms!)
Track List:
0:00:00 The First Space Flight [Level 1]
0:08:56 The Evening Voyage [Level 2]
0:17:33 Narrow Road [Level 3]
0:26:13 Careful With the Walls!! [Level 4]
0:27:37 Common Boss
0:34:51 Flying High [Level 5]
0:36:22 The Final Space Fight [Level 6]
0:43:32 Last Boss
0:48:33 Farewell to Journey [Ending]
0:55:29 The First Space Fight (Remix by Kohta Takahashi)
Falsion - Famicom Disk System
Composed by Shinya Sakamoto, Atsushi Fujio, Shigehiro Takenouchi
2016-03-01
We're extremely proud to have made it to episode 50 and put together a great show worthy of that milestone. So, with much thought and many show ideas kicked around, we finally decided on a plus sized Expansion Pack! Get ready for 14 tracks from several different systems, game genres, and styles!
Track List:
0:00:00 Uranus Theme by Masatomo Miyamoto - Godzilla: Monster of Monsters! (Fami)
0:06:21 Ending by Shouji Tomii, Minoru Endo - Vertical Force (VB)
0:11:43 Track 1 by Wally Beben - Advanced D&D: Pool of Radiance (Ami)
0:21:10 10 Years After (part2) by Masaaki Uno - Arcus II: Silent Symphony (X68k)
0:28:46 Town Conflict (Area 2) by Eikichi Kawaseki - Psycho Soldier (Arc)
0:35:10 You're Mine by Takafumi Wada - Big Bang Pro Wrestling (NGPC)
0:42:00 Intro - Aztec Temples by Paul Gadbois - Greendog: The Beached Surfer Dude! (Gen)
0:48:48 Sudden Change by Ryu Umemoto, Ryu Takami, Kazuhiro Kanae - YU-NO (PC98)
0:58:06 Eastern Pop'n Girl by Hyakutaro Tsukumo - Koutetsu Reiiki: Steeldom (SS)
1:05:01 Track 1 by Jeroen Tel - Scout (C64)
1:14:18 Battle in the Royal Crypt by Shigeki Hayashi - Knights in the Nightmare (DS)
1:22:00 BGM 02 by Kenichi Kimura , Kaio Tsurata, Hiroki Matsunaga - Oyaji Hunter Mahjong (3DO)
1:30:50 Night Flight by Katsuhiko Suzuki - Silhouette Mirage (SS)
1:38:05 W5 by Martin Iveson - Wolfchild (Ami)
2016-02-15
As fans of multiple game companies and characters, there is always a question that lingers in the back of our geeky minds...What if the characters from these two game franchises met in the heat of battle? SNK and Capcom are no strangers to helping fans answer this burning question with some excellent crossover titles. So in the spirit of crossovers, we’ve collaborated with Pixeltunes Radio to bring you a two part crossover miniseries.
Part 1) SVC Chaos: SNK vs Capcom - with PTR as guests on our show
Part 2) Capcom vs SNK: Millennium Fight 2000 - with us as guests on their show.
Track List:
0:00:00 Wind of Death Fight
0:15:08 Void
0:20:37 It's so Cool!
0:33:18 Sacred Ground
0:52:48 From the Country No One Knows About
0:58:21 Silence
1:20:07 Unexpected Fight
1:27:53 Final Fight
1:38:54 Left Bank
1:52:27 Far Out
SVC Chaos: SNK vs Capcom (Neo Geo MVS)
Composed by Yasuo Yamate (Tate_Norio), Masahiko Hataya, Yasumasa Yamada
2016-02-08
Sadly, with David Bowie’s recent passing, the world lost an icon. Thankfully his legacy lives on forever in his music and movies. His role as Jareth in the 1986 film “Labyrinth” captivated us and now 30 years later we call the Goblin King back with a look at the music from Labyrinth the Computer Game for the Famicom as well as the MSX and C64 in a Pixelated Audio styled tribute episode.
Track List:
0:00:00 BGM 1 - Underground (Fami)
0:07:00 BGM 13 (Fami)
0:12:00 BGM 3 (Fami)
0:12:56 BGM 7 (Fami)
0:19:49 BGM 9 (Fami)
0:23:56 BGM 5 (MSX)
0:27:50 BGM 88 (MSX)
0:33:28 Magic Dance (C64)
Labyrinth: Maou no Meikyuu - Famicom composed by Tsukasa Masuko
Labyrinth: The Computer Game - Apple II, Commodore 64, MSX, PC-88
2016-02-01
Grounseed is practically unheard of and that's a shame. Developed by Studio Twinkle and published by EXIT in 1996, it’s a stripped down minimalist JRPG at its core, but that’s not what’s important. Where this game stands out is that it has some of the best FM synth around...we’re talking mind blowing!
Track List:
0:00:00 Morning (Fretless 2 Slap)
0:10:49 Real Life [Opening]
0:15:26 Hometown (Remix city)
0:26:24 Maze of Spirits
0:39:35 Spirit
0:44:45 Grounseed Shop Demo
0:53:45 Five Spiritual Guides
1:05:11 Strain [Tension]
1:07:50 Mid Boss
1:10:15 Big Boss
1:18:21 Forest 2
1:22:01 Town 2
1:26:40 Woodland Path
1:35:09 Akira
1:37:21 Five Knights
1:41:43 Thieves Hideout
1:44:11 Castle Basement
1:47:27 Castle
1:52:18 Betrayal (YM2203)
1:55:07 Cantabile (YM2203)
2:00:58 Hey! [Myrtle]
2:06:44 Staff Roll
Grounseed (PC-9801) Composed by: Masahiro Kajihara, Ryu Takami, Takahiro Nogi, Ryu Umemoto, Daisuke Takahashi, Tatsuya Komoro
2016-01-15
Released in early in 2000 on the Sega Dreamcast, ChuChu Rocket! was the definition of what multiplayer puzzle games should be. Frantic gameplay and highly addictive, this is a must have for any DC console owners (but you probably already know that). This was also the game that kicked off Tomoya Ohtani's composing career for Sonic Team at Sega. Enjoy!
Track List:
0:00:00 Title Screen
0:08:15 Single Player Theme
0:18:11 Challenge Mode
0:28:22 Puzzle Editor
0:37:00 Multiplayer Theme
0:43:49 We have a Winner!
0:54:14 Connecting to the Network (Loading music)
1:00:00 ChuChu Rocket! Credits
ChuChu Rocket! - Sega Dreamcast Composed by Tomoya Ohtani
2016-01-08
The new year has come, join us as we look back at some of our favorite VGM tracks from our thirty episodes in 2015. It’s been an amazing year with some incredible music so narrowing it down wasn’t easy, but we had fun and hope you will too. Thank you for all your support and we have a LOAD of amazing music on the way this year!
Track List:
00:00:00 “Samson” – Black/Matrix (SAT)
The Hustlers Concept - Katsunari Kitajima, Hiroshi Taniguchi
Episode 15 - Expansion Pack II
00:04:45 "Search for the Crystal Diamond" – Ai Senshi Nicol (FDS)
Tonma-kun no PaPa
Episode 24 - Ai Senshi Nicol
00:09:11 "Secret Plant Zone Act 2" – Sonic the Hedgehog: Pocket Adventure (NGPC)
Arranged by Maitaro
Episode 19 - Sonic Pocket Waves
00:12:12 "Archineer’s Theme" – Lock’s Quest (DS)
David J. Franco
Episode 18 - Lock’s Quest with David J. Franco
00:17:25 "Evergreen" – Valis II: The Fantasm Soldier (MSX)
Tenpei Sato, Shinobu Ogawa, Masahiro Kajihara, Jizou Kurabo
Episode 33 - Expansion Pack VIII with Kevzter
00:23:10 "Track 1" – Double Dragon II: The Revenge (Amiga)
Tomas Dahlgren, Steve Barrett
Episode 29 - Double Dragon Deuce
00:29:56 "Aqua Kitty Theme" – Aqua Kitty: Milk Mine Defender DX (PS4/Vita)
Electric Cafe
Episode 20 - Expansion Pack IV with Chase Bethea
00:34:30 "Hiscore" – Battle Squadron (Amiga)
Ron Klaren
Episode 42 - Battle Squadron
00:41:48 "Ending Theme" – Shadow of the Ninja (NES)
Iku Mizutani
Episode 37 - Shadow of the Ninja
00:47:49 "BGM 1" – Knightmare (MSX)
Miki Higashino
Episode 30 - The Knightmare Saga
00:55:22 "In Game 3" – Utopia: The Creation of a Nation (Amiga)
Barry Leitch
Episode 16 - Composing Utopia with Barry Leitch
2016-01-01
Here at Pixelated Audio we decided to kick off the new year right by diving into Popful Mail across the Sega CD/Mega CD, PC Engine CD, PC-88/98 and Super Famicom. This game has it all; it looks great, plays great and last but not least sounds great! Even if you are thinking you know this game we’re pretty sure that there are a few new things we can show you.
Track List:
0:00:00 Title - PC Engine CD
0:06:07 Opening - Sega CD
0:18:04 Jungle (Exploration)
0:19:08 Jungle (Battle)
0:27:05 Cave (Battle)
0:32:52 Volcanic Zone (Exploration)
0:34:22 Volcanic Zone (Battle)
0:51:16 Ice Berg (Exploration)
0:52:46 Ice Berg (Battle)
0:56:32 Castle (Battle)
1:05:56 BGM 18
1:09:15 White Clouds in a Blue Sky - Super Fami
1:12:49 Destiny
1:17:03 Marching Down Tomorrow Road
1:25:12 Volcanic Zone ~ Ice Berg - PC-88/98
1:29:35 Ending 2
1:37:50 Volcanic Zone (Stage) - PC Engine CD
1:40:01 BGM 11
1:45:21 BGM 13
1:47:11 BGM 14
1:53:57 Somebody Loves You (Shoko Minami)
Popful Mail - Sega CD, PC-98, Super Famicom composed by Falcom Sound Team J.D.K. (PC Engine CD arranged by Human Entertainment Staff)
2015-12-15
Power Quest on the GameBoy Color would've been an easy title to overlook because there were plenty of terrible fighting games ported to the GameBoy (i.e. Street Fighter II). So back in the 90’s you probably passed on the handheld’s fighting genre which might explain this game’s lack of notoriety. However, Japan System Supply produced a stellar 2D fighter with amazing music by Kouichi Fujiwara!
Track List:
0:00:09 Military Arts
0:11:33 Power Town
0:16:28 This House
0:25:12 Unsigned
0:27:27 1995
0:37:13 Thrust Up
0:46:19 Blue Storm
0:49:52 Ancient Regime
0:53:00 Great Sweater
0:57:45 ABC Shop
1:06:36 Drive Out
1:18:44 End of War
Power Quest 「激闘パワーモデラー」- GameBoy/GameBoy Color - 1998 composed by Kouichi Fujiwara
2015-12-01
Battle Squadron: The Destruction of the Barrax Empire! and it's slightly less known older brother, Hybris, are arguably two of the best shooters on the Amiga. Right from the start, Cope Com knew how to make a challenging shooter that, in our opinion, is still fun to play today. And composers Paul van der Valk (Hybris) and Ron Klaren (Battle Squadron) deliver incredible music that is not to be missed!
Track List:
0:00:03 Intro - Battle Squadron
0:06:46 Title - Hybris
0:15:05 The Imploder 3.0 (Amiga Compression Software)
0:22:20 In Game - Hybris
0:33:47 In Game 2 - Hybris
0:40:04 Hiscore - Battle Squadron
0:53:39 Victory - Battle Squadron
0:59:14 In Game - Battle Squadron
1:10:57 Peace For My 64 (remixed by Dr.Future) at remix64.org
Battle Squadron: The Destruction of the Barrax Empire! - Amiga composed by Ron Klaren
Hybris - Amiga composed by Paul van der Valk
2015-11-15
This week we're bringing you a special episode from our Extra-Life charity event (24hour gaming marathon) that took place on Nov. 7th. We asked the other team members to play something that was special to them and voice their thoughts. Good times, good music. Listen to us slowly lose our minds.
Track List:
00:00:00 Bryan: Intro - Paragliding Simulation by Frédéric Motte (Ami)
00:04:41 Dusty: Cosmo Canyon - Final Fantasy VII by Nobuo Uematsu (PSX)
00:09:58 Swendu: Bloody Tears - Castlevania II: Simon's Quest by Kenichi Matsubara, Satoe Terashima, Kouji Murata (NES)
00:16:10 Pete: Egyptian - GoldenEye 007 by Graeme Norgate, Grant Kirkhope, Robin Beanland (N64)
00:25:57 Kevster: The Moon & The Prince - Katamari Damacy by Akitaka Toyama (Kenji Ninuma -vocals) (PS2)
00:39:47 Brunk: Theme of Monkey Island - The Secret of Monkey Island by Michael Land, Patrick Mundy (DOS/Adlib)
00:51:31 Ed: World 1 - Treasure Master by Tim Follin (NES)
00:59:01 Dewey: The Road of Trials - Journey by Austin Wintory (PS3/PS4)
01:09:24 Josh: Opening - Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver by Kurt Harland (PSX/DC/Win)
01:25:48 James: Transylvania - QuackShot: Starring Donald Duck by Shigenori Kamiya (Gen)
2015-10-31
Maybe once a decade a game comes along that is so charming and so charismatic that you can help but fall in love with every aspect of it...Lucas Arts' Grim Fandango is such a game. This game has great characters, a great story and engaging (and sometime head scratching) puzzles but one of the best parts of this game, in our opinion, is composer Peter McConnell's soundtrack. Enjoy the swanky sounds of Grim Fandango with our special guest, composer Peter McConnell.
Track List:
0:00:04 Casino Calavera
0:06:11 Hector Steps Out
0:07:12 Ninth Heaven
0:16:19 Bone Wagon
0:21:13 Nuevo Marrow
0:22:39 Gambling Glottis
0:35:05 Ashtray Room
0:36:20 Blue Casket Bop (Remastered)
0:43:01 Lost Souls’ Alliance (Remastered)
0:51:24 Compañeros (Remastered)
1:04:36 Rubacava
1:05:50 Blue Hector
1:09:40 Salvador’s Head
1:16:48 Hi-Tone Fandango
1:24:16 Swanky Maximino
1:44:52 Manny & Meche
Grim Fandango & Grim Fandango Remastered composed by Peter McConnell
2015-10-22
Its that time again so join us for a Halloween flavored Expansion Pack with #VGM from a variety of games across a bunch of systems. This episode fits with our previous Expansion Packs but with a creepy theme...we're talking games like Space Hulk, Fez and Pulseman to name a few. They are not exactly all horror-themed games but some are pretty twisted!
Track List:
0:00:00 Hydro 1 by Josh Randall - System Shock 2 (Win)
0:08:52 Death by Rich Vreeland aka Disasterpeace - Fez (Win, Mac, Xbox 360, PS3/PS4/Vita)
0:16:05 Ichirou and Mamiya by Junko Tamiya - Sweet Home (Fami)
0:24:22 Brainwash by Junichi Masuda - Pulseman (MD)
0:33:50 Hulk2 by Jason Whitely - Space Hulk (Ami)
0:48:30 Life and Death Crisis by Hiroaki Yoshida, Tatsuya Kiuchi, Kenji Mori - Dark Seal (Arc)
2015-10-15
Sega’s Sonic Team released Ristar in 1995, quite late in the Sega Genesis lifespan which left many people unaware of the game’s existence. For the fortunate few that did play this game, we were rewarded with an amazing 16-bit platformer unlike anything else. If you played Ristar, you’ll remember the music from Tomoko Sasaki right away but if you’ve missed out on this game, the welcoming soundtrack will hopefully entice you to give the game a shot.
Track List:
0:00:00 Pray!! Pray!! Play!!
0:04:54 Shooting Ristar
0:06:14 Dancing Leaves
0:14:58 Splash Down!!
0:20:53 Busy Flare
0:22:17 Under Magma
0:32:24 Du-Di-Da!!
0:38:45 Ring Rink
0:40:05 Ice Scream
0:48:46 Lock Up!!
0:49:55 Greedy Game
0:57:11 Formation Lap
0:57:34 Ready, Go!
1:03:30 Star Humming
1:11:24 Fiesta Amongst the Trees (Southwestern College Afro-Cuban Jazz Ensemble)
Ristar: The Shooting Star - Genesis composed by Tomoko Sasaki
2015-10-01
The 80’s and 90’s were buzzing with shurikens and katana wielding ninjas, not only for video games but all media. You had Ninja Gaiden, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, 3 Ninjas, Surf Ninjas and on and on. This “ninja-mania” gave us the feeling we were peeking into a mystical world filled with distant culture, rich history and insane weapons that required masterful skill. During the height of this phenomenon, Shadow of the Ninja appeared on the NES.
With every media outlet fighting to cash in on the fad, it would be easy to write this game off as nothing more than an uninspiring ninja trope. While this game does borrow (quite heavily) ideas from other games in the genre it does them very well. More importantly, it has one of the best soundtracks the NES has to offer. So if you passed on this Natsume title back in the day, now is your chance to see what you were missing. For only $5 on the eShop, it’s a steal.
Track list:
0:00:06 Opening
0:05:16 Stage 1
0:14:36 Stage 2
0:25:18 Stage 3
0:36:55 Stage Boss Battle
0:40:00 Stage 4
0:49:05 Stage 5
0:56:03 Final Battle
1:06:10 Ending Theme
1:16:52 Burning City - Remix by Hyde209 (bandcamp | YouTube)
Shadow of the Ninja (NA) | Blue Shadow (EU) | 闇の仕事人 KAGE (JP)
composed by Iku Mizutani and Kouichi Yamanishi
2015-09-22
Driving Buses and Riding Dragons. Join us for another fun Pixelated Audio Expansion Pack and hear a variety of our favorite random tracks in a more relaxed round table format. Maybe you will discover a new favorite song...it could totally happen!
Track List:
0:00:00 Metropolis Kid by Glen Stafford, Michael Morhaime - Death and Return of Superman (SNES)
0:06:12 You've Got to Eat Your Vegetables!! by Bobby Prince - Commander Keen 4 (DOS)
0:11:55 Volcano Area 2 by Shinji Hosoe - Dragon Spirit (TG16)
0:19:52 BGM 03 by Unknown - Tokyo Bus Guide (東京バス案内) (DC)
0:28:41 Strange Memories of Death by Masashi Kageyama - Gimmick! (NES/FC)
0:36:25 Title Theme by Toru Minegishi, Asuka Outa, Kazumi Totaka- Yoshi Touch & Go (NDS)
0:45:26 Intro Credits by Jochen Hippel - Lethal Xcess (Ami)
1:04:19 BGM 10 by Unknown - Lock 'n Chase (GB)
2015-09-15
Even as kids -thanks to Nintendo Power- we knew certain games got released in Japan that would never breach the borders for western audiences to experience. It’s even more painful when a company like Squaresoft (Square Enix) releases a beautiful RPG that will never reach the English-speaking population. Treasure Hunter G, developed by Sting for the Super Famicom, is one of these games.
Treasure Hunter G has all the charm, a rock-solid battle system, and an outstanding soundtrack that would have made it a star franchise in the west but sadly just never got the chance. So your hosts at Pixelated Audio decided that it was time Treasure Hunter G got the chance to shine.
Track List:
0:00:01 Gemini Wing
0:06:19 Well, Let's Get Out There and Fight!
0:10:53 Love’s Escape
0:16:15 The Absence of My Father from My Childhood
0:27:55 The World’s Cavern 1
0:30:13 Come Here! I Defend You
0:38:12 My Rural Town
0:40:44 Upscale Harbor Town
0:48:37 Hey Darlin’, Aren’t You Gonna Come Any Closer?
0:54:50 Around the World
1:08:25 Go! Go! Kids!
1:10:57 A Drink to Victory
1:12:03 Demi Human Battle
1:21:55 Emperor of Balladry
1:27:17 Sad Freedom
1:40:44 Just Like the Mountain, He Will Not Move
1:42:53 Buddhist
1:51:21 Wow, What a Story!
1:54:26 The Road to Survival
1:59:41 Conquer the World!
Treasure Hunter G 「トレジャーハンターG」composed by Mitsuhito Tanaka, Hitoshi Sakimoto, Masaharu Iwata, Toshiaki Sakoda, Yoko Takada, Tomoko Matsui, Akiko Goto
2015-09-01
Racing games in the 90s were a very important part of gaming history and culture. Games like OutRun, Top Gear, F-Zero, and the Lotus series brought us a formula that not only defined the genre but also inspired many of us growing up. Barry Leitch, the composer from many well-loved retro games, makes an incredible comeback to game audio with the recently released Horizon Chase racing game for iOS. In honor of his new music we’ve asked Barry to co-host by selecting several of his favorite tracks that he’s composed.
We’re very excited to have another opportunity to sit down with him to share his thoughts behind some of the most cherished and memorable melodies in racing game history as well as debut the soundtrack from Horizon Chase. Horizon Chase (by Aquiris Game Studio) is an amazing throw-back to the genre and is out now and on the App Store for iOS, with more platforms to come!
Track List:
0:00:00 Title Theme - Horizon Chase
0:08:15 Race - Combo Racer
0:19:55 Super-Baz - Super Cars II
0:27:38 Lap of Honor - Team Suzuki
0:35:09 Bootup/Title - Lotus Turbo Challenge 2
0:47:38 Las Vegas - Top Gear
1:05:26 Going Off the Rails - Horizon Chase
1:16:02 The Finale - Horizon Chase
1:35:44 Brazilian Street Race - Horizon Chase
1:56:04 Horizon Chase Title Theme (SNES Demake) - Remix by Hiller Farias
Horizon Chase Remix Soundtrack Contest
(and part of the digital album release!)
SUBMISSION: 24/AUG/2015 - 15/SEP/2015
Horizon Chase, Combo Racer, Super Cars II, Team Suzuki, Lotus Turbo Challenge 2 and Top Gear are composed by Barry Leitch
2015-08-22
It's time for another Expansion Pack and this episode guest-host Kevzter, spreads the video game music love with some awesome tracks to bring back some found memories. Tunes from N64, MSX, Sega Genesis, Arcade, and more!
On November 7th, we're doing Extra-Life again for our 5th year, which is a 24-hour video game marathon to raise money for Children's Hospital. We would love your support! You can either donate or join our team. You'll also be able to select a Children's Miracle Network Hospital near you to support. While we're each raising life-saving funds for our respective hospitals, we'll be adding to our team total, and probably having the time of our lives doing it. (If you donate, make sure to let us know who you are!) You can also support Kevin's team too.
Track List:
0:00:05 Castle City - Wave Race 64 (N64) - Kazumi Totaka
0:10:53 Moonspin - Gradius ReBirth (WiiWare) - Manabu Namiki
0:17:37 Evergreen - Valis II: The Fantasm Soldier (MSX) - Tenpei Sato, Shinobu Ogawa, Masahiro Kajihara, Jizou Kurabo
0:29:01 Pacific Coast - Road Rash (Gen) - Rob Hubbard, Michael Bartlow
0:36:11 Amazing Paperboy Rides - Paperboy (Arc) - Hal Cannon, Earl Vickers
0:44:53 Theme of Lone Hero - Desert Strike: Return to the Gulf (SNES) - Rob Hubbard, Brian Schmidt
0:53:51 Deserted - Espgaluda 2 (Arc) - Manabu Namiki, Mitsuhiro Kaneda, Ryu Umemoto
1:05:25 Argentina 3 - Bloodrayne (PS2) - Kyle Richards
2015-08-15
In 1999 Hal Laboratory and Pax Softnica combined to develop a unique and interesting new game for the Nintendo 64 showcase what the N64 could do with 3D environments. Hal and Pax used a very well known Nintendo franchise to help pull this idea off and thus Pokemon Snap was born. Blending cutting edge graphics with beloved characters earned a very special place in gamers hearts and homes. So find a sunny spot, grab a cool drink, close your eyes and let us take you to Pokemon Island for some fun.
Track List:
0:00:09 Title
0:07:39 Beach
0:09:59 Tunnel
0:11:01 Volcano
0:20:14 Options Menu
0:21:44 Professor Oak's Lab
0:22:52 Course Select
0:31:17 River
0:33:04 Cave
0:35:07 Valley
0:40:32 Cave (Orchestrated Version)
0:44:29 Professor Oak's Check
0:45:32 Pokemon Report
0:46:54 Gallery
0:58:01 Fantastic Horror (Unreleased)
0:59:17 Horror Boss Theme (Unreleased)
1:07:41 Camera Check
1:08:55 Rainbow
1:10:54 Staff Roll
1:20:47 Tunnel Vision - Remixed by ALFL
Pokemon Snap (N64, 1999) Composed by Ikuko Mimori
2015-08-01
In 1995 the western world was introduced to the cyberpunk anime, Ghost in the Shell (based on a manga of the same name) and two years later a Ghost in the Shell video game developed by Exact (now know as SCE Japan Studio) made its way onto the original Playstation. With clean graphics, unique gameplay and a fast paced soundtrack, get ready for a non-stop thrill ride as a new team member of Public Security Section 9 .
While set in the world of the manga/anime, the creators opted for something different than what you might expect in terms of gameplay because the player is given control a small versatile mech called a Fuchikoma rather than a specific character centered adventure.
Track List:
0:00:11 Thanato - BCJ
0:05:43 Spook & Spell - Hardfloor
0:19:35 Spectre - BCJ
0:23:40 The Vertical - Joey Beltram
0:38:29 Featherhall - Westbam
0:51:26 Die Dunkelsequenz - Westbam
1:01:58 Down Loader - The Advent
1:06:48 Moonriver - Westbam
1:15:11 Firecracker - Mijk Van Dijk
1:20:06 Fuchi Koma [short mix] - Mijk Van Dijk
1:24:20 Ghost in the Shell Theme - Takkyu Ishino
攻殻機動隊: Ghost in the Shell (PSX, 1995) Composed by BCJ, Hardfloor, Joey Beltram, Westbam, The Advent, Mijk Van Dijk, Takkyu Ishino, Derrick May, Brother From Another Planet, Scan X, Dave Angel
2015-07-15
The MSX, while extremely popular in Asia, South America, and parts of Europe, unfortunately never gained footing on U.S. even though some of the most influential games of the 80s debuted on the home computer. Many publishers released gems on it but Konami was a company that made a huge impact on the platform while leaving some true gaming classics, like the Knightmare series, behind.
Knightmare (魔城伝説 Majou Densetsu), The Maze of Galious, and Shalom were released between 1986 and 1987 and even though they are all completely different (in terms of gameplay) they share an intriguing story, detailed graphics, and some of the catchiest chip tunes around.
Track List:
0:00:04 Opening Theme - Knightmare III
0:08:15 BGM 1 - Knightmare
0:09:15 Boss 1
0:09:35 Boss 2
0:10:01 BGM 2
0:19:45 BGM 1 - SCC+ Konami Games Collection #1
0:20:18 BGM 2
0:20:56 Ending Theme
0:24:06 Prologue - Knightmare II
0:30:23 Castle BGM
0:31:52 World BGM
0:33:00 Great Demon
0:42:34 Castle BGM - Famicom version
0:43:40 Room Theme
0:44:15 Dungeon BGM
0:47:54 Town Theme - Knightmare III
0:53:44 Event BGM 1
0:55:08 Event BGM 2
0:55:56 Field Theme
1:03:30 Farewell
1:04:34 Mountain Theme
1:06:14 To the Final Battle
1:18:03 Ending
1:22:42 Stage 1 (BGM 1) - Knightmare GOLD remixed by Parn
Knightmare composed by Miki Higashino
Knightmare II: Maze of Galious composed by Kazuhiko Uehara, Kinuyo Yamashita and Miki Higashino
Knightmare III: Shalom composed by Kinuyo Yamashita, Iku Mizutani, Yoshinori Sasaki and Kazuhiko Uehara
2015-07-01
With a tweaked fighting system and two player co-op action, Technos Japan's Double Dragon II: The Revenge saw a port on virtually every system available between 1988 and 1993. Since it's our One Year Anniversary we thought we would cover the Arcade, NES, C64, ZX Spectrum, Amiga, PC Engine CD and Mega Drive all in one Double Dragon sized episode! It’s so big its hard to G-R-A-S-P!
In 1987, Technos Japan brought the world Double Dragon. A year later in 1988, the famous brother duo is back in Double Dragon II: The Revenge as a direct sequel to the original hit arcade/console game! This time around the Double Dragon brothers, Billy and Jimmy Lee, set out to avenge the death of Marion - who’s gunned down by the Black Shadow Warriors as retaliation from a humiliating defeat in the previous title.
Track List:
0:00:01 Track 25 - (PCE CD)
0:10:31 Title - (ARC)
0:11:41 Mission 1
0:13:03 Mission 1 - Boss
0:13:47 Mission 2
0:23:26 Mission 3
0:24:42 Mission 3 - Boss
0:25:53 Mission 4
0:37:42 Title Screen - (NES)
0:38:47 Mission 1 - Into the Turf
0:40:03 A Tough Fight - Boss
0:40:52 Level Completed
0:40:58 Onto the Next Area
0:41:17 Mission 2 - At the Heliport
0:59:26 Mission 4 - Undersea Base
0:59:58 Mission 5 - Forest of Death
1:01:03 Mission 8 - The Double Illusion
1:01:51 The Fight Continues
1:10:28 Title - (C64)
1:11:22 In Game BGM
1:18:08 Music - (ZX)
1:25:35 Track 1 - (Amiga)
1:37:03 Track 4 - (PCE CD)
1:38:47 Track 8
1:41:34 Track 11
1:47:35 Mission 2 - (MD)
1:48:57 Mission 3
1:49:48 Game Over
1:56:50 Twin Blood - OC ReMix - Sixto Sounds
Double Dragon II: The Revenge:
Arcade (1988) Composed by Kazunaka Yamane
Famicom/NES (1989/1990) Composed by Kazunaka Yamane
C64 (1989) Composed by David Lowe
ZX Spectrum (1989) Composed by Unknown
Amiga (1989) Composed by Tomas Dahlgren, Steve Barrett
PC Engine Super CD-Rom2 (1993) Composed by Hiroyuki Togo
Mega Drive (1989) Composed by Kazunaka Yamane and Masaharu Iwata
2015-06-22
It's time for another Expansion Pack which means another awesome set of video game music to scope out. Richard Hubbell joins us in today's episode and brought some great chip tunes to the mix. We had a lot of fun with this show and we think you'll enjoy it.
Track List:
0:00:06 Whirlwind - Shinobi III: Return of the Ninja Master (Gen) - Masayuki Nagao, Hirofumi Murasaki, Morihiko Akiyama
0:05:26 Game Over - Punisher (Amiga) - Steve and Dave Hasler
0:12:58 Eusine's Theme - Pokemon Crystal (GBC) - Junichi Masuda, Morikazu Aoki, Go Ichinose
0:19:46 Menu - Pebble Beach Golf Links (Gen) - Yumi Kinoshita
0:25:52 Options - Guilty Gear Petit (WS) - Takayuki Nakamura
0:31:54 Path to the Fort - Xak: The Art of Visual Stage (MSX) - Tadahiro Nitta, Ryuji Sasai
0:39:14 Credits - Game Boy Camera (GB) - Hirokazu Tanaka, Minako Hamano, Kentaro Nishimura
0:46:52 Technoir Disco - Terminator (Gen) - Matt Furniss
0:51:54 Futura - Liberator (Amiga) - Mark Sheeky
1:02:17 Moon and Stars - Grind Stormer (Gen) - Masahiro Yuge
Richard has been rocking VGM for years and hosted a show on 91.9 KCSB (Santa Barbara's College Radio) called VGM Pickin's and you can check out the archive at mixcloud.com/RichardHubbz @RichardHubbz - Twitter | r_hubbz - Instagram
2015-06-15
What can be said about B.O.B.? Aside from the fact that he’s a funny teenage android packing heat and some wicked dance moves, probably not much. But it does summarize the protagonist of the 1993 SNES and Genesis/Mega Drive game by Grey Matter Inc. With plenty of attitude and a sense of humor, the great gameplay and funky tunes made it kind of a surprise that we never saw a sequel.
Track List:
0:00:00 Electronic Arts Logo (Gen) / Main Theme (SNES)
0:05:56 Space City (SNES)
0:11:25 Space City (Gen)
0:18:48 Organic Life "Non-Tech Level Music 1"
0:26:02 Underground "Tech Level Music 2"
0:27:06 Boss Battle (SNES)
0:42:15 Techno Pyramid
0:48:55 Space City SNES Remix by Arsenic1987
B.O.B. (Space Funky B.O.B.) Composed by Michael Bartlow (SNES) | Arranged by Alex Rudis (Gen)
2015-06-01
When Konami got the rights from Marvel in early 90’s to bring the X-Men universe to arcades, it shouldn’t have surprised anyone that a classic beat’em up was on the horizon. The coin-op version of X-Men had a great cast, solid gameplay, and a fun soundtrack that made fans of the comic franchise very happy. Whether you played the hell out of this or you skipped it altogether, Pixelated Audio, Cyclops and the gang are waiting in the Blackbird to take you on a nostalgic audio adventure. Come on?!
Track List:
0:00:09 Attract Mode
0:13:08 Character Select - “Code 1012”
0:13:54 Here Comes the Hero (Stage 1)
0:15:45 Junk Factory (Stage 2)
0:25:29 Ambience of the Underground (Stage 4)
0:27:19 Mountain Top (Stage 5)
0:40:59 Do the Right Thing (Boss Music)
0:54:55 I'll Keep on Fighting as Long as I Live (Stage 7)
0:57:14 Nightmarish Fight (Stage 8)
1:06:22 Fake Dance (Name Entry)
1:13:50 They Are Peaceful Loving People (End Credits)
X-Men (ARC, 1992) Composed by Seiichi Fukami, Yuji Takenouchi, Junya Nakano and Ayako (Hashimoto) Nishigaki
2015-05-22
Today we have another Expansion Pack of VGM to soothe the soul and feed your fix. Join Bryan and James for 6 hand-picked tracks from games on the NES, Sega CD, Sega 32X and Playstation 2. If any track stands out to you, let us know!
Track List:
0:00:04 Stage 02 - Section Z (NES/FDS)
0:06:54 Stage Theme - Werewolf: The Last Warrior (NES)
0:14:17 Zias Fleet 2 - Android Assault: The Revenge of Bari-Arm (SegaCD)
0:20:10 Final Battle - Choujin Sentai Jetman (Fami)
0:27:53 Jungle - BC Racers (32X)
0:38:31 Moth Hellspawn - Nightshade (PS2)
Section Z (NES/FDS) Composed by Kumi Yamaga, Tamayo Kawamoto
Werewolf: The Last Warrior (NES) Composed by Shogo Sakai, Yusuke Takahama
Android Assault: The Revenge of Bari-Arm (SegaCD) Composed by Nobuhiro Makino, Jutei Senki
Choujin Sentai Jetman (Famicom) Composed by Hiroyuki Iwatsuki
BC Racers (32X) Composed by Nathan McCree
Nightshade (PS2) Composed by Fumie Kumatani, Tomonori Sawada, Keiichi Sugiyama, Yutaka Minobe
2015-05-15
In 1987, Konami released Ai Senshi Nicol (愛戦士ニコル) on the Famicom Disk System about a man named Nicol who would do anything to save his love from her alien captors. This Japanese-only released game hits all the dots that make gaming fun and we feel compelled to share the love we have for it with you. Ai Senshi Nicol never came to the West and it never saw a sequel or spin-off, leaving this hidden gem tucked away and waiting to be dusted off. So sit back, pop on some headphones and listen to a story about a man named Nicol. Summary and tracklist can be found here.
Ai Senshi Nicol wasn’t a flagship franchise for Konami or a household name (at least in the States). Many gamers don’t even know it even exists and we aim to change that -or at least do our best! Nicol will battle for love and we will battle for the recognition this game deserves.
Track List:
0:00:00 Fighting Nicol, Soldier of Love (Stage 1 & 4)
0:05:43 Search for the Crystal Diamond (Stage 3 & 5)
0:13:57 Blocked Heart (Epilogue)
0:21:33 Destroy The Devil's Ambition (Stage 7)
0:22:29 It Fights! Believe in the Power of Love (Boss)
0:30:41 It's Still Alive! Falling to the Bottom (Pit)
0:34:18 Advancing Nicol, Take Back the Steel! (Stage 2 & 6)
0:40:04 進めニコル、ステラをとりもどせ！Arranged by Abfuku
Ai Senshi Nicol「愛戦士ニコル」- (FDS, 1987) Composed by Tonma-kun no PaPa
2015-05-01
For us, pinball was the pre-digital entertainment of our parents generation but it’s history started much earlier. “Spring launcher” pinball tables were used as far back as the late 1600s/early 1700s. Naturally Pinball has evolved since then becoming more mainstream in the 1860’s and then in the 1930’s becoming coin operated with electronic bumpers and flippers. History eventually crossed paths with modern video gaming consoles and it was a natural marriage of classic timeless fun mixed with cutting edge technology.
We want to celebrate and share our love of video pinball games and music in our first of many pinball themed episodes. So sit back, relax and let the awesome wave of musical nostalgia from today’s list wash over you.
Track List:
0:00:07 Title Screen - Pin-Bot (NES)
0:09:13 Main BGM
0:11:14 Double Ball Mode
0:13:11 High Score Name Entry
0:24:08 Beat Box 2 - Pinball Dreams (Amiga/SNES)
0:28:07 Title
0:33:32 Nightmare 2
0:35:08 Beat Box Intro
0:50:44 Steel Wheel 3
0:51:37 Steel Wheel High Score
1:00:20 Title Theme - Revenge of the Gator (GB)
1:09:54 Main BGM
1:10:44 Match Play
1:11:21 Match Play Results Screen
1:17:39 Title Theme - Dino Land (Gen/X68K)
1:27:50 Dinoland Table
1:29:37 Dinoland Table Ending
1:32:07 Sea Table Ending
1:37:20 Track 3
1:38:41 Track 4
1:40:32 Track 6
1:45:38 Electro House (SID) Remix - by Isacco Garcia Peveri on remix64
Pin-Bot - (NES, 1990) Composed/arranged by David Wise
Pinball Dreams - (Amiga, 1992 and SNES, 1994) Composed by Olof Gustafsson and arranged by Martin Walker for SNES
Revenge of the Gator - (GB, 1989) Composed by Hiroaki Suga
Dino Land - (Gen, X68K, 1991) Composed by Ichiro Hada
2015-04-15
Bryan is in Japan so we're bringing another Expansion Pack to the masses this week. Lots of fun VGM from all over the place. So are any of these games on your "Hey, I remember that" list? Let us know in the comments, because even though their IS a monster in our pockets, we are still glad to see you...in the comments.
Track List:
0:00:01 Oriental Illusion - Monster in My Pocket (NES) Composed by Hiroshi Takeyasu, Kozo Nakamura
0:06:15 Title Theme - Formation Z (Fami) Composed by Unknown
0:10:17 Boss 2 - Bonk 3: Bonk’s Big Adventure (TG16) Composed by Taro Hara, Kunio Komatsu
0:16:36 BGM #9 - Warlocked (GBC) Composed by Jeroen Tel
0:25:44 GM #5 - Bomberman (TG16) Composed by Jun Chikuma
0:36:13 Wolfduck Stage - Darkwing Duck (NES) Composed by Yasuaki Fujita
2015-04-01
Mega Man needs no introduction. Since his 1987 NES debut, the “Blue Bomber” has been loved by millions of fans worldwide. It’s undeniable that Mega Man (or Rockman as he’s known in Japan) is one of the most famous characters in all of video game history. Mega Man is most widely known for his console games, but this episode we're focusing on his adventures with Proto Man and Bass in the arcades. Get out your headphones and Capcom-licensed replica “Arm Buster” for some QSound in Mega Man: The Power Battle and Mega Man 2: The Power Fighters including a special appearance of the Neo Geo Pocket Color combo port of both games titled Rockman: Battle & Fighters.
Track List:
0:00:01 Ranking - Mega Man: The Power Battle (ARC)
0:00:12 Title
0:06:04 Napalm Man
0:07:21 Crash Man
0:12:49 Guts Man
0:14:16 Gemini Man
0:23:45 Shadow Man
0:25:00 Mega Man 7 Opening
0:29:11 Junk Man
0:30:33 Shade Man
0:39:51 Opening - Mega Man 2: The Power Fighters (ARC)
0:41:45 Plant Man
0:43:00 Bubble Man
0:44:26 Heat Man
0:45:56 Cut Man
0:55:18 Stone Man
0:56:44 Elec Man
0:58:16 Slash Man
1:04:11 Air Man
1:05:48 Mad Grinder
1:07:06 Mecha Dragon
1:13:15 Player Select Screen - Rockman: Battle & Fighters (NGPC)
1:13:57 Cut Man
1:14:40 Shade Man
1:21:53 Wily Boss
1:22:57 Wily Machine
1:23:55 Forte’s Ending
1:35:40 Mega Man’s Ending #2
Mega Man: The Power Battle - (Arcade, 1995) Composed by Setsuo Yamamoto and Hideki Okugawa
Mega Man 2: The Power Fighters - (Arcade, 1996) Composed by Hideki Okugawa
Rockman: Battle & Fighters - (NGPC, 2000) Composed by Unknown
2015-03-22
Today we are doing another VGM Expansion Pack mixture but this time indie composer Chase Bethea joins us to bring some of his favorite tunes (as well as a few he wrote)! You might just discover a new favorite track!
Track List:
0:00:00 Vysara’s Proving Grounds - Deity Quest (Mac/PC/Linux) by Chase Bethea
0:11:36 Aqua Kitty Theme - Aqua Kitty: Milk Mine Defender DX (PS4/Vita) by Electric Cafe
0:19:57 Saving the World - Final Fantasy Legend II/SaGa II (GB) by Nobuo Uematsu, Kenji Ito
0:34:47 Stage Theme 01 - Xexyz (NES) by Hirohiko Takayama
0:45:13 Up and Down the Lake - Ecco: Defender of the Future (DC) by Tim Follin
1:01:57 Godliv Tunnel - PoPoLoCrois (PSX) by Yoshiyuki Sahashi, Tetsuo Ishikawa, Yoshifumi Iio
1:11:07 Hallowed Ground - Inazuma Eleven 2: Firestorm (DS) by Yasunori Mitsuda
1:29:36 Element of Danger - Cubic Climber (PC) by Chase Bethea
Pixelated Audio Expansion Pack IV with friend/composer Chase Bethea (@chasebethea)
chasebethea.com | bandcamp | iTunes | soundcloud | YouTube
2015-03-16
Back in the 90’s the Sonic the Hedgehog series was in its prime - literally running over the competition. In late 1999/early 2000, SNK capitalized on this fan favorite by licensing Sonic and his friends for the Neo Geo Pocket Color. This entry (in the now, veteran franchise) would be know as Sonic the Hedgehog: Pocket Adventure and became a highly praised addition for a short lived and under appreciated handheld.
Track List:
0:00:00 Title Screen
0:00:28 Options Menu
0:11:20 Neo South Island Zone Act1
0:12:19 Neo South Island Zone Act 2
0:13:27 Secret Plant Zone Act 1
0:14:21 Secret Plant Zone Act 2
0:22:32 Cosmic Casino Zone Act 1
0:23:42 Cosmic Casino Zone Act 2
0:24:37 Aquatic Relix Zone Act 1
0:25:32 Aquatic Relix Zone Act 2
0:26:05 Special Stage
0:38:22 Sky Chase Zone
0:39:12 Aerobase Zone
0:39:49 Gigantic Angel Zone Act 1
0:40:51 Gigantic Angel Zone Act 2
0:41:57 Gigantic Angel Zone Boss
0:52:17 Boss Theme
0:53:02 Knuckles Boss
0:53:42 Metal Sonic Boss
1:01:17 Last Utopia Zone
1:02:42 Chaotic Space Zone
1:03:46 Credits
1:12:25 Walk on Water (housethegrate - OCReMix)
Sonic the Hedgehog: Pocket Adventure - (NGPC 1999) Arranged by Maitaro
(under the supervision of Takushi "Hiya!" Hiyamuta)
2015-03-01
This week on Pixelated Audio, we’re playing music from an amazing little Nintendo DS game that you might have missed called Lock’s Quest. The composer, David J. Franco, joins us for a quick chat and with over 90 tracks in the game he’s done an excellent job of creating a truly inspirational soundtrack. Also, joining the discussion is a close friend and Lock’s Quest enthusiast, Swendu (@swendu).
Track List:
0:00:00 Title Theme
0:08:52 Game Intro #1
0:11:07 Cutscene #1
0:12:00 Tutorial
0:21:28 Village #1
0:23:30 Village #3
0:24:32 World Map Theme
0:31:39 Battle #1
0:33:06 Battle #13
0:35:06 Battle #3
0:52:37 Siege Battle #1
0:53:46 Battle #4
0:55:35 Battle #6
1:13:50 Build Mode #3
1:15:23 Heathern’s Theme
1:16:31 Wartorn
1:26:45 War Machine
1:35:09 Archineer’s Theme
1:44:14 Ending Credits
Lock's Quest - NDS - Composed by David J. Franco (@321thegame) on Soundcloud (KidwithKeyboard)
Three Twenty One (charity project) David J. Franco (Scribblenauts, Drawn to Life, Hybrid) with other composers Maximilian Weber (The Book of Unwritten Tales 2), Andrew Oakley (Alien: Isolation, Spartan Total Warrior) Jeff Van Dyck (Alien: Isolation, Total War), Bryan Mitchell (Geared), & Dominic Parris (Tactical Heroes, Masquerade)
2015-02-15
Rockage 4.0 took over our lives for the weekend so we thought it'd be fun to put out a short Expansion Pack episode (totally unrelated) while we're on break. Dino Dini, Zoids, Tim Allen, and Golden Warpships. Kind of like a VGM buffet? Mmmmm buffet style...gotta stick some VGM rolls in my pockets for later! We'll be back with our normal show in two weeks with some pretty awesome game spotlights.
Track List:
0:00:03 Cyber Zone 1 - Solar Jetman: Hunt for the Golden Warpship (NES) by David Wise
0:03:28 Opponent Turn - Cosmic Wars (Fami) by Hidenori Maezawa, Harumi Ueko
0:07:37 Title Theme - Dino Dini's Soccer (Gen) by Allister Brimble
0:13:52 Good Figure - Twin Cobra (NES) by Tatsuya Uemura
0:18:15 Dialogue - Home Improvement: Power Tool Pursuit! (SNES) by Dan Foliart, Jim Wallace
0:25:08 BGM 05 - Zoids Saga (GBA) by Naofumi Tsuruyama
2015-02-02
The gaming world has been playing Civilization-style simulation games for a long time and the genre has a long history of deep/enriching games that keep the player hooked for countless hours. Sadly, Utopia: The Creation of a Nation fell short of our simulation-theme nostalgia but totally hooked us with its incredible soundtrack.
In the early 90’s Gremlin Software released Utopia on an array of systems - DOS, Amiga, Atari ST and SNES. In addition to all versions looking and playing similarly, they also share the same composer. Barry Leitch got his start way back on the C64 and has been doing amazing soundtracks for over 30 years across more than 240 games. Join us as we listen to these utopian melodies and have a quick chat with the composer himself.
Track List:
0:00:00 In Game Music (Atari ST)
0:04:39 In Game 2 (Amiga)
0:15:52 In Game 4 (SNES)
0:35:54 In Game 3 (Ami)
0:51:25 In Game 1 (DOS Roland MT-32)
1:08:38 Utopia (TGH BIG MIX) Remix by Barry Leitch
Utopia: The Creation of a Nation Composed by Barry Leitch
barryleitch.com | VGMpf Profile | Wikipedia | VGMdb | SoundCloud
2015-01-22
Our musical mash-up is back with Expansion Pack II. Hope you’re ready to listen to some tunes ranging from the 1986 Famicom to 2014 Wii U and everything between. In case you missed last Expansion Pack episode or tuning in for the first time, this is a bit of a different style episode from our normal lineup. Just some random awesome tracks and some facts to go along with them in this more free form and fun style series that fits between our regularly scheduled episodes.
Track List:
0:00:06 "Final Battle" Wagyan Land 2 (Fami) Yoshie Arakawa
0:07:16 "Menu" NightShade (PS2) Fumie Kumatani, Tomonori Sawada, Keiichi Sugiyama, Yutaka Minobe
0:14:57 "Opening" Radia Senki: Reimeihen (Fami) Kenji Yamagishi, Rika Shingeno, Kaori Nakarai
0:22:35 "The Vegetables" Fushigi no Yume no Alice (PCE) Atsuko Iwanaga
0:29:10 "Final Boss" Shakii (DOS) D.A.C.
0:35:13 "Samson" Black/Matrix (Sat) The Hustlers Concept
0:42:12 "Harvest Hazards (Underwater)" Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze (Wii U) David Wise
0:51:45 "Big The Powerful Monster" Hippodrome (Arc) Azusa Hara, Hiroaki Yoshida, Hitomi Komatsu
0:59:34 "Game Start" King Kong 2: Ikari no Megaton Punch (Fami) Shinya Sakamoto, Satoe Terashima
1:09:19 "Stage 2" The Jungle Book (NES) Neil Baldwin
2015-01-15
Kirby has evolved into one of Nintendo’s most colorful and beloved franchises, so it’s interesting to see it start out on the Game Boy’s “pea soup” color palette. Kicking off what would be a long relationship between HAL Laboratory and Nintendo, Kirby’s Dream Land was fun for new and seasoned gamers alike.
In 1992, Kirby’s Dream Land was released to the world and became an instant hit. Three years later in 1995, the Game Boy was once again called back to action with Kirby’s Dream Land 2. By the time the sequel was released, Kirby was well on his way to inhaling our love and becoming the iconic character he is today. Join us on our own musical adventure as we explore Kirby’s puffy roots.
Track List:
0:00:10 Title - Kirby’s Dream Land - (GB)
0:05:40 Green Greens
0:06:49 Float Islands
0:08:08 Bubbly Clouds
0:15:19 Spicy Food, Minty Leaf
0:16:00 Boss
0:16:46 Mt. DeDeDe
0:17:46 Ending
0:30:42 Title Theme - Kirby’s Dream Land 2 - (GB)
0:31:10 Grass Land
0:32:12 Big Forest
0:33:57 Red Canyon
0:41:37 Rick's Theme
0:42:29 Coo's Theme
0:43:29 Kine's Theme
0:51:22 Boss Battle
0:52:28 Dark Castle
0:54:54 Staff Roll
1:00:52 Kirby's Cabbage Salad - OCReMix - YamaYama
Kirby’s Dream Land - (Game Boy, 1992) Composed by Jun Ishikawa
Kirby’s Dream Land 2 - (Game Boy, 1995) Composed by Hirokazu Ando and Tadashi Ikegami
2015-01-08
Now that 2014 is a thing of the past, we’d like to take a moment to reflect on some of the music we’ve played over the last year and select our favorites. We covered some amazing games and this is a second look at some of those tracks in case you might have missed them. It was fun for us, hopefully you’ll enjoy it too. Check the full post for the track list.
Track List:
0:00:59 "Wilderness" Golden Axe (Gen) Tohru Nakabayashi, Y. Dolphin Takada
0:04:40 "Opening" Captain Tsubasa Vol. II: Super Striker (Fami) Keiji Yamagishi, Mayuko Okamura
0:06:42 "Minor Circuit" Punch Out!! (Wii) Mike Peacock, Darren Radtke, and Chad York
0:10:23 "Night Mission" Red Zone (Gen) Jesper Kyd
0:13:25 "After the Chaos and Destruction" Wild Arms (PSX) Michiko Naruke
0:16:38 "Bog Jam" Vectorman 2 (Gen) Jon Holland
0:20:33 "Stage 7 (Prairie)" Devilish: The Next Possession (Gen) Hitoshi Sakimoto
0:23:03 "April O’Neil (Stage Music)" TMNT: Tournament Fighters (Gen) Miki Higashino
0:25:50 "City of Blue" The Outfoxies (Arc) Masahiro Fukuzawa
0:29:49 "Laboratory of Madness" Batman: The Video Game (NES) Naoki Kodaka
0:32:29 "Mountain Track" Combat Cars (Gen) John Carehag
0:37:38 "Battle Axe-Wielding Dwarf" (OCReMix) Diggi Dis
2015-01-01
There’s nothing better than kicking off the new year with Castlevania and in this episode we're running through an excellent addition to the series called Castlevania: Bloodlines for the Sega Genesis/Mega Drive released in 1994 by Konami. This game wasn't originally part of the series' timeline (meant as an side-story) but later on after the timeline was leaked Bloodlines secured its place in the official Castlevania chronology. (official timeline at Konami) (unofficial wikia translation)
Like its predecessors, Bloodlines has an phenomenal soundtrack that mixes the same haunting Baroque-inspired music with a touch of neo-classical rock.
Track List:
0:00:18 A Vision of Dark Secrets (Opening Theme)
0:06:22 Arduous Journey (Map Theme)
0:06:34 Reincarnated Soul, Part 1 & 2 (Stage 1)
0:07:49 Mysterious Curse (Password)
0:16:22 The Sinking Old Sanctuary (Stage 2)
0:17:32 The Discolored Wall (Stage 3)
0:18:41 Iron-Blue Intention (Stage 4)
0:31:43 The Prayer of a Tragic Queen (Stage 5)
0:32:43 Calling From Heaven (Stage 6)
0:51:26 Messenger From Devil (Area Boss Theme)
0:51:47 The Six Servants of the Devil (Stage Boss Theme)
0:52:32 The Vampire's Stomach (Final Boss Theme)
1:03:06 Beginning
1:04:03 Bloody Tears
1:04:39 Vampire Killer
1:05:15 Theme of Simon
1:09:32 Requiem for the Nameless Victims (Staff Roll)
1:13:34 Prussian Bones (OCReMix) Remixer: DaMonz
Castlevania: Bloodlines (Sega Genesis / Mega Drive) by Michiru Yamane
(yamanemichiru.com | Other music on iTunes | VGMdb)
2014-12-15
We're taking a side-step from our normal format today with a new segment to supplement our normal bi-weekly show. Pixelated Audio Expansion Pack is kind of like a random mix of stuff we've either recently discovered or some music from games that may not fit into a specific show (at least any time soon). They'll be a bit shorter and fall into the slots between the off-weeks but we figured this one can start us out. Hope you dig it.
Track List:
0:00:06 "Caves of Argolis" Battle of Olympus (NES) - Kazuo Sawa
0:06:46 "Ernie's Magical Shapes" Sesame Street 123 (NES) - David Wise
0:11:00 "Dark Maze" Dungeon Explorer II (PCE CD) - Yoshio Tsuru, Tsukasa Masuko, T's Music
0:17:19 "2D Makai" Kyuuyaku Megami Tensei: Megami Tensi 1 -2 (Super Fami) - Hitoshi Sakimoto
0:23:18 "Prologue Theme 3" Daikaijuu Deburas (Fami) - Seiji Momoi
0:28:51 "Lone Wolf" Monster Hunter (PS2) - Tetsuya Shibata, Masato Koda, Mitsuhiko Takano
0:36:03 "Mountain Track" Combat Cars (Gen) - John Carehag
0:40:35 "Tallon Overworld Theme" Metroid Prime Pinball (DS) - Kenji Yamamoto, Masaru Tajima
0:47:17 "Track 4" Valora Valley Golf (Sat) - Unknown Composer
0:56:46 "Space Port - Juggernaut" X-Men: Children of the Atom (Sat) - Takayuki Iwai, Shun Nishigaki, Hideki Okugawa
2014-12-01
Batman has been an incorruptible symbol for Gotham and remains unwavering in his war against crime for the last 75 years. Since his creation by Bob Kane and and Bill Finger for Detective Comics #27 in 1939, Bruce Wayne’s alter ego Batman has been fighting to free his once great city from greed, corruption and terror.
In 1990, shortly after Tim Burton and Warner Bros. brought Batman to the big screen, Sunsoft took this icon to home consoles in a series of different games, both as direct movie tie-ins and also more original comic based stories. This week we explore Sunsoft’s nightmare created at the hands of Gotham’s "Clown Prince of Crime" ...the Joker.
Track List:
0:00:02 Title Theme (NES) BATMAN: THE VIDEO GAME
0:06:27 Streets of Gotham
0:08:32 Underneath the City
0:10:35 Laboratory of Madness
0:17:46 Track #02 (GB)
0:20:23 Track #06
0:22:15 Track #06
0:29:31 Axis Chemical Factory (Gen/MD)
0:31:23 Flugelheim Museum
0:33:10 Gotham City Streets
0:35:17 Boss Theme
0:42:22 Stage 4 (PCE)
0:47:49 Urgent Situation (NES) BATMAN: RETURN OF THE JOKER
0:49:33 Dangerous Ways
0:57:29 Snowy Night (Gen) BATMAN: REVENGE OF THE JOKER
0:58:34 High Above and Deep Below
0:59:47 Decisive Fight (SNES)
1:01:07 Gotham in Danger
1:10:25 The Train (GB)
1:12:05 VS Boss
1:17:09 Batman 'Flugel Rock' OCReMix by Thunder Thouin
BATMAN: THE VIDEO GAME (NES) composed by Naoki Kodaka
BATMAN: THE VIDEO GAME (GB) composed by Naoki Kodaka, Nobuyuki Hara, Shinichi Seya
BATMAN: THE VIDEO GAME (Gen/MD) composed by Naoki Kodaka
BATMAN: THE VIDEO GAME (PCE) composed by Nobuyuki Hara, Shinichi Seya
BATMAN: RETURN OF THE JOKER (NES) composed by Naoki Kodaka
BATMAN: RETURN OF THE JOKER (GB) composed by Manami Matsumae
BATMAN: REVENGE OF THE JOKER (Gen) composed by Tommy Tallarico
BATMAN: REVENGE OF THE JOKER (SNES) composed by David Whittaker
2014-11-15
Once in a while a great arcade title is overlooked by the game industry and gamers alike. A game that if you played you would love but the problem is that its no where to be found. Namco’s The Outfoxies unfortunately is such a title. It has everything going for it though... great characters, unique fighting mechanics and large interactive levels. However, few have heard of it and even fewer have played it.
Its hard to put this wacky "fighting" game into a category, but try to imagine if Smash Bros. and Powerstone had a baby, then Elevator Action Returns and Rolling Thunder had a baby and those two babies grew up to have a baby that was dropped on its head...it would be The Outfoxies.
Track List:
0:00:00 Intro/Stero Sound Check - The Outfoxies (Arc)
0:00:12 A Plot
0:03:48 The Outfoxies
0:04:50 Mr. Acme’s Theme - A Planned Double Cross
0:07:02 A Plan
0:15:46 Skyscraper
0:17:58 Showtime
0:20:11 City of Blue
0:29:59 Cat - Dancing Eyes (Arc)
0:32:28 Death Flight
0:34:42 Dangerous Cruise
0:36:54 Counterblow
0:43:14 Enjoy Life
The Outfoxies - (ARC) Composed by Masahiro Fukuzawa
Dancing Eyes - (ARC) Composed by Masahiro Fukuzawa
2014-11-01
It was only a matter of time before the turtles made an appearance on this show but we thought it would be interesting to give some love to a less popular set of games. So pull out that frozen pizza you’ve been saving for a special occasion because Pixelated Audio is back in a new episode featuring Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tournament Fighters.
Much Like the ”Turtles” franchise, Konami dominated the early 90’s and with their the reputation for making radically different ports of there versions of their games for each console has made for a wild episode...get ready to be shell shocked!
Track List:
0:00:06 Tournament Fighters Part I - (SNES)
0:04:15 Krang - (GEN/MD)
0:05:47 Leonardo
0:07:22 Triceraton
0:13:29 Character Select
0:14:08 Donatello
0:15:05 April O’Neil
0:23:20 Cafeteria - (SNES)
0:24:38 Enter the Tournament
0:26:35 Pirate Ship
0:27:50 Turtle Power
0:33:35 Karai’s Letter
0:34:12 Scrapyard
0:35:50 Sky Palace
0:37:02 Noh Stage
0:43:56 Sewer - (NES)
0:45:33 Downtown
0:46:44 Staff
0:48:25 Intro 3 Hero’s United
0:53:43 Mt Olympus - (SNES)
0:55:10 Supreme Dominance
0:56:40 Tournament Fighters Part II
1:01:28 Star Turtles II: The Wrath of Mann - OCReMix - CarboHydroM, Omigadrive, SnappleMan, The SnuggleMen, Wild_Cat
TMNT: Tournament Fighters (SNES, 1993) Composed by Kazuhiko Uehara, Hideto Inoue, Harumi Ueko
TMNT: Tournament Fighters (GEN/MD, 1993) Composed by Miki Higashino
TMNT: Tournament Fighters (NES, 1994) Composed by Junichiro Kaneda, Ayako Nishigaki
2014-10-15
We’re getting into the holiday spirit with a Halloween themed grab bag. There’s been no shortage of creepy games released over the years so when putting together our list we made sure to choose ones that span the spectrum of fun and silly to mindbogglingly bizarre. So it doesn’t matter if you’re a fan of something a little spooky or someone who likes something more disturbing...we’ve got you covered.
Track List:
0:00:06 ...This was an Ancient Story - Nightmare in the Dark
0:04:07 Nightmare
0:05:34 The Deep Forest
0:07:56 The Cave of Death
0:15:35 Title - Gargoyle’s Quest
0:17:04 Demon Border
0:18:28 Boss
0:19:49 Field Battle
0:28:31 Intro - Devilish: The Next Possession
0:29:17 Stage 3
0:30:12 Stage 4
0:30:48 Stage 7
0:38:35 Story - Vampire: Master of Darkness
0:41:31 Thames River
0:43:42 Epitaph
0:46:47 Ending
0:57:16 Kerosene - Clock Tower
0:58:56 Don’t Cry, Jennifer
1:09:16 Body Eater - Splatterhouse
1:09:57 Evil Cross and Nightmare
1:10:59 Womb Antro
1:12:59 Hell Chaos
1:21:36 Title Screen - Decap Attack
1:22:20 Intro
1:23:35 Level 1
1:24:14 Level 5
1:24:57 Ending 2
1:30:03 Dolls from Hell - (OCReMix) - Mazedude
Nightmare in the Dark (ARC, 2000) Composed by Kim
Gargoyle’s Quest (GB, 1990) Composed by Harumi Fujita, Yoko Shimomura
Devilish: The Next Possession (Gen/MD, 1992) Composed by Hitoshi Sakimoto
Vampire: Master of Darkness (GG, 1993) Composed by Takashi Horiguchi, Yoko Wada
Clock Tower (SFami, 1995) Composed by Kouji Niikura, Kaori Takazoe
Splatterhouse (TG16/PCE, 1990) Katsuro Tajima, Yoshinori Kawamoto, Hiroyuki Kawada
Decap Attack (Gen/ MD, 1991) Fumito Tamayama, Hiroto Kanno
2014-10-01
Every publisher and developer hope for a game that has all the right elements; a game that’s a hit. BlueSky Software hit that nail on the head with their 1995 release of Vectorman for the Sega Genesis/Mega Drive. With creative character and world design, great gameplay and a groundbreaking soundtrack from Jon Holland, the technical achievements and gameplay have earned it a “must play” title. Listen in as we go back to the mid 90’s to explore the world with fresh eyes...and ears.
Track List:
0:00:08 Rock 'n' Roller - Vectorman
0:07:20 Introduction
0:08:30 Terraport / Bamboo Mill
0:09:40 Tidal Surge / Nightscape
0:15:26 Arctic Ridge / Hydroponic Lab
0:17:06 Stayin’ Alive
0:22:49 Options
0:27:06 Vectorman 1 2 3 - Vectorman 2
0:30:12 Bog Jam
0:37:31 Intro B (Unused)
0:41:00 Cave / Mist Chances
0:47:44 Tornado / Shout and Twist
0:50:40 Lava Falls Race / Magma PI / Tubular
0:58:33 Overflow (OCReMix) Beatdrop
Vectorman and Vectorman 2 - (Sega Genesis/Mega Drive, 1995 and 1996) Composed by Jon Holland
Check out the full interview with Jon Holland on Youtube
2014-09-15
Throw in traditional JRPG elements, some Ancient Relic Machines and a touch of the Wild West and you’ve got yourself Wild Arms for the Sony Playstation. Join us as we go through Filgaia’s story, battles, characters and, of course, the sweet music from a very talented and versatile composer, Michiko Naruke.
Media.Vision put together a great game with a deep fulfilling story full of engaging gameplay and characters you will grow to love. This is a title every gamer (RPG fan or not) needs to play. So check out this episode and get inspired to go on an adventure of your own with Rudy, Jack and Cecilia.
Track List:
0:00:07 To the End of the Wilderness
0:04:55 Hope
0:07:11 Alone in the World
0:09:55 Migratory Birds of the Wilderness
0:16:29 Town
0:18:17 Adlehyde Castle
0:19:55 Warriors Whistle
0:28:35 After the Chaos and Destruction
0:30:39 Screaming World
0:32:03 Lament and a Promise
0:42:22 Critical Hit!
0:43:50 Moment of Tension
0:45:01 Battle vs. Mid-Boss
0:52:31 Morning of the Journey
0:55:12 The Prologue Beginning from Here
1:05:00 Succumb to Wilderness (OCReMix) Level 99
Wild Arms (PSX) Composed by Michiko Naruke (VGMdb | Personal Site)
2014-09-01
This week we bring you music from a short-lived company with strong roots in the Amiga demo-scene called Zyrinx. Beginning on Sega’s 16bit hardware, they set out to push the limits of the Genesis and Mega Drive further than other developers had done. With their custom sound driver, incredible visual accomplishments and the launch of composer Jesper Kyd’s career, they proved the power of hard work and innovative thinking.
Even though they only produced 3 games in there short 6 year lifespan, mostly unnoticed by the gaming world, we felt that Zyrinx and its games shouldn’t be forgotten and deserve a deeper look. So enjoy the music of Sub-Terrania, Red Zone and Scorcher and let us know your thoughts about this music heavy episode.
Track List:
0:00:08 Carousel - Sub-Terrania
0:06:57 Crystal Space
0:11:06 Enemy Mines
0:14:57 Last Level
0:23:59 Funky Writer
0:29:37 Start Sequence
0:31:08 Underwater
0:40:05 Title Music - Red Zone
0:48:35 Select Screen
0:52:22 Spinner
1:00:10 Night Mission
1:05:48 Walking
1:11:40 Headquarters
1:21:22 The Suburbs - Scorcher
1:24:40 Radioactive Waste
1:33:01 Title Music
1:38:23 The Broken Front (OCReMix) DusK
Sub-Terrania - (Sega Genesis/Mega Drive, 1993)
Red Zone - (Sega Genesis/Mega Drive, 1994
Scorcher - (Sega Saturn/PC, 1996)
Composed by Jesper Kyd (jesperkyd.com)
2014-08-18
We're looking at Nintendo’s Punch-Out!! series. With so many franchises unable to make the jump from the arcade to the home console and even fewer able to then stand the test of time by seeing re-releases we want to pay tribute to an amazing series that has not only done this but holds so many awesome memories for an entire generation of gamers.
Over the last 30 years there has been one boxing series that held the top title for us so in this episode we take a deeper look into its history and highlight the music. So no matter if you’re a Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out!! fan, a Super Punch-Out!! fan or even a super old school arcade junky we have something that you’ll enjoy. Check out the episode and let us know your memories in the comments.
Track List:
0:00:07 Main theme - Punch Out & Super Punch Out!! (ARC)
0:08:11 Fight Theme - Punch Out!! (NES)
0:09:21 Bicycle Training
0:10:16 Little Mac Down
0:10:39 Opponent Down
0:15:51 Opponent Montage
0:19:50 Track 04 - Power Punch II (NES)
0:21:00 Track 06
0:22:05 Track 01
0:27:45 Menu Theme - Super Punch Out!! (SNES)
0:29:45 Minor Circuit
0:31:18 Bald Bull
0:34:13 Major Circuit
0:36:16 Piston Hurricane
0:36:51 Ending Theme
0:43:53 Minor Circuit - Punch Out!! (Wii)
0:46:42 Glass Joe
0:49:23 Major Circuit
0:57:30 Piston Hondo
1:00:17 Title Screen
1:04:35 Super Macho Man
1:12:14 Dream Fighter - OCReMix - Scott Peeples
Punch Out!! - Super Punch Out!! - (Arcade, 1984/1985) Composed by Koji Kondo
Punch Out!! - (NES, 1987) Composed by Yukio Kaneoka, Akito Nakatsuka, Kenji Yamamoto
Mike Tyson's Intergalactic Power Punch!! - Power Punch II!! - (NES, 1992) Composed by Marshall Parker
Super Punch Out!! - (Super Nintendo, 1994) Composed by Takashi Kumegawa, Masaru Sakakibara
Punch Out!! - (Nintendo Wii, 2009) Composed by Mike Peacock, Darren Radtke, Chad York
2014-07-31
We're back with a full grab bag of Soccer titles in celebration of 2014 FIFA World Cup. With so many soccer games being released over the years, it was a really tough choice to pick only a few and leave the others to sit on the sidelines but we have a ton of amazing music for your auditory pleasure.
Track List:
0:00:07 Main Theme Sensible Soccer (SNES)
0:10:40 BGM#07 Neo Geo Cup 98 Plus Color (NGPC)
0:11:11 BGM#08
0:11:46 BGM#13
0:12:32 BGM#14
0:18:12 Game Options 02 FIFA Soccer 97: Gold Edition (SNES)
0:21:51 Half Time
0:24:17 Playoff Championship
0:28:08 Menu Theme Dino Dini’s Soccer (GEN/MD)
0:29:38 Game BGM
0:40:11 Rush for Goal Worldwide Soccer: SIVG Edition (SS)
0:43:36 Everyone’s a Hero
0:49:16 Final Match Theme Nintendo World Cup (GB)
0:52:25 Choose Your Team
0:56:25 Name Entry Virtua Striker 2 (Arc)
0:58:35 Instruction
1:03:28 Title Super Soccer (SNES)
1:04:16 Germany
1:05:19 Lost Tournament
1:06:10 Belgium
1:12:45 Opening Captain Tsubasa Vol. II: Super Striker (Fami)
1:13:48 Opposing Team Flamengo
1:14:09 Opposing Team Toho High School
1:15:01 Last Scene
1:22:48 AWS Pro Moves Soccer AWS Pro Moves Soccer (GEN)
Sensible Soccer composed by Richard Joseph
Neo Geo Cup 98 Plus Color composed by Taro Yonetani
FIFA Soccer 97 - Gold Edition composed by Kev Bruce
Dino Dini’s Soccer composed by Matt Furniss
Worldwide Soccer: Sega International Victory Goal Edition composed by Jun Senoue
Nintendo World Cup composed by Kazuo Sawa
Virtua Striker 2 composed by Hideaki Miyamoto
Super Soccer composed by Hiroya Niwayama, Hironori Tanaka, Testsuji Ohtani, and Masamichi Yamazaki
Captain Tsubasa Vol. II: Super Striker composed by: Keiji Yamagishi, Mayuko Okamura, and Mikio Saito
AWS Pro Moves Soccer composed by Jesper Kyd
2014-07-01
We launch the show off with the Golden Axe series by SEGA. Even though it wasn’t one of the highest selling games of the platform for the Genesis/Mega Drive it has been re-released in pretty much every “SEGA Classics” collection to date. For those of you who don’t know (or probably just don't remember) it all started in 1989 for the arcade.
Track List:
0:00:06 The Battle Golden Axe (Arc)
0:09:09 Wilderness (Gen/MD)
0:11:58 Turtle Village 2 (Arc)
0:23:19 The Road of Dead (Arc)
0:24:05 Battle Field (Arc)
0:26:24 Old Map (Arc)
0:31:55 Death Adder (Gen/MD)
0:34:20 Turtle Village 1 (SegaCD)
0:39:48 Title Theme Golden Axe II (Gen/MD)
0:40:51 Dark Guld’s Chamber (Gen/MD)
0:42:00 Ravaged Village (Gen/MD)
0:51:29 Bloody Street Golden Axe III (MD)
0:52:20 Death Mountain (MD)
1:03:38 In a Fortress Golden Axe: The Revenge of Death Adder (Arc)
1:04:37 Hope for Tomorrow (Arc)
1:08:48 Battle Axe-Wielding Dwarf (OCReMix) Diggi Dis
Golden Axe composed by Tohru Nakabayashi & Y. "Dolphin" Takada
Golden Axe II composed by Naofumi Hataya
Golden Axe III composed by Naofumi Hataya, Tatsuyuki Maeda, Haruyo Oguro, and Tomonori Sawada
Golden Axe: The Revenge of Death Adder composed by Tomoyuki Kawamura, Masanori Takeuchi