Monday, December 31, 2012

Entry #67 (Post-Apocalyptic Games) Fallout 2 "All Clear Signal (Vault City)"


 This week's first track comes Fallout 2, a classic post-apocalyptic RPG released on the PC in 1999. This track has an atmospheric side, but also a cool techno side. It's not melodic, but it is really interesting.
Developer: Black Isle Studios
Composer: Mark Morgan
You can download the soundtracks for the first and second Fallout games (remixed and remastered) here.

Sunday, December 30, 2012

This Week's Topic: Post-Apocalyptic Games!



 To celebrate the survival of our species past December 21st, when the apocalypse should've swallowed the Earth whole, I'm going to share six tracks from games showing different sides of the post-apocalypse.
 Enjoy the focus! 

Saturday, December 29, 2012

Entry #66 (Mega Man) Rockman and Forte *Mega Man & Bass* "Cold Man- Hypothermal Jazz"


 This week's final track comes from the Super Famicom title Rockman and Forte (later released on the Gameboy Advance as Mega Man & Bass.) It balances a cool, jazzy side with a fast-paced pop side that could come from any Mega Man game. Certainly a great track.
Developer: Capcom
Composer(s):   Naoshi Mizuta, 
Akari Kaida,
Kirichan 

Friday, December 28, 2012

Entry #65 (Mega Man) Mega Man X2 "Wheel Gator Stage (Dinosaur Tank)"


 This track comes from the 1994-95 SNES platformer Mega Man X2. The X series is an off-shoot of the original Mega Man series. This track has a hard-rock sound; I'm really fascinated by the high-pitch voice that chimes in at the beginning and the chorus- if you could call it that. The sampled electric guitars are also really cool.
Developer: Capcom
Composer: Yuki Iwai

Thursday, December 27, 2012

Entry #64 (Mega Man) Mega Man Legends "Lakeside Town Theme"


 This next track comes from the PS1/N64 polygonal action-RPG Mega Man Legends. This game has many aspects in common with The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. This track has an island-y feel, a far cry from the rock/pop sound that dominates many Mega Man games.
Developer: Capcom Production Studio 2
Composer: Makoto Tomozawa

Wednesday, December 26, 2012

Entry #63 (Mega Man) Mega Man III "Spark man"


 This next track comes from the 1990 NES title Mega Man III. This track isn't necessarily the best track in the game, in fact the whole soundtrack is incredible. I just really like the melody and bass in this song- it's a real Capcom-y jam.
Developer: Capcom
Composer: Yasuaki Fujita

Tuesday, December 25, 2012

Entry #62 (Mega Man) Mega Man 2 "Dr. Wily Stage 1"


 This next track comes from Mega Man II, the series' second NES installment that was released in December of 1988. 
Developer: Capcom 
Composer: Takashi Tateishi 

Monday, December 24, 2012

Entry #61 (Mega Man) Mega Man "Elecman"


 This week's first track comes from the humble beginnings of the franchise, Mega Man on the NES. This track comes from the Elecman stage, and is my favorite track from this title. I especially like the melody and the bridge sections.
Developer: Capcom
Composer: Manami Matsumae

Sunday, December 23, 2012

This Week's Topic: Mega Man!


 On December 17th, 1987 Mega Man was released on the Nintendo Entertainment System (known in Japan as Rockman). This classic platformer spawned a world-famous brand that now has over one-hundred titles. To celebrate Mega Man's 25th birthday, I'm going to highlight great some tracks from many different branches of his career. I won't even be able to scratch the surface of Mega Man music, so this is really only his introduction to the blog. 

Enjoy the focus! 

Saturday, December 22, 2012

Entry #60 (Mini-games) Final Fantasy X "Blitz Off!"


 This week's final track comes from the 2001 PS2 JRPG Final Fantasy X. This track is from a sporting event in the game, so the synthy, poppy sound makes sense- the New Age element of the track is just cool and weird.
Developer: Square
Composer: Nobuo Uematsu

Friday, December 21, 2012

Entry #59 (Mini-games) Bully "Gym Class"


 This next track comes from the 2006 open-world Playstation 2 title Bully. This track has a Danny Elfman kind of sound, which isn't a bad thing at all. A great little track.
Developer(s): Rockstar Vancouver
Rockstar New England
Composer: Shawn Lee

Thursday, December 20, 2012

Entry #58 (Mini-games) Legend of The Mystical Ninja "Painting Panic"


 This next track comes from the the 1991 SNES title The Legend of The Mystical Ninja. This track feels kind of jazzy, with a really cool bass line and a brassy-section.
Developer: Konami
Composer: Kazuhiko Uehera
Harumi Ueko

Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Entry #57 (Mini-games) Rayman Raving Rabbids "Canyon (Morricone)"


 This next track comes from the 2006 Wii title Rayman Raving Rabids. This song has a very Western sound, and I dig it.
Developer: Ubisoft Montpellier
Composer: Mark Griskey (an additional note: originally I had no composer for this track. After watching a Youtube video of the final credits I saw Mark was credited with original music while the credit for licensed music went to Didier Lord. At first I thought this was a band, but from what I can gather and assume I believe he was just the person who found the licensed tracks. At the time of this publishing, I don't know if this is original or licensed, if I uncover any further info I'll update the post.) 

Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Entry #56 (Mini-games) Viewtiful Joe 2 "The 36th Chamber of Viewtiful"


 This next track comes Clover Studio's 2004 Gamecube/PS2 beat-em-up Viewtiful Joe. This entire series is very, very Japanese- and this track is no exception. A wonderfully Asiatic track.
Developer: Clover Studios
Composer: Sayaka Morita
Masami Ueda

Monday, December 17, 2012

Entry #55 (Mini-games) Timesplitters 2 "Anaconda"


 This week's first track comes from the 2002 Gamecube, PS2, and XBOX FPS TimeSplitters 2. This track has a great early arcade sound, which is perfect considering this particular mini-game is a retro-arcade callback.
Developer: Free Radical Design
Composer: Graeme Norgate
The whole album is available for download here.

Sunday, December 16, 2012

This Week's Topic: Mini-games!


 This week is all about minigames! For those who don't know, mini-games are short experiences separate from the main game. I am going to pick six tracks from six separate games that will take the readers on a musical journey. 
Enjoy the focus!

Saturday, December 15, 2012

Entry #54 (Hirokazu Tanaka) Dr. Mario "Fever Theme"


 This week's final track comes from the 1990 NES puzzle gem Dr. Mario. This is one of the most infectious, charming tracks on the NES.
Developer: Nintendo R&D1
Composer: Hirokazu Tanaka

Friday, December 14, 2012

Entry #53 (Hirokazu Tanaka) Earthbound "Enjoy Your Stay"


 This track comes from the 1994 RPG classic Earthbound (known on the Super Famicom in Japan as Mother 2). This track shakes up the focus a little as it sounds very salsa-y, especially with the sampled clapping sound and such. An awesome little piece.
Developer(s): Nintendo
APE
HAL Laboratory
Composer: Hirokazu Tanaka

Thursday, December 13, 2012

Entry #52 (Hirokazu Tanaka) X "Tunnel Scene"


 Happy birthday Hirokazu Tanaka!
 This next track comes from the 1992 Original GameBoy title X. This track is fast paced and awesome, easily one of the highlights of an awesome soundtrack.
Developer: Nintendo R&D1
Composer: Hirokazu Tanaka

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Entry #51 (Hirokazu Tanaka) Metroid "Brinstar"


 This next track comes from the classic, classic 1986 NES game called Metroid. Not only was the game classic, this particular song is what I think of when I think of the series' first outing on the NES. Something about it is both catchy and alien, a perfect fit for the game.
Developer: Nintendo R&D1
Composer: Hirokazu Tanaka

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Entry #50 (Hirokazu Tanaka) Kid Icarus "Theme"


This next track comes from the 1986 NES/Famicom title Kid Icarus. 
Developer: Nintendo R&D1

Monday, December 10, 2012

Entry #49 (Hirokazu Tanaka) Wrecking Crew "Main Theme"


 This week's first track from Hip comes from the 1985 NES/Famicom game Wrecking Crew. This is a simple, yet catchy, little theme track- the epitome of catchy NES pieces. 
Developer: Nintendo R&D1
Composer: Hirokazu Tanaka

Sunday, December 9, 2012

This Week's Topic: Hirokazu Tanaka!

 (image courtesy of Giant Bomb


 This week's topic is Hirokazu (Hip) Tanaka, the famed composer notable for his work with Nintendo during the NES/SNES/GameBoy era. Hirokazu is going to be fifty-five on December 13th of this year and I thought it only appropriate to spend a week focusing on the music of this living legend. I'm not claiming to be able to hit every part of his career with six tracks, but I'm hoping to at least lay the groundwork for focuses on him in the future. 

Enjoy the focus! 

Saturday, December 8, 2012

Entry #48 (Winter) Final Fantasy IX "Ice Caverns"


 This week's final track comes from the 2000 Playstation One title Final Fantasy IX. This track is kind of experimental and weird, while also retaining some iciness.
Developer: Square
Composer: Nobuo Uematsu

Friday, December 7, 2012

Entry #47 (Winter) Banjo-Kazooie "Freezezy Peak"


 This track comes from the 1998 N64 game Banjo-Kazooie. This is a proper Christmas-y sounding track.
Developer: Rare
Composer: Grant Kirkthrope

Thursday, December 6, 2012

Entry #46 (Winter) Battletoads "Ice Cavern"


 This track comes from the infamously difficult 1991 NES title Battletoads (this game also ended up on the Genesis and several other platforms, but this is specifically the NES version.) A note about this video- it loops a number of times.
Developer: Rare
Composer: David Wise

Wednesday, December 5, 2012

Entry #45 (Winter) Sonic The Hedgehog 3 "Ice Cap Zone Act One"



 This track comes from the 1994 Sega MegaDrive/Genesis title Sonic The Hedgehog 3. This track, in my opinion, is quintessential Sonic. An awesome poppy track.
Developer: Sonic Team
Composer(s):
 Michael Jackson,
Brad Buxer, 
C. Cirocco Jones, 
Bobby Brooks, 
Darryl Ross, 
Geoff Grace, 
 Doug Grigsby

Tuesday, December 4, 2012

Entry #44 (Winter) Super Mario Galaxy "Freezeflame Galaxy *Ice*"



 This track comes from the 2007 Wii title Super Mario Galaxy. This is half of the Freezeflame Galaxy, the other half being molten-hot. 
Developer: Nintendo EAD
Composer: Koji Kondo 
The soundtrack is available here.

Monday, December 3, 2012

Entry #43 (Winter) Pokemon Diamond/ Pearl "Route 217"


 This week's first track comes from Pokemon Diamond and Pearl a 2006-2007 Nintendo DS title; this track institutes the unofficial sleigh-bell focus that will proliferate the "Winter" focus.
Developer: GameFreak
Composer(s): Go Ichinose
Hitomi Sato
Junichi Masuda
Morikazu Aoki (all are possible composers)

Sunday, December 2, 2012

This Week's Topic: Winter!



 It's winter time in my neck of the woods (southern USA) and while I'm not having a particularly snowy winter, there is plenty of ice. In celebration of the positioning of the Earth in space, I'm bringing you a week's worth of chill tracks centered around a snowy, icy theme. 
Enjoy the focus! 

Saturday, December 1, 2012

Entry #42 (Adventure Games) Day of The Tentacle "Dr. Fred's Lab"


 I chose this track from the 1993 classic Day of The Tentacle to put a bow on the already LucasArts heavy focus. This track is quirky and a little jazzy, a perfect combination in my mind.
Developer: LucasArts
Composer(s): Clint Bajakian
Peter McConell
Michael Land