Let's Listen: Jupiter

Darius II (also known as Sagaia) was initially released by Taito in arcades in 1989, but over the years, it received a number of ports. Taito's Zuntata even performed parts of its soundtrack live. Below are six covers of the same song, the theme to the final stage of Darius II: Jupiter.

Arcade

The entire Darius II soundtrack is great, but this track in particular goes beyond the scope of the rest of the tracks and ends up as some kind of pop prog thing. It’s also interesting that the final stage—chock full of tough foes and the height of the game’s difficulty—is so energetic and hopeful.

Also, there’s a lady that says “papa.”

Let's Listen: Transitions

Game music sets the mood, puts you in the right mindset. On rare occasions, one piece will transition into another. The effect lends dynamism. Rather than experiencing two disconnected situations with two different themes, you're shifted from one state to another by the transition.

Super Spy Hunter - Levels 1 and 4

To get a good idea of the transition here, you can start listening at 1:13. Super Spy Hunter music is, as ever, pretty badass, with a deep bass and chill lead melody. For excitement, they're accompanied by a driving drum beat and dashes of high pitched squares.

You can hear the transition start at 1:34 in the percussion. Not only is this the exciting channel in the tune, but as a source of rhythm, it's what keeps everything going. When the drum track changes and the melody remains (until 1:39), it's like the rug is pulled out from under you. That said, it still plays nicely with the old melody.

The drums are the bit that change, so they draw your attention, and it makes sense that they get a solo part from 1:39 to 1:44. That bare portion of soundtrack matches the insecure feeling at the height of your car's jump: you're suspended in midair, and somehow you're safe. Somehow.

Your new melody comes in at 1:44 when you can spot the road below you, and you get the direction that gameplay is taking. From here on out, you're jumping from one bit of highway to the next, weaving through enemy fire all the while. You'll need focus to manage this feat, so the music pares it back, focusing more on the cool end of things. You won't find the twists and turns here that you did in the music for the first half of the stage.

You have two moods bridged by a moment of uncertainty. The drums keep you going while you scramble for a new melody.

You can listen to it without sound effects here.

Banjo-Kazooie - Gruntilda's Lair

Any good mansion is a character unto itself, and with a character comes a theme. There's a version of Gruntilda's Lair for every area in the game, and you can hear it transition a few times over the course of this video. Of particular note is the bit from 3:30 to 4:30, where you can hear it go from the regular theme to the Treasure Trove Cove version (3:46) and back (4:23).

No matter where you go in the Lair, you can always hum along with the melody. It's just that you'll get a different rhythm or instrumentation depending on where you are; the regular theme is lonely and creepy, while the Treasure Trove Cove version has all the sing-song bounciness of a pirate shanty. Rather than draping every setting in Grunty's witchy character, this approach takes the theme of Gruntilda's Lair and makes you think of a million different things with it--drunken singing pirates included.

It highlights both the cohesion and the disparity of the Lair construction.

Paper Mario Sticker Star - Gooper Blooper

Music begins at 0:17.

Gooper Blooper marks the climax of, or at least a pretty serious turning point in, Sticker Star. The game up to this point has built up its puzzles (granted, they're still Paper Mario puzzles), and you've just cleared a hefty brain teaser spanning multiple stages. From here on out, the game grows more and more action oriented.

As the battle progresses, Gooper Blooper becomes more agressive, marked by his clapping tentacles. At first his clapping tentacles are in the background (0:37), then the foreground (1:10), and then he uses all four available tentacles (1:43). When he starts slamming the ground (2:20), it's serious time. This is a transition worthy of consideration in itself: over time, the percussion strikes harder and more often, matching the growing tension of battle while Gooper Blooper's tactics become fiercer.

That slamming is a great touch that nails the concept. Slamming the ground not only demonstrates the power of Gooper Blooper's appendages, it also puts Mario in the uncomfortable situation of being surrounded by tentacles. Plus, the sound it makes--both for its bass and for its unconventionality as an instrument--is threatening in and of itself.

But the real transition comes when he gets a taste of his own medicine. At 3:00, Gooper Blooper feels the sting of his ink. Mario's been doing piddly damage so far, and this status effect lets him really lay it on Gooper Blooper. So, it's only fitting that the music switches to Mario's own theme. In a humorous gesture, Gooper Blooper keeps clapping along to it, as if he's cheering Mario on.

Admittedly, it's the thinnest of the transitions listed here. The melody and rhythm are uprooted, and the two portions are only related by their instrumentation and that clapping. The transition itself doesn't graduate from one theme to the next.

You can listen to it without sound effects here.

Skies of Arcadia's boss theme was a runner up for this spot. It changes depending upon your state in a boss battle. There's a normal theme, which then turns sour when you're low on health and optimistic when the boss is low on health.

Let's Listen: TV to Pocket

The Game Boy saw three generations of Nintendo living room consoles before changing its sound hardware. That means three generations of handheld ports and three generations of ported tunage.

DuckTales 2 - Egypt

NES version:


Game Boy version:

It's easy to assume NES and Game Boy music must be pretty similar. They've both got two melodic channels, a bass channel, and some room for noise and sound samples.

However, right off the bat, you can tell that the instruments in these two have drastically different timbre. The NES version sounds normal, while the Game Boy version exudes, uh... weirdness. The easiest track to spot this is the background bass track. It keeps a simple, rhythmic background melody going to complement the drawn out, wavering main melody. Its unusual sound gives it more prominence in the Game Boy version, however. I'm also not sure why the noise drums are missing from the Game Boy version.

Comparing the two, it's easy to see how we got the unusual Wario Land soundtracks.

Donkey Kong Country and Land - Voices of the Temple

SNES version:


Game Boy version:


Like the previous track, Voices of the Temple aims for a slow, mysterious feel. As you'd expect, the Super Nintendo's sound hardware allowed for greater subtlety, with greater attention to dynamics and instruments that sounded like actual real life things.

But the Game Boy, she didn't have the benefits of superior sound. So, when Rareware took Donkey Kong to Game Boy, they retooled Voices of the Temple to work with the ol' chiptune sound. The track begins with a familiar melody for the first 33 seconds, but from there, it launches into an adventuresome bridge for the next 20 seconds or so. There is a little bit of production to lend the feel of a crumbling ruin (note the echoing), but most of this song's flavor comes from its melody.

Donkey Kong Land's soundtrack is worth remembering if only for its ability to reinterpret the SNES version. Unfortunately, the graphics aren't as graceful, choosing to rip every asset from Donkey Kong Country and paint it in four colors. At its best, it's ugly, and at its worst, it's an unviewable mess.

Magical Tetris Challenge - Minnie's Theme

Nintendo 64 version:


Game Boy Color version:

Just for full disclosure, I don't know the difference between Game Boy and Game Boy Color sound.

I've never been fond of the Nintendo 64's sound in general, but Magical Tetris Challenge makes it sound like a friggin PlayStation. This is the best sound you'll get out of it this side of a Rareware title. Granted, it's also sickeningly poppy. At the very least, it's got a superfunky bass that would make Toejam and Earl jealous. I guess, when you put it all together, it's a soundtrack for people that really like My Sweet Passion.

The Game Boy Color translation is hit or miss. Being a poppy, melody-friendly soundtrack works in Game Boy's favor, meaning that the core of each song easily translates to a square wave. The trouble comes when Capcom tries to approach the richness of the Nintendo 64 music with its overabundance of tracks. Minnie's theme in particular works well because her background tracks remain just that when they're translated to the Game Boy Color. You get some of the Nintendo 64's depth without going overboard.

Unfortunately, there's no Game Boy Color version of Wolf's theme. There is this fan creation, though, using Konami's NES VRC7 sound to capture the appropriate funk.

Let's Listen: Theme and Variation

When one song repurposes the melody from another, it can bring new meaning to familiar content. In Super Mario RPG, it extends the range of a character's influence; in Ninja Warriors, it relieves tension; and in Blaster Master, it sheds new light on your surroundings.

Super Mario RPG

Fight Against an Armed Boss

Dangerous Town

I tend to label video game synths as bassoons when it's not appropriate, but I think the first lead instrument here truly is supposed to be a bassoon. Its lower pitch fits the gravity of a boss fight, while its pompous, uh, character (???) strikes an absurd contrast to the slaptastic bass on show here. Super Mario RPG is an absurd game, and its boss fights are no exception. Bosses are constructed of weaponry; menacing in theory, but these guys take on super sentai personas, wear googly eyes, or something along those lines. In both music and character, boss battles are a mix of the serious and the silly.

In Super Mario RPG, when a boss holds an entire town in his grasp, the Dangerous Town theme plays. Between the woodblock and the twangy plucked thing, it's almost got the feeling of a lawless town in the old west. Best of all, though, an accordion and wind section join forces to play the Armed Boss theme with slower, more deliberate notes. The boss' essence can be felt throughout the town not just by the grim state of affairs--whether the townsfolk are harassed by Shysters or paralyzed by arrows--but also by the very melody in the air.

Ninja Warriors

Final Stage

Final Boss

I have a hunch that every pair of stage and boss songs in Ninja Warriors shares themes, but I've never been able to put my finger on it definitively. I can hear it most of all in the game's final stage and boss tunes.

In part, that's because the final stage theme revolves around a string synth that goes slower than most of the game's music. Ninja Warriors music is fast, hard and obnoxious in a fun way, making this final stage song notably serious (fitting for a final stage, I guess).

It opens with a foreboding sequence of strings and breaks into its real theme around 0:28. The bassline hits the same note over and over, occasionally building upward, but it's always cut before it can release its tension naturally; it snaps back to its starting pitch. This makes for tension, since the bassline never gets a chance to finish. That is, until the chorus comes in at 1:14.

The bassline's relief is accompanied by higher pitched, less depressing strings. The strings in particular approach a sappy, poppy cheerfulness a little after 1:37. It's a simple rising sequence that goes something like "da da da da"--a stark contrast to the anxiously long strings from the rest of the song.

As for the final boss tune, it spends the first 25 seconds getting the player ready for a fight. After that, you still have the stage theme's pensive strings with halted basslines, but the tempo is raised to fit a higher pace of combat. Couple that with quick, darting whistles where the stage tune had a fading guitar.

And don't forget Ninja Warriors' beloved orchestra hit--it's all over nearly every song from the game, but it's absent from the final stage tune. For the final boss theme, it's back at 0:47 and ready to rumble. However, proper relief doesn't come until 1:12, when the boss tune's version of the chorus enters. The stage's chorus politely concludes its melody soon after 1:50, but in the boss version, the chorus launches upward around 1:35, leaving orchestra hits to recover.

Blaster Master

Stage 1

Stage 2

The first stage in Blaster Master evokes a sense of wonder. You follow your frog into a deep, dark hole, only to find a jumping car and a huge underground world brimming with life, both plant and animal. The stage's theme fits that context well; it extends notes to match the awe and scope of an undiscovered underground ecosystem, while a sense of glee and excitement comes through the main melody with moderately high pitches. Meanwhile, a simple, quick beat keeps things peppy. I always imagine the rhythm section here times itself to Blaster Master's car bobbing up and down as it cruises along the ground.

The second stage takes a serious tone. You've just come off of your first boss fight and discovered your first hidden passage, and it's clear that you've fallen into a world constructed of mystery and danger. Stage 2's take on stage 1's theme comes at a lower, more sober pitch.

The bass spends most of the song hitting one note at a time, setting an appropriate mood by keeping things low. When the bridge kicks in with its long notes (starting at 0:19), though, the bassline rises a little to create tension. It also weaves up and down, bringing more tension when heard alongside the bridge melody's lengthy notes. The parallel moment in stage 1's theme comes at 0:40, where a higher bassline comes off as joyful rather than tense.

Let's Listen: Unreleased Games

A game might go unreleased, but with the power of the internet and dealings of dubious moral standing, we have the power to hear what it would be like to play many unreleased games from yesteryear. Here's three of them.

Sonic Crackers

We start today with a chill track. Sonic Crackers is the beta form of Knuckles Chaotix, or at least, it's an unreleased game strongly resembling Knuckles Chaotix. If this song sounds familiar, it's because Knuckles Chaotix spiffed it up to get Evening Star.

None of the tracks from Sonic Crackers are long--most loop before 30 seconds are up--but they all feature the same main theme. Maybe it's because I've heard it repeated so much, but I find it a particularly memorable one. Not to say that Sonic isn't chock full of memorable melodies, but this one is terse and distinct like few in the series are.

The melody follows a funk-ish beat that's aided by a wistful, echoy high-pitched synth and a simplistic bassline that's there for no reason other than to hear the Genesis slap bass one more time. For the number of things going on at any given time, Evening Star keeps a relaxing tone.

Sunman

With Sunman, Sunsoft had another superhero game featuring Batman-esque combat. Originally planned for the Superman license, Sunsoft lost the license, turned "per" into "n," and eventually buried the game never to sell it. Sunsoft also lost the Terminator license, but at least that game came out as Journey to Silius. Plus, they got Gremlins 2 and Fester's Quest.

Anyway, most of the Sunman soundtrack keeps an uneasy beat, as you'll notice right away here. While the tune is catchy, it's also not as well produced as most later Sunsoft NES tunes. Bits like the twinkling at 0:17 evidence that someone who knew some NES music tricks was at work here, but that person was unable to finish up the track. As it is, we've got a nice basis for a song. To be fair, this is one of the least released Sunsoft games of all, having never been released.

There's also the Superman version of the soundtrack, which sounds much more complete and ready to go to stores.

Time Trax

Time Trax was an early 90s science fiction TV show. It received a game on Super Nintendo and Genesis, each version with its own soundtrack. The Genesis one never surfaced, however, only showing up last month and bringing with it a Tim Follin soundtrack. Tim Follin, along with his brother Geoff, are known for fantastic OSTs such as Solstice and Plok.

Tim has a track here chock full of swagger. In the opening, two FM guitars shred it out, taking their time to explore the theme at hand. I'm not entirely sure why when it comes to the details of this track in particular, but I find myself focusing on the time spent varying each theme. Tim Follin has a way of going crazy with his songs, and you'll see what I mean here.

Let's Listen: Sound Samples

On olden game consoles, sometimes synths alone didn't do the trick. In that case, you'd load up a real live sound, compress it to fit on the cartridge, and slap it on in a song.

Snake's Revenge - Metal Gear

When I mention Konami NES samples, you might think of Double Dribble's opening voice clip. However, Konami had some great snare samples that they used in their shmups, brawlers, and, well, this game. Snake's Revenge is the sequel that never should've been to the Metal Gear port that also never should've been. While its soundtrack is rough around the edges (for Konami fare), it's still enjoyable.

This track in particular must understand that all you want to hear is the snare, because at 0:29, it just piles on as much as possible. Aside from that, the track is one of those quick and shallow tunes that keeps your blood pumping with a few really tight bars.

I know I said that it's rough around the edges, but that's not a knock against the soundtrack's production value; that aspect is just as top notch as your standard Konami NES OST, and you can really hear it in this song.

Sonic the Hedgehog 3 - Mid-Stage Boss

Who doesn't like getting to join in music? Maybe you whistle to the Mario Kart Wii tracks that have whistling in them. Or, maybe you listen to the Sonic 3 midboss music and join its voice samples, the Michael Jackson yelps and "come on"s. I've always preferred the funk edge of Sonic 3's soundtrack to Sonic & Knuckles' flavor, and it was a shame that Sonic 3 & Knuckles ditched this track in particular. Anyway, don't let anyone hear you enjoying this song.

Gimmick! - Happy Birthday

Sunsoft has some killer bass samples that create a sense of badassery in Blaster Master and gravity in Journey to Silius. (Also check out Sunsoft's Batman games on NES.) However, I recently realized that they used the same bass in Ufouria, a relatively cheerful game, so I wanted to see how happy Sunsoft got with their bass.

It's harder to get happier than a birthday--in fact, "happy" is in the track name. The bass here doesn't sound bad, since it's well composed and plays a decent role in the song. However, it still feels out of place to have such a deep, gritty bass in an otherwise upbeat, happy-go-lucky song. Maybe I've spent too much time playing Journey to Silius.

Let's Listen: Sega Racers

Sega racing games are a time-honored tradition dating all the way back to 1985's Hang-On. Luckily, they've always had great tunes.

Outrun - Magical Sound Shower - Hiroshi Kawaguchi

 

Outrun goes for a chill feel. You might have a hard time hitting those turns and evading those cars, but the music doesn't care; instead, it captures the wind blowing through your hair. Much like the original Hang-On cabinet was innovative for giving you a bike to ride, rumor has it that Yu Suzuki wanted to install fans in Outrun cabinets to blow players' hair back. Anyway, despite its laid back, casual melody, the percussion will keep you from falling asleep with hard-hitting snares and a cowbell (I think that's a cowbell?) that adds a samba flare (based on casual YouTubings of what exactly samba is).

Virtua Racing - Time Extend 1-5 - Takenobu Mitsuyoshi

 

Virtua Racing loves its jingles. While it is a shame that most of your time racing is spent with nothing but engine noises, the flourishes in the above video are still well-written. It's a great feeling when one of them plays after you pass a checkpoint. I'm not sure how appropriate that sluggish first one is for a racing game, but by the third time extend jingle, things have gotten poppy and peppy. While Outrun knows it's cool and doesn't care what anyone else (or anycar else) thinks, Virtua Racing tries to fit the mold of coolness--granted, it's successful. If you want a substantial tune, try the Replay theme. It's awfully long and repeats quite a few times, but at least stick around for that killer bridge at 1:25.

Daytona USA - Let's Go Away - Takenobu Mitsuyoshi

 

Daytona USA's super power is that it has vocals. The songs here are full-on pop in an energetic sense typical of J-pop. Much like J-pop, the goofy, over-the-top offerings here will be an acquired taste. But who can resist a good rolling start?

Sega Rally Championship 2 - Muddy Slippin' - Hideki Naganuma, Tomonori Sawada

Sega Rally Championship 2 still has that poppy edge, but it's not afraid to get distinctive; there's lots of stops and starts courtesy of a rambunctious lead instrument. Between the lead trumpet and backing organ, the instrument choice isn't too typical, either. This one's funky in the same sense that you might say Sonic Adventure music is.

Let's Listen: How I Learned to Love the SID

Commodore 64 games ran their music on something called the SID chip. I don't know much about it, but it emits delightful sounds. This time, I've picked three great tunes from three great SID composers worth researching.

Flimbo's Quest - Reyn Ouwehand

The melody and instrumentation may be saccharine, but Flimbo's Quest also shows off just how well the SID could thump its bass. The structure isn't amazing or anything, but there is a bit of theme variation to keep an ear out for. Most of the joy here is in how full the SID sounds compared to other competitors such as the NES' 2A03 or the Atari 800's POKEY.

Cybernoid - Jeroen Tel

This is one of the few Commodore 64 games available on Wii's Virtual Console, and it's not a bad idea for a game, but the end product is too frustrating to take seriously. Anyway, Mr. Tel here does a good job of demonstrating how well SIDs handle the crossroads of moody and dancey. The drums here will keep you going while lingering tremolo notes ponder high school-quality philosophy. Stick around until 4:51 for a melodic treat.

Monty on the Run - Rob Hubbard

At 0:33, a methodical, foreboding intro finally creeps its way over the ledge of a cliff. Its fall is broken at 0:37 by classy SID drums, and the whole song is set in motion. From here, the melody is more or less strapped to the back of frantically--though regularly--paced drums. Notes vary a little in length, but notes that stray too far from the normal length are only used to punctuate phrases. By 1:45, we've had enough, and the tune lets up with gradually longer notes and a lower pitch (compare it to 0:39). Finally, we're let off the ride at 2:06, ready for another go 'round. The tune seems to be going normally until it runs off the tracks at 2:40, resulting in a guitar solo at 2:49. Monty on the Run already has a good melody, and this solo is okay, but its placement and production put it over the top. It's hardly out of place, but it is a surprise, and it strikes a strong contrast to the tightly-structured first half of the song, which felt married to the rhythm. There's also new liveliness in its production, since it shows off long, winding pitch bends unheard elsewhere in the song. (And if that wasn't enough to top things off, try the violin solo at 4:51.) Chiptune instruments commonly take after real world instruments, but rarely are their identities conveyed as strongly as the ones here. Between that and the diverse structure, this is Rob Hubbard's most impressive SID; it may not be his best, but it scratches the most itches.

I regret not knowing enough about these guys to comment on their general style, but this should at least give you an idea regarding whether or not you're interested in SID.

Let's Listen: Don't Press Start

Game music assists role play, getting you in the mood to take on the role of Samus, Toejam or Master Chief. If Streets of Rage was accompanied by the Parodius soundtrack, the tone of Axel's mission would be entirely different.

The music that plays before you even start up the game occupies a special role, introducing you to the role and preparing your mindset before you get a chance to take it on.

Donkey Kong Country 3

Are you ready for an energetic funtime adventure? That's what this track asks you, the player. My feet are a-tappin', and I'm ready for this to be a fun game.

It takes an already strong track, the bonus theme from Donkey Kong Country, and gives it a new coat of paint. In this case, the opening song is drawing on the memory of a previous game to set the tone, but the track is also good enough to stand on its own--otherwise, it wouldn't be worth remembering from the first game.

Also worth noting is that this is one of the few tracks on the DKC3 OST composed by David Wise. You can view the game's intro to accompany this song here.

Sanxion

This one breaks the rules a little. Yes, it's an introduction tune, since it plays before you play the game, but you can't press start to skip it. This is the loading theme for Sanxion; you'll hear this every time you boot it up. I don't know how much of it plays before you get to the actual game, but I've heard it's pretty bad.

Which is a pretty good thing in Sanxion's case. Within the first 30 seconds, you've got an extremely hummable hook. You'll hear that hook quite a bit, but different phases keep the tune fresh. For instance, I don't think there's any particular reason the breakdown at 1:21 is followed by the haunting bit at 1:29, but it maintains the rhythm and general mood of the song, so I'm happy. It keeps coming up with new bits right up to the 5:36 completion time.
The job of Sanxion's loader tune is to keep you interested in blowing up space ships while it loads the actual game, however long that may take. In that sense, this is a great tune.
Also, those interested in focusing on some awesome SID drums should stick around for 2:19.

Crusader of Centy

For these writeups, I like to lead with something catchy, put the stuff I'm not sure about in the middle, and close with the cream of the crop. In its four minutes, Crusader of Centy's opening manages to cover a wide scope, from foreboding omens (0:00) to a world of temporary peace (1:20), finally ending on a grand sendoff to adventure. And there's plenty in between.
Fantasy commonly relies on a storied setting to draw readers, and that's what this opening theme affords Crusader of Centy. The tune strings together a series of moods, taking the listener on a journey through the land before so much as creating a save file.
And it does a good job of matching the tale told by the opening scrawl, as you can see here.

Let's Listen: Beasts as Black as Night

You're probably familiar with the old saying, "You can always judge an RPG soundtrack by its boss tune." Boss anthems are hardly ever the most emotive or interesting songs on a soundtrack, but there's something irresistible about their sense of dire emergency. I'm here today to talk about Beasts as Black as Night, the boss theme for Ys III.
What happens when you release the same RPG across multiple platforms? Ys III takes the route of using the same soundtrack on each console.

SNES

This is why that route is oft regrettable. In a Controversial Blogging Choice, I'm leading an article about one song with a bad example of that song.

Say what you will about the SNES, its synths hold up pretty well. The SNES version of Beasts as Black as Night, however, doesn't understand what to do with them. The lead instrument (0:12) is too contemplative to fit the urgent role of the lead melody. Equally puzzling is the pan flute used for the rapidly moving background instrument (0:00) which works more by chance than anything.

(Look to Nobuo Uematsu's SNES Final Fantasy soundtracks for songs that don't press the hardware but still pack in plenty of emotion and panache. For a soundtrack that tailors its sound to the console, check out Mortal Kombat SNES vs. Genesis.)

Genesis

The Genesis version finds siblings in the PC-88 and X68000 versions, but its production takes the lead by a nose. Just like the title, every instrument in here is dark and searing. Am I getting too flowery?

The fun of Beasts as Black as Night kicks off immediately (well, 0:05) with a guitar that spirals violently downward, marked spooky by a whistle in the distant background. Out of the soundtracks limited to hardware synths, the Genesis version is the best-produced not only for its synths but for its attention to mastering.

TurboGrafx-CD

But the TurboGrafx-CD version wasn't limited to hardware synths. It may be cheating, but the TG-CD version is my personal favorite. Most CD consoles back in the day (early 90s) had a penchant for overblown rock music, but Ys III does that one better and mixes in plenty of weird synths. I like to think that the lead synth is a bassoon!! The point is, this version--without going too far--has flakes of the unusual in its instrumentation.
Notable features of this version are the solo at 1:21 and the breakdown + solo at 2:52.

(For an overblown rock CD soundtrack, I think everyone's favorite example is Lords of Thunder.)

Unfortunately, there are some versions I couldn't find. I'd love to hear the MSX version, for instance. However, I would be remiss if I didn't at least link you to the Oath in Felghana version, which is overblown in a more orchestral and less weirdo synth way. Most of my talk was about instrument choice, but I guess that's what happens when you take a simple song and discuss it three times over.

Let's Listen: A Day at the Carnival

Who doesn't enjoy the carnival? No one, that's who. That's why video game musicians have striven for years to distill the essence of carnival music. Instruments take on a silly quality as they bounce up and down both in pitch and rhythm. Carnival music commonly follows marching tropes at a high tempo, but don't expect me to get around to that part of it.

Assault Suit Leynos - Main Theme

The main theme of Assault Suit Leynos is certainly bouncy enough for a carnival; skip to 0:07 to hear a high-pitched glittering instrument that leaps up and down for the next 13 seconds. It may not seem like a long time when you read it, but that's 13 seconds where the music is muffled under some kind of futuristic siren.

I always have a little trouble naming instruments in FM tunes, and I'm not sure I can conclusively put a label on the lead instrument here. By my reckoning, its timbre sounds closest to an accordion, but it's way too fast for that.

In conclusion, between the bouncing siren and the speedy accordion, this tune takes on the appearance of the insane kind of performance you might see at a carnival gone wrong.

Blue's Journey - Starge Space

What's a starge? That is my question to you.
The cowbells here (introduced immediately) serve the same role as the siren in the previous song, but they're mixed in at a natural volume. In fact, the entire thing is soothing to hear after Leynos. Starting at 0:28, warm, fading tones take the limelight with slower, more restful passages.

But that's dashed at 1:00, where horns come in to introduce a series of musical exclamation marks for 24 seconds. While hardly abrasive, it's a surprise after the first bit, and luckily, it's befitting of a carnival's brand of showmanship. I also enjoy the laser shots that come in at 1:32.

Sonic 3D Blast (Genesis) - Spring Stadium

Well, I guess it's only responsible to include a song that's genuinely from a carnival level. When you think about it, Sonic's image is all about being a carnival ride, complete with loop-de-loops and such. I guess it's pretty convenient that Robotnik is all about building theme parks, then, and Sonic Colors is solely about trashing theme parks in progress. Eggman is really the one that maintains Sonic's image; it's just that Sonic gets to be the car that rides the roller coaster.

While I don't think I need to go over the carnival image of this tune, I do want to mention that Sonic 3D Blast remains one of my favorite Genesis soundtracks. Its production quality is a serious downgrade from Sonic 3 & Knuckles; technically speaking, it sounds like it could've been put out in 1989. However, Jun Senoue's melodies are always great here, and each theme gets plenty of variations. Careful attention is paid to each layer of the song, too, with backing melodies, basslines, and percussion that each remain interesting in their own right but work fantastic together. And be sure to throw in an act 2 variation on each tune with more thoughts on the same thematic ideas.

Honorable mention goes to Sonic 3D Blast's unused boss theme, which has the bouncy showmanny spirit present in all beloved carnival tunes. There's also the carnival theme from Bubsy, which handled the concept with too little imagination to warrant a writeup.

Let's Listen: Sega Tunes

You may be thinking to yourself, "Yeah son, I love Sega Tunes." I'm here to tell you that what you are thinking now may in fact not be what you will be thinking. That's because Sega Tunes isn't typically what you or I envision when we think of Sega tunes. See, during the 90s, Sega put together covers of game music and (supposedly) sold them on compact discs. Let's Listen to some samples.

X-Men 2: Clone Wars

This here's the original version of the Brood Queen track. Immediately, the hard-hitting (almost resounding) percussion introduces itself. You've also got a gritty background track which is kind of your bassline. It serves pretty much the same purpose as a bassline, anyway, giving a simple melody to lend the song character without stealing the show from the lead. Anyway, around 0:27, your siren-like lead instrument blairs in long, rarely broken phrases to juxtapose against that gritty background thing.

At this point, you know all you need to about the Brood Queen. Don't pay too close attention to any individual phrase; it's more about the instrumentation than anything, contrasting elements on basic levels. Any time I genuinely listen to the lead melody, I find myself a little frustrated--it's just messing around. You'll run across a breakdown here and there, but nothing comes together beyond the notion that these sounds are pretty cool when they're next to each other.

That's not to say X-Men 2 is without interesting bits. Avalon 3 takes on a lurching flavor that I don't think any other Genesis track manages to hit with as much quality.

Sega Tunes pretty effectively makes itself irrelevant here

by softening up on the percussion and providing a bassline with a quarter of the grit (I measured it in a vial and everything). I'm tempted to say the background melody is less scratchy, but I think there's something more to it, as well.

It's not all bad; the higher production quality brings out key instruments above others, while the Genesis original can be a heap of sounds at times. In all, though, Sega Tunes softens the blow and misses the point.

Comix Zone

The entire Comix Zone soundtrack takes on a 90s grunge feel. It makes a lot of sense, but I wouldn't have guessed that the Genesis sound chip could produce such a loyal grunge guitar synths; certainly not ones you'd honestly confuse for real instruments, but synths that capture that spirit all the same. A modest square synth takes over vocals, but--well, similar to the Brood Queen--a simplistic lead instrument succeeds in tying together more elaborate backing elements.

And beyond that, the structure and melody are convincingly grungy. The melancholy yet poppy melodies strike a tone too subtle for most games of the time. As for structure, the instruments have a strong interplay; there's no such thing as "the interesting track" and "the mood-setting track." This results in a soundtrack that rewards relistens more than most of its era. While only one or two tracks will take the limelight at a time, each one (percussion aside) is always busy doing something worthwhile.

Here's the Sega Tunes version of that same song. All of your wildest grunge fantasies are brought to life as Sega forms a band with real instruments and a vocalist to transmogrify your 16 bit nonsense into real music.

Take the passage at 0:40 in the Sega Tunes version and 0:22 in the original. In the Sega Tunes take, everything gets lost in the mire of a heavy guitar, with the vocalist reaching out. (For a quieter bit with more contrast, look to 1:21.) On the other hand, the original Genesis version still provides a satisfying heavy metal guitar, but it also keeps every other sound discrete and audible.

This is where your taste comes to bear. On one hand, dense heavy guitars are half the point of grunge; it's a mire for a reason. On the other hand, I can't deny the appeal of something more listenable, especially if it's going to highlight a series of instruments working together.

There are plenty of other Sega Tunes albums, too. Some (Virtual Sonic) are more interesting than others (Toejam & Earl), but they're all worth checking out, if only to see how Sega reinterpreted its game soundtracks.

Three Great Ugly Game Soundtracks You Haven't Heard

I was going to write about more than this, but I figured I'd focus on one kind of music. Here are three of my favorite creepy, tense, and just plain ugly soundtracks that you probably haven't given a listen.

Summer Carnival '92 Recca (NES, 1992)

Hopefully you like the one sound this game has, because that's all it's got.  The melodies here are short, and Summer Carnival '92 loves to repeat them. That said, it's got some nice drum and orchestra hit samples, and unless I'm mistaken, some tracks like Crisis even play two samples at the same time. For me, though, the track to really drive this one home is M.O.M.. By 30 seconds in, you've got two square waves going: one is about to vibrato right out of its chair, and the other is doing something beyond my vocabulary. It reminds me of the sound you make when you break the backboard in NBA Jam. Calling this one ugly may be a stretch, but it does strike plenty of tense and creepy notes.

You might dig this soundtrack just for the sounds it makes. At the very least, it's worth skimming just to hear the sound quality someone managed to get out of an NES. Of the three games here today, it's probably got the most appealing sound.

Contra Hard Corps (Genesis, 1994)

The Genesis could make some ugly, gritty sounds. When it happens by accident, it's a mess. Used purposefully, though, it quenches a thirst no other console touches. At its best, Contra Hard Corps is a top notch example. To my knowledge, its grit and dirt are second only to Streets of Rage 3, which should give you some idea if this soundtrack is for you. Moments like the bridge at 1:15 of Something Wonderful make the Genesis, creating intensity and desperation you can't get elsewhere.

A fair portion of the soundtrack is like R.A.V.E., which performs admirably in the vein of Something Wonderful, even if not as intensely. R.A.V.E. makes up for it by ramping up the tempo. That alone is silly until you remember Jurassic Dope, which tries embarrassingly hard to be 90s hip hop. Still, it's got plenty of cool sounds, like the pulsating synth that comes in at 0:57.

These two tracks might end up as guilty pleasures, but a rare few are outright obnoxious. Simon 1994RD takes a classic NES Castlevania tune, brings the tempo up, and adds some background elements that just don't fit. Granted, it is a joke tune, so I guess it's supposed to sound awkward. That doesn't mean I hesitate to skip it.

Snatcher (MSX, 1988)

It's easy to write off the MSX's sound chip as a dopey low quality piece of work, but Snatcher pulls that in its favor. Under Konami's guidance, it produces harsh, rough low notes and eerie, haunting high notes. The second part of Bio Hazard handily demonstrates both, using them in a melody that sets a mysterious and grim tone for the introduction of its titular villains. These underground robotic body snatchers seem like normal people, but they're hollow on the inside and want nothing less than your personal extermination.

Innocent Girl (only the first thirty seconds are there, sorry) is another notable track, showing off Konami's sound cartridge for the MSX. The cart provided extra channels, allowing Innocent Girl to spend two channels on melody and have plenty left over for filling in the background. There's also Merry X-Mas Neo Kobe City, which keeps itself simple to make an otherwise chilling instrument set almost unsettlingly cheery. The MSX channels that otherwise sound empty and cold now have a warmth to them.

The Snatcher soundtrack finds an excellent brother in the SD Snatcher soundtrack, which preserves the tone, but--being a JRPG--features more action.