Well it’s been quite a hiatus, and I think it’s been hard on both of us… But fear not! We’ll call you back the next Month.
Anyway, in honor of being overly late I’ll be doing a Halloween inspired game that has deserved a throne in the horror
game shrines for decades: Clock Tower. This game has scared the bejesus out of daring gamers for over a decade,
and don’t let its successors lull you into a semblance of confidence, this game will knock you dead, or you’ll die trying.

Clock Tower: The First Fear

Generally games are made with an original idea, and then the mechanics of the game and engine are the next big step. The director for this game said that the difference in the Clock Tower series is that quality of the story and game elements came first. I’d say it’s a decision that you can feel as soon as you turn on the game. Every aspect of it seems geared to scare you senseless.  The storyline is solid and it becomes more and more gripping as you frantically rush through it. The blaring blend of sound and silence is haunting as you can generally only hear your characters LOUD footsteps echoing through the mansion unless… unless  something is about to happen, and you never know what that will be. There are more “freakouts”, traps, and haunting elements than you can imagine for a SNES game, and the graphics are very well done for a game of it’s time to boot. As a music fan, I was a little disappointed at how little music there really is to the soundtrack, but the little music that is there, is more than you’ll ever want to hear inside the mansion.

Before I praise the game too much and before I rag on the rest of them, I’ll give you a small breakdown and leave the rest for you to examine. Clock Tower follows the protagonist Jennifer Simpson as she and three other girls are taken from the Granite Orphanage to live with Simon Barrows in his mansion in Norway. Mrs Mary, a relatively unknown character escorts you and the girls on foot to the mansion in a rush right before nightfall. Once inside she leaves you to get Mr. Simon, and even the girls notice, she’s been quite awhile to come back… I’ll leave the rest for you to investigate.

The tragedy of this game is that it never came to America. Why? It was deemed too scary, and for a damned good reason. Made in 1995, it saw a re-release on the PS1 with “changes” to it. Changes that I ultimately saw unnecessary, mainly because none of them included putting the game in English. Have no fear though, around 2000 a SNES rom fan-made translation of the game was released and can be downloaded from many sources, which I highly recommend using. The PS1 port changes the enemy spawning so that it was random (just like later games, which is one of the worst aspects of them), and it also added unnecessary gory scenes. I feel like the added scenes were just to make it fit more with the newer horror games, when in all honestly, clock tower itself set the standard for many of them.

There have been successive games. Now, of course, as all Japan to America games go, the numbers are wrong. America has: Clock Tower, Clock Tower 2: The Struggle Within, and Clock Tower 3. Japan has: Clock Tower: The First Fear, Clock Tower 2, Clock Tower: Ghost Head (struggle within), and Clock Tower 3. Succession is where the series bites it hard. From now on I’ll use the JP numbering. Clock Tower 2 is an excellent game – both JP and US releases, even with the terrible US voice acting -. Clock Tower Ghost Head is a confusing blip in the chronology that has nothing to do with the series and suffers from being terrible. Clock Tower has always had tough controls, but Ghost Head makes the game even more difficult to play on top of it. The game does have a few saving graces though, minus the fact that it has nothing to do with the series, it still has a good story and the voicing for US Bates (Roger L. Jackson) is freaking badass. Clock Tower 3 (Marks when the series was bought and ruined by Capcom) is the latest release in the series. This game features decent music composition, horrible enemy planning, and an even worse fighting system.

Also, there is actually a Clock Tower movie due to be released in 2010 starring Brittany Snow. Updates about it are a bit sketchy but posters have been released. The plot is also poorly explained at the moment as to which game it defers to, but it sounds like the story of CT 2 with Jennifer as Alyssa from Ghost Head and without any ties to the original CT storyline… aka lots of poop. Maybe there’s a chance it’s good, I’ll cross my fingers.

~Dan

I managed across another good interview today except this time it’s with none other than Nobuo Uematsu. I highly recommend reading this one, even if it’s just to see Uematsu’s Mustache and hilarious shirt! This interview is a random jump around that discusses Uematsu’s current world tour for Distant Worlds – which is a collection of all of his FF music – and just about every project in between.

http://www.originalsoundversion.com/?p=3673

Well folks, things have been pretty slow lately. Our staff has been caught up enjoying the fading days of summer and the blog has slipped by. Hopefully the rest of you have been enjoying your summer too, but anyway I’ll keep my post short for once. I recently read a fascinating interview with Hiroki Kikuta about his times working on Seiken Densetsu 2 (Secret of Mana) and with Square. Enjoy!

http://squarehaven.com/news/2007/06/16/Hiroki-Kikuta-Lost-Files-Regained

~Dan

Well I was playing around with SNES and PSX controller and I had a thought. Is it possible that the two consoles have some relation? They have very similar button configurations despite the fact that the Nintendo 64 and Playstation were dire competitors in a war of cartridges vs. CDs. So I decided to do some investigating in order to see for myself if the Playstation could be the true successor to the SNES.

SNEStation?

As I said before, my first inkling that there might be a similarity between the two consoles stemmed from the controllers. At first glance, they might easily have been made by the same team s.

Both controllers have a directional pad on the left, with arrows inscribed into the controller pointing outwards of every direction. They also both have a start and select in the middle of the controller. Next they have found buttons on the right positioned similarly to the D-pad. They also have L and R buttons with only the Playstation being different because it added a second row of L and R.

Now, of course there are many differences between the controllers, and there is the saying “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!” which I think would definitely apply here. Playstation might have just seen the cleverness of the design and decided to use it as a basis for their controllers.

But. I also suspected that the Playstation and the SNES had ties because of their legacy. Many gamers look back to the SNES as the last classic system (also as the greatest system made). Without debate, the SNES definitely had one of the greatest libraries of any console, and I think that the Playstation carried on that legacy.

Granted, the SNES had some great games, but best part was that it had a diversity. Games with the weirdest ideas or plots became addicting and brilliant. Terrangima, Earthworm Jim, Donkey Kong Country, Super Mario Kart, Gradius III, Super Mario World, Final Fantasy VI (III), Earthbound, Street Fighter II, Secret of Mana, Super Castlevania IV, Super Metroid, Chrono Trigger. These games aren’t just said with awe, they’ve become standards for every game to come after. They broke new ground in video gaming and there are few games yet that can give them a shake for it.

Now if you look at the library of the Playstation, you’ll see a similar trend. The playstation itself was placed in a great position to break ground considering it utilized an entirely new technology: the CD (Sega CD had a shot). The playstation’s own top inventive games include: Final Fantasy VII, Metal Gear Solid, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, Street Fighter Alpha, Twisted Metal 2, Spyro the Dragon, Crash Bandicoot, Wild Arms, Tekken 2, Rayman, Command & Conquer, Chrono Cross, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater, Tomb Raider, Grand Turismo, PaRappa the Rapper, Resident Evil, Medal of Honor, Alundra, Xenogears, Parasite Eve.

Not only were the playstation games new and diverse, but they also had many games that continued from the SNES. Castlevania, Street Fighter, and Final Fantasy notably. At this point I decided to do some research on the history of both consoles to see if I could find more ties.

Controversy

A look into the hardware of the SNES of wikipedia reveals that the 8-channel  SPC soundchip was made by non other than Sony. Also in the article is the truth about the origins of the playstation console: an add-on for the SNES.

Nintendo did research with Sony in 1986  in order to find out if making a CD console was a viable idea. It would be dubbed the SNES-CD, and it would be a console that played SNES cartridges and SNES-CD games along with CD games that Sony made. The problem with this was that Sony owned the rights to the format and so they would have control over all the Nintendo made SNES-CD games also, so Nintendo backed out at the last second (in 1991). Sony decided not to waste the research and chose to make their own console. Nintendo tried to sue for the rights to all of the work but lost in court. Still, Nintendo convinced Sony to keep the idea of a SNES port on the console, but even that was later dropped.

So interestingly enough, Not only was the playstation supposed to be next after the SNES, but even when plans failed, it was still supposed to play SNES games, which just about justifies the similar controller schemes to me. Now of course I don’t want to invalidate the N64, it was and will always be a great system with some legendary games, but it’s interesting to see that Nintendo was almost part of the opposing side in the: your slow loading CD with impressive graphics vs my fast loading cartidge nintendo with mario games war.

~Dan

Well I’m going to break up my music reverie this week in order to discuss a series that has a massive flaw that is known in small cases, unknown to most of the world, and ignored by those who produce this series.

Tales of Monkey Island

Recently I was reading a book discussing Zelda Timeline and I realized in the process that Monkey Island has one of the most flawed worlds and timelines of any series. It’s one of my biggest annoyances to be a big fan of Monkey Island, and a known one to friends, to reach the point where I’ll hear from five different people: “Hey! Did you see the new Monkey Island re-release of Secret or the episodic series?!” I’m of course expected to be excited… which I’m largely not except for the remake, which I think the voice acting really brings life and emotion to the comedy of the game – but, this episodic series is stupid, money making, gratification of a series that can do much better.
For over ten years fans have been waiting for Monkey Island 5, and I’ve watched Fan Site after fan site shutdown as each one of them accepts that the buzz has died down and Lucas Arts is always going to make more Star Wars games – A view I haven’t see a change in yet and I don’t give a damn if they really do anyway.

The Monkey Island series has not had a new game since Monkey Island 2: Lechuck’s Revenge. For those of you who don’t know what I’m talking about since chronologically it goes up to 4, I’ll explain.

Ron Gilbert, great and holy creator of the Monkey Island story, was taken off the project after the second – this mainly being the case as it was about six years since Monkey Island 3 would come out anyway. And as a fan, I was intensely excited to buy Monkey Island 3: the new voice acting, semi 3D gameplay, ship battles, and updated music samples. It was all brilliant, funny, and flashy, and for the first few play throughs it was great… Until I played Monkey Island 2.
Yes I played them chronologically out of order, I went 1,3,2,4. After playing two, I realized that 3 had absolutely NOTHING to add to the story, and at the end when LeChuck traps you on the bomb cart, he tells you the story that you read out of the Library book in Monkey Island 2. Not only this, but there are several inaccuracies that I’m not going to delve into now.

Part 1: Herman

In any event, that misstep might have been OK because it was still a great game; but one insipid, insidious, bastardly, and conniving man had to put his foot into the mix: Horation Torquemada Marley… or Captain Marley A.K.A. Elaine Marley’s father, who by all plotlines should be dead. Suddenly Captain Marley was no longer sailing away from Monkey Island after LeChuck beat him to the fabled Big Whoop – when he was sunk at sea – but instead he was sailing in a race and LeChuck pushed him into a whirlpool! Not to mention Herman, yes that’s right, Horatio is actually Herman Toothrot from Monkey Island 1, who shouldn’t even be on Monkey Island in the first place! He and Bob (one of leChuck’s minions who can’t keep their head on straight [/ha]) sail to Melee Island in order to see the wedding.

Not to mention Herman already had his own plot. Herman supposedly sailed to Monkey Island with one other man, who can be found hanging on a tree in 1. Herman cooks a stew that helps them find the island, and HE (in MK1) Remembers All Of It! Herman will recall whatever you want to know when you’re on Monkey Island and it all adds up. Capt. Marley ends up on Monkey Island when he washes ashore from the wreck and suffers from amnesia from then on.

Now I know that Herman is on Dinky Island in MK2, but he becomes a zen philosopher and does not mention anything of being forced back on the island. Of course he is placed back around Monkey Island for comic relief, though it is a bit sketchy, but Herman is still not Horatio (and never will be).

Part 2: The Ultimate Insult….. to gamers everywhere

One of the biggest slaps in the face actually occurred while I was playing the game my first time through. As you play through Monkey Island 4, you learn of a terrible weapon: the Ultimate Insult. This is the greatest, most primordial weapon in the Caribbean, and this weapon is even more terrible that Lechuck! Watching the end of this game I put my foot down on the plot then and there. As far as the story goes, that’s a wrap!

Lechuck has been obliterated in body and spirit, what is left? This is exactly the slopping writing that games today get in order to tie up plot holes. If you buy into the 4 plot, then how can there even be a Monkey Island 5? Guybrush v. the giant Murderous Clam.

Monkey Island has always been Guybrush seeking Elaine and running from LeChuck, and since Guybrush will never leave Elaine, neither will LeChuck. For him to come back now would take the book-writing tenacity of Steven King. Not to mention! LeChuck is supposed to be the breaks on terrifying, evil forces and suddenly he is outranked by the ultimate insult? That’s a smack in the face to Ron Gilbert who actually thought up this once cohesive universe and to every gamer who felt some fear at LeChuck’s trumpet blowing fanfare.

Oh! I almost forgot! This ultimate insult nonsense, which turns the giant monkey skull from 1: which used to be A PASSAGE TO HELL, into A MEGAZORD FOR THE ULTIMATE INSULT. Let’s look at that again shall we? HELL or a Megazord found in the powerrangers. This is supposed to impress me? “Somehow I always thought there would be mushrooms in hell…”

So fans everywhere, play what you want and enjoy it. To those who care about chronology, I’m stopping at 2. For those who like franchises and funny writing and watching a fantastic story turned into a sitcom then you’ll most likely love this episodic series.

To Lucas Arts and Tell Tale games: You are what’s wrong with every game today. When someone says, “they don’t make games like that anymore” it’s because of you. You money-grubbing, artsy scum have forgotten the value of a good story in place of cheap laughs. If I wanted lame humor set in pirate themes I could watch Pirates of the Caribbean. Thank You for ruining the hopes of every gamer and fansite that waited for Monkey Island 5 and Ron Gilberts return and got this Sam & Max, overproduced, overhyped, episodic piece of crap.

~Dan

My next string of articles will be reviewing music for games that  are in a series. I’ll start with the pokemon series and go on from there. It’s interesting to watch a series progress from game to game and platform to platform because the composers often change hands, or styles in many cases.

Pokemon

For no reason in particular (other than I think gold & silver is one of the top OSTs) I’ll go over the Pokemon series first. From the get go, the music of Pokemon was dominated by one man: Junichi Masuda. This man has single-handedly carved out so many of the anthemic Pokemon themes that would be adapted to the TV show by Shinji Miyazaki.

One trend that I’ve noticed with the music in the series is that it is consistent. In an interview with Masuda from Gamasutra, Masuda states that he focuses on keeping pokemon simple and consistent. I definitely think that the music from each of the games reflects that decision.

One of the most common things I’ve noticed each time I listen to the music from the original onward is that the music is very thin. It reall is impressive how Masuda manages to get polyphonic melodies with a NES thickness of tracks. Not to mention that these melodies are also very different and generally memorable.

Let’s start from the beginning and take a look at the opening of Red/Blue v. Gold/Silver. The two of them are two very different, awesome intros, but at the same time they have many similarities. For starters percussion plays a key role. It pounds up the intro and then peppers the rest of the theme as it slows down again. In the silver version, the song starts slow and finishes faster and percussion is most definitely an essential element of the theme.
Another thing to note is that both of the themes are about 3 tracks, with both having a standout bassline in many parts.

Of course I have to talk about home town themes. Every home town for pokemon has had a catchy, slightly sad home town theme. Going from Pallet to New Bark, to Littleroot, and now to Twinleaf. They all have a similar tone to them, and the fact that they can be associated with trees… If I had a to pick a standout in this series though, it would have to be new bark town. The song has every quality, but it just a more wistful melody.

Next up I want to take a look at popular cave/forest themes, and one should of course come right to mind: Viridian forest/(Diglett’s Cave). Listening to much of the Pokemon Red/Blue soundtrack, I’ve noticed an eerie space/echo within the music that is prevalent on many of the tracks, but it’s particularly noticeable on the ’scary’ ones. This space meshes so well with the two layers (in a spot 3) and percussion that the song is strongly immersive.

For the Gold & Silver series Slowpoke well/( Dark Cave/ Ice)  is the matching track. This track has 3 continuous layers and percussion, and it makes good use of space – particularly at the end of the B section of the song. One especially ingenious device I enjoy in the song is the ‘breakdown’ that occurs as a C section where it is the drums and bassline, and one layer that goes over it.

Of course what would a Pokemon game be without routes? Pokemon always guarantees you about 5-10 route themes, and with the addition of Day and Night music in Diamond and Pearl. (Kind of weird that Pokemon Gold and Silver started the day and night trend and didn’t change the music, and then  it was left out altogether in ruby/sapphire..)

From the original we have “The road to Lavender Town – From Vermillion” which is one of the stronger, driving road ballads. As opposed to from Pallet to Viridian which is a bright, cheerful tune. Note that this song has some light percussion very similar to the style in the next song.

From Gold and Silver I offer “Routes 46, 36, 32, 34, 35, 37″ This song is another driving, percussion layered song that really stands out from the other routes.

On Ruby and Sapphire we have “Route 119″, which is a massive song that blends the high and lows of a marching tune.

For the latest series: I’d pick “Route 205″ for being the music catchy and upbeat tune; But I must say that D/P definitely has the most diverse route themes of any of the games yet. Jumping from a march to a jazzy beat, or even bordering on techno.

Finally, I can’t leave out battle themes! Every single Pokemon game has had a smashing battle theme or two.

For the original, I’d say that “Battle (VS Gymleader) is easily the best one. I think it has the most epic and heartening melody to it. It also starts the classic Pokemon battle theme of doing two notes and then jumping up and repeating for a few times.

Next up it Gold and Silver, and it sounds like it would succed the last theme two. The tones and key have changed a bit, but it keeps true to original with lots of sections of fast jumps.

Ruby & Sapphire offer us two solid battle themes: “Aqua & Magma Leader Battle!” which has a scary intro with a Spanish edge to the whole song, and “Battle! Elite Four” which definitely sticks closest to the Pokemon battle theme tradition (it’s about the only one that does it too) but it’s also a standout, unique song for the series with high crystal drops to clapping transitions.

Credit goes to the Bad guys in Pokemon Diamond/Pearl with the song “Battle! Galaxy Gang Boss” One thing I’ve noticed about D/P is that it has battle themes that are fitting but boring overall (With One LARGE exception) but I think this particular song breaks the mold and connects to its roots.

(No youtube sorry) Battle! Galaxy Gang Boss

!!!

I almost forgot to talk about Surf themes! Definitely another highlight of every Pokemon game is the surf theme. It’s a track you’re most likely going to be hearing a lot as at least two routes are all water in every game.

“Ocean” is the Surf theme for red/blue and it is a very gay, cheerful tune that could brighten up anyones day.

Next up is “Surf Theme” from Pokemon Gold & Silver which I think is an improvement on the original in this case. This sound is very cheerful and catchy, but I think overall it is a better melody and it has more transitions.

“Surf Theme” from Ruby and Sapphire is another solid surf theme, keeping with the trend, but definitely going in it’s own direction by taking full advantage of the new sound system and samples.

Here’s a trend-breaker, ” Surf” from Diamond and Pearl is a very unique theme for the series. It has, of course, much better samples, but it chooses to use a minimal amount of instruments to get such a relaxed environment, and I’d say it does an excellent job.

Differences

Pokemon Red & Blue – Junichi Masuda

It’s difficult to talk negatively or positively about this soundtrack at points just because it is THE soundtrack. Masuda set the base for all future games from here on, but in any event, there are a few things I can point out – qualities that this OST has that later games really don’t.

Pokemon B/R definitely posses an Aura to it. I’ve heard it commented about many older games that they have this unique presence to them, not to say that some *well made AND thought out* games today do not, but there’s just something about the music to Pokemon Red & Blue that instantly lets you know what game it’s from. A good example of that for me is Vermillion’s theme, it’s very strident and defined, you might even say it’s overly simple, but there’s something magical at the core.

Another quality that Pokemon B/R has in it’s music is creepiness. I can honestly say that no other Pokemon soundtrack nearly as chilling. Viridian forest starts the descension and Pokemon Mansion gets even creepier until you arrive at Lavander town: your last stop.

Pokemon Gold & Silver – Junichi Masuda, Go Ichinose

The successor to the throne, the inheritor of a legacy: Pokemon Gold & SIlver really had alot to live up to after the boom that was pokemon; And without a doubt, G/S had no trouble going above and beyond the grade. Pokemon G/S offered us not one game/world but two! Once finished with the Johto region, you could venture back to your old stomping ground in Kanto, which was something that just blew my mind. Not to mention that the soundtrack expanded to fit the bill, and I wouldn’t say it cut back on quality to do so. I would definitely say that it did not have as much presence as the original, but it made up for it by making its own stand as a game.

Tracks like Slowpoke Well and Lance’s Battle theme really gave Gold & Silver it’s own identity. I would that cycling music really placed Gold & Silver at the top, “Bicycle Theme” & “Cyling Road” are definitely top tracks for the series as a whole. Bike theme is a rollercoaster ride of fun and the cyling road is surprisingly epic. I guess kind of what they were going for with the latest yu-gi-oh by putting them on motorbikes… (wtf..)

One thing I always forget about, which is definitely the problem in this case, is the radio. Pokemon Gold & Silver has the cool idea of giving you a radio to listen to. This radio not only allowed you to play different stations with different songs on them – a VERY nice brake in rpgs when grinding starts making the music tedious – but it also gave you advice on Pokemon and where they could be found (and later helped you wake Snorlax!).

“Radio – Places & People” has always been one of my favorite songs from the whole Soundtrack and you need the radio to hear it. I really wish they would have brought it back.

Pokemon Gold & Silver also introduced Day & Night – and Pokemon that can be caught specifically in – but it wasn’t until Diamon & Pearl that Day/Night music was capitalized on.

Pokemon Ruby & Sapphire – Junichi Masuda, Go Ichinose

Upgrades, upgrades, upgrades… The working title for the music of Ruby & Sapphire. The Gameboy Advance gave Masuda and Go Ichinose a whole new sound setup to work with and they did. My biggest fear with the OST of Ruby & Sapphire is that the advanced samples acted as a crutch to compensate for less work on the composing end, but I would say that the contrary is true.

A nice town theme like “Rustboro City” helps to prove that R/S can hold its own.

I would also say that R/S gets the Epic award out of the series, tracks like “Route 113″, “Cave of Origin – Meteor Falls”, and “Mount Pyre (Outer Wall)” take the proverbial epic cake.

Pokemon Diamond & Pearl – Junichi Masuda, Tsuyoshi Ichinse, Hitomi Sato

Pokemon Diamond & Pearl mark a jump to easily the best hand held sound card Nintendo has ever had. If you don’t believe me, listen to Castlevania ~ Aria of Sorrow, and then listen to Castlevania ~ Portrait of Ruin – the difference is absurd. Anyway, not only are all the samples better for Diamond and Pearl, but they also explore many more genres. This exploration does create a bunch of unique, lackluster tracks, but there are also many successes.

“Lake” is a very cool track that blends hip-hop beats in a very Maplestoryesque fashion. This is track is a standout for the whole series.

For a nice bluesy, western styled track there is “Eterna City”

For my final pick I’ll go back to Eterna to check out “Eterna Forest”, here is another killer hip hop ambient blend.

But wait! There’s more! One track that I must add in is Arceus’ battle theme. This track is probably the most bizarre and freaky of any Pokemon track, and there is no other battle theme like it. This song is almost entirely percussion with some synth and string touches.

All in all, Pokemon is one hell of a series that has captivated and addicted countless numbers of people; spawned numerous videos; and of course has its own trading card game. Without the music of Masuda and the composers to follow, I don’t think Pokemon would have been quite the same.

Of course I didn’t forget the classic theme, so I’ll end with: “Pokemon Center”

~Dan

You’re driving down the freeway with the high-pitched squeal of your 150 cc engine in your ears. Your kart passes hundreds of semi trucks and very similar looking white cars that flood the turnpike while other racers struggle to get their kart un-wedged from the bottom of what seems to be the fifth gasoline carrying truck they’ve hit this race. “This race is in the bag,” you think to yourself as you take the second last turn of the last lap when all of the sudden, WHAM! A blue shell owns you and you somehow go from first to last in a matter of seconds. Unfair? No, Mario Kart 64!

As a budding-video game nerd in the early nineties, I was able to grow up on most of the classics, but the N64 had the biggest impact on my gaming experience. I got the system for Christmas the year it came out along with the classic game Mario Kart, so I saw it fitting to review and show a few of my favorite bugs and memories from the classic racing game.

Mario Kart games have come out for almost every system Nintendo has made, but it became most popular with its N64 version, Mario Kart 64. I remember when this game came out I lost sleep over it. I would wake up earlier than my parents to sneak downstairs and race until I had to go to school.

Right off the bat, “Moo Moo Farm” was and still is my favorite track on the game. I love the mole hole obstacles that always seemed to present too much trouble for n00b players. This level also is one of my favorite songs from the game, rivaled only by that of “Royal Raceway”.

Bugs in this game were great to find because all you had to do to find a bug was jump your kart off the track somehow and laugh as you were picked up and placed right in front of the finish line. “Frappe Snow land” has one of my favorite bugs of the game just because of the reactions I would get while using this cheat. At the beginning of the race, turn your kart a full 180 degrees and race to the end of the bridge. Then, without touching the road, jump from the bridge to the snow pile and drive off the track. Lakitu (the cloud guy with the fishing pole) will pick up your car and place it back on the bridge. Drive past the finish line and just like that; you’ve completed one lap according to the N64!

Another great bug is in the beginning of “D.K.’s Jungle Parkway”. Turn your kart the opposite direction again at the green and go into the cave tunnel. Hit into the left wall of the exit as hard as you can and somehow your character will fall for ten seconds and then hit water?!? Your best friend Lakitu will come to pick you up again and place you at the beginning of the cave. Race the five-second sprint to the finish line and laugh when you get a lap time of twenty seconds.

This was actually the first bug I ever found in a game and got me looking for many more in every game I’ve bought since. I remember racing the full track and coming to the last cave when Bowser or Wario crushed me into this wall. I freaked out claiming the computer had cheated, then remembered this is Mario Kart, one of the only racing games that re-spawns computer racers to keep the race close no matter how far ahead you were.

“Rainbow Road” is the last and one of the craziest looking levels in the game. Remember falling off of the track at least five times a race? Yeah, I thought so, but there’s also a glitch that all this track jumping can help you with. At the very beginning of the race, speed up until you reach the large downward hill. Then turn left and jump off the track, aiming for the portion of track close to your racer. You should hit the star fence on this piece of track and be able to keep racing, cutting a full minute or two off of your time. (Great song too for the level lol)

I also liked exploring “Royal Raceway’s” castle instead of actually racing. My friends and I would battle in Peach’s Castle instead of racing. We would also race the train in “Kalimari Desert”, absolutely pointless but for some reason fun to do.

The battle system in this game was another great idea. I always have dreaded the skyscraper level because of how many falling deaths I would encounter while trying to hop the pits of death between buildings. My favorite battle area was the square fortress level with four pillars to fight from in the level. The battles were always geared towards the larger players, especially in this and the skyscraper level. In both of these levels, a larger player could take a balloon from a smaller player by hitting the boost at the green light into the smaller player across from them. Having a little extra weight on your side was always a good thing in battle mode.

There are so many glitches and bugs out there for Mario Kart 64, these are just a few of my favorites that I was able to find as a kid and are engraved on my gamer memory. Have any great bugs for this game? Comment!

-Garrett

After hearing “the Price of Freedom” a couple times I decided it was about time I finally gave the full soundtrack a listen through. Before hearing it my initial thoughts still echoed after listening to the soundtrack and reading the plot: are we really still doing this? At ground value, it’s about time they stopped “milking” the Final Fantasy VII cow to death… no really. Uematsu left square already because he didn’t like square’s new facilities, but I wouldn’t hold it against him if he resented the reskinning as much as any intelligent gamer (not that he has a choice since he doesn’t have rights to any FF music).

Now before I get any further I just want to state that I’ll get my ranting out first because I believe that although Crisis Core is one too many, fresh composer Takeharu Ishimoto deserves a fair chance to be considered despite square’s decisions.

Final Fantasy VII – Crisis Core

Since Crisis Core is an installment of FFVII, there are at least 5 remixes of songs from the game, and most of them are pretty tasteless. One BIG problem I have with the entire soundtrack is that it is flavorless on many of the songs. One of the qualities that I’ve noticed becoming bigger and bigger is the use of guitar. You can hear it prominently in Advent Children and Uematsu’s formation of The Black Mages, but it runs into dangerous territory, particularly on this album. Too many times a track comes on that is just a plain heavy guitar/metal song that has no theme, or a really basic one, and if any other instrument besides drums could penetrate the distortion I can’t say I hear it much. A good example is: “Controlling the Iron Beast”

This song has a boring repetitive intro and even the transition gets dull. I like the addition of the guitar over the top at 1:10, but it quickly disappears.

Now there are situations where the distorted guitar is put to good use with drums and backing guitar etc, and that is on “Wandering on a Sunny Afternoon”.

This song has a catchy melody that is not buried under too much noise and it breathes too. I mark it as one of the better original melodies on the album.

It seems that the most catchy original melodies are usually placed under the title “Theme of CRISIS CORE —”. One track like “Wandering on a Sunny Afternoon” is “Theme of CRISIS CORE “Under the Apple Tree”"

This song has the light blend of guitar and drums, but it throws in a second guitar with a more indie pop tones and some strong synth for good measure. This song has happy pop melody to it, but at the back of it is the feeling of gravity and fate that seems to hang heavy with the game’s storyline. I would easily place it as one of the best off the soundtrack.

Another “Theme from CRISIS CORE–” That I found to be exceptional was “Theme from CRISIS CORE “Truth Behind the Project”.

This song has an intense mash up of violin and piano. It makes a very tense and drama filled background and it doesn’t sound like a rehashing of any previous tracks. On the same lines, but much shorter is the track, “Theme from CRISIS CORE “To a New Post”"

Well I lied earlier, there is one arrangement of FFVII music that I find to be excellent. It is “A Flower Blooming in the Slums(from FVII “Aerith’s Theme”)”
The track doesn’t do much to the original except adding guitar and reducing the piano lines so that they both make a nice light atmosphere.

Another original standout track that uses Piano and Violins is “Melody of Resolution” The beginning of the track is scattered and has a dark feel to it, but as the song progress it becomes more anthemic and strengthening.

Another instrument introduction into the FF series that I like is Drums. They have been present in past games of course (ie. Gau’s theme in FF VI) but they haven’t been in the forefront of the music very often. Crisis core features a large amount of drum tracks, and “Night of Seclusion” is easily one of the best.

One of the tracks “A Moment of Courtesy” which seems like a throwaway track is actually a short, fantastic arrangement of “The Price of Freedom” with only strings and counterpoint.

And, of course, since I’ve already mentioned a few times I’ll put up “The Price of Freedom”.

This track is easily one of the top tracks from the album. It has an awesome melody made from two guitars (later 3) and it features great drums and transitions from acoustic to electric guitar. Oh, and of course strings!

Finally, the ending theme must come.  There is a small transitional track that closes the soundtrack, but it’s definitely not the staff roll so I won’t mention it any further. The real closer to this game is called “Fulfilled Desire” and it is an arrangement of Final Fantasy VII music by Kazuhiko Toyama.

This track is simply great. It features many songs from FFVII blended together and reorchestrated. I can honestly say that this track is what I expected Crisis Core to be more like. Still, I don’t think less of this soundtrack because it gave Ishimoto a chance to show the world what he can do, and he also introduced new music into the FF series – which is something it definately needs – and I’d say he did it with aplomb.

~Dan

Well today I was playing an online Video Game Music quiz and I happened upon the opening theme of Cannon Fodder. I’ll just say that I had no idea what was coming there, it starts out with ska chords and goes into “♫ War, never been so much fun…♫” So for the focus of this article I will talk about some attention grabbing intros.  Not all of them need take the Cannon Fodder approach but all of them have some quality that makes them unforgettable.

Standout Game Intros

Cannon Fodder
Well I’ve already let the cat out of the bag on this one, so I might as well go ahead and do it first. Cannon Fodder is a strategy war game that takes a very strong satirical approach on War. So much that it hit on controversy with the picture shown above. The flower shown is the corn poppy, which is the symbolic flower of WW 1, and when veterans discovered that this was going to be used there was an uproar against it. Needless to say the poppy was removed from the box but it is still in the opening screen of the game.
As for the intro screen, well I won’t type out all of the lyrics because it’s a better experience checking it out for yourself. Some might say that systems like the Amiga were the golden age of games because makers cared much more about their content and made very fun, intelligent games; which stands out in this game where despite opposition, the designers still put the game out.

Donkey Kong 64
I’m not even sure that I have to say much for this one because if anyone reading this ever picked up this game… well you know exactly what I’m about to say: DK Rap. Yes, the infamous rap so terrible that you would desperately hit start as soon as you could hear ♫boom cha boom boom cha♫ and hopefully you got to the demo start screen before ” So they’re finally here, performing for you.. etc..” Let’s just say I do know that words and I could join in too. In any event, it caught your attention all right.

Chrono Cross
Well this intro I hadn’t seen until I did some research, and I can say that I was blown away. I wouldn’t say that it does anything new or original in its cinematography, but it’s the music that makes the video amazing. “Scars of Time” is one of Mitsuda’s best works. The song has so many powerful elements to it, and every one of them fits the video so perfectly that it becomes riveting. Even the words at the beginning are poetic enough to keep your attention: “Yet even then we ran like the wind/Whilst our laughter echoed,/Under cerulean skies…”

Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask
Here is an intro that really set the mood for the entire game to come. MM has one of the most dark intros (and is one of the darkest games) I’ve ever seen, particularly for a Zelda game. First, the camera pans down to a gloomy dark forest only to have Link waylaid and pass out, then some creepy masked Skull kid makes off with Epona and drags you behind. Only after being freed do you desperately chase after (now doing flips when you jump) to fall intro a pit of blackness with disorientating shapes to find out that Skullkid ‘got rid of’ Epona!

Final Fantasy VIII
Final Fantasy is a series that always has attention grabbing intros, but I just found that 8 had the most, “WTF?!@” kind of feeling to it. When it opens all you see is a nice, sunny beach. Then all of the sudden this malevolent chorus comes in singing Latin and it becomes a huge tense contrast. As if that wasn’t enough, the waves begin to talk to you:

“I’ll be here…”

“…Why?…”

“…so…”

The way that text comes up it reminds me of an evil, crazy villain like the Joker; just toying with Batman or his victims. This text continues to appear as the song builds and now goes to a flowery field, and it snowballs from there.

Shenmue
This game has been mentioned in the past here on Continue but the intro video was not discussed. This game intro is perfect in the hollywood sense. It has  well fitted music, lots of careful, realistic camera angles, and it has a compelling story. Some of the camera angles from the trees really make it tense.

Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake
Before I even talk about this game -  which was orignally for the console MSX, and it’s the only version I count (Nintendo failed hard on the port) – I have to say that the soundtrack is fantastic. The song chosen for the opening is so fitting to a spy/Tom Clancy style of movie that you could watch it with popcorn. All scene changes and appearances of the schematics of the Metal Gear weapon are very drawing and I can honestly say that this is a timeless trailer, and it was made 19 years ago.

Fallout
Well, I can say that I always liked this game for its style. The old tyme music is fantastic to say the least, but the irony of it just makes the game great to watch or play. The video is no exception and the irony and contrast as the tv pulls away is as attention grabbing as when the TV dies. Then, of course, the narrator comes in and you’ve no choice but to watch it out.

Dune
Dune is a game that I have yet to play, but I think it is a game that every gamer should. Anyone who plays it will claim it had an influence on them to some degree, and it’s a landmark in gaming in more ways that one. The soundtrack by Stephane picq is unique and excellent, and the intro video has some sort of power to it. It has urgent music, and despite the fact that technology only allows flashes of images in many cases (and no voices or sfx), it’s still done in a way that really keeps you looking. Especially the quick snappy shots and moving faces.

Sonic CD
Sonic CD has been a favorite opening of mine since I first booted it up on the Sega CD. Cartoon or not the video is awesomely epic and “Sonic Boom” is one of the greatest songs ever. Kudos Spencer Nilson, he really made the image of sonic flying at the Robotnik Death Star something to remember.

Super Smash Bros. Melee
After the simple intro of a glove carrying a stock character onto a table in Super Smash Bros., I can’t say that I expected much from this intro, but it really went in a different direction. It is a very action-packed, snappy intro with quick character and music changes and cool character freeze frames.

So to tie up this eclectic mix of ending themes, I’ll just say that some of the biggest surprises seem to come from the most unexpected places. I didn’t expect a sequel to have a fantastic trailer compared to the original, or that the larger portion of attention drawing intros for me would be some of the earliest games.

~Dan

Part two of my exciting journey of “Anime, Shenmue, Weddings, and Work!” begins now!

In this episode I travel to Scranton, with the sexiest man alive, Armando. We go to visit our friend Paul 2 weeks befor his wedding, a week of nothing but manly things done by manly men!

Date: May 25th-June 2nd

Location: Scranton, PA

Mission: Man Week!

On Sunday, the 24th of May, I returned home from Anime North 2009. Tiered, soar, and exhausted I was looking forward to some much needed R&R. However, my time to relax at home was short lived. The next morning at 9:00 am, I was scheduled to hop back in a car and drive 4 hours to Scranton, PA. The mission? To give my soon to be wed buddy Paul, a week of being men! My partner for this mission was the sexy and dangerous Armando, or as I like to call him, “Ar-Man-do.”

I've always got a lady on each arm!

Yeah, I know I look good.

Fur Coat, Giant Rings, Crystal!

So Armando and I began on an epic quest to give Paul, our soon to be husband friend, the last week of his single male life. As you can surely imagine this ment booze, hoes, and gambling. But that’s only what we did at night. The day time, when Paul worked, consisted of a lot of video gaming. Armando and I are both huge fans of the Shenmue series, so we brought a Sega Dream Cast with us and began our epic quest to beat both Shenmue 1 and Shenmue 2 in one week, no meager task.

For those of you, Shenmue was originally designed as a RPG for the Virtual Fighter series, a very successful fighting game franchise created by Yu Suzuki, the creator of Shenmue. Over time, the game took a life of its own, with all original characters: Ryo, Lan Di, and the video game character I have a huge virtual crush on Nozomi. The game takes place in Yokosuka and Doubita, both actual areas of Japan. The game contains fairly accurate, although greatly scaled down, 1986, versions of both of those modern areas. Shenmue 2 breaks from Japan and brings use from the Land of the Rising Sun, to Hong Kong, and boasts a much bigger world to explore.

The basic plot of Shenmue is a revenge story, one where the main character’s, Ryo’s, father is murdered before his very eyes by Lan Di. Ryo swears to get revenge on Lan Di, and the two games consist of Ryo attempting to track down Lan Di, in order to enact his revenge. Along the way, Ryo meets a cast of many different characters, two girls in particular who deffinitly want to jump his bones: Nozomi, the Japanese Canadian school girl, and Joy, the wild and free Hong Kong Hottie.

The type of girl you bring home to mommy.

The type of girl you have hot and dirty sex in a back-ally with.

Shenmue is really a one of a kind game that combine some really great game play mechanics, as well as creates a few that are used constantly today. Shenmue’s game play consists of three major components: Quest, Battle, and QTE. Quest is the majority of the game. This is where you walk around, talking with the other inhabitants of the cities, explore, find items, etc. Battle is a fighting mechanic that burrows the fighting system of the Virtual Fighter Franchise. QTE, also known as Quick Time Event, is where a button flashes on the screen and you have a limited amount of time to react to it. Although not created by Shenmue (that honor goes to Dragon’s Lair), Shenmue was the first to really bring that experience into the home console and is what made it a staple mechanic used by games still to this very day.

Shenmue is one of the best games ever made. It has an engaging storyline, great game play, and absolutely stunning graphics (For a Dream Cast game). All in all, the game is a great package and is a must play for all gamers.

Getting back on track though, Armando and I decided to beat both games that week. Shenmue 1, if you ignore all the side quests and extra events, takes roughly 17 hours to complete while Shenmue 2 takes a little over 20. All in all a very plausible goal. However Our journy was fraught with adversity. The first challenge we faced, was waking up early enough to splay before Paul got back from work. We where usually up till 5 in the morning and would sleep till 1 or 2 while Paul was out working. So we struggled to get through the hours of game time. We also lost progress about three times untill we ultimately threw in the towel. The first was when our copy of Shenmue for the Dream Cast froze on us. The disk had a little bit of dirt on it and froze. This set us back about 3 hours since we had last saved. The second set back took place at the end of disk 2 of shenmue 1, its a 3 disk game. After the final cut scene, the game tells you it is time to switch disks, thats easy enough, however before you are supposed to you have to save by hitting A. In our hastiness to move to disk 3, we did not save it, we just opened it only to realise, we needed to go back and complete another 3 hours of game play that we lost due to our inattentiveness. Finlay, this was the real kick in the balls. Armando and I had played through about half of Shenmue 2, and had not saved in nearly 5 or 6 hours. The game didn’t shove it in our face like it usually does do to the cut scenes and events we had reached. Well, we didn’t count on a power outage and that’s exactly what happened. A fuse in the house blew and we lost power, 6 hours of game play, down the drain. This was the last straw, and we gave up as we only had one day left to complete our goal. Had that not happened, we could have easily finished the game, but that last incident had put us back two far.

Despite Ar-MAN-do’s and my failure to complete Shenmue 1 and 2 in a week, we walked out content. We got to play through most of one of our favorite game franchises, and while we where taking turns playing the game. We learned some Japanese through the use of “My Japanese Coach” for the DS.

Well boys and girls, our adventure is almost complete, only 1 more article remains in this ridiculous story I am weaving. Tune in tomorrow night for the very anger filled story about Dayton Ohio. Enjoy and goodnight.

-Andy

Alright everybody, I’m back and ready to go! It’s been awhile, almost three weeks since I last updated.  In the last three weeks, I drove to Toronto for an Anime Convention from May 22-24th, spent the May 25th – June 2nd in Scranton Pennsylvania, came back to Rochester, then again hit the road on the 5th-7th to go to a wedding in Scranton, Ohio. After all of that, I just spent the last week relaxing and working. Now that I’m back and feeling better, I want to tell you all a little about my adventures over these few weeks.

Date: May 22nd-24th

Location: Toronto, Ontario

Mission: Anime North 2009

Toronot is my home town, it felt good to have a reason to go out there and spend some time. The mission I was given was to go to Anime North, a yearly Anime Convention held in Toronto every year. I’m no stranger to Anime North, I have attended every year since 2006, however this time we had a mission. I was to assemble my A-Team like crew and bring to AN09 a group of cosplayers unlike the world has ever seen! Joined by my most trusted allies, Jamie, Ashur, and Clarence, we set out to be the best Street Fighter cosplayers to ever step into Anime North… And we delivered.

Let me Introduce you to the crew!

Four years ago, a group of for anime fans met at Anime North, at the Udon Comics table by pure chance. The men promptly became quick friends and began cosplaying in a group at conventions when ever they can. Today, still attending Anime North, they survive as Cosplayers. If you want a picture, if no other costumes seem to peak your interest, and if you can find them, maybe you can photo… The Cos-Team!

Jamie aka. Dan Hibiki

Oyaji!!!

Jamie, the smooth talker. He has an uncanny abilty to spit game like no one else at these Anime Conventions, always bringing a new chick back. He is the Face-man of our organization.

Ashur aka. Ken Masters

Well... It's ken back in his 80's rocker phase...

Ashur is our crew’s raving lunatic. Often reffered to as the “Howling Mad Murdock” of our group, he will not only kill you, but do… I… I can’t even bring myself to share it with you. Watch your back, you never know where he might be!

Clarence aka. Ryu

Greatest Ryu cos, hands down.

Clarence, the “Hannibal” of our rag-tag team of cosplayers. He is our master of disguise. Not only are his costumes perfect, his attitude and skill for becoming the charecter, inside and out, truely makes him a valuable member of our team.

Andrew (Yours truly) aka. El Fuerte

It's Super Dynamic Cooking Time!

Finaly, myself. I guess I am lefte with B.A. Barracus, not that I’m complaing. Master of stunts and fighting, I am always willing to hurt myself to get a cool shot. Whether its spinning in the air or flying backwords, no one makes a hit look real, quite like myself.

Alright, now that I’ve had my fill of the A-Team for now.  let me get onto the main point!

That was our crew, the four of us spent the three days of the convention mostly having our pictures taken. In addition to the four of us, two other people played a very important role in making this weekend awesome!

Two Challengers Approach!

Vivi aka. Asuka

Candace aka. Sakura

These where the people we spent the most time with, but we also met many others along the way. Characters from all over the spectrum: Pokemon, Digimon, Guilty Gear, Sack Boy, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the Power Rangers, and countless others! It was great. Here are a few of my favorite pics we got.

This truely was a great convention this year, I hope next year is even better.

If you went, send me some pics of yourself, I’d love to throw them up on the website!

Tune in tomorrow night when I tell you all about my time in Scranton and my addiction to Shenmue!

-Andy

Well I was moseying around my old computer and I noticed an image on the desktop. An image that I knew immediately and any fan would too:

It is non other than Jake the snood. Back when this game was getting popular and I discovered it, I was surfing AOL 7.0 on my Windows 98 PC -  those were the days.

But anyway, today I bring you a revisit of Snood, a game that had its start way back in 1996 (at this point that does not sound right to say) by creator David M. Dobson.

At the beginnings of Snood, it was just an addicting game that you were able to get free on Windows. The only drawback to the game was that in between every game you had to read David’s animated poems that popped up in the middle of the screen and urged you to buy the full version. Most of them I think were pretty witty and I ended up buying the game anyway – it’s only about $20 today which is the same as crayon physics (an excellent game).

“Cats have hairballs,”,
“Dogs have fleas.”,
“Dave is broke,”,
“So register please!”,

“These poems are bad,”,
“And getting worse.”,
“Register now”,
“To stop the verse.”,

“You know your games,”,
“You aren’t a fool,”,
“You paid for Snood,”,
“So you are cool!”,

I found all these quotes on a website that nicely collected all of them, you can find it here

If you have never played Snood before, it is a puzzle game where you try to shoot the piece given to you into similar pieces (groupings of 3 or more will eliminate the matched snood) Depending on your difficulty: child; easy, medium; hard; evil; and Armageddon; the wall of Snood will drop closer to your shooter based on how many shots you have fire since the wall last dropped. One nice feature is that there is no time limit unless you play Armageddon… which is insane:

What I have lately discovered about Snood is that is has seen ports to just about everything. I remember playing Snood on my Ti-83 in school, but now you can download/purchase Snood for PC/Mac , Gameboy Advance, and Palm OS. Snood also expanded itself and now has: Snood Solitaire, Chowder, Snood Towers, Snood Deluxe, Snood Slide, Snood Poppers, and Snoodoku.
There is also plenty of Snood merch for you to by ranging from coffee cups to t-shirts.

So if you’ve never played Snood before: I absolutely implore you to try it; But if you have played in the past but it’s been awhile, I encourage you to play a quick game again. Hey, you can’t have gotten THAT bad; they’ll give you an aimer on Child difficulty.

If interested here is the link:
Snood

been awhile since I made a non-music entry….

~Dan

Yes Folks we have something special for you today! Our own Andrew Ragazzo has released an epic compilation of himself singing ’80s songs. Andy has long been a proponent of ’80s music and anyone who has heard him passionately sing “Eye of the Tiger” can attest to his virtuousity. Michael Buczkowski said, “It was like a bolt of lightning hit me in crotch.”

Andy Sings The ’80s

Ragazzo had been planning this album for ages he says, but he wanted to surprise everyone with it’s sudden release. Andy decided to use his time off from Canisius to put the finishing touches, cleverly telling everyone around him that he’s: “bored… and there’s nothing to do.”

Little known to the world is the fact that Andy had his musical start long before his solo ’80s album with The E-Board Five  in 1972. A short lived group due to controversy when 6th member Chris Shea was left  out of the group because band leader Justin decided, “Five was just more catchy.”

An early picture of the group in 1972

But Andrew had bigger ambitions, and they have now manifested themselves into this amazing album. Andrew proclaims, “It took 37 years, but I’m back in the game Bitches!” right before ripping his shirt off (his second for this interview) and shredding on the air guitar in a manner reminiscent of Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure.

I would provide you with some samples of Andy’s music but I don’t have legal permission, and as you may or may not know he is a friend of Chuck Norris – (who you don’t look for: he finds you) so you’ll have to buy the album ONLY at your local Media Play, with whom Andy signed an exclusive distributing contract in 1996.

One thing that can be said of Andy is that he doesn’t forget the little people, his album features multiple dedications and duets to and with friends such as: “Black Velvet (featuring Garrett Weinholtz)”; and “I Touch Myself (featuring Michel Brind’Amour)”; and my personal favorite: “Don’t Stop Believing (dedicated to yours truely)”.

If I can make any final statements about this album I will have to use the inspired words of Garrett Weinholtz, “ppppppppppfffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffff
ffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffff
fffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffff
fffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffff
fffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffftttt!”.

front cover

back cover

~Dan

Hey everyone, I would like to appologize for my absence, it’s because I’ve been working on my new album. Its not quite done yet and Media Play has locked me up on releasing it untill the winter season. However, keep your eyes out at the stores for it! 

I’ve also been tied up doing some traveling and advertising for it! I have some great stories of adventure, and some great pics to share with everyone!

Well I have been lagging on coming up with a new soundtrack to do, so I decided to go with my idea of making a top list of epic tracks. One of my favorite things about making this list was seeing how varied each track was from system to system and game to series.

Top Epic Tracks

Once again I bring you an odd number of songs with my top 17 epic songs. What I wanted to display in this list is songs that have the “epic” feel to them of something huge and momentous. Not all the songs are slow with a killer chorus section or fast with some shredding guitar, instead I wanted to balance it out to show that you can find an epic song just about anywhere.
(This list is not in a necessarily particular order)

17. Swift Horse – Shadow of the Colossus – Koh Otani

The first track up is none other than “Swift Horse”, one of my all time favorite songs because it’s this heart stopping orchestral number that has the ability to charge you up no matter what. Not to mention it’s a more modern piece where a full orchestra was used instead of adding in an electric guitar (not that there’s anything wrong with that) It’s just nice to see some diversity.

16. Gang-Plank Galleon – Donkey Kong Country – David Wise
So you’ve been playing through the game, collecting bananas and listening to ambient jungle music – but now the heat is on. The final showdown with K Rool is here and suddenly flying crocodiles with capes and shred become one.

15. Ending – Dragon Spirit – Rich Kiyosi
Here we’re going to slow things down as we go to Dragon Spirit: The New Legend. This game saw an arcade release and NES port, but the arcade music stands out much stronger (as you can hear here). Not only do I find this ending simple and epic, I would easily also place it on my top endings list.
(50 seconds in)

14. The Price of Freedom – Final Fantasy Crisis Core – Takeharu Ishimoto
Here’s a track late off of the Final Fantasy bandwagon, not composed by Nobuo Uematsu (or Hitoshi Sakimoto), and still kicks butt. I especially like the fact that there’s a blend of acoustic and electric guitar. It reminds me of “Regret Not” by All That Remains.

13. Lance & Red Battle Theme – Pokemon Gold & Silver – Go Ichinose, Junichi Masuda
This game seems to have faded out of the franchise now that Nintendo is up to Platinum, but Japan is soon to see a rerelease of these games dubbed “Heart & Soul”. Hopefully they make it to America because I believe that this was the best game and it easily had the best music out of the series.

12. Title (intro) – Legend of Zelda ~ Twilight Princess – Koji Kondo, Toru Minegishi, Asuka Ohta.
This song is a remake of the Zelda them with only a full chorus and towards the end a string section. There’s just something about the harmonies but I think this is one of the most epic tracks out of the soundtrack, especially as it finishes with the wolf call. I’m not sure if the SFX add to or take away from it.

11. Scars of Time – Chrono Cross – Yasunori Mitsuda
Of course I couldn’t pass up the Chrono series without at least one track and I think this one is the clear winner. The driving violins and flute make this an incredibly intense song to listen to. My favorite part is the “slow motion” break down in the middle with the strings. (You’ll hear it when you get there)

10. Fear of the Heavens – Secret of Mana – Hiroki Kikuta
No matter how many times I listen to this track it always has this powerful, haunting tone to it; with it’s echoing piano and light strings. There are some darker songs on the soundtrack, but I just don’t think they quite have this atmosphere.

9.Title Theme – After Burner III (Final Take Off) – S. S. T. Band
The Sega CD is riddled with bad games, but when it has a good game… well it’s freaking awesome, and After Burner III is one hell of a game. This is the third transformation of the original theme.

8. One Winged Angel – Final Fantasy VII – Nobuo Uematsu
Well I had to throw this track out sooner or later. Not only is it a blend of epic elements, it features multiple notorious sections. Uematsu seems to not be satisfied with using just a few epic elements such as a choru and strings… No, he’s going to throw in heavy drums, electric guitar, and the works. The best part is that Uematsu said the intro to the song was inspired by “Purple Haze”

7. Chaosium Sword – Ninja Gaiden II ~ Dark Sword of Chaos – Shitamachi Kajiya, Mayu
One again Ninja Gaiden has a team of two composers that seem to appear out of nowhere, write a rediculously epic song, and then fade back into the shadows. I can vouch for the fact that I haven’t seen them since, the song you’ll have to listen to…

6. The Cable Car – Cold Winter – Mark Willot
Now were getting into the final five and the tracks get even more heart pounding. Cold Winter is a soundtrack that I think really went under the radar, probably because it was an OK shooter for the PS2 when franchises like 007 do so well, but in any event Willot should have his day. Normally a TV/Movie composer,  Willot stepped in to blend those elements you would find in a CSI show, a Jason Borne movie, and one hell of a spy VGM OST. The piano in this is it.
Cable Car

5. Doomsday – Sonic 3 & Knucles – Sonic Team
Sonic the Hedgehog has always had excellent music. Even though many of the boss themes are not my favorite, they all have an epic feel to them, but this game pulls out all the stops.

4. Master Ninja Theme (Stage Version) – Ninja Gaiden – More Yamasan, B. Hasake
Well believe it or not I have three tracks from this game for you. There’s just something about this game that is timeless. The soundtrack , in my mind, is always probably going to be one of the greatest ever made. It has so many powerful tracks that were made from 4 NES sound channels, when today composer have as many as they want. This one in particular is an awesome driving ballad (that you’re going to need to make it through level 6-)
Master Ninja

3. Premonition – Ninja Gaiden – More Yamasan, B. Hasake
This music fits the scene pretty well, in this particular spot you are forced to fight your father who is possessed by a demon mask that has been forced upon him. I think I’ve given you the general idea..

2.Fight on the Rooftops – Cold Winter – Mark Willot
We return to Cold Winter one more time to hear one of the most epic tracks of all time, particularly in modern game music. Not only is the intro chorus gripping, but when it is later blended with the percussion it’s breathtaking.
Fight on the Rooftops

1.Seeking Truth – Ninja Gaiden – More Yamasan, B. Hasake
I’m closing this list with a track that has been a longtime favorite of mine: “Seeking Truth”. Not only does the name set the scene, but the track itself is incredibly driving for how simple it is: a basic bass line, a top guitar riff, and some percussion.