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Thursday, March 28, 2013

Favorite Tunes #52: Rise of the Machines

I LOVE robots. Mechs, humanoid robots, cyborgs, all of them are are just unprecedented levels of awesome. In the world of fiction, robots have played a vital roll in novels, cartoons, anime and even video games. This Favorite Tunes is centered around themes involving advanced robotics.

A Man of Artificiality - Tekken 2 (PS Arrange)



I love me some Tekken music but Namco's sound depeartment make some excellent remixes when the Tekken titles hit the home console. This is the arranged version of Jack 2's theme. It has a heavy industrial vibe to it with clear sounds of machinery going on in the background.

Robo's Theme - Chrono Trigger (SNES)



The year 2300 AD in Chrono Trigger is quite bleak. The world has suffered a crippling nuclear winter and the people that are left alive are just barely surviving. In such a grim world, Robo's upbeat theme was highly uplifting.

Dr. Wily Stage 1 - Mega Man (NES)



It isn't perfect but Mega Man's first outing gave way to one of Capcom's most beloved franchises. I espcially like that nearly every first Dr. Wily level starts out with Mega Man outside the mad doctor's fortress and has him making his way inside. This first Wily stage is quite devious and not just for the annoying boss that waits players at the end.

Level 5 - Super Bomberman (SNES)



You may not know it from playing the American version (it's story was only mentioned via manual) but the plot of Super Bomberman involves Black Bomberman being kidnapped and his specs being used as the basis for the bad guys to construct their own army of Mecha Bombermen. The first four levels of the game has you facing off with near screen sized bosses but when you reach Level 5, you face off against evil clones of Bomberman. If you're playing with a friend, then you've got more robot doubles to nuke. It's one big endurance round with each set of Mecha Bombermen growing stronger than the last.

Future World - Mega Man 10 (WW, PSN, 360)

By Cessa

Another Mega Man game makes the list? What can I say, I'm a huge fan and much of my love for robots stems from this series. When humans get sick, we usually rest. But robots? They go psycho and try to take over the world. Yeah, it's a hokey plot but who actually plays Classic Mega Man for a gripping tale? Future World is the second opening theme for Mega Man 10. Careful listeners have noticed that this tune was arranged for the final level in Wily's space station.

Theme of E-102 Gamma - Sonic Adventure (DC, GCN)



Dr. Robotnik has made some pretty interesting machines in his efforts to thwart Sonic and along with Metal Sonic and Mecha Sonic, E-102 Gamma is one of his better creations. He isn't the first of the doc's robots to gain sentience, but unlike Metal Sonic, E-102 Gamma is actually sane. Gamma' theme wasn't really what I was expecting when I originally heard it. Perhaps this was to show that he is vastly different from many of the other bots Eggman has built. I got a bit choked up when he was destroyed at the end of his story in Sonic Adventure.

Cell Ring - Super Dragon Ball Z (PS2) 



If ever a Dragon Ball Z game deserved a sequel it was Super DBZ. It was more of a fighting game than a DBZ game, which turned off some hardcore DBZ fans that were used to the Budokai and Budokai Tenkaichi games but the fighting was absolutely spot on. There was still plenty of DBZ staples like Super Saiyan transformations and huge chi style moves like the Kamehameha. Most of the characters truly felt different from one another which set it apart from more modern DBZ fighters. Rather than Majin Buu, Cell was the final opponent in the game's arcade mode, which was fine with me because Cell has always been my favorite DBZ big bad.

Fulgore - Killer Instinct (ARC)



Who's a scary looking robot with a ponytail? Fulgore, that's who. I never played the arcade version of either Killer Instinct but I did play the home console versions. The SNES version of KI was obviously scaled down compared to it's arcade cousin, but from my understanding, it was a competent port. That being said, the arcade sound of Fulgore's theme whales on the SNES version.

Fulgore - Killer Instinct Gold (N64)



What's this? More Fulgore? Why? Why not? Not only does Fulgore look menacing, but he's got an incredible heavy metal theme that helps make him one of the baddest bots in gaming. Crazy as it may seem, I honestly think the tools going off in the background all the best parts of this song.

Antarctica - Astro Boy: Omega Factor (GBA)



Arguably the most famous boy robot in the world, Astroy Boy's greatest game outing is on the GBA, developed by Treasure and Hitmaker. Your first time through Omega Factor will see Astro's first attempt to save the world end in failure, only to be given a second chance to set things right with the power of time travel via level select. Omega Factor is often praised for fusing so many solid action genres together like SHMUP levels and beat 'em up stages, but it also has a noteworthy soundtrack thanks to Treasure composer NON.

Favorite Tunes Database

2 comments:

Chris Clash said...

Kudos for mentioning Super Bomberman here, this game has great music and never gets credit for it.

Reggie White Jr. said...

Super Bomberman has some really good music, some of the best in the series, IMO. I'd love for it to geta Virtual Console release.