Favorite Tunes #93: Chiptuning it Up

It's always a good time to listen to chiptune music, but the mood always strikes me the hardest during the summer time. I guess it could be due to all that time I spent in front of the NES during the summer as a child. Good times, good times.

La Dance Macabre (Lich Yard) - Shovel Knight (Wii U, 3DS)

If you haven't played Shovel Knight, you're missing out on one of the best indie gaming experiences of all-time. It combines elements from games like Mega Man, Castlevania and DuckTales to make a fantastic action platforming game with tons of replayability. The musical score was handled by Jake Kaufman and Manami Matsume and the duo has served up some chiptunes that are beyond excellent.

Spark Man Stage - Mega Man 3 (NES)

My all-time favorite Mega Man game. When you use the name Bun Bun as an alias, you've already got people wondering what kind of music you'll churn out. Bun Bun wrote the majority of Mega Man 3's music and he ended up giving us some of the Classic series most fondly remembered themes. I personally think Spark Man's music is hands down the best electrical based audio track in the entire history of Mega Man.

Athletic - Super Mario Land 2: Six Golden Coins (GB)

The game that introduced us to Wario, Mario's not-quite-evil counter part. These days, this is largely what Super Mario Land 2 is remembered for, but if you need something else to take away from the game, you can't go wrong with Kazumi Tokaka's music. The man gave us one of the Super Mario series' best Athletic themes that sadly has not gotten the attention it rightly deserves.

Underground Zone - Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (GG, MS)

Most Sonic games usually start you in lush, green zones. Sonic 2 on the Game Gear throws you smack dab in the middle of mine cart madness. More often than not, each mine cart you board will end up sending you towards a lava pit and you'll have to bail at just the right moment to keep the fastest thing alive from getting a nasty case of butt burn.

Quick Man Stage - Mega Man 2 (NES)

The game that most Mega fans classify as their favorite. If you've been reading this far, you know that it isn't mine, but it still has a place in my heart. Not only did fighting Quick Man require you to be a bit speedy yourself, but several sections demanded nothing less than perfection or it was instant death via lasers. Of course if you lacked the necessary reflexes to succeed, you could always use Flash Man's Flash Stopper to make things significantly easier. I've always felt Quick Man's music track gave his level a theme that was akin to a creepy old abandoned factory.

Transylvania - DuckTales (NES) 

This is probably the second theme that gets the most recognition from DuckTales. That isn't much of a surprise because one, you have to revisit Transylvania several times and two, well, it's just such a fine track. Jake Kaufman did a masterful job arranging this baby in DuckTales Remastered.

Favorite Tunes Database