Favorite Tunes #110: Days of SEGA Gone By

Oh, SEGA. You were once one of the greatest console manufactures in the business with some of the best first party software on the planet. Then you got out of the console game and became a third party, but you still cranked out some hits. Alas, you are now a shadow of your former self with the most we see from you being Sonic games with varying degrees of quality. I'd love to see the company return to form but until then, I can always look back on the glory days.

Main Theme - Space Harrier (ARC)

"Welcome to the fantasy zone. Get ready!" These were the words that welcomed players to the world of Space Harrier, SEGA's 1985 arcade shooter. Unlike most games of the genre at the time, there's no overhead perspective and you don't pilot a ship. You control a blonde gent armed with a huge cannon blasting away the bizarre creatures of Dragon Land. The game's main theme was composed by Hiroshi Kawaguchi, who is known for composing songs of a more lengthier, yet memorable variety.

North Crimson Wing (Track 5) - Hang On GP (SAT)

This game plays nothing like the arcade Super Hang-On and as such, feels like just another generic racing game. OK, so not every game listed in Favorite Tunes is gonna be a winner in the gameplay department but Favorite Tunes has always been about the audio and that's where Hang On GP shines. While Hang On GP was a console release, the music wouldn't at all feel out of place in one of SEGA's stand up arcade games. This isn't Hiro's work but Shirou Ioroi still does a commendable job. In Japan, this game is known as Hang On GP '95 and Hang On GP '96 in Europe.

Ancient Weapon 1 - Panzer Dragoon Orta (XB)

SEGA supported Micorsoft's first console with some great exclusives like Panzer Dragoon Orta. The Panzer Dragoon games were among the best on the Saturn and Orta was another fine entry in the rail shooter series, Among Orta's bonus content was an unlockable port of the original Panzer Dragoon game. You'd think this would be one of those titles SEGA would mine from their extensive back catalog and give it a digital release. You would think, anyway.

Sprinter - Super Hang-On (ARC)

What can I say, despite the the very short amount of games in the series, Hang-On music is undeniably awesome. But then, the music in Super Hang was done by Hiro so, one can expect nothing short of excellence. It's another long, complex musical piece with lots of twists and turns throughout. Sprinter is the probably the most famous Super Hang-On jam, second only to Outride a Crisis.

Long Distance - Monster World IV (GEN)

In 2012, Monster World IV, the pinnacle of the Wonder Boy series was at long last officially translated and given a digital release. It's filled with lots of dungeon crawling, some simplistic puzzles and lots and lots of solid platforming. The game's main them gets reused a lot but the way its done with each piece makes it so it doesn't grow wearisome.

Storm - Super Monkey Ball (GCN, PS2)

Welcome to the final ten floors of Super Monkey Ball's Expert difficulty. These floors will take the sanest gamer and reduce them to a gibberish-spouting lunatic. This rock theme is used on all ten floors to emphasis that monkey business is officially over.

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