Favorite Tunes #157: The King Has Returned

Work was... um, something else last week, so I didn't get around to putting in the work on the blog that I'd have liked. Favorite Tunes and Remix of the Week as well as editorials were MIA. Since I won't be as swamped as I was the week before, I hope to get back on track. For this edition of Favorite Tunes, we've got music from the latest installment of The King of Fighters series, Chrono Trigger and the 1990s classic beat 'em up, Knights of the Round, to name half the list.

Survivors Under the Sky (Ikari Team) - The King of Fighters XIV (PS4)

So King of Fighters XIV recently dropped on the PS4. And the soundtrack? Soooooo goood! I really shouldn't be so surprised that the music is this incredible, but I'd honestly forgotten how good KoF music is. It's been years since I've played a game in this franchise but I've had this particularly theme playing in my head for days now,

Round 5 - Knights of the Round (ARC)

Like a lot of Capcom's arcade titles from the 80s and 90s, Knights of the Round received a home console port. The version of the game, I'm more familiar with is the arcade version since it was included on Capcom Classics Collection Vol. 2. This three player beat 'em up allowed you to level up your warrior as you progress and its middle ages setting really helped it stand out from a lot of other games in the genre. The soundtrack is among the best done on the CPS-I hardware.

Grand Canyon - Rad Racer (NES)

Before Final Fantasy became much of what Square would be known for, the company had their hand in games other than RPGs, such as this quite good arcade style NES racing title, Rad Racer. The game even supported 3D and came with a pair of glasses. The catchy soundtrack was composed by Nobuo Uematsu. In Japan, Rad Racer was known as Highway Star and had a much more badawesome cover than the American and European box art.

Sealed Door - Chrono Trigger (SNES)

Time travel can be tricky business in any medium, be it comic book, movies, TV shows or literature. Thankfully Chrono Trigger's time hopping adventures are quite easy to follow. In the ruined era of 2300 A.D. Chrono and the gang come across a sealed area containing the Epoch, a time machine that allows the gang to travel to 1999 to prevent the current horrific future from ever coming to pass.

Book 2 - Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker (Wii U)

Well, after that beautiful, but super depressing music we just heard, how about we cheer up with some Nintendo music? The Captain Toad levels from Super Mario 3D World were a nice change of pace from the platforming action. About a year later, the jumping impaired fungus and his lady friend, Toadette would get their own, charming, cute and delightfully fun game.

Marble Zone - Sonic the Hedgehog (GEN)

I often hear people complaining about Marble Zone because it slows down the pace of the game after the blistering speed that Green Hill Zone provided. To the people that think Sonic games are supposed to be all speed, Sonic titles are still platform games and that holds true for both the modern and classic titles. Marble Zone is light on it's puzzle elements but I'm perfectly fine with that. Move some blocks, break some blocks, avoid getting crushed and move along.

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