Favorite Tunes #164: Racing Monkeys

It has been a busy November. Nintendo revealed the Switch, for better or for worse, we know who our next president will be, the NES Classic Edition launch was a disaster and players that pirated Pokemon Sun/Moon are really feeling the butthurt. Whew. Welp, now that that's all said and done, let's get down to the latest Favorite Tunes. This week's jams including music from Ninja Warriors, Pulseman and Diddy Kong Racing to name half the list.

Character Select - Diddy Kong Racing (N64, DS)

A fan favorite on the N64, Diddy Kong Racing saw Diddy breaking away from his pal DK to race around with a bunch of cute animal critters in what is considered one of the system's best titles. This theme has it all. A killer baseline, a banjo and even a freaking harmonica!

7AM - Animal Crossing (GCN)

Growing trees, pulling weeds, fishing, running errands for your lazy neighbors. On paper, that may sound like a snorefest of a game but Animal Crossing makes it work. Even dealing with the necessary evil that is Tom Nook pays off in the end when your home is nice and sizable with loads of stuff in it. I can still hear the AM themes from this game in my head.


Boss 1 - Ninja Warriors (SNES)

Also known as Ninja Warriors Again in Japan, this SNES beat 'em up is not a port of the arcade game but a new title. Ninjas seem like a natural fit for a beat 'em up and this game well received upon it's 1994 release. The lack of two player support did not hold it down and the music was pretty rad stuff.

Planet Ratis - Life Force 2 (ARC, SAT)

Life Force 2 has one of my favorite arcade soundtracks ever. Upholding Gradius tradition and contrasting other shooter scores, the music in Life Force 2 is peppy and upbeat but isn't afraid to get on the serious side. Complete Life Force 2 and go for a second play through immediately after and you're treated to a wonderful arrangement of the original Life Force tunes. In Japan, Life Force is known as Salamander.

Stonecarving City - Wario Land: Shake It! (Wii)

While I certainly would have loved to see more music from Wario Land: Shake It! in Smash 4, I'm glad that game got any sort of musical recognition at all. I can't argue against the singular choice of this track, even though it does under a different title in Smash (Ruins). If you haven't checked out Shake It! You really should. The Wii is swimming in quality platformers and Shake It was among them.

Blank Structure - Pulseman (GEN)

Before Pokemon become what Game Freak would be primarily known for, they developed a few lesser known hits such as Pulseman. Pulseman really pushed the Genesis to its limits, showing off some of the best visuals the system has ever seen. The music is also on point, scored by Junichi Masuda. Some of his later Pokemon music reflects what you hear in Pulseman.

Favorite Tunes Database