Favorite Tunes #193: Surf Punks

Inching ever closer to 200, this week's Favorite Tunes is a dozy. There's from consoles, handhelds, the 8-bit era as well as current gen titles. I even picked out some music from a very infamous kickstarter title. Three guesses as to which game that is.

The Silence of Daylight - Castlevania II: Simon's Quest (NES)

Castlevania II has not enjoyed the same level of fame that the original or it's sequel has. While far from being one of the worst games on the NES, Castlevania II is rife with Guide Dang It movements that make it hard to enjoy the game. Bloody Tears is often the first track that springs to mind when music from this game comes to mind, but really, this game is filled with great tracks like Monster Dance and this town theme.

Surf Punks - Conker Live & Reloaded (XB)

One of the last games to be released for the N64, Conker's Bad Fur Day would later be remade for the Xbox, which fans are quick to label as an inferior remake due to swearing being censored even more. I'm not going to weigh in on that argument, but I will say that the original had some great music and a lot of it benefits from the real instruments used in the remake, especially tracks like Windy and another of my personal faves, Surf Punks.

What the Heck - Earthworm Jim: Special Edition (SCD, PC)

Much how shooters are everywhere today, back in the 1990s, platformers were in no short supply and after the debut of Sonic the Hedgehog, emphasis on mascots with attitude really kicked into high gear. There were copious amounts of also-rans, but there were some real contenders in the bunch like Earthworm Jim. The Special Edition release of the first game had an arranged soundtrack that took advantage of the improved CD-based hardware. Nothing like going through a level that is clearly meant to be Hell only to have the background music have the record scratch and turn to something peaceful. With a side of screams.

It All Begins Now - Mighty No. 9 (Multi)

You cannot talk about Mighty No. 9 without bringing up the controversy that surrounds it. What began as a very promising kickstarter that was funded in a few days back in 2013, spiraled out of control and led to a game that wouldn't be released for three years, a very flawed game at that. Mighty No. 9 certainly isn't Beck at his finest, but there's some good in there. You may not be able to tell during gameplay, but the soundtrack isn't too shabby.

Opening - Style Savvy: Trendsetters (3DS)

I found out about the existence of this game by scrolling through My Music in Super Smash Bros. Wii U. Style Savvy: Trendsetters is actually the second game in the Style Savvy series with the original being released on the original DS. The third game, Fashion Forward finally made it's release outside of Japan in 2016. You could dismiss these as casual games for girls (the series is actually called Girls Mode in Japan) but you'd be wrong. No doubt you've heard the remix of this theme in Smash, so here's the original.

Infinite Azure - Tekken 7 (PS4, XBX, PC)

Will those Mishima boys ever settle their differences? Probably not. If there's no Mishima drama going on, where's your Tekken story? Some have argued that Tekken music has gotten worse over the years, favoring the soundtracks from the earlier Tekken titles. Tekken 7's soundtrack can get quite drum 'n bass and dubstep heavy (the later genre, something most people tend to hate) but there's some good music to be found. This track is very much a throwback to the type of music you'd hear in Tekken 2.

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