Favorite Tunes #201: Rise From Your Grave

It is once again that time of the year, Halloween. This is when I usually present a round of spooky themed music. Horror is far from being my favorite genre in anything, but that hasn't stopped me from getting a kick out of some ghoulish music, especially of the gaming kind.

Stage 2 - Ghouls'n Ghosts (ARC)

Long before Resident Evil came along, Capcom had a whole different game of horror: the raged induced, controller throwing fit kind. Ghouls'n Ghosts, the second entry in the Ghosts 'n Goblins series is actually easier than the original game and it's SNES made sequel, Super Ghouls'n Ghosts. Despite owning just about every game in this series, I've never invested the time it takes to get better at them. I always like it when the game throws you a upbeat music piece to go with a hard game/tough level. This track is so dang hummable.

Rise From Your Grave - Altered Beast (ARC)

Before Sonic the Hedgehog came onto the scene, the Genesis port of this co-op was the pack in game for SEGA's 16-bit machine. I gave the soundtrack a listen recently and I was quite surprised at how well the music is. I never played much of Altered Beast but I always remember those cool transformations, which was a huge draw to this game for many. You can expect more jams from different versions of Altered Beast to pop up in the future here in Favorite Tunes.

Creeping through the Sewers Chrono Trigger (SNES)

Ah, Chrono Trigger, a 16-bit classic. Most of this game's score was handled by Yasunori Mitsuda but Nobou Uematsu and Noriko Matsueda also had a hand in this soundtrack. This is one of Uematsu's tracks and Halloween felt like the perfect chance to break it out.

Legendary Ghost - Cuphead (PC, XBO)

Yes, I know I used a song from Cuphead last week, but the game is still topical and I LOVE this soundtrack. The subtitle for Cuphead is "Don't Deal with the Devil." Words to live by. Cuphead's money fueled actions land him and Mugman into a world of trouble, filled with form changing bosses, perils run and gun action and one of this year's best game scores. If your parry game is on point, the Legendary Ghost will reward you with a skill upgrade that will make your journey slightly easier.

Dual Scream - Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon (3DS)

No longer taking place in a single, huge mansion, Dark Moon takes you through numerous mansions for all kinds of ghost busting havoc. In his first quest, Luigin was given the Game Boy Horror to keep contact with Professor E. Gadd. In Dark Moon, he's given the Dual Scream, complete with a chiptune-like ringtone.

Vampire Killer (X68000 ver.)  - Castlevania Chronicles (PS)

In 2001, Castlevania Chronicles was released on the PS. This was an updated version of the Sharp X68000's Akumajo Dracula, which originally released in Japan in 1993. This marked the first time the game had ever seen a release outside of Japanese shores and it was a return to the more traditional, non Metroidvania style games. As a bonus, the game had multiple soundtracks, an arranged version and the original X68000 tunes. This is one of my favorite renditions of the classic Vampire Killer theme.

Favorite Tunes Database