Favorite Tunes #204: The Most Adorable Little Robot

If you came to hear music featuring a sumo wrestler, a diminutive robot, a blue hedgehog and a fox, then you've come to the right place. For this week's Favorite Tunes, we've got kinda a modern and retro vibe going on with songs from the 16-bit era, the sixth console generation and stuff from today.

Chibi-Robo! - Chibi-Robo! (GCN)

Pikmin, Splatoon and now ARMS are often thought to be the only new Nintendo IPs released in the last 16 years. There have actually been more than that, though not all of them have been received anywhere near as well as the aforementioned. One such franchise is the Chibi-Robo series. The first entry hit the GameCube in 2006. Had Zip Lash not been released after started bringing out amiibos, fans probably wouldn't have any sort of merch for tiny robo.

Ghost Town - Sonic Forces (PC, PS4, XBO, NS)

Naofumi Hatauya (Sonic CD, Sonic 2 8-bit) is a veteran Sonic music composer so bringing him in as an additional song writer for Sonic Forces was a smart move. Some of Classic Sonic's music tracks are definitely bad (that Green Hill song is atrocious) but then you've got major winners like Ghost Town. With those distinct Genesis claps, drum rolls and that bassline, Ghost Town is a track I listen to regularly on repeat.

Macbeth - Star Fox 2 (SNES)

For the longest time, Star Fox 2 was an unreleased SNES. Oh sure, you could play the dumped ROM or get a reproduction cart but it wasn't unitl Nintendo release the SNES Classic Edition that Star Fox 2 was finally given an official release. I just bought one of those little SNES marvels so I'll be checking out the game myself sometime. From what little of the music I've heard, I enjoy.

Phantasy - Phantasy Star II (GEN)

We gripe about games costing $60 today but in 1989, Phantasy Star II set consumers back a whopping $90! Collector's Editions weren't a thing back then so that was just for the standard game. Many would argue that it was worth every peny as Phantasy Star II is often viewed as one of the best games on the Genesis, thanks in no small part to the outstanding soundtrack. Fun fact: the music is slightly different between the Japanese and American versions.

E. Honda Stage - Street Fighter II (SNES)

Yoko Shimomura did an amazing job composing much of the music from one of the most revered fighting games ever made. Each fighter has a unique stage theme that reflects them and the part of the world they hail from. As much as I enjoy the CPSI and CPSII versions of Street Fighter II's soundtracks, when it comes to certain character themes, I prefer the console versions over the co-op. For me, E. Honda's theme has never sounded better than it does on the SNES.

Boss - Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IV: Turtles in Time (SNES)

With the reveal that the four famous turtles are joining the roster of Injustice 2, this is as good a time as any for more Turtles music. This port of the arcade game is widely considered to be superior to it's stand up counter part even when you take into account the max number of players is two instead of four. Man, this game needs to be re-released.

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