Favorite Tunes #159: Rise of the Super Heroes

Tonight, season three of one of my favorite shows begins, The Flash! I've eagerly been anticipating it since the finale of season two and look forward to seeing how the show's version of Flashpoint will turn out. In honor of the occasion, this Favorite Tunes is super hero themed.

Theme of Captain America - Marvel vs. Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes (ARC, DC, PS)

Red, white and blue will turn you black and blue. Who doesn't love playing as Cap, throwing that shield around like a giant boomerang? Before Super Smash Bros. released, Marvel vs. Capcom was the biggest video game crossover. Mega Man and Spider-Man on the same team against Ryu and Wolverine? How awesome is that?

Fight! Alkaiser - SaGa Frontier (PS)

The SaGa games have never received the acclaim that the Final Fantasy titles did. Those Final Fantasy Legend games on the Game Boy? Actually SaGa titles under a different name. Regardless, the SaGa titles do have their good points, like splendid music. Kenji Ito is responsible for much of the series music and he did the first PS title a world of justice. Red, one of the seven playable characters has a super cool alter ego known as Alkaiser that he can change into during battle as long as his party members aren't watching.

Blade Master (Electric Sword Demon Alastor's Theme) - Viewtiful Joe (GCN, PS2)

Viewtiful Joe was a wonderful and punishing treat for old-school gamers. This cel shaded game was a throw back to beat 'em up fans that threw in some new elements to the genre like speeding up and slowing down time to have different affects on Joe's combat abilities as well as the certain parts of the levels themselves. The game was also a little harder than it needed to be by not giving you the option of saving after every level.

Boss - Sonic Blast Man (SNES)

Even by super hero standards, Sonic Blast Man is a weirdly dressed dude. I mean, boxing gloves? I guess that makes sense with punching being his thing. He also has no idea how to do the whole hero thing. Rather than remove people from oncoming danger like trains and trucks, he destroys said vehicles, killing the people in them in the process. And he still gets thanks every time for his actions.

Savage Land (Theme of Wolverine) - X-Men: Children of the Atom (ARC, SAT, PS)

Are the X-Men still getting good licensed deals on games? I haven't been keeping up with the mutants much these days. You really couldn't go wrong with an X-Men fighter back in the day. Well, unless you were playing the PS version. I know Wolverine is overexposed these days and I was hesitant to put his theme up here at first, but after hearing it again for the first time in a long time, I had to give Snikt Bub his due.

The Won-Stoppable Wonderful 101 - The Wonderful 101 (Wii U)

Some people seem to be under the belief that The Wonderful 101 is a third party game because Platinum developed it. This is a Nintendo IP. Yes, Platinum did make it, but the game, characters and whatnot are all owned by Nintendo. Sadly, the game was not advertised well and because of Nintendo fans not knowing it was a first party title, it was a retail bomb.

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Favorite Tunes #101: Nintendo Train Hype Edition

Say what you will about Nintendo not doing things the way the competition does. They have been killing it as of late! 2014 has been one awesome year for the company with so many good titles being released on the 3DS and Wii U. Mario Kart 8 is still being popped into my Wii U, I've clocked almost 75 hours into the 3DS version of Super Smash Bros. and I still gotta find the cash to snatch up Hyrule Warriors and Bayonetta 2. I'm pretty sure you already know where I'm going with this so, enjoy the music.

ST01 Roll Out, Wonderful 100! Battle In The Blossom City Burbs - The Wonderful 101 (Wii U)

If you haven't picked up The Wonderful 101, I recommend doing so. At $30 brand new, it's one of the cheapest games you can pick up on the system and while it is by no means perfect, I think this is a game every Wii U owner should have in their library. I honestly was not expecting this the kind of musical score I'd heard when I fired this game up. This is one heroic, triumphant piece of music, the kind you'd expect to hear in a major motion picture. Those blaring trumpets heard throughout the course are as you defend a city under siege are the icing on the cake.

Captain Falcon's Twister Race: Mute City - Nintendo Land (Wii U)

For many of us, Nintendo Land was the closet we've gotten to an F-Zero revival. A decade has passed since an F-Zero title was released. So while the franchise may be gone, it is comforting to know that Nintendo has not forgotten about it, giving it a huge acknowledgement with it's own theme park section in Nintendo Land. This game has a catchy, charming soundtrack, with lots of chiptune takes on old classics. For good measure, Mute City is still sporting heavy traces of rock to go along with the 8-bit goodness.

Full Steam Ahead (Spirit Tracks) - Super Smash Bros. for 3DS (3DS)

Nintendo has already let the word out that the Wii U version of Super Smash Bros. is going to have even more music, including a plethora of tracks from the 3DS release. This is excellent news because the 3DS version has all kinds of sweet tunes. The Spirit Train has become one of my favorite stages to duke it out on, not just for the chaotic railroad nature, but for the music, accompanying it, in particular, Full Steam Ahead. This track has a very western vibe to it and considering the arranger of this track was Michiko Naruke, composer of the Wild Arms games, I guess that's to be expected.

GBA Mario Circuit - Mario Kart 8 (Wii U)

Wallpaper by MaxiGamer

Can't have a Nintendo-centric Favorite Tunes without dropping a track from one of Mr. Video Game's own titles, now can we? Originally the staring track in the Mushroom Cup in Mario Kart: Super Circuit on the GBA, this mode 7 track was given a gorgeous HD makeover with new boost panels added along with anti-gravity racing sections. Naturally, the music was updated, which now sounds like a lovely combination of jazz and funk.

Theme of Bayonetta 2: Tomorrow is Mine - Bayonetta 2 (Wii U) 

When Sony and Microsoft passed on Bayonetta 2, Nintendo stepped in and made the game a console exclusive. And there was much crying and death threats from fans that didn't have a Wii U or just hated The Big N. Bayonetta 2 on the Wii U even includes the original game to bring you up to speed in case you missed out on the first title. That's a pretty sweet deal. Also sweet is the music with some sick battle themes some feel good vocal performances. That main theme, tho!

Eclipse of the Moon (Guitar Version) - Hyrule Warriors (Wii U)

If Mario can have a dozen spin-off titles, why can't Link get in on the action? Enter Hyrule Warriors, which is what happens when the Legend of Zelda meets Dynasty Warriors. Having never played a single game in the later series myself, tossing in some Zelda characters makes Hyrule Warriors a good jumping on point for anyone curious about Koei's hack and slash series. The music in Hyrule Warriors is very expansive, featuring numerous versions of a single theme. The default version of Eclipse of the Moon is outstanding all by itself. Throw in some rock and increase the speed and your feels won't know what to do with themselves.

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