A Message to Mega Man Remixers

I could say Mega Man has more games than any other video game character out there and I probably wouldn't be exaggerating. The Classic series, X, Zero, ZX, Battle Network, Legends, this little blue robot has serious game. One of the things we all love about Mega Man games is the music. Capcom has been giving us great Mega Man music since the series was kicked off way back in 1987. Since Mega Man games have superb music, it's only natural that there have been a ton of Mega Man remixes. Unfortunately most Mega Man Remixers have been content to remix Mega Man 2 beats more than any other Mega Man game, Mega Man 3 being right behind it. Dr. Wily Stage 1 from Mega Man 2 is an amazing song. I love it, but it's remixed to death. Same with Mega Man 3's title screen, it isn't hurting for remix love. What am I getting at? What am I trying to say to Mega Man remixers? Remix something else.

Mega Man 4 has a stellar soundtrack, and yet it you can almost count the number of remixes the music for that game has gotten on one hand. Dr. Cossack's music (both themes) easily ranks as some oft he best fortress music in the history of Mega Man. And where the heck are those dope remixes of Bright Man's stage?! Where is the love for Dark Man stage music in Mega Man 5? Split Mushroom from X4? I always loved his jam and not a single solitary remix. As much as I hated X6, I did dig that game's music. Commander Yammark and Blaze Heatnix deserve to have their themes remixed. No one has touched Mega Man: Battle & Chase music, though this could be due to the fact that the game has remained in Japan for almost 10 years and didn't come to the states until the Mega Man X Collection got released. Even the Battle Network games, hobby-based as they may be have some good tunage (well except for Battle Network 4. That one had only about two good themes).

Mega Man music offers so much to work with and I think it's time remixers start thinking outside of Mega Man 2 and 3.

September Duels

This month's Dwelling of Duels was a Super Hero Month. Don't know who came up with the theme for this month, but I like it. The good news: no Batman Stage 1 covers for the NES game! Seriously, that track has been done to death. The bad news: a minimal selection. There are only ten tracks this month. A shame too because given this month's theme, there was more to work with than most people realize. Even so, what we got was pretty good. It's pretty much a metal month so turn up the volume, get out your air guitar, and enjoy.

September Duels

Mega Man Makes Wall Street Journal

I'm serious. In the state America is in, seeing an article on Mega Man 9 and in the WSJ of all papers is great news.

Radical!

Ever hear of a game called Radical Dreamers? It's cool if you haven't. Developed by Square, it was a game on the Super Famicom's Satelliteview platform, which means it never saw the light of day outside of Japan, not officially, anyway. Radical Dreamers was a text based, visual novel style game. You play as a guy named Serge and his friend Kid tags along for the ride. Do those names sound familiar? They should. Radical Dreamers can be viewed as a side story to Chrono Trigger and Chrono Cross. A few of the musical themes from Radical Dreamers can be heard in Chrono Cross such as the Frozen Flame and my personaly favorite, Viper Manor.

Radical Dreamers: Thieves of Fate is the end result of combined efforts of various remixers from OverClockedremix.org. The website I just mentioned should be more than enough to get you to download this album. I've heard the music in the original Radical Dreamers game and it sounds fantastic. If Yasunori Mitsuda, the composer of the Radical Dreamers music were to hear this remixed album, I'm sure he'd be quite impressed. Go ahead and give a listen.

Radical Dreamers: Thieves of Fate

Jack's In Trouble

Forgive me for posting a picture of Jack Thompson's ugly kisser. I needed to have something to go along with this great news. You see, old Jack has been disbarred permanently beginning 30 days from now. He still has a chance at a retrial but if I were Jack, I wouldn't hold my breath.

Jack is known for his silly shenanigans against violent video games and overall annoying the gaming community. I bet if he'd sit down, shut up and played some video games, he'd have a lot of fun. Oh who am I kidding? There's a better chance of world peace breaking out before that will ever happen.

Along with his disbarment, Jack owes reimbursement Florida Bar fees of $43, 675.35. Snap.

Source

Well it took a while but it finally happened. Jack Thompson is OUTTA HEREEEEEEEEEEEEE!!
I'm so happy.

His Power Level Is Incredible!

Once again, I'm late to the party but this time, I'm intentionally late. I came very close to buying Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3 (what a long title) earlier this year when it was still priced at $40. However, I knew if I showed some patience and waited, the price would drop. Sure enough, a few months later, it hit the $30 mark. A little more waiting and it was priced at $20. Score!

First off, let me say that I love fighting games but when I pick up a DBZ fighter, I'm not looking for the next Soul Calibur or Virtua Figther. I'm just looking for a good DBZ experience that's respectful of the source material. Now that I've gotten that outta the way, I can continue.

I played the first Budokai Tenkaichi a few years ago. I admired the approach it took to emulate the DBZ style of fighting but more often than not, it's flaws and glitches cropped their ugly heads. Having only a single life bar really sucked when you were up against dudes that could blow up a planet. Some of the super buffed out fighters (Super Trunks, Broly, Bojack) wouldn't even flintch when you hit them and they could inturupt your combo string anytime because of it. A number of battles in the story mode were ridiculously har. The fight where you have to defeat Vegeta in his Great Ape form comes to mind. If you wanted to win, you had to spam Kamehameha attcks because melee attacks would just wind up getting you killed. It was for these reasons that I skipped the sequel. Besides, I had a lot of fun with Super Dragon Ball Z even if the character roster in that game didn't even come close to BT2's.

When I started practice mode to get a feel for the controls, I could tell that I'd be in for a more polished game than the first BT. The controls feel a lot more tighter and fluid. Even flying around feels a lot better, faster.

To avoid dragging this out into a string of lengthy paragraphs, I've decided to list the pros and cons out this game. I'll try to keep it brief but I'll elaborate on a few things.

Pros

• Tons of characters. Over 150 to be exact. This includes everone from DB, DBZ, and DBGT. Every single transformation is here, too. Even all the movie villains are here. I just wish we were able to get the DBZ version of Pan. GT pan is annoying to no end. Arale, from Dr. Slump, Akira Toriyama's first manga series is even playable and she's pretty tough.
• Customizing your figther. This has always been one of my favorite things about the console DBZ games. Dimps came up with the idea in the DBZ Budokai games, and Spike decided to keep running with it in the BT games. Smart move on their part. You can make your fighters that are already insanely powerful even stronger still.
• Improved graphics. They just keep finding a way to make these games look even better.
• Info on every character. There's a mode specifically made that give you the 411 on every fighter in the game. It was in the first BT but it's nice to see it back. With this mode, the game manages to do the impossible: Make Chi-Chi a likable person. She gives amusing commentary on everyone.
• No recycled music from the Budokai games! Thankfully they've decided to go with the music in BT. And what is sure to shut many fans of the original Japanese DBZ version up, the option for Japanese voices is there.

Cons

• A few stupidly hard fights in Dragon History mode. Don't bother trying to use Melee attacks against Perfect Cell after he's "died" and then powered up. Spam him with beam attacks and pray that you win.
• Still not crazy about the behind-the-fighter view.
• Rush attacks can get annoying since they home in on you.
• Some tournaments are only open at certains times in the game.

The good outweighs the bad. For $20 I got a sweet DBZ experience and I honestly believe this is one the best DBZ games out there.

Rockman Kenk

Everyone and their grandmother has hacked Mega Man 2. As much as I love Mega Man 2 hacks, it sure would be nice to see some hacks of the other Mega Man games. There aren't too many hacks of the original Mega Man but of the few I've played, I find Rockman Kenk to be the best of the bunch.Rockman Kenk was released in honor of Mega Man 9. The game is a modified version of Rockman Kai and is a lot more polished to boot. Having spent the last few hours playing the game (I'm at Dr. Wily's fortress as I type this), I can assure you that Rockman Kenk is a quality hack. Aside from the overdone falling segments in Bomb Man's stage, the levels pack excellent design. One of the primary annoyances of Mega Man hacks is the cheap hits from enemies to serve as a challenge, when in reality, all it really does is frustrate the player. Rockman No Constancy and Rockman Deus Ex Machina are fine hacks, but even those are guilty of doing just that. Rockman Kenk wisely avoids this. For this reason, Rockman Kenk may even be better than the original game that it's based off of. The game is still pretty challenging but not to the point of being unfair.All of the bosses have different weakness and due to some floor rearrangement, boss fights also play out in a different maner. If you can't play Mega Man 9 (like me. I don't have a Wii or any next gen system) or you're just looking for another Mega Man game to play, Rockman Kenk is highly recommended. Just make sure you patch a Rockman rom, not a Mega Man rom.

Rockman Kenk

Pretty Fly For a Thai Guy

Despite the fact that I spent many hours of my youth getting the crap kicked out of me by Sagat in Street Fighter II, I've always enjoyed his theme. There's just something very cool and relaxing about it. It's highly memorable and I'd probably rank it among the best songs in video game music history.

It would seem that the Bad Dudes really, really dig Sagat's theme because they've put out an album titled, Thai Guy and it contains nothing but Sagat remixes. 8 tracks, 2 bonus tracks with nothing but Sagat goodness. I've got it playing right now, and let me tell you, this is one sexy album. Most of the tracks tend to be on the soothing side, but there's some rock tracks in there for those that like to get up and move around. No matter how you slice it, this is an amazing album. And it's FREE!

Download Thai Guy

Mega Man 9 Soundtrack Reviewed

Sure, I could link you to several reviews of the Mega Man 9 soundtrack, but why bother when I could just tell you what I think of it myself?

Every Mega Man fan across the globe has been salivating to hear what the rest of the music in MM9 will sound like since the first footage was shown back in July, which featured music from from two of the robot master's stages. The clip was short but it was more than enough to wet appetites. Having heard the entire score myself more than once, I can tell you that the music is pretty good but it isn't perfect and I'll get to those imperfections in a bit.

As you'd expect, MM9's soundtrack sounds like it belongs in an NES game, which is perfectly fine. I mean, MM9 looks like an NES game and anyone that's a fan of Mega Man loves NES Mega Man music. The soundtrack is a wonderful refresher of what can be done with 8-bit audio. Tornado Man's theme is great. One of my favorites but it's overshadowed by Concrete Man's theme. Concrete Man's theme is catchy, fast paced, but not too complicated to the point where it isn't enjoyable. Last week, I had that song playing on repeat for over 20 minutes. The song is that good. Other stand out tracks among the robot master themes are Galaxy Man, Hornet Man, and Plug Man. This isn't to say the other robot masters don't have good themes, but aren't on the same level as the aforementioned themes.

The boss music, while not as complex as boss music in other Mega Man games, actually sounds kinda sinister and that's what I like about it. MM7-8 lacked this quality when it came to regular boss music, so it's nice to see it return in MM9's soundtrack. My favorite Wily themes in MM9 come from Dr. Wily Stage 1, and Dr. Wily Stage 2. Stage 1, "Flash in the Dark" reminds me of Dr. Wily Stage 1 in Mega Man 2 while Stage 2, "We're the Robots" reminds me for Dr. Wily Stage 2 from Mega Man 3 when it gets to 1:11 in the song. Both these tracks have a dark tone to them, which is a very good thing. At times I think we can get too caught up in Mega Man music being catchy that we forget that Mega Man music is supposed to be all over the place, including dark, moody themes.

Now for the bad. A number of tracks are straight out of Mega Man 2. Game Over, Dr. Wily UFO, Dr. Wily Castle, Get a Weapon, Stage Clear, Menu, Game Start, all from MM2. Mega Man 2 is a great game, with great music, but I don't believe that great Mega Man music begins and ends with MM2. I know that Capcom wanted to make MM9 closer to MM2, but the fact that eight tracks are ripped straight from that game just wreaks of laziness. Compared to the rest of the music in MM9, they stick out like sore thumbs. If we get a Mega Man 10, I'm hoping Capcom's music department will bring us all new tracks.

Reused music aside, the Mega Man 9 soundtrack is pretty sweet. You'll want it if you're a Mega Man for or love the sound of 8-bit music, or just love video game music in any shape or form. If we get Mega Man X9, who thinks we'll get music that sounds like the SNES X games?

Castle Crashers Music

I have not played Castle Crashers, but word on the street/net is that it's a very good game. It's a beat 'em up in the vein of Knights of the Round. The fact that it comes from developer The Behemoth, the same folks who brought us the excellent Alien Hominid is more than enough to make me take interest in the title. I just found out that the soundtrack is available for a free download at New Grounds. So if you like free video game tunes (who doesn't?), enjoy.

Castle Crashers mp3 tracks

More 8-bit Mega Man 8 Screens

You've gotta hand it to the developers of 8-bit Mega Man 8. I enjoyed Mega Man 8 as a 32-bit game but they've got me on the edge of my seat to play it all over again in 8-bit glory. Development for the game seems to be coming along nicely as the official wiki site has been updated with some more screens.

I'm not for certain if they are going with this stage select screen or not, but I've always been a fan of Mega Man's mug being in the center a la Mega Man 3. Bonus points if they use this stage select screen AND have Mega Man look at the selected robot master.

Even the "You got " screen has made the translation to 8-bit! Sweet!

Is Aqua Man a handsome guy or what? (Get it?)


The weapon screen. You may not think it's anything special, but note the E-Tank in the lower right corner of the screen. We're getting E-Tanks in this game! Woo-hoo! Now while MM8 was doable without E-Tanks the some parts of the game were made more difficult without them. Also, the Mega Ball is going to be in the game, indicated by the "R. Ball" weapon in the screen.

I've been wondering how Frost Man's stage would turn out in this game. Two parts of the level are devoted to riding on a snowboard while being told to "JUMP, JUMP! SLIDE, SLIDE!" at just the right moments. Well, I don't know if we'll actually be hearing those words, but it would seem that the snowboarding segments are definitely in.

• Map 1 of Frost Man's Stage
• Map 2 of Frost Man's Stage

I don't know a lick of Japanese so I haven't been poking around the official site as of late. I'd like to thank Vixy from Rockman Perfect Memories for posting this info up on the Rockman PM message boards.

Concrete Man Gets Remixed

With the dozen Tornado Man remixes that have already hit the web, it's nice to see some of the other robot master themes from Mega Man 9 get some time in the sun. Concrete Man's theme is every bit as catchy as Tornado Man, but there are next to zero remixes of it. VGMmix.com's Syl DuBenion fixed this tragedy. If you've forgotten what Concrete Man's original theme sounds like, just check out this YouTube video. Some people don't like to hear the remix until they've heard the original song. The remix to Concrete Man consists of a sweet-sounding acid jazz. Here's to more remixes for Concrete Man.

Concrete Man Acid Jazz Remix

Yet Another Mega Man 2 Soundtrack

How many Mega Man 2 soundtracks are there? I honestly do not know. What I do know is that you can never have too much remixed/arranged Mega Man music. Mega Man 2 Soundtrack: Beat the 8 Super Robots With 8 Bit Instrumental (yes, that is the full title) is, you guessed it another remixed/arranged Mega Man soundtrack. The soundtrack is mostly rock-based but it still manages to stand out from other Mega Man 2 remixe/arranges. It's a pretty unique score that covers the 14 tracks in Mega Man 2. It's free so click, download and rock on to some more Mega Man beats.

Couldn't they pick a shorter title for this? I mean, seriously.

Get Yer Gundum 8-bit Soundtrack!

Gundam, a name known to anyone that is familiar with the anime scene. There are a TON of different Gundam series. My favorites? Well, I really enjoyed 0083. It was short but pretty cool. G. Gundam was basically Gundam in DBZ form, but hey, what's wrong with that? I could never really get into 0079. The main protagonist was such a whinney emo kid. This is war, son! Grow a pair, or you won't survive! But I digress.

If you dig Gundam and 8-bit music, you really should check out Operation British, an entire 18 track ablum full of songs from various Gundam series, pumped out in splendid 8-bit audio. Having listened to the whole thing to myself, I can honestly say that's it's worth the 43.6 mb of space it'll take up on your hardrive. And I'm pretty sure every internet junkie out there likes free stuff. So go ahead and get yourself some chiptune Gundam music.

Operation British

Air Man ga Taosenai

Are you a bad enough dude to take on Air Man and defeat him? Sure you can do it as Mega Man, Going through the sky level that is Air Man's domain is no problem as the blue bomber. That's not what I'm asking. Can you do it as a couple of plumbers?

Mario vs. Air Man is a single stage rom hack that pits Mario or Luigi (you choice) up against one of Mega Man's earliest foes. Of course before they can fight Air Man, they'll have to get through his stage. Keeping with the gameplay elements from the Super Mario Bros. games, both Brooklyn heroes are restricted to killing their enemies by stomping on them. There are power-ups along the way to help you like the super mushroom and the fire flower and you stock items as if they were E-Tanks. You've got a time limit so don't fart around. Luigi's got a higher, floaty jump which makes the plumbers play styles different from one another, giving you a reason to play the game again.

For only containing one level, Mario vs. Air Man is pretty fun. Mega Man and Mario fans alike will enjoy it. The game is worth playing alone for the track that plays in the back around, "Air Man ga Taosenai", which translates to "I Can't Defeat Air Man." The song was originally done by a group called Team Nekokan. The song is about Mega Man struggling to defeat Air Man. There music video is up on YouTube. Check it out if you haven't seen it. The 8-bit version of I Can't Defeat Air Man is just as catchy as the original.

Mario vs. Air Man

8-bit Mega Man 8 Screens

The title screen and the stage select screens are out for 8-bit Mega Man 8. The more I see and hear about thsi remake, the more I can't wait for it to get finished.

Interesting note that this remake is being handled by a different developer, not Mind (devloper of 8-bit Mega Man 7) like I originally thought. I'm eager to see how some portions of the game will be done in 8-bit like the sections where Mega Man has to swim or the infamous "JUMP, JUMP! SLIDE, SLIDE!" areas in Frost Man's stage and the first Dr. Wily level.

I can already hear the stage select music playing when I look at the screen with all the robot masters. If you're looking at Grenade Man and thinking that he looks insane, that's because he IS. Dude actually yells "That felt good!" when he dies. Bot is crazy.

Game Music out the Wazoo Pt. II

When most people think of Final Fight, the original game is the one that more than likely comes to mind. The sequels weren't that well-recieved and no one wants to speak of Final Fight: Street Wise. Still, I've always enjoyed Final Fight 2 on the SNES and the NES game, Mighty Final Fight. Mighty Final Fight wasn't two player but it was still a good beat 'em up and you gotta love the super deformed characters. Along with being a solid game, Mighty Final Fight had a tight soundtrack, which sounds very NES Mega Man-like. I guess the similarities to Mega Man aren't all that strange when you take into account that two of the composers of the Mega Man X soundtrack worked on Mighty Final Fight's music. If you like Mega Man music, you'll dig this score.

Mighty Final Fight

I don't think there's a gamer on this planet that doesn't like the music to NES DuckTales. The Moon theme still makes me swoon to this day. Even if you've already got the music to DuckTales, I'm pretty sure you'll still want to download this particular version. In addition to having all the music from the NES game, there's a slower version of the Moon theme, and a few prototype tracks, and a completely different track for Transylvania.

DuckTales

Did you know that the original Final Fantasy was also on the MSX? I sure didn't. I'm so ashamed that I just may turn in my geek card. But I digress. Not only did the MSX version look better, but it also sounded better than the NES version, and that's saying a lot when you consider how awesome the NES version's music was.

Final Fantasy MSX

Hot Dog City was going to be a fanmade platform, but was unfortunately canned. The good news is that the soundtrack has been released. The tunes are heavily incluenced by Ristar, Popful Mail, and Sonic the Hedgehog. I would glady play a platformer with these beats in the background.

Hot Dog City

Special thanks to Bucky's Corner and Pterodactyl Squad for hosting these great soundtracks.

Yeah! More Game Wallpapers!!

Found these while logging onto one of my favorite sites. Pimp them out on your desktop and enjoy.