Thursday, January 29, 2009

Custom Covers


This is not my first attempt at making a custom cover, but it is the first I'm extremely proud of. I threw this together in Paint.NET (Too poor too aford PhotoShop) and I'm still learning how to use the program, but I pretty much got the result I wanted here. I'm putting together some big SNES and NES compilation music albums and after seeing some of the covers for the Famicom 20th Anniversary Sound Tracks series, I decided to go somewhat in that direction. Each screen shot used represents music that will be featured in each game. Can you recognize what game each screen is from?

Saturday, January 24, 2009

NESCover

You ever ask yourself what songs like Eye of the Tiger and The Final Countdown would sound like if they were done in 8-bit? Well wonder no more. Thanks to some collaborating efforts found in NESCover, you can hear songs like Nothing's Gonna Stop Us, Closing Time and more in the sound of sweet NES-style of music. While it may not appeal to everyone, I think anyone that's into retro music or video game music will get a kick out of this. I'm curious as to how many people would be able to spot some of the most well-known songs in 8-bit form.

Download


Decided in the Eyes

A No Prize to whoever can guess what the title heading of this blog entry comes from.

I'm sure most gamers are familiar with the F-Zero games. Kinda hard to believe that since the series began nearly 18 years ago, there are still only a handful of F-Zero games. Despite the insane difficulty, my favorite is the GameCube's F-Zero GX. This game was so tough that only the most patient, adept gamers would every finish Story mode and unlock everything the game had to offer. Me, after short while, I used my Action Replay to get the goods.

Of all the F-Zero games, I've yet to play one I didn't like. All of the games have superb music, even the GBA games. F-Zero GP Legend even birthed one of my favorite renditions of Sand Ocean with some of the best rock the GBA was capable of producing.

It's beena while since the last F-Zero game, which was F-Zero Climax, and that one didn't even come out in the states. I'd love to see another F-Zero title, if not on the Wii or DS, then on Nintendo's next system.

Video Game Art Part 2



More video game art from Deviant Art that I'm using as covers for compilation albums. Re-sized for for space reasons, of course.

Video Game Art







While browsing Deviant Art for pieces to use as covers for upcoming compilation albums, I came across these. Pretty sweet, huh?

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Barkley, Shut Up and Jam: Gaiden

I'm so not making this up. You may want to check it out for the awesomely-bad-goofiness of it all. After watching the video, I was speechless.

Thursday, January 15, 2009

It's Boss Time!

After a long wait, the Infinite Game Music Vol. 9 is finally out. For the uninitiated, IGM is a website that puts together compilation game music albums, complete with custom artwork. The latest album is totally boss, literally. It's nothing but boss themes. This collections features boss themes from games on the NES, SNES, Master System and even the PS3. So go get that sucker! I'm listening to it right now. It's killer. Download the rest of their compilation albums while you're at it.

Monday, January 12, 2009

Super Mario TKO Demo Get

Fun fact: I don't play a lot of Super Mario World hacks. I guess I've been discouraged from doing so because of hacks like Super Kaizo World. Thankfully, not all SWM hacks are bent on making players go postal. Super Mario TKO, a game that's been in the works for some time now, is shaping up to be a very polished SMW hack. I've spent the last few hours playing through the 18 stage demo and I must say that the game is a lot of fun. The author didn't set out to make some stupidly hard hack where you "learn" by dying. No kaizo traps, no invisible coin blocks that kill you. This is straight up old-school, tradional Mario gameplay. The game uses custom level graphics and custom music. I already want the soundtrack to this hack. I'm going to be keep watch over this one because I can't wait to play the full version.



Super Mario TKO Demo

Just be sure to patch a Super Mario World (U) rom. Have fun!

Sunday, January 11, 2009

At Last--Rockman 2 Endless!!

That's right, boys and girls! First it was the Rockman 5 Endless hack, followed by Rockman 3 Endless. Now comes Rockman 2 Endless, and it's even more challenging than I thought it would be. Unlike the first two Rockman Endless hacks, which were developed by Rockeasily, Rockman 2 Endless was constructed by Misty, the author of Rockman Deus Ex Machina, one of the greast Rockman 2 hacks of all-time. Not only can you fight the 8 robot masters, but even the Wily stage bosses are included. Since there are 28 areas to this hack from the start, it remains to be seen if Misty will update this in the same manner Rockeasily updated his hacks. If you want to see what all has been changed, head on over to YouTube. You can download the patch here. Just be sure to patch Rockman 2, not Mega Man 2.

Saturday, January 10, 2009

Street Fighter 20th Anniversary Fan Album Pt. I

The combined efforts of DJ Kariu and NativeDialect bring us a sweet, sweet, Street Fighter fan tribute album. This is only part 1 but it's still very impressive stuff. The music from one of my favorite Street Fighter games, Street Fighter III, gets some much needed love. Strange Sunset (Guile's theme from Street Fighter EX+@) also got a dope remix.

You can hear one of the tracks on YouTube, but I recommend you download the whole thing. I'm stoked for part 2.

Download Part 1

Sonic CD: Japanese OST vs. USA OST

Sonic CD is widely considered to be the best Sonic game of all-time. Personally, I think the honor belongs to Sonic 3 & Knuckles, but I still view Sonic CD as a magnificent entry in the Sonic series.

Sonic CD is noteworthy for a number of reasons. It was the introduction of fan favorite Metal Sonic, Sonic's sinister metallic counter part, and in my humble opinion, the most memorable of all the machine Sonics. This game also introduced Amy Rose, who would go on to be a regular in the 3D Sonic titles. There's also the time travel aspect of the game, which allows you to visit the past and future versions of each zone. Even with all that stuff the game brought to the table, Sonic CD is probably remebered most for the biggest difference between the USA and Japanese version of a game: the soundtrack. Both the American and Japanese versions of Sonic CD have different soundtracks and this has caused quiet a stir among fans over the years.

The Japanese version of Sonic CD's music was composed by Naofumi Hataya and Masafumi Ogata. The two vocal tracks, "Cosmic Eternity - Believe in Yourself" and "Sonic - You Can Do Anything" were written/performed by Keiko Utoku. The Japanese soundtrack actually sounds pretty American from my point of view. Both vocal songs are sung in English and are very catchy. The background music that plays in the zones is unlike anything you've heard in a 2D Sonic game both before and after Sonic CD's release. I actually didn't hear Sonic CD's Japanese soundtrack until almost two years ago, but I was ware of the controversery sourrounding the USA Sonic CD's music.

Sonic CD's USA score was handled by Spencer Nilsen (he also worked on the music for some of the Ecco: The Dolphin games). With the exception of all the "Past" themes, every song in the American version of Sonic CD is different from the Japanese version. GameFan, a well-loved, now defunct game magazine scored the Japanese verison of Sonic CD a 100%, but gave the USA version a score somewhere in the 70% range and it was very obvious that the score was based on the music and not the gameplay itself. A staff member of GameFan went as far as to label the USA Sonic CD tunes as "elevator music." Ouch. That's pretty harsh. Really, it's not like the American version of Sonic CD got a bum rap. We got "Sonic Boom," performed by Pastiche, for crying out loud. Sonic Boom, people! I actually find it pointless to debate between which version of Sonic CD has better music. Both soundtracks are spectacular and very few games get TWO sweet musicl scores. Rather and whine and moan about it, just enjoy both soundtracks.

What really surprises me is that there was never an official soundtrack release for either the Japanese or USA versions of Sonic CD. Even more than 15 years after Sonic CD's release, Sega has not come out with an OST for the game. Though you can easily find rips of both versions on the web.

EDIT: As of November 23, 2011, Wave Master released a 20th anniversary soundtrack for Sonic CD. It mostly contains the Japanese audio from the game with Sonic Boom as a bonus track. Also, there was a limited edition music CD called Sonic the Hedgehog Boom, which contained some extended versions of the USA's score. Finding a copy, however, will cost you.

Friday, January 9, 2009

10 Years of Overclocked ReMix

On December 11th, 1999 Overclocked ReMix was launched, one of the greatest gaming websites of all-time, dedicated to one of my favorite things ever, video game music. This year marks the site's tenth anniversary. I wasn't visiting the site when it first came about. In fact, I was unaware of the site's existence for nearly half of it's lifespan. I didn't become a regular visitor until a few years ago but it didn't take long for me to appreciate what OCR was about. Rather than wait until Dec 11th of this year to post something meaningful about one of my fav places on the net, I thought I'd do it now. There are man remixes from OCR that I love and I could easily spend hours making a list here, but instead, I'll keep it to 10, to keep in line with OCR's anniversary number. These are by no means my top 10 fav OCRs because I don't know if there's any way I could narrow it down to ten. No, these are jsut 10 sweet remixes from OCR.

Last Chance, Lufia II: Rise of the Sinistrals
Beneath the Surface, Donkey Kong Country
Breaking the Ice, Sonic the Hedgehog 3
Adrenalyne Kyck, Final Fantasy VII
No.5 (Snapdragon), Super Double Dragon
The Ballad of Sir Kibbles, Kirby's Adventure
Forever Until Tomorrow, Chrono Trigger
Devastation's Doorway, Super Mario 64
LetThereBeLight, Mega Man 4
Smooth Ride, Super Hang-On

Wednesday, January 7, 2009

The King Has Been Dethroned

Do you know what was the best selling video game of all-time? No, it wasn't Grand Theft Auto III, although it has sold a lot of copies. Despite the game's acclaim, it wasn't The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, either. If you been gaming for a while, odds are pretty good you've played this game. Heck, even casual gamers and non gamers alike have probably played the game. That's right, it was Super Mario Bros. You did notice I used past tense, right? Yes, Virginia, Super Mario Bros. is no longer at the top spot. So what's number one now? Wii Sports. I'm not really all that surprised. I mean, the NES sold a lot of units because it was packaged with SMB. The Wii sold like crazy because it was packaged with Wii Sports, a super accessible game that will appeal to ages 9 to 90. It took over 20 years, but something finally knocked SMB from the throne and it was another game from Nintendo, no less.

Saturday, January 3, 2009

Earthbound 2008 Calendar



Thread Link

Enjoy!

EDIT: I soooooo was not paying attention when I posted this. This calendar is for 2008. My bad!

Mega Man 9 Custom Box Art

I got an e-mail from Relay, who sent me a link to a custom made Mega Man 9 box art, so I just had to pimp it here.

Many were understandably a bit miffed that Mega Man 9 was a downloadable game and not something you could obtain a physical copy of. After all, every other major Mega Man release was something you could get in stores. Being a download game, means it will only exist on your system, which of course means no actual box for you to have and to hold.

I gotta say, Relay did a awesome job on this. If I could, I'd print it out and put it on a DVD case.