Favorite Tunes #238: Blood in the Tears

Favorite Tunes isn't going to stay in the Sunday slot. I just have to get things re-situated and it will go back to Saturdays. Anyway, this week, enjoy some music from Syvalion, Battle Clash and some outstanding Super Castlevania IV jams.

Main Theme - Syvalion (ARC)

Bubble Bobble is known for it's charming, addictive gameplay and two cute dragon stars and is one of Taito's most popular titles and the brainchild of the late Fukio Mitsuji. He must have really liked dragons because Syvalion also stars a dragon, but the cuteness was traded in for a total badawesome looking design. Syvalion never achieved the fame Bubble Bobble did but it was been re-released via Taito Legends 2. The soundtrack was done by former ZUNTATA member Yasuhisa Watanabe so yes, it is pretty darn good.

Bloody Tears - Haunted Castle (ARC)

Why, yes, I am still very much excited that Simon freaking Belmont is gonna be in Smash. And Richter, too. I've been doing my best to avoid the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate website because I wanted to be surprised at some of the music I find in the game. I think I did spot some music from Haunted Castle, an arcade game that has some awesome music, so I'm happy to see some of that game's jams are being included. Man, Bloody Tears so good on just about any game it is in.

Garam - Battle Clash (SNES)

With the Wii, I had hope Nintendo would bring back some of their old light gun series like Duck Hunt or give us Virtual Console versions of Battle Clash and Metal Combat. No such luck, though we did get a Virtual Console release of Duck Hunt on the Wii U. Smash has been good for giving lesser known series spotlight in the form of trophies and music so I'm hoping we get some Battle Clash tunes for Ultimate.

Aquarium (Area 2) - Raystorm (PS ver.)

Released two years after Rayforce (Galactic Attack or Layer Section depending on what part of the pond you lived), Raystorm is the second game in Taito's Ray trilogy and was my introduction to the series. Raystorm has been re-released on Android and other mobile devices they do offer controller support. It was also re-released on Taito Legends 2, but in my opinion, another re-released is needed for this via Arcade Archives or perhaps a Ray anthology. Raystorm has some of the best music from ZUNTATA. After knocking it out of the park with the excellent Geometry City (Area 1), it is followed up the beautiful, tranquil Aquarium.

Prologue - Super Castlevania IV (SNES)

One of my favorite Castlevania games, despite the more flexible whip movement, Super Castlevania IV is still a tough game. Not to the degree of the NES games or Bloodlines on the Genesis, but it is still a tough cookie. No matter how many times I listen to this soundtrack, I cannot get over how good it is. The SNES did wonders to really flesh out  older Castlevania tracks but the new music was certainly no slouch. As you can see from the artwork above, Japan does not always have it better.

Total Result - Mega Man X Legacy Collection (NS, PS4, XBO, PC)

Though not perfect (word on the net is some versions have input lag as well as screen resolution issues), the Mega Man X Legacy Collection is a great way to replay the X mainline games on HD consoles. There's even the bonus X Challenge mode that has to taking on two bosses at once. X Legacy Collection also has a surprising amount of remix music and a theme I was very happy to see get some long over due love is the password theme from Mega Man X. Sure, the remix goes under a different title, but that happy feeling is still retained.

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Favorite Tunes #237: Gang-Plank Galleon

Simon Belmont is gonna be in Smash. At this point, I wouldn't be surprised if Terry Bogart showed up. If you read the subtitle for this week, you already know what's up. That big boy king is back but besides music for the biggest crossover series, there's also some tunes from Metal Gear Solid 3, Zed Blade and Prehistoric Isle 2.

Encounter - Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater (PS2)

Quite possibly the best game in the Metal Gear saga, chronologically, this is where the whole series kicks off. We get introduced to key members such as future Big Boss and Revolver Ocelot. While this entry isn't my personal favorite (that goes to Metal Gear Solid 2, despite the game's faults), I still think Metal Gear Solid 3 is worth all of the praise it has received. Snake Eater song but I wouldn't mind Smashing to this track in Ultimate.

Universe Blue [Soyuz MIX] (Stage 2, 5) - Zed Blade (ARC)

If you're looking for some jazzy, dance worthy music, you should definitely check out the soundtrack for Zed Blade, also known as Operation Ragnarok in Japan. Granted, I can't speak for the game itself (haven't ever played it) but the soundtrack is something I can see myself playing regularly while I write or do some reading. If you need further insensitive to listen to this soundtrack, it was written by Manabu Namiki.

Gang-Plank Galleon - Donkey Kong Country (SNES)

Since King K. Rool has finally come out of retirement, it seems only fitting to post his boss theme. I searched my blog and was surprised to find that not only did I not post the remix from Super Smash Bros. Brawl, but I never mentioned the original either. That mistake has been remedied. And yes, he did get me with those fake kredits all those years ago.

Stage 2 - Prehistoric Isle 2 (ARC)

Dinosaurs are roaming around in modern times and it's your job to make like the ice age and kill them off. With all the dino murdering you'll be doing, it may be hard to focus on the music. While not the most difficult shooter, it still throws a ton of enemies and bullets at you so there's never a dull moment. That being said, I like the old, retro movie-like score this game goes with. Stage 2 sounds especially heroic.

Bloody (Orochi Team) - The King of Fighters '98 (ARC)

Man, I still cannot believe that I can play arcade classics like KoF'98 anytime, anywhere on the Switch. The series itself is going on twenty five years old, but this year marks the 20th anniversary of KoF'98, what is widely considered to be the best game in the entire franchise. Technology has allowed for prettier, faster games, but this one still plays and sounds excellent.

Clockwork - Castlevania Judgement (Wii)

I know Casttlevania Judgement wasn't well recieved but that soundtrack was soooo awesome. It pleases me that a few remixes from Judgement are making their way to Smash Ultimate. Heck, the list for the Castlevania stage alone is very extensive. Maybe Square Enix will give Cloud more than two songs this time around.

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Darius Cozmic Collection: NOPE

When I purchased my PS4 and Switch last year, I had no idea that those two consoles would open the door to rediscovering my love for the SHMUP genre. On both of those systems, I have purchased numerous titles like the Gradius games, Last Resort, Ikaruga, Gunbird, Danmaku 3 and a ton of others. The Switch alone has become quite the beast for shooters and the portability of the console makes it a match made in heaven. I am once again late to the party, but I just found out that a Darius compilation is headed for the Switch on February 28th, 2019. The Darius Cozmic Collection is something I've always wanted and almost sounds like a dream come true for a Darius fan. I say "almost" because the way Taito is going about releasing it is downright scummy.

As of now Darius Cozmic Collection is slated for a Japan only release but with the Switch being region free, importing it is an easy option. The real question is should you even bother. This compilation is being released in two flavors. The standard edition will contain the arcade versions of Darius, Darius II, Sagaia and Darius Gaiden. Picking up the special, limited edition will get you the aforementioned games as well as Darius Twin (SNES), Darius Force (Super Famicom), Sagaia (SEGA Mayster System version), Darius II (Mega Drive version) and Darius Alpha (PC Engine.) It also has some bonuses like an arranged music CD, a booklet and mini acrylic marquee.

You Darius heads might have noticed the glaring omission that is G-Darius. G-Darius is my favorite Darius game it it sucks to see it get the shaft here. However, what sucks even more is the, for lack of a better word, crappy way Taito is releasing the Darius Cozmic Collection. Anyone that wants all of the games on this collection will have to spring for the special, limited edition. This is some EA and Activision levels of BS. I mean, why in the eff would you cut your audience off from five of the games? You aren't even getting the whole collection when you buy the standard edition. Oh, and for those of you that don't know much about the Darius titles, the arcade version of Sagaia is the arcade version of Darius II under a different name, so in reality, you'll only get three titles with the standard edition.

If that didn't leave a sour taste in your mouth, let's talk about the asking price for both editions. Buying the vanilla version of Darius Cozmic Collection will have you forking over 5,200 Yen. That converts to $46.75 in US dollars. Grabbing the special, limited edition of the collect will set you back 16,800 Yen, which converts to a little over $150. No matter what side of the world you live on that is far too much moola to be parting with for either version of this compilation. All of the games in this collection are freaking old and while I'd love to check out Darius and Darius II and the Mega Drive version of Sagaia, the mere thought of shelling out cash for this collection disgusts me. There have been compilations that have released with far more games (SEGA Genesis Collection) and cost less money than what Taito expects us to pay. I have no idea what Taito is smoking but it must be pretty dang good for them to cook up this sort of nonsense.

As quickly as my hopes for the Darius Cozmic Collection were raised, they were immediately dashed. I guess Taito didn't get the memo about how a special edition should be handled because this is not the way to go about it.

Favorite Tunes #236: Born to be Free

Favorite Tunes is back after a short absence. This week, arcade games take up a good bit of the selected songs but there's also some X68000 love. Oh yeah, and the 3DS.

Rune & Ark - Growl (ARC)

Known as Runark in Japan, Growl is a beat 'em up that has you fighting poachers. Nice to give aliens, robots and gang members a break from being whaled on so much. You can even get all powerful elephants to beat the crap out of those poachers. Being a Taito game, Growl's soundtrack was handled by former ZUNTATA member Yasuhisa Watanabe, who did the music for Metal Black and Gun Frontier, two other outstanding ZUNTATA scores.

Blast Power - Bosconian (X68000)

Bosconian originally hit the arcades in 1981 and there was very little in the way of music, with what little there was consisting of jingles and sound effects. There were several home ports of the title in the following years including one for the Sharp X68000, which boasted a full blown soundtrack. I listened to it recently and it is some pretty impressive music. You can expect more music from this version of the game to pop up in the future for Favorite Tunes.

Born to be Free - Metal Black (ARC)

What is this, another track from ZUNTATA? And from Metal Black, no less. But hey, it isn't Dual Moon this time (have I mentioned how much I LOVE that tune?) Metal Black is one of the greatest ZUNTATA soundtracks, right up there with The Ninja Warriors, Darius II and RayStorm. The game itself is ins't shabby at all and is in desperate need of a re-release. A lot of shooters start with energetic, pumping music, Metal Black starts with a slower paced, yet uplifting track, a great way to start out a fantastic SHMUP.

Night Slashers - Night Slashers (ARC)

I've never played Night Slashers but the  name and the logo did catch my interest enough to give some tracks a listen. And OMG is the Night Slashers theme awesome! Even at the time this game was released in arcades (1993) those guitar solos are masterful.

Kiss Me (Blue Mary Stage) - Fatal Fury 3: Road to the Final Victory (ARC)

I'm not the most knowledgeable guy when it comes to the Fatal Fury series, but from what I gather, Fatal Fury 3 isn't as popular as later or the previous entry, Fatal Fury Special, the enhanced version of Fatal Fury 2. That didn't stop me from enjoying the game when I played it on the Fatal Fury Battle Archives some ten years ago for PS2 or the game's soundtrack. When I think of top favorite Fatal Fury 3 jams, this one immediately comes to mind.

Tomorrow Hill - WarioWare Gold (3DS)

Some people are miffed that this game isn't on the Switch but since that system has no mic or stylus that would kill a good chunk of the micro games. There are several entries in the WarioWare series that I missed out on so I'm thankfully that WarioWare Gold includes titles from previous games as well as new micro games. The game features a ton of voice acting from the always wonderful WarioWare crew and it is hilarious. Of course you've also got those vocal songs which sound even better on the 3DS.

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Let's Discuss Super Smash Bros. Ultimate 8-8-2018 Direct

OMG! OMG! OMG! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!! I apologize for sounding like a incoherent idiot but I think anyone that saw the Direct for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate can understand my overflowing excitement. I've avoided articles and videos that talked about leaks so everything that was revealed in the Smash Direct was news to me. And man, what juicy, delicious news it was!

This Smash Direct kicked off with a bang. A beautiful reveal trailer of Simon Belmont, a character I honestly did  not see coming. Well, they did let Snake out to play once again so maybe I should have seen the possibility of Simon coming to Smash. He is a character fans have wanted for a long time. His character model for this game is looking so clean! I love is barbarian look that is clearly based off the first Castlevania game.

I would have been fine with just Simon but it turns out he isn't the only Belmont showing up. Richter is also cracking that whip and unlike Simon, Ricther is looking very anime-like. I find that perfectly fitting since the first game he stared in, Castlevania: Rondo of Blood, had an anime like art style for cut scenes. I can easily see myself switching back and forth between Simon and Richter as I am so down with the whole concept of echo fighters.

Of course the stage for the two Castlevania reps has to be Dracula's Castle. And as far as dark, spooky places go, it looks awesome. I'm pretty sure I spotted Kid Dracula's silhouette when they were showing off bosses that would appear throughout the stage. Not only is Drac's crib looking like a fun place to throw hands, but the selection of music from that stage alone is looking superb. Just 34 tracks for one stage alone! If I have a nitpick is would be that I did not spot New Messiah among the list of tracks but when guest Smasher gets 34 tracks on his stages, it really is hard to pout. Maybe Daddy Sakurai will include some more songs in updates? Whether that happens or not, I am stoked for these two and will be purchasing both of their amiibos the day they drop.

Speaking of music, holy crap, there is SO MUCH of it for Ultimate. I'm stoked for returning songs (I really missed Molgera in 3DS/Wii U Smash) but what I've heard of the remixes has me salivating for more. We are finally getting an Opening Stage remix from Mega Man X that I have always wanted and that new Gangplank Galleon remix with the trumpets sounds like fire. I'm all for another Kraid's Lair remix and the one for Ultimate has those violins going IN! I am probably going to spend hours in My Music.

I love Samus but now that I've seen Dark Samus, I may never use vanilla Samus again. The idel animation Dark Samus has just looks soooooo cool. Like, standing is for lesser beings. All of the animations for her movements are enough to make me want to use her  over Samus full time.

I am loving the options and customization Ultimate is going to let us use. Saved rules,  Meter based Final Smashes, not as strong as Smash Balls but still a very welcome addition. I like to the competitive side will allow Final Smash meters but they've played without them for so long that they just might keep them off. The option to turn stage hazards off is another great feature. I do love me some chaotic stages, but some stages overdo the chaos so I know more than a few of you are happy about this one.

King K. Rool. That King Dedede troll was hilarious and then it followed up by the king people wanted to see slapping the crap out of Dedede. King K. Rool is finally in Smash. To be honest, I wasn't one of the players that wanted him in. As much as I like the Donkey Kong Country titles, he wasn't someone I'd vote for in the ballot for Smash 4. That being said, after seeing his reveal trailer, he does look hype. I'm liking that he's got the boxing gloves and his pirate look from Donkey Kong Country 2. He looks like he'll be a lot of fun to use.

We've got a little less than four months until Super Smash Bros. Ultimate releases and we still haven't seen everything this game has to offer. There's that blurred out green mode that has sent people speculating and more characters will more than likely be revealed before the game drops. The hype train is only gaining more and more speed from here.

How to Screw Up a Physical Release by Activision

When word broke out that the original three PS Spyro games would be given a HD remake via the Spyro Reignited Trilogy, fans were thrilled. Ever since the roaring success of the Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy, fans were hoping that Spyro would get the same treatment. And that is exactly what happened. Excepted Activison being Activision, they managed to screw something up and in this case, that happens to be the game's physical release.

Man, you thought Capcom was bad when it came to mucking up the physical release for retro Mega Man games on the Switch? I'm in the camp of everyone else that feels Capcom just cheeped out by making a portion of the games of the Mega Man Legacy 1 and 2 Collections downloadable. I mean, they crammed 12 Street Fighter games on one Switch card so they've got zero excuse for doing Mega Man and X the way they did on the Switch. In what is yet another way for Activision to remind us all what a crappy company they are, the third party publisher has decided to give the physical release of the Spyro Reignited Trilogy the shaft by omitting two thirds of the game from the physical product. That's right, when you drop down the $40 for the hard copy of Syro, the only game on the disc will be the first entry. The second and third games are available via downloads.

Bravo, Activision, you've one-uped Capcom. At the very least with the Mega Man and X Legacy Collections more than half and half of the games are on the physical versions of the Switch compilations respectively. Activision's shoddy handling of the physical release of the Spyro Reignited Trilogy completely defeats the purpose of buying a physical version of the game. This news has gotten some fans and potential buyers so riled that they've refused to buy the game at all. If they were going to screw Spyro's physical remake over like this, then why even bother going out of the way to make a physical release at all?

I understand all too well that we are rapidly racing towards a dominantly digital driven game industry and that it is important that Activision maintain their horrible company status, but if you're going to do a physical release, don't do it half heartedly, or in this case, a third of a heart. All three Crash games on the N. Sane Trilogy on the physical release. Other than to discourage used game sales and to boost the game's digital sales, I have no idea why Activision would treat such a highly anticipated remake this way. Sure, digital buyers aren't affected but those that love physical game releases are and Activision has spit in those players faces