Favorite Tunes #268: The Hero, the Bear and the Bird

So in case you haven't heard, the Hero from Dragon Quest XI is gonna be in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. His alts? Heroes from other DQ games such as VIII and IV. Oh and Banjo-Kazooie are also joining the battle. It is a GREAT time to be alive.

Battle - Dragon Quest III (NES)

Originally known as Dragon Warrior in the west, with the eight installment, the series would at long last use the original Japanese name in all territories. It has been years since I've played a DQ game. The last one I played, sinking tons of hours into was DQIV on the DS. The next one will be the Switch version of DQXI. If you're curious as to what game "Goku" comes from, it would be DQIII.

Spiral Mountain - Banjo-Kazooie (N64)

A dream was at long last made reality when a Jiggy bounced across the screen during Nintendo's E3 Direct. Donkey Kong, Diddy and King K. Rool going nuts over the sight of Banjo-Kazooie? It perfectly mirrored fan reactions. I am stoked to play as this magnificent duo and the Spiral Mountain stage looks like oodles of fun. Speaking of which, I cannot believe I haven't posted more music from such an iconic N64 game. Way past time we fixed that.

Stardust Speedway G Mix US - Sonic CD (SCD)

Replaying Sonic CD over the past few years had made me come to realize that that game is not great. It suffers from some pretty bad level design that doesn't really work in the game's exploratory nature. That said, it certainly isn't terrible and the game has two awesome soundtracks. The US version tends to get a bad rap but there are a lot of songs that I really like from it. When it comes to the Future Mixes from both the JP and US scores, I tend to lean towards the B Mixes but Man, the G Mix for Stardust Speedway is a big exception.

Twinkle Snow Zone Act 1 - Sonic Advance 3 (GBA)

When people talk about the best Sonic soundtracks, you always hear about the consoles games. And the console outings (for the most part) deliver amazing Sonic jams. But let's not forgot those portable games, in this case, Sonic Advance 3, easily the best soundtrack of the Advance trilogy and really, one of the best Sonic soundtracks. The music team behind this game knocked it out of the park with this one.

Bonus Stage - Shadow Dancer: The Secret of Shinobi (GEN)

I would feel sorry for anyone that had to come in and write music after Yuzo Koshiro. That man is one serious tough act to follow. Shadow Dancer: The secret of Shinobi is kinda treated like the second Shinobi game, releasing after The Revenge of Shinobi when in actuality, it is a different game from the arcade title of the same name (Shadow Dancer, that is). Obviously The Revenge has the better soundtrack of the two, but The Secret of Shinobi still has some fine beats going on. I plan on giving this soundtrack the due it deserves on this blog in future Favorite Tunes posts. Until then, enjoy this sick beat.

Don't Be Afraid - Final Fantasy VIII (PS)

Finally. FINALY Final Fantasy VIII is getting a remaster and it is coming to everything. We are long overdue for this game getting the remaster treatment it deserves. It has been years since I've played this game but I'm excited to go through it again on the Switch. That reminds me, FFVII is on sale on the Switch and I need to snag that sucker.

Favorite Tunes #202: Grand Odyssey

November is here, the temperature is dropping further, and Super Mario Odyssey has finally, finally released! The game is freaking incredible and while it is tempting to have all six spots for Favorite Tunes filled with music from the game, I've only occupied one. The rest are tracks from other titles. What are they? Hit that scroll to find out.

Cascade Kingdom (Fossil Falls) - Super Mario Odyssey (NS)

I hope you're ready for the invasion that is Super Mario Odyssey music here on Favorite Tunes. I haven't posted any music from this game since June (which was the AMAZING Jump Up, Super Star!) but now that Odyssey has released and I've been spending plenty of time with the game, I can tell you that the music is out of this world. Cascade Kingdom is just a taste, a very wonderful taste of the music to come in Odyssey.

Bomb n' Bass - Tiny Barbarian DX (PC, NS)

This game came to my attention not long ago but apparently it has been around since 2013. Spanning four episodes, Tiny Barbaina DX is a throw back to old action platformers. As fun as the game can be, it can also be pretty dang difficult. The music is full of catchy chiptune goodness. I spent so much time on the boss of this track that it is now permanently stuck in my brain.

Heat Wave - Bionic Commando Rearmed (360, PS3, PC)

It was nice to see Capcom shinning the light on it's other IPs in the late 2000s that wasn't Street Fighter or Resident Evil. If you're a fan of the NES version of Bionic Commando, you'll love Rearmed's soundtrack, which is arrangements of themes from that game. This one even has chiptunes sprinkled in.

Battle on the Railway 2 (Round 2-2) - Shadow Dancer: The Secret of Shinobi (GEN)

Probably the least famous of the Shinobi games to hit the Genesis, Shadow Dancer is nonetheless, a fantastic action platformer with an amazing soundtrack. There is an arcade game called Shadow Dancer that is part of SEGA's Shinobi series, however, it is a completely different game.

Your Final Examination is About to Being - Heavy Nova (GEN)

So I'm looking through various soundtracks for Genesis games and the box art for this one catches my fancy. It has a sweet-looking robot on the cover, so naturally, I listen to some of the tunes. This one really wowed me. Granted, I've never played the game so I don't have any context to this track, but if the name is indeed a giveaway, test music has never sounded so cool.

Ranking - Mercs (ARC)

This is actually the sequel to the Capcom's Commando, which is a part of the Bionic Commando series. Mercs is a three player, top down run and gun shooter for the CPS1 hardware. Precussion tends to be on the heavier side for CPS1 games, but I've grown to like it over the years. Nice to have some cheery music after slaughtering countless waves of goons.

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