Favorite Tunes #270: Venture Forth

What do we have for this week's Favorite Tunes after a two month hiatus? A darn good selection of music and even some Nintendo tunes. Until Nintendo nukes all of their music off YouTube, it will continue to be featured here.

A Lonely Youth (Dragon Quest II) - Dragon Quest I-II (SFC)

A century of peace is shattered when Hargon shows up and ruins everyone's day. Fortunately, the hero from the first Dragon Quest wed Princess Gwaelin and bore descendants so the people of the world in Dragon Quest II have heroes that can take him on. If you're playing the mobile or Switch version of DQII (like I am) this theme would sound a little bit different than the Super Famicom version. Nevertheless, this is still an amazing track and easily one of my top DQ jams.

Drive - River City Girls (PC, NS, PS4, XBO)

Kunio and Rikki were the stars of River City Ransom but they've been kidnapped and it is up to their girlfriends, Kyoko and Misako to save them in River City Girls, an awesome sequel to the beloved NES classic. River City Ransom was known for it's banger of a soundtrack and River City Girls is no slouch in that department (or many others for that matter).

Mabe Village - The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening (NS)

You come back to Mabe Village pretty often in Link's Awakening, a place home to some of the funniest, quirky characters in the game.The original GB tune was one of my favorites from the game and this holds true for this splendid remake.

Title Screen - Tiny Barbarian DX (PC, NS)

My nephew started playing Tiny Barbarian DX and he likes the game quite a bit, even though it is causing him some frustration. Watching him play and hearing Jeff Ball's amazing chiptune soundtrack reminded me of how good this score is and that it was long overdue for some love here. If that title music doesn't put you in the mood to elbow drop fools, nothing will.

Glut - Descent II (PC)

While I was introduced to Descent and Descent II on the PS, the series got its start on PC, both games have some rocking soundtracks and come with redbook audio, meaning you can pop the disc in any device that will play music and listen to those awesome jams straight off the game disc.

Just Do It Up - Command & Conquer (PC)

I was no serious C&C player but even I knew how baller that soundtrack was. Pick a song, any song. Nearly ever one of those beats are straight fire. I am so happy that we live in a world where you can listen to Just Do It Up while you work.

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Favorite Tunes #209: 2017 Was Really Somthing

Man, oh man, 2017 was quite a year, both in terms of gaming and in general. The PS4 continued to sell well throughout the year while Nintendo made a huge comeback with the Switch. There was no shortage of good to great games to play so unless you're an extremely picky person, that's the only way I can see 2017 sucking for games. With so many games to choose from, that also meant there was plenty of memorable music to go around.

City Ruins : Rays of Light - NieR: Automata (PC, PS4)

Yeah, yeah, it took me this long to post music from NieR: Automata. What is wrong with me? In my defense, I did start the game pretty late. NeiR has engaging combat and a wealth of SHMUP sections and both control magnificently. Oh and then there's the game's soundtrack, which is just, well, wow. I mean, listen to this theme.

Maverick - Tiny Barbarian DX (PC, NS)

Originally released on PC in four episodes, now you can get Tiny Barbarian DX in physical form on the Switch for $30. It takes a few hours to complete each episode so the game isn't as short as you might think. From the retro visuals to the chiptune soundtrack, this game wears its old school vibe loud and proud and that goes for the game's difficulty as well. Challenging bosses, platforming and enemy placement are plentiful in this game.

Die House - Cuphead (PC, XBO)

Have I mentioned how freaking awesome the soundtrack to Cuphead is? Because that stuff is baller AF. Between the fantastic jazz and swing numbers, you've got the occasional vocal number. In case the message wasn't clear in this song, King Dice is not someone you want to trifle with.

Shrine - The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Wii U, NS)

There was very little in the way of dungeons in Breath of the Wild and personally, I didn't mind this one bit. So much of the experience came from explore the game's massive overworld. The game's numerous shines serve as mini dungeons and often times there is more than one solution to the puzzle driven ones. Some say this is an arrangement of a musical track from Link's Awakening, but I'm not hearing it.

The Abyssal Seas - Blaster Master Zero (3DS, NS)

The original Blaster Master was a pretty tough game. Blaster Master Zero will leave players far less frustrated while placing far more emphasis on the story than the original game did. The majority of the music is brand new, which may rub fans of the original the wrong way, but I've got no complaints from everything I've heard.

Staff Roll - Super Mario Odyssey (NS)

When I finished Super Mario Odyssey, I couldn't help but smile as the credits rolled and I was treated to a collage of all the locations Mario and Cappy visited. It truly did feel like the adventure of a lifetime. The Staff Roll theme is an arrangement of Fossil Falls, one of the game's very best music pieces. It seemed like the best choice to end of 2017. In spite of all the crap that happened this year involving the medium, 2017 was still one of the absolute best years in gaming. Here's hoping 2018 is just as good, if not better.

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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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