Favorite Tunes #72: Got to Be a Star

Welcome to ta star themed edition of Favorite Tunes. Characters in the shapes of stars, songs with "star" in the title and power-ups that are stars. Oh, I don't even know where I'm trying to go with this.

Toki Meki Saxophone - Guardian Heroes (SAT)

One of the hardest Saturn games to obtain a physical copy of, Guardian Heroes become all the more easier to play thanks to digital distribution. The Xbox Live Arcade version of Guardian Heroes comes with an HD coat of paint online mutlipler modes and other new features. Despite the mid evil setting, most of Guardian Heroes music is anything but. Toki Meki Saxophone, is a mean piece of jazz with some rock thrown in for good measure.

Got2BAStar - Mighty Switch Force! 2 (3DSW)

The 3DS eShop would be a much lesser place without WayForward and Jake Kaufman's wonderful music contributions. What has quickly become one of the company's most recognized series, Mighty Switch Force! 2 was released a year and half after the original. Patricia traded in her police gear for a fire hose but much of the switch based gameplay is still in tact. Also present and accounted for is another retro-style soundtrack. Got2BAStar is the ultra catchy first level them, which is based off of the game's main theme.

Darkness of Fate - Soul Edge (PS)

Namco always does such a good job bringing the arcade experience to home consoles. Well at least they did back in the day. I'm not too sure what Namco Bandai is doing with fighters these days. New characters and an arranged soundtrack that was usually better than the arcade tunes (which were still good) were wonderful bonuses for gamers on the sofa. This rousing theme belongs to Siegfreid

Powerful Infant - Yoshi's Island (SNES, GBA)

Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island. Now that is one mouthful of a title. Most of us just refer to this one by it's subtitle, Yoshi's Island, which is appropriate for two reasons. One, most of the game takes place on Yoshi's Island and two, you play most of the game as Yoshi. The only time Baby Mario is playable is when you crab a Starman. Baby Mario dawns a familiar cape and becomes impervious to all enemies. This was the first time Koji Kondo added another melody to the Starman theme. At the seven second mark, you hear the accompanying melody with the rest of the theme. Personally, I feel this is the best Starman music.

7PM - Animal Crossing: New Leaf (3DS)

The Animal Crossing games have always had some delightful tunes, but I'm especially fond of the themes that play later in the day in New Leaf. It's so relaxing to get a cup of coffee from Brewters and sit on a bench as this song plays.

A Searing Struggle - Ys: The Oath in Felghana (PSP)

A remake of Ys III: Wanderers from Ys, The Oath in Felghana gave gamers a chance to play one of the best entries in the Ys series in style. It featured updated graphics and an arranged soundtrack that is out of this world even by Falcom standards.

Star Man Stage - Mega Man 5 (NES)

I believe this is the first time I've mentioned Mega Man 5 in Favorite Tunes. I know for a lot of fans, this game represents one of the low points in the series, but it really isn't a bad game and it has some very good music.

Pop Star - Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards (N64)

Another Kirby game that was developed without Kirby creator Masahiro Sakurai, Kirby 64 turned out to be a solid 2.5D adventure with 3D visuals. Combining different Copy Abilities made for some pretty powerful and hilarious results. No other Kirby game allows Kirby to turn himself into a refrigerator, at least not that I know of. If you don't have a smile on your face after hearing Pop Star, you've got problems.

Whirlwind - Shinobi III: Return of the Ninja Master (GEN)

Known as The Super Shinobi II in Japan , Shinobi III is praised as being the pinnacle of the Genesis Shinobi games and SEGA's Shinobi series in general. The Genesis may have been showing it's age in 1993, but games like this one proved that the system could still deliver the goods.

Shooting Star - Ristar (GEN)

By darkburraki

During the lengthy process of creating SEGA's mascot, many concepts were tossed around, including one of a rabbit with stretchy arms. While they ultimately went with a speedy blue hedgehog, the rabbit with expandable arms would get picked up a few years later, minus the rabbit. Ristar never gained the fame and adoration that Sonic did but he one Genesis outing was one of the most unique on the Genesis with drop dead gorgeous visuals and some excellent music.

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Favorite Tunes #64: Random Waltz

Much as I love music, especially of the video game variety, I know very little about dancing, nor do I know even know how to actually dance. But thanks to the internet, even a scrub like me can do a quick search to find out that a waltz is something of a ballroom dance. Anyone that really knows their video game music can probably guess which game the title for this Favorite Tunes comes from before scrolling down.

8 AM - Animal Crossing: New Leaf (3DS)

Did you kick the Animal Crossing habit when you cast aside the City Folk for the Wii? Well Nintendo's got gamers across the world hooked once again with the latest edition to the hit life sim series. New Leaf treads familiar territory but brings new features to the table like being the mayor and more customization options than ever before, making it the best Animal Crossing game yet. Like past installments, a different tune plays every hour. It's rare that I'm playing the game at 8 AM but when I first started playing, I happened to be up at that hour so it was nice to be able to hear this song during gameplay.

Random Waltz - Final Fantasy Tactics (PS, PSP)

Have I mentioned how much I adore this game's soundtrack? It truly is a masterpiece and represents some of Hitoshi Sakimoto and Masaharu Iwata's best compositions. Since you spend so much time fighting in RPGs, it was a very wise choice to toss in a plethora of battle themes and yes, Random Waltz is battle music. It may not be what comes to mind when you picture strategic combat, but I find it refreshing when battle themes stray from the norm.

Say Hello to Bogey - Custom Robo (GCN)

The number of Custom Robo titles released in the West can be counted on one hand. There's Custom Robo Arena on the DS and then there's Custom Robo for the GameCube, which marked the first time the series ever saw a release outside of Japan. True to the name, in Custom Robo, you customize your robot and then duke it out with other machines. It may sound simplistic, but it's actually quite fun. If you missed out on this one when it was originally released, I definitely recommend tracking down a copy.

Exothermic - Mighty Switch Force! 2 (3DSW)

The original Mighty Switch Force, released in December of 2011 was hailed as one of the best original eShop games. It combined solid action platforming with puzzle solving for a terrific old-school gaming experience. The soundtrack was also the bees knee. A year and half later, WayForward brought Patricia Wagon back into action but swapped out her police pistol for a fire hose. Mighty Switch Force! 2 plays very much like it's predecessor and while some may view that as a negative, in this case, more of the same is certainly not a bad thing. The game's music is pure, unbridled awesomesauce.

Burn My Dread - Shin Megami Tensai: Persona 3 (PS2, PSP)

The Persona titles have gained a reputation of being Atlus' best series. The PS2 had a ton of different RPGs, but if you were fortune enough to pick up Persona 3, you were treated to an experience unlike anything else in the genre. Speaking of unusual, Burn My Dread, the final boss battle theme is just that, but it's an excellent kind of unusual.

Slow on the Uptake - Gran Turismo 5 (PS3)

The licensed music is all fine and dandy and I certainly don't have any problem with hearing stuff from underground bands. But some of greatest sounds in the Gran Turismo games will always be the original music. I'm pretty sure I mentioned how much I enjoy some good jazz in video games and this song is about as good as it gets.

Innocent Girl - Snatcher (NEC PC-88)

Hey, Konami. I have an idea. Much as I enjoy the series, how about you lay off the Metal Gear collections for a while and give us Snatcher, SD Snatcher and Policenauts in one nice little package with some bonus content? Even in it's original sound format, Snatcher's music is a phenomenal score. The music has been arranged for music albums and on the Sega CD version, but the original version of Innocent Girl cannot be beat.

Desperate Fight - Knights of the Round (SNES)

I usually champion Final Fight as my favorite Capcom beat 'em up but the company has made a dozen of them and some of the other greats actually slip my mind some times. Knights of the Round was a three player arcade game originally released in 1991. When it was ported over to the SNES, three player mode was scaled back to two players. Like many ports, the music also rings different from the arcade version, but given the SNES' amazing audio capabilities, that isn't a strike against the game.

Feldschlacht III - SaGa Frontier 2 (PS)

He may be well known today in the video game music circles thanks to Final Fantasy XIII, but even in the late 1990s, Masahi Hamauzu was still making waves. SaGa Frontier 2 has a copious amount of battle themes, all of which are extraordinary. As I mentioned with Final Fantasy Tactics above, a great deal of your time in RPGS is spent in battle. To keep things from growing stale, SaGa 2 has numerous battle tracks and not just various boss themes. The normal battle music changes over time with a total of four different battle themes, each containing an arrangement of SaGa 2's main theme. The above track name is Field Battle III for those that don't speak German.

The Boy's Got Wings - Ys III: Wanders from Ys (PCE)

Falcom makes some of the very best music in video games. I honestly cannot believe I've gone this long without mentioning a single Falcom game here in Favorite Tunes because even their early games have unfathomably high production values. The PC Engine version of Ys III brought with it CD quality sound, making what was already some of Falcom's greatest works even better.

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