Note from racketboy: This new tri-weekly sporadic feature is written by racketboy.com contributer, Mozgus. If you would like to know more about our plans for this series, please join in on this forum thread. This time around, I wrote the track descriptions, while Moz did the audio selections, conversions, and the longer introduction below.

Video game music has traditionally been thought of as nothing but clusters of nonsensical beeps and bloops. While this statement no longer holds merit in today’s gaming world, the general public still avoids or remains oblivious to this genre, often assuming that there lies nothing worth hearing within. I truly believe that there are countless gaming tracks out there that deserve a place amongst your more mainstream “normal” MP3s. With that being said, each installment of this series will sample just a few inconspicuous songs which, in my opinion, are worth your time. They may be retro or modern, official or produced by fans. Regardless, please give them a listen.

Having boarded the internet cruise ship later than most, I’m probably not the best candidate to tell the story, but I’ll have at it anyway. In 1998, MIDI was still popular. Certainly not at its peak, but when most of us had half the bandwidth needed to stream a 128kbps MP3, MIDI was a nice alternative at times. It was convenient to be able to click a link and be listening to a fairly accurate representation of an old game tune, however displeasing the instrument choices or overall tone were.

Of course, these downsides were variable. A MIDI could sound like utter garbage on one person’s machine, while coming off as an upgrade to the original source material on another person’s machine. It all came down to the combination of sound card and sound font, or sometimes a software synthesizer. A soft-synth was ideal for users who didn’t have a sound card capable of using custom sound fonts, as it would rely on your CPU and RAM, and then shoot the end result as a wav stream to your sound card. WinGroove was one I remember using often. Later, I moved to the Yamaha S-YXG70 soft-synth, which was well known for optionally powering the PC version of Final Fantasy 7.

Soon after, I decided to buy a modern sound card. I went with the Creative Audigy 2 ZS. I quickly began trying out all the sound fonts I could find, which by this time weren’t all that easy to come by. Just last year I settled down on GeneralUser GS v1.4. It may not be the best out there, but it’s legally free, is custom built for Creative Live! and Audigy cards, has a smart installer, good instructions and info, and has a nice test MIDI which verifies that your effects are enabled.

I’d like to showcase a few video game MIDIs below that I feel are superior to their original source versions. They were all found at VGMusic, and all powered by GeneralUser GS v1.4. I was forced to record my entire output, else I would miss the EAX effects, and unfortunately it creates a tiny bit of static in some spots. However, you should get the basic idea. It was only by chance that four of my picks were by just two different people.

Adventures of Bayou Billy – BGM A (Tom Kim)

The music isn’t as cajun and the game might suggest, but this track still have a funky rhytym to it that will help you through this challenging beatemup adventure. I was especially impressed on how well the enhanced version of this track turned out — even if Mozgus says otherwise. Enhanced MIDI-to-MP3 Source MIDI Original Version MP3

Ristar – Ring Rink (Teck)

Not only is Ristar one of the most under-appreciated Genesis platformers, but it also has an equally magical soundtrack. This particular track is refreshingly light sound to it that forshadowed composer, Tomoko Sasaki’s later work on NiGHTS into Dreams. Enhanced MIDI-to-MP3 Source MIDI Original Version

Advance Wars – Andy’s Theme (Temjin)

The music in Advance Wars may get a little reptitous in a long stratigic battle, but there is no denying that the actual tracks are well-produced. Andy’s Theme in particular has a unique rock and jazz blend that will keep you on your toes during combat. Enhanced MIDI-to-MP3 Source MIDI Original Version

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 – Mystic Cave (Teck)

The 16-bit Sonic the Hedgehog games are always filled with some creative tracks to effectivly set the tone for the themed levels throughout the game. The Mystic Cave theme has shades of spookieness blended in with an upbeat Inspector Gadget-like soundscape. Enhanced MIDI-to-MP3 Source MIDI Original Version

Super Dodge Ball – USA (Tom Kim)

This energetic track serves its purpose in getting players ready for an intense ball-hurling battle. In the game, each arena had its own theme that was supposed to be fitting of the country it represneted. I suppose this track could be representivive of the USA as it reminds me a bit of the Rocky theme for some reason. Enhanced MIDI-to-MP3 Source MIDI Original Version

Note from racketboy: This new tri-weekly feature is written by racketboy.com contributer, Mozgus. If you would like to know more about our plans for this series, please join in on this forum thread.

Video game music has traditionally been thought of as nothing but clusters of nonsensical beeps and bloops. While this statement no longer holds merit in today’s gaming world, the general public still avoids or remains oblivious to this genre, often assuming that there lies nothing worth hearing within. I truly believe that there are countless gaming tracks out there that deserve a place amongst your more mainstream “normal” MP3s. With that being said, each installment of this series will sample just three inconspicuous songs which, in my opinion, are worth your time. They may be retro or modern, official or produced by fans. Regardless, please give them a listen.

• This weeks theme is techno, trance, electronica, or whatever it’s called now. I don’t know anymore. Ready the binkies.

Ghost in the Shell – Spook & Spell (Slow Version)

What a little gem of a game. Of course, virtually no one thought so at the time. What happened when all the anime geeks popped this game into their Playstations? They quickly discovered that they would not be directly controlling their lovely Major Motoko Kusanagi, but instead, her spider-tank, the Fuchikoma. And you know what? It was brilliant, because we got one of the best anime-licensed games of the generation. In short, a spider-tank does what a spider-man can. To accompany the carnage, you were treated with an interesting selection of progressive/house tunes. While the style of music is extremely common in the mainstream, how common is it in gaming? Aside from some homebrew titles and some quirky Japanese exclusives, I’m drawing a blank. Well the catch is that they imported licensed music after all. This particular track, by Hardfloor, has a grove I can’t get enough of, and certainly stands out from the rest.

X-Men 2 – Climbing the Temple

I will never give up the claim that X-Men 2 for the Genesis was one of the best 2D Beat ‘Em Ups ever. It’s all too often ignored as just another crappy licensed title, but it’s so much more. It had very large, detailed, smoothly animated sprites for the system, great level design, 2-player coop, featured some under-appreciated characters, and let you play as Magneto. Oh, and the music rocked hard. The only thing holding the game back was the lack of a throwing mechanic. Being a surprising move in 1996, Sega decided to produce a 5-disc set of music aptly known as Sega Tunes. Each disc focused on arranging one game (or many, in Sonic’s case) in much higher quality than the system was capable of. The game’s music and this arranged release were composed by Kurt Harland, another well known name.

Ridge Racer Revolution – Drive U 2 Dancing

Ridge Racer. It’s RIIIIIDGE RAAAAah forget about it. This was the only racing game I even mildly enjoyed in the mid 90’s, aside from the “extreme” titles like Road Rash and 2 Xtreme. It’s some of the weirdest “hardcore” electronica I’ve ever heard, and even weirder being in a racing game. I was quite efficient at powerslides, but could never master the concept in any other game that brought the technique back. This was probably the first CD-based game I ever ripped music from. I don’t know what compelled me to do so, nor do I know why I keep this set. It’s really not good in any particular way, in fact it’s borderline annoying, but I just can’t part with it. It was embarrassing just knowing I had this recorded to a cassette tape at one time K, I’m done.

Kevin “Lorenzo” Sisk – Terminator 2 – CMS-101

For the few tracks that Kevin “Lorenzo” Sisk put out back in the day, he quickly became one of my favorite mixers. He doesn’t go crazy with the effects, or try inserting drastically different tones. Instead, he excels at taking 8-bit and 16-bit tunes and sprucing them up without removing the retro vibe. Lorenzo hasn’t been mixing as of late, due to his upcoming voice role in the mega-hyped Source engine mod, Black Mesa, which will remake the original Half-Life experience. I owned this game since my childhood until recently, and I am certainly not suggesting anyone play it. It was garbage then and it is garbage now. This will torture you enough. Except for the music of course, which was composed by Tim Follin, who’s made quite a track record. Lorenzo has given me permission to share more, so here’s two other tracks I love, which most likely came from VGMix before its downfall.

Note from racketboy: This feature is written by racketboy.com contributer, Mozgus. If you would like to know more about our plans for this series, please join in on this forum thread.

Video game music has traditionally been thought of as nothing but clusters of nonsensical beeps and bloops. While this statement no longer holds merit in today’s gaming world, the general public still avoids or remains oblivious to this genre, often assuming that there lies nothing worth hearing within. I truly believe that there are countless gaming tracks out there that deserve a place amongst your more mainstream “normal” MP3s. With that being said, each installment of this series will sample just three inconspicuous songs which, in my opinion, are worth your time. They may be retro or modern, official or produced by fans. Regardless, please give them a listen.

Vampire: The Masquerade Bloodlines – Downtown Theme

I have far too many great things to say about this game and it’s composer, so I’ll keep this short. Rik Schaffer provided all the original music for this game, and last year he was kind enough to provide me with plentiful amounts of the game’s music, including unused songs, to form the ultimate downloadable soundtrack for Bloodlines, which you can still find over here. His official site has additional tracks to stream, and an overview of what his company does. I have a lot of respect for people in the industry who respond to their fans, as well as understand the importance of file-sharing. The torrent alone has had 13,000 downloads to date, so I like to think I contributed to his recent boost in popularity.

DOOM – The Dark Side of Phobos

OCRemix, for those not familiar with the site, is one of the leading resources for classic game track remixes. Every now and then, the community releases an ambitious album release that centers around a single game or theme. Back in 2005, DOOM: The Dark Side of Phobos remix album was released and remains as one of their most popular works. Instead of trying to do this particular track justice, I’ll share an except from the project’s official writeup… “OCR’s fifth site project is our first from a computer as opposed to a console title, and tackles Bobby Prince’s beloved soundtrack to the game that vaulted id to worldwide fame and fortune (even though Wolfenstein deserves some lovin’, too); with a name nod to the classic Pink Floyd album, DSoP features work from 19 artists, many of whom are no strangers to the premises of ocremix, and while not every track may end up here, as always we can start you off right with the title track from Mr. Baranowsky, whose menacing, cinematic orchestral arrangement would be right at home in, say, a Doom movie… This mix injects the dark, hell-infested world of Doom directly into your cerebral cortex and intravenously feeds you both apocalypse and requiem in lethal doses; Dan’s done an excellent job of providing the project with a memorable and appropriate opening mix.” You can download the Full Album at OCRemix’s project page via a torrent or listen via the last.fm player embedded on the page.

Legend of Mana – Bedight Orbit

It’s been a long time since I played this little gem, so I can’t remember where this music was used. The track makes me imagine an assortment of tribal, mask-wearing goblins dancing maniacally around a bonfire. I’m sure that’s exactly what happens in the game, but on the off-chance that I’m wrong, at least it’s a pretty wicked little tune. The Mana series is yet another franchise where I see nothing special about the most popular installment, (Secret of Mana), yet I love one of the most neglected installments, (Legend of Mana). It’s kind of like how I find Link to the Past extremely dull, but I think Adventure of Link (Zelda 2 on NES), is enthralling. Maybe I just look at these neglected games like battered orphans. They all need love, ya know?

Vigilante 8: Second Offense – Obsession in D-

Among all the funk in V8, you’ll find this little number. It’s an energetic remix of Toccata and Fugue in D minor traditionally used for representations of Dracula and the such. What happened to the vehicular car combat genre, anyway? Twisted Metal 1 and 2 brought it into the mainstream. Then came an endless supply of crappy sequels and copycat attempts. Before you knew it, the entire genre crashed. Maybe it was just fused in with sandbox games like GTA3. I feel that the two V8 games were the only post-TM entries to stand on their own feet, and a sequel right about now would be just fine. If anyone else has a thirst for some automobile annihilation, allow me to point you in the direction of the Half-Life 2 mod known as D.I.P.R.I.P., set to be released very soon.

Note from racketboy: This new bi-weekly feature is written by racketboy.com contributer, Mozgus. If you would like to know more about our plans for this series, please join in on this forum thread.

Video game music has traditionally been thought of as nothing but clusters of nonsensical beeps and bloops. While this statement no longer holds merit in today’s gaming world, the general public still avoids or remains oblivious to this genre, often assuming that there lies nothing worth hearing within. I truly believe that there are countless gaming tracks out there that deserve a place amongst your more mainstream “normal” MP3s. With that being said, each installment of this series will sample just three inconspicuous songs which, in my opinion, are worth your time. They may be retro or modern, official or produced by fans. Regardless, please give them a listen.

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time – Time Only Knows

Unlike the awful sequels that followed, Sands was perfection. If it weren’t for Viewtiful Joe and Shadow of the Colossus, it would be my favorite title of last gen. Just like my last post, this end credits track capped off the entire experience in the best way possible, and surely encapsulated it in my memory for ages. You see what I did there? No? Ugh. Well it was made by Stuart Chatwood, and sung by Cindy Gomez. I believe there is an extended version that doesn’t end with a typical fadeout, but this is the version that’s on the official soundtrack, and I make use of what I have. If you enjoyed this track: Find album on Amazon.com

Project Justice – Seijyun Girls’ High School Courtyard

I had this bouncy, cheerful, colorful song stuck in my head for a day, and by my power, you shall as well. Topher of Destructoid’s RetroForce Go has sung praise about this game multiple times. If you want the wackiest fighter for Dreamcast…try JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure. If you want the 2nd wackiest…oh crap, Guilty Gear X….hmm. Ok, so if you want the third wackiest fighter, try Project Justice. Get some friends over, take 3 minutes to explain the basic commands, and you’ll have quite a few hours of hilarity. If you enjoyed this track: Find album on eBay

Soul Blade – A Continental Gale

Soul Blade for the Playstation might still be the most impressive port of an arcade fighter, ever. I’ll skip the fact that Namco added a megaton of weapons, stages, characters, modes, and other features. The shiniest aspect of the port was the sheer amount of music it came with. Not only did it include the full arcade score, but it included a arranged version, and a completely new soundtrack known as the KHAN SUPER SESSION. The crazy thing is, it’s easily superior to what was already a fantastic set of tunes. You get the impression that the music was written only after the respective character and setting was studied. This track portrays Rock. Listening to this, you can imagine him busting some skulls out in the hillside.

Note from racketboy: This new bi-weekly feature is written by racketboy.com contributer, Mozgus. If you would like to know more about our plans for this series, please join in on this forum thread.

Video game music has traditionally been thought of as nothing but clusters of nonsensical beeps and bloops. While this statement no longer holds merit in today’s gaming world, the general public still avoids or remains oblivious to this genre, often assuming that there lies nothing worth hearing within. I truly believe that there are countless gaming tracks out there that deserve a place amongst your more mainstream “normal” MP3s. With that being said, each installment of this series will sample just three inconspicuous songs which, in my opinion, are worth your time. They may be retro or modern, official or produced by fans. Regardless, please give them a listen.

• How about a theme this week? Lets go with “Vocal Tracks from PC Games” for 300, Alex.

Max Payne 2 – Late Goodbye

I really don’t know how in the world the lyrics are supposed to work, but this song seems so appropriate at the end of Max Payne 2. What a great closing. After all the devastation and tragic loss, that acoustic guitar applies like a band-aid. The song is performed by the band “Poets of the Fall“, which I was surprised to find I had an additional track by them on my machine titled “Overboard”. Remedy, you guys better get on to Max Payne 3 after Alan Wake is out…if it comes out at all. A continuance was promised in MP2’s end credits, remember? Chop chop!

Rome: Total War – Forever

I’ll say this right now. I played this game for maybe 15 minutes and uninstalled it. Real-Time Strategy games just rub me the wrong way. They make me too nervous, I suppose. I think I prefer watching the professionals tackle these games. But that didn’t stop me from ripping the tunage. Most of the tracks would have worked just fine in the Gladiator OST. Jeff van Dyck provided the score, and his wife actually sung the lyrics for this piece. They seem to make a great duo. Check out his site for a ton of free tracks, including this one.

Grand Theft Auto – Gangster Friday

Isn’t it funny how so many GTA3 fans have never tried the prior titles? Some of them don’t even realize they exist, as if that big roman numeral 3 on the cover of GTA3 wasn’t already a clear hint. I’m of the minority that actually prefers the old games. I found them to be a little bit classier, strategic, and easier to play. And they didn’t try to rely so much on shock value. Back on topic, I’m not going to say this track is all that great, but it’s worth having given that it’s a rap song in a game, and such a combination is pretty rare, especially in the mid-90’s. Or you could say I stretched myself a little thin coming up with entries for the theme today…

Note from racketboy: This new bi-weekly feature is written by racketboy.com contributer, Mozgus. If you would like to know more about our plans for this series, please join in on this forum thread.

Video game music has traditionally been thought of as nothing but clusters of nonsensical beeps and bloops. While this statement no longer holds merit in today’s gaming world, the general public still avoids or remains oblivious to this genre, often assuming that there lies nothing worth hearing within. I truly believe that there are countless gaming tracks out there that deserve a place amongst your more mainstream “normal” MP3s. With that being said, each installment of this series will sample just three inconspicuous songs which, in my opinion, are worth your time. They may be retro or modern, official or produced by fans. Regardless, please give them a listen.

Die Hard Trilogy – Wall Street

One of the best bangs for your buck early in Playstation’s life was Die Hard Trilogy. Three distinct games in one, each game serving up a different genre. Not only did each game play differently, but they also sported different styles of music. This track comes from Die Hard 3, which offered up the vehicle stages. “Wall Street” does a great job portraying the hustle & bustle environments of New York, while still working well as chaotic driving music. Littered throughout the song are the pertinent sounds of currency.

Headhunter – Jack’s Theme (Remix)

Headhunter might have been the first console game to really prove to myself that high budget orchestral film scores can work perfectly in a game. This specific track is a little different, however. It’s a slightly remixed techno-ish version of the symphonic main theme which would play in the later half of the game, if I remember correctly. I personally digitally ripped this and a few other pieces from the game which didn’t make it onto the official soundtrack CD. I was never able to find the unreleased tracks from any of my sources, so you might consider this a rare download.

Shogo – Akuma

While the album clocks in at a mere 22 minutes, it’s still made of pure win. “Shogo: Mobile Armor Division” was released in 1998, and was one of the few Windows titles around that time which made excellent use of Direct-X 6’s music sequencing engine. Something that I really dig about Shogo’s tunes are the flow to the songs. There are hardly any identical loops. The songs are in a constant freestyle evolution until the very end. That may explain why the 22 minutes of music feels like 44. Compressed awesome. The full OST can still legally be downloaded on the developer’s site. Here’s a direct link.