Mixtape Thread

[TSTR]

dude you missed the funkiest track of all time: MICHAEL'S THEME from Maniac Mansion

[J T]

TSTR, when you're right, you're right. That's a damn funky track. I also wish I would have included the Silver Surfer title theme, as that track is funky as hell too. I would go back and add them, but I always fuss over my track order when I make a mix so that the songs flow from one to the next, so I think I would end up jumbling up the mix and losing time to fix it if tried to do that.

As an honorable mention though, here is Michael's Theme from Maniac Mansion for anyone interested.

[Ziggy587]

I'm definitely gonna make some mixed tapes once my new tape deck comes in. I already have a bunch of blank tapes. I haven't made a mixed tape in something like 10-15 years! Also, I found a couple of mixed tapes I made back in the day. I'll definitely post them here.

[J T]

16 Bits of TERROR! A Halloween VGM Megamix


Since it is October, I decided to make a mix with 25 of the spookiest songs of the 16-bit console era.

Happy Halloween!

1. Demon’s Crest (SNES): Prelude to Horror
2. Clock Tower (SNES): Don’t Cry, Jennifer
3. Super Castlevania IV (SNES): Dracula’s Death
4. Super Mario World (SNES): Ghost House
5. Secret of Mana (SNES): Ceremony
6. Super Metroid (SNES): Opening Theme
7. Devil Crash (TG16): Title Theme
8. Altered Beast (GEN): I’ll Be Back
9. Super Ghouls and Ghosts (SNES): Sea of Despair
10. Shadow of the Beast (GEN): Plains 1
11. Clock Tower (SNES): Satanic Place of Worship
12. Quackshot (GEN): Transylvania
13. Zombies Ate My Neighbors (SNES): Boss Battle
14. Donkey Kong Country (SNES): Northern Hemispheres
15. Cadash (TG16): Water Scene
16. Castlevania X (SNES): Vampire Killer
17. Castlevania Bloodlines (GEN): The Discolored Wall
18. Musya (SNES): Stage 03
19. Super Metroid (SNES): Mini Boss Confrontation
20. Ecco: The Tides of Time (GEN): Title Theme
21. Cadash (TG16): Suck the Lifeblood to Live Plants
22. Castlevania Bloodlines (GEN): Mysterious Curse
23. Decap Attack (GEN): Stage 2
24. Flashback (GEN): Descent into the Tunnels
25. Splatterhouse (TG16): Stage 2

[strangenova]

Nice mix JT, got some pretty solid inclusions.

[J T]

DON’T DIE IN OBSCURITY! A VGM HIDDEN GEMS MIX


https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=P ... _6Af2SDDWH

It took a lot of digging and researching to put this mix together, so I hope you enjoy it. I’m more proud of this than my other mixtapes. I first joined Racketboy because of the Hidden Gems articles, so this is my way of giving back to the community here by putting together a Hidden Gems of VGM mix.

Sometimes great music finds its way into games that don’t succeed or that are forgotten. Some of these games got cancelled before they were finished, some never made their way to the US, some didn’t catch on for whatever reason, and some are just plain terrible. What they all have in common though, is that they have great soundtracks made with 8-bits or less! Don’t let this music die in obscurity! It deserves a listen, even if you never play the games these songs came with.

I made this mix 27 songs long in homage to the 27 Club (great musicians who died unfortunately early in their careers at the age of 27), since these games died out before their music could become legendary.

Special thanks to Explod2A03 for introducing me to several of these tunes, and even when I didn’t learn about them from him, he was usually the one to have uploaded the track to YouTube. His podcast and blog, Retro Game Audio, comes highly recommended.

If you want to get the complete OSTs for these games, most can be found at Zophar's Domain or at VGM Rips. You'll need a special player for the chiptune file types (which are smaller than MP3s). Each site provides recommended players.


TRACKLISTING

1.) Pictionary (NES)- Title Screen
by Tim Follin
It rocks a little too much for a Pictionary game, but it’s great on its own. I could have filled this list with Tim Follin tracks since his music is on a lot of otherwise bad games, but most people into VGM know him and love him, so I just did one track to represent.

2.) Gimmick! (Famicom)- Strange Memories of Death
by Masashi Kageyama and Naohisa Morota
A fairly obscure (but great) game. The Famicom version has an extra sound chip that the US version doesn’t. This track also wasn’t used in the game.

3.) Project S-11 (Gameboy Color)- Geil Glacier Park
by Jonne Valtonen and Aleksi Eeben
I’ve read that this wasn’t a very good shmup, but it has a bangin’ soundtrack.

4.) Ottifanten Kommando Sortebaker (Gameboy Color)- Das Haus der Bommels
by Stello Doussis
This German game didn’t see a wide global release. The music is unbelievable for what Stello Doussis is able to do on a Gameboy. It sounds like a lot more than 4 channels of audio. He uses a lot of stereo effects and echo techniques to get a big sound. The only downside is that he pushes the GameBoy so hard that it ends up a little bit muddy sounding with some clipping.

5.) Monty on the Run (Commodore 64)- Main Theme
by Rob Hubbard
Rob Hubbard is a legend amongst C64 composers. This may not be super obscure as I believe there were a few different Monty games, but it was new to me and I love the music.

6.) Hero Quest (NES)- Title Theme
by Neil Baldwin
This game didn’t get released when it was first made, but can be found in ROM form now. Fantastic soundtrack!

7.) Choujin Sentai Jetman (Famicom)- Title Theme
by Hiroyuki Iwatsuki
The Sentai series in Japan eventually became Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, but this game came out before that happened.

8.) M.C. Kids (NES)- Level Theme 2
by Charles Deenen
Who would expect so much funk from a McDonald’s game? I’m lovin’ it!

9.) NSYNC: Get to the Show (Gameboy Color) - Track 1 (Titlin' Up My Heart)
by Will Davis
None of NSYNC’s music is used in this game, the gameplay is dreadful, and you don’t even get to play as NSYNC characters, just a roadie! This game hates NSYNC fans, but it loves chiptunes! The soundtrack is boss.

10.) Captain Tsubasa 2 (Famicom)- Taro Misaki’s Theme
by Mayuko Okamura, Mikio Saito, and Keiji Yamagishi
Tecmo made great sports games, but the US never knew the glory of the Captain Tsubasa soccer series!

11.) Fire n Ice (ZX Spectrum)- Title Music
by Newart, Surfin' Bird, Nik-O, Klim, Risk
This was an unofficial Russian port of Fire n Ice, which is a sequel to Solomon’s Key. They made their own music.

12.) Tenchi wo Kurau II (Famicom)- Castle
by Yasuaki Fujita
The first game in this series was released in the US as Destiny of the Emperor, but the second was never released. I could not find the original on YouTube, but this version is only subtly manipulated.

13.) Lagrange Point (Famicom)- Satellite Base
by Akio Dobashi and Noriyuki Takahashi
This game doesn’t sound like anything else on the NES or Famicom, and that is because it is the only game to use the VRC7 chip, a special sound chip inside the cartridge that could play 6 additional channels of FM synthesis on the Famicom, but not the NES. No other game uses FM on the Famicom, and Lagrange Point was never released in the US.

14.) Conquest of the Crystal Palace (NES)- Stage 1
by Masaharu Iwata
This little known game has a soundtrack that nicely blends eastern and western music traditions.

15.) Kujaku Ou 2 (Famicom)- BGM 6
by ?Composer Unknown?
This game is based a manga, which had two Famicom games never released in the US. Kujaku Ou is known as Spirit Warrior in the US.

16.) Yu Yu Hakusho (Famicom)- Character Select
by Switch E.
This is another game based on a popular manga and anime that had a number of related video games. The Famicom game also failed to get a US port. In this track, I like the use of a plain beep tone on the upbeat to give the song an off-kilter feel.

17.) Zen: Intergalactic Ninja (NES)- Toxic Factory
by Kozo Nakamura, Junichiro Kaneda, Yuichi Sakakura, Ayako Nishigaki and Tomoya Tomita
This game is based on a comic book and was released in the US, though I don’t think the NES game is particularly well known. It’s a decent enough game too, so you might want to play this one as well as listen to the soundtrack.

18.) Metal Masters (Gameboy)- Metal Part 2
by Alberto Jose Gonzalez
This game was released by a smaller publisher (Electro Brain) and was not particularly successful. Nevertheless, there are some great tunes here with a little bit of an electro-industrial edge to them.

19.) Tantei Jinguuji Saburou: Toki no Sugiyuku Mama (Famicom)- ??
by ?Composer Unknown?
This is a popular mystery adventure game series in Japan, but only the DS game was released in the US as Jake Hunter Detective Chronicles. The Famicom game has a nice soundtrack, and this song has a particularly driving beat that seems like it would fit well in a beat ‘em up game.

20.) Mitsume ga Tooru (Famicom)- Stage 5-2
By Hiroyuki Iwatsuki
Another video game based on a manga that didn’t make it to the states. It is also known as The Three Eyed One.

21.) Trip World (Gameboy)- World 3-1
by "Phase Out", Masayuki Iwata, Tsutomu Ishida, Atsushi Mihiro
Trip World was released in Japan and the EU, but not in the US. It appears to be a scaled down version of Gimmick! mentioned above, and also has a great soundtrack.

22.) Das Geheimnis der Happy Hippo-Insel (Gameboy Color)- Title
by Stello Doussis
This is another German Gameboy Color game that Stello Doussis did the sound for. Again, he pushes the Gameboy to its sonic limits with the audio production.

23.) Wagyan Land 3 (Famicom)- Space Station Stage 3
by ?Composer Unknown?
This is a platformer game series produced by Namco wherein you control a green mechanical dinosaur. There were many sequels in Japan, but it never crossed the ocean. It has a plucky, funky, and fun soundtrack.

24.) Yume Penguin Monogatari (Famicom)- Stage 3
by Atsushi Fujio and Katsuhiko Suzuki
Fans of Konami may recognize the penguin hero of this game, Penta, as he shows up across a few different Konami titles and is the father of Pentarou of the Parodius games. The soundtrack is full of fun and upbeat songs. This particular track sounds like it used some of the same drum samples found in Super Mario Bros 3.

25.) Wagyan Land 2 (Famicom)- Woods Theme
by ?Composer Unknown?
Another from Wagyan Land. Another happy and funky number. I like the odd pauses in the melody that give the song a funky bounce.

26.) Hello Kitty World (Famicom)- Stage 1
by Hirokazu “Hip” Tanaka
This game was later reskinned and released in the US on the Gameboy as Balloon Kid, but American never saw the Hello Kitty version. The soundtrack was done by Hip Tanaka, famed Nintendo composer of soundtracks for games like Metroid and Kid Icarus.

27.) Erik The Viking (NES)- Peace in the Harbor
by Neil Baldwin
This was supposed to be a Zelda-style game based on the book and film by Terry Jones (of Monty Python fame). Unfortunately, the game ROM has been lost, but fortunately Neil Baldwin was able to salvage the soundtrack he composed and release it. This song has a lovely quality to it, with relaxing 8-bit ocean waves and seagulls built into the soundtrack.

[J T]

Blast Processed
A Raver's Guide to the Sega Genesis and Mega Drive

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=P ... aPu5jbWBMk

1. Coach K Basketball: Title Theme
2. Streets of Rage 2: Alien Power
3. The Adventures of Batman and Robin: Big Boss
4. Sub-Terrania: Last Level Final Monster
5. X-Men 2 Clone Wars: Temple Boss
6. Contra Hard Corps: Format X
7. Slap Fight MD: Boss Theme
8. Streets of Rage 3: Crazy Train
9. Contra Hard Corps: Simon 1994rd
10. Vapor Trail: Bloody Road
11. Streets of Rage: Stage 1 Theme
12. Urban Strike: Las Vegas Briefing
13. Vectorman: Intro and Ending
14. The Stickman is Back (unreleased): Pop and Deep
15. Sonic Spinball: Toxic Caves
16. NBA Live 95: Title Theme
17. European League Soccer: Ready to Play
18. Time Trax: Title Screen
19. Mega Turrican: Stage 5-2
20. Sonic 3: Ice Cap Zone Act 2

[chupon]

Just wanted to give a shout out to JT and others in this thread! Thanks for helping me get through some late nights at work. You guys (and girls) all Rock!

[J T]

Thanks chupon! I put a lot of thought into each tracklist, and once I've got the order nailed down I like to open them in a separate tab and listen to them from start to finish while I'm doing other things. I'm really glad to hear that someone else is enjoying the mixes. I have the most fun in sharing the music finds!

My favorite finds lately have been Stello Doussis, the composer of the German tracks on the Don't Die in Obscurity mix, and The Stickman is Back, an unreleased soundtrack from the legendary composer Yuzo Koshiro (Streets of Rage, Actraiser, Ys, etc.)

[J T]

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=P ... OC3029-f5z

1. Leonard Cohen (RIP)- Everybody Knows
2. Rage Against the Machine- Take the Power Back
3. YG feat Macklemore and G-Eazy- FUCK DONALD TRUMP
4. Pearl Jam- Do the Evolution
5. Public Enemy- Fight the Power
6. Ministry- Lies Lies Lies
7. Skunk Anansie- Yes it’s FUCKING POLITICAL
8. Bikini Kill- Rebel Girl
9. 2Pac- Changes
10. Helen Reddy- I am Woman (Hear Me Roar)
11. Bob Dylan- Masters of War
12. Maya Angelou- Still I Rise
13. Andra Day- Rise Up