12 December 2012

Episode 111: Bandai

Bandai is the topic of Episode 111.  Bandai did not develop video games, they only published games, lots of them developed by TOSE, Human, and Natsume.  Brent and Rob pick tracks from Bandai's giant catalog of Japan-centric games, covering major franchises like Gundam, Dragon Ball, and more stuff that's better known in Japan.  Full track listing below.



Game - Composer - Song - Company - Console - Year (North American release unless otherwise indicated)

Famicom Jump II: Saikyou no Shichinin - Satoshi Kadokura - Sea Of Serenity - Chunsoft/Bandai - Famicom - 1991

From TV animation: Slam Dunk: Yonkyo Taiketsu!! - Shinji Amagishi (Amayang) - Ending - TOSE/Bandai - Super Famicom - 1994

Grander Musashi RV - Mi-chan Sutajio - gameplay - TOSE/Bandai - Game Boy (Japan) - 1998

Ninja Kid - unknown - Title Screen - TOSE/Bandai - NES - 1986

Ruin Arm - Akihito Suita (Switch.E), Studio M2, ST-Type M, Prince E, Chatru - Fin - Plex/Bandai - Super Famicom - 1995

Ghost Sweeper GS Mikami: Joreishi wa Nice Body - Kinuyo Yamashita - Option - Natsume/Banalex - Super Famicom - 1993

Meiro Daisakusen - unknown - gameplay - Human Entertainment/Bandai - Famicom - 1987

Famicom Jump: Eiyuu Retsuden - Haruki Adachi, Peru - gameplay - TOSE/Bandai - Famicom - 1989

Sailor Moon S: Kondo wa Puzzle de Oshioki yo! - Harumi Fujita - The End - Tom Create/Bandai - Super Famicom - 1994

Legends of the Diamond: The Baseball Championship Game - unknown - Menu - TOSE/Bandai - NES - 1992

SD Sengokuden 3: Chijou Saikyou Hen - Kenichi Kamio - Ending - Bandai - Game Boy (Japan) - 1992

Rokudenashi Blues: Taiketsu! Tokyo Shitennou - M2, Kyomoe - Staff Roll - TOSE/Bandai - Super Famicom - 1994

Dragon Ball Z: Super Butouden 2 - Kenji Yamamoto - Vegeta's Theme - TOSE/Bandai - Super Famicom - 1993

Magical Taluluto: Magic Adventure - Norihiko Togashi - Let's Go to Play! - Game Freak/Bandai - Super Famicom - 1992

Famicom Jump: Eiyuu Retsuden - Haruki Adachi, Peru - The beginning of the story - TOSE/Bandai - Famicom - 1989

10 comments:

  1. This is too much! I'm only up to Grander Musashi RV -- an instant contender for my top 3 of this episode -- but I'm tripping on the fact that Brent and I happen to share the EXACT SAME favorite album of the last few years. Max Tundra's Parallax Error Beheads You -- a stone-cold masterpiece! Absolutely anybody who listens to this podcast has got to check it out, and I am so pleased that Mr. Weinbach is spreading the gospel.

    I would believe, as Brent shares it, that Max Tundra hasn't listened to a lot of video game music, but he nonetheless has in common a lot of the aesthetic and compositional touchstones that often make the VGM of this era so great, through influences like fusion, prog rock, new wave, or lots of the smarter '70s/'80s pop & R&B (Steely Dan, Frank Zappa, Scritti Politti, etc.).

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  2. This is the first picture I think I've ever seen Brent smiling in.

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  3. Wow I really like "SD Sengokuden 3: Chijou Saikyou Hen". Its like that classic Asiatic flavor with a Celtic folk situation with all sorts of other goodies in there ... I think that's got to be my favorite from this episode.

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  4. Rob, are you sure Stadium Events was only 500 bucks? I assume that was the current bid, because I haven't seen that game sell for under 1500 in a long long time.

    Arpeggios are spelling out chords, right? Isn't that exactly what an arpeggio is, playing a chord one note at a time instead of altogether? Pretty sure Rob's sequence in question was in fact arpeggiated.

    Sorry, not meaning to be contrary. I'm just really sick right now.

    Hm. It's telling that you guys listened to SO MANY Bandai soundtracks to arrive at the list for this show. With the exception of the three tracks I have picked out, these were almost all just regular ol run of the mill game tracks. They just seem to be missing that thing that I love in video game music. Not faulting you guys, I know if there were better tracks you would have found them and played them. Obviously I trust your individual sets of ears or I wouldnt listen so intently to every episode.

    Did I mention I'm sick? Blech.


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    1. You're right about arpeggios, but the Ruin Arm and Legends of the Diamond track are totally not run of the mill.

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    2. Get well Big Mike!

      These games were not run of the mill for me. In fact, I'd never heard of any of them with the exception of Ninja Kid & Dragon Ball.

      But I really dug the tracks that I picked.

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  5. You're right, those tracks were pretty good. I mean, not all of the tracks were bad, in fact none of them were. What I was getting at is that as a whole, Bandai's game music gets a straight B rating from me is all.

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    1. Actually, Ruin arm was one of my top 3 alternates. And I admit it, I'm feeling better, I'm doing laundry, and I'm listening to this episode again and the tracks are way better now than they sounded to me a few days ago. I'll be the first to admit that I was totally off in my judgment that day. So I apologize.

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  6. Great episode... wow... max tundra is great '!!!!

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  7. How do you guys find and listen to music like these obscure game boy tracks?

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