27 April 2011

Episode 26: Beyond 16-Bit

In this very unusual episode, Brent and Rob look beyond the 16-bit era, and showcase music from the Playstation, Wii, Nintendo 64, and more.  Full track listing below.



Game - Composer - Song - Company - Console - Year (the version we played was released)

Metal Gear Solid - Takanari Ishiyama, Gigi Meroni, Kazuki Muraoka, Lee Jeon Myung, Hiroyuki Togo - Warhead Storage - Konami - PlayStation - 1998

Wario Land: Shake It! - Tomoya Tomita - Just Plains - Good-Feel/Nintendo - Wii - 2008

Nights: Journey of Dreams - Tomoko Sasaki - Sky Concert - Sega - Wii - 2007

Mario Golf - Motoi Sakuraba - Shy Guy Desert - Nintendo - N64 - 1999

I-War - unknown - Main Title Theme - Imagitec Design - Atari Jaguar - 1995

Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles - Kumi Tanioka (comp.), Masahiro Kataoka (lyr.), Yae (voc.) - Kaze no Ne (Sound of the Wind) - Square Enix - GameCube (Japan) - 2003

Castlevania: Legacy of Darkness - Masahiko Kimura - Invisible Sorrow (Tunnel) - Konami - N64 - 1999

Legend of Mana - Yoko Shimomura - Moonlit City Roa - Square - PlayStation - 2000

Sega Rally 2 - Hideki Naganuma,Tomonori Sawada - Soul on Desert - Sega - Dreamcast - 1999

Sigma Harmonics - Masashi Hamauzu - Hope Given "Dance of the Dog's Howl" - Square Enix - Nintendo DS - 2008

ICO - Michiru Oshima - Castle in the Mist - Sony Computer Entertainment - PlayStation 2 - 2001

Mega Man 9 - Ippo Yamada - Thunder Tornado (Tornado Man Stage) - Capcom - WiiWare - 2008

Halo 3 - Martin O'Donnell, Michael Salvatori -  Rock Anthem for Saving the World - Bungie/Microsoft - Xbox 360 - 2007

Kirby's Epic Yarn - Tomoya Tomita - Cool Cave - Good-Feel/HAL Laboratory/Nintendo - Wii - 2010

Star Control II - Burke Treischmann, Dan Nicholson, Riku Nuottajärvi, Eric Berge, Erol Otus, Marc Brown, Aaron Grier, Kevin Palivec,Tommy Dunbar - Hyperspace - Accolade - Panasonic 3DO - 1992

Mega Man Network Transmission - Shinji Hosoe, Ayako Saso, Yousuke Yasui -  Garden System (Needle Man Stage) - Capcom - GameCube - 2003

Baten Kaitos: Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean - Motoi Sakuraba - Gentle Wind - Namco - GameCube - 2004

Super Mario 64 - Koji Kondo - Dire, Dire Docks - Nintendo - N64 - 1996

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time - Koji Kondo - Windmill Hut - Nintendo - N64 - 1998

28 comments:

  1. Great job so far guys. However, I must say I was not a fan of this week's eepisode. First off, after listening to this it seems that Brent is kind of unwilling to give post 8-bit/16 bit era games a chance which kind of put me off. Also, Rob announced that he has never even played Mario 64 or Zelda 64 which is appalling to say the least. What was even more appalling was that Brent seemed to almost brush them off as mediocre games (perhaps because of his predisposition to not like post 8-bit/16-bit games). I love 8-bit/16-bit games more than the average Joe, but to not broaden your horizons to the subsequent consoles is a mistake IMO. Also, if you are going to host a podcast about video game music you should probably think about playing Mario 64 and Zelda 64 (which are considered two of the best games of all time, music included) before you do it. And if you haven't, you probably shouldn't admit it on the air. Just saying.

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  2. Thanks for the comment.

    I can't speak for Brent but I will address your comment. I have never played Mario 64 or Zelda 64 and I think that fact would indeed be appalling IF our show focused on games/music/systems after the 8bit/16-bit era. The show is not about broadening our horizons by showcasing music of more modern systems. We've recorded 25 episodes of pure 8-bit and 16-bit work and we thought we'd switch it up and have fun. I'm sure you can find many other podcasts/shows that focus on more modern music but we just wanted to switch it up for one episode.

    As for Mario 64 and Zelda 64 being the best games of all time - puh-leaze. I haven't played them but I know there's no way I could ever agree with that statement - and that's part of the beauty of our podcast. Brent and I don't agree on everything but we do agree to showcase and give all the tracks we present (8bit/16bit) a fair chance.

    As for not admitting that I didn't play those games on the air - Big whoop. Life moves on and we'll be covering the music we're supposed to be covering going forward - as the purpose of our podcast is to showcase 8-bit & 16-bit music.

    As for me broadening my horizons, I own a Wii, Xbox and Xbox 360. NES and Genesis rule will always rule over them.

    -Rob F.

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  3. NES and Genesis WILL always rule over them.

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  4. And SNES will always rule over NES and Genesis.

    To Anonymous, you're wrong. Brent clearly said that he keeps up to date with current and post 16-bit era games, and that he does find good newer games to play every now and then. He even said Wario Land Shake It (a Wii title from 2008) was one the best games he's ever played. But it seems like the 3D aesthetic of newer games and less video game-y approach to the music just doesn't appeal to him as much. He also didn't say he thought Mario 64 and Zelda 64 were mediocre -he just didn't enjoy them as much as the other games in the series.

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  5. SNES will always rule??

    You want to take this outside?

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  6. Agreed snes is the best game for game had better titles then other systems of the time

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  7. I feel pretty bad about my comment I made yesterday at this point and I want to apologize. I think I was already in a bad mood before listening to the podcast (long day at work). I don't want you guys to think I don't appreciate what you do because I truly do. I absolutely loved your episode honoring Hirokazu Tanaka, for example. You guys are certainly entitled to your opinions and I am not going to agree all the time and that's ok (although, I do agree that a link to the past is the best zelda game). I also shouldn't assume that just because you have a podcast about video game music that you have played every single "classic." The fact that you guys give video game music the appreciation it deserves is cool enough. I hope there are no hard feelings.

    BC

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  8. I found your podcast through Nerdist. I just finished listening to this episode and am now going back through and downloading previous episodes.

    I really enjoy Music from games, and this Podcast fills that desire perfectly.

    I do have a single complaint though. I appreciate your inclusion of "Rock Anthem for Saving the World" in this list of "beyond 16-bit" episode. But the version you played doesn't quite do the song justice. For one the song you used was low-sample compared to the rest of the songs played, and you didn't play the full song. BUT! I'm a bit of a Halo fanboi.

    Regardless; Keep up the good work. I look forward to the next episode.

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  9. Just finished listening to the podcast and great job again! I can't wait to see those videos of the dance party.

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  10. BC - No hard feelings at all. We've all had those days.

    K2them - I know it sucks that the song was low quality, but I couldn't get a higher quality one in time. In addition, we're limited in time so I didn't want to keep the song going (the episode is long enough as it is). I'm a big Halo fan myself and I could dedicate a whole episode to that music but alas, we're pretty busy with 8-bit & 16-bit.

    Z_MET - we hope to get some good footage. We did a sound check at the venue and it's sounding stellar.

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  11. True. Marty has a strong catalog of work that has set the bar (some would say) for what makes good modern video game music.

    I'm impressed with the selection of songs you guys bring to each episode. Keep them coming.

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  12. http://www.shadowhaxor.net/downloads.php?
    If you want that halo soundtrack in CD quality its on this site

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  13. I had Star Control II for my 486 computer. It was a fun game. The soundtrack was great too.

    Have you guys thought of doing a computer game music episode?

    I really enjoy the podcast. Keep up the good work.

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  14. I can't believe you didn't play any music from Harvest Moon 64 or Harvest Moon Back to Nature for Playstation. IMO best game music from that era. Ahhh... such good memories of those games.

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  15. Anonymous - perhaps for the next Beyond 16 bit. I'll check it out.

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  16. Another Oddball game currently out for PS3 is 3D Dot Game Heroes. It's almost like (Actually it is) a tribute game game to the 8 bit and 16 bit era from From Software. I think you boys would absolutely love this game. The premise is that a King from an old 8/16 bit game has watched his kingdom fall into ruin, so he decides to go 3D. However everyone is made like a 3D pixel. You have to see it to understand, Youtube it. It plays like A Link to the Past. Go ahead attack a chicken.

    Also, I suggest looking up Suikoden1 and 2 music. It's a PSOne RPG from it's first year or so. Looks, plays, and sounds like a SNES game. I'm personally a fan of the "Rockland Rock"

    Love the show. Keep it up!

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  17. If you guys are going to occasionally move beyond the realm of 8/16 bit cartridge consoles, you should check out some Commodore 64 stuff. MERCS and Midnight Resistance are a couple of my favourites. The Dizzy series always had quirky music too.

    Hope you like a lot of Arpeggios!

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  18. I have to second the comment that the example from Halo was lacking in the awesome guitar category. Could you not have started the piece half-way through? That track ROCKS SO HARD, especially for background music to a video-game.

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  19. @Zak R. - it does rock. My apologies. Just couldn't get a quality file. -Rob F.

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  20. No no, don't apologize. There really is no need. You showcased a lot of really interesting music (as you do every episode), but the Halo stuff really is too long for your format, I understand.

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  21. Just going through your back catalogue, and liked this episode a lot. It's funny because I'm similar to you guys in that my gaming dropped off a while back, but I went one generation further than you guys seem to have. I quit when PS1 and N64 died out, and think that those games have a lot of great games.

    If you were intrigued by Ico and never checked it out though, definitely do it. One of the most atmospheric games I've ever played.

    I have to strongly disagree with you on Mario 64. One of the best games of all time and definitely stands up to any Mario game previous.

    And I'd go this way for Zelda games:

    Zelda 1 (Can't beat the genesis of the series)
    Zelda 3
    Ocarina of Time
    Links Awakening (GB)
    Zelda 2

    Wind Waker was fun but I didn't get far and I felt like it didn't feel like a zelda game.

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  22. I know no one's reading these old comments anymore, but I had to give my 2 cents.

    I love the show, I'm 30, and I think the SNES is the greatest console ever also, but listening to this episode was like listening to a couple of guys who don't listen to any music from after the Beatles broke up. "Is Nevermind supposed to be a good album? I haven't heard it." "Kid A was interesting the first listen, but the novelty wore off." "Heavy metal is boring" "Someone named... Bru-see Spring Stein?"

    I would never say you guys can't have your opinions, and I love the show usually, but you GOT to stick to what you know. Or, if you do this again, bring in a guest who's played (and been able to enjoy) video games made since 1996.

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    1. We do read all the comments! And appreciate all of them.

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  23. Great episode of course, but I really liked when you two went off on a tangent and started to talk about the top gaming consoles. Too bad the exchange didn't last longer.

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  24. For the record, Metal Gear Solid (the original) is VERY video gamey. It has realistic voice acting and intense, dramatic music, but its gameplay and design are incredibly gamey, and it's not overly complicated due to its top-down perspective. It plays very much like an old school game, but with much more modern production values. If Brent still hasn't played it, it's an absolute must-play. You don't need to play the other games in the series beyond it, as they do get more complex and less video gamey, but the original MGS is something you need to experience.

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    1. And I forgot to mention that when I first played MGS it was on a demo disc, and looking at it on the demo disc's menu screen, I too was immediately turned off and thought it was something I'd never be into. But one day I was bored and had nothing better to do so I gave the demo a whirl, and I was so blown away by it that I immediately had to go buy a copy. So I feel you, Brent. It seems like something you might not be into, but trust me and give it a go. It will really surprise you.

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  25. I was like "please let this list have a track from the modern mega mans", and then I heard tornado man's theme, beautiful choice - mega man die hard.

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