13 June 2012

Episode 85: Ending Music 2

Brent and Rob say goodbye in this episode, many times, in fact, because Episode 85 is all about Ending Music -and their second time with this topic at that (see Episode 19).  Things get sentimental listening to these tracks, so brace yourself and maybe even get a box of tissues.  And don't worry, the boys will be back next week.  Full track listing below.



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

Musya: The Classic Japanese Tale of Horror - Seiko Asukagawa - Ending - SETA - SNES - 1992

CrossFire - unknown - Ending - AI/Kyugo Boueki - Genesis - 1991

G.I. Joe: The Atlantis Factor - Yusuke Takahama - Ending - KID/Capcom - NES - 1992

Lightening Force: Quest for the Darkstar - Toshiharu Yamanishi - Light of Silence (Hard Ending) - Technosoft - Genesis - 1992

Zombie Nation - Norio Nakagata, Takane Ohkubo - Love & Peace - Kaze/Meldac - NES - 1991

Earnest Evans - Motoi Sakuraba - Ending Theme - Wolf Team/Renovation - Genesis - 1992

Street Fighter 2010: The Final Fight - Junko Tamiya - It Stops Here... (Ending) - Capcom - NES - 1990

Hagane: The Final Conflict - Takahito Abe - Credits - Red Company/Hudson Soft - SNES - 1994

Destiny of an Emperor - Hiroshige Tonomura (Perorin Tonomura) - Ending - Capcom - NES - 1990

Mega Man 6 - Yuko Takehara - Ending Part 10 - Capcom - NES - 1994

Strider - Harumi Fujita - Credits - Capcom - NES - 1989

El Viento - Motoi Sakuraba - Staff Roll - Wolf Team/Renovation - Genesis - 1992

Mercs - Yoshiaki Kashima (Milpo) - Original Mode: Staff Roll - Capcom - Genesis - 1991

Batman - Naoki Kodaka - Ending Theme - Sunsoft - Genesis - 1990

Ghouls 'n Ghosts - Tamayo Kawamoto - Ending - Capcom - Genesis - 1989

15 comments:

  1. Crossfire also sounds like Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me, the Elton John song.

    Zombie Nation is the best.

    Why aren't you guys making duckfaces in the picture?

    Horses charging toward popcorn: Brilliant

    Rob Lowe's character on Parks & Rec literally says "lit'rally" at least once in every episode.

    Looking forward to the space ep. Gun Nac!

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  2. +1 On the Horses charging towards popcorn bit. Such wonderful nonsense! :-)

    Also, thank you for endeavoring to find the literal pronunciation of literally....not knowing it has always made me "uncomftrbull." :-)

    Brent, on the Batman track, when you commented how nice the synths were, the way they were getting that sound was an equal-level double melody between the FM and the PSG.

    You know, it's interesting: SMS PSG by itself seems kinda bland, but pair it with the Yamaha FM chip, and it almost becomes the star of the show! One of the other things that tilt me towards Genesis over SNES as the concert platform of choice is the oft brilliant interplay of FM and PSG, and the little game it creates for the listener of figuring out who's who.

    One last thing: You had often said in earlier episodes that the PSG on the Genesis was basically the NES PSG. This may be something you found out long ago, but it was not the NES PSG in the Genesis (or an NES class PSG), but the Mastersystem one. The Mastersystem PSG is also what powers the sound on the Game Gear, and actually predates the Mastersystem itself, appearing in the Colecovison, and the Texas Instruments TI994/a computer.

    The NES PSG is quite a bit more advanced than the SMS PSG. SMS can -only- do 50% duty square waves, w really basic white noise, whereas the NES has a triangle wave, and two pulse waves that can do 25%, 50%, and 75% duty. The 50% duty would be the same as the SMS square wave. The NES also has a deeper octave range, a better white noise generator, and a sampler.

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  3. ^ An excellent and informative comment, John. Thanks for that.

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  4. Yeah, the Mega Drive/Genesis gets a lot of hate because of the GEMS sound driver used by a lot of the Western composers.

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  5. Just to clarify, what Brent meant by there being an NES PSG in the Genesis was that it was the same basic technology, PSG, not that it was exactly the same one the NES used. He was implying that the Genesis essentially had the same capabilities as the NES, as well as new capabilities.

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  6. Well, yes and no [office of] Brent Weinbach.

    By virtue of the Yamaha FM chip married to the Texas Instruments PSG ,the Genesis is by far more advanced system compared to the NES overall, -but that said- The NES can in fact do things that the Genesis cannot do by virtue of the inferior PSG it contains.

    For instance, you will hear nary a whisper of triangle waves in the slums in which Shinobi does his shadow dance, nor will any pulse waves that are not perfectly square resonate off the walls of the marble zone.

    So I think it's a fair distinction to be made. ;-)

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  7. Oh, BTW: X episodes ago, F. Switch said that he was looking for a copy of Pit Fighter on the Genesis. If he's still looking, lemme know and I'll donate my copy to the cause.

    -J

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    1. Ha ha, we actually ended up getting two copies of Pit Fighter for Genesis, one donated by another listener, and one by Destiny Games. But hey, if you wanna donate a copy of Contra: Hard Corps, now you got my ears perked!

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    2. Never fear [la oficina de] F. Switch! Jay See Double You has got you covered!

      Hard Corps action headed your way in 5... 4.... 3... 2.... ..... okay, okay, the postal service isn't quite that fast...especially coming all the way from the 515!

      I'll see if Jimmy John's will deliver it in a sandwich, that way you get it faster....and you get a sandwich!

      Shoot me an e-mail or FB message containing the address to the Legacy Music Hour Headquarters (fanfare), and if Jimmy John's wont play nice, I'll slap it in an envelope and wave goodbye as it goes!

      Who got yo back, Switch?! :-)

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    3. To the office of Brent Weinbach: sorry about the case of mistaken identities there. Something about the "ears perked" metaphor threw me off.

      Switch has graciously supplied me with the address to the Legacy Music Hour Headquarters (fanfare). so I will be sending the game off shortly.

      I have asked Rob to please let you borrow the game now and then (or you guys could tussle out which one gets to keep it....say, on the air?) And if this whole Jimmy Johns thing pans out, I've also asked him to share the sandwich. :-)

      -JCW

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  8. One last thing: lest it sound like I'm ragging on the SMS PSG, it is far more prolific than the NES, having appeared in -at least- the SMS, Genesis, Game Gear, Colecovision, and TI994a, and there are probably others I'm not aware of or forgetting.

    Also, while it is undeniable that the SMS PSG is more limited, there is actually a latent benefit there derived: true square waves have a wonderful crisp, clean, sing-songy character to them. SMS can do three simultaneous square waves where NES can only do two, and most of the time actually only used one, or even more often, none, opting instead for the more expressive, but less clean sounding 25% & 75% pulse wave varieties. And even when both pulse waves were utilized to make 50% square waves, then you still had two square waves and a triangle wave, which is still less sing-songy than three square waves.

    Now, this might seem a very small victory for the Mastersystem, but what, in my opinion makes it more significant is that I feel that what the FM needed more than anything to bolster it was sing-songiness, and so I almost wonder if the SMS isn't the -better- partner to the Genesis than something more in the vein of the NES.

    In any case, props to the Mastersystem, it's just that they are different enough that distinctions are probably worth being made, especially in the context of a video game music podcast. ;-)

    -J

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  9. Thanks for the shout-out, guys! For once my unhealthy obsession with Capcom music payed off.

    Great episode, by the way.

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  11. The song from "Earnest Evans" reminds me a lot of Kylie Minogue's "Spinning Around" which fits the trend of the episode!

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1DWBKk5xHQ

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  12. Man, another ending episode without either of the two credits songs from EarthBound?! Come on guys, it's some of the best ending music ever!

    It was an absolute joy hearing Brent laugh so heartily in response to Rob's failed "Batman" track closing line. I've never heard him laugh so all-out like that and he has a very honest, open, innocent, boyish laugh. Is that weird to say? Don't care, saying it. I loved it, it put a huge smile on my face and made me laugh out loud right along with him. Great episode, boyees.

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