Titan Souls Combines Two Fan Favorites Into One

Recently I completed a game that I came across awhile ago that I was attracted to based on a description that was being said about it. People said that his game was a combination of Dark Souls, Shadow of Colossus and Legend of Zelda: Link To The Past. The game was like Dark Souls and Shadow of the Colossus because the only enemies in the game were bosses like Shadow and the bosses were semi difficult to take down and you would just keep trying and trying until you win. The game was compared to Legend of Zelda because of the top-down perspective and the 2D simple combat. The game was developed by Acid Nerve and released on PC and PlayStation 4 on April of 2015. The story to the game isn't really told directly to you and the only real goal you have in the game is to adventure through the world and kill the guardians and take their souls. The game is designed that you just have really two types of actions in the games shooting the single arrow you carry or roll and can kill a boss in a single arrow, but the area that you must hit the boss to kill might be obscured or hidden and that is the challenge of the game.

The music in this games takes ques from the Dark Souls series where the music will only really play when you engage in a boss fight. The music on the game was composed by David Fenn. Fenn has composed a few other indie, but this is the first work that I have heard from him. I will be talking about two songs that appear on the album that took me by surprise when I entered the bosses area.

The first song that I will be talking about is one of the first three bosses that you have to fight and it is titled "Brainfreeze". The boss's name is also Brainfreeze and it is a giant brain that is encased in ice that slides around the room and will some times tries to jump up and squish you. The goal of the fight is to trick the brain into sliding over a button in the middle of the area that starts a fire and you must shot arrow through the fire and into the ice cube to melt it and expose the brain. Once defrosted the brain will become more aggressive, but if you hit it with the arrow it will be defeated. The music in the fight is very almost tribal sounding with the different kinds of percussion instruments and simple sounding string instruments. The music fits the mood of the boss because at first it isn't that intense, but as soon as you melt the ice the intensity doubles. 

The other song I will be talking about plays during the boss Rol-Qayin, a living molten boulder, and the title is "Roller". The boss fight is honestly one of the simplest in the game where all you have to do is shot the arrow right in its eye while it is rolling around chasing you. The song starts out with the ripping electric guitar notes then followed by an acoustic guitar. I beat the boss before the song repeated. This song completely caught me off guard because of the electric guitar a great surprise.

Titan Souls like most indie games is a short but enjoyable experience and for a fan of all the games it draws from I love it even more. If you want to take a listen you can go here to YouTube or you can purchase the game from Fenn's Bandcamp. Thanks for reading. 

Hyper Light Drifter's Ominous and Majestic Tones

Another Kickstarted backed game has risen through indie scene and into many gamers hearts is Hyper Light Drifter. Hyper Light Drifter was released on PC in March of 2016 and will be releasing on consoles mid-2016. The game was developed by Heart Machine. The game is a 2D action RPG that has a somewhat top down prospective with 8 to 16-bit graphics. Even with this graphical limitation the game still has beautiful scenes and images. 

Back again composing another indie game masterpiece is Disasterpeace. I will not be going over who he is again if you want to read more about him either go to his Bandcamp or read my post about Fez. I will talk about how this games music is practically designed like Dark Souls where there is epic boss music, but there is music when traveling around the game world. I will be talking about two songs that appear in the game that are my favorite.

The first song I will be talking about is titled "The Midnight Woods". This song is a very slow synth song that doesn't have that many layers and is pretty simple, but that is fine because this is zone music which isn't supposed to evoke any anger feelings. This song promotes adventure by sounding very calm and majestic.  

The other song I will be talking about is very different than the first and it is "The Sentients". The song has a lot of layers of music playing all at the same time adding a level of intensity. There is also a heavy beat playing in the foreground of the music that keeps your heart going throughout the song. 

Hyper Light Drifter right now is only available on PC so I have only been able to play for a short time as I am more of a console gamer. I hope relatively soon it will be released on console so i can really get into it, but until then I will keep listening to the soundtrack to be prepared for the game. If you want to listen to the soundtrack you can go here to YouTube or you can buy it from Disasterpeace's BandCamp. Thanks for reading.

Halo's Prequel Bring A Different Tone

With the main Halo series seemingly over people wondered what Bungie was working on after they finished Halo 3: ODST. The rumor then started about the next game being a prequel set before any of the previous Halo games. The games was official titled Halo: Reach and it was released on Xbox 360 in 2010. The game is set on the planet Reach where the alien cult known as the Covenant hit the humans military home and in the end the planet was completely destroyed and was a terrifying loss for humanity. 

You play as the new recruit to a Spartan team called Noble Team who is tasked with fending off the Covenant, but sadly every step forward they are pushed three steps back. As you can tell by the setting that I have described to you, you can tell that this story will not have a happy ending and has an ominous and sad tone.

As with the first and all the games up till now the musical composers were Martin O'Donnell and Michael Salvatori. As with the game before they composed, Halo 3: ODST, they were able to take the soundtrack in a different direction than in the other main series games. So to fit the games overall feeling they made a more somber and sad soundtrack. I will be talking about two tracks from the game that really have that solemn, but a tinge of hope feeling to them.

The first song that I will be talking about is titled "ONI: Sword Base". The song firsts starts to play when Noble Team is sent to Sword Base to repel the Covenant attack. This song doesn't have the high note string that the usual Halo soundtrack, but a lower noted song. The guitar notes in the song strike  back at the string as your character fends off the base in a strong clash of instruments. The darker tone of this song really sets the bar for the rest of the games soundtrack.

The other song I will be talking about is "The Pillar Of Autumn". This is near the end of the game where most of Noble Team has fallen and you are the last Spartan left and the planet has almost completely fallen. Your final mission was to deliver the AI Cortana to the ship

Pillar Of Autumn which leads to the beginning of Halo 1. The song has a upbeat feel to it, but still has a dark undertone to remind the player that this will still not end happily. 

This snippet in the Halo universe is a sad and tragic tale, but it was a tale that lead to the saving in the universe. This is one of my favorite games in the series and I highly recommend that you play it. You can listen to the soundtrack on YouTube. Thanks for reading.        

How Indie Soundtrack Have Takeover

In recent years indie games have surged into popularity from online market places like Xbox Live, PlayStation Network and Steam making it easier and easier for anyone to make a game and get it into the video game marketplace and compete with blockbuster games that sell for $60 and indie maybe going for $20. With the success of these games it has given the opportunity of the composers to actually make a start in composing. 

With the recent staggering success of gaming soundtracks like Undertales and Fire Watch, gamers have began to pour money into the pockets of these indie composers because most of them will go on to sell the soundtrack on the composer's Bandcamp page because the developers see the music as the composers and not really theirs. There is a certain freedom when making a game for an indie developer because they to have little to work with and will push themselves to the limit to makes these games the best they can. Indie game developer make these games from the heart because they know that this is a great idea and that same feeling comes from the composers as well. So intern this is a love letter to indie game composers new and old keep it up and either be independent or stay with a developer that you have a mutual relationship with. Thanks for all you composers make and I will still be shocked every time ad indie soundtrack come out and it is fantastic.

Bastion's Story Book Come To Life

I am going to continue with the indie games with the next one that I will be talking about and it goes by the name Bastion. Bastion is a top-down action RPG game that was released 2011 on Xbox Live and later to PC and PlayStation systems. Bastion was created over the course of two years by Supergiant Games. The reason this game is help up to other indie critical darlings it because of two reasons: dynamic narrator and music. 

In the game, you play as a character simply known as "The Kid" who is instructed by the games narrator to save their world from ultimate destruction. The narrator in the game is very special because he almost guides your character step by step through the world by commenting on your combat skills or maybe suggestion taking a certain path. 

The composer to this game was recruited by a long time friend who was working on the game to come in and give it a try. This was Darren Korb's first video game soundtrack that he had ever made, but he has had prior experience with TV and movie scores. Korb was stated as saying that the soundtrack has a sound like American frontier and exotic fantasy music. All of the music for the soundtrack and 3,000 lines of narration were recorded in Korb's closet. The songs also has a very distinct because its a mix of acoustic and overlaid beats. From this fantastic soundtrack I will be talking about two songs that fit into the American frontier and exotic fantasy music.

The first song I will be talking about is the American frontier song "Slinger's Song". The song just oozes feel of a wanderer in the woods or walking into a very rural small town. The use of the steel guitar makes this vibe impact even more.This one is my favorite on the soundtrack.

The other song that captures the exotic fantasy music is "Terminal March". The sound is so exotic and interesting it will easily keep your attention and the overlaid beats fit perfectly with the acoustics. 

The music on this soundtrack works so well for two reasons. One is that Korb worked on the show Deadwood which was a western TV show that had a lot of acoustic instrumentation and the other is that the music fits this exploration theme because all of the music sounds like different terrains that you explore in the game. This soundtrack is held very high on the mantle of some peoples favorites and it honestly deserves it. You can take a listen to the album on YouTube and buy the album from Supergiant Game's BandCamp. Thanks for reading. 

Shovel Knight's Jolly Good Soundtrack

Kickstarter is responsible for incredible things that sadly would never get any help with public backing and I am overly happy that this game made it and became the large success that it is today. Shovel Knight is available on almost any system current and last generation and was released at inter voles throughout 2014 and 2015 across the different systems.  It released to wide acclaim from multiple reviews and became an indie sensation. 

Shovel Knight was by the developers Yacht Club Games. Shovel Knight takes inspiration from the 8-bit era of video games in its gameplay, look and music. You play as a brave knight who uses the honorable weapon of a shovel to defeat the forces of evil and save your friend Shield Knight. You fight through other themed knights who rule different lands to get to the evil doer The Enchantress. The game is styled like an action and platformer and I love it to bits. 

The man behind the beautiful the soundtrack is  Jake Kaufman. Kaufman has worked on previous games like Red Faction: Guerilla, Contra 4, and DuckTales: Remastered. Kaufman currently works as an independent composer with his own studio. His first independent game was Shovel Knight and that has set a beautiful precedent. I will be talking about two songs from the game.

 One of my favorite songs from the game is "Starlit Wilds". This song plays at the scenes where Shovel Knight is sitting at a bonfire. Shovel Knight has these scenes after you defeat a boss and then he dreams of saving Shield Knight. This song is dream like and floatt which perfectly fits the scene because moments in Shovel Knight will fall asleep. You can listen in the background of the music you can hear what sounds like crickets which is an amazing touch to make it really sound like a night time setting. 

The other song that I want to talk about it is "The Vital Vitriol" and that song is the song of my favorite boss in the game, Plague Knight. Plague Knight is a enemy boss that throws different potions in the fight that have different effects. The songs for the bosses have a very similar beats to them but are arranged differently to make each boss music feel unique and make the song fit the environment. The song uses high pitch notes to add a creepy almost mysterious science lab sound that fits the potion mixing and mad scientist vibe that the boss fight provides.

This game has fantastic moments that a very reminiscence of the SNES era of games and just makes me personally smile. You can purchase the album on Kaufman's BandCamp or listen to it on YouTube. Thanks for reading and see you next time. 

Funky Skater Beat of Jet Set Radio Future Keeps on Grinding

Looking at the cover art for the games as a young boy, I was immediately draw in because of the look of it Tony Hawk plus some kind of weird Japanese rebel spray painting. This game is called Jet Set Radio Future (JSRF) and it is a kind of sequel/remastering of the Sega Dreamcast game Jet Set Radio. JSRF was released on the original Xbox in 2002. The game is 3rd person and the graphical style of the game is called cell shaded  , which means the games as almost a hand drawn quality. 

In the game you can play many different characters that are apart of your crew called the GGs. You recruit more people to your crew as you play the game, but you need to beat them in a race to get them to join. Throughout the game the GGs have to fight against the enemies gangs that are causing trouble to the city. The city in the game is loosily based on Japan itself. The games setting has a real 1990s Japanese punk setting and the music of the game matches it perfectly.

The soundtrack to this game was made by Hideki Naganuma and Richard Jacques, who were the same duo that created the music that was in the original Jet Set Radio. Some of the songs that are in the game were not released on the original soundtrack of the game because they were made by other lesser known bands. Some of these bands were BS 2000 (Adrock from Beastie Boys), Scapegoat West, The Latch Brothers (Mike D from Beastie Boys) and the Prunes. I am noticing a pattern here. I will sadly not talking about these song since they were not on the official song track of the game, but in a different blog post I might. In this post today I will be discussing three of my favorite songs from it, but they are all extremely great songs.

When you put in the disc and the logos of developers and producers fly by, the music starts up with this heavy guitar rift that is pure 90s punk and the song name is "The Concept Of Love". On screen it is showing some of the characters in the game skating around everywhere and doing crazy tricks. This music and title screen video gives the player the exact feel of what this game will be. The song is extremely well made and almost sounds like something that is commercial, but then again most of the songs on here sound very well made. This song like most of the other songs on the soundtrack is very repetitive which makes it addicting.  If you are not into this heavy music don't worry every song on this soundtrack is different.

The nest song I will talk about is i think my favorite out of them all and it's "Oldie But Happies". This song uses old time television voices for most of the lyrics of the song and has this extremely happy-go-lucky beat to it that strangely matches up to skating around. The song near the end develops into  this chanting part that really keeps building and you almost feel inclined to chant along to because of how simple and cheeky the song is. 

The last song I am going to talk about is titled "Let Mom Sleep (No Sleep Remix)". This song is a remixed version of the song that appeared in original Jet Set Radio. The song starts out with this siren against a really funky beat that leads into some very intense bass lines. This song almost makes you want to dance more than anything else. Much like the last song I talked about this song also utilizes old television dialogue for the voices in this song. I don't know what it is about that idea, but I really enjoy that. I think it has to do with the fact that it is completely out of context and sounds ridiculous. 

This album, along with Halo, was one of the first that I really just sat there and just listened ot the music instead of playing the game. I loved everything in this game from its quirky graphics to it extremely silly idea of using graffiti to fight against the powers of evil and also inspired me to learn graffiti art which may not be the best thing. Thanks for reading and have a nice one!

The Bombastic and Sinfully Sweet Dark Souls Soundtracks

Two years ago I was suggested by a childhood friend to try and play a game that is called Dark Souls not really knowing what the game was about or how difficult that game was. Little did I know that this game, which would turn into a series, was one of the most challenging games to be released in current day video game market place. After a few attempts with the game, I finally told myself I need to actually fight through this game and beat it and after my 80 hour play through I fell in love with this game and would for the series. 

The Dark Souls series was created by Japanese based developer From Software in the October 2011 to critical acclaim, but not high sales numbers. There are a total of three Dark Souls games with the most recent one Dark Souls III releasing Tuesday April 12, 2016.Dark Souls games are action RPG games with a fantasy setting and famous for their large and interconnected worlds, very distinct controls and challenging bosses. This is a game that take patience and a calm mind. You can not just pick up the game and be the best at it you need to find your own play style. 

Throughout all three of the games in the Dark Souls series the composer Motoi Sakuraba has worked on them all. Sakuraba has worked in many different mediums including video games, anime, films and progressive rock albums as well. Most of Dark Souls music is made by orchestras and choirs. When it comes to music in Dark Souls it is only used in two parts of the game. One of the parts is when you are in the safe home base of the game and the other part is when fighting the intense and crazy bosses. I will be pulling songs from each game in the series that are my favorite and how they work for the boss.

The first song I will be talking about is the first boss in the game Dark Souls that I was stuck on for hours upon hours and that would be the "Bell Gargoyles". As you climb your way to the roof of a church you are then attack by a gargoyle and the boss fight begins. If you manage to get the gargoyle to half then another gargoyle will fly on to the roof and start to attack you as well. The music for this fight just explodes at you as soon as the fight begins you keep you on edge and ready to dodge and roll. The music has a heavy choral theme throughout the whole song playing on the church roof setting. I heard this song time and time and time again during the fight it still haunts me to this day, but I will always remember it for that reason tho and that is why it has a special place in my heart.

I will talk about one more song from the first Dark Souls game and that is played during the "Great Grey Wolf Sif" boss fight. In this fight you fight a giant grey wolf that wields a sword in it mouth to attack. The fight is mandatory in the game to obtain a ring that you need later which makes the fight that much more of an emotional fight because throughout the fight the more you hit Sif the more the wolf starts to limp and show his pain. The music of the fight completely fits this haunting idea of fighting a wolf that can show the fact that it is injured and make the player feel bad for what they do. The music is slower with another choral theme that adds a haunting sound to the battle.

The next song will talk about is from the second game Dark Souls II during the boss fight "The Rotten". The Rotten is a great boss in the game that is a large pile of corpses that turns into one person that fights. This boss is very gross and is dangerous. The Rotten's theme is very creepy and mysterious with sour notes and always building and swelling string instruments. 

The last song I will be talking about is from the new Dark Souls III and so far the only boss have beaten "Iudex Gundyr." Iudex is the first boss and a test to make sure that your skills are in check to progress. Iudex is a giant stone man that fights will a long range weapon and who will transform into a monstrosity for the last 50 percent of his health. The theme is classic Dark Souls epic boss music. Sadly I killed the boss before the whole song could play so I had to listen to it on the CD later.   

Dark Souls stands out in the gaming community now because of the challenge in the game and only the brave and patience will survive until the end. All of the soundtrack are available on Youtube and able to purchase on Amazon or iTunes. Thanks for reading. 

 

April 12 Releases: Dark Souls 3 and Hyper Light Drifter Soundtrack

Tomorrow I will be picking up the third installation of the Dark Souls series, which comes with the soundtrack, and the soundtrack to the new indie game Hyper Light Drifter. Both of these games are based on the video game genre as open world exploration game. 

I will be listening to both of the soundtracks over the next few days and do a post for both of the games as I can. Both soundtrack are extremely different from each other. Dark Souls 3 soundtrack is created by a large orchestra and choir and Hyper Light Drifter's soundtrack is made by one man and I have actually done a post about one of his games already FEZ, Disasterpeace. After I saw that he was creating the soundtrack to the game, my excitement for the game extensively increased. 

Hyper Light Drifter is a 2-D based RPG game with 8 to 16 bit graphics where Dark Souls is open world RPG that is 1080p 60fps (Frames Per Second). So the only things these games have in common is the fact that they are both RPGs and that they can be extremely difficult.

Thanks again for reading and my next update will more of less be one of these games if I can pry myself away long enough from these games. 

Halo's Space Rock Opera

 As I have said in my last post about Halo's composers Martin O'Donnell and Micheal Salvatori, Halo was a FPS released in 2001 for the Original Xbox and is set in 500 year in the future during humanities space age being devastated by an alien religious cult that plans to activate an ancient device that would wipe out all life in the universe. You play a space marine John-117, also known as the Master Chief, a man in a super powered suit that can take a ridiculous amount of damage and can deal out the same, but what makes Halo stand out from other FPS games would be the scoop and setting of the game, the multiplayer aspect and the bombastic soundtrack. Obviously I will be discussing the soundtrack today because that what I do.

In my last post I also talk about the title theme to Halo with the Gregorian chant and how that became a staple in the series, but now I will talk about some of the songs that made the level perfect and songs that inspired songs in the later games in the series. Some of the songs I will be talking about is "What Once Was Lost", "Lament For Pvt. Jenkins", "Devils..Monsters", "Truth and Reconciliation", and lastly "Halo".

The one level that the music perfectly combined with atmosphere and new introduced enemies was 343 Guilty Spark. In this level you are sent out to find a marine company that went lost in the dark jungle wetlands. After being dropped off you hear the eerie song "What Once Was Lost" as you push through the jungle. As you proceed through the jungle you come across a building in which you see the zealot aliens fleeing from in terror . After you get through them you proceed into the building and find that there is no one in the building to run from. You go down some elevators and proceed through the building only to find body after body of shredded corpses of both human and alien. When you get to the bottom most of the building you find the helmet of Pvt. Jenkins and take his recording out of his helmet to see what became of his company. As you begin to watch the tape the song "Lament For Pvt. Jenkins" which is solemn until creepy, high note and erratic string instruments cut in and make your skin crawl. The tape reveals that the company was attacked by an enemy called the Flood a infections organism that can take over a hosts body and use it to spread the infection. After the tape ends, you are immediately being surrounded and attacked by the Flood and the song "Devils...Monster" starts to play. This songs distorted sound adds to the scare and fear that are rising because of the oncoming attack. This song will play as you run your way out the building to regroup with another group of marines as you reach the exist to the building. Throughout this whole level the song will change three times going from creepy to down right chaotic and evil and is a perfect example on the music evolution in this game.

The next song I will talk about is titled "Truth and Reconciliation." This is one of my favorite song on the entire soundtrack because how much the song changes in the course of its eight and a half minute play time. This song play in various levels throughout the entire game and also plays the whole song if you sit at the main menu and listen. It plays in the levels Halo, The Silent Cartographer, Two Betrayals, Truth and Reconciliation, Keyes and The Maw. The various sections of the song are used in cut scenes and action segments of the game. The main moment the song is used in driving segments and the final drive to the end. This song is my favorite because the change in the song and also how much it sprinkled around the game.

The last song I will be talking about is simply titled "Halo." This song has appeared in every Halo game since in some form. This song also has the Gregorian chant in it as well in the beginning. This song is the legacy of the Halo games and will forever exist in the series,

This album was re-worked when they re-mastered the game on its 10th anniversary with a larger orchestra and new people, but this album to me will always be a classic. If you want to sit back and watch to the album you can listen to it on YouTube or you can purchase it on Amazon or iTunes. Thanks fir reading once again and have a great one.

The Masterminds Behind One Of Gaming's Best Soundtracks: Halo

Martin O'Donnell & Michael Salvatori

On June 11, 2001 Microsoft and Bungie released Halo; Combat Evolved of the Xbox gaming system and this release would be a change to First-Person Shooters (FPS) genre on home consoles. Halo successful was followed by many sequel games, comic books, novels, and animations. Halo's story is that you play as a space marine named Master Chief and your goal is to stop an alien religious covenant from destroying all life in the galaxy. The first Halo was a groundbreaking game for me personally because this is only one of a few games that can still remember the first time that I actually played it. Beyond the shooting Halo on other aspect caught my attention and that was the music.

The music in Halo: Combat Evolved was composed and produced by Martin O'Donnell and Michael Salvatori and they would later go on to compose Halo's next 4 games. When they started working on Halo, they wanted to make a space epic that would resonate, but at the time they didn't know the main theme they made for the game would have such an impact on the gaming community. They used a wide variety of instruments on the soundtrack. 

The main theme as I mention before is one of the first thing people think when they think about Halo. The reason this song does that is because of one music technique they used, Georgian chant. The Halo Theme is a mysterious and haunting start to a new experience that people will remember the first time they played this game. The Georgian chants after this would be a staple in the Halo soundtracks even to today where the soundtrack are no longer made by O'Donnell or Salvatori. 

Bungie in 2012 gave the Halo franchise to 343 Industries, which was created from old members of Bungie and new people in general. After the passing of the franchise O'Donnell and Salvatori decided to stay with Bungie instead of following Halo to 343 because they wanted to work on something different. Bungie would later put out Destiny and the soundtrack by O'Donnell and Salvatori would follow. After the release of Destiny O'Donnell had a falling out with Bungie and their supporters Activision and left Bungie. 

Today Martin is on the free market and I really can't wait to see what game he composes next, but his work with the Halo franchise will always have a special place in my heart.

Preview: No Man's Sky's Infinite Soundtrack

The game that has been turning head since it was announced in 2014 is the action survival game that is set in an open universe, No Man's Sky. This game is also set to release in June of 2016 on PlayStation 4. When I say open universe, I mean that the is 18,446,744,073,709,551,616 planets to explore. That's right over 18 quintillion different planets that has there own ecosystems, climate, animals, and topography. The game designers, Hello Games, didn't individually create each planet, but created a program that produces a procedurally generated universe. The program creates a planet then puts the according plant and wildlife on the planet that would fit the ecosystem and does that 18 quintillion times. Sean Murry, Hello Games Managing Director, was quoted on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert that even if a planet was discovered every minute we would all be dead before every planet would be discovered and personally that is an incredible and mind exploding thought.

The accompany and infinite universe, Hello Games hired a post-rock band named 65daysofstatic and Paul Weir. The idea behind the music in this game is 65daysofstatic would create melodies, loops, textures, and sounds and Paul Weir put these into a program that would randomly create a music to accompany the gameplay. On top of all that the music would also change in the game when approaching different terrains and whether the player is in high or low danger. The members 65daysofstatic was quoted by The Guardian saying that the idea that people could visit these planets that no one in the world has ever been to before and hear a version of the song that no one else will hear and we haven’t heard before, is so exciting.

Since the game is not released yet there are only a few samples of the music that No Man's Sky has to offer. There is a song that will be on the soundtrack that was released and 65daysofstatic played at a PlayStation Experience 2014 and gave the audience and example of what the soundtrack might sound like. So check those out if you are interested and I will update this again when the game is released. Thanks for reading and keep on jammin'. 

Banjo-Kazooie's Ever Changing Soundtrack 

It's June 29, 1998 and Rare, then Nintendo exclusive game designer, released their first 3D platform collectible hunting game for the Nintendo 64. The most comparable game that existed at the time would have been Super Mario 64. Banjo-Kazooie stars a duo of a bear named Banjo and a bird named Kazooie and their quest to free Banjo's sister, Tooty, from the evil clutches of the witch Gruntilda. Banjo and Kazooie have to hunt down puzzle pieces to create picture so they can slowly unlock the entrance to Gruntilda's castle and free his sister. Banjo-Kazooie was rated highyl by reviewers and still has a special place in gaming history, with it most recently being re-released on Xbox One of a collection of Rare games.

Banjo-Kazooie's soundtrack was revolutionary for the time because of depending on what you were doing in the level the music would change and the legend behind this idea was Grant Kirkhope. In an interview with Gamnesia, Kirkhope was quoted as saying that the developer wanted the music to be like that of the Lucas Arts Monkey Island series would the music would fade in and out depending on where you were in the game. Kirkhope started as a composer for Rare two years before did the Banjo-Kazooie music. Kirkhope has worked on such games like GoldenEye 007, Viva Pinata, Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z and coming some Yooka-Laylee, a Banjo-Kazooie spiritual successor. After Rare's purchase by Microsoft, he really wanted to expanded his horizons as a composer and left to be a composer for hire.

I will be talking about three song in this article and of the three, two of them have multiple versions that play a different places throughout the level. When these songs play throughout the level the only different is usually an instrument change and increased or decrease in speed. The song are "Treasure Trove Cove", "Mad Monster Masion" and "Final Battle Music." 

The level of Treasure Trove Cove is accompanied by the song of the same name. The level is beach and pirate themed and is completely surrounded by water. The music in the level is mainly island musical instruments like steel drum and bongos with xylophone, but as you travel around the area the music will change. When you enter water and start swimming the music is more subtle as if you actually dunked your head in water and listened to the music playing. As you approach a character named Capt. Blubber the music will change in the same music, but more flute and accordion than islander percussion instruments. The last evolution in the song is when approaching a giant crab named Nipper the music gets much faster and intense like most boss fights. This song and all of its variations are some of my favorite in the game.

The last level I will be talking about that has variation in it is the "Mad Monster Mansion." The song sounds just like a spooky haunted house music from Scooby-Doo complete with the organ, owl sounds and almost haunting moans. Much like Treasure Trove Cove, when you go under water in Mad Monster Mansion makes it more subtle and recreates in the water sound. The music also changed when you enter the haunted mansion, cemetery, and church. As before this is my second favorite songs.

The last song I will be talking about is the "Final Battle Music" and it doesn't have any variations. The main theme of that song is closely related to the song in the Wizard of Oz when there is the tornado. The similarities are even stronger because most of the fight Gruntilda flies around on her broom. The song also has song banjo music playing admits the epic music to signify Banjo fighting the evil.

I used to play this game all of the time when I was younger, but I sadly never 100% the game. The music was truly one of the funnest parts of the game that inspired of the intense moments that fuels the game. The soundtrack you can find on YouTube. Thanks for reading everyone and keep on jammin'.  

 

Far Cry Primal's Gritty and Natural Soundtrack

Set in the 10,000 BCE in central Europe, you control hunter Takkar of the Wenja tribe. As Takkar you must help your tribe survive in Ordos from rival tribes like the Udam and the Izila and from the animal because humans were not at the top of the food chain. The gameplay is FPS like the other games in the series, but there isn't any modern weapons in the game only weapons that can be crafted from things found in the environment like clubs, spears, bows, and rocks shaped into knives. Far Cry Primal was released by Ubisoft on February 23 for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One and on March 1 on PC.

The game designers of Primal really wanted the entire experience of the game to be authentic to a time so they hired composer Jason Graves to make them a soundtrack. In an interview by Ubiblog with Jason he was quoted as saying that Primal was a different experience in every way for all of the other games that he has composed for. Graves has worked on all of the Dead Space series, Tomb Raider (2013), Until Dawn and many more. 

To truly capture the feeling of the setting of the game, all of the instruments that Graves used on the soundtrack were out of materials that existed at the time period of the game. Some of the instruments that he used were bamboo, clay pots, dirt, gravel, plants, stones of various sizes, stone flutes, horns made out of horns and a special instrument called the Aztec Death Whistle. Graves wanted to make sure that none of the instruments was non-metal and natural. 

I will talking about three songs that show the variance in the music that Grave created for the game. The song are "Heart of Ordos", "Survival of the Udam", and "Wadijam Izila." 

The "Heart of Ordos" is the main theme for your Wenja village. This song doesn't have as much percussion as the other song and has some stone flute and horn sounds which adds a feeling a of comfort because it is your base of operation in the game. Graves was quoted as saying about the song that its supposed to remind the tribe the idea of ancestry and those who have passed. 

The next song, "Survival Of The Udam," is based on the tribe of the same name Udam. The Udam tribe is the game as very large fierce fighters that are painted with red war paint. The song goes along with the description of the tribe. The music is very guttural, slow and very brooding. There are also some simple male grunting sounds. The song is also very simple when I comes to the natural instruments because the tribe was stronger more than they were creative.

The last song "Wadijam Izila" is for the Izila tribe. This tribe has a strong religious like worship of the fire and sun. They cover themselves in blue paint and like to use more ranged weapons than the Udam because they are not as hulking as the Udam. The Izila tribe relies on spears, bows and there own creation of firebombs. Graves made the music in this song very fast and softer to represent the idea of these fast footed warriors and spread through the song is the use of the Aztec Death Whistle. The Death Whistle when used can create a sound that close to that of a human screaming and the instrument is shaped like a skull to add effect. Those screams add a feeling of fear into the music and that is one of the weapons that the Izila use because they can not meet straight head on in a fight. 

Primal's soundtrack truly shows that fantastic musicians and composers can create music even with the simplest of instruments and Jason Graves knocked it out of the park. I enjoyed this song even more because it came with the deluxe version of the game. This soundtrack opened my eyes into Jason's career as I discovered that he made the soundtrack to some of my favorite games. If you want to check out the soundtrack you can listen to the whole thing on YouTube or buy it on iTunes or Amazon as well. Thanks for reading everyone and keep on jammin'.

Fez's Multidimensional Soundtrack

Fez is an adorable indie puzzle platform game that will switches between 2D and 3D perspective in order to maneuver around the environment. The main character, Gomez, must travel around the world and collect golden cubes and cube fragments to restore order in the universe. The game has risen to critical acclaim from many different video game news outlets and has been ported to a variety of systems including PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 and 4. 

Fez's soundtrack was created by Richard Vreeland otherwise known as Disasterpeace. Disasterpeace used soft synth pads and reverb for the soundtrack to create a 80's synth vibe. He would also use bit-crushing and tap warping effect on the music to create the idea of space and time breaking during the gameplay. Disasterpeace was quoted by Kotaku saying he worked on this game at night for 13 to 14 months. After this Disasterpeace would go on to compose other games like The Floor Is Jelly and Hyper Light Drifter and the horror movie It Follows.

Fez's soundtrack much like other great video game original soundtracks are based on being super cinematic and react to players movements and location. The music on this soundtrack is very atmospheric and well fits the game vast environments and incredible artwork. I will be talking about two songs that truly show the level of atmosphere and feeling the soundtrack can make people feel. The songs are "Adventure" and "Glitch."

"Adventure" is the first song you will hear when you start into the game and it is this cheer little tune that fits how the game opens to this colorful, bright and quirky game. As you 2D platform around as Gomez in his world this music will accompany you. This song perfectly goes with the idea of not necessarily standing out in the moment as this great song, but works as a whole with what is happening on the screen to create a cinematic moment.

"Glitch" is the perfect example of what I mention previously about a song that has been distorted on purpose to invigorate the idea of time and space breaking down all around you when you are playing. This sounds in this song just sound off in slight ways, seems like parts are missing and like it skips like a vinyl record. It can sound slightly creepy and make you uneasy at times when it moves when cheery calm music to skipping and off sounding music.

I have supported Disasterpeace's music since this game came out and am excited to hear what he did for his next soundtrack for Hyper Light Drifter. If you really love the sound of synth you can find the soundtrack either on YouTube or buy it from his BandCamp page as well. 

Pokemon Red & Blue's 20 Year Old Soundtrack Still Rocks

Pokemon Red and Green were released in Japan on February 27, 1996 and September 28, 1998 in the US. Pokemon is a Role-Playing Game (RPG) in which a player will capture Pokemon and use them to fight to earn gym badges and become the region champion. The game was published by Nintendo and was available on the Game Boy. These games in 2004 would under go a remake for the Game Boy Advanced and as of today is available for the 3DS Virtual Console in its original form. I will be taking about the soundtrack from the original game not the remake.

The man responsible for the soundtrack of this game and all of the other Pokemon games is Junichi Masuda. Masuda has also directed 10 out of the 25 main series Pokemon games. He has been working for the Pokemon's game developer Game Freak since the beginning.  Throughout the companies rise he also has moved up to now be on Game Freak's board of director and is one of few employees that approves or rejects Pokemon designs. Masuda said with an interview with Game Radar that most of his Pokemon music was inspired by classical musicians like Igor Stravinsky, Dmitri Shostakovich and Gustav Holst. You can hear in the soundtrack the small classical sound to big orchestration pieces. I will be talking about some of the most memorable songs in this game, but because of its RPG nature the songs are short because when they play in game they will repeat because that is how the song is designed.

The first thing you notice when you turn on your Game Boy is Game Freak's logo and then the music starts and you see two Pokemon battling on the screen and its "The Opening Theme." The Pokemon, Gengar and Nidorino or Jigglypuff depending on the game version Red or Blue, are trading blows and the music builds as Nidorino or Jigglypuff goes in for a damaging attack. Right as the music finishes swelling and goes into the main theme the screen changes into the title screen. The music that plays before the title screen during the battle is intense and changes to triumphant on the title screen.

The next themes that I will talking about are all the different battle themes that exist in the game. The reason these songs are all together is because these songs all start the same. The battle theme that you will hear the most will be the "Vs Wild Pokemon Theme." This song will be play every time you run into a wild Pokemon in the tall grass. The next theme will play when you run into a fellow Pokemon trainer, 'Vs Trainer Theme." The last two battle themes I will mention are "Vs Gym Leader" and "Vs Last Battle Rival." These themes as I listed them go from least intense music to the extremely intense music of the final rival battle in the game, which is the toughest battle available in the game. All of these themes also share similar music ideas through them as well as how they start.

The last theme that I will be talking about is second most theme that you will hear throughout the game, the "Pokemon Center Theme." A Pokemon Center for those you who haven't played are places throughout the game that can heal your Pokemon to full health and revive them if they have fainted. The song is very sweet and almost nursery like music. This theme is the most memorable for me because I would constantly be here in the game because this healing was free.

Masuda has not repeated any of the battle themes throughout all of the Pokemon games and he wants to make them all feel special and distinct. This was one of the first series that I really feel in love with when I was younger and I still have affection for it today and with the next generation of Pokemon announced we can be sure that Masuda has a soundtrack ready to amaze. The original soundtrack is hard to buy but you can listen to it on YouTube or buy the remake version of it on iTunes. Thanks for ready everyone and keep rocking.

Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon's Neon Oozing Music

Blood Dragon's teaser trailer was released on April Fool's Day to the internet's confusion. People debated if it was real, until the publisher Ubisoft confirmed its authenticity two weeks after the trailer. Blood Dragon is an expansion of Ubisoft's game Far Cry 3, but has a completely different design and story. Blood Dragon pays homage to 80's action movies by having over the top characters with cheesy one liners, a retro-futuristic world and neon colors everywhere. The game is a First Person Shooter (FPS) in an open world environment. The games was released on PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PC. The plot of the game can be described as stop the bad guy, get the girl, and save the world and the protagonist name is Sergeant Rex "Power" Colt. Dean Evans, Far Cry developer, was quoted saying to GameInformer that the overall attitude for the project was shock and awe.

The musicians that Evans reached out to do the soundtrack was Power Glove. Power Glove is an Australian band that is under the genres electronic and synthwave. Synth music was the best choice for this game because synth music was heavily used in 80's movies. Evan said that the soundtrack was the first completed part the the game. Power Glove would send Evan songs during development and the songs would be exactly what they asked for. Evans said about Power Glove is that one of those glorious things about working with people who are into the same thing is they instantly click and get it.

I have a personal love for 80's action movies and how cheesy and over the top they are the soundtrack for the game is perfect. I will be talking about a few of the songs that make up the soundtrack. 

The first of these songs will be discussing is the theme to the game called "Blood Dragon Theme." This theme is actually what you would expect to hear when the title of an 80's action movies comes on the screen. The song is heroic, upbeat and fast paced. The song has layers for beats on beats with some electric guitar in the background between building up beats. 

The next song is title "Sloan." Sloan is the name of the bad guy in the game so this his theme.  This song plays then the player gets their first close introduction to the antagonist. This tone of the song is dark and evil with low toned sounds. There are fewer layers in this song and the song is more reminiscent of a 80's horror movie with mystery in the sound. 

The last song that I will be talking about is "Resurrection." This song plays in the final confrontation in the game after Rex is injured, but overcomes his wounds to fight. The song starts very quiet and simple, but then leaps into a repetitive beat that makes the player feel powerful because the beat doesn't stop throughout the rest of the song even as more and more layers. This is one of my favorite songs because of how layers just keep compiling and compiling. 

This soundtrack is on my short list of video game soundtracks that I listen to and it is definitely worth. This game was one of my favorites for just running with a theme and sticking to there guns and the soundtrack drastically helps. If you want to listen to the entire soundtrack you can find it here on YouTube or purchase you can it on iTunes or Amazon if you really like it. With a rumored sequel on the way, why not pick it up. Thanks for readying everyone until next time keep jamming. 

Undertale: A Soundtrack With "Determination"

Might be minor spoilers in here, Warned

Undertale is the most recent critically acclaimed indie game that the internet and myself have been obsessing over still even after its September 15, 2015 release. Undertale was created, written, designed and composed by Toby Fox with additional artwork done by Temmie Chang. The gameplay of Undertale is similar to two of Fox's favorite games Super Mario RPG and The Mother series. These games are all RPGs, if you didn't get that already, and Undertale is designed to look like these games did on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES). Undertale is the story of a human child who falls into the underground world of monsters where the child has to make a choice on how proceed through the underground. Undertale is so beloved because of its story and characters and how they interact and how the game changes up on how gamers traditionally play RPGs, which it was why it got the attention it deserves.

The most powerful aspect that Undertale that uses to enhance the gameplay is the soundtrack. Undertale has over 101 total songs on the soundtrack and each song was created by Fox. Each song on the soundtrack has a specific place that it was played in the game and in those moments you can feel joy, sadness, silliness, victorious, or fearful. The video game/pop culture site Kotaku named Undertale one of the best soundtracks of 2015. Since there are 101 songs, I will be covering a few that are mine and fan favorites.  

The first song that I will be talking about is titled "Bonetrousle." "Bonetrousle" plays in the boss fight of one of my favorite characters Papyrus. Papyrus is a skeleton who lives in the underground with his brother Sans. Papyrus is the goofy, flamboyant and very kind and all he wants to catch you so he can be promoted to Royal Guard. "Bonetrousle" has a very serious beat at first, but the rest of the song is bouncy and silly, much like Papyrus himself. An interview with Fox on website The Existential Gamer quoted Fox saying that "Bonetrousle" was composed before Undertale, but was absorbed into it because it fit so well.

The second song I will talk about is simply titled "Dummy!". This song the boss theme to a boss fight were you fight a possessed dummy call Mad Dummy. The music has a strong sound to the 1920's-1930's jazz swing sound to it. This song isn't just a song designed to loop over itself when over it is a true complete song which is slightly different than most of the songs on the soundtrack because most are about a minute song that can be looped forever and still sound great.

The last song I will be talking about is my favorite one on the soundtrack and it is "MEGALOVANIA." This song will play when you fight Sans, the brother of Papyrus. Sans is the complete opposite of papyrus, he lazy, likes making bad puns and can be eerily serious at times. This boss fight is the toughest in the game and the soundtrack shows that. The song has hyper rock music playing to keep the player on his toes because this part needs complete concentration. Fox, like "Bonetrousle", had created this song before Undertale, but unlike "Bonetrousle" he had used it in other places before. He used it in a game hack he made of EarthBound call "The Halloween Hack" and the game "Homestuck." 

Fox's soundtrack for Undertale has left its mark on the internet because if you search YouTube for a specific song will find that song covered in various styles ranging from metal to jazz. If you are interested in purchasing the soundtrack you can by it from bandcamp. 

Thanks for ready everyone, and if you have any suggestions put them in the comments below! Have a rocking day!

How Nakamura Rolled Around With Sonic

As stated in my previous blog, I talked slightly about Sonic The Hedgehog's composer and producer Masato Nakamura briefly, but I still wanted to tell more about Nakamura and this career before, during and after his work for SEGA. Even though Nakamura only worked on the first two Sonic games he is strongly remember for them in the gaming community.

Before Nakamura was created iconic music of Sonic, he was, and still is, the bass guitarist for the Japanese Pop (J-Pop) band Dreams Come True. Dreams Come True debut self-titled album in 1989, which would go on to sell more than a one million copies. In 1990, SEGA picked Nakamura to compose Sonic's soundtrack and Sonic was painted on Dreams Come True's tour bus revealing Sonic for the first time. Nakamura was quoted by Sonic City, defunct webiste, saying that he really wanted to sign on because he saw SEGAs passion to beat Nintendo's Mario. All was going up for Nakamura musical career.

Nakamura during the time he was creating music for Sonic Team, he quoted by Sonic City saying it was the perfect time to make the soundtrack because it was the turning point in music industry where it was shifting into the computers and the soundtrack was made on an Atari computer. Nakamura would continue to compose and produce the sequel Sonic The Hedgehog 2. Much like the first Sonic soundtrack, Nakamura composed the soundtrack was if it were a movie by creating music based on atmosphere and feeling of the zones. Sonic Team gave Nakamura almost complete musical control over Sonic's soundtrack. Nakamura would continue to knock Sonic 2's soundtrack, but this would be his last composed and produced Sonic soundtrack.

Sonic Team would drop Nakamura from composer of their next game Sonic The Hedgehog 3 because of financial disagreements. Nakamura would continue his music career with his band Dreams Come True, but he didn't leave SEGA on bad terms. Nakamura in 2006 remixed his song "Sweet, Sweet, Sweet" from Sonic 2 for the Sonic The Hedgehog (2006) game. He also allowed Wave Master to remix his music for the game Sonic Generations. Nakamura's music still lives on in Sonic soundtracks that are released today and will continue to in the future.