Tetris Plus - Title
I'm crazy about Tetris and I'm crazy about Gameboy music. You'll have to forgive me if this update is a little lazy as I'm short on time. Enjoy it.
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Monday, September 20, 2010
Doom II - The Demon's Dead
Doom II - The Demon's Dead
Doom II is probably one of the worst sequels to a game ever. I say this only because in terms of what we know as PC gaming today, it'd be much closer to what we think of as an expansion pack. The vast majority of the assets are reused and very little has been added outside of the Super Shotgun and some new monsters. So as I said, it's much closer to an expansion than the sequel that most people would have expected if the games came out today. The only element of the game that was entirely new, aside from the new stages, was the music. Unsurprisingly, they drew again from the heavy metal scene to come up with about half the score. One of my favorite tracks, The Demon's Dead is actually derived from a Black Sabbath song that came out around the same time. It turns out that Black Sabbath continued to make music after Heaven and Hell.
Doom II is probably one of the worst sequels to a game ever. I say this only because in terms of what we know as PC gaming today, it'd be much closer to what we think of as an expansion pack. The vast majority of the assets are reused and very little has been added outside of the Super Shotgun and some new monsters. So as I said, it's much closer to an expansion than the sequel that most people would have expected if the games came out today. The only element of the game that was entirely new, aside from the new stages, was the music. Unsurprisingly, they drew again from the heavy metal scene to come up with about half the score. One of my favorite tracks, The Demon's Dead is actually derived from a Black Sabbath song that came out around the same time. It turns out that Black Sabbath continued to make music after Heaven and Hell.
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Ocarina of Time - Forest Temple
Ocarina of Time - Forest Temple
The shift from deliberate game music to atmospheric setpieces has been a bumpy one. Most songs seem to be middling while others have a hard time capturing the intended mood. Ocarina of Time is one of the first games that I noticed that did it right for the most part, the standout piece being the Forest Temple. Everything about this song whispers Haunted Meadow/Castle, from the chiming wood drums to the ghastly calls. It's perfect in every way and it's the standout piece in the game.
The shift from deliberate game music to atmospheric setpieces has been a bumpy one. Most songs seem to be middling while others have a hard time capturing the intended mood. Ocarina of Time is one of the first games that I noticed that did it right for the most part, the standout piece being the Forest Temple. Everything about this song whispers Haunted Meadow/Castle, from the chiming wood drums to the ghastly calls. It's perfect in every way and it's the standout piece in the game.
Ys Seven - An Assault
Ys Seven - An Assault
I don't sling the word "epic" lightly in my day to day speech. That said, It's hard to describe this song any other way. Maybe that's the fault of my minuscule vocabulary or maybe I'm just a big dummy. Regardless, An Assault is one of the absolute best boss themes I've heard in a video game. I know, Ys and Great Video Game Music are practically synonymous terms, but daaanng. Ys Seven is also my entry point into the series and it's possibly my game of the year so far alongside Mass Effect 2.
I don't sling the word "epic" lightly in my day to day speech. That said, It's hard to describe this song any other way. Maybe that's the fault of my minuscule vocabulary or maybe I'm just a big dummy. Regardless, An Assault is one of the absolute best boss themes I've heard in a video game. I know, Ys and Great Video Game Music are practically synonymous terms, but daaanng. Ys Seven is also my entry point into the series and it's possibly my game of the year so far alongside Mass Effect 2.
Halo: Reach - Ghosts and Glass
Halo: Reach - Ghosts and Glass
One of my biggest surprises this year in game music has been Halo Reach. The music has always been pretty stellar, but Reach just has a certain somber tone to it that I can't help but connect with. It's hard to really pin down any one "must listen" song, but I think Ghosts and Glass is a pretty good show of what the OST is about. If you liked this, 1up ran a pretty interesting feature with the composer of the soundtrack that I think is definitely worth reading.
One of my biggest surprises this year in game music has been Halo Reach. The music has always been pretty stellar, but Reach just has a certain somber tone to it that I can't help but connect with. It's hard to really pin down any one "must listen" song, but I think Ghosts and Glass is a pretty good show of what the OST is about. If you liked this, 1up ran a pretty interesting feature with the composer of the soundtrack that I think is definitely worth reading.
Jazz Jackrabbit - Orbitus
Jazz Jackrabbit - Orbitus
This is a cool song.
Jazz Jackrabbit was one of the few computer games I played back in the day and I really loved it. The blend of Sonic the Hedgehog speed and level style and run'n'gun gameplay was pretty much ideal at my young age. I've gone back to the game recently through the miracles of DOSBox and discovered that Jazz Jackrabbit was probably never a good game. The stage design is all over the place and Jazz's speed is counter-intuitive to the shooting. That said, I still managed to have some fun with it. While the gameplay may be bad, the music is mostly pretty great and I say this with no nostalgia. This song though, Orbitus, is all about the nostalgia. There's no way I could listen to it and not go back 15 years.
This is a cool song.
Jazz Jackrabbit was one of the few computer games I played back in the day and I really loved it. The blend of Sonic the Hedgehog speed and level style and run'n'gun gameplay was pretty much ideal at my young age. I've gone back to the game recently through the miracles of DOSBox and discovered that Jazz Jackrabbit was probably never a good game. The stage design is all over the place and Jazz's speed is counter-intuitive to the shooting. That said, I still managed to have some fun with it. While the gameplay may be bad, the music is mostly pretty great and I say this with no nostalgia. This song though, Orbitus, is all about the nostalgia. There's no way I could listen to it and not go back 15 years.
Ufouria - Ice Cave
I guess I should explain what this blog is before I delve straight into the gooey essence of what it is that I'm doing. Beats n' Bleeps is a blog about sharing game music. As I've slowly lost interest in BusterLogic, I've noticed that my favorite posts were my most recent ones in which I talked about game music. After realizing this, I decided that it was time to re-bottle that lightning. This will be a DAILY blog. Yes, yes, I've had trouble keeping up in the past, I know. This time is different though, this time I'm talking about music. I'm no expert on the subject, but I do believe I'm qualified to share sum songz. Anyways, to kick it off, I'm going to start off with five posts, the first of which will be posted below.
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Ufouria - Ice Cave
Ufouria is a game that I've tried to play several times throughout years of dicking around with emulators. It wasn't until recently that I discovered that it was actually good. It's very much a Metroidvania styled game and it's cute as a button. As good as it looks, though, it's the music that captured my attention. I wasn't sure what song to post from the game, so I decided to go with one that I kind of disliked at first and slowly grew to enjoy. This track plays during the Ice Cave early in the game where you need your buddy Freeon Leon to traverse. This is a good song with a forboding tone and moments of neoclassical melodies. Enjoy it and buy Ufouria on the Virtual Console, you won't regret it.
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Ufouria - Ice Cave
Ufouria is a game that I've tried to play several times throughout years of dicking around with emulators. It wasn't until recently that I discovered that it was actually good. It's very much a Metroidvania styled game and it's cute as a button. As good as it looks, though, it's the music that captured my attention. I wasn't sure what song to post from the game, so I decided to go with one that I kind of disliked at first and slowly grew to enjoy. This track plays during the Ice Cave early in the game where you need your buddy Freeon Leon to traverse. This is a good song with a forboding tone and moments of neoclassical melodies. Enjoy it and buy Ufouria on the Virtual Console, you won't regret it.
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