Random Musings

Favorite Gaming Music #29: Twinkle Star Sprites - La Petite Princesse - Love me (Lovely mix)

2011-06-10T13:58:00.000-07:00

After a brief hiatus, I have come back to continue my list. Strangely enough, I was reminded of arcade shooter called "Twinkle Star Sprites" when I was chillin' and watching UFGT7. It is very animeish and kinda reminds me of a cross between 1942 and Tetris Attack. I love the concept of clearing your side and basically put trash on your opponent's side to kill them off. Of the few times I used to play, this game was ridiculously addicting and incredibly fun. I just wish there was a release for North America. At the very least, I wish there was an arcade machine nearby with this game in it. I would totally dump a lot of quarters into it. This song entitled "Love me (Lovely mix)" encompasses the fun, cheery nature of the game. It's very upbeat and totally gels well with my tastes and sensibilities. I would like to play this game right now actually. So many good memories with this game.

Favorite Gaming Music #28: DuckTales - The Moon

2011-04-28T08:40:00.000-07:00

Listening to the theme music for this stage, it is no wonder why I like this song so much. Looking at who developed the game, it all made sense. Capcom developed the game and it is no wonder why I had this feeling that the music was very MegaMan-ish. How can you go wrong with one of the greatest animated series of all time and one of the greatest video game developers of all time combining to make a great game? This was one of the first games that I know that I became a completionist on. I distinctly remember having to collect all the treasures in the game. It made me feel accomplished. It's been a while since I played this game, but I do remember "The Moon" theme. I think the only song that could even rival this stage music is the opening to the animated series. "Life is like a hurricane..."

Favorite Gaming Music #27: WarioWare: Touched! - Ashley's Song

2011-04-27T08:02:00.000-07:00

My first experience with the WarioWare series was actually WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgames! for the Game Boy Advance. It was a nice concept playing a game with many levels each containing various minigames. I have played WarioWare Touched! and WarioWare: Smooth Moves as well. If I had to pick favorite characters from the series, I would have a problem choosing among the following characters: Ashley, Mona, and Kat & Ana. However, choosing a favorite song among their stages is easy. "Ashley's Song" by far! I do like the updated version of the song that they played in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, but I prefer the original version that aired in WarioWare: Touched! so much more. Being a witch, the original version makes her sound more younger and melancholy. In comparison, the Brawl version makes her sound like a teen and far less melancholy. If you don't like this song, she'll turn you into a spoon.

Favorite Gaming Music #26: NiGHTS into Dreams... - Dreams Dreams

2011-04-26T00:04:00.000-07:00

This is another one of those games that I was very bad at and still loved playing it. My first encounter of NiGHTS into Dreams... was in middle school. I played it at a friend's house and played it a considerable amount to the point of addiction. I guess I was amazed with how fluid the game was. I believe it was also my first encounter with a 32-bit system. Although I was more than content with my SNES, I did enjoy playing the Sega Saturn a lot. I fall along with many other Saturn players that enjoyed two games in particular for the system. These games were NiGHTS into Dreams... and Panzer Dragoon Saga. For the moment, we will talk about NiGHTS into Dreams... There is one song that came to mind and it was "Dreams Dreams." It stuck in my mind because of the two versions of the song that existed - the kids and the adult versions. Listening to it now, I admit that it does sound kinda cheesy, but it remains quite nostalgic. If I had to pick between the two versions currently, I would barely choose the adult version. While the kids version does sound cute, it bothers me somewhat. I can't really pinpoint why. I guess the adult version sounds more solid.

Favorite Gaming Music #25: Kingdom Hearts - Dearly Beloved

2011-04-25T00:16:00.000-07:00

I've been noticing my string of upbeat music lately. I'll try to slow it down a bit and here we are with another intro theme. This is "Dearly Beloved" from the Disney-Square crossover game, Kingdom Hearts. This theme by Yoko Shimomura is so soothing that it makes you want to chill. How can you not be at ease listening to this? From front to back, the Kingdom Hearts franchise always possessed a great soundtrack. In my opinion, this is the best version of "Dearly Beloved" in the series. The Kingdom Hearts II version comes close, but I'm sticking with the original. More Kingdom Hearts music will be in the future; in particular, "Simple and Clean"/"Hikari" and "Passion"/"Sanctuary".

Favorite Gaming Music #24: Dance Dance Revolution 2ndMix - STOMP TO MY BEAT (by JS-16)

2011-04-24T00:28:00.000-07:00

Back in the early 2000s, I did play some Dance Dance Revolution (DDR). I was never good at it, but it was a fun game to play with others. Before the hype of Guitar Hero and Rock Band, this was the game that you had to play with friends. The problem was always finding friends to play it with. The case will either be that they wouldn't be caught dead playing it or that they would rather do some real dancing. This is similar to Guitar Hero and Rock Band in terms of people's viewpoints of these games. "Why don't you play a real instrument?" is what many would say. Personally, I don't care. I have fun playing it and it's all that matters. Now, I chose "STOMP TO MY BEAT" primarily because I love this song and it was weird the first time I heard it outside of the game. Listening to the radio, I identified this as "Hey, isn't it that DDR song?" It was very popular at the time and I began to wonder if more of those songs would eventually make it onto the radio. To my knowledge, I don't believe any more had. Definitely a great party song! I'm sure it was played a lot in clubs.

I had to debate whether I wanted to put mainstream songs into this list because I could number off a bunch of Guitar Hero and Rock Band songs by Modest Mouse, Aerosmith, and so on. I will limit myself to songs that weren't done by extremely popular mainstream artists. Expect more DDR songs in the future. I have tons from the multitude of mixes out there. For the purposes of this blog, I linked to the full version of the song.

Favorite Gaming Music #23: Halo - Rock Anthem for Saving the World

2011-04-23T06:24:00.000-07:00

I had to figure out a song to pick an Xbox game, so I picked the quintessential Xbox game, Halo. "Rock Anthem for Saving the World" usually occurs, if memory serves me, when you are in the open areas, driving the Warthog. I love how upbeat it is. I could have very well picked the main theme too because of the haunting allure it brings. I choose this, however, because when I envision Halo, it's killing aliens and nothing fits better than this song.

Favorite Gaming Music #22: Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land - Butter Building

2011-04-22T06:31:00.000-07:00

I haven't played too many Kirby games, but I remember blasting through this game in particular. Kirby games are always fun. Who doesn't enjoy sucking up enemies and stealing their powers? My experience with the game itself was when my friend and I were sitting in the theater waiting for The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers to start playing. We went to a midnight showing and came early to claim our seats because it was opening day. We came really early and he let me play the game. I totally blazed through it. It was simple, but really fun. Kirby games always have this fun musical vibe to it. If I had to pick a song from the game to exemplify this, then look no further than "Butter Building."

Favorite Gaming Music #21: Street Fighter II - Guile's Theme

2011-04-21T07:39:00.000-07:00

I have to give in to the theme that goes with everything. Who knew a track that can appear to be so simple sound good? Street Fighter II is the quintessential fighting game and a lot of the stage music is great, but I'll go with this one for now. It's hard to choose any single song from this game, but Guile's theme wins out. It goes with everything and apparently it goes with this blog as well. It should make you go home and be a family man. Hehe!

Favorite Gaming Music #20: Trauma Center: Under The Knife 2 - Encroaching Shadows

2011-04-20T07:17:00.000-07:00

This is definitely my favorite song in the Trauma Center series. "Encroaching Shadows" as a YouTube commenter posted gives it a "sense of urgency" to your actions. Playing the role of a doctor in the game, it urges you to act swiftly to save the patient's life in the most dire circumstances. I could not agree more. Just listening to it right now, I envision the many times I had to save my patients from the various forms of GUILT. Not only do you have to combat what's in front of you, but there is also a time limit on top of that. It is one of the best series on the Nintendo DS and fully utilizes the stylus in a very intuitive way. Definitely worth a try for any DS owner!

Favorite Gaming Music #19: Portal - Still Alive

2011-04-18T22:08:00.000-07:00

It's not April 19, 2011. It's actually the day before the release date of Portal 2, April 18, 2011. In commemoration of the early release of Portal 2, it is only right to post Portal's "Still Alive" early as well. Being a puzzle game where you basically shoot portals so you can navigate a stage may not sound enticing to some, but it was a whole lot of fun. It did manage to spout out a meme about cake which can be annoying depending on which side of the fence you are on. The draw of the song is mainly from the humorousness of the lyrics and the great singing of the voice actor, Ellen McLain. A lot of credit should also go to Jonathon Coulton for writing the song as well. In my opinion, he has a lot of great geeky music and I listen to him every once in a while. Oddly enough, you will never find this song in Portal unless you beat the game and title implies that something is "still alive." That implication possibly helped along the prospects of Portal 2 coming to be. Definitely a great end song if I ever heard one. DO NOT WATCH THE VIDEO unless you want to play the game. It contains massive spoilers for the game.

Favorite Gaming Music #18: Metroid - Brinstar

2011-04-18T07:12:00.000-07:00

It's time for "Brinstar" from Metroid. The title of the song being named after the first area in Metroid. Although I never played it on the NES, I did play it on the Wii Virtual Console. The game is significantly harder than the remake for the GBA - Metroid: Zero Mission. In both games, however, I did enjoy the "Brinstar" theme. I enjoy humming along as I'm blasting Space Pirates and the such. Expect more from the series, including strangely enough one of my favorite in the series, Metroid II: The Return of Samus.

Favorite Gaming Music #17: Valkyrie Profile - The 'Unfinished Battle With God' Syndrome

2011-04-17T07:20:00.000-07:00

This is the regular battle theme from one of the most underrated games to come out the Playstation. Although it is titled "Fighting the Shadowy Gods," it is really titled "The 'Unfinished Battle With God' Syndrome." In any event, I'm glad Sony re-released the game onto PSP so that it can be appreciated by more people. This game has one of the most fun battle mechanics for a turn-based RPG. I will definitely post more songs from this game. It definitely ranks among my top 10 games of all-time. Great story, music, gameplay...it has it all!

Favorite Gaming Music #16: Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Pursuit ~ Cornered

2011-04-16T06:02:00.000-07:00

Who knew I would get addicted to an attorney game? Phoenix Wright has to be, by far, my favorite series on the Nintendo DS. I have all five of the games on the system available in North America - Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Justice For All, Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Trials and Tribulations, Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney, and Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth. Nothing gets me more pumped up in this game than when I turn the case on its head and it usually happens in a turnabout in a trial. "Pursuit ~ Cornered" usually occurs as you end the trail and have the person cornered as the title suggests. I can't wait for Ace Attorney Investigations 2 to come out here. I was kinda disappointed when I heard the Professor Layton-Ace Attorney crossover will be on the Nintendo 3DS. I'm not too keen on the titles so far. I will hold out on getting that system. But for now, listen to "Pursuit ~ Cornered" from Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney.

Favorite Gaming Music #15: Final Fantasy - Prelude

2011-04-15T06:36:00.000-07:00

This song (or some rendition) has been in pretty much every Final Fantasy since its creation in one form or another. In my opinion, this is the defining song of the series. This makes me sad when in later games, you had bastardized versions of "Prelude." (I'm looking at you Final Fantasy X.) It's such a simple melody that it doesn't shock me that Nobuo Uematsu only took 10 minutes to create it, but it's such a good melody that it does shock me that it only took 10 minutes to create it. Although I feel like some of the later versions may be better to me, I am going with the first one because it is the foundation of all later "Prelude" versions.

Favorite Gaming Music #14: Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner - Beyond the Bounds

2011-04-14T06:23:00.000-07:00

When is Hideo Kojima ever going to make Zone of the Enders 3? As much as I like the Metal Gear Solid franchise, I just wish he would have made at least one Zone of the Enders game in the past eight years! The GameFAQs poll on April Fools' Day reminded of how badly I wanted to play that game above all the other games mentioned in that list. Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner was one of the first games I played for PS2. I used to sit around and just listen to "Beyond the Bounds" mixed with the game dialogue. I just wish I had this game in my possession. This game is one of those hard to find games that I wish I owned. It makes me nostalgic for 2003 again.

Favorite Gaming Music #13: Super Mario Galaxy - Gusty Garden Galaxy

2011-04-13T14:24:00.000-07:00

I could have continued my favorite music in games based on their opening or first stage with this game as well, but I'll hold off on that for now. I continue my series with quite possibly the best game on the Wii, Super Mario Galaxy. After a less than spectacular Super Mario Sunshine, in my opinion, this was a great addition to the main Mario series. Not only was the game fun, but the music added a sense of grandeur to the game. As Mario is flying around, the music adds a sense of majesty and an immersive experience to the entire thing. It is definitely worth playing as well as the sequel. From this game, I chose Gusty Garden Galaxy. Definitely a great song, but the soundtrack overall is amazing!

Favorite Gaming Music #12: Sonic the Hedgehog - Green Hill Zone

2011-04-12T10:05:00.000-07:00

I think my biggest concern when I started making this list of songs is how I'm going to reconcile my deficiencies with certain systems. For many, we tended to go through either the Nintendo route of systems or Sega. Well, I grew up with a Nintendo and didn't play many games on the Sega systems. I did manage to play the Sonic series though. For this pick, I chose Green Hill Zone from Sonic the Hedgehog. This is the song that I hear when I think of Sonic. It's akin to the music in World 1-1 of Super Mario Bros. It's the music that you hear when you start the game and it's embedded into your memory. It helps a lot that the song is pretty good too.

Favorite Gaming Music #11: Metal Gear Solid - Main Theme

2011-04-11T09:01:00.000-07:00

I continue my series of Favorite Gaming Music series with the Metal Gear Solid Main Theme. This was such an easy choice for songs from this series. You can't go wrong with this song. I can't pinpoint what it is about this song, but this (and another song in the series yet to come in my series) fits the series so well. It is one of those songs that once you listen to it, you know what game it came from. I believe it is that iconic. The reason I'm blogging about this song today was that Metal Gear Solid ended the Speed Demos Archive's charity drive for Doctors Without Borders for Japan Relief. Just watching them and listening to this song makes me want to play MGS right now.

Although their gaming marathon is over, Speed Demos Archive is still accepting donations through their Chipin widget. It will be active thru April 15. Plus, their marathon will be posted online with vods within the next few days. Go to http://www.speeddemosarchive.com.

Favorite Gaming Music #10: Double Dragon - Mission 1

2011-04-10T06:34:00.000-07:00

When I stumbled upon the Speed Demos Archive stream, they were setting up for Double Dragon. Double Dragon is one of those beat em ups that you never get sick of. I love the music from stage 1. I could play Mission 1 forever and I would be satisfied. I just wish the Shadowmaster didn't mess up with their Double Dragon II run. It seems like he doesn't want the Lee brothers to get their revenge.

Speed Demos Archive is still doing their marathon to raise money for Doctors Without Borders for Japan Relief. Be sure to check them out before the weekend ends. I believe the Chipin widget is active through Friday. http://www.speeddemosarchive.com

Speed Demos Archive Marathon for Japan Relief

2011-04-09T19:47:00.000-07:00

http://speeddemosarchive.com/

Speed Demos Archive is raising money for Doctors Without Borders for Japan Relief. Games come from, but aren't limited to the following series: Mario, Castlevania, Metroid, Earthbound, etc. April 7-10. Check it out!

Manga - Naruto 534

2011-04-09T19:42:00.000-07:00

The chapter continues as the last chapter ended, Chouji activates the Calorie Control Technique without using the calorie pills. With Chouji's newfound confidence, Ino-Shika-Chou counterattacks. Ino uses Mind-Body Switch on two white Zetsu to distract Asuma while Shikamaru uses Shadow Sewing Technique. As Asuma jumps to avoid the technique, Chouji uses the Butterfly Bullet Bombing Technique to punch Asuma into the wall behind him. Shikamaru then uses Asuma's own chakra blades to bind Asuma to the wall. As Asuma has some final words to say to his former students, Shikamaru cuts him off and says that they already heard his last words. Asuma goes on to say that he has something else to say to them that he couldn't say last time and that is that he has nothing else to say to them. He says their Ino-Shika-Chou formation is perfect before he gets sealed by the sealing squad. Chouji proceeds to say that he wants to end this war now as his wings are seen by everyone in the battlefield.

Elsewhere, Naruto is still training with Bee. Naruto swears he felt the Nine-Tails chakra earlier, but Bee says that he's imagining things. Eight-Tails is aware that Naruto is growing suspicious and tells Bee to not allow Naruto to leave the chakra isolation chamber. Naruto asks to go to the bathroom and leaves despite Eight-Tails telling Bee to keep him in there. As Naruto leaves the temple, Naruto's suspicions are confirmed as he encounters Shino's dad along with many other guards as they tell him to turn around and continue training. As he pleas with them to continue their talk outside, Iruka appears on the scene.

This chapter was pleasing for two reasons. Firstly, I felt that this World War thing was dragging way too long. At first, it felt great to see all the character do their thing, but it was just tedious. Many of the battles were around fringe characters or characters with very little screen time with their moment in the sun. I thought Zabuza/Kakashi would be fun, but that ended too fast. And I didn't care for Darui vs. Ginkaku/Kinkaku. Chouji was ok, but it took way too long for him to develop backbone. Because the focus was on the war, the story seemed to drag and it made miss Naruto even more. This leads to my second point, which is turning the focus back onto Naruto. The story was dragging without someone to move the plot along. I just want somebody to put an end to this quickly. Hopefully, Chouji's vow to end the battle and the re-emergence of Naruto will bring some renewed life into a series that felt like it dragging.

Favorite Gaming Music #9: Chrono Cross - Scars of Time

2011-04-09T09:47:00.000-07:00

I'll be honest. I'm one of these individuals that prefer Chrono Trigger to Chrono Cross. Personally, I felt as if this was an entirely different game than a continuation of the Chrono Trigger. Despite the differences in gameplay, battle mechanics, and graphics, it still had a great soundtrack of which all games in the Chrono series possesses. For starters, I just decided to pick the song from the opening credits, "Scars of Time." It just matches so well with the cinematics in the introduction. How does one not get pumped up to play this game?

Manga - Bleach 443

2011-04-08T08:09:00.000-07:00

Here is my first non-Favorite Gaming Music post. I have no idea why I'm wasting it on the Bleach manga, but here goes.

Ichigo is still training with Jackie for his fullbring powers. Meanwhile, Chad asks Ginjou what Tsukishima's ability is. As the battle between Jackie and Ichigo continues, Ichigo realizes that her kicks are getting stronger and it was due to her Dirty Boots ability, which was introduced last chapter. As Jackie's boots get dirtier, they get stronger. As she grows tired of Ichigo, Ichigo uses his fullbring focus ability a third time which opens a weakness that Jackie was going to exploit, but Ichigo turns that weakness into an opportunity to strike using Bringer Light to appear behind Jackie and strike. After she believes Ichigo is understanding to use his fullbring powers, she asks who trained him. After this short chat, something happens to Ichigo.

The chapter was ok. I can't say that I particularly enjoyed it, but there is progress in terms of Ichigo's training albeit a slow progress. The art can be weird at times with a certain picture of Jackie going for a kick. It left me wondering if a body can contort that way. Like many of the recent chapters, it can be hard to follow what is going on since it's just black and white lines. For training sequences that look like 30-minute sessions, they sure eat up a lot of chapters.

My major gripe goes beyond the contents of this chapter. It has to deal with the introduction of fullbring. Despite the fact that the author created a universe in which reiatsu was the source of power for basically all of the introduced characters, the author just adds another set of powers that is convenient for Ichigo to continue on in the series as the main protagonist. Although Aizen was "defeated" in the Fake Karakura Town arc, I seriously doubt that was the end of it and we still need Ichigo to stand up to him. Going from reiatsu to fullbring is a huge shift. I'm not still entirely used to it. However, it makes me curious about how Ichigo is supposed to stand up to Aizen with his new skill set. I guess that's why Tsukishima is around.

Favorite Gaming Music #8: Mega Man II - Wily Stage 1

2011-04-08T07:08:00.000-07:00

This could be the greatest Mega Man stage music ever. Mega Man II, Wily Stage 1 is so fast-paced, it's impossible to not get pumped up. Although it's pretty much a toss up between everyone's favorite Mega Man game (II or III), I prefer III. But that doesn't stop me from thinking that this may be the greatest stage theme to any of the Mega Man games. There will be a lot more Mega Man songs in the future. There are just so many games and music associated to the many series. One cannot ignore it.

Favorite Gaming Music #7: Tetris - Theme A

2011-04-06T21:21:00.000-07:00

All you really need to know is the theme and you can easily identify the game. Just about everybody has played some form of this game in one way or another. Tetris is so popular that it was in the Windows OS. I remember when I first got my Game Boy in 1989. I played this game to death. I played Tetris so much that along with the other games on my system, I wore out my Game Boy and the screen started getting messed up. Tetris is so fun, I bought Tetris DS for Nintendo DS just so I can play some puzzle games whenever I feel like it. I have plenty of memories tied to Tetris, which include running up the high score on my friend's game so high that he wipe the data in the game just to get rid of my score. Hilarious! As far as I know, this is the Tetris A theme. When I was younger, I liked the B theme more. It'll show up later in my list of favorite music, but we must start with this iconic theme.

Favorite Gaming Music #6: Final Fantasy X - To Zanarkand

2011-04-05T05:56:00.000-07:00

This is definitely the best song from Final Fantasy X, "To Zanarkand." The game itself was fun and definitely cracks my top 10 for Final Fantasy games, but there are many other games in the series that were simply better. However, I felt that one of the greatest strengths of Final Fantasy X was its music. If there is one thing about Square that they know how to do, then it is the music. The music enhances the storytelling and the gameplay of any RPG. This is no different.

Favorite Gaming Music #5: StarCraft - Terran Theme 1

2011-04-03T20:11:00.000-07:00

Next installment comes from the greatest RTS series of all-time, StarCraft. Terran is not imbalanced, but their music sure is. I play Protoss, but even I can't deny the greatness of the Terran music. Much like what Chrono Trigger did to get me into RPGs, StarCraft got me into RTS. I may not be great at this game, but I had tons of fun with friends playing Big Game Hunters and Turret Defense on the side. The game had great characters, superb story, exceptional gameplay, and excellent music to back it up. Blizzard really outdid themselves with this game. If only StarCraft II had LAN support, then maybe I would consider that game to be better. That is yet to be seen.

Favorite Gaming Music #4: Chrono Trigger - Chrono Trigger

2011-04-02T21:14:00.000-07:00

This song comes from my favorite video game ever, Chrono Trigger. It is the aptly named "Chrono Trigger." This game has brought me so many memories. It is the one game that single-handedly brought me into the RPG realm of gaming. To this day, it is quite possibly the one game that I had played the most (and beat the most). I remember that I bought Chrono Trigger for SNES at a Kay-Bee for $80 + tax in 1995 dollars. Imagine how much it would be in today's dollars. I loved the game so much that I was thrilled when I heard Square-Enix was going to re-release the game on the Nintendo DS. As I continue on in my list of favorite gaming music, I will definitely list many more tracks from Chrono Trigger. The soundtrack is just that good.

Favorite Gaming Music #3: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time - Gerudo Valley

2011-04-01T22:20:00.000-07:00

For a while, I was contemplating which was my favorite Legend of Zelda game. Although I prefer A Link to the Past to Ocarina of Time, I believe that Ocarina of Time has the better music. Look no further than Gerudo Valley.

Favorite Gaming Music #2: Super Mario Bros. - Main Theme

2011-03-31T17:01:00.000-07:00

In my quest to continue listing my favorite gaming songs, I would probably have to include the game that started my love for gaming, Super Mario Bros. I think I got my NES in 1988 and I still have it around in far from spectacular shape. This tune is a classic.

Favorite Gaming Music #1: Final Fantasy VI - The Decisive Battle

2011-03-30T17:06:00.000-07:00

I feel the need to blog more often. Hopefully, I can keep this going unlike my other blogs. I think this will serve more as a conduit of things that I like in terms of books, movies, games, etc.

I guess I'll start off with my favorite gaming music with a song that I just got nostalgic about as I was watching a Let's Play of Final Fantasy VI. I chose The Decisive Battle, but the version on the FFVI Advance because I think it sounded better.