ALIEN 3 (NES)
(full cover)
15 tracks, 20:19. Samples-
Title Theme
Missions 1 & 2
Ending Theme
Marketed to follow up on the 1992 film, Alien 3 was released for multiple systems in the following couple years. The NES version was released in 1993 and features music by Jeroen Tel, a composer who is well known for his Commodore 64 soundtracks.
Probably not by coincidence, you can hear similarities in the general sound to other composers who worked on the C64 as well (like Tim Follin). Perhaps composers who had experience making sid tunes had certain expectations from the 2a03, the NES sound chip.
The heavy use of the arpeggio effect is often regarded as the “Euro” style of Nintendo compositions, which is fairly distinct in sound from a lot of classic Japanese soundtracks which generally didn’t seem to use them nearly as often.
Wikipedia entry on Alien 3.
CONTRA (NES)
(
full cover)
12 tracks, 12:47. Samples-
Introduction (J)
Jungle/ Hanger
Boss Theme
I don’t think this game needs much of an introduction. Ported from Arcade to the NES and Famicom 1988, Contra is amongst the most popular video games released in the late 80s.
However, If you grew up playing the NES and not the Famicom like most people not from Japan (or the greater Asian region), you may be unaware of some things that lack in the version of Contra that we’re familiar with.
The Japenese version included an introduction to the game, as well as an island map that would appear in-between stages. There were some other nice touches too, including animated background imagery and an unlockable sound test.
Why was this lacking from the US release? As it turned out, Contra would need a special mapper, an additional chip for memory and storage within the cartridge to support these things. In Japan, third party companies like Konami had the freedom to use whatever additional mappers they could develop, which in this case, was the VRC2 chip. In the US, Nintendo of America made it so that third party companies could only use additional mappers made by Nintendo, none of which (at the time) were suitable to Konami’s needs. Ultimately, they went ahead with a stripped down version for the NES instead.
These additions also lacked in the European and Oceanic PAL releases, known as Probotecter. That was a port of the US Contra, with the protagonists altered to be robots.
As a result, there’s also 2 songs exclusive to the Japanese Contra, and those mp3s are indicated with a “(J)” in their titles.
Composed by H. Maezawa and K. Sada.
Wikipedia entry on Contra.
GREMLINS 2 (NES)
(full cover)
12 tracks, 14:49. Samples-
The Office
Ventilation Shafts
Ending
Following the release of the movie, Gremlins 2: The New Batch was released for the NES in 1990. This soundtrack is amongst several Sunsoft titles that are distinct for using samples for the bass sound as opposed to the triangle wav.
California based musician (and genius) XOC, or Jason Cox, covered the each track from the game using a neat variety of instruments. The whole thing is up for free download (and streaming if you’re lazy) from archive dot org.
Gremlins 2 is easily one of my favorite soundtracks for the NES. If I had to pick two favorites that I’ve ripped for this blog so far, it’d be this and Gimmick.
Nobuyuki Hara, About SS, and Kodaka are credited as the composers.
Gameplay of Gremlins 2 on youtube.
P-47 FREEDOM FIGHTER (C64)
(full cover)
4 tracks, 11:27. Samples-
Main Theme
Unknown (Track 4)
P-47 Freedom Fighter is a 1990 Commodore 64 title. It’s a side-scrolling shmup, with nothing too particularly interesting about it asides from an awesome theme song. What do I like about it? The second verse has a melody carried by the bass line, and focuses on a more percussive sort of rhythm. The theme strikes me as one of those “really catchy but impossible to sing along to” kind of songs.
The main theme plays throughout the whole game, although the sid file has three additional tracks of which I couldn’t figure out the source. Unused tracks perhaps? I included them anyways, and tagged them as “Unknown”.
The music is composed by Dave Lowe.
Wikipedia entry on the real life P-47.
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2 months ago
