WEEKS 14-15: Abadox / Mega Turrican / Mitsume ga Tooru / WEC Le Mans
ABADOX (NES)
10 tracks, 9:22. Samples-
Abadox was first released for the Famicom in 1989, and shortly after in 1990 for the Nintendo Entertainment System. It’s a scrolling shooter in which the protagonist, Second Lieutenant Nazal, must fly through the insides of an alien’s body to rescue a swallowed princess.
Around new years 2007, I played drums for an arrangement of the Ending theme with Chromelodeon for the second Sprite Slowdown release. It’s a straight forward cover and I tried to stay very close to the source. It can be heard here.
MEGA TURRICAN (Sega Genesis)
28 tracks, 40:34. Samples-
Released for the Sega Genesis in 1994, Mega Turrican is the 3rd title in the Turrican series. An Amiga version was released in late 2003, however this console version was completed earlier.
The music is by Chris Hülsbeck, who is well known for his C64 and Amiga compositions.
MITSUME GA TOORU (NES)
14 tracks, 19:19. Samples-
Based on a manga by Osamu Tezuka known in English as The Three-Eyed One, Mitsume ga Tooru was released in 1991 for the Famicom. It is an action platformer where protagonist Hosuke Sharaku must rescue his sister and defeat his nemesis.
One interesting thing to note, is that the Credits music takes a little over 2 minutes before it reaches its final looping section. It’s not uncommon for a track to have an introduction that doesn’t repeat, which is essentially the same idea… you’re just hitting the loop way later here. It’s not exactly a marvel of programming for the system and I’d know how to make an nsf that does the same, but I don’t think I’ve heard other NES tracks with indefinitely looping outros before.
I had interest in covering Stage 1-2 with my previous vgm cover group, but never got around to it.
Wikipedia entry on Mitsume ga Tooru.
WEC LE MANS (MSX)
4 tracks, 3:16. Samples-
Made by Konami, the MSX version of WEC Le Mans was released in 1987. The title theme heard here is a remake of one used in earlier Le Mans titles (the C64 game, etc). I’ve never played this game before, but I found the soundtrack randomly and enjoyed the main theme.
Wikipedia entry on Le Mans video games.
1 year ago
