Darxide / Fire ‘N Ice / Mega Man / Werewolf: The Last Warrior
DARXIDE (Sega 32X)
17 tracks, 47:02. Samples-
Released only in Europe in 1995, Darxide is a shmup for the Sega 32X. In this game you fly around space, clearing away asteroids and enemy ships from a 3d environment. I attempted to play through this game in emulation so I could tag the mp3s with something more detailed than “Sound Test 01, 02…” etc, but I had a hard time passing the first level and gave up.
I like the mood that this soundtrack gives off. While there are some exciting moments, I think it does a better job in the slightly-ominous department.
The Sega 32X was a 32-bit system add-on for the Sega Genesis. While the 32X had two PWM sound channels, this was most often reserved for additional vocal samples and sound effects. In the case of Darxide, the music runs through the YM2612 and PSG channels and sounds the same as any Sega Genesis game would.
Music composed by Adam Salkeld.
Wikipedia entry on Darxide.
23 tracks, 23:01. Samples-
Fire ‘N Ice is a 1993 puzzle game for the NES also known as Solomon’s Key 2 in Japan and Europe. As a prequel to Solomon’s Key, you must guide the young wizard Dana to extinguish evil flames that have threatened his home, Coolmint Island.
Dana can put out flames by pushing or dropping blocks of ice into them. Dana also has a wand that can build or erase bridges of ice, and much of the game is spent trying to figure out how to create and place new blocks appropriately.
This game is easily my favorite puzzle game for the NES and I find the more difficult level designs to be nothing short of brilliant. The game gives you unlimited time to solve each puzzle, unlimited lives, and allows you to play most levels in any order. In other words, it’s deceivingly laid back. You won’t ever find yourself cursing a timer that’s counting down, and you’re encouraged to fail by trial and error and start a level over without any repercussions. That being said, this game will still have you pulling out your hair at times, yelling at the TV screen wondering how the hell some of the puzzles are possible.
The composer, Kajiya Shitamachi, did a good job of writing music that matched the game’s pace and feel. All of the world themes are considerably relaxed sounding, and there is a certain level of quirkiness that I find to be pretty distinct.
You can hear my past band’s cover of the World 1 theme here.
Wikipedia entry on Fire ‘N Ice.
MEGA MAN (Sega Game Gear)
14 tracks, 17:22. Samples-
Released in 1995 for the Sega Game Gear, this version of Mega Man lifted a combination of bosses from Mega Man 4 and 5.
I find this conversion to be far from impressive, and I’d even go so far as to call a couple of the tracks ugly. But as a fan of all the classic Mega Man soundtracks I was still interested in hearing these alternate takes on the music. If you have a nostalgia for the original versions you may get a kick out this.
Wikipedia entry on Mega Man (GG).
15 tracks, 10:02. Samples-
First released in 1990 for the NES by Data East, Werewolf: The Last Warrior is a 2d action platformer that really sucks. Had the difficulty from awkward programming been fixed I think the game could’ve passed as a more quality game, if not mediocre at least.
But hey, look at the American cover! It has a fucking werewolf bursting through the cartridge! I’m sure many people were tricked into buying this game because of that. I know I probably would’ve if I had an income in 1990. The only redeeming part of the game was its music.
The soundtrack does a great job of tossing in both anthemic and moody tunes. The werewolf BGM has some really catchy hooks in the chorus, and the cutscene track is just downright sad.
After painstakingly playing through the game in emulation to name all the tracks from the game, I noticed that the Japanese version (sometimes Choujinrou Senki Warwolf or Tyoujinrousenki Warwolf depending on the Romanization) had two tracks that were entirely different from the original. So, I went back to play through the game a second time to find out what the different song selections were in the Japanese release. *sigh*
Tracks unique to the Japanese version are indicated with a “(J)” in the mp3 tag. The differences in the soundtracks I’d rate as 50/50 in quality. I prefer the Japanese version of the first final boss theme, but I prefer the American version of the credits/ ending theme. Actually, both musically and visually, that is—
Yeah.
Music composed by S. Sakai, T. Miura, and Y. Takahama.
Watch a video playthrough of Werewolf: The Last Warrior.
3 years ago
