Chudah's Corner Bloggers

I [Heart] Wild Arms 2nd Ignition

2008-06-12T22:47:00.002-05:00

In my last post I talked about the Wild Arms XF soundtrack and how some of that old magic I use to feel about the series was somewhat rekindled. This time I want to talk about the magic that is still there, even after all these years.

After writing about the Wild Arms XF soundtrack I couldn't help but start writing about the Wild Arms 2nd Ignition soundtrack. That in turn made me crack out the game and play it again. At first I was afraid I wasn't going to be as entertained as I was by it in the past considering all its shortcomings and less than bright and shiny presentation that accompanied most Squaresoft games in 2000. Also against me was my waning interest in games having sold most of my games off last year.

All my fears were obliterated as even fifty hours later this game still flippin rocks. All that's left to do is fill out the bestiary, beat the optional/hidden bosses for the best weapons and get two more Necronomicons (an accessory that increases a characters magic by 150).

Anyway, I can't wait to fire up the original Wild Arms after I finish WA2.

Most of the time, YouTube will dump crap on you...

2008-05-05T06:55:00.003-05:00

...which is why the one in a million exception is so sweet.

I recently ran into a excellent remix of Beats In My Head (that would be Elena's stage from Street Fighter 3: Third Strike) by a YouTube user named SkullKidd. You can find the remix in question here. Frankly, it's not a particularly bold or daring arrangement, but it's a fine example of how a small alteration in drumwork can tune a song - the playing with vocal samples sure don't hurt either. Granted, this guy is no DJ Shadow or even a Ronald Jenkees, but I can smell some talent rising from his fingertips. My instinct tells me some time to develop will produce an excellent remixer.

SkullKidd has also posted a few more bits of music on his profile. His remixes Jazzy NYC (Smooth Mix) and Psycho Chaos Bison Remix come highly recommended.

Is the magic returning?

2008-04-24T11:37:00.002-05:00

As a Wild Arms fan, the Playstation 2 era has been an extremely trying time. I'm not going to sit here and say the four outings on the system (3, ACF, 4 and 5) were bad musically or game wise, yet there is a part of me that just has to admit Media.Vision has yet to top the original Wild Arms or it's first sequel Wild Arms 2.

While I miss Naruke being at the helm of the series music in a certain sense it doesn't really matter: I found WIld Arms 3 soundtrack extremely bloated as she tried to take her style to the next level given the advancement in technology. Some may knock Naruke's earlier works for being somewhat simple yet this is what I feel made them so accessible. ACF more or less struck in the middle of these two extremes thus gave a mixed result; the new tracks dwarfing most of those with a history. After this, as most know, Naruke's appearances have been few and far between as she fell ill. As for Wild Arms 4 and 5, I can literally take ten discs worth of music and fit those I enjoy on one disc or less. Yes, that is pretty cutthroat...

So, as pessimistic as all this seems I didn't have high hopes for Wild Arms XF at all. I figured it would maintain the series sound and nothing else. Boy was I wrong. Don't get the wrong idea, the music for Wild Arms XF isn't the second coming for the series' music, but I'll be damned if it isn't the best soundtrack the series has seen in a good, long time. The most surprising thing was that this was music for a strategy RPG... something I learned after hearing the soundtrack since I hadn't read up on the game - after Wild Arms 5 I decided not to follow the games themselves anymore.

Anyway, as fanboyish as it may sound if you haven't given WIld Arms music a look recently or it fell out of favor with your tastes as it did mine I'd recommend giving the Wild Arms XF soundtrack a shot.

The appeal of never ending.

2008-04-16T07:54:00.002-05:00

I can be an indecisive dude sometimes. I can't tell you how many times I've put on an album and then, mid-song, have had the urge to listen to another song or skip around or put on an entirely new disc. It's not because I am not enjoying what I'm hearing; I just want to hear more. I always want to hear more. I wish I had several different sets of ears and just as many brains so I could listen to a bunch of stuff at the same time and take it all in simultaneously. That set-up would suit me better than these clunky ol' pierced musician ears and the tiny little dusty clump of gray matter I have in my thick skull.

There is one type of album that I do not have the urge to skip around, and that is the type of CD where tracks bleed and blend into one another, those listening journeys where scenes and sounds merge into one long experience that can only be summed up as such. You hop aboard at 0:00:01 and hang on for a non-stop ride through the disc, not knowing where one track ends and the next begins. Those albums are truly a gift, and I have a deep respect for those types of discs.

VGM-wise, think of the Silent Hill OST. For 36 tracks, this disc is a living, breathing, angry ambient beast that deserves a full, complete listen. You can't put the disc on and hop around back and forth from "Claw Finger" to "Moonchild" to "Children Kill" and be like, "Yeah, that has some good tunes". No, no, no, dammit! See, Hiroki Kikuta had it all down proper when he arranged Secret of Mana+. That album is one track that's upwards of 50 minutes long because that's how he wanted the disc to be. It would lose some of its effectiveness and impact if it was broken down into a bunch of tracks that you could simply skip through. SOM+ is an excellent disc that can only be taken in as it was meant to be taken in - one, big, deep listen that identifies the album as an album, not a collection of songs. You could ask me when song A turns into song B into song C on that disc, and I would have no friggin' idea. I don't care to; I just take it all in and I don't even touch the volume, let alone any other button, while I listen. When the disc stops spinning and the little mechanical arms and lenses and whatever the hell else in that radio makes my CDs stop moving, that's when I stop listening. It's not just a CD or a VGM arrange album - it's an experience.

Lately, I've been listening to some DJ mix albums that have that same type of appeal; one song becomes another becomes another becomes another until the disc ends and I'm just sitting there thinking, what the hell just happened? Lately, I can't sit there and enjoy a full song. I skip. I'll go to the next song after the loop. I'll get bored. But, I'll be damned; if I put on one of Dave Seaman's new Therapy Sessions discs or Nick Warren's GH #024 or Adam Freeland's essential mix, I will listen to the whole album and I will not have an urge to stop for any reason. The exact opposite will happen - I will stop doing other things so I can continue to listen. I will pull into my driveway and will turn the car off and will sit in that driver's seat until the album stops. The appeal of having an album mixed together as one long track is huge, and as such I can respect it more than a disc that just has a bunch of tracks in sequence. Instead of short, little rides, these albums are one huge trip. No stops. No layovers. No skipping around.

Never, ever trust popular opinion, seriously.

2008-04-10T06:57:00.002-05:00

In my time as a fan of video game music, I have to say that one of the most universally maligned soundtracks I've ever come across is the one belonging to Marvel vs Capcom 2. I mean, the fact that the soundtrack is frequently modded by its players should say enough by itself, nevermind the fact that people put stuff like The Sound Of Music in there.

Either way, MvC2 is one of my favorite Capcom soundtracks, but everyone I run into says it just doesn't "fit the feel of the game". For now, I'll choose to ignore the fact that most people who say that don't even know how to play the game, but I also have to mention that they always go and cite the Marvel vs Capcom soundtrack in contrast as being much better. Now that I've actually played that god-forsaken game (I don't even want to HEAR Wolverine's infinite ever again), my only reaction is...

"People pass up MvC2's music for this?"

I have no clue what it is. Maybe people get way too hung up on MvC2's admittedly annoying character select music. Maybe people are just too attuned to melody-driven music to give anything else a shot. Whatever it is, I don't get it.

I Love But Hate

2008-03-26T09:11:00.003-05:00

Sorry if I haven't written anything in a long time, I recently started a new job and I'm still getting into the groove of things. Anyway, the other night I saw a commerical for FFVII Crisis Core on TV and I though I'd talk about FFVII - the game and music.

It's no secret that FFVII was one of the first games I got for the PS1 (the other was Tomb Raider II) and was one of the reasons I decided to forgo getting an N64. From Jr. High/Middle School to High School I sunk uncountable hours into the game on multiple walk throughs. My friends and I would have competitions to see who could have the most powerful party at the earliest point in the game - if you think having Bolt 2 and all your characters limit breaks (exc. lvl.4) before leaving Midgar on disc one is crazy (and stupid) or being a lvl 60 at Mt. Nibel look no futher.

However, I haven't touched the game since then (2004) and to be prefectly honest there is a part of me that wouldn't be upset if I never played the game again. Why? The game is still so engraved in my head to this day I wouls still know where everything is and what to do. Another part of it is I'm a little annoyed by the massive following (and pricetag) the game garners, and while I admit it was and is an important game there is a point where you need to let bygones be bygones and not defend things like your life depends on it like some feel the need to do. Let's face it, even some of the best games are flawed.

The same goes for the soundtrack, which I put off buying for two and a half years. Yes, next to every VGM should have this soundtrack in their collection and I've been enjoying this greatly as of late - I personally never tire of "Anxious Heart" - but there's a point like the game where if it was of other name it you just know it wouldn't be as revered. One-Winged Angel's popularity also bugs me; don't get me wrong, I like the track but have to scratch my head as to how/why it's reached the lofty heights it's reached.

Anyway, Final Fantasy VII (game and music) are great in their own right and have secured there place in history - which I respect - but one has to wonder if looking at things objectively is for the birds.

Also, a gold star for whoever can name where the title of this post is from.

RPG's and RPG Soundtracks

2008-02-19T14:05:00.001-06:00

Excuse the bluntness that follows but regardless of how I write the following it's going to come off as a rant.

It just may be me, but when it comes to the music in RPGs today it seems so much harder to dig in, especially when you're presented with huge 4+ disc set. In the past I use to believe in the idea that more =s better but this is ideology is deeply flawed if anything and I come to acknowledge it. If anything, more usually =s more filler. Anyway, sry for repeating what everybody probably already knows.

Boy, do I miss being able to see

2008-01-30T21:11:00.000-06:00

Pardon me as I lean into my monitor while I type this. I couldn't find my glasses yesterday morning - I always leave them in one of three or so places before I go to bed, and if they're not in one of those spots when I wake up, they're as lost as can be. Going onto my third day without glasses now, and I can tell my eyes are tired of not being able to focus. It doesn't really hamper my ability to get around all that much, but trying to read anything a professor writes on a chalkboard is much tougher work than it should be.

Anyways, to cut to the chase this time, I'm gonna link you all to an AMV. (EDIT: That's "anime music video" for those of you who don't dabble in the same spheres of nerdery that I do) Most of you probably don't know this, but AMVs have been a hobby of mine for about four years now. Over this time, I've noticed that the amount of overlap between this hobby and video game music is pretty rare. Other than the occasional Final Fantasy vocal song (ugh), VGM just doesn't find its way into AMVs too often. Probably because VGM is kind of a niche to begin with, so making a cross-product with another niche hobby isn't gonna get you much, period.

Anyways, you can find the video here.* The music featured is Battle Hymn of the Soul from the Persona 3 soundtrack (or so I'm told, as I don't follow Persona music), and the featured video source is one of the .hack games (which I also don't follow for reasons I alluded to in my previous post). Unless I'm missing something due to not having played the games, it's nothing incredibly deep, just a straightforward action video. It's not legendary material by any stretch of the imagination, but it's a worthwhile watch and might strike home for those of you particularly attached to either source.

Besides, I always feel obligated to educate the audience whose only AMV experience is the trash that so pervasively litters YouTube.

On a slightly related and more personal note, I think I may have an idea for a video involving the Secret of Evermore soundtrack. But I'll keep that one under wraps for now.

* If you have trouble figuring out how to get the video, just scroll down to where it says "DIRECT" in big green letters and click to download.

Castlevania!

2008-01-18T14:49:00.000-06:00

I've been bitten buy the Castlevania bug recently... it all started when I picked up a copy of Akumajo Dracula Best last month and has continued into this month with the purchase of Best 2 and a Lament of Innocence Sampler.

The Lament of Innocence Sampler may seem like an odd purchase, especially considering the soundtrack was in my possession early last year but with two discs it seemed heavy with material/tracks I really didn't want - especially the second disc. The sampler contains the majority of the compositions I found enjoyable - if "Statue Enchanted by the Darkness" was there it be prefect but 7 out of 8 isn't bad at all. I don't want the whole soundtrack again but want to have access to certain tracks like "Melancholy Joachim," the main stage themes and "Lament of Innocence (Leon's Theme)." In this case the sampler will do just fine.

This brings us to the other soundtrack with which Lament shares space on the sampler: Symphony of the Night. Now, don't get me wrong - Nocturne has a great score and it really stood out to me when first playing the game years ago but I can't help but feel like some off the allure has dulled over the years. Thinking about it on a deeper level, the vast array of styles presented is often seen as one of the soundtracks strengths' but now seems to be somewhat of a weakness. I don't know... the right mood has to strike to listen to it and that isn't as often as one would expect.

The recently released soundtrack for the Dracula X Chronicles is more or less in the same boat. What is presented is enjoyable but those endless questions of if the appeal meant to last or if it's only a personal fad is a tad irksome. Still, all is well as the score for Super Castlevania IV has me in its dark and moody clutches. Can't. Stop. Listening. A new personal favorite if anything and even the gameboy scores from Best 2 are starting to sink into my subconscious - damn you "New Messiah (Glass Castle BGM)!"

Regardless, the fight against the legions of darkness is one hell of an auditory ride! Definately need to check out some more scores.

A first impression for the ages

2008-01-04T23:58:00.000-06:00

So I have this problem with compulsive spending. I'll be browsing the used game rack at the local Gamestop, and I'll see a game with anime art on the cover and something looking vaguely like an RPG in the screenshots on the back. If it's twenty bucks or less, guaranteed I'm walking out of the store with it. This is the story of how I've acquired many games, some of them unpopular gems like Unlimited SaGa. On the other end of the spectrum, though, we have Forever Kingdom.

Now, in my last post here I ragged on some choice music, namely Dancing Mad and the KoF01 OST. Much to my own surprise, I'm going to have to say those compositions sound like masterpieces in comparison to the music for the opening FMV for Forever Kingdom. I mean, the song has several lines of music going on at once, but none of them are in time with each other. My ears have never been so confused where it's felt like it was being yanked by three different chains going in three completely separate directions. It was like the world's laziest mash-up, or something like that. And of course, the in-game music is no better. This is seriously the only game (other than, of course, the dreaded KoF01) where the music has been so bad, it's distracted me from playing the game.

But hey, the bad first impression doesn't end there. Start the game, and we get a boring narration from a voice actor stiff as a statue. Cut to the actual game, and you're greeted by three characters with some of the worst designs I've ever seen. The two males are as generic as can be, with the only remarkable differences being hair color and a scarf. The female isn't much different, only she's wearing a god damn net over her clothes. Like the designers made her and said, "Oh crap, we need to make her more unique. Uh, throw a net over her and we'll call it a day." I know people will rag on designs like FFX's Tidus, calling him outlandish, asymmetrical, and clowny, but at least there's some sense of direction there. In Forever Kingdom, we just have a net thrown on top of the normal clothes. And no, it's not the sexy fishnet that Naruto author Kishimoto seems to like so much, it's just sitting there on top of the clothes.

But hey, it's just not an RPG of the current generation if I can't play until I've been bored out of my mind first, right? The opening cut-scene (which looks absolutely atrocious, might I add) takes another good two or three minutes, rife with voice acting ranging from bored to flat. To give credit where it's due, it's not quite as bad as Magna Carta, but I definitely wish I could turn it off. When I finally get the play the game, I realize that the developers couldn't even make walking a non-painful experience. For those of you who ever played Jedi Outcast or Jedi Academy online and remembered what it was like to watch yourself lag while running, it's just like that. The characters don't take steps, they teleport two inches in front of them while kind of moving their legs.

And combat? I never thought I'd run into a system inherently worse than the .hack system (seriously, I have to go into a menu to do anything other than a basic attack?), but here we go. Mash X until you build meter to do your special move. Switch characters, repeat. Once all three character have their moves, you can chain them together, except for the fact that the two characters you aren't controlling are guaranteed to get stuck behind fences, doghouses, or you. Almost a novel idea, but Valkyrie Profile beat them to the punch, and they actually made it good.

Forever Kingdom is seriously the first game I've ever played where I shut off my system after just ten minutes of playing it. I tried again for another half hour, but I realized I was just banging my head against a brick wall. I'm really bad with years, so I'm not sure what other RPGs came out in the same time, but a quick run to GameFAQs tells me this game was the same year as Final Fantasy X. I'm not saying FFX is a masterpiece or anything, but using it as a bar to be measured against, it's like Forever Kingdom intentionally dug a pit for itself and jumped right in.

But this is a weblog about video game music right? I tried to see if there was a soundtrack for this game, and unsurprisingly enough, there isn't one that either Chudah's Corner or GMR has listed. Unfortunately, this probably means I'll never figure out who the composer is, so I can never personally fly to his place of residence and slap him into next week.

Not every cloud has a silver lining, it seems.

Soundtracks I'd like to see (but probably won't)

2008-01-02T17:02:00.000-06:00

The start of a new year brings about new possibilities. This also goes for VGM as well, but what about those games with great music that don't have official soundtrack releases or those that do but are half-baked? Well, one can dream can't they? Anyway, here are some efforts I'd like to see get an official release even though in most cases they aren't going to happen:

Ninja Gaiden & Ninja Gaiden Part II: The Dark Sword of Chaos (NES)
While part one did receive a soundtrack release in 1989 with Tecmo's G.S.M. series the lack of reasonable looping structure for the smaller tracks – of which there are many – somewhat robs some of the enjoyment that can be found in this music - even with the various sound enhancements. Really, 40 seconds of a song like "Reflection" and 10 seconds of something like "Like a Hurricane" is hardly what I'd call giving this wonderful score justice. As powerful as part one's music was - tracks like "Tagic Fate" and "Dilemma - The Battle of Ordeals" being so poignant its scary - part II's music was great as well. Playing both games for the first time years ago on the NES it amazed me how well Tecmo and the composers were able to drive the story in these classic side scrollers with the combination of music and story scenes; I still get goosebumps from the opening intro piece to this day when Asthar receives word of Jaquio's defeat from one of his henchmen and declares his evil intentions. I could really care less about part III though.

Sonic the Hedgehog 1, 2, 3, Sonic & Knuckles (Genesis)
Seriously, this is long overdue considering Rockman has done much since his last two anniversaries to bring fans up to speed. Coupled this with Sega's track record releasing more recent Sonic music and there is little excuse. Sure, the 10th Anniversary/Sonic 3 soundtracks are out there - if you can find them - but nothing says "sorry for the wait" like a nice big box set.

Tomb Raider (PSX, Saturn)
Okay, there "technically" is a "soundtrack" for Tomb Raider since the game uses redbook audio (outside the music for the FMV's and the ending) but I would seriously shell out for a separate soundtrack release. Last year's Tomb Raider Anniversary revisits many of Nathan McCree's original compositions while adding a lot of new material but for the most part it's that overdone orchestral stuff that's a bit too dramatic and commonplace today - I'd take the simplistic in comparison touch the original had any day of the week despite its short length and reserved in-game usage. My advice: make a soundtrack containing both scores - it would be really nice to have official names for the tracks in the original score even though there is already a nice fan concocted tracklisting out there for it. Unfortunately, PC users missed out in 1996 as most of the music was absent due to CD-ROM access issues that would have caused the game to freeze while loading the music.

Goldeneye (N64)
I'm not a big first person shooter fan, probably because I'm terrible at them (me in multiplayer always ='s being pwned) but along with the soundtrack for Doom (especially the music from the SNES version) this is one of the soundtracks from the genre I'd love to have/see. A track like "Severnaya Installation (Day)" is so beautiful it just beyond words... it's just that freakin’ great. No offense against Perfect Dark but it gets a soundtrack and Goldeneye doesn't? That's a raw deal if anything.

Mega Man Anniversary Collection (PS2, XBox)
Take Rockman: The Power Battle, Rockman 2: The Power Fighters and the remainder of the remixed music for Rockman 4 through 6 and make a box out of it. Yeah, this isn't going to happen but the music from Complete Works is definitely worthy of being pressed on disc - I only wish Capcom would have taken the time to remix the remaining music from Rockman 1~3 to make the music in those games flush in the collection – having regular and remixed music within the same game took the presentation down a notch.

Those are my "big five" - or at least the ones I can think of off hand. The most likely of any of those happening is the Sonic one which most would definately welcome. Anyway, what scores would you like to see if the bodies of the cosmos amazingly lined up in your favor?

Happy New Year!

2007-12-31T18:46:00.000-06:00

Hello friends! I hope all your holidays went well. Since it's the last day of the year I figured I had better do this now or never. So, I present a bit of a wrap up of my December purchases in VGM. I doubt anyone's family got them game music (and if they did, you're pretty lucky!), so like me you may have had to take it upon yourself. I ended up with 2 orders in December; a careful observer can probably pick them out actually.... So in no particular order here we go.

Rockman 7 and 8 soundtracks - I suppose I should thank Team Entertainment for finally releasing these, even though it would have been better if Suleputer had made another box where they were included... or made the set Rockman 1~8 to begin with. Despite any issues I'm still satisfied and happy to have 7, and while there are some themes from 8 that remain memorable it's not nearly as many or as much as 7. One thing that definitely irked me about 8 was with all the extra space on the CD that they couldn't bother to include the Sega Saturn version of Tenguman's stage nor the Aquaman's arrange (I haven't actually heard this one, so I'm not sure if it's just different synth or a true arrange). While throwing around some blame, why in the world wouldn't they have released the Rockman & Forte soundtrack along with these two? I shouldn't hold my breath but it would be even nicer for Capcom to release the Rockman 1~6 PSX arranges. Despite all gripes they are classic Megaman and any fan will have to own these (unless Capcom takes suggestions and puts out a new box ;P ).

Then we get to Team Entertainment's other Rockman releases: the Rock and Techno arranges. Highly anticipated by every Megaman fan I should think, but were they worth it? Yes and no. Even though some of the initial appeal has dwindled since getting them I still enjoy most of the songs. They really did select a lot of picks I made before tracklists were revealed, which is good, but the latter 3 games are particularly looked over. Diveman, Dustman, Skullman, Napalmman, Darkman for Rock arrange anyone? Flashman, Sparkman, Brightman, Knightman for Techno? Apparently not, and it wouldn't be such a big deal another song I wanted wasn't included except for the fact that there was so much room to include more. That the even padded the run time with the original songs is even more of an affront; as if the fans didn't already have those! At $30 a cd they pretty much exploited our fandom, they could have made it a two disc set for the same price. So my suggestion, try to get it secondhand and save money if you can... you can buy it new if you want it bad but there'll probably be a bad aftertaste from the price and quantity (not the quality, though your opinions could differ from mine).

Next we have Kira★Kira, the single to the game of the same name; the newest Lantis offering. Chudah had turned me onto some songs from Green Green and I enjoyed milktub's music for that (girl's pop rock as opposed to the usual jpop in bishojo and hentai), so when I found they did this I picked it up. Short and sweet I would recommend getting it, especially if you like their previous stuff. Actually, Dai2BungeibuBand have a new album, Love, out today, more bang for your buck I would assume, but if you want these songs then you need to get the single as they aren't listed on the album's tracklist.

Detective Saburo Jinguji DS is the 11th console version of the series and I hesitant going into this purchase. Before ordering I looked all over and couldn't find any indication of why it spanned 4 discs, but I figured there would be an original version disc like Portrait of Ruin. Well I was wrong, 2 discs for the new game and 2 discs for the soundtracks to the first 4 games from Famicom. Gone is the laid back club jazz of the PS2 offerings served up by Katsuhiko Nakamichi and Hasemi Daichi... now whether or not they were involved with any of these I wouldn't know since it's only credited as WorkJam so I'm just assuming they're not. Granted there are jazzy tracks, but right now I'm not getting past the synth. I think it's something you just need to have played and have in your memory, so perhaps I'm not giving it a fair shake... I really haven't digested it yet. I'll just warn not to buy this expecting Innocent Black or Kind of Blue. Oh, and as a note I edited End of Dreams a little when I did the translation for this.

Pop'n music 15 was a purchase I kept putting off for whatever reason but I finally picked it up and again I really haven't sat down and digested it all. Like 13 and 14 I think some tracks that don't stand out now will become staples when I actually play the game but right overall it's seeming a bit weak and lazy. Disc 2 is almost all remixes and returning songs from other games (why do nothing but have Tomoka Hino be the third and worst vocalist for Prince on a Star without arranging the song a bit? Why change the name from "Get the Funk Out Mix" to SKACORE MIX?) Even some new songs sound intentionally or not like old ones, but at least songs like "A Swinging Hawaii One!" and "World Spider Web" have captured my interest. Unless you're a pop'n music freak like me avoid this; a casual pop'n music fan or first time buyer would do much better to start with 8, 9 and/or 10.

Outside of VGM both Genesis of Aquarion soundtracks were in an order. I can't believe I missed out of getting them sooner, but they are definitely worth it!

Closing out the year it seems 2007 was a good year for techno as some of my favorites this past year were all techno: beatmania IIDX 14, Granado Espada, milestone, and Wangan Midnight 3. So, here's wishing you all a happy new year 2008! Look forward to more new translations and fixed old ones, and much more from all the staff here at Chudah's Corner!

Reviews update. Also, meow.

2007-12-30T13:15:00.000-06:00

After an entire weekend of playing Guitar Hero III, Zane can barely lift his arms up, never mind type a blog post about the new reviews that Chudah's Corner just posted. He is currently laying on the ground, telling me what to type in between spats of whimpering and imitating the click from the strum bar on his GH controller, so don't be surprised if some of the post gets lost in translation.

I'm pleased to say that our staff here at CC is bringing in the new year with a hefty buffet of new reviews. Our newest staff member, Ashley Winchester, digs deep into the two new Rockman soundtrack releases with his Rockman 7 Fateful Showdown and Rockman 8 Metal Heroes reviews, shedding some light on the quality and the justice (or lack thereof) that these two releases have given the franchise. Ashley has been a frequent contributor to the site for the past several months now, and I'm really happy to welcome him on board as a permanent staff member.

inthesto dusts off Symphonic Suite Shining Force II, spreads some Naganuma love with his write-up of the DS's Sonic Rush soundtrack, and delivers an excellent review for Masashi Hamauzu's half-original, half-pseudo-arrange album, Vielen Dank. Great work, inthesto - or should I say, gute arbeit, mein freund.

I managed to scrounge up a little inspiration and spout off a bit about the short but really bizarre Trash 004 and the disappointing Gyakuten Saiban 3 OST. So, enjoy those.

Last, but surely not least, is Jormungand's in-depth overview of the massive Breath of Fire Soundtrack Box. Be sure to check out Jorm's other BoF reviews that are on-site while you're at it - he has written reviews for each individual BoF release as well. The links to the albums are at the bottom of his review.

So, I hope everyone enjoys reading the new reviews as much as I did. I want to thank everyone for stopping by and supporting the site, and for continuing to read the reviews that we've all worked really hard on.

Happy new year! Also, click clickclickclick click click.

- Zane's cat

Reviews:

Breath of Fire OST Special Box
Gyakuten Saiban 3
Rockman 7 The Fateful Showdown!
Rockman 8 Metal Heroes
SONIC RUSH Original Groove Rush.
Symphonic Suite Shining Force II
Trash 004
Vielen Dank

2007-12-29T17:48:00.000-06:00

I was exercising earlier today. It's crazy, I know, but all those physical education classes keep telling me it's for my own good in the long run. Honestly, I think all it's good for is a reminder of how painful smoking is even when you're not doing it. Regardless, I was on the treadmill, and when you're on one you really need a TV program going to keep your mind off of how much everything hurts. Now keep in mind here, I haven't really watched TV since in about eight years.

The reason why I bring this up is because I saw a pair of commercials I recall seeing back when I was in elementary school, around six or seven years old. I'm well into college now, so this means it's been over a decade, and some company somewhere is still selling videos (scratch that, they're DVDs now) about trains and magazines about animals. Don't get me wrong, I had Zoobooks as a kid and I thought they were awesome, but these guys are still offering the bonus tiger poster for free, and they're still making money off of it. I even checked Wikipedia and Zoobooks hasn't had a new publication since 1990. The advertisements themselves are so blatantly a decade out of place, it's a wonder that anyone is beguiled into ordering these things. But hey, I guess kids are easy to dupe, huh?

Okay, let's shift gears entirely, seeing as this is a blog about video game music and all.

Over the X number of years that I've been listening to video game music, there's a trend that's been bugging me an awful lot. I imagine it makes sense in the realm of video game music than in any other kind of music, and I'll admit that I used to fall victim to it frequently. Hell, I probably still do it to some extent, though I actively try to curb it. What I'm talking about is the general inability for a VGM fan to separate the music itself from their memories of the game with the music attached.

Case in point: Dancing Mad. Some FFVI spoilers will follow, though they'll be spotty as it's been years since I've played the game.

I'm sure I'm gonna catch all kinds of flak for this, but I absolutely hate Dancing Mad. It's honestly one of the worst compositions I've heard, falling just short of the King of Fighters 2001 soundtrack. And believe me, if you've ever played that game, you know that's a long way to fall. Put briefly, Dancing Mad is a confused mess. It has no sense of pacing or flow, it's drawn out well beyond its welcome, and it's just plain ugly. If you even think about mentioning the Black Mages version at this point, I will beat you to death with this copy of Three Kingdoms sitting right next to me.

But you say in response, "It was the perfect music for fighting Kefka!"

For a moment, I'm going to put aside the fact that you're talking about fighting a freaking Godzilla-sized clown (that people only love because of Ted Wooseley's liberal translations, no less), and make this my point. Final Fantasy VI is a popular game, and I don't blame anybody for that. The problem comes about when people recall how the game as a whole affected them, and then mistakenly attribute that feeling to the music. Granted, good music will make a good moment in a video game better and bad music can dullen a similar moment, and that's what makes talking about video game music in this particular context so tricky. Since people generally feel that defeating Kefka was an epic ending to an epic game, they will thus believe that Dancing Mad is an epic track in all its seventeen minutes. It makes sense on paper, but it just doesn't make sense in my head.

But hey, I'm the guy who buys soundtracks for games he's never played or even heard of.

I'm an oddball like that. And when you really think about it, my approach - that is, considering video game music in terms of the music in and of itself and outside of its effect in the game entirely - would objectively be the "more wrong" one, as video game music is written to be experienced inside of the game to begin with. Or at least, that's what I figure, though aspiring video game composers have told me otherwise. I'm sure that most of you reading this will just write me off as crazy, but a handful of you will read this and actually think I make sense. Either way, bringing about awareness of the metaphysical state (for a lack of a better term) of video game music is the real goal here, so if you've learned something, my job is done.

If you haven't learned anything yet, then learn this: The Dynasty Warriors series, and by extension Three Kingdoms, is a lie. Out of all those characters, the only two who are really revered as heroes in Chinese culture are Guan Yu and Zhuge Liang, Everyone else ranges from "meh" to "conniving rat-bastard", and Liu Bei is amazingly at the latter end of that scale. Man, do parents make a hobby out of deconstructing things or what?

How to fall in love with an imaginary girl you've never met

2007-12-10T17:06:00.000-06:00

If you want me to like a track off of any video game soundtrack, just title it as somebody's theme. I don't need to know who the character is, nor do I need to have played the game. I probably don't need to know the game even exists, but if it's somebody's theme, I'll eat it up. Point in case: give a listen to track six from the album Final Fantasy Song Book: Mahoroba. I've played Final Fantasy VII for all of two hours, never even MET Yuffie, and yet that's my favorite arrangement on the album. There's no logic behind it, so don't ask me to explain it. I just know that it is.

The reason why I bring this up is because of a certain character theme from Final Fantasy XII, namely Penelo's. Honestly, I've only played the game for five or so hours - sorry, Street Fighter is just much more engaging/controller-smashing - but the music captured me in an instant. FFXII actually captures the feel of a unique world that I didn't get from any previous Final Fantasy, and I'm going to bet the music is the keystone. But I digress.

Penelo's Theme is very tame and demure to the ear, but at the same time it has a notion of subtlety about it. I imagine it has something to do with the instrumentation; it starts with wind instruments (not that I could possibly identify them by ear) while string instruments slowly work their way into the harmony. Maybe I just don't listen to enough music, but the sound certainly was novel to my ears.

Now enter the Final Fantasy Tactics A2 (notice the clever omission of the word "advance" on Square's part) soundtrack. Also composed by Sakimoto, so it's another soundtrack with his finger-, foot-, and faceprints all over it (I'll note here that Ayako Saso does a single track in this game, and its integration is superb) . Lo and behold, however, a surprise track: disc two, track number nine: The Sky Pirate From The East. Title seems innocuous enough, but I've played enough of FFXII to know that Vaan has some kiddy dream about being an outlaw with wings or something. Give it a listen and it's Penelo's Theme turned on its head.

Rather than having winds at the front and strings at the back, the FFTA2 arrangement turns that around. It's a sound much more typical of what you'll find in video games, but I find I like it more in the end. So when I previously had a track I almost could not stop listening to, now I have a version of it that's going on single loop for several days.

And you know what? I don't know jack about Penelo other than that girl who follows Vaan around for a little bit. Know what else? I don't really feel like knowing any more. I enjoy the music, and that's good enough for me. But of course, this is coming from the guy who will buy a game because he liked the soundtrack. Take it (whatever "it" may be) with a grain of salt, and use it to flavor your dinner.

No, I don't know what that means either.

20th Anniversary: Rockman 7 & 8 Soundtracks

2007-11-28T13:08:00.000-06:00

In 1987, Rockman blasted his way onto the NES in what is arguably (and ironically) one of toughest games in the series. Since then the Rockman series has taken on several different forms and faces throughout the years.

With the series' 15th Anniversary in 2002, VGM enthusiasts saw the floodgates for the backlog of unreleased Rockman music open wide with the Rockman 1-6 box and the X1-6 box the subsequent year, giving these scores a place to call home outside of their respective games. The pace of releases hasn't let up any with Inti-Creates remastered series and soundtrack releases for newer games becoming more of a habit.

Rockman hits the big 20 this year and with Capcom/Team Entertainment cooking up a four release bonanza you might think that being a Rockman fan right now would be pretty sweet. However, despite this milestone these releases show that not everything in Mega Man VGM land is perfect.

As to not repeat anything that has already been talked about in various forums I'll try to keep this short: the Rockman 7 OST falls victim to all the woes you've been hearing about, and it's truly a shame considering how it continues the wonderful feel of the NES soundtracks on the SNES. Rockman 8 comes out for the better outside the exclusion of the Saturn exclusive tracks and a wonky transition in one of the stage themes. Of course, the world (and I) will survive but it certainly takes the level of quality and novelty down a notch.

Of the two, Shusaku Uchiyama's work on the Rockman 8 soundtrack is more likely to be overlooked because for a Mega Man score it is a little unorthodox in a few areas - pieces like Sword Man, Aqua Man, Wily battle themes and the synth is somewhat quirky. Anyway, even though Rockman 7 is a given to most in terms of musical content give Rockman 8 another chance if you haven't in a while. Both soundtracks also seem to sport a louder volume than their game-ripped counterparts.

Anyway, in closing, considering the continued effort in releasing back Rockman soundtracks does that mean I can count on that Rockman & Bass soundtrack I’d love to see in five years?

Manabu Namiki's music in Death Smiles

2007-11-27T10:30:00.000-06:00

Thanks to Hitoshi Sakimoto's move to form the company Basiscape, several growing composers began to make a name for themselves. One of these is Manabu Namiki, whom is responsible mostly for shoot-em-up soundtracks for arcade games such as Battle Garegga, Armed Police Batrider, Ketsui, Mushihime-Sama and so on. His style of music is usually some pulse-pounding Techno or grinding Rock. He quickly became one of Cave's favorite for-hire composers, having scored the majority of their games since Ketsui in 2002.

More recently he scored Cave's latest game "Death Smiles", a horizontal-scrolling shoot-em-up arcade game which has a nice mix of fantasy and gothic horror setting. It is supported by some of the best rock and electronic based music Namiki has cooked up in a while. The Boss theme has been noted to being similar in style to Rolling Stones' "Paint It Black".

Given the current console explosion since the PlayStation and N64, arcades have pretty much faded into nothing in the US and Canada at least. Yet, even after all these years, arcades continue to thrive nicely in Japan, in which Cave has quickly become a well-known and respected game developper there.

On to the good stuff, feast your eyes (and ears) on these two Youtube videos of stage 2 and 4. Even with all the noise, it is possible to make out some of the music. Good ol' game music, am I right ? ;)

Stage 2

Stage 4

On a final and somewhat humorous note... HOLY BULLET SPAM BATMAN !

(Sorry, I had to :p)

(It's alright to) Bow down to the NES

2007-11-25T22:40:00.000-06:00

So I said I would post something on the CC blog when it went live. If I had had the realization that I had nothing to post about before promising to post, we wouldn’t be stuck here, you and I, but here we are. So I’ll talk about what I did this Thanksgiving weekend. This might get boring, but it’s not my fault your lives are all more interesting than mine. What I did was, on a weekend full of amazing deals on all the hot new systems and games, I bought a Yobo FC Game Console, an inexpensive and amazingly tiny Famiclone system that plays NES games - essentially an NES on a chip. And I bought a stack of NES games to go with it. This was the first time I had played actual NES games on my TV since the infamous Mass Purge of ’92, a devastating incident in which a very stupid 14 year old boy decided that the NES was a kid’s toy he didn’t have time for, now that he had his awesome new Sega Genesis, and sold off his library of 40+ games for chump change. Obviously we can assume that 15 years later, he feels pretty murderous and stabby towards his 14 year old self, and we need not speak further of this contretemps. The important thing is that I spent the weekend playing NES games, and re-established a number of facts:

It turns out that the NES is still the best system ever made. It’s better than your Xbox 360. It’s way better than your PS3. It’s better than your Wii by the exact number of NES games that still aren’t available on the Virtual Console (so it’s like 200 times better). It’s better than ice cream. And it’s better than sex. I think. Because someone described it to me once, and it didn’t sound all that great.

It turns out that when you put an NES game into the system and turn the power on, the title screen immediately appears. This is apparently not an error. The first time this happened, I turned the machine off and back on, just to make sure I hadn’t accidentally skipped the 15 minute pre-title cutscene. But I hadn’t.

It turns out that if you hit start and go to the kitchen to get a drink while the 15 minute post-title cutscene and/or tutorial exegesis plays out, you’ll come back to find that there was no post-title cutscene and/or tutorial exegesis, and you’ve already died twice. This is apparently not an error. The first time this happened, I assumed the system was especially susceptible to relativity due to low manufacturing standards in China, and would age 15 minutes for every 30 seconds I spent in the kitchen. But it doesn't.

It turns out that you have to know how to play NES games before you’ve ever played them, because the game isn’t going to give you any help. How do you jump? How do you fire? It could be any of these buttons. You’ll never know.

It turns out that modern games all suck because, with their 15 minute pre-title cutscenes, 15 minute post-title cutscenes, 15 minute in-level cutscenes, post-grad dissertation length tutorial missions, and pedantic instructions on how to make your character do anything before he does them, none of the above is true for any of them.

It turns out that I cannot get past the second level of Ghosts n’ Goblins, because I am a gimp.

Hopefully, the next post I make will have some point, and also not conclude with me admitting I'm a gimp.

Origins...

2007-11-25T14:37:00.000-06:00

Some may call me fangirlish in my love for the Silent Hill series, but I think of myself as passionate. I'd like to thank Mr. Yamaoka for much of my enthusiasm for the series. Even though it's had its low points (ahem....Silent Hill 4), he has never failed to use his vivid imagination to create jarring, terrifying and beautiful compositions that I have yet to hear replicated in any other soundtrack, be it game or movie. But when word came down that the series was making the jump to a handheld game system, I couldn't help but be skeptical of the transition. I mean, how could one of the most terrifying experiences I've ever had in videogaming be the same on a 4 inch screen? And what about the score? Could the PSP handle the music and game sounds from a technical standpoint? Oh sure, it probably would sound OK, but would it sound real enough to make the hairs on the back of my neck stand up once again?

It took me 6 hours (probably more like 8 taking into account deaths and all the time in my mini-map) to finish Silent Hill Origins, and I have to say my skepticism was unfounded....but not completely. Despite the amazing graphics (easily some of the best for the system), the gameplay can be clunky at parts, and the story is quite predictable and a little too similar to SH2's narrative structure. But the music? Yes, the music...

Yamaoka did the best with what he was given, and it turned out pretty damn good. The music IS very Silent Hill, and you can hear some of the past games in these pieces (especially SH3), but the score itself has it's own feel to it and blends in relatively well with the environments. There were plenty of times when I'd walk through a door and the music would queue up, my heart would immediately start racing. It's awesome to have that feeling again! I did find myself missing the use of real instruments (most of the sounds here are clearly synthesized), but they worked well enough.

As for the vocals, Mary Elizabeth McGlynn returns with her earthy, soulful voice and does a fine job once again. While I can't say the songs are as memorable as previous ones, they're still a highlight of the soundtrack. Hopefully, once the original soundtrack is released, I can give them more of a chance to grow on me, but there's definitely potential. One thing that I found kinda neat was that the lyrics seemed to fit the game a bit better than previous songs (i.e. You're Not Here).

I have to say my biggest gripe is the fact that the music was used almost too often during gameplay. I have so many memories of walking through a dark corridor, my footsteps the only thing to be heard...and then stopping in my tracks as I catch a faint noise in the shadows. I strain my ears to try to catch it again, and then wonder if something really is there or if it was all in my mind. In Origins, there aren't too many of these moments. Most of the time the music plays continuously throughout certain areas almost to the point that it becomes annoying. So now I'm straining to hear where that monster is because the music is playing too loud to focus in on it. I guess I could've just turned the music down and SFX up, but then I would be missing out on one of my favorite parts of these games! ARGH!! Anyhow, if I had to put a point on it, I'm guessing the limitations of the system are likely to blame, but I still feel the dynamic nature of these scores is part of what makes them so enjoyable.

Despite being a little disappointed with its implementation, I am quite pleased with Origins' score. That said, I am now eagerly awaiting the soundtrack release in January. I have a feeling given a little quality playtime outside of the game (and listening to the vocals closer), I'll be able cement its entry on my favorite soundtracks list. One thing is for sure, though....I'm really looking forward to Silent Hill V now. ;)

Super Mario Galaxy is why I play video games.

2007-11-24T14:02:00.000-06:00

I think the title says it all, but I want to share some spoiler-free thoughts about Mario Galaxy. I completed it with 120 stars earlier today, and I am still just as hyped about it as I was when I first started playing. Believe the overwhelmingly positive reviews out there, because this game really is one of Mario's best adventures and is the most consistently solid, enjoyable and accessable game to hit the Wii thus far. I really can't stress that enough; while playing through the game I've wondered if Mario Galaxy is the reason why, in the grand scheme of things, human beings have thumbs and the ablity to shake their wrists around. Well, there is that, and then there is the ability to open doorknobs. Both are equally important.

Super Mario 64 was a revolutionary game. Super Mario Sunshine was a Gamecube game. Super Mario Galaxy takes the intial design of Mario 64 and literally turns it up on its head and shakes out all the brilliant ideas while leaving all the clunky and outdated ones behind. Per usual, there are 120 stars to collect while exploring various themed levels that branch off of a central hub area (that has a few secrets of its own and some cleverly hid 1-up Mushrooms). What's so great about this new hub area is not just the design, but as you progress farther into the game, the hub makes all of its satellite levels more easily accessable. You may need to make a trek up to the top a couple of times, but then the game rewards your efforts and gives you an elevator of sorts so you can zoom up there in several seconds. There is a large map in the area that shows your progress and neatly checks off a diagram of each level with a little crown to tell you when you've completed a level 100%. It makes things very easy to keep track of when going for the gold.

The levels themselves are nothing short of inspired, fresh and totally awesome. You'll tread some familiar ground on occasion, but more often than not that familiar ground is spun 180-degrees and you're doing something completely new and exciting on that ground... er, ceiling. The level designs are so unorthodox and ridiculous at times that I couldn't help but giggle and grin like the four year old I was back in 1986 that would jump every time I hit the A-button to make Mario jump on the NES. This game is saturated with life, and while playing you'll question why you play most of the other games that you have played; I know I did. There are more "holy crap" moments than you can shake a Wiimote at within the first hour of playing, never mind the entire game. I really can't put how fresh and exciting this game is into words. Even when I had 110+ stars, there were new experiences and levels that I was just starting to explore. I remember anything past the 70 star mark in earlier 3D Mario games slipped from being fun directly into "I need to do this crap to beat the game 100%" territory. Not here, friends.

Technically, the game shines in all aspects. It controls wonderfully, there are no noticable load times, and the music is phenominal. Online stores have just started taking pre-orders for the OST - the discs are only available to these stores and to people in the Nintendo Club in Japan, so they'll be pretty hard to get once they're out of print. As of this writing, Play-Asia is preparing for preorders. There are some classic remixes on there, as well as a bunch of great new tunes that did not disappoint me in the least.

So, as I type this I'm debating on whether to give the game another go. I might save it for later on this year when I start craving some more Mario Galaxy, but I might just hop right back into it and enjoy the amazing adventure all over again. I can't recommend this enough to Wii owners in general, as well as platforming fans and people that don't have broken thumbs. Yeah, it's that good.

Ah Friday night

2007-11-23T21:10:00.000-06:00

A second bonus day off from work that I really needed. I would say I wasted a lot of the day between playing games on the PC and PSP (Call of Duty 4 and DJ MAX Portable 2). However, right now I've just popped in my Granado Espada OST (which took two weeks in shipping to arrive >< ) and I'm trying to burn the midnight oil with some more translations from Chudah's backlog. I did finish two earlier, which brings the edits/translations to be posted up to five at the moment... though I'm sure they can be posted in short order once she sits down with them so no resting on my laurels. Earlier I also continued ripping my collection which has been a slow and steady process and ended up fixing another page. For some reason not only was Racing Lagoon missing all the kanji on the non-character name titles (and one name was wrong) but it was missing composer Ryo Yamazaki in the credits. I'm trying to think of other edits I probably didn't post on the forums and the only coming to mind immediately are edits to JDK Band 1 & 2, and fixing my sloppy translation on Sakura Taisen 4. ...ah great a phone call and I lost my train of thought. Well, I'll close this post by saying, six songs in and I'm really enjoying GE. Now back to work, goodnight!

Welcome!

2007-11-23T16:16:00.000-06:00

I want to officially welcome all of Chudah's Corner's visitors to our brand new blog! The staff is very excited to begin writing for our readers and hope to give you insight, entertain, and discuss videogame music related topics from 8-bit to the newest orchestral score. So please make yourself comfy while we sharpen up our pencils (and wits) and begin writing about what we love most, game music.