Pixelated Audio is back from another VGMCon in Minnesota, this time about space! Joining Gene once again from last year are Pernell from Rhythm and Pixels and Carlos from Heroes Three!

We did a similar panel last year; we take a broad theme and make it educational, and then use it as an excuse to cram in all sorts of VGM examples. We had some tech issues and lost some of the recording but we were able to rescue it with a more laid back "part 2" we recorded in the hotel room as a way to fill in gaps and riff for a while. Prepare for launch on this massive double episode clocking in at almost 2 hours!

We discuss space, its influence on games and computing, and a wide range of games that have a direct or sometimes tenuous link to space. We've got a ton of music this episode so we hope you enjoy it. Pardon the noise in the background, it was the best we could do with a portable recorder.



If you'd like to follow along with our slides that we used during the talk, feel free to click through. If the presentation doesn't show up below, click here.



Track list

* 0:00:00 (Bedding) Map Screen - Mass Effect (Various, 2007) - Sam Hulick
* 0:06:15 (Excerpt) introduction to "From Here to Infinity" narrated by Patrick Stewart
* 0:09:42 Intro Cutscene - Frontier: Elite II (Amiga, 1993) - David Lowe
* 0:27:18 Hyperspace - Star Control II (PC, 1992) - Riku Nuottajärvi
* 0:31:57 Alpine Start - Star Trek: New Worlds (PC, 2000) - Jeremy Soule, Inon Zur
* 0:35:19 Main Theme - Space Engineers (PC, 2019) - Karel Antonín
* 0:41:11 Happy Daymare - Xexex (Arcade, 1991) - Konami Kukeiha Club

* Motoaki Furukawa (Carol Queen)
* Hidenori Maezawa (Michael Oldriver)
* Satoko Miyawaki (Rosetta Stone)
* Akiko Hashimoto (Shanghai Manmos)


* 0:45:13 Space Port -Juggernaut- - X-Men: Children of the Atom (Arcade, 1994)

* Takayuki Iwai (ANACHEY··TAKAPON··) [main composer on track]
* Shun Nishigaki (SYUN Nishigaki)
* Hideki Okugawa (HIDEKI OK)
* Isao Abe (Isao ··oyaji··Ave)


* 0:47:44 Hydra (Stage 1) - Gradius IV (Arcade, 1999) - Konami Kukeiha Club

* Atsuki Watanabe (Atsuki)
* Harumi Ueko


* 0:52:09 Pretty G - GuitarFreaks / DrumMania (Arcade, 2000) - Zonlu (Sunday Records)
* 0:57:17 Space - Chō Jikū Yōsai Macross: Scrambled Valkyrie (SFC, 1993) - Noboru Yamane
* 1:04:48 I Want to See the Starlight (Jolyne Kujo's Theme) - JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: All Star Battle (PS3, 2013) - Chikayo Fukuda
* 1:11:50 UFO Ending - Silent Hill (PS1, 1999) - Akira Yamaoka
* 1:18:06 (Bedding) World 2 (Moon) - Treasure Master (NES, 1991) - Tim Follin
* 1:20:00 (Bedding) Team Selection - Blades of Steel (NES, 1988)

* Shinya Sakamoto (S. Sakamoto)
* Kazuki Muraoka (K. Muraoka)
* Atsushi Fujio (A. Fujio)
* Kiyohiro Sada (K. Sada)


* 1:21:30 (Bedding) Item Acquisition - Super Metroid (SNES, 1994) - Kenji Yamamoto
* 1:21:42 (Bedding) Welcome to Chessmaster - The Chessmaster (SNES, 1991) - Peter Stone
* 1:22:24 (Bedding) Item Acquisition - Metroid Fusion (GBA, 2002) - Minako Hamano, Akira Fujiwara
* 1:22:41 (Bedding) Title Theme - Sorry! / Aggravation / Scrabble Junior (GBA, 2005) - Mark Cooksey (possibly)
* 1:23:46 (Bedding) Course Clear (Out of This Dimension) - Star Fox (SNES, 1993) - Hajime Hirasawa

Our show takes us back in time to the pleasant summer vibes of Malibu Bikini Volleyball, a no-frill sports game released in 1993 for the underdog Atari Lynx handheld, developed by Hand Made Software and composed by Paul Tonge.

Hand Made Software was a boutique first- (or second-) party game developer that produced original games exclusively for the Lynx and Jaguar from about 1990 to 1995, with a handful of previously unreleased games making their way out in the early 2000s. While this game is a pretty self explanatory late-era volleyball game for the Lynx, the music is definitely worth checking out.

English composer Paul Tonge is a multi-talented musician, sound designer, sound driver developer, game producer and music director that worked from the late 80s to the early 2000s, starting on the C64 and Amiga and eventually retiring from games around the GBA era. He worked on games such as: Tinhead, The Tick, George Foreman for Real, and Samurai Jack: The Amulet of Time as well as working on a number of sound drivers across multiple console generations.

It's a leisurely episode where we finally take the time for a deeper dive on Lynx sound and graphics hardware. We also cover Paul's work with "Sound Images", his joint audio production company with composer Tony Williams, and Paul's eventual work with Software Creations, the British software developer that was a powerhouse of game audio talent in the 90s even if their games were just alright.

In any case, sit back and enjoy this early 90s mixtape of beachy volleyball tunes!



Composed by: Paul Tonge

Tracklist

* 0:00:00 Malibu Volleyball
* 0:07:55 Trout Shout
* 0:16:11 Bikini Beauty
* 0:22:09 Beach Boy Blues
* 0:33:36 Spike
* 0:42:37 On the Shoreline
* 0:48:29 Banana Volley
* 0:57:47 Beach Volley
* 1:04:59 SandOut
* 1:09:17 SkyBall
* 1:16:19 Winners

Today, we're looking back at Astyanax, an action platformer released for arcade and NES in 1989 and a game we both grew up playing. Sometimes referred to as "The Lord of King" or "The Astyanax", the original arcade game was developed by Aicom and published by Jaleco, with the NES version developed and published by Jaleco. Both versions share some similarities, like fighting hordes of mythological creatures, but the key difference for our show is they feature completely different soundtracks. We'll be focusing on the NES soundtrack written by Toshiko Tasaki with an occasional detour to the arcade original composed by Kiyoshi Yokoyama.



Composed by:

NES: Toshiko Tasaki
Arcade: Kiyoshi Yokoyama

Tracklist

0:00:00 - Opening Story (NES)
0:00:21 - Title (NES)
0:6:08 - Introduction / Round 5 Cutscene (NES)
0:9:22 - Round 1 - Remlia Castle (NES)
0:18:53 - Stage 1 - In the Forest (Arcade)
0:23:03 - Boss Intro + Boss Theme (NES)
0:25:32 - Round 2 - Redroad Forest (NES)
0:31:49 - Round 2 Cutscene (NES)
0:35:47 - Round 3 Cutscene (NES)
0:36:36 - Round 4 - Marshy Swamp (NES)
0:45:19 - Round 4 Cutscene (NES)
0:46:20 - Round 5 - Telugamn Bridge (NES)
0:48:51 - Round 5 Cutscene (NES)
0:50:11 - Round 1 Cutscene / Round 6 / Last Boss (NES)
0:53:49 - Stage 3 - On the Lake (Arcade)
0:58:38 - Ending (Arcade)
1:02:39 - (Bedding) Name Entry (Arcade)
1:04:27 - Ending Story + The End (NES)

In this installment of Pixelated Audio, we're taking a stroll through the soundtrack of Blades of Steel. Originally, Konami released this fact-action hockey game in the arcades in 1987 but it really gained popularity a year later when it was converted to the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1988. However, most of us (at least your hosts) tend to forget that two sequels were released: NHL Blades of Steel '99 and NHL Blades of Steel 2000 which we’ve got some tunes from as well.



Composed by:

Arcade/NES: Shinya Sakamoto, Kazuki Muraoka, Atsushi Fujio, Kiyohira Sada

GameBoy: Hidehiro Funauchi, Akiko Itou

GameBoy Color: Matt Simmonds

Nintendo 64: Kazuhiko Uehara (sound producer), Nobuyuki Akena (sound director), Takahito Uenishi (SFX), Mitsuteru Furukawa (Sound programmer)

PlayStation: Let us know!

Tracklist

00:00:00 - Game Start / Warm Up (NES)
00:05:23 - Selection Theme (NES)
00:13:04 - Intermission (NES)
00:16:52 - Bonus Game Unused (NES)
00:17:26 - Bonus Game (Arcade)
00:18:16 - Won Finals (NES)
00:20:26 - Game End (NES)
00:21:50 - Team Selection (Arcade)
00:23:55 - Team Selection (Amiga)
00:25:26 - Game Start (DOS)
00:26:17 - Game Start (C64)
00:27:09 - BGM 1 (GB)
00:30:09 - BGM 2 (GB)
00:31:39 - BGM 3 (GB)
00:35:15 - BGM 8 (GB)
00:39:54 - BGM 1 (GBC) - NHL Blades of Steel
00:45:43 - BGM 2 (GBC) - NHL Blades of Steel
00:49:17 - BGM 4 (GBC) - NHL Blades of Steel
00:52:16 - Menu Music (N64) - NHL Blades of Steel 99
00:56:56 - BGM 3 (GBC) - NHL Blades of Steel 2000
01:00:23 -  BGM 4 (GBC) - NHL Blades of Steel 2000
01:02:26 - BGM 6 (GBC) - NHL Blades of Steel 2000
01:04:52 - Menu 3 (PSX) - NHL Blades of Steel 2000
01:08:34 - Menu 4 (PSX) - NHL Blades of Steel 2000
01:15:57 - Ending (NES)

With the holiday season upon us, Gene and several other friends visited Sacramento Gamers Expo where we met some awesome game developer legends like David Crane, Garry Kitchen and Ed Annunziata. Joining Gene is Michelle (the 'voice' of Sue Kasper), AJ of VGMPorium (also on our Persona show) and last but not least Brian Stewart, one of the biggest VGM fans you'll ever find. Join us as we look back at our experience at SGE playing games, attending panels and looking back at our gaming in 2024 more generally.



Tracklist

* 00:00 (Bedding) Wizard Theme - Warriors of the Eternal Sun (GEN, 1992) - Paul Mudra, Frank Klepacki, Dwight Okahara
* 06:58 (Excerpt) Azcan Wander - Warriors of the Eternal Sun - Paul Mudra, Frank Klepacki, Dwight Okahara
* 07:14 (Excerpt) Azcan Wander - arrangement by "Gate House"
* 07:58 Swamp Combat - Warriors of the Eternal Sun (GEN, 1992) - Paul Mudra, Frank Klepacki, Dwight Okahara
* 16:15 Penetration - RayForce / Gunlock / Layer Section / Galactic Attack (ARC, 1994) - Tamayo Kawamoto
* 27:36 Gymhouse - Three Dirty Dwarves (SAT, 1996) - Attila Héger, Attila Dobos
* 38:49 John Whitgift - Astrologaster Dirty Dwarves (iOS, Switch, 2019) - Andrea Boccadoro

* Emily Dickens (Soprano)
* Ruth Kiang (Alto)
* Benedict Hymas, Robin Bailey (Tenor)
* Jimmy Holliday, Christopher Webb (Bass)


* 48:52 (Excerpt) "21 Concepts" from the album The Graduate by MC Lars
* 50:15 Spring (Wild Horseradish Jam) - Stardew Valley (Various, 2016) - ConcernedApe aka Eric Barone

Links to other things mentioned

* Game developers and designers

* Audacity Games

* David Crane
* Garry Kitchen


* Ed Annunziata
* Brian Colin (IG)


* VGM albums

* Astrologaster
* Stardew Valley


* Artists and performers at Sac Gamers Expo

* MC Lars

* The Graduate album


* Mega Ran
* Lo(u)ser
* Scarecrow Scandals
* Alice Knows Karate
* Got Item


*  Websites

* Game Grooves

* Warriors of the Eternal Sun - Azcan Warrior by “Gate House”


* Hildregarde Von Blingen (Youtube)

Bryan and Gene are back for a relaxed holiday episode where we take a look back at some of the great music we heard in games in 2024. As usual it's an eclectic mix of genres and style, both in the games themselves and in the music.



Tracklist

* 0:00:00 Title - Spilled Mushrooms (Playdate, 2024) by Philip Dexter and choosh
* 0:04:38 Jungle - Spilled Mushrooms (Playdate, 2024) by Philip Dexter and choosh
* 0:14:36 Pioneer's Horizon - Timespinner (Various, 2018) by Jeff Ball
* 0:21:21 Bard Dance - Baldur's Gate 3 (Various, 2023) by Borislav Slavov
* 0:31:28 Hanging from Threads aka "Slugfest" - Yakuza: Like a Dragon Infinite Wealth (Various, 2024) by Keitaro Hanada
* 0:39:36 Velgress (Stage 1) - UFO 50 (PC, 2024) by Eirik Suhrke
* 0:50:11 Pingolf (Gameplay) - UFO 50 (PC, 2024) by Eirik Suhrke
* 1:00:40 Trench -Jewelry Box- - Shinsekai: Into the Depths (iOS, Switch, 2019) by Chikara Aoshima

Pixelated Audio is back from this year's Persona themed MAGWest. In honor of the theme we threw together a quick show about the music of the mainline Persona games from Persona 1-5 with a little bit of early Megami Tensei history. We're also joined by co-host and our good friend AJ aka "rayjkayj" of the VGMPorium podcast. It's a light show with fun musical examples spanning the decades of the Persona series and we hope you enjoy it!



Track list

* 0:00:00 (Bedding) Convenience Store - Revelations: Persona - Kenichi Tsuchiya
* 0:09:30 1st & 2nd Ward Shopping District (West Entrance) - Revelations: Persona - Hidehito Aoki
* 0:14:25 Ayase's Theme - Revelations: Persona - Kenichi Tsuchiya
* 0:20:50 Sumaru City Map - Persona 2: Innocent Sin - Toshiko Tasaki
* 0:22:55 Battle - Persona 2: Innocent Sin - Kenichi Tsuchiya
* 0:28:39 Maya's Theme - Persona 2: Eternal Punishment - Kenichi Tsuchiya
* 0:31:00 Maya's Theme - Persona 2: Innocent Sin - Kenichi Tsuchiya
* 0:35:31 Theme of Tartarus (Arqa Block) - Persona 3 - Shoji Meguro
* 0:37:49 Burn My Dread - Persona 3 - Shoji Meguro

* Singer: Yumi Kawamura
Lyrics: Shigeo Komori, Yoshihiro Komori


* 0:47:06 Pursuing My True Self - Persona 4 - Shoji Meguro

* Singer: Reiko Tanaka
* Lyrics: Yu Namba, RyoRca


* 0:48:48 Signs of Love - Persona 4 - Shoji Meguro

* Singer: Shihoko Hirata
* Lyrics: Reiko Tanaka


* 0:54:43 Last Surprise - Persona 5 - Shoji Meguro

* Singer: Lyn
* Lyricist: Benjamin Franklin


* 0:59:24 Life Goes On - Persona 5 - Shoji Meguro
* 1:09:34 Satomi Tadashi Pharmacy's Theme - Revelations: Persona - Misaki Okibe

Additional things mentioned during the talk

* Bi Score Band albums

* Is This Persona? - songs from Shin Megami Tensei 1-5
* This Is Persona - songs from Persona 1-5


* Lotus Juice - Rapper from Persona 3 onwards
* Lacey Johnson - Another great musician with lots of awesome Persona covers
* VGMPorium Podcast - AJ's VGM podcast

* Shop Themes IV - Persona (VGMPorium episode)


* Tom Miller

Sue Kasper, it's a name you might know by memory but if you grew up PC gaming in the 90s you're definitely familiar with her work. Sue was the lead composer on SimFarm and the international sensation SimCity 2000! Both games were developed by Maxis, a studio known for producing simulation games since the 80s including SimCity, The Sims, Spore and many others.



Sue's eclectic tunes have been ingrained in the hearts and minds of simulation game players the world over, and there's no doubt that her work on SimCity 2000 inspired a great many other composers trying to capture that iconic simulation game sound. She's a lifelong musician and guitarist that's been playing gigs in a number of bands around California since the 70s. While we weren't able to speak to Sue directly on mic, we had an excellent conversation with Michelle sitting in as proxy for Sue to answer our collective questions about her work on SimCity 2K and SimFarm. It was a ton of fun hearing her experiences rocking out, and her work with companies like Maxis, Guitar Player magazine, and Avid/Digidesign.



Music composed by Sue Kasper unless otherwise stated

* 0:00:00 Dawn of City (Sim City 2000)
* 0:06:44 Dancing Megalopolis
* 0:11:06 The SIM Magic: Experience Mode
* 0:15:04 Skyscrapers
* 0:22:00 Tax & Money
* 0:28:35 (Excerpts) Tax & Money, Work Work Work! [with MIDI transcription issues]
* 0:31:18 Title Theme (Sim Farm)
* 0:34:13 Dead Farm / Debt Farm
* 0:39:15 Home Improvement (aka COWMAN)
* 0:41:53 Work Work Work (Sim City 2000)
* 0:48:25 Ultimate City
* 0:52:50 Key of Success
* 1:01:35 (Bedding) General Farm
* 1:04:12 Work Work Work!

* Composed by Sue Kasper
* Arranged by Ryuichi Katsumata for Sim-Melody from SimCity 2000



Other things mentioned:

* MAGWest 2024 (Sep 27-29)

* MAGWest 2023 - George Sanger Pool Party set


* ROCKRGRL Magazine wiki
* Bonus link: Small World - Juliet Slip tribute video

All songs using Roland SC-55, thank you to Valley Bell for providing the stellar recordings!

Pixelated Audio is back for the third annual Masters of VGM (@MastersofVGM), which happens every June. Various podcasts come together to highlight game composers with the theme this year focusing on the amazing women in the industry. We decided to take a more narrow focus on some of the lesser known composers at Capcom and picked 4 to talk about today going from the company's earliest days through the 2000s.

Check out some of the other participating shows in Masters of VGM and discover some new VGM podcast favorites! As always, we hope you enjoy the show!



Track List:

* 00:00 Main Theme - SonSon (Arcade, 1984) by Ayako Mori
* 03:56 Stage 1 & 2 - Ghosts 'n Goblins / Makaimura (Arcade, 1985) by Ayako Mori
* 07:24 Stage 3 - Trojan / Tatakai no Banka (Arcade, 1986) by Ayako Mori
* 10:44 Crystal Snail - Mega Man X2 (SNES, 1994) by Yuki Iwai
* 15:17 City Zone B ~ Night - Tech Romancer (Arcade, 1998) by Yuki Iwai
* 20:48 Tenguman - Rockman & Forte / Mega Man & Bass (SNES, 1998) by Akari Kaida
* 32:40 No!! - Tricky Sliders / Trick'N Snowboarder (PS1, 1999) by Akari Kaida
* 36:14 Blast Speed (Blast Man's Stage) - Mega Man Battle Network 6 (GBA, 2005) by Yoshino Aoki
* 41:12 Now Study! (Libra Scales' Stage) - Mega Man Star Force (DS, 2006) by Yoshino Aoki
* 48:28 Kaze yo Tsutaete (Game version) ~ROLL Special Ending~ - Rockman Battle & Chase (PS1, 1997)

* composition and arrangement by Yoshinori Ono and performance by Yoshino Aoki



Other links

* Ayako Mori - Capcom Wiki
* Yuki Iwai - Capcom Wiki
* Akari Kaida - Capcom Wiki, Wikipedia
* Yoshino Aoki - Capcom Wiki, Wikipedia

Pixelated Audio is back from a wonderful weekend at VGMCon in Minnesota! Gene was slated to represent us but along the way drummed up a party including Pernell from Rhythm and Pixels, Carlos from Heroes Three, and Thomas Kresge head of the Game Brass (check out their new album Barrel Brassed)!

When in Minnesota do as the Minnesotans do, as the saying goes. We had a fun time talking about all manner of VGM related to the Midwest; the region itself, games about the area and made there, as well as composers from the area.

Getting more specific we cover pinball and edutainment in some level of depth before the panel devolves into talking about Shrek, cheese, and endless trips cross country. It's a fun journey through a diverse range of VGM and we hope you enjoy the show we put together. Pardon the noise in the background, it was the best we could do with a portable recorder.



Track list

* 0:00:00 (Bedding) "The Creek" WolfQuest (Minnesota Zoo & Eduweb 2007) by Tim Buzza, additional music by Ben Woolman
* 0:14:52 (Excerpt) Suzanne Ciani Creates the Soundtrack for a Pinball Machine YouTube
* 0:15:51 (Excerpt) Xenon gameplay (Bally 1980) all audio by Suzanne Ciani (video courtesy of London Pinball)
* 0:18:19 "Main Theme" Pin-Bot (Williams 1986) by Chris Granner
* 0:22:24 "Speak Softly, Love" feat. Slash from The Godfather Pinball (Jersey Jack Pinball 2023) by Thomas Kresge
* 0:26:38 "New York City (Action)" X-Men Legends (Raven Software 2004) by Rik Schaffer
* 0:33:34 "Title Theme" Oregon Trail Deluxe (MECC 1993) by Lon Koenig and Larry Phenow
* 0:36:47 "Gimme Mo' Torque" Vigilante 8: 2nd Offense (DC version, 1999 Luxoflux) by Christian A. Salyer, Eric Klein, Javier Marquez
* 0:40:26 "Tracking Trouble" Puzzle Agent (Telltale Games 2010) by Disasterpeace / Richard Vreeland)
* 0:47:04 "Granny Cream's Hot Butter Ice Cream" Hypnospace Outlaw (Tendershoot 2019) by Hot Dad / Erik Helwig / "Chowder Man"
* 0:49:11 "Kitchen Music" I Am Bread (Bossa Studios 2014) by Black Heron (Leo Chilcott and Murugan Thiruchelvam)
* 0:54:48 "Protector's Enclave" Neverwinter (Cryptic Studios 2013) by Kevin Manthei
* 0:58:44 “Let's Break Physics (Main Theme)” Unstable Scientific (Studio Castle Soodalkov TBD) by Super Marcato Bros
* 1:04:29 "Exploration" WolfQuest by Tim Buzza
* 1:21:09 "The Creek" WolfQuest by Tim Buzza

Additional things mentioned during the talk

* Minnesota Educational Computing Consortium (MECC)

* The Story of The Oregon Trail - Gaming Historian YouTube
* Trailheads: The Oregon Trail’s Origins - Twin Cities PBS
* Ben Hanson travels the roguelike Oregon Trail - Video Game History Foundation
* R. Philip Bouchard (lead designer of the 1985 Oregon Trail)

* Personal website | died-of-dysentery.com | Died of Dysentery book, history of the game




* Minnesota things!

Kamen Rider Agito & Kuuga Wild Battle [仮面ライダーアギト＆クウガ ワイルドバトル] is a 2001 game for the Sega Pico developed by Arc System Works and published by Bandai. It is based on the Kamen Rider superhero license property which started in the 1970s.

To keep it brief, the Sega Pico is less a console and more a children's toy. Imagine the guts of a Sega Genesis / Mega Drive (minus the FM) stuffed into a colorful laptop / digital storybook for pre-school age children. For the Sega Pico, Kamen Rider is surprisingly involved and game-like compared to most of the educational software the system was built for. It features a basic 1-on-1 fighting game, a racing game, and a lightgun style shooting game.

On the audio hardware side, the Pico contains the Sega Master System's SN76489 (3 square waves, 1 noise channel) and a sample channel used mostly for voice clips. Unfortunately we don't have information on the composer / arranger for the Pico version, but some of the tracks are based on the original Kamen Rider music composed by Toshihiko Sahashi. It's an unexpectedly cool soundtrack for an obscure system even by VGM standards, and we hope you enjoy it!



Based on original compositions by Toshihiko Sahashi, no credits available for the Pico arrangement

* 00:07 Title Screen
* 04:02 Agito Page
* 10:19 Character Select
* 14:51 Battle BGM
* 21:27 Agito Game
* 23:09 Kuuga Page
* 28:24 Kuuga Game

Thanks to marklincadet of VGMRips for creating the pack!

Ultimate Brain Games is a board game collection released for PS1 in 2003 developed by cosmigo and published by Telegames. There's not much to say about the board games themselves; things like dominoes, chess, backgammon and the like, but the soundtrack written by Zbigniew Siatecki is great! Cosmigo was a very small German developer responsible for a ton of board and card game collections from around 2000 to 2015. They still exist today, mostly as the developer on a pixel art graphic software called "Pro Motion".

Zbigniew Siatecki's story is a somewhat familiar one around this timeframe. He's a Polish musician and graphic artist that got his start in the demoscene in the 90s / early 2000s (working under the pseudonym Siatek) whose music made its way into a few games from 2003-2007. Since his work on Ultimate Brain Games, and the related soundtracks for Ultimate Card Games and Solitaire Overload, he's mostly moved onto 3D graphics working on titles like Hard Reset, Shadow Warrior 1 & 2 (the 2010s series), Dark Souls: Remastered, and Cyberpunk 2077. His music is warm and nostalgic with all of the charming turn of the millennium demoscene vibes you can handle. While we couldn't get him on the show, we're still big fans of his work and we hope everyone enjoys it as much as we do.



All songs composed by Zbigniew Siatecki

* 00:00 Alice - Ultimate Brain Games (PS1)
* 03:51 Twilight
* 15:51 Blossom Time
* 23:04 Maya
* 31:40 Winter Morning - Ultimate Card Games (GBA)
* 36:37 Winter Morning (Excerpt) - Solitaire Overload (DS)
* 38:31 Dolphin Play - Solitaire Overload (DS)
* 41:59 Dolphin Play (Excerpt) - Ultimate Card Games (GBA)
* 48:02 "i love you" filename Syfonia.it

* also Starlight in Ultimate Brain Games (PS1)

GunMaster is a December 1994 arcade exclusive game developed by Metro Corporation. It's a single or two-player boss rush action game that's part fighting game and part platformer; think a dash of Gunstar Heroes with a Neo Geo art style. The game uses a well-established combo of soundchips: the OKIM6295 for 4 channels of ADPCM and the YM2151 for 8 channels of FM audio.

Metro Corporation was best known in the 90s for their Bust a Groove / Bust a Move series. More recently they've been a contract developer for Nintendo working on several Pokemon games and the Switch re-release of the Another Code / Trace Memory games.

The soundtrack was composed by a trio under the pseudonyms Famishin, MAZ, and Shadow although our information about them is limited. What we do know is that Famishin continues to work in the game industry with their company Yuzusoft, with game releases as recently as 2022. MAZ was last seen as composer for Metro Corporation's PS1 game BursTrick: Wake Boarding!!, and Shadow is as elusive as Totsukurzwell (from our show on Dangerous Seed). As always, we hope you enjoy this boss music heavy soundtrack.



All songs composed by Famishin, MAZ, and Shadow

* 00:00 Opening
* 01:52 Soldier Ore, Aries
* 09:39 Pearl, Onyx & Gemini
* 13:09 Leo
* 20:02 Turquoise
* 22:50 Tourmaline, Virgo
* 24:56 Aquarius, Taurus
* 28:11 Cancer, Red Amber
* 30:55 Capricornus
* 40:48 Queen Dia
* 45:45 Ending

Thanks to 2ch-H of VGMRips for creating the pack!

Gigandes (ギガンデス) is an arcade game developed by East Technology in 1989 and released in February of 1990. It's a horizontal shmup in the style of R-Type featuring all of the bio-mechanical tropes common to the era. It was designed for the Taito X System hardware which used a YM2610, the same audio configuration used in the Neo Geo, and was composed by Akira Inoue and Takaro Nozaki.

East Technology was a small developer based in Shinjuku that mostly worked on arcade games. The company was founded in 1987 and operated until around the mid-1990s. East Technology only produced around 10 games; their most notable were Double Dragon III: The Rosetta Stone published by Technos, and Operation Wolf 3 and Silent Dragon published by Taito.


The soundtrack to Gigandes is eccentric and in some ways ahead of its time. Full of weird and off-putting samples, the tonal whiplash is at times abrasive and at others catchy, but always compelling. Relative unknowns Akira Inoue and Takaro Nozaki put together a one-of-a-kind soundtrack that is worth the time to explore and we hope you enjoy listening to it as much as we did.



All songs composed by Akira Inoue and Takaro Nozaki

* 00:00 Brain Dump (Stage Start)
* 00:10 Speshul Atak Younit (Chapter 1: Round-37 Takes Off!)
* 06:23 Climax Without Foreplay (Chapter 2: The Rival Arrives)
* 09:04 Propagandasm (Stage 2 Boss)
* 14:27 Populism Answer (Chapter 3: Mesopotamian Nightmare)
* 17:37 Behold! This Face (Stage 3 Boss)
* 23:36 New Order (Chapter 4: Save the Colony Part 1)
* 27:21 Vertigo Factory (Chapter 5: Save the Colony Part 2)
* 33:09 Aquarium Island (Chapter 6: Showdown at Tatarajima)
* 36:14 Fight Fire with Fire (Stage 6 Boss)
* 41:40 It Ain't a Plot (Chapter 7: The Underground Kingdom of Larzan)
* 45:15 5-Count (Last Chapter: Sleep Quietly, My Friend)
* 49:12 Unused 4
* 52:29 Exposure Over (Last Boss)
* 54:49 Loving as Much as a Wound That Heals (Name Entry 1)
* 59:07 The Warrior and the Official (Name Entry 2)
* 59:46 5.67 Billion Years of Solitude (Game Over)

Thanks to The Golden Horse of VGMRips for the pack!

We’ve got a really fun soundtrack to dive into this episode from a Jaleco arcade title released in 1989 called Plus Alpha, composed by Tsukasa Tawada. 

It’s an overhead shooter similar to Twinbee, Raiden, or 1942 and was re-released on the Nintendo Switch in 2020 under the Arcade Archives series published by HAMSTER Corporation.

This is one of Tsukasa Tawada's earliest soundtracks, a composer still active in the 2020s with work on Pokemon and Harvest Moon titles. He brings lots of variety in this soundtrack, which is a ton of fun and also hits all the marks for an awesome arcade experience.

 



Tracklist:
All tracks composed by Tsukasa Tawada

* 00:04 Triumphal Return Overture (Title)
* 03:26 Wind Dancer (Stage 1 Wind Country)
* 08:25 Into Blue (Stage 2 Sea Colony)
* 09:39 Bird Island (Stage 3 Flower Town)
* 14:20 Sun Colors (Stage 4 Snow Country)
* 16:08 Last Heart (Stage 5 Sand City)
* 19:54 Neo Baroque (Stage 7 Eden)
* 21:11 Boss Stage
* 22:06 Harmonica for Peace (Unused)
* 26:47 Ending Theme

Thanks to ctr from VGMRips for creating the pack!

In this latest mini episode we're talking about Solstice: The Quest for the Staff of Demnos, a childhood favorite on the NES composed by Tim Follin.

Solstice released on the NES in the US and UK in mid 1990. It was developed by Software Creations and published by various companies in different regions. It's a challenging isometric puzzle platformer in the vein of games like Knight Lore and Lumo. Solstice only released on NES, but it did have a sequel on the SNES called Equinox.

Tim Follin is a VGM composer that hardly needs an introduction. Master of VGM folk and prog rock and putting way more effort into game soundtracks than they usually deserved, Tim worked on games like Bionic Commando and Ghouls'n Ghosts for C64, Plok for SNES, Ecco the Dolphin for Dreamcast and a tons more games. More recently he's moved into game development with games like Contradiction: Spot the Liar.

For more info about the illustrator of the box art, check out Michael Winterbauer's website.



Tracklist:
All tracks composed by Tim Follin

* 00:05 Title Screen
* 06:47 Introduction
* 07:10 Main Theme
* 18:50 Game Over
* 19:00 Credit ~ Continue
* 26:22 Ending

Thanks to Gnome from VGMRips for creating the pack!

In this bite-sized installment we're exploring the soundtrack from Bomb Jack on the Nintendo GameBoy composed by the legendary DMG DJ, Alberto José González.

Bomb Jack released on the Game Boy in the UK in 1992 and Sweden in 1993. Adapted to the handheld  by Bit Managers and New Frontier; published by Infogrames. Bomb Jack has had dozens of ports derived from the Tehkan Arcade game from 1984. CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 16, 64, Amiga, PC88, SG1000, ZX Spectrum, and even things like Java ME.

Alberto José González is a Spanish video game graphic artist, music composer, designer, and pretty much everything else. Notable games from French publisher Infogrames helped shed light on his early career and eventually helped found Bit Managers and later Abylight.

Twitter | YouTube | SoundCloud



Tracklist:

All tracks composed by Alberto José González unless otherwise stated

* 00:03 Bomb Order Bonus
* 02:05 Title Screen
* 12:18 Stage BGM
* 14:58 Name Entry 2 (ARC) - originally composed by Tsukasa Masuko
* 19:09 Game Over (The Last Sigh)

Thanks to The789Guy for the Gameboy pack and 2ch-H for the Arcade pack over at VGMRips!

Another titan of the game industry, George "The Fat Man" Sanger, joins us live at MAGWest! George has done so much to shape the course of game audio in America that the best we can hope for is scratching the surface with this post. During his career he's worked on numerous games, alongside his legendary group of cowboy composers under the moniker "Team Fat" which consisted of himself, Dave Govett, Joe McDermott and K. Weston Phelan.

A short list of projects that George and Team Fat worked on: Thin Ice for Intellivision, Maniac Mansion and Rad Gravity for NES, Zombies Ate My Neighbors on SNES, a litany of computer games including Loom, The 7th Guest, The 11th Hour, Wing Commander I and II, Ultima Underworld, Putt-Putt Goes to the Moon, Putt-Putt Saves the Zoo, Pajama Sam 3, and many other games. He's done work for so many companies it'll be faster to just link to his Wikipedia or Mobygames pages.

His influence in PC game music is especially strong. He's created think tanks and collaborated with audio companies which led to the adoption of hardware like the MT-32, General MIDI, and even redbook audio as data on CD-ROM games like the 7th Guest. In the 1990s, he was also one of the first to bring American VGM composers together through "Project Barbecue", an early precursor to events like GameSoundCon, MAGWest and others.

We loved every minute of talking with George and hearing his hilarious stories; from his humble beginnings, to his lengthy career and accomplishments, to his work with Team Fat. He is a larger than life character in a suit and cowboy hat and we wouldn't have it any other way.

If you haven't got your fill of George yet, check out a few more things:

* Team Fat Bandcamp page - buy some of their classic albums!
* George's website - Learn more about the man himself

And a few plugs from George for good measure

* The 7th Guest VR
* Soups On - Remade music from 7th Guest and 11th Hour in a 4 vinyl set (fully funded Kickstarter)



Pixelated Audio and the Fat Man

Music composed by George Sanger or other members of Team Fat (Dave Govett, Joe McDermott, K. Weston Phelan) unless otherwise stated

* 0:00:00 (Bedding) Swing Commander (Rec Room) ver 1.7 - Wing Commander Remastered (MT-32) - Dave Govett and George Sanger
* 0:05:39 Surfin on Thin Ice - Intellivision Lives! (GC)

* Based on "Carnival of the Penguins" for the 1983/1986 Intellivision game "Thin Ice" - George Sanger


* 0:13:49 (Excerpt) Main Music - Capture the Flag (Atari 8-bit)
* 0:15:08 (Excerpt) Surfin on Thin Ice (Live) - Intellivision Lives! (GC)
* 0:18:02 Planet Theme - Rad Gravity (NES)
* 0:22:19 Title Theme - Rad Gravity (NES)
* 0:23:31 Go Get 'Em! - Wing Commander Remastered (MT-32) - Dave Govett and George Sanger
* 0:26:22 (Excerpt) Main Theme - Loom (MT-32)

* Based on "Pas de trois - Intrada" originally by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, transcribed by George Sanger and Gary Hammond


* 0:27:32 Main Theme - SSN-21 Seawolf (MT-32)

* 0:34:33 Putt in Tunisia - Putt-Putt Goes to the Moon Remastered
* 0:48:28 Bedspread - The 7th Guest Remastered
* 0:54:00 I R Sam or Sam's House - Pajama Sam 3 Remastered

Today we're joined by composer g3ntlebreeze for a unique behind the scenes look at his work on Castle in the Clouds, a Castlevania-inspired hentai game (NSFW - not safe for work). The game was developed by Libra Heart and pixel-teishoku and published by Critical Bliss. Castle in the Clouds is a 2D pixel art platformer released on Steam in 2021 with lovingly crafted art and an incredible soundtrack. This "hornyvania" puts you in control of bounty hunter Lily on her quest to defeat hordes of monsters and maybe get a little something extra.

Critical Bliss is a rapidly growing developer/publisher that focuses on international releases of raunchy, fun, and unique erotic games that started around 2016. Libra Heart is a developer best known for their work on this game as well as the "Succubus" series, with additional help on Castle in the Clouds from pixel-teishoku.

g3ntlebreeze mixes together sultry sounds, nostalgic chiptune vibes, jazz and some truly wicked solos in this and other erotic games. He's worked on Tower & Sword of Succubus, Midnight Castle Succubus, Avaria: Chains of Lust and many other games that are best looked up with safe search on. We had a great time chatting about his musical background, composing for h-games, and some of the games and VGM composers that continue to inspire us. As always, we hope you enjoy the show!

* For more amazing music from g3ntlebreeze check out the following links:

* carrd.io | Bandcamp | Soundcloud | Spotify | YouTube | Twitter





Track List:

All songs composed by g3ntlebreeze unless otherwise stated

* 0:00:00 Title
* 0:05:12 Lily's Theme
* 0:13:27 Water Cave
* 0:21:57 Ghost Ship
* 0:25:16 (excerpt) Picture of a Ghost Ship

* from Castlevania: Rondo of Blood (PCE-CD) composed by Keizo Nakamura


* 0:32:52 Ice Cave
* 0:39:13 Desert (Dunes)
* 0:47:20 Hell
* 0:53:55 Heaven
* 1:06:21 Final Area
* 1:11:53 Boss 2
* 1:15:16 Final Boss
* 1:27:09 Ending

For more adult games with great VGM mentioned on the show, check out some of our past episodes:

* 47 - Grounseed
66 - Hole Chaser with Masahiro Kajihara
119 - Eve Burst Error
146 - Heart Heat Girls
165 - Mime
169 - Expansion Pack XXX - Adult VGM with Hammock

Pixelated Audio is back for the second annual Masters of VGM (@MastersofVGM), an event every June where podcasts come together to highlight some game music composers, either personal favorites or some that deserve a bit more attention. The event was created by bedroth, host of Very Good Music and BGMania podcasts. Check out some of the other participating shows in Masters of VGM and see what people are up to, or discover some new VGM podcast favorites!

We picked a selection of 8 more VGM Masters, all of them amazing women composers, covering a mix of music from the 80s to today.



Track List:

* 0:00:00 Ruins - Brandish (PC-98) by Mieko Ishikawa
* 0:09:25 Goodbye, Adol (Unused track) - Ys II (PC-88) by Mieko Ishikawa
* 0:15:35 Centaur Man - Mega Man 6 (NES) by Yuko Takehara
* 0:18:19 Charlie's Theme - X-Men vs. Street Fighter (ARC) by Yuko Takehara
* 0:24:37 Shoo-Bee-Doo Hullabaloo - Sackboy: A Big Adventure (PS4/PS5/Win) by Winifred Phillips
* 0:33:30 Area 4 - Planet Ocean (Aquabomber) - Bomberman World (PS1) by Jun Chikuma
* 0:41:02 Imminent Defeat - Neo Nectaris (TGCD) by Jun Chikuma
* 0:44:10 Main Theme - Assassin's Creed Origins (Various) by Sarah Schachner
* 0:53:34 Versus Oz - Sword of Etheria / OZ (PS2) by Michiru Yamane
* 0:57:37 Haunted Manor - Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom (Various) by Michiru Yamane
* 1:02:16 Fighting Chance - Dicey Dungeons (Various) by Chipzel
* 1:07:43 Authority - Octahedron (Various) by Chipzel
* 1:15:39 Welcome to Moonglow Bay - Moonglow Bay (Various) by Lena Raine
* 1:22:01 Exhale - Celeste (Various) by Lena Raine

Other links

* Mieko Ishikawa - VGMPF wiki
* Yuko Takehara - Capcom DB fansite
* Winifred Phillips - Website, NPR interview transcript
* Jun Chikuma - Les Archives, Midas Touch (Bandcamp albums)
* Sarah Schachner - Website
* Michiru Yamane - Website
* Chipzel - Bandcamp
* Lena Raine - Bandcamp