31 Songs (no.1)

This month is the month of November - What does it mean? Not much - but for me it may be a good enough excuse to put together another serial. So, for the duration of November, every Friday I'll be talking about a subject over a series of posts, describing my own opinions and sharing experiences with a particular topic.
So what's the serial topic this time around?
Game music!
Yeah we should admit to it: We each have our particular favorite tunes in any game and we've even halted progression in a game just to listen to them. We may have downloaded some to listen to on the computer or Ipod and may have even sought out some remixes done by someone else who thought the tune was really cool.
So for this serial, I want to talk you all through some of my favorites. And as I've over two decades of gaming experience, there is quite a lot to get through. Therefore, this serial will be done with each post focusing on a particular gaming generation and, hopefully, track an evolutionary path through music, technology and taste.

So let's begin with the roots of my gaming experience, the third generation!

Arkanoid theme

Unlike most kids of the late eighties and early nineties, I never had a Sega or a Nintendo. Nope, I had a Commodore 64. Can't complain though: The damn thing had it's fair share of moments and some decent games. Indeed, it's fun to go online now and finally see other people share an interest in what I thought was ace at the time.
So about Arkanoid: This was a Breakout clone where, for the unfamiliar, the player controlled a bat facing a layered wall of bricks and to take them all out by bouncing a ball at them. Arkanoid however provided its own spin on the formula with power-ups and a 'space' theme with a mammoth space ship on the title screen and aliens that wander through the playing area. And of course, it had a rockin' theme tune.
I love how this tune is divided into sections starting with the explosive bass, before evolving into some electronics, followed by a mournful noise and then finally grinding to a complete stop. The end result is something surprisingly epic-sounding from the lowly C64 SID chip. Funny thing is, when I was a kid I thought that this was a theme best suited to a space-exploration/Star Trek-esque game - so imagine my disappointment that was used for a Breakout clone.
Still this was the sound of a sound system being pushed to the limit proving that anyone can make anything epic-sounding with even the most limited of tools.


Bubble Bobble - Theme

OMG is this song catchy. It has to be the most insanely catchy song every created in the history of gaming. Once heard you can't really get it out of our head! It's insane!
Now I've played Bubble Bobble in other formats namely the arcade version and the NES one on the Virtual Console and, I have to say that it is still the Commodore 64 version that works for me, in the terms of playability, graphical and, of course, the music. And how can one say no to that one tune? It's cheerful, catchy and, although repetitious, it never once gets boring. It's the time of theme that bores it;s way into the mind but in a good way - which is rare feat for any piece of music to accomplish.
What more can I say except it's so damn catchy and, even now, I'm still yet to tire of it.
Not that I want to anyway.


Last Ninja 2 - Central park

As this is a serial on my favourite game themes, I set myself a little challenge: To actively select games that I played and enjoyed, to deliberately seek out little known themes & shine some light upon them, and not fall into the trap of suggesting the obvious.
Which brings me to the Last Ninja 2. As mentioned previously in my Greatest Gaming Heroes list, this series was the defining game for the system and beloved by many a C64 owner. Sure the Nintendo kids may have had Mario or Link to champion but what would I care? I had Armakuni.
One of the trademarks of the Last Ninja series was the fantastic music. Whilst the first Last Ninja had some cool themes, it really stepped up with the sequel. I listen this theme now, after twenty-plus years of technological advancement and I'm still impressed by how the C64 SID chip is being pushed at such a rate one would never have thought possible. It's a hard rockin' theme and a damn good imitation of a metal band - I particularly like that solo/coda that wraps up the song. In fact I think this may have started the trend of having footage of ninja's fighting synced to metal music (and a gazillion and one Naruto AMVs). Okay maybe not but I'm still claiming it for Armakuni!
The rest of the soundtrack of Last Ninja 2 is indeed impressive but this still works for me - and judging by the many rock covers/remixes that exist of this theme, many more agree with me.


R-Type - Title theme

This was something of a milestone in my gaming history: This was the first time I'd actually sit at the title screen of game purely for enjoying the music being played. And how could I not? This was a fantastic opening theme and a pace setter for a brilliant soundtrack. It was energetic and perfect music for gunning down aliens and evading bullets with intensity. And the person we have to thank for this is Chris Hulsbeck - the man who wrote the equally excellent music for Turrican and, more recently, Star Wars Rogue Leader.
Funny thing is I've played various R-Types since and I can recognize some familiar themes. But I'm used to the frantic soundtrack to the Commodore 64 version - thus the other versions come across as being surprisingly stiff. True - they don't work for me. Why I heard the title music to the Amiga version and honestly it doesn't hold a candle to this one. Even hearing it now they seem to be completely different themes - but if the Commodore 64 version of R-Type truly got it's own theme then it's one up for it!


Ramparts - Theme

Not to be confused with the strategy game of the same name that made it's way to various systems (including the C64!) this Ramparts is actually a clone of the classic game Rampage. The major difference is it went for a medieval/fantasy theme with the players controlling an armored giant climbing castle towers and smashing them to pieces. Looking back it's a bit of weak game with dodgy controls, awful graphics (by C64 standards) and little to maintain interest.
But the game's saving grace is a genuinely freaky theme: Played throughout the game, this is truly a theme of giant destroying large buildings. I recall this theme being the one that frightened me as a kid - even to the point where I was more focused on the music than the actual game itself - and if the music is more engaging than the game itself then something must've worked. Okay so maybe now this theme can't compare to the likes of the Silent Hill games but for one of the scariest gaming themes ever made it sure makes a compelling case.


Tetris - Type A

Yes this is a no-brainer and yes it's inclusion breaks my own rule of not kowtowing to the obvious but damn, how can I honestly say no to this?
Interestingly enough, it is only in recent years that I found out that all the music from Tetris was based on Russian folk songs - and Type A itself originated from a song called Korobeiniki. Funny thing is, most people would probably recognize this theme almost instantly - and even then it's most likely through Tetris. Funny how game's can do that....

And on that note, this concludes the first part of the series - tune in next week when the music steps up a notch as we enter the fourth generation....