This week, the crew - minus one - brings an optimistic vibe to the conversation. And no, the "minus one" isn't our resident Goth.

We take a personal approach and show the many forms of optimism, including an optimistic look back through the Game Awards medleys, an optimistic look forward in Chrono Trigger, and just sheer, distilled optimism in The Wonderful 101.

You can listen along to the music discussed here via the playlist on our YouTube channel: Music Arcade 96

Looking to get in touch with us? You can find us at ⁠[email protected]⁠

We're also on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/music-arcade.bsky.social

And on Discord: ⁠https://discord.gg/aM5WWGU

Song credits (in order of discussion):The 2025 Game Awards Game of the Year Medley, by Lorne Balfe (featuring compositions by Jan Valta, Ludvig Forssell, Lorien Testard, Christopher Larkin, et al.)

The Wonderful 101 - "The Won-Stoppable Wonderful 100 (English Version)" by Hiroshi Yamaguchi (lyrics by Brian Gray)

Anno 1800 - "Dance of the FIreflies" by Dynamedion

Rise of Nations - "Santiago" by Duane Decker

Soul Calibur II - "Unwavering Resolve" by Junichi Nakatsuru

Mega Man 7 - "Freeze Man Stage" by an unconfirmed composer (soundtrack by Yuko Takehara, Toshihiko Horiyama, Makoto Tomozawa, and Ayako Mori)

Devil May Cry V - "Devil Trigger" by Casey Edwards, ft. Ali Edwards and Cliff Lloret

Chrono Trigger - "Chrono Trigger" by Yasunori Mitsuda ("Main Theme" cover by Malcolm Robinson)

Vampire Survivors: Ode to Castlevania - "Treasure Room" by Konami Kikeiha Club (Masanori Adachi and Taro Kudo) ("The Treasury Room" cover by Daniele Zandara)

Production credits:

Hosts:

Galen "The SoundGuy" Firestone

Ranakel

Edie Alexsander

Audio producer:

Galen "The SoundGuy" Firestone

Executive producer:

Ranakel

Writing and publishing:

Edie Alexsander

Art and design:

Alex Hadzaman