Join us as we celebrate 5 years of VGMRips with many of the people responsible, not only for its maintenance and up keep but its creation. We've asked our friends to share a song that has significance to them and to tell us about it in their own words. This led to an episode crammed with beautiful tunes (across many platforms) that we all think you'll enjoy.

Thank you VGMRips community, for all that you've done for video game music lovers and also preserving these tracks for generations to come. We're so proud to be a part of it. Here's to 5 more years!

Track List:

00:00:00 Bryan: "Battle Theme 1" Tsunyan Jaayao by Takeshi Abo (PC98)

00:05:45 MaliceX: "Tower of Destiny" Rusty by Ryu Takami, Kenichi Arakawa, Masahiro Kajihara (PC/AT)

00:13:49 Crimson1117: "Retro Nitro Girl" Minna de Mamotte Knight Hisayoshi Ogura - FM arr. by Wing (3DS)

00:20:56 ctr: "BGM3" Racing Hero by Hikoshi Hashimoto (ARC)

00:25:50 MusicFox: "Character Generation" Eye of the Beholder by Paul Mudra (PC/AT)

00:31:45 2ch-H: "Submerged City (Stage 1)" Dragon Saber by Shinji Hosoe (ARC)

00:36:35 Grauw: "BGM 1-1" Quarth by Kazuhiko Uehara, Norio Hanzawa, Tomoya Tomita, Yuji Takenouchi (MSX2)

00:40:46 Maxim: "Building 1" GG Shinobi II: The Silent Fury by Yuzo Koshiro (GG)

00:45:14 oerg866: "Sortie" Gauntlet IV by Hitoshi Sakimoto, Masahiro Iwata (Gen/MD)

00:53:30 kode54: "Menu" Tunnels of Armageddon by Dorota Błaszczak, Marcin Grzegorzewski (Apple IIgs)

00:58:53 tails_: "Field Music #2" Valna by Manabu Saito (PC88)

01:03:22 vampirefrog: "Fate" YU-NO by Ryu Umemoto, Ryu Takami, Kazuhiro Kanae (PC98)

01:11:28 ValleyBell: "Going on an Adventure" High Seas Havoc by Emi Shimizu (Gen/MD)

01:20:39 James: "Title Screen" Monty on the Run: Monty no Doki Doki Daisassou by Kazuo Sawa (FDS)

This week we’re bringing you a special episode from our Extra-Life 2016 charity event  (24 hour gaming marathon)  that took place on Nov. 5th. We asked the other team members to pick a track from any game that was special to them and tell us why. As always it was a great time with awesome music and good friends. So we invite you to listen to us slowly lose our minds over the course of the 24 hour gaming marathon in another expansion pack.

Track List:

00:00:00 Intro: "Talk Dirty to Me" Shock Troopers by Masahiko Hataya and Masaki Kase (Arcade)

00:08:50 Pete: "Jungle Brinstar Theme" Super Metroid by Kenji Yamamoto and Minako Hamano (SNES)

00:17:45 Swendu: "Opening Cutscene" Ys: Memories of Celceta by Falcom Sound Team jdk (PS Vita)

00:30:02 Dusty: "Wings" Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete by Noriyuki Iwadare (vocals: Jenny Stigile) (PSX)

00:43:48 Soup: "Overworld" Faxanadu by Jun Chikuma (NES)

00:52:15 CJ: "Das Malefitz" Mass Effect 3 by Faunts (PS3/360/PC)

01:04:00 Josh: "Top Man Theme" Mega Man 3 by Yasuaki Fujita and Harumi Fujita (NES)

01:16:02 Brunk: "Toxic Caves" Sonic Spinball by Howard Drossin, Brian Coburn, Barry Blum (GEN/MD)

01:28:02 James: "Deep in the Forest" Rayman by Rémi Gazel (PS1)

01:36:52 Bryan: "Warehouse" TMNT: Fall of the Foot Clan by Michiru Yamane (GB)

Some games are just flat-out terrible and destined to never to see overflowing love from the gaming world (but that’s okay). This describes Hole Chaser for the PC-8801 perfectly. If you were to pass over this game because of its graphics or because of the erotic storytelling you would be missing out on one truly amazing soundtrack by Masahiro Kajihara. In this episode of Pixelated Audio we’re making sure that this music isn’t forgotten and can receive some of the love it deserves plus an interview the composer!

Track List:

0:00:10 Opening (OPNA)

0:07:14 BGM 1 (OPNA)

0:13:23 BGM 2 (OPN)

0:15:55 BGM 5 (OPN)

0:22:35 BGM 2 (OPNA)

0:27:01 BGM 5 (OPNA)

0:39:39 BGM 3 (OPN)

0:40:29 BGM 3 (OPNA)

0:46:32 BGM 4 (OPN)

0:47:28 BGM 4 (OPNA)

1:05:02 BGM 6 (OPNA)

1:25:01 Ending (OPNA)

Hole Chaser (PC-8801) composed by Masahiro Kajihara

かぢゃぽんのお部屋 (Kajapon's Room)

Packs contributed to vgmrips.net by 2ch-H

In the 90’s saying Nintendo consoles sucked would get you some new bruises on the at recess. Within 10 years they wrapped up the NES, blew our minds with the Super NES, and followed that with Nintendo 64. You could be thinking to yourself, “Maybe if I mentioned the how bad the Virtual Boy sucked my would-be playground attackers might leave me alone.” But seeing as how the system has been a sore subject for Nintendo fanboys (and girls) since its debut, they might even hit you harder.

Today we have the music from Red Alarm by T&E Soft to prove that no matter what you’ve heard about this system, it doesn’t mean it didn’t have some cool music with awesome stereo effects.

Track List:

0:00:00 Opening

0:15:31 Stage 1

0:23:43 Stage 1 Boss

0:35:29 Stage 2

0:37:41 Clear

0:49:58 Replay

0:58:35 Stage 4

1:02:58 Stage 4 Boss

1:18:06 Stage 5

1:24:21 Stage 5 Boss

1:29:00 The Final Stage

1:34:57 Ending

1:42:55 Red Dimension Remix by McVaffe at OCReMix

View the pack on vgmrips.net

Red Alarm (レッドアラーム) on the Virtual Boy (T&E Soft, 1995) Composed by Ken Kojima

In this episode we (once again) have composer Naoki Kodaka in all his Sunsoft glory with Journey to Silius (aka [rʌf] World) for the NES/Famicom. This game has all the signs of what makes an NES title remembered as "classic." And it's dark visuals, gritty sound, and revenge-focused story draw their own highlights in the ocean of titles on the platform.

Join us as we take an in-depth look at the game, the composition, and it's unbelievably heavy DPCM low-end pumping through the NES APU.

Track List:

0:00:07 Title

0:17:33 Opening

0:25:31 Stage 1/Final Stage

0:35:14 Stage 2

0:49:37 Stage 4

0:51:43 Boss Battle

0:59:25 Stage 3

1:07:10 Ending

1:13:23 Super Hero Arranged by Johnny / Player: Orekore

Journey to Silius (ラフワールド) NES (Sunsoft, 1990) Composed by Naoki Kodaka

Retro gaming and game audio tends to get associated with US, Japan, and Europe because of the shear volume of games and media. So, we thought to ourselves, why not look at some other countries take on game music.

Illusion Blaze (일루젼 블레이즈) was released in 1994 for Korea on the PC and was developed by Family Production. Their games were mostly composed by a duo known as D.A.C. that was producing a mix of rock and electronic music into a unique balance of "destructive harmony." So, join in as we dip into Korean gaming history, Family Production, and chat with Seung-Hwan Ro of D.A.C.

Track List:

0:00:00 Opening

0:17:13 Stage 1

0:26:05 Player Select/Stage 3

0:27:50 Stage Selection

0:39:36 Stage 2

0:43:22 Stage 4

0:50:49 Stage 5

0:52:06 Stage Movement

0:55:09 Stage 6

1:05:41 Unused 1

1:20:00 Unused 2

1:35:46 Stage 7

1:39:31 Ending

1:46:47 Hall of Fame

Illusion Blaze 일루젼 블레이즈 (1994, IBM PC/AT)

Composed by D.A.C. (Seung-Hwan Ro, Myung-Jin Ahn)

Thanks to MaliceX for a proper rip at our affiliate site vgmrips.net

Also thanks to Sam Derboo at HardcoreGaming101 for his research titled: A History of Korean Gaming

Namco was known for their extravagant arcade systems and over-the-top designs, however, they also had one of the most impressive sound chips in the early 90s. The 32-voice C352 and it's driver "Quattro" were both innovative and polished but more importantly, they were utilized by an amazing roster of composers.

Guest-hosting the show, ctr (from our affiliate site vgmrips.net) joins in to discuss his latest playback and logging tool QuattroPlay which has been released today alongside the show! 

 

Based on reverse engineering of the original "Quattro" sound driver, this program lets you play music and sound effects from over 75 Namco games, including "Ridge Racer", "Tekken", "SoulCalibur" and so on... It also supports channel muting, WAV and VGM logging, and a tracker-style pattern visualization (which looks really neat). Please see the readme included for instructions on how to use.

Bitbucket repository

Github repository

Windows binary

macOS binary

*Here's the California Extreme video of Pixelated Audio playing Prop Cycle. Periscope Broadcast

Track List:

0:00:09 Ridge Racer Power Remix - Ridge Racer - Shinji Hosoe

0:15:24 Wind Ride Kids - Cyber Cycles - Shinji Hosoe

0:22:45 Give it Together - Alpine Racer - Takayuki Ishikawa

0:31:43 Regret - Kart Duel - Unknown

0:43:54 Euphoria - Rave Racer - Ayako Saso

0:52:13 Capriccio - Fighting Layer - Ayako Saso

0:59:48 Duelists (Mitsurugi Theme) - Soul Calibur - Junichi Nakatsuru

1:07:51 A Song for the Man of the Future - Ehrgeiz - Takayuki Nakamura

1:16:29 SUN-J99Mix (Jazz Groove) - Paca Paca Passion - Takayuki Aihara

1:25:27 Georian - Mr. Driller - Masaru Shiina

1:35:42 Story BGM 01 - Golgo 13: Kiseki no Dandou - Jin Watanabe

1:41:20 Exeo - Nebulas Ray - Masahiro Fukuzawa

1:49:39 Area 1 - Xevious 3D/G - Ayako Saso

2:01:58 Wind Woods (ctr mix) - Prop Cycle - Yoshie Arakawa

Imagine, if you will, a game that’s from an Amiga developer heavily influenced by the English rock band Sisters of Mercy. Add in some truly insane music coupled with artwork that's both sexy and demonic in the style of an 80’s heavy metal album cover (sporting a naked demon right on the title screen). The game you would get is Astaroth: The Angel of Death developed by Eldritch the Cat with music by none other than Jochen Hippel.

Track List:

0:07:35 Title (Amiga)

0:18:20 Astaroth4-fast.mod - Remix by Estrayk

0:27:08 Game Over

0:35:28 Hi Score

0:48:23 Ingame

1:05:38 Title (Atari ST)

1:18:37 Astro 2003 - Remix by Evilman of Bronx (C64 6581)

1:20:51 Santamagochi - Two in One - DMA-Sc of Sector One (Atari ST)

1:24:41 Astaroth Remix - Groovykid

1:29:22 Astaroth - Title Remix - ACC:Xess (youtube)

Astaroth: The Angel of Death (1989, Amiga/Atari ST) composed by Jochen Hippel (Mad Max)

Herzog Zwei is a real-time strategy game that was developed by Tecnosoft and released for the Mega Drive in 1989 for Japan and for the Sega Genesis in 1990 for North America. With excellent music, you're in for a good time. Join us with guest-host Nathan Daniels and a special appearance from composer Tomomi Otani.

Track List:

0:00:00 Jagd Flieger - Herzog Zwei (Arai)

0:00:13 A Full Retreat (Otani)

0:12:26 There is No Time to Lose (Otani)

0:26:46 Take it Easy (Arai)

0:34:55 Back to Square One (Otani)

0:40:54 Sleight of Hand (Arai)

0:52:02 Sniper (Arai)

0:55:21 A Breach of Contract (Otani)

0:58:55 A Breach of Contract - Dragon's Fury (Otani)

1:01:50 The Mournful War (Otani)

1:22:12 It was Concurrent to the Accident - Herzog (MSX)

1:25:26 Sniper - Herzog (Sharp X1)

1:27:46 Sniper - Herzog  (PC-88)

1:31:47 The Super Fighter Invigorated Us (Otani)

1:35:09 Be His Soul Rest in Peace (Otani)

1:44:04 Go With the Stream (Otani)

Herzog Zwei - Tecnosoft 1989 (Sega Genesis/Mega Drive)

Composed by Tomomi Otani and Naosuke Arai

Find new released music from Tomomi Otani: Youtube

It’s safe to assume you’ve heard of Bandai, but did you know they developed a handheld console called the WonderSwan? If not, don’t worry, its obscurity comes from the fact that it was never released in North America and had the misfortune to be in direct competition with the Game Boy... ouch! This doesn’t mean it was bad, in fact it was quite amazing... just unlucky (and maybe marketed poorly). Buffers Evolution is a handheld VGM masterpiece and a great example of what this system could do both in sound and graphics. Enjoy!

Track List:

0:00:00 Title Theme

0:11:16 Character/Stage Select

0:20:41 Stage A1/D1

0:23:51 Stage C1

0:38:58 Stage B1

0:41:59 Stage A2/D2

0:46:34 Stage B3

0:56:51 BGM #8

0:58:30 BGM #2

1:05:35 Stage C3

1:08:36 BGM #16

1:18:21 BGM #15

1:27:23 BGM #20

Buffers Evolution (1999, Bandai/Koto Laboratory)

Composed by Sasaki Junana, HIRA and NIYAN