Pixelated Audio

One of our favorite golf games ever made. Before they were part of SNK, Nasca proved to the industry that they could hang with the best of em. Neo Turf Masters, being one of their first, showcased arcade golf at its finest which drove the game to becoming one of our favorite sports titles ever made. It has great gameplay and clean graphics but the soundtrack is the star with its upbeat, jazzy-fusion and soaring solos composed by Takushi Hiyamuta.

Join us this week as we listen to the soundtrack from both versions as well as chat with Takushi "HIYA!" Hiyamuta about his composition!

http://pixelatedaudio.com/68

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!

http://pixelatedaudio.com/68

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. http://pixelatedaudio.com/67

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. 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.

Hole Chaser (Ryokusui Software, Birdy Soft, PC-88o1)

Composed by Masahiro Kajihara

http://pixelatedaudio.com/66

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.

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. http://pixelatedaudio.com/64

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. But music is universal right? So, we thought to ourselves, why not look at some other countries take on game music -and in the 90s, Korea definitely brought some amazing stuff in the PC market.

Illusion Blaze (일루젼 블레이즈) was released on the PC in 1994 and developed by Family Production. The company took a bold step to bring local content to the Korean gaming market and even released some of their titles abroad. 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.

Visit pixelatedaudio.com/63 for show notes and track listing

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!

Imagine, if you will, a game that’s from an Amiga developer heavily influenced by the English rock band Sisters of Mercy. They create a game that combines 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). That game would be Astaroth: The Angel of Death from Eldritch the Cat with music by none other than Jochen Hippel.

For show notes and track listing visit http://pixelatedaudio.com/61

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 and a deep dive into the game you're in for a good time. Join us with guest-host Nathan Daniels and a special appearance from composer Tomomi Otani.