Pixelated Audio

Back in the 90’s the Sonic the Hedgehog series was in its prime - literally running over the competition. In late 1999/early 2000, SNK capitalized on this fan favorite by licensing Sonic and his friends for the Neo Geo Pocket Color. This entry (in the now, veteran franchise) would be know as Sonic the Hedgehog: Pocket Adventure and became a highly praised addition for a short lived and under appreciated handheld.

This week on Pixelated Audio, we’re playing music from an amazing little Nintendo DS game that you might have missed called Lock’s Quest. The composer, David J. Franco, joins us for a quick chat and with over 90 tracks in the game he’s done an excellent job of creating a truly inspirational soundtrack. Also, joining the discussion is a close friend and Lock’s Quest enthusiast, Swendu. Track list and Show Notes can be found at http://pixelatedaudio.com/18

Rockage 4.0 took over our lives for the weekend so we thought it'd be fun to put out a short Expansion Pack episode (totally unrelated) while we're on break. Dino Dini, Zoids, Tim Allen, and Golden Warpships. Kind of like a VGM buffet?

We'll be back with our normal show in two weeks with some pretty awesome game spotlights. Check out the tracklist here http://pixelatedaudio.com/17

In the early 90’s Gremlin Software released Utopia ( a Civilization-style simulation game) on an array of systems - DOS, Amiga, Atari ST and SNES. In addition to all versions looking and playing similarly, they also share the same composer. Barry Leitch got his start way back on the C64 and has been doing amazing soundtracks for over 30 years across more than 240 games. Join us as we listen to these utopian melodies and have a quick chat with the composer himself.

Summary and track list can be found at http://pixelatedaudio.com/16

Our musical mash-up is back with Expansion Pack II. Hope you’re ready to listen to some tunes ranging from the 1986 Famicom to 2014 Wii U and everything between. In case you missed last Expansion Pack episode or tuning in for the first time, this is a bit of a different style episode from our normal lineup. Just some random awesome tracks and some facts to go along with them in this more free form and fun style series that fits between our regularly scheduled episodes. Tracklist can be found at http://pixelatedaudio.com/15

Kirby has evolved into one of Nintendo’s most colorful and beloved franchises, so it’s interesting to see it start out on the Game Boy’s “pea soup” color palette. Kicking off what would be a long relationship between HAL Laboratory and Nintendo, Kirby’s Dream Land was fun for new and seasoned gamers alike.

In 1992, Kirby’s Dream Land was released to the world and became an instant hit. Three years later in 1995, the Game Boy was once again called back to action with Kirby’s Dream Land 2. By the time the sequel was released, Kirby was well on his way to inhaling our love and becoming the iconic character he is today. Join us on our own musical adventure as we explore Kirby’s puffy roots.

Summary and track list can be found at http://pixelatedaudio.com/14

Now that 2014 is a thing of the past, we’d like to take a moment to reflect on some of the music we’ve played over the last year and select our favorites. We covered some amazing games and this is a second look at some of those tracks in case you might have missed them. It was fun for us, hopefully you’ll enjoy it too.

There’s nothing better than kicking off the new year with Castlevania and in this episode we're running through an excellent addition to the series called Castlevania: Bloodlines for the Sega Genesis/Mega Drive released in 1994 by Konami. This game wasn't originally part of the series' timeline (meant as an side-story) but later on after the timeline was leaked Bloodlines secured its place in the official Castlevania chronology.

Like its predecessors, Bloodlines has an phenomenal soundtrack that mixes the same haunting Baroque-inspired music with a touch of neo-classical rock. The game was composed by Michiru Yamane.

View show notes and tracklist at http://pixelatedaudio.com/12

From golfing in Hell to Sesame Street. An eclectic mix of game music but all pretty rad stuff.

We're taking a side-step from our normal format today with a new segment to supplement our normal bi-weekly show. Pixelated Audio Expansion Pack is kind of like a random mix of stuff we've either recently discovered or some music from games that may not fit into a specific show (at least any time soon). They'll be a bit shorter and fall into the slots between the off-weeks but we figured this one can start us out. Hope you dig it. Track listing can be found at pixelatedaudio.com/11

In 1990, shortly after Tim Burton and Warner Bros. brought Batman to the big screen, Sunsoft took this icon to home consoles in a series of different games, both as direct movie tie-ins and also more original comic based stories. This week we explore Sunsoft’s nightmare created at the hands of Gotham’s "Clown Prince of Crime" ...the Joker.

Summary and track list can be found at http://pixelatedaudio.com/10