What does it sound like when God talks to you? What does it sound like with the Light of the Universe gives you a sacred quest that no one else can accomplish? 

Special thanks for this episode goes out to:

• Fellow VGM podcaster Jameson of barSILENCE podcast for contributing cover art. You can and should find barSILENCE wherever you download podcasts, and check out his website at barSILENCE.com. 

If you want to reach me, you can find me on Threads, Tumblr, or Instagram as ShujinAcademyVGMClub. I’m also on Mastodon at @[email protected], my username on Discord is ProfessorTom, and I’ve joined Bluesky as @shujinacademy.bsky.social. All episodes of the show are posted to my YouTube channel, which you can find by searching for Shujin Academy VGM Club. You can email me at [email protected]. Links to everything are available on my LinkTree at https://linktr.ee/shujinacademy. Please leave me a five star rating on iTunes or Spotify or wherever you’re finding this episode. New episodes are released once or twice a month depending on how often I get them done, and they premiere on Thursday mornings on your favorite podcatcher and on 8beats.co, the internet's number one game music radio station. I’m also now appearing on Terra Player, the new app that’s a destination for gaming podcasts and other content, so you can check me out there. 

Track Listing:

00:00 - Show Tagline

00:06 - Last Bible III - West Lake

01:01 - Talk Segment 1

05:42 - Final Fantasy IV (SNES) - The Lunarians (composer: Nobuo Uematsu)

06:58 - Final Fantasy V Pixel Remaster (Multiplatform) - Nostalgia (composers: Nobuo Uematsu, Ayumu Murai, Hirosato Noda, Tomonori Adachi, Reo Uratani, Shingo Ktaoka, Yuko Komiyama, Eri Tsunemoto, Kenot Hasegawa, Masato Kouda, Masaya Tsunemoto)

11:13 - Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky (DS) - Icicle Forest (composers: Arata Iiyoshi, Hideki Sakamoto, Keisuke Ito, Ken-ichi Saito, and Yoshihiro Maeda)

15:32 - Tokimeki Memorial (PC Engine CD) - Our Starry Sky [Planetarium] 

17:30 - Romancing SaGa 3 (Super Famicom) - Underwater Palace (composer:Kenji Ito)

19:59 - Albert Odyssey (SNES) - On Holy Ground (composer: Naoki Kodaka)

21:16 - Chrono Trigger (SNES) - Secret of the Forest (composer: Yasunori Mitsuda) 

26:00 - Talk Segment 2

27:58 - Secret of Mana (SNES) - Pure Night Pure Land (composer: Hiroki Kikuta)

30:48 - Final Fantasy VII (PSX) - Flowers Blooming in the Church (composer: Nobuo Uematsu)

35:42 - Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky (DS) - A New World (composers: Arata Iiyoshi, Hideki Sakamoto, Keisuke Ito, Ken-ichi Saito, and Yoshihiro Maeda)

39:07 - Tokimeki Memorial - Stormy Field (Romance)

40:17 - Dual Orb 2 - Dungeon (composers: Nobuyuki Hara and Yu Yoshida)

43:07 - Ys III: Wanderers From Ys (Genesis) - Morning of the Journey (composer: Yoshiaki Kubotera, Noriyuki Iwadare, and Mieko Ishikawa)

48:36 - Final Fantasy V (Super Famicom) - The Silent Beyond (composers: Nobuo Uematsu)

54:13 - Outro Talk Segment

56:27 - Final Fantasy III (Famicom) - Boundless Ocean (composer: Nobuo Uematsu)

[NOTE: This is a re-upload of an older episode that I accidentally deleted. While it's not my best show, and definitely not my most popular episode ever, I'm reposting it for the sake of complete-ness.]

This episode is devoted to some ominous songs. The episode title does not include a question mark, and that is intentional. 

Special thanks to fellow VGM podcaster Bedroth the Chinbeard for providing the voice of North Tennessee State University. He’s the host of Very Good Music, which you can check out at https://www.podbean.com/podcast-detail/ykr76-bda6e/Very-Good-Music-A-VGM-Podcast. You can find him on Twitter at @VGMpod.

There's an episode of the Pixel Beat podcast that would make an excellent double feature with this one. If you liked this episode, and you’re not done with the downbeat VGM yet, check that one out over at https://pixelbeatpod.buzzsprout.com/1797351/10461275-074-a-cold-dark-night.  

If you want to reach me, you can email me at [email protected]. You can find me on Twitter at @ShujinVGMClub, and on Instagram at ShujinAcademyVGMClub. Please leave me a five star rating on iTunes or Spotify or wherever you’re finding this episode.

Track Listing:

00:00 - Show Tagline

00:05 - Hang On - Title 

00:51 - Talk Segment 1 

03:44 - Kingdom Hearts - Dive Into The Heart ~Destati~

08:39 - Salamander / Life Force (Arcade) - Poison of Snake

10:16 - Alien Syndrome (Arcade) - Stage Theme

14:13 - Final Fantasy Legend - Demon Cave

17:13 - Mega Man X - Sigma Fortress 3

19:01 - Talk Segment 2

21:30 - Front Mission: Gun Hazard - Resistance

23:08 - Ninja Gaiden II - Puppetmaster [Cutscenes]

24:07 - Legacy of the Wizard - Item Select Theme

27:05 - Mega Man X 2 - Final Destination 

28:03 - Shin Megami Tensei: If . . . - Data Load Screen

28:45 - Lufia and the Fortress of Doom - Wave of Evil

29:57 - Talk Segment 3

33:24 - Final Fantasy: The Four Heroes of Light - Cursed Town

37:22 - Treasure Hunter G - A Position of Total Control

39:13 - Front Mission: Gun Hazard - Cavern

43:16 - Final Fantasy X - Place of Ordeals

46:48 - Persona 5 - Ominous

49:35 - Final Fantasy XIII - The Vile Peaks

52:37 - Show Outro

Let’s all go to our happy place with this great collection of cheerful tracks!

Special thanks for this episode goes out to:

• Fellow VGM podcaster Jameson of barSILENCE podcast for contributing cover art and also for that coveted Bluesky invite. You can and should find barSILENCE wherever you download podcasts, and check out his website at barSILENCE.com. 

During the show, I mentioned an episode of the Super Marcato Bros. podcast featuring the music of composer Masashi Hamauzu. You can check it out at  http://www.supermarcatobros.com/podcast/2019/4/7/episode-364-masashi-hamauzu and hear what the Marcatos had to say about Hamauzu’s work. 

I also mentioned my VGM podcast bro RayjKayj and how he introduced me (and other people who listen to his show) to the Mega Man Star Force soundtracks. You can find VGMporium at https://vgmporium.wordpress.com/ or on Spotify, Apple, and all the other podcast-promoting places. 

If you liked this show and you want to check out the original Rose-Colored Pixels episode I did in October 2022, you can find it at https://shujinacademyvgmclub.podbean.com/e/episode-22-rose-colored-pixels/ or anywhere you get this show. I also brought up episode 20 about big city music, which you can find at https://shujinacademyvgmclub.podbean.com/e/episode-20-welcome-to-metro-city/. (My Podbean statistics tell me that episode 20 is not well-loved, but I think it’s actually really good and I’d strongly recommend that you check it out.) 

If you want to reach me, you can find me on Threads, Tumblr, or Instagram as ShujinAcademyVGMClub. I’m also on Mastodon at @[email protected], and my username on Discord is ProfessorTom. You can email me at [email protected]. Episodes of the show are posted on my YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCw6CIUs81aap58U1EuaaFdA. All my links to everything are available on my LinkTree at https://linktr.ee/shujinacademy. Please leave me a five star rating on iTunes or Spotify or wherever you’re finding this episode. New episodes are released once or twice a month depending on how often I get them done, and they premiere on Thursday mornings on your favorite podcatcher and on 8beats.co, the internet's number one game music radio station.

Track Listing:

00:00 - Show Tagline

00:05 - Ganbare! Golf Boys (PC Engine) - ‘Sun Sun’ Samba (composer: Atsuhiro Motoyama)

01:40 - Talk Segment 1

06:06 - Pokemon Trading Card Game (Game Boy) - Pause Menu (composer: Ichiro Shimakura)

07:41 - Tokimeki Memorial (PC Engine CD) - Smash a Home Run [Baseball Match] (composers: Mikio Saito, Seiya Murai, Miki Higashino, and Hiro Noguchi)

08:35 - Super Baseball 2020 (SNES) - Pitching & Fielding (composers: J. Kuramochi and Hiroo Ikeda)

11:57 - Pilotwings - Hangglider (composer: Soyo Oka)

13:33 - Mega Man and Bass (aka Rockman and Forte) (Super Famicom) - Tenguman (composers: Toshihiko Horiyama, Naoshi Mizuta, and Akari Kaida)

15:09 - Persona 3 (PS2) - Afternoon Break (composer: Shoji Meguro)

17:27 - Landstalker (Genesis) - Bustling Street (composer: Motoaki Takenouchi)

19:50 - SaGa Frontier (PSX) - Blue Town (composer: Kenji Ito)

24:02 - Talk Segment 2

27:27 - Fantasy Zone (Arcade) - Opa Opa! (composer: Hiroshi Kawaguchi)

29:50 - McDonald’s Treasure Land (Genesis) - Stage 2: Magical Town (composer: Katsuhiko Suzuki)

31:45 - Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (Genesis) - Angel Island Zone Act 1 (composers: Tatsuyuki Maeda, Sachio Ogawa, Masayuki Nagao, Masanori Hikichi, and Tomonori Sawada)

34:06 - Persona 4 Dancing All Night (Vita) - Specialist (“NEVER MORE” P4D EDIT ver.) (original composer: Shoji Meguro; remixed by Atsushi Kitajoh)

36:22 - Persona Q2 (3DS) - Popcorn (composer: Atsushi Kitajoh)

39:07 - Fantasian (iOS) - The Cinderella Tri-Stars (composer: Nobuo Uematsu)

42:32 - Pokemon Crystal (Game Boy)- Buena’s Password Show (composers: Junichi Masuda, Go Ichinose, and Morikazu Aoki)

44:22 - Live A Live (Super Famicom) - Nice Weather, Ain’t It? (composer: Yoko Shimomura)

47:05 - Talk Segment 3

51:49 - World of Final Fantasy (multiplatform) - Happy Melody (composer: Masashi Hamauzu)

53:26 - Yoshi’s Safari (SNES) - Crescent Beach (composers: Yoshiki Nishimura, Miyuki Uemura, and Yasushi Tokunaga)

54:52 - The Flash (SMS) - Rollercoaster Runner (composer: Jeroen Tel)

56:45 - Super Adventure Island (SNES) - The Island of Everlasting Summer (composer: Yuzo Koshiro)

1:01:30 - Persona 3 Portable (PSP) - After School (composer: Shoji Meguro) 

1:03:46 - Shining Force (Genesis) - Town (aka Cheerful Street Corner) (composer: Masahiko Yoshimura)

1:05:19 - Pokemon Black and White (DS) - Bicycle (composer: Hitomi Sato)

1:07:15 - Mega Man Star Force 2 (DS) - My Friends (composer: Marika Suzuki)

1:08:05 - Romancing SaGa 3 (Super Famicom) - The Great Arch (composer: Kenji Ito)

1:09:39 - Outro Talk Segment

1:11:22 - Final Fantasy III (Famicom) - Cute Little Tozas (composer: Nobuo Uematsu)

VROOM VROOM with a collection of great tracks from racing games! 

Special thanks for this episode goes out to:

• Fellow VGM podcaster Jameson of barSILENCE podcast for contributing cover art. You can and should find barSILENCE wherever you download podcasts, and check out his website at barSILENCE.com. 

If you want to reach me, you can find me on Threads, Tumblr, or Instagram as ShujinAcademyVGMClub. I’m also on Mastodon at @[email protected], and my username on Discord is ProfessorTom. You can email me at [email protected]. Episodes of the show are posted on my YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCw6CIUs81aap58U1EuaaFdA. All my links to everything are available on my LinkTree at https://linktr.ee/shujinacademy. Please leave me a five star rating on iTunes or Spotify or wherever you’re finding this episode. Look for new episodes on Thursdays whenever I get them done, which is typically once or twice a month.

Track Listing:

00:00 - Show Tagline

00:05 - Ridge Racer (Arcade) - Welcome Racer (composer: Shinji Hosoe)

00:42 - Talk Segment 1

03:46 - Gran Turismo (PSX) - Moon Over the Castle (composer: Masahiro Andoh)

09:09 - OutRun 2019 (Genesis) - Feel The Beat (composer: Shigeki Sako)

11:23 - Al Unser Jr. Turbo Racing (NES) - Circuit Theme A (composers: Shogo Sakai, Takafumi Miura, Masaaki Iwasaki, and Yuji Suzuki)

14:20 - F-Zero (SNES) - Death Wind (composer: Yumiko Kanki)

16:15 - Out-Run 3D (Master System) - Shining Wind (FM version) (composer: Chikako Kamatani)

18:54 - Talk Segment 2

21:04 - Lotus III (Amiga) - Space Ninja (composer: Patrick Phelan)

26:11 - Power Drift (Arcade) - Like the Wind (B Course) (composer: Hiroshi Kawaguchi) 

30:02 - Enduro Racer (Arcade) - BGM (composer: Hiroshi Kawaguchi)

34:31 - Ace Driver: Victory Lap (Arcade) - Haze in Daylight (composer: Keiichi Okabe)

38:57 - Talk Segment 3

41:33 - OutRun 2019 (Genesis) - Steal Into The Night (composer: Shigeki Sako)

45:18 - Super Monaco GP (Genesis) - Impatience (composer: Tokuhiko Uwabo)

46:31 - Horizon Chase Turbo (Multiplatform) - Race 2 Bleeding Fingers (composer: Barry Leitch)

51:06 - Super Hang-On (Arcade) - Winning Run (composer: Koichi Namiki)

54:25 - Rage Racer (PSX) - Victory (composers: Hiroshi Okubo and Tetsukazu Nakanishi)

55:31 - Outro Talk Segment

56:58 - Sonic R (Saturn) - Super Sonic Racing (composer: Richard Jacques)

To the best of my knowledge, Billy Dee Williams has never listened to this show, but if he did, I’m sure he’d love this grab bag episode. Check it out and enjoy a bunch of songs that have been rolling around on my list of tracks to play!

Special thanks for this episode goes out to:

• Fellow VGM podcaster Jameson of barSILENCE podcast for contributing cover art. You can and should find barSILENCE wherever you download podcasts, and check out his website at barSILENCE.com. 

If you want to reach me, you can find me on Mastodon at @[email protected] or on Discord as professortom. I’m also on both Tumblr and Instagram as ShujinAcademyVGMClub. You can email me at [email protected]. Episodes of the show are posted on my YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCw6CIUs81aap58U1EuaaFdA. All my links to everything are available on my LinkTree at https://linktr.ee/shujinacademy. Please leave me a five star rating on iTunes or Spotify or wherever you’re finding this episode. Look for new episodes on Thursdays whenever I get them done, which is typically once or twice a month.

I mentioned my guest appearance on episode 68 of VGMporium, home to my VGM bro Rayjkayj. You can check it out here and listen to us talk about games involving investigations and quite a few other things. I highly recommend his show anyway; Rayjkayj is a fun host who covers cool topics.

Track Listing:

00:00 - Show Tagline

00:05 - Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon (Mega Drive) - Character Select (composer: Aki Hata) 

00:59 - Talk Segment 1

03:36 - Panel de Pon / Tetris Attack (SNES) - Thiana’s Stage / Forest Stage (composer: Masaya Kuzume)

05:59 - Famicom Tantei Club Part 2 (Famicom) - Ayumi (composer: Kenji Yamamoto)

08:55 - VA-11 Hall-A (multiplatform) - Snowfall (composer: Garoad)

11:39 - Seiken Densetsu 3 / Trials of Mana (Super Famicom) - Harvest November (composer: Hiroki Kikuta)

15:52 - Bionic Commando (NES) - Area 01 (composer Junko Tamiya and Harumi Fujita)

17:58 - Mach Rider (NES) - Track 4 (composer: Hideki Kanazashi)

19:39 - Talk Segment 2

22:26 - Coffee Talk Episode 2: Hibiscus and Butterfly (multiplatform) - Milk Honey Green Tea (composer: Andrew Jeremy)

28:04 - Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney (DS) - Phoenix Wright ~ Objection 2001 (composers: Masakazu Sugimori)

29:26 - Horizon Chase Turbo (multiplatform) - The Last Hurrah of a Video Game Composer (composer: Barry Leitch)

32:45 - Ikaruga (multiplatform) - Chapter 02: Trial (composer: Hiroshi Iuchi)

36:37 - Street Fighter (arcade) - Gen Theme (composer: Yoshihiro Sakaguchi)

38:21 - Golden Axe (arcade) - Wilderness (composer: You Takada)

42:51 - Talk Segment 3

46:11 - Military Madness (TurboGrafx-16) - Manual (composer: Jun Chikuma)

48:22 - Romancing SaGa (Super Famicom) - Deserted Village (composer: Kenji Ito)

50:50 - Fire Emblem Fates (3DS) - Curious Dining (composer: Takeru Kanazaki)

52:27 - Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga (PS2) - Manipura (composer: Shoji Meguro)

56:54 - Streets of Rage 4 - Next of Kin Showdown (composer: Das Mörtal)

1:00:15 - Persona 2: Eternal Punishment (PSP) - The Round Sun (composers: Toshiko Tasaki, Toshiki Konishi, and Atsushi Kitajoh)

1:04:15 - Outro Talk Segment

1:06:23 - Persona 4 (PS2) - Glimpse of a Memory (composer: Shoji Meguro)

It's June, and that means Masters of VGM! Our 2023 theme is "Unsung and Up-and-Coming", and I’m honoring six composers in this episode that are making great VGM, even if they’re not household names yet. Listen to learn about honorees Ben Prunty, Megan McDuffee, Garoad, Andrew Jeremy, Hiroyuki Yanada, and Victoria Dominowski. 

Special thanks for this episode goes out to:

• Fellow VGM podcaster Jameson of barSILENCE podcast for contributing cover art. You can and should find barSILENCE wherever you download podcasts, and check out his website at barSILENCE.com. 

Links for all of this episode’s featured composers are as follows: 

• Megan McDuffee
  • Official website: https://meganmcduffee.com/

If you want to reach me, you can find me on Mastodon at @[email protected] or on Discord as ProfessorTom. I’m also on both Tumblr and Instagram as ShujinAcademyVGMClub. You can email me at [email protected]. Episodes of the show are posted on my YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCw6CIUs81aap58U1EuaaFdA. All my links to everything are available on my LinkTree at https://linktr.ee/shujinacademy. Please leave me a five star rating on iTunes or Spotify or wherever you’re finding this episode. Look for new episodes on Thursdays whenever I get them done, which is typically once or twice a month.

Track Listing:

00:00 - Show Tagline

00:06 - FTL: Faster Than Light - Space Cruise (Title) (composer: Ben Prunty, Honorable Mention 1) 

04:03 - Talk Segment 1: Introduction / Megan McDuffee Discussion

07:33 - Yars Recharged (multiplatform) - An Army of One (composer: Megan McDuffee)

09:41 - River City Girls (multiplatform) - The Hunt (composer: Megan McDuffee)

13:47 - River City Girls 2 (multiplatform) - Feel the Heat (featuring Matthew Lister) (composer: Megan McDuffee)

17:59 - River City Girls 2 (multiplatform) - River City Girls Too (opening) (featuring Christina Vee and RichaadEB) (composer: Megan McDuffee)

20:03 - Talk Segment 2: Garoad (aka Michael Kelly)

22:55 - Bushiden (multiplatform)- Fire in the Sky (composer: Garoad)

25:50 - Bushiden (multiplatform) - Sinister Science (Act I) (composer: Garoad)

29:10 - Yuppie Psycho (PC) - Tooth and Nail (composer: Garoad)

31:04 - Yuppie Psycho (PC) - Sintranet (composer: Garoad)

34:54 - VA-11 Hall-A (multiplatform) - Shine Spark (from VA-11 HALL-A EX - Bonus Tracks Collection) (composer: Garoad)

39:53 - Talk Segment 3 - Andrew Jeremy

41:58 - Coffee Talk (multiplatform) - A Day With Coffee (composer: Andrew Jeremy)

45:30 - Coffee Talk (multiplatform) - Hot On Cold (composer: Andrew Jeremy)

48:49 - Coffee Talk Episode 2: Hibiscus & Butterfly (multiplatform) - Sweetheart Latte (composer: Andrew Jeremy)

52:50 - Coffee Talk Episode 2: Hibiscus & Butterfly (multiplatform) - Night Road (composer: Andrew Jeremy)

55:55 - Coffee Talk Episode 2: Hibiscus & Butterfly (multiplatform) - Yours Truly (composer: Andrew Jeremy)

57:51 - Talk Segment 4: Hiroyuki Yanada (a.k.a. Yanda)

1:00:32 - Megami Tensei Gaiden: Last Bible II (Game Boy) - BGM 18 (composer: Hiroyuki Yanada w/Iwao Mitsunaga)

1:01:51 - Jack Bros (Virtual Boy) - Temple of Nightmare [Level 3] (composer: Hiroyuki Yanada)

1:03:53 - Jack Bros (Virtual Boy) - Mecha Fortress [Level 5] (composer: Hiroyuki Yanada)

1:05:55 - Megami Tensei Gaiden: Last Bible III (Super Famicom) - Garfy Service (composer: Hiroyuki Yanada)

1:08:00 - Megami Tensei Gaiden: Last Bible III (Super Famicom) - Val Ship (composer: Hiroyuki Yanada)

1:11:08 - Outro Talk Segment

1:13:16 - Secret Little Haven (PC) - Welcome to Sanctuary OS (composer: Victoria Dominowski, honorable mention 2)

1:15:31 - Secret Little Haven (PC) - Sunset on the CRT (composer: Victoria Dominowski, honorable mention 2)

We’re taking another lap with the songs of the Lotus and Top Gear games, this time featuring the work of Patrick Phelan and Neil Biggin! The checkered flag is in sight!

Special thanks for this episode goes out to:

• Fellow VGM podcaster Jameson of barSILENCE podcast for contributing cover art. You can and should find barSILENCE wherever you download podcasts, and check out his website at barSILENCE.com. 

If you want to reach me, you can find me on Mastodon at @[email protected] or on Discord as ProfessorTom#7512. I’m also on both Tumblr and Instagram as ShujinAcademyVGMClub. You can email me at [email protected]. Episodes of the show are posted on my YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCw6CIUs81aap58U1EuaaFdA. All my links to everything are available on my LinkTree at https://linktr.ee/shujinacademy. Please leave me a five star rating on iTunes or Spotify or wherever you’re finding this episode. Look for new episodes on Thursdays whenever I get them done, which is typically once or twice a month.

If you liked the song from VA-11 Hall-A that I played to close out the episode, you can visit Garoad’s Bandcamp at https://garoad.bandcamp.com/ to download all of his work. Look forward to hearing more from him on my next episode!

Track Listing:

00:00 - Show Tagline

00:05 - Top Gear 3000 (SNES) - Main Theme 2 (composer: Neil Biggin)

04:25 - Talk Segment 1

06:23 - Lotus III (Amiga) - Lotus III (title theme) (composer: Patrick Phelan)

08:55 - Lotus III (Amiga) - Breathless (composer: Patrick Phelan)

14:43 - Lotus III - Shamrip (composer: Patrick Phelan)

19:53 - Lotus III - Complete (composer: Patrick Phelan) 

21:20 - Talk Segment 2.1

23:54 - Top Gear 2 (Amiga CD 32) - Night Train (Title Screen) (composers: Patrick Phelan and Neil Biggin)

26:11 - Top Gear 2 (Amiga CD 32) - Burn Rubber (Canterbury Plains) (composers: Patrick Phelan and Neil Biggin)

30:56 - Top Gear 2 (Amiga CD 32) - Results (composers: Patrick Phelan and Neil Biggin)

32:44 - Talk Segment 2.2

33:41 - Top Gear 2 (Genesis) - Top Racer (Auckland) (composers: Neil Biggin and Patrick Phelan)

37:00 - Talk Segment 2.3

37:36 - Top Gear 2 (SNES) - Destructive Comment (Ayres Rock) (composers: Patrick Phelan and Ashley Bennett)

42:11 - Top Gear 2 (SNES) - Ending Theme (composers: Patrick Phelan and Ashley Bennett)

44:36 - Talk Segment 3

48:44 - Top Gear 3000 (SNES) - Title (composer: Neil Biggin)

52:23 - Top Gear 3000 (SNES) - Main Theme 3 (composer: Neil Biggin)

56:45 - Top Gear 3000 (SNES) - Main Theme 4 (composer: Neil Biggin) 

1:00:38 - Top Gear 3000 (SNES) - Ending Theme (composer: Neil Biggin)

1:05:34 - Outro Talk Segment

1:07:23 - VA-11 Hall-A: Good for Health, Bad for Education (composer: Garoad)

Let’s drive off at top speed and explore the work of Barry Leitch on the Lotus and Top Gear games!

Special thanks for this episode goes out to:

• Fellow VGM podcaster Jameson of barSILENCE podcast for contributing cover art. You can and should find barSILENCE wherever you download podcasts, and check out his website at barSILENCE.com. 

If you want to reach me, you can find me on Mastodon at @[email protected] or on Discord as ProfessorTom#7512. I’m also on both Tumblr and Instagram as ShujinAcademyVGMClub. You can email me at [email protected]. Episodes of the show are posted on my YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCw6CIUs81aap58U1EuaaFdA. All my links to everything are available on my LinkTree at https://linktr.ee/shujinacademy. Please leave me a five star rating on iTunes or Spotify or wherever you’re finding this episode. Look for new episodes on Thursdays whenever I get them done, which is typically once or twice a month.

As promised, here are some links mentioned during the show:

• Barry Leitch’s bandcamp can be found at https://barryleitch.bandcamp.com/. You can find his work on the Horizon Chase games there, along with his Top Gear tracks, some other SNES work, and more. 

Track Listing:

00:00 - Show Tagline

00:05 - Lotus Turbo Challenge 2 (Amiga) - Storm Course (composer: Barry Leitch)

00:36 - Talk Segment 1

02:22 - Lotus Esprit Turbo Challenge (Amiga) - Title Theme (composers: Shaun Southern and Andrew Morris)

04:55 - Talk Segment 1.5

06:27 - Lotus Turbo Challenge 2 (Amiga) - Title Screen (composer: Barry Leitch)

09:13 - Lotus Turbo Challenge 2 (Amiga) - Forest Course (composer: Barry Leitch)

10:01 - Lotus Turbo Challenge 2 (Amiga) - Night Course (composer: Barry Leitch)

10:55 - Lotus Turbo Challenge 2 (Amiga) - Desert Course (composer: Barry Leitch)

11:42 - Lotus Turbo Challenge 2 (Amiga) - Motorway Course (composer: Barry Leitch)

12:54 - Lotus Turbo Challenge 2 (Amiga) - Ending Theme (composer: Barry Leitch)

15:17 - I Think This is Talk Segment 3

18:08 - Top Gear (SNES) - Title (composer: Barry Leitch)

22:25 - Top Gear (SNES) - Bordeaux (composer: Barry Leitch)

26:29 - Top Gear (SNES) - Frankfurt (composer: Barry Leitch)

29:52 - Top Gear (SNES) - Ending Theme (composer: Barry Leitch)

32:04 - Talk Segment 4, I Guess [includes segment of “A Tougher Fight” from River City Ransom EX (GBA), composed by Kazuo Sawa]

35:11 - Top Gear Rally (N64) - Coastline (composer: Barry Leitch)

38:51 - Top Gear Rally (N64) - Mountain (composer: Barry Leitch)

42:40 - Top Gear Rally (N64) - Jungle (composer: Barry Leitch)

46:15 - Top Gear Rally (N64) - Strip Mine (composer: Barry Leitch)

49:04 - Outro Talk Segment, Definitely

51:19 - Horizon Chase 2 - Rocking in Rome (composer: Barry Leitch)

It’s a groovy VGM party with all these hip swinging songs that have a feel-good rhythm!

Special thanks for this episode goes out to:

• Fellow VGM podcaster Jameson of barSILENCE podcast for contributing cover art. You can and should find barSILENCE wherever you download podcasts, and check out his website at barSILENCE.com. 

If you want to reach me, you can find me on Mastodon at @[email protected] or on Discord as ProfessorTom#7512. I’m also on both Tumblr and Instagram as ShujinAcademyVGMClub. You can email me at [email protected]. Episodes of the show are posted on my YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCw6CIUs81aap58U1EuaaFdA, and all of my links can be found on my Linktree site at https://linktr.ee/shujinacademy. Please leave me a five star rating on iTunes or Spotify or wherever you’re finding this episode. Look for new episodes on Thursdays whenever I get them done, which is typically once or twice a month.

I had a guest appearance on last week’s episode of fellow game music podcast VGMporium, where host RayjKayj and I talked all about music from games about investigations. You know, detectives, mysteries, stuff like that. If you’ve got a hankerin’ for more Professor Tom, head over to https://vgmporium.wordpress.com/2023/04/13/episode-68/ to check it out.

If you liked this episode, you should go back and check out episode 25: Cool Glasses, Cool Glasses! It’s a cousin to this one, with a similar musical hangout type of vibe. You can hear it at https://shujinacademyvgmclub.podbean.com/e/episode-25-cool-glasses-cool-glasses/

Track Listing:

00:00 - Show Tagline

00:05 - Shin Megami Tensei: If - School (composer: Tsukasa Masuko)

00:35 - Talk Segment 1

02:53 - Planet Puzzle League - Neon Isotope (composer: Masanobu Matsunaga)

06:17 - Pictionary (NES) - Drawing Game (composer: Tim Follin)

09:01 - Arcus Odyssey (Super Famicom) - Castomira - Defeated (composer: Motoi Sakuraba)

12:03 - The House of the Dead 2 (Dreamcast) - Training Mode (composers: Tetsuya Kawauchi and Haruyoshi Tomita)

13:19 - Legend of Mana (PlayStation) - To the Sea (composer: Yoko Shimomura)

16:02 - Brain Lord (SNES) - Town of Arcs (composer: Masanao Akahori)

18:14 - Talk Segment 2

21:13 - Galactic Pinball (Virtual Boy) - Moonman Fandango (composers: Kenji Yamamoto and Masaru Tajima) 

23:48 - Persona 5 - Wicked Plan (composer: Shoji Meguro)

26:10 - Pokemon Trading Card Game - Battle Center (composer: Ichiro Shimakura)

27:44 - Metal Max Returns (Super Famicom) - Let’s Meet Dr. Minchi! (composer: Satoshi Kadokura)

28:49 - Pictionary (NES) - Mini-Game Theme 2 (composer: Tim Follin)

31:26 - The Flintstones (SNES) - Unused Song 1 (composers: Keith Tinman and Jonathan Dunn) 

34:53 - Talk Segment 3 (includes excerpt from “Strip Club” from Hunie Pop 2, composed by Jonathan Wandag)

38:48 - Persona Q 2 - Blind City (composer: Atsushi Kitajoh)

45:33 - The Flintstones (SNES) - Password Screen (composers: Keith Tinman and Jonathan Dunn)

48:08 - Pokemon Crystal - Goldenrod Game Corner (composers: Junichi Masuda, Go Ichinose, and Morikazu Aoki)

51:06 - YuYu Hakusho Makyou Touitsusen: Imbalanced Kiss (aka Unbalanced Kiss) (composers: Hiro Takahashi, Aki Hata, Matsuko Mawatari, T.K.O.)  

54:01 - Crusader of Centy - Water Lily (composer: Motokazu Shinoda) 

56:22 - Outro Talk Segment

58:49 - Shin Megami Tensei - Kichijoji (composer: Tsukasa Masuko)

Spring is in the air! That special time of year when a young man’s fancy turns to vocal tracks! And for this episode, we’ll celebrate with a bunch of great vocal tracks from the 32-bit era.

Special thanks for this episode goes out to my darling daughter, who made some great suggestions for the format. 

If you want to reach me, you can find me on Mastodon at @[email protected] or on Discord as ProfessorTom#7512. I’m also on both Tumblr and Instagram as ShujinAcademyVGMClub. You can email me at [email protected]. Episodes of the show are posted on my YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCw6CIUs81aap58U1EuaaFdA. Please leave me a five star rating on iTunes or Spotify or wherever you’re finding this episode. Look for new episodes on Thursdays whenever I get them done, which is typically once or twice a month.

Track Listing:

00:00 - Show Tagline

00:25 - Lunar: The Silver Star (Sega CD) - Fighting Through The Darkness (composer: Noriyuki Iwadare)

02:08 - Intro Talk Segment

06:09 - Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (PlayStation) - I Am The Wind (composers: Rika Muranaka, Tony Haynes, Jeff Lorber, Carl Anderson, and vocalist Cynthia Harrell)

10:42 - Talk Segment 2

12:22 - Sonic R (Saturn) - Super Sonic Racing (composer: Richard Jacques)

14:08 - Sonic R (Saturn) - Can You Feel The Sunshine (composer: Richard Jacques)

15:15 - Sonic R (Saturn) - Living in the City (composer: Richard Jacques)

16:55 - Talk Segment 3

18:12 - Final Fantasy VIII (PlayStation) - Eyes On Me (composers: Nobuo Uematsu and Kako Someya)

20:14 - Final Fantasy IX (PlayStation) - Melodies of Life (composers: Nobuo Uematsu and Hiroyuki Ito)

22:46 - Talk Segment 4

24:26 - Big Mouth Catch! The Greatest Champion (Saturn) - Striking Lure! Into the Heart! (composer: unknown)

27:05 - Birdie Lord Golf: Augusta Masters Championship 1998 (PlayStation) - 9 Iron Drive Into Infinity Forever! (composers: Jubei Kibagami, Kaneda Tetsuo)

29:01 - Outro Talk Segment

31:13 - Special Mystery Outro Track