XVGM Radio

BOO! XVGM Radio is back and SCARIER than ever! Mike and Justin host the 8th annual SPOOKYFEST 2026 festival, showcasing tons of spooktacular Halloween tunes to get you in the mood for this time of the year! With special bonus picks from co-hosts Niko and Ed, as well as a Patreon pick, multiple “sponsors,” and a bevy of surprisingly chilling tracks, this episode might be the scariest Spookyfest yet! It’s a SCREAM!

Check out Justin’s Extra Life page for more info on his charity stream, and to make a donation to help sick children

TRACK LISTING:

Intro – Gibbous: A Cthulhu Adventure (PC – 2019) “Voodoo Business” Liviu Boar, Cami Cuibus

The Nintendo 64 was released in 1996 in Japan and North America. September 29th, 1996 to be exact; 30 years old as of this recording! Though it wasn’t as big of a financial success for Nintendo as their two previous consoles, it was still an extremely important console. Often considered home to the birth of 3D games (it wasn’t, for the record,) Nintendo garnered much interest from developers who were willing to experiment with their console which felt like it was bucking the technology trend by sticking with cartridges and avoiding redbook audio. Regarding the music, there is no dedicated sound chip. Instead, sound is processed by the CPU, which meant songs had to be compressed immensely to fit. The console used ADPCM samples heavily, with reverb being used frequently to hide the compression in tracks. With all that said, there are some absolute bangers in the N64 library, for both games AND music. Today on XVGM Radio, Mike and Niko wax nostalgic about this mid-to-late 90s console that captured the hearts of so many gamers. Though its library was much smaller than its main competition, it still managed to pull off an incredible run that is worth exploring by gamers in celebration of its 30th anniversary!

TRACK LISTING:

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away….those are the words that began one of the greatest franchises in movie history. However, the video games based on those franchises were very much worthy of the same praise! That’s why on today’s episode of XVGM Radio, Mike and Justin are chatting about the Star Wars games and their amazing music! Mostly orchestral pieces, they chat about some of John Williams classics and the arrangers that brought them to all of us on 8-Bit, 16-bit and beyond. Plus, discussions about heavy metal Star Wars tribute bands, Star Wars sleepovers and nerdy Anthony Daniels style letter writing, and a special visit from the Mandalorian and Grogu! Don’t miss this summer blockbuster episode of XVGM Radio!

All songs based on actual music from the Star Wars movie franchise by John Williams by default.

TRACK LISTING:

Intro – Star Wars (FC – 1987) “Track 5” Hiroyuki Kawada

Jeff Van Dyck’s musical career in video games has been a storied one. For over 30 years, Jeff’s music has continued blessing our ear drums, helping us create warm memories and exciting memories. Now, he joins us on XVGM Radio as Mike and Niko learn about his long history. We hear the story about how he met his wife at EA Games, what it’s like working on game music for systems like FM Towns as compared with modern redbook audio style, how he ended up in Australia and became partners with Witch Beam Studios and of course….SKITCHIN’!!!! We’re excited to bring this fantastic guest to your eardrums courtesy of XVGM Radio!

We’d love to hear what you thought about these games and the tracks we’ve picked! What was your favorite track? Shoot us an email at [email protected] or join in on the discussion at: https://www.facebook.com/groups/XVGMradio

TRACK LISTING:

The Super Nintendo and Super Famicom have some of the greatest games ever made. But what sort of output did the system have in its twilight years? Today on XVGM Radio, Mike and Ed look at the late life cycle of the Super Nintendo/Super Famicom from 1996 and beyond, official releases only (No homebrew/indie stuff here!) to showcase some quality music from the system’s end of the road era. From 1996 to 2000, we’re spotlighting the hits, misses and risks the console took to continue improving upon its sound. In this episode you can hear all about Tamogotchi poop patterns, Zelda clones, CDs as weapons and of course…going to the west blowhole forest. Don’t miss this future classic episode of XVGM Radio!

TRACK LISTING:

Intro – Columns (SFC – 1999) “Versus Mode Credits” Hikoshi Hashimoto

Dragon Quest has had 11 mainline games, tons of spinoffs and ports galore. It’s a franchise known for ushering in the foundation of the Japanese Role Playing Game, or the JRPG. Originating on the Famicom in the mid 1980s, the game saw not one but FOUR games release on Nintendo’s first console. In this episode, we’ve decided to focus on the first three, known as the Erdrick Trilogy. With good friends and patrons of the show on board, Ryan and Cam, we were in good hands as Mike and Justin know very little. Now we’re blessed by two pros joining us to share their knowledge and music choices in this classic trilogy of games. Covering not just the NES originals but other ports as well, the XVGM Radio guys get down with the charming classical wonder of Koichi Sugiyama’s Dragon Quest (or Warrior if your nasty!) soundtracks. JRPG fans do NOT wanna miss this episode of XVGM Radio! We swear, it’ll be a GOOd time!

All music composed by Koichi Sugiyama

TRACK LISTING:

Intro – Dragon Quest III HD 2D Remake (SWI – 2024) “Overture”

March Madness is alive and well and what better way to celebrate than with a spotlight on some of the best game music that has adorned the courts of basketball game’s most celebrated titles! From Mike’s nostalgic stories about Charlotte Hornets and Chicago Bulls fashion of the 90s, playing on the basketball courts and…going to restaurants just to play NBA Jam?! Niko joins Mike as the quarterly co-host this round, and we get to hear stories from Niko about his time in San Antonio routin’ for the Spurs as a youngin’! Funk, Jazz, Hip-Hop and more are featured here so expect lots of bass and urban flows comin’ atcha! It’s enough groovin’ VGM to make you say…DAMMMMMMMM, JI!

TRACK LISTING:

Intro – Jordan vs Bird: One on One (C64 – 1988) “Title Screen” Rob Hubbard

Many video game music composers try their best to fit into different musical genres but few do it as well as composers like Shinji Hosoe. On today’s episode of XVGM Radio, Mike and Ed discuss several of Hosoe’s game soundtracks, highlighting a wide variety of musical tracks. From techno and jungle to power metal and back to chiptunes, you can truly appreciate his chameleon-like nature to fit his music with a different style. It’ll make you say “I WONNDAAAAAAA” why you maybe haven’t explored his catalog before! Hear Mike and Ed give each other the internal shaft on this exciting episode of XVGM Radio!

We’d love to hear what you thought about this game and the tracks we’ve picked! What was your favorite track? Shoot us an email at [email protected] or join in on the discussion at: https://www.facebook.com/groups/XVGMradio

TRACK LISTING:

(All Tracks composed by Shinji Hosoe, with exception to “Mountain” & “Alien Snider” – see updates below.  We learned of the error after-the-fact and apologize for the misinformation)

Intro – Fighting Layer (ARC – 1998) “Allen Snider” (composed by Takayuki Aihara)

This year, Nintendo is celebrating the 20th anniversary of the Wii…and if you’re old enough to remember the release, you might want to go get your cholesterol checked out. Despite this, XVGM Radio is ushering in a new era for its 8th year of existence. As always, NikoTengoku joins us for the January episode, and much to Janine’s dismay, Mike and Justin have brought back Ed Wilson from TheVGMbassy/PixelTunes Radio. This is our first official episode as a quartet hosted podcast! Every January going forward, Mike, Justin, Niko and Ed will be bringing you the tunes, composer info, game discussion and laughs! Starting off with the Wii’s redbook audio tracks, the boys explored multiple levels of genres, kicking things off right with the Wii Shop theme! Stay tuned to hear stories about everyone’s launch day experience, chill songs, Castlevania-themed musical treks, and of course, discussions on Tunas flying through the sky! All on this brand new XVGM Radio episode!

We’d love to hear what you thought about this game and the tracks we’ve picked! What was your favorite track? Shoot us an email at [email protected] or join in on the discussion at: https://www.facebook.com/groups/XVGMradio

TRACK LISTING:

Intro – Nintendo Wii System Music (Wii – 2006) “Wii Shop Music Theme” Kazumi Totaka

It’s time for the holidays…and what did people receive as a gift during this time of year back in 1992? The Super Scope 6 of course! Nintendo’s successor to the NES Zapper was a bazooka-shaped monolith of potential. Though the final game library was small, the Super Scope 6 was full of untold gaming possibilities. From arcade ports like Operation Thunderbolt and Terminator 2: The Arcade Game, to Nintendo originals like Battle Clash, Metal Combat and Yoshi’s Safari, Super Scope brought a wave of innovation combined with top notch durability. Today’s episode focuses on the music from the library of Super Scope games. The XVGM Radio guys get a friendly but frazzled visit from co-podcaster RayjKayj of The VGMPorium, as well as discuss Justin’s fond memories playing Tinstar. Plus…Arnold Schwarzenegger himself calls in?! Maybe….or Maybe not. You’ll never know if you don’t click that play episode on our finale to 2025!

We’d love to hear what you thought about this game and the tracks we’ve picked! What was your favorite track? Shoot us an email at [email protected] or join in on the discussion at: https://www.facebook.com/groups/XVGMradio

TRACK LISTING:

Intro – Lamborghini American Challenge (SNES – 1992) “Race Select” Frederic Prados, Richard Hooper, Rob Stevens