Vacation
All I ever wanted
Vacation
Had to get away
The show can be downloaded here,
or streamed here:
And the track list below:
# - Game - Track - System - Composer
1 - Wurm - Act 4 : Ziggy - NES - Unknown
2 - Pop'n Music GB - Monde Des Songe - GBC - (Sound Design): Takeshi Iwakiri, Sōtarō Tojima, Kōzō Nakamura, Tomoaki Hirono & Hajime Takai
3 - Ufo Senshi Yohko Chan - Episode 2 BGM 1 - Arcade - Unknown
4 - R-TYPE LEO - Ending - Arcade - Aiai & Hiroshi Kimura
5 - Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number - Frantic Aerobics - PC - Mitch Murder
6 - The Ninja Warriors - Skyscraper - SNES - Hiroyuki Iwatsuki & N. Tate
7 - Captain Tsubasa 3: Koutei no Chousen - Pre-Match 1 - SNES - Shake Keijin
8 - Dune Spice Opera - Dune Theme - MS-DOS - Stéphane Picq & Philippe Ulrich
9 - Spindizzy II - Oily Way - X68000 - Toshiya Yamanaka
10 - The Unfinished Swan - The Unfinished Swan - PS3 - Joel Corelitz
Cheers, mate! Hope you’re enjoying yourself as much as I enjoyed this episode! So I was liking the music from the get-go, and then I heard the UFO Senshi Yohko Chan track, and mistaking it for a SMS track, enjoyed it a little more. But when that R-TYPE LEO track hit, there released within me a roar. It began low and guttural, building from my innermost beast, until it grew to a full, bellowing howl, the likes of which would make Chuck Norris shiver. I became increasingly appreciative for the insular womb of my car and my morning freeway commute, for such noises are known to bring villagers with pitchforks and torches, setting fire to the darkness, desperately trying to immolate and eviscerate their fears.
ReplyDeleteI liked the Hotline Miami track, although the high end was difficult to listen to through my speakers. It definitely sounded like the 80’s, which is good, considering that was the point. But hot holy heck, that Dune track was gorgeous! I’m listening to the Spice Opera OST as I type this.
It’s also pretty appropriate, since I finally got around to reading Dune, and just finished it over the weekend. In spite of some issues with scope changes and pacing (such as jumping years ahead without warning), the book did some things very well. Frank Herbert just understands certain things about pride, suffering, and struggle that few western writers seem to grasp.
And the Unfinished Swan track was great as well. It is the kind of newer game music I like. It reminded me a bit of Journey, but with Shadow of the Colossus’ instrumentation. It also made me think about Forever Sound Version’s music battles. Most people who like VGM these days judge it by how much they’d listen to it throughout their day, which means it usually has to be rocking Mega Man, Natsume, or even Rob Hubbard-style music. I’m cool with that, but I also like to LISTEN to music, and enjoy the quiet and understated moments as well. The Unfinished Swan hit that spot nicely.
Speaking of FSV and Michael: While you’re over that way, maybe you could seek him out and figure out how he determines whether to pronounce a “T” sound or not. Because I’ve listened to a ton of episodes so far, and it defies any sort of logical pattern. ;)
Hey hey, ND!
DeleteWriting this from a speakeasy in China Town. Will put together a complete response when I'm back. Just wanted to say, as always, I appreciate your thoughts!
Hey ND,
DeleteI definitely enjoyed myself. It was an action-packed trip.
That UFO track does have a little bit of the SMS sadness about it. I never really thought about it until now, but I totally hear it. As for your R-TYPE transformation, well that’s just wonderful. An emotional roller coaster, that.
The Dune Spice Opera CD is a really interesting set-up. Had this been a standard show, I would have had things to talk about. I may come back to another track later for that very reason. Also the music is good.
I read Dune a long time ago (maybe even in high school?) so the finer details are a bit outside of my recall. That being said, I do remember some of the storytelling was a bit jarring. I might like to revisit it one day – see how my opinion of the book changed over the 10, 15, or 20 year gap.
Shadow of the Colossus I know, Journey I am unfamiliar with, I think. Actually, upon looking it up I might recognize it from one of the Games Done Quick marathons? It’s a very distinct style, and I remember the dunes.
I regret not having the time to go make a pilgrimage to Newcastle. I would have been happy to ask him about his tea and T.
I'm surprised you're not more familiar with Journey, mostly because I stopped paying attention to the gaming industry about 2002, and I know about it.
ReplyDeleteJourney is a work of art, much like Ico or Shadow of Colossus. There is no dialogue or tutorial, and no comprehensible text. You discover your world and your story by playing the game.
There are two incredibly beautiful things about Journey. First is the music. The OST is done by Austin Wintory, who also composed The Banner Saga and Soul Fjord(two games for your Vikings II episode, if you're still searching). The music is achingly beautiful. And I don't use the word "achingly" in a halfhearted manner.
The other beautiful element in the game is that when you play, it will sometimes join your game to another person who is playing and online. You see their character, but you have no way of communicating other than through your character's movement. You can choose to ignore the other player, or help guide them if they need it. It's difficult to describe how strangely intimate these moments are; you have no way of identifying the person in real life, so you just Journey silently with them in this fabricated world.
The game was $30 when it was released; if it's still available at all, it's worth a purchase.
You have piqued my interest, but the latest Playstation model I own is a PS2. I bet a PS3 doesn't go for very much these days. It may be time to strike!
DeleteI'm always glad to hear someone else has played banner saga (although I have only played a couple hours into it).
I might have to settle for an LP on YouTube.
A YouTube longplay is definitely recommended. Full disclosure: I don't own any PlayStation consoles, but I did own the PS2 once upon a time. I bought the game for mi hermano, and I did end up playing it through.
ReplyDeleteSo here's a testament to this game: Talking about it here got me interested. So yesterday, I sat my five kids down, ages five through twelve, and I pulled up a 2-player longplay on YouTube and played the clip. They were ENTHRALLED. I showed them the first part, which was over an hour, and they watched the whole thing. Today, they begged me to play the second part. All through the play through, they were asking me if I could get a PS3 so they could play the game. They even got into arguments over who would play first!
Five mini Nemos can't be wrong!
Delete