10 MORE GREAT CASTLEVANIA REMIXES / COVERS

It's been quite a while since the last batch of videogame remixes, and I've been playing Symphony of the Night again so I guess the stage is set for ten more great Castlevania remixes and covers!

Mickan44 - Bloody Tears

Straight in with a version of Bloody Tears, because I think it's a universal law that you can't talk about Castlevania music with getting at least one version of Bloody Tears in there somewhere. This is a nice piano version, proving that Bloody Tears is as comfortable with being a haunting ballad as it is with being a power-metal facemelter.

Kenneth Boxall - Awake

Castlevania: Circle of the Moon's music may have suffered somewhat due to the limitations of the Game Boy Advance's sound hardware, but the compositions themselves are excellent, as demonstrated by this orchestral arrangement of the opening area's theme.

Gina Gu - Garibaldi Temple

Sticking with the lesser regarded Castlevania games, here's one from Curse of Darkness. I've said it before and I'll say it again - I like Curse of Darkness, even if its flaws are pretty obvious. That said, it's the closest you're going to get to a Pokemon game set in the Castlevania universe, so there's that. As with pretty much every Castlevania game, one of CoD's strong points is its soundtrack and here's a simple cover of the Garibaldi Temple theme...played on a real harpsichord. There's just something really cool about that to me. Makes me wonder if J.S. Bach would enjoy a Castlevania soundtrack.

Xavier Deng - Marble Gallery

From classical to simply retro with an 8-bit demake of Symphony of the Night's Marble Gallery theme. NES-style in spirit with a dash of European home computer flavour courtesy of the arpeggios, it's giving me a craving to play every Konami NES game I can get my hands on.

Dangerous Mezashi Cat - Calling From Heaven

I'm not even sure how to describe this version of Castlevania Bloodlines' Calling From Heaven, but the mixture of swirling violins and pounding drums works for me, and then the electric guitar kicks in and it all becomes very clear that my musical tastes are not what you'd call sophisticated. If the Castlevania series ever produces a scrolling shoot-em-up spin-off, this should be the first song on the soundtrack.

goat - Dwelling of Doom

Just straight-up metal on this one, with wailing guitars and a bubbling bassline as goat tackles the mansion theme from Simon's Quest. This seems appropriate, given that Dwelling of Doom shares some similarities with Yngwie Malmsteen's Far Beyond the Sun.

LSD, Shnabubula - Beginning

Have some jazz, you uncultured swine. Castlevania and jazz seem to go together quite well. I'm just disappointed that I don't know enough about jazz to make any really bad Castlevania jazz puns, because I'm sure there must be some out there.

Perturbator - Clockwork

Perturbator, who gamers might know for his contributions to the Hotline Miami soundtrack, applies his trademark 80s-tinged techno-retro-futurism to Clockwork and creates a strangely danceable track that sounds like the opener to the ultimate 80's Hallowe'en party mixtape. I know I'll definitely be playing it next Hallowe'en. Not at a party or anything, mind. Just, you know, on my own. Me and the gummy spiders. Yup.

Konami Kukeiha Club / Nazo2 - Monster Dance

An official Konami remix from the Perfect Selection Dracula New Classic album, Monster Dance is given a stomping, almost tribal reworking by Nazo2 that adds an extra sense of eeriness to the appearance of the horrible night.

Kunal - Dance of Pales

Finally, here's my very favourite of the bunch: Kunal's excellent and unexpected reworking of Symphony of the Night's Dance of Pales, the piano waltz of the original replaced by funk drumming and twitching acoustic guitars. An unusual direction to take the track, but one that plays out perfectly and gets two thumbs up from me. It can be found on Bad Dudes Music's Castlevania remix album, which is definitely worth a download.

There you are, then - ten Castlevania tracks that have momentarily allowed me to forget the intolerable summer heat and pretend I'm in a cool, dank crypt. Now it's back to the endless sweating and trying to scrounge up as many electric fans as I can.

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10 GREAT LEGEND OF ZELDA REMIXES / COVERS

Previous remix compliations:

Mega Man - Castlevania - Final Fantasy - F-Zero - Chrono Trigger - Classic Sega

Everybody loves the Legend of Zelda games, right? I love 'em, you love 'em, Robin Williams loves them so much he named his daughter after 'em. Not content with filling the Zelda games with some of the finest dungeon-exploring, princess-rescuing gameplay ever found on a videogame console, Nintendo capped them off with some of gaming's most memorable musical tracks and today I've gathered ten remixes and covers of classic Legend of Zelda tunes to hopefully cheer up your (pointy, Hylian) ears.

Jack Fliegler - Majora's Mask - Medley

Ah, Majora's Mask - the creepy Zelda, the sinister sibling in a family of cheery children. The growling guitars and solemn drums are a great fit for a metal medley of MM's themes, with the Song of Healing and the Deku themes sounding particularly macabre.

Satoshi Aikawa - Wind Waker - The Great Sea

More guitar, but on the opposite end of the hard-soft spectrum, with a lovely solo acoustic guitar version of the ocean-faring Great Sea theme from Wind Waker.

ProtoDome - Oracle of Ages - Overworld Theme

A hyperactive chiptune take on Oracle of Ages / Seasons' Overworld Theme, itself a reimagining of the series' famous Overworld Theme. A great sense of energy and the addition of some lovely piano work make this one stand out as well as making me wish for a remake of the Oracle games.

Yoshiyuki Ito, Masumi Ito - A Link to the Past - Kakariko Village

There's only one world for this, and that's soothing. Okay, so there are plenty more words for it, like peaceful and charming and downright beautiful, but however you want to describe it this lullaby-like take on the sleepy village theme from the best Zelda game (there, I said it) is a joy to listen to - preferably underneath a large duvet in a comfy bed.

Diggi Dis - Ocarina of Time - Gerudo Valley

Diggi Dis gives Gerudo Valley's Latin-inspired, almost Spaghetti-Western-ish theme a hip-hop flavoured beat to go with its excellent flamenco guitar, and the whole track comes together to great, head-bouncing effect.

BrentalFloss - The Adventure of Link - Zelda II Medley (With Lyrics)

YouTube famous type Brental Floss is best known for his videos recreating famous game tracks and adding lyrics, and with good reason because they're actually really good. You can't go far wrong with Zelda II's Temple theme, one of the greatest tracks in the NES's songbook. Plus, a shoutout to the awesome power of the Game Genie is always welcome.

Duncan2069 - Ocarina of Time - Song of Storms

A nicely gloomy take on the theme of a weirdo in a windmill, this version sounds like it could be the title music to a Tim Burton-style movie about evil puppets and I can definitely get behind that. I'm particularly fond of the music-box sounds that come in at about 1:17.

Benjamin Briggs - A Link to the Past - Forest Theme

Who knew the mysterious and serene forest theme could sound so good as a techno-dance number? Great use of the "you're almost dead" alarm beeping away in this one, and the way it drifts into the Fairy theme is handled really well.

Virt - Various - Blood of Ganon (Medley)

I've saved the best for (second to) last, as Virt (AKA Jake Kaufman) once again blows my mind by being some kind of videogame-music-covering-god. Just listen to "Blood of Ganon" and prepare to have your ears thank you profusely for it. It's difficult to single out any one bit as being the best, but if I was pushed I'd have to go with the amazing version of the Zelda II battle theme. Quite possibly the best videogame cover ever.

Joe Pleiman (and definitely not System of a Down) - The Legend of Zelda - Main Theme

To end this article, a relic from my teenage days and the internet's formative years that will always hold happy memories for me. You remember Napster, internet filesharing forefather? I know I do, and in the late Nineties I was merrily using it to download music over a painfully slow dial-up connection, mostly videogame music that I didn't have any other access to short of holding a TalkBoy up to the television speakers and pressing record. If you ever searched from Zelda music on Napster, or any early filesharing service, this track would appear. It would be described as being by the metal band System of a Down. It isn't. It's by a guy called Joe Pleiman, although I can see where the confusion comes from as he does have a similar vocal delivery to SoaD frontman Serj Tankian. No-one really knew who it was by back then, though, and it spread across the web, always attributed to the wrong band, causing arguments about its true origins wherever it went. It's a snapshot of the early days of the internet, before everyone was online and when I was just realising there was this huge sea of information, files and like-minded people out there, and every time I hear it I'm taken back to being a happy teenager again. Sappy, but true.

Right, there you go then. Ten Legend of Zelda remixes and covers that have hopefully delighted your ears and made you yearn for adventure on the plains of Hyrule. Personally, I think I might have to go and play A Link to the Past for the eight-thousandth time.

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10 GREAT CLASSIC SEGA REMIXES / COVERS

Previous remix compliations:
Mega Man - Castlevania - Final Fantasy - F-Zero - Chrono Trigger

I was looking at the previous collections of viddogame remixes I'd pulled together, and I noticed there was something of a Nintendo bias towards the games covered. Is that because the music that appears on Nintendo consoles is simply better? No, it's just that there are hundreds of Mega Man and Final Fantasy games, so there's a lot more material to go at. Sega is hardly short of great gaming tracks, though, so without futher ado here are ten great remixes and covers of classic Sega tunes.

Olivier Sirois - Sonic the Hedgehog - Green Hill Zone

Where better to start than with the first game in Sega's most famous franchise? How about the music from the first stage in the first Sonic game? Yeah, that seems like a good place. In this orchestrated take on the Green Hill Zone, the soundtrack to Sonic's first adventure gains a cinematic quality that seems to promise adventure, freedom and a future where Shadow the Hedgehog doesn't exist.

S.S.T. Band - After Burner - Theme

Sega's very own SST Band perform a live version of the After Burner theme. It is quite possibly the single most "eighties" thing I've ever seen, despite it being filmed in 1990. Eight minutes of wailing synths and crunching guitars - what could be better than that? There's even a guitar duel. In a happier, more caring universe this would have been the soundtrack to Top Gun.

Takenobu Mitsuyoshi - Alex Kidd - Theme

The Alex Kidd theme is one of the catchiest pieces of music ever written. I'm convinced it could be weaponised, you know. Just play it over a battlefield and render the combatants completely unable to fight because they're running around, humming the Alex Kidd theme and generally being cheerful. This cover makes it even harder to escape this theme's charms by rocking up the music and giving you lyrics to sing along to. And you will sing along. You'll accidentaly do it on the bus, and people will look at you funny. Or so I'm told...

Ataraktika - Altered Beast - Rise From Your Grave

Or as it's better known, "Wise fwom yow gwave!" Altered Beast is a strange game with a melancholic, almost depressing feeling that lingers over you as you play, which seems strange for a game about turning into a wolf-man and punching things. Ataraktika also noticed the strange mood of the game and conjured up a heavy, sludgey and very appropriate take on the famous theme that works as a great compliment to the unusual atmosphere.

Diggi Dis - Golden Axe 2 - Battle of Ravaged Village

I included this in the GA2 article, but it's a great remix of one of my favourite ever videogame tracks, it deserves another mention here. A fantastic arrangement, it's filled with many different styles but never becomes muddled or over-indulgent, marrying the rock and hip-hop elements of the original soundtrack with an excellent (and strangely appropriate) piano solo. Definitely one of my personal favourite remixes.

? - Super Hang-On - Sprinter

Sometimes subtlety isn't required. Sometime I just want a cheesy-as-hell, 80s-anime style synth-and-guitar cover. I say sometimes, I mean pretty much all the time. This arranged version of Super Hang-On's "Sprinter" certainly has that feeling, and as music about racing motorcycles goes it's hard to beat.

Avien - Streets of Rage 2 - Slow Moon

Another excellent OCRemix, this time a chilled-out cover of the second-best track in SoR2 (the first being "Dreamer", of course). Well, I couldn't compile a list like this without including something by the legendary Yuzo Koshiro, could I? This is a simple, clean take on the Megadrive original that only has one drawback - it's just too short.

Bayonetta Sound Team - Space Harrier - Theme

Bayonetta has a lot going for it: gloriously over-the-top set piece, fast-paced and thrilling action, and best of all poppy covers of classic Sega themes. I decided to include the Space Harrier theme here because, well, it's the already-excellent Space Harrier but coated in a thick layer of jazzy Japanese pop cheerfulness. What's not to like?

Kiminori Atsuta - OutRun - Passing Breeze

OutRun has one of the greatest soundtracks ever, and as such each track has been remixed eight ways from Sunday, but here's something a bit special - a piano arrangement that takes the sun-drenched charm of the original track and turns in into some really beautiful. A perfect evolution of "Passing Breeze" that has all the laid-back charm of the original but in a brand-new context. Like I said, it's something special.

DrumUltimA, Harmony - Sonic the Hedgehog - Star Light Zone

Let's finish where we started, with another track from the original Sonic the Hedgehog. This time it's the Star Light Zone theme, a track which I'm a little embarrased to admit provokes an odd emotional reaction from me. But hey, if I'm going to get emotional about a piece of videogame music it might as well be something as sweetly haunting as this. This remix starts off with some appropriately haunting percussion and acoustic guitars, before morphing into a joyful, almost scat-style freakout that makes for a fitting tribute to one of Sega's finest ever tracks.

There you go, then - ten great remixes and covers of tracks from Sega's classic back catalogue. The balance is restored! Hope you enjoyed them, and I also hope that watching the After Burner cover didn't somehow teleport you back to 1990.

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REAL SONGS IN RETRO VIDEOGAMES PART 2

A few months ago, I wrote about various retro games that eschewed specifically-composed music and incorporated "real" music into their soundtracks, be they the King of Pop's hits appearing Moonwalker, Konami's presumably unlicensed Beatles covers in Mikie or the patriotic strains of the Colonel Bogey March from Gremlin Graphics' Wanted: Monty Mole. That was just the tip of this harmonious iceberg, though - long before the current age of fully licensed soundtracks from major artists, games were taking their musical cues from real-world sources. So, here are a few more examples of real songs in retro videogames!

Gyruss (Arcade / NES)

Let's start with something classy, shall we? Konami's tube shooter Gyruss may have a standard spaceship-shooting-other-spaceships-in-space setting, but what's less common is the use of Johann Sebastian Bach's "Toccata and Fugue in D minor" as the game's main musical theme. Even if you don't recognise the name of the piece, the first few seconds quickly reveal it to be "that spooky music" so often used to give things a sense of foreboding.

Of course, it then goes into a high-tempo techno remix of JSB's famous piece, but this is a Konami shooter, after all. I said in the last article I'd like to travel back in time and show the guy who composed the Tetris theme the digital version of his work, but I think if I could do that with anyone it's have to be Bach and this. I just want to watch Bach play Gyruss, if I'm being completely honest.

WWF WrestleMania (NES)

From high culture to a place about as far removed from the refined world of classical music as you can get, here's "Real American", Hulk Hogan's insanely, almost self-parodyingly, patriotic signature theme.

Somewhere, an eagle sits atop a mountain, wiping a proud tear from his unblinking eyes. Of course, there have a been quite a few WWF games, but (as far as I know), the first to carry the name was Rare's WWF Wrestlemania for the NES. Hulk Hogan is present, of course, and so is his bombastic theme in a chiptune format.

That eagle is now a robot eagle from the eighties, wiping away his tears with his giant shoulderpads. A personal story: I sent a friend a video of "Real American", and she replied that she'd heard it before and thought it was a satrical comedy track about the Vietnam War. I think that says it all, really.

Rainbow Islands (Amiga)

A game with a rainbow theme, huh? There must be a rainbow-related song that we can... adjust to fit the game, right?

Okay, so it does it's own thing too, but the influence of "Somewhere over the Rainbow" is definitely strong enough to justify its place here. Plus, it's sweeter than a sugar-coated puppy with biscuits for eyes so I have hard time disliking it.

Neuromancer (Commodore 64)

William Gibson's seminal cyberpunk novel received a well-regarded adventure game makeover for the home computers of the time, complete with a score based on the song "Some Things Never Change" by synth-punk electrowizards Devo. Each version of the game has a different score due to the differing sound capabilities, but my favourite of the lot is the C64 version. This is because it features vocals. Terrifying, robotic, trash-compacted vocals.

It's a mightily impressive sound to hear coming from a C64, with the garbled sounds fitting perfectly with the dystopian cyberpunk setting. As a big Devo fan, (and I'm sure that comes as no surprise to you,) I'm a little embarrassed I didn't know about this sooner, but hey: I know about it now and Mark Mothersbaugh's electronic gravel-tone words will accompany my nightmares for a long time to come.

Crüe Ball (Megadrive / Genesis)

While some bands like Guns 'n' Roses and Kiss got actual pinball tables based on them, poor old Mötley Crüe had to do with having their name slapped on a Megadrive pinball game, a license which was apparently added quite late into the development period. Oh well, at least there are a few nice Megadrive recreations of some of Crüe's hits in the game, like this cover of "Dr. Feelgood".

As nice as that is, despite being a licensed Mötley Crüe product Crüe Ball only contains three tracks by the band. The remainder were composed by Brian L. Schmidt, who also wrote the music for the SNES Madden NFL games.

Ninja Gaiden (Arcade)

Ninjas are cool. Undisputable fact, that. Unless you've seen any of Godfrey Ho's ninja movies, but you'd never admit to that in public, would you? So, ninjas = cool, but that's not to say they can't be made cooler. Common ways of jazzing up your shadow warrior include cybernetics and demonic powers, but a much better way is to make a game about ninjas and add an extremely thinly-veiled copy of Black Sabbath's "Iron Man" to the soundtrack.

The track is even called "I Am Man". Black Sabbath retaliated by writing a song called "Ninja Guy Dan", ostensibly a song about a normal guy satanic wizard called Dan who becomes a ninja - however, when played backwards you coud hear Ozzy threatening to bite the heads off of various Tecmo employees. Sadly it was never released, mostly because it's not real.

Journey Escape (Atari 2600)

Journey, America's premier supplier of tunes to Glee and other media franchises based on copying other people's songs, were the stars of their own videogame. And yet Aqua didn't get so much as a handheld LCD game by Tiger Electronics. Shameful. Anyway, I know you're only interested in one thing here: is there a version of "Don't Stop Believin'" featured in this game?

Yes, of course there is. It's the intro music, and, um, that's about it for the Journey music in Journey Escape, apparently. I guess the developers realised that was the only track anyone was interested in.

Spy Hunter (Arcade)

Do you remember Peter Gunn? No, me neither. That's because I'm British and not in my sixties. You'll recognise his theme tune, though - a jazz standard that just oozes international espionage, shadowy figures and cars driving into the back of lorries.

Yes, it's that one, the spy music. It was written by Henry Mancini, who seemingly wrote every piece of memorable music ever. "Baby Elephant Walk"? Mancini. The Pink Panther theme? Mancini. "Straight Outta Compton"? There no real proof, but I'm pretty sure Mancini had a hand in it somehow. The Peter Gunn theme, then: Bally Midway obviously knew a good thing when they heard it, as they made it the main theme for Spy Hunter, an arcade game about - get this - hunting spies. It really is a very good fit.

NARC (Arcade)

For the final game in today's round-up, I'm turning the tables with a retro game track that escaped from the confines of the arcade and onto an honest-to-god record. Here's the second stage music from Williams' 1988 gory crime-doesn't-pay-em-up NARC.

It was composed by Brian L. Schmidt, the same guy who I mentioned in the Crüe Ball section. It's a rather nice bit of high-octane eighties game music, particularly the driving bass and drums. Just the sort of thing you want to be hearing while blowing drug lords away and aggressively high-fiving your partner. Someone else who enjoyed NARC's musical stylings was Charles Thompson IV. He's better know as Frank Black or Black Francis, singer / songwriter and founder of alt-rock greats the Pixies. In fact, he enjoyed it so much that the Pixies recorded a cover of this track and released it as a B-side to their 1991 single "Planet of Sound".

I love Frank Black, I love the Pixies and I love this. That's really all I have to say on the subject.

There you go then, a few more tracks from retro games who roots lie in "real-world" music. Did I write this as a self-indulgent excuse to listen to Devo and the Pixies? Possibly, but I also had to suffer through that terrible version of "Bohemian Rhapsody" last time I did this, so I think it's only fair.

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10 GREAT CHRONO TRIGGER REMIXES / COVERS

Previous remix compliations:
Mega Man - Castlevania - Final Fantasy - F-Zero

Yasunori Mitsuda's score for Chrono Trigger is rightly considered by many (myself included) to be one of the very best videogame soundtracks ever created. It also contains a track called "Burn! Bobonga!", which isn't important but the name just makes me smile. So, Chrono Trigger's soundtrack is great and all, but let's see what happens to it when it falls into the hands of other musically-gifted people: it's time for ten great Chrono Trigger remixes and covers!

Devildom String Orchestra - Chrono Trigger Medley

The previous remix articles I wrote up had something of a heavy metal flavour to them - partly because I'm a long-haired Iron Maiden fan and and partly due to the more rocking nature of ­Mega Man and Castlevania soundtracks. While there'll still be a some hard rockin' tracks here, Chrono Trigger seems to lend itself much more readily to gentle, orchestral reinterpretations like this thing right here: Devildom String Orchestra's four-piece string version of "Wind Scene", "Theme of Frog" and "Battle with Magus". Extremely well done, although I hope you don't have an aversion to slightly creepy animal masks or the Scream movie franchise.

Zircon - Calamitous Judgement

Not only is Chrono Trigger the pinnacle of 16-bit RPGs, is also teaches you lessons about the harsh nature of the justice system. I helped that girl find her cat and everything! Anyway, here's Zircon's energetic, techno-y take on the Trial music, which is possibly a gateway into another dimension where judicial proceedings are held at raves.

5/4 Takepod - World Revolution

If you are fighting a planet-destroying star-beast, you need some suitable dynamic music to accompany the battle. The original "World Revolution" does a good job of supplying this, but master remixer 5/4 Takepod's takes it even further with this powerful rendition.

lonlonjp - At the Bottom of Night (Acoustic Guitar cover)

After that aural assault, let's slow it down with a rendition of the impossibly sad "At the Bottom of Night". There's a lot to be said for the more simple cover versions, and this is just one man and his guitar with some excellent playing that enhances the original fantastically.

kLuTz - 600 A.D. in Piano

Continuing the gentle theme, here's kLuT's solo piano rendition of the 600 A.D. overworld music "Wind Scene". Again, its simplicity allows the fantastic playing to shine through.

Onnochi - Battle With Magus (Metal)

Back to the metal! It has to be heavy, really - what could be more appropriate for a metal cover than a track about fighting a scythe-wielding dark wizard? The only thing that could make it more metal is if Magus was riding a motorcycle while you fought him. Anyway, the reliably excellent Onnochi gives the theme a real sense of drive. Like driving a motorcycle! Haha, you see it all makes sense.

Yasunori Mitsuda, Hiroshi Hata, Hidenobu Ootsuki, and Gizaemon de Furuta - Undersea Palace (The Brink of Time)

The "Brink of Time" arranged album seems to be somewhat divisive amongst Chrono Trigger fans: supposedly "acid jazz" but really too varied to be classified by genre, it's a remix album that goes in some unexpected directions. Personally, I love it - it was the first thing I ever bought on eBay - and this version of "Undersea Palace" is my favourite track. I particularly like the completely unrelated intro section, which may not be from Chrono Trigger but fits the mood perfectly. After that, the bass guitar is the real star of this one, and the horns add that extra bit of punch.

SEXY-SYNTHESIZER - Frog's Theme / Fanfare 1 (Love SQ)

The requisite odd remix here, as SEXY-SYNTHESIZER offer up a chip-tuney, almost Game-and-Watch flavoured take on the theme of everyone's favourite frog/knight hybrid.

Phoenix Project - Boss Battle

I'm a sucker for jazzy organ solos, I admit, but this also offers some nicely crunching guitars that really drive the "boss battle" nature of the song home. Phoenix Project's "Resolution Trigger" doujin album is a great listen all round, really - their version of Frog's Theme is also excellent.

Tokyo City Philharmonic Orchestra - Chrono Trigger

Finally, something wonderful - from the Orchestral Game Concert series, it's the Tokyo City Philharmonic Orchestra's powerful version of the Chrono Trigger theme. A fittingly grand tribute to a truly grand game, and one that for all my better judgement makes me wish there was a Chrono Trigger movie.

There you are then, ten great Chrono Trigger remixes and covers. As you'd expect from a game with such a stellar soundtrack, this is just the tip of the iceberg so who knows? Maybe there'll be a part two to this article in the future. Until then, I'm going to be learning how to hack roms so I can give Magus a motorcycle.

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NOVELTY SONGS BASED ON VIDEOGAMES

In the search for the next big musical hit, record producers travel down some strange avenues. I mean, giving Peter Andre a music career? Really? Still, at least videogames are considered too geeky to be turned into pop music, right?

Oh, bless your youthful naiveté. As with anything that becomes popular, people will always be there to turn it into a song, and videogames are no exception. So, here are some novelty songs that are based on videogames. I must must warn you; almost all of them are depressing, and not for the reasons you might think.

Ambassadors of Funk - Super Mario Land (1992)

I hope you like dance music, because there's going to be a lot of it in this article. It was the early Nineties, a dark time when a Goverment order required 97% of all music released in the UK to fall into the "bangin' party choon" category. I thought I'd try and ease you in gently with this one; it's certainly one of the least objectionable tracks in this list.

At least it tries to integrate the various Super Mario Land samples into the song rather than just slapping them on top, like putting the Batman logo on your Ford Fiesta and calling it the Batmobile. It is, however, a pretty shocking indictment of the corrosive power of videogames on young minds. I mean, even his ma thinks he's crazy. I can see his poor old mother now, crying as the men in white coats bundle her son into a padded cell, her heart breaking as her son screams "you don't understand! I have to rescue the Princess!"
The mastermind behind the Ambassadors of Funk was a record producer named Simon Harris, who has worked with some surprisingly famous artists, and Samantha Fox. I can only imagine he didn't mention Super Mario Land when he got the call to remix Prince's "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World".
P.S. I actually owned this on CD as a kid. I listened to it a lot. I know all the words. I can only hope you will not judge me too harshly now that you have this knowledge.

Buckner & Garcia - Pac-Man Fever (1982)

Symptoms of Pac-Man Fever include elevated temperatures, excessive sweating, a desire to eat cherries, paranoid delusions of being chased by ghosts, blood in the urine and eventual death. Jerry Buckner and Gary Garcia were a 1980's pop band from Ohio who made the decision to write a song about the most prominent cultural icon of the time: Pac-Man. Then they were forced to make a whole album of videogame-based songs, and their career evaporated. Well, that's the hard life you face in the music industry. Pac-Man Fever was by far their biggest hit, apparently reaching #9 in the US charts.

I'm shocked it didn't chart higher at a time when the world was crying out for generic pop-rock songs with arcade sound effects placed on top. You'll notice that, once again, the song focuses on the negative effects of playing videogames; not only the psychological trauma of Pac-Man addiction, but also the physical damage caused by being hunched over an arcade cabinet. I told you these songs were depressing.

Doctor Spin - Tetris (1992)

More dance music, this time based on the Tetris A music. You know, Tetris is Russian, so I figure what it needs is someone with a Russian accent shouting random phrases during the song. Wait, we have a guy who can do that? Oh, excellent.

It's like a checklist of every terrible cliche of early '90s dance music fused with a beloved videogame tune. Weirdly enough, Doctor Spin was actually a pseudonym used by the duo of producer Andrew Wright and leering wax gargoyle and West End mogul Andrew Lloyd Webber.

Look at that face, and then imagine that he's the person saying "such a good feeling!" in the song. Feel a bit dirty now, don't you? You'll feel even worse when he creeps through your bedroom window while you sleep, wearing nothing but a codpiece shaped like the L-block.
At least it's only a novelty song and it wasn't performed live or anything...

I would like to remind you that the 1990s was the decade when Ecstasy use really took off. If only it was like actual Tetris, then I could push those dancers together and with any luck they'd disappear.

Uncle Vic - Space Invaders (1980)

This is definitely my favourite of the bunch, because it sounds like it's less of a song and more the accidentally-recorded delusions of a madman. Yet again, the focus is on the harmful effect of playing videogames.

If you believe these songs, videogames lie somewhere between cocaine and smack in terms of addictiveness.

H.W.A. - Super Sonic (1992)

Wow, 1992 really was a bumper year for novelty videogame songs. As Sonic was positioned as the "cool" mascot character, I suppose there was very little chance we'd escape without hearing a dance number from him.

It sounds like H.W.A. wrote the song and then went "oh shit, this song's supposed to be about Sonic! Erm, quick, just shove some of the Green Hill Zone music in there. Oh, and the "ring" sound, use that too. Bosh, SuperSonic, done. Where shall we go for lunch?" To be fair, I can't completely dislike a song that uses the Green Hill Zone music, even if the lyrics do sound like "We're on a Super Sonic high, we're gonna mess you up". What, like you messed up every game you were in since Sonic & Knuckles? Ooh, ice burn.
And yes, H.W.A. does stand for "Hedgehog With Attitude". Around the same time, there was another group called H.W.A.; they would be the "Hoes With Attitude", who had an album with the charming title of "Az Much Ass Azz U Want". I can only hope that this lead to an awkward situation where a child bought a Hoes With Attitude album thinking it was going to be about Sonic the Hedgehog.

The World Warrior - Street Fighter II

I've saved the worst for last, folks. Another masterpiece from Simon Harris, it's a rap set to the intro theme from Street Fighter II.

I say "set to", as the rap bears only the loosest of connections to the music. It's just... really, really bad. I can't really describe it in any other way, I'm at a loss for words here. That sample of Chun-Li's laugh mocks me. "I won't quit", he says, even after I've begged him to stop. Somewhere, Yoko Shimomura is crying.
Perhaps it exists to counterbalance all the hours of pleasure I got from Street Fighter II over the years, although now I've heard it I'm worried I'll remember it every time I play SF. I mean, if you're going to rap about Street Fighter, you should at least do it like this (well, that is):

There you go, then - further proof that 1992 was the worst year in human history. The worst thing is, I'm sure you now have at least one of those songs stuck in your head. I can only offer my condolences and pray that it isn't the Street Fighter one.

10 GREAT F-ZERO REMIXES / COVERS

Another year and another E3 with no mention of a new F-Zero game. This saddens me, because I love F-Zero­ and all it stands for: the pure speed, the insane universe where a reanimated skeleton can race against a hyper-intelligent monkey, and most of all the music. The soundtrack to the original F-Zero is one of my very favourites that the SNES has to offer, which is high praise indeed consider it has competition from things like Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy VI and Zombies ate my Neighbours. The N64 sequel F-Zero X kept the level of musical excellence high with probably the console's best soundtrack, and although F-Zero GX may have been a slight let-down in the audio stakes, F-Zero remains one of the very best series for hard-rockin', full-on musical madness. Still, there's always room for improvement, right?

nijeil - Fire Field

First up, nijeil's remix of the theme from F-Zero's final track takes everything F-Zero­'s music is known for and ramps it up to its logical conclusion: roaring guitars, searing synth lines and a real feeling of urgency. This is what should be playing during every single motorsport event. It could even make Formula One interesting! Okay, maybe not.

S.S.H. - Big Blue

"Saitama's Ultimate Weapon" tends to give me what I want from videogame remixes; loud, fast metal versions of classic videogame tunes. What baffles me is how "Big Blue" manages to simultaneously be more energetic than a puppy with lasers for blood and so damn relaxing.

Peewee, Michiko Hill - Big Blue

From the official F-Zero Arrange Album, this track is the complete opposite of the S.S.H. version. It's got saxophones! And piano! Yes, it's the jazz version... and it's brilliant. I can still (just about) remember finding an MP3 of this in the very earliest days of my internet-going youth and it opening my eyes (ears?) to the world of videogame music remixes. So I thank you, F-Zero Arrange Album: without you I may have a lot more hard-drive space but a lot fewer happy musical memories.

Nintendo - The Long Distance of Murder Guitar Arrange

"What's that? You want me to re-do the already-incredible F-Zero X soundtrack with real instruments and guitar shredding and all kinds of wonderful, wonderful things that'll make people wish they were piloting a super-sonic jet racer through the very heart of the fucking sun itself!? Yeah sure, I can do that."

Bluetrancefer - Port Town (Metroid Remix)

A fantastic melding of two Nintendo franchises as Bluetrancefer takes the Port Town theme and re-imagines it as part of the soundtrack to a lost Metroid Prime game. Ambient, chilled and spot on in its evocation of both F-Zero and Metroid.

JigginJonT - Silent Progression (Silence)

It's not all wailing guitars in F-Zero land, you know - here's a beautiful piece of improvised solo piano work from OCRemixer JigginJonT. You might think piano solos are not compatible with F-Zero's music, but you'd be wrong. Dead wrong. That's right, I'm threatening you.

SonicTheJackrabbit - Mute City (Sega Genesis Cover)

It's F-Zero! For the Megadrive! It's great, and because it's in a Megadrive style it automatically sounds like a theme from a side-scrolling shooter, like all fast-paced Megadrive music does.

Magical Trick Society - White Land

More of an electro feel from this one, although there are still guitars in evidence, and the whole thing pumps along as mightily as any good F-Zero­ remix should.

Entertainment System - Mute City, Big Blue, Port Town

VGM covers band Entertainment System put some straight-up rocking into this medley of delights, guaranteed to get your head banging. I mean, unless you're a cold-hearted gargoyle or something.

Nintendo - Rainbow Road

And to finish, not a remix of an F-Zero track but an F-Zero X remix of another Nintendo track. You see, the lucky owners of the 64DD could get an expansion pack for F-Zero X that included, amongst other things, this remix of Mario Kart 64's "Rainbow Road" music. A nice crossover between the Big N's two racing franchises, and its triumphant yet somehow melancholic sounds seem like a fitting way to end this list of remixes.
The final word? Oi, Nintendo! F-Zero: WiiU. Make it happen, people.

Previous remix compliations:
Megaman!
Castlevania!
Final Fantasy!

10 GREAT FINAL FANTASY REMIXES / COVERS

Final Fantasy music. Do I really need to say anything more? Primary series composer Nobuo Uematsu is regarded by many fans of videogame music as a genius, and while comparisons to history's greatest classical composers might be pushing it a little, the man sure knows how to write music for role-playing games. Of course, there are alway going to be people out there who think they can improve on his work, so here are ten of my personal favourite Final Fantasy remixes and covers.
P.S. You will notice that there're no tracks here from games later than FFVIII. I'll leave you to come to your own conclusion about that.

? - Theme of Love (Orchestrated) - FFIV

The series' first entry on the SNES, Final Fantasy IV featured many excellent themes that really hammered home the improvements of 16-bit music over it's 8-bit predecessors. Hearing the Red Wings' theme as they fly over the Mode 7 landscape? Now that's powerful stuff. However, I've put aside those stirring songs of battle (because I'm a complete softie at heart) and gone for the "Theme of Love", presented here in a beautiful orchestrated version. Emotional without being cloying, the FF series' best love theme gets the arrangement it deserves.

moAbbi - Force Your Way - FFVIII

A lot of people seem to dislike FFVIII. These people are wrong. Okay, fine, they're entitled to their opinion and everything, but FFVIII will always be near the top of my personal Final Fantasy leaderboard. One reason why is the music: here's a synth-metal version of the boss battle theme, a track so great it'll temporarily make you forget just how irritating Rinoa is.

DTM (?) - Searching For Friends - FFVI

FFVI's second airship theme, formerly a melancholy backdrop to your quest to find your scattered companions, is transformed into a hip-hop flavoured groove. It's a direction I wouldn't have expected for this track, but it's a great one, and perfect if you want a change of pace from the metal remixes. The solo that starts at 2:07 is really great, too - simple yet effective.

Syuryougonjinsyu - Battle 2 - FFIII

FFIII has, in my opinion, the most underrated soundtrack in the FF series. It features my favourite overworld theme of the series, the beautiful Water Maiden theme and some fantastic battle music, including this battle theme. You know what else I love? Surf music. It's be great if someone combined these two things. Oh wait, they did! Syuryougonjinsyu have made me a very happy person with their tubular take on this excellent battle theme.

EvilSnake666666 - Cid's Theme - FFVII

Another underrated track gets the update it deserves in this rock arrangement of Cid's epic (in the actual sense of the word) theme from FFVII. It will make you want to fly into space, and possibly make you want some GODDAMN TEA. Mind you, I'm British, so I always want some GODDAMN TEA.

5/4TAKEPOD - Pride of the White Knight (Battle on the Bridge) - FF Tactics

A non-Uematsu track from my personal favourite Final Fantasy game. Hitoshi Sakimoto took over the composing duties for the strategy-RPG spin-off, and his work is as good as anything in the main series. Here's an excellent rock version of the "Battle on the Bridge" theme, and if it doesn't get you pumped for a battle full of badly-translated attacks and character names, then your heart must be a shrivelled lump of coal. Seriously, at 0:44 I'm getting goosebumps and headbanging simultaneously.

The Black Mages - Dancing Mad - FFVI

"Dancing Mad" is probably Nobuo Uematsu's magnum opus, a towering work of insane majesty that is perfectly fitting as the theme to Kefka's psychopathic godhood. In 2002, Uematsu put together a band called The Black Mages to perform covers of his Final Fantasy material, including this 12-minute prog-rock monolith. I think I'm going to stipulate in my will that this must be played in its entirety at my funeral.

Aiko - Eternal Wind (Piano) - FFIII

Another track from FFIII, this time the beautiful overworld theme "Eternal Wind" played on the piano. Simple, haunting and very, very good. It's just a shame that it's so short.

The Runaway Five - Shinra Shuffle (Still More Fighting) - FFVII

In terms of baffling my expectations, this arrangement of FFVII's boss battle theme is by far and away my favourite. How can you improve the already-amazing "Still More Fighting"? A heavy metal version? A full orchestra? Boring, predicatble, pedestrian! No, what you want is a swing jazz version, and that's exactly what The Runaway Five have delivered, and it is perfect. An incredible arrangement, wonderful playing and sheer joy all add up to make this a real treat that you should make sure you listen to at least once.

Tour de Japon - Final Fantasy Main Theme - FF Series

And to finish, what could be more appropriate than the main Final Fantasy theme, as performed by a full orchestra as part of the Tour de Japon event? Nobuo Uematsu even appears halfway through to conduct the orchestra. This is not something that personally bothers me, but if you get someone telling you that videogame music is unlistenable shit, show them this. Alternatively, just laugh in their face.

So there you go, ten Final Fantasy remixes, arrangements and covers that I personally think are really bloody good. Hope you thought so too.

Previously:
10 Great Megaman Remixes!
10 Great Castlevania Remixes!

10 GREAT CASTLEVANIA REMIXES / COVERS

I love the Castlevania franchise. That mixture of atmosphere, gameplay and whipping skeletons so hard their heads fall off just keeps me coming back for more with each new game. Sure it loses its way sometimes (yes, I mean you Castlevania: Judgement), but the one thing it always seems to get right is the music. From the first NES titles to the modern releases, the Castlevania series has produced some of the best soundtracks in videogaming history. With that in mind, here's a roundup of some of the best Castlevania remixes!

Virt: Once Upon a Time in Transylvania (Clockwork)

Let's start with a real masterpiece. Virt takes the "Clockwork" track and gives it a remix that's part spaghetti western, part speed-metal extravaganza and one hundred percent awesome. You should all visit his website and check out his other stuff, because the guy is good.

Sixto Sounds: Wicked Six (Wicked Child)

More metal, this time with an almost prog feel. Nice use of organs to give it that perfect vampire-killing vibe and some excellent soloing make this a great track.

Konami Kukeiha Club: Op. 13 (Slash)

In 1994, Konami released Perfect Selection: Dracula Battle, a CD of Castlevania track arranged by Naoto Shibata of Japanese metal band Anthem. It's a real classic, possibly the best arranged videogame music album ever released, and I could have easily filled this list by using tracks from it and it's companion Perfect Selection: Dracula Battle II. I struggled to decide on a track to use, but eventually I settled on Op. 13. There's a bit of confusion here, because while the track is listed on the album as "Op. 13", it is actually a remix of a different Castlevania track, "Slash". Whoops. Still, don't let that distract you: just play this track, preferably at high volume.

Midi Pro Power 6: Crystal Teardrops

An odd one, this: it's a remixed midi version of Symphony of the Night's "Crystal Teardrops" produced for an album called Midi Pro Power 6. I rather hesitated with this one, because despite it being a good remix, the limitations of the midi instruments really show. I went with it in the end because "Crystal Teardrops" is a fantastic song that doesn't get remixed nearly enough, and plus I have to fill my quota of slightly cheesy tracks.

Konami: Dracula's Castle (Castlevania: Judgement version)

Castlevania: Judgement was, let's face it, a disaster. While maybe you could make a good Castlevania beat-em-up, this certainly wasn't it, with dull combat and some of the worst "re-imagined" characters I've ever seen. However, C:J has one thing going for it in a big, big way, and that's the soundtrack. Jam-packed with remixed tracks from across the franchise, it's the best soundtrack on the Wii and possibly the best soundtrack of this generation of consoles. Again, I had trouble deciding on a favourite for the list, but I've gone for this version of "Dracula's Castle" from SotN. If this was a fair and just universe, this music would play whenever I walked anywhere.

Dhsu: A Clockwork Vampire (Clockwork / Vampire Killer)

Another version of "Clockwork", but this time a beautiful, pared-back piano version. A nice change of pace if you're not a fan of the heavier remixes, it really lets the quality of the composition shine through.

nintendude8VG: Bloody Tears SNES Remix (with Megaman X sounds)



Remixing tracks using old SNES soundfonts is a trend that I can get behind. Here's a great version of the legendary "Bloody Tears" recreated using the sounds from Megaman X2, and it'll having you pining for some king of Megaman / Castlevania crossover.

?: Divine Bloodlines Rock Remix

As the title suggests, a rockin' version of Richter's theme, with great guitars and synths. Perfect for storming the castle of an evil vampire lord. If anyone knows who arranged this, please let me know.

goat: Pools of Rust (Stream / Aqueduct Stage)

An overlooked theme gets an excellent guitar workout, with a nice piano break in the middle. goat's remixes are consistently very good, so of you enjoy this I recommend you look him up.

Powerglove: Vanquish the Horrible Night (Medley)

And to finish, here's some full-on heavy metal Castlevania madness courtesy of Powerglove. A great medley of tracks in this one, with something for everyone, assuming they like metal versions of Castlevania tracks. If you don't, why are you reading this?

So, that's ten great Castlevania remixes. I hope you enjoyed them, and that they made your cursed night a little less horrible.

Previously: Ten Great Megaman Remixes!

10 GREAT MEGA MAN REMIXES / COVERS

Apropos of nothing, here are ten excellent Megaman and Megaman X remixes!
For those of you that are using Firefox and would like to have these remixes as MP3s, then this little gizmo might be of use to you.

Hikarisy: Snake Man

My favourite stage music from Megaman 3 gets a rockin' heavy metal version, and it suits it perfectly. Hikarisy has a few other Megaman remixes on Youtube, and they're all pretty fantastic.

Onocchi: Armored Armadillo

Armored Armadillo has the best music in the whole of the Megaman X series, which is high praise indeed when you consider how good the first three MMX soundtracks are (and the rest are good too, just not as good). Another high-energy metal remix, it starts off as an excellent version of one of the more difficult MM songs to play, but then at around the 0:58 mark, more guitars are added and the whole thing goes into some kind of blissful super-rock overdrive. There's a link in the YouTube description that'll take you to Onocchi's site, where you should download all his videogame remixes because they're fantastic.

Chiptuned Rockman - Kaze Yo Tsutaete (Buster Core Meltdown mix)

It's Roll's Theme, originally from Megaman Battle and Chase and also heard in Marvel vs Capcom and Tatsunoko vs Capcom. However, it has been recreated in glorious 8-bit NES sound, and the end result (like pretty much every track on the Chiptuned Rockman album) is truly glorious. Check out the bit at 2:24 where she says "Megaman!" in her little chiptune voice: it is sound to warm even the coldest of hearts.

The Megas - Annihilation of Monsteropolis (Airman)

A lot of you have probably heard of The Megas, a band who record vocal versions of classic Megaman tunes. They are excellent. So excellent, in fact, that Capcom used some of their music in the official trailers for Megaman Universe, and praise doesn't come much higher than that. I had a very hard time choosing which one to include on this list, but I went for Airman mostly due to the lyrics in the chorus. Genius!

? - Gravity Man

Included in this list for two reasons: One, Gravity Man and his theme are both awesome and do not get enough recognition. Secondly, it's pretty much Megaman jazz, especially at between 1:20 and 1:36. Nice samples, too.

Dangerous Mezashi Cat - Megaman 3 Title Rock Remix

Megaman 3 is always the first thing I think of when it comes to the Blue Bomber, and especially the title music. Here it gets a lovely rock remixing, as is befitting the opening to such an epic game as MM3.

McVaffe - Cutman Sonata

As you may have noticed, my musical tastes run more toward the heavy side of things, but I'm certainly not immune to the charms of more gentle music. With that in mind, here is a brilliant interpretation of Cutman's theme as a haunting piano sonata. I remember listening to this when I was still in school, all those many moons ago, and it's stayed with me ever since. If you want a remix that thinks outside the box, then this is it.

Alph Lyla - Scrapping Beat (Flame Mammoth)

A bit of a cheat, this one, as it was remixed by Capcom's former in-house band Alph Lyla. That doesn't stop it being great, though, with some deepy excellent drumming and a distinctly un-Megaman jazz flavour. It might not be to all tastes, but I love it, and the album of MMX remixes it comes from is well worth tracking down.

Daveeeey - Plug Man with MMX2 Instruments

The title says it all, really. Plug Man's theme from Megaman 9, recreated using sound samples taken directly from Megaman X2. A simple idea, but one that works brilliantly and will have you longing for a new SNES-style Megaman X game instead of the rubbish recent ones. Also check out his versions of Castlevania tracks using the same idea, which I think might be even better than the Megaman ones.

? - Skull Man Guitar Arrange

And finally, one of my very favourites. This captures the essence of Skull Man's music perfectly, with the added bonus of rocking harder than a concrete rocking-horse. Short, sweet and to the point, it'll make you wish Capcom would release the older Megamans with this type of music.

And that's it for now. That lot should give you something to listen to, eh? I'm always open to people suggesting Megaman (or any game, really) remixes for me to listen to, so if you know of something you think I'd like, let me know in the comments!