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Game Music

Muscle Men & Silky Whips: Contra & Castlevania Rebirth Soundtracks Announced!

December 30, 2009 | Audun Sorlie | 2 Comments Share this

Man Konami is on a roll these days. Earlier we reported that they were releasing a 19 (!!!) disc Castlevania compilation featuring Vampire Killer on the MSX2 and Castlevania Legends from Game Boy, to name a few. Konami, however, was obviously not satisfied with a mere 19 CDs, so they decided to announce 3 more Castlevania related albums.

First announced is a set of Drama CDs, Akumajo Dracula Radio Chronicle and Akumajo Dracula X ~Nocturne of The Reminiscence based on the story of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night and features most notably Shinichiro Miki, the voice of Akira in Virtua Fighter and Sagat in Street Fighter doing voice work. Second and most interesting for the non-Japanese speaking part of the world, is Dracula Densetsu ReBirth & Contra ReBirth Original Soundtrack, a collection set of the soundtracks for Castlevania Rebirth and Contra Rebirth! 33 tracks are announced to be on this album, and will include arrangements from Manabu Namiki.

It’s been noted before that Jason “Chibi-Tech” Nisperos has worked on these titles, so it’ll be exciting to see if he was only doing voice acting or if he had some hand in the music as well.
Chip Music

Feed The Beast: Game Boy Rock!! On CD

December 29, 2009 | Audun Sorlie | 1 Comment Share this Feed The Beast: Game Boy Rock!! On CD

Wizwars released a free chiptune EP earlier this fall titled Game Boy Rock!!, which got praise from us and most other outlets for being a solid, catchy chiptune release with an irresistible beat. Chiptunes usually get released for free in single track form, and so it’s refreshing when these releases comes around and give us a full package with a consistency and flow that can be missing with the community releases. But imagine, how cool would it be if you could get this Game Boy-inspired release on a CD? Artwork, jewel case, CD… gets you all excited just thinking about it, doesn’t it?

Well fantasize no more! Handheld Heroes are now selling CD copies of this release, with an added bonus track for extra value. The whole case is modeled after an actual Game Boy, making the all around presentation as authentic as the music, which was all made on a real Game Boy with no emulation or modification done: just pure Game Boy sound hardware material.

The CD sells at $8 USD, and can be purchased on Handheld Heroes CD outlet page. Pick it up if you are in the mood for some chiptunes to get you dancing.
Chip Music

Chip Bells and 8-Bit Joy: 8 Bit Weapon Chiptune Holiday

December 22, 2009 | Audun Sorlie | 1 Comment Share this

God I love Christmas. Best time of the year! All the amazing food, people are in good moods, families reunited and merry music faintly heard in the background when walking down the town square. It’s a time of year I erase most of my musical preference and almost exclusively listen to Christmas themed songs and melodies, or songs I remember from my Christmas celebrations.

8 Bit Weapon and ComputeHer must be fans of the holidays too, as they put together a great little package for you folks. It’s a Chiptune Holiday! features some well loved Christmas classics like “Jingle Bells”, “Joy to the World” and “O Christmas Tree” in true 8-bit fashion. Not just that, but every copy is hand crafted! That’s right, the CD case is hand crafted out of a rare authentic frosty light grey 5-25 floppy diskette! Gotta love the dedication there.

Pick it up at 8bitweapon.com and combine the two greatest things: Christmas and videogame music. The CD goes for 9.95 USD with free worldwide shipping!

[Via OSV Tips, Thanks Seth and Michelle!]
Game Music

Kunio-Kun Returns To Kick Your Ass And Run Like Hell!

November 17, 2009 | Audun Sorlie | 5 Comments Share this

I always loved Kunio-kun. My first experience with the series came when I got my first NES, and Nintendo World Cup was packaged in a 3-games-on-1-cart deal Nintendo released, alongside Super Mario Bros and Tetris. Nintendo World Cup was originally a Kunio title in Japan however, being released as Nekketsu Koukou Dodgeball Bu: Soccer Hen. As time passed, more games from the series were localized for the west, most famously Downtown Nekketsu Monogatari, which most of you know as River City Ransom. In Japan all these titles were strung together and are based around the adventures of Kunio-kun.

Last year we received yet another Kunio title, Super Dodge Ball Brawlers on Nintendo DS. For long time fans it was a nice sight seeing Kunio back on store shelves, and even more pleased to hear that Arc System planned yet another title around the corner, Kunio-Kun no Chou Nekketsu! Daiundoukai, which is based on the Japan only Famicom sports game Downtown Nekketsu Koushinkyoku: Soreyuke Daiundoukai. Not only that, but the pre-order includes a CD soundtrack, done by the man who was responsible for the majority of Kunio-kun soundtracks, Kazou Sawa! It’s not known if this will be a collection of music from the other titles or the soundtrack from this title specifically.

Do you have any memories of either the Japanese or Western releases of Kunio? And what about them bringing the original composer back for another round? Let us know!

[Via VGMdb]