Back in the hay-day of video gaming, there was a genre of game that was coined the “platformer” — in reality a 2D game where your main objective is traversing over the screen and through levels that consisted of many obstacles; most of which were platforms and the like. It was a popular type of game through the 90s that, within the past few years, has really been making a comeback in grand retro-style. Downloadable games seem to be leading the charge recently, with games like Braid and ‘Splosion Man becoming hits in their own right, enticing players with oldschool finger-twitching gameplay.
One of the more overlooked games for the Xbox Live Indie Arcade was a release earlier this year titled Astroman: a platform side-scrolling game featuring an adorable little spaceman romping through the solar system trying to repair his ship as he blasts aliens to bits as he goes. It’s a short, cute game that goes for about $3 on XBLA. However, what really shines about the game isn’t it’s nostalgic gameplay, but rather the music, which has gotten some well-deserved attention due to the recent release of the Indie Game Music Bundle 3.
A short but sweet original soundtrack crafted by composer Jeff Ball, known for his composition and violin work on games such Mass Effect 3 and Monkey Island 2: Special Edition, he has delivered some fantastic work for the little indie title and really makes the game shine. Journey with us into the star-stricken foray of music that is the Astroman Original Soundtrack. (more…)
