virt

Chip Music, Game Music

Shantae Games and Soundtracks see Physical Release on October 28th

October 27, 2016 | Shawn Sackenheim | Comments Off on Shantae Games and Soundtracks see Physical Release on October 28th Share this

Limited Run Games has announced their next set of physical releases on PlayStation 4 and it’s all about Shantae. The cult classic platforming adventure series began on the Game Boy Color in 2002 and has seen two new entries in recent years with a fourth installment coming in December.

As part of the lead up to the new game, Half-Genie Hero, developer WayForward and Limited Run are releasing 5,800 physical copies of both Shantae: Risky’s Revenge – Director’s Cut ($24.99) and Shantae and the Pirate’s Curse ($29.99) on October 28th at 10am EST.

One of the hallmarks of the series has always been its music, created by Jake “virt” Kaufman, which Limited Run is also commemorating with three new CD releases. Also up for sale on October 28th will be a scant 750 copies of the soundtracks to all three current titles: Shantae, Shantae: Risky’s Revenge and Shantae and the Pirate’s Curse. The albums each cost $14.99 and will be made available in two batches at 9:45am and again at 6:00pm EST.

If this news has rekindled your Shantae passion or if you’re new to it’s music you can read much, much more about it in our previous coverage. The Risky’s Revenge and Pirate’s Curse soundtracks are also available on virt’s Bandcamp page and once, long ago, he posted the original Game Boy Color music to his blog.

Are you hype for these new disc-based copies of the games or soundtracks? Just want to reminisce about Shantaes gone by? Let us know in the comments below.
Chip Music, Game Music, Indie Music

Groupees returns with 10th Chiptune + Charity Bundle

July 1, 2016 | Shawn Sackenheim | Comments Off on Groupees returns with 10th Chiptune + Charity Bundle Share this

Groupees’ Chiptune + Charity Bundle returns for the 10th time this Summer to spread music and money to benefit the Children’s Cancer Association’s MyMusic Rx program. For a minimum of $2 you’ll get ten chiptune albums and soundtracks featuring Jake “virt” Kaufman, tiasu, ToyCompany, DJ Cutman, Jamatar, coda, bignic, Please Lose Battle, BigGiantCircles and Kubbi.

Highlights this time around are the entire Retro City Rampage soundtrack from “virt”, “Norrin Radd” and “Freaky DNA” and an exclusive EP album from DJ Cutman featuring original music. Mystery albums are added as donations hit $1,000 levels so there’s more bonus music to come, the first of which will be the ToyCompany album Playroom Vol.2.
Chip Music, Game Music, Reviews

For Shovelry! Shovel Knight Arranged (Review)

August 26, 2014 | Brenna Wilkes | Comments Off on For Shovelry! Shovel Knight Arranged (Review) Share this

As originally reported on, the fantastic soundtrack for Shovel Knight by Jake “Virt” Kaufman (with contribution’s by Mega Man composer Manami Matsumae) has been out and available for download at a Pay-What-You-Want price on Bandcamp for a little while now. The the music, as well as the game itself, has been described by most as both a a love letter to the NES and Genesis-era of video games, though it’s probably more appropriate to say the music and game are faithful evolutions of the retro-gaming genre. The inspirations from popular past franchises is evident in every nook and cranny of the sidescrolling platformer’s construction, but it does well enough on its own that the term “cookie-cutter” would not be giving the game enough credit, nor the music.

And there is a significant amount of music, and an additional album of arranged music by various artists on top of the original soundtrack’s ensemble as well. Shovel Knight may have had those who pledged to the game’s Kickstarter biting their nails in anticipation, but it certainly did good on its promise to deliver….in spades! (sorry, I’ll keep the puns to a minimum) Today, I’ll finally be focusing on Strike the Earth! Shovel Knight Arranged.

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Chip Music

5 Quick Questions: Parallel Processing (Danimal Cannon)

December 7, 2012 | Audun Sorlie | 1 Comment Share this

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Chip Music, Demoscene

5 Quick Questions: Noise Channel (Kristina Kaufman)

September 19, 2012 | Audun Sorlie | 3 Comments Share this

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Game Music

Love Explosion! Double Dragon Neon Soundtrack Review

September 17, 2012 | Audun Sorlie | 2 Comments Share this

Lately, we’ve been seeing a trend of reboots and reimaginings in the world of entertainment. It’s as if our childhoods consisted of nothing more than mere extended product shills and action figure commercials disguised as cartoons that are being revisited to once again have the same effect on today’s young. Video games live in a fairly synced world with the movie industry, sequels and at times loosely connected remakes are always around the corner and ready for the nostalgic mind to revisit. There have been a few successes; Bionic Commando ReArmed retained its classic gameplay and sound while mixing it with new mechanics and electronic sound. Street Fighter IV brought life back into the fighting arena with balanced combat and a competent, though forgettable soundtrack with some great arrangements of the old songs we remember from SFII, and Punch Out bringing back boxing in the best of Rocky fashion.

Then there’s Double Dragon Neon. Based on the sidescrolling beat-em-up classic, the game that birthed the whole genre in 1987, Neon is both a tribute and remake by Wayforward timed with the 25th anniversary of the original, rebooting the franchises while nodding to Technos’s legendary series of Double Dragon games releases over the years. Music has always been a memorable part of the long running series, and for Neon, none other than Jake Kaufman was put to the task of bringing all the classics back, and make a few of his own.

Find out if soundtrack matches up with its inspiration after the jump. (more…)
Game Music

5 Quick Questions: Double Dragon Neon (Jake Kaufman)

September 11, 2012 | Audun Sorlie | 2 Comments Share this

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