Auricular Discovery

Can’t say I’ve ever enjoyed a Contra game quite the way I did the original, but props to Konami for not abandoning or abusing the series like some other developers would have. I guess I just really struggle to play these games with 3D graphics, even when they use fixed 2D perspectives. At least I can still enjoy the music. Shattered Soldier (Shin Contra in Japan) has the best soundtrack since Super C on the NES. The quality of the metal here is pretty outstanding, while the rest of the tracks are some very heavy sci-fi techno, with a little Blade Runner vibe thrown in. And yes, this is Akira Yamoaka, the Silent Hill guy. This track alone proves that his recent departure from the survival horror series should give him the much needed freedom to excel in totally different styles. Seven SH scores was enough. We don’t want him getting burnt out.

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Easily one of the best JRPGs of all time. Why is Grandia 2 so great? Well, what can I say? It polishes the genre mechanics to perfection, while having the balls to ditch or replace the aspects that often fail. No random encounters. A turn based combat system that moves like a real-time one. A phenomenal soundtrack that makes full use of streamed audio instead of sequencing. A perfect frame rate. A high contrast story that can handle cute, upbeat moments and dark, mature, tragic scenes while treating you like a mature adult. An English dub that includes much of the Metal Gear Solid cast is the cherry on top. While it doesn’t reinvent anything, it administered a much needed evaluation of the JRPG. Even if you absolutely hate the genre to a borderline racist degree, give this one a shot. But, for your own sake, stick with the Dreamcast version. The PS2 got the laziest port imaginable.

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I’m always surprised at how many people remember this one. I think Jumping Flash was just the right kind of game at the right time. I really don’t know why this game was so quickly thrown aside. Maybe you could blame the massive advancements PS1 graphics were making from 1995-1997. I know the models were blocky and textures were dull, but there was a lot of atmosphere here that made up for it. Absolutely huge stages with creative designs were a blast to progress through. The game took place entirely from within Robbit’s perspective, complete with visor shaped screen and GUI with visual damage indications that games like Metroid Prime would later make use of. You could even see your feet as you pounced! Unfortunately the sequel was pretty uninspired, and there was a 3rd spin-off title in Japan exclusively, but reviews indicate that it’s worth no one’s time. World 6-3 is the final boss theme, and especially rocks. Feel free to download the entire rip from my other site.

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Ok, so Machinae Supremacy isn’t exactly obscure, but it’s surprising how overlooked they are in the remix scene, given their history. Not only have they arranged some game music in the past, (see here for the games that the three Sidology tracks source from), but they’re one of the only groups to incorporate a legitimate piece of gaming hardware (the Commodore 64 sound chip) as an instrument and achieve this level of popularity. While some complain that their more recent albums have toned down the SID sound, with hits like Edge and Pearl, I still respect them for their original efforts. And hey, they actually did give us a little Bionic Commando mix a while back, available from their download page for free, along with tons of other stuff. A pretty outstanding band site overall.

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Finished Trine this week. It’s not often we get a 2.5D sidescroller, so I had to check it out. I really don’t have a whole lot to say about it. You’ll have some fun for the first hour dealing with physics-based puzzles but before you know it, you’ll find that there’s little motivation to solve anything  in the intended complex ways. The game leaves itself quite open to exploiting certain elements. For example, anytime there was something out of reach, I would just conjure a plate in mid air with the Wizard and double jump off of it before it fell. I didn’t have the patience to do things carefully, especially when health is plentiful and dying has no real punishment. I also never have any interest in Tolkien-type fantasy, so I skipped past the narration. At least the score was top notch. Crystal Caverns is a really tranquil piece that stuck with me.

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I’ll try not to repeat what hundreds of blogs have stated but the short of it is, this game was amazing, yet it sold terribly. You need to acquire it by any means necessary. A lot of the blame can be placed on UbiSoft for not marketing it worth a shit, and also for releasing it in November, the most competitive month for game releases. There have been a couple videos hinting at a sequel, but if you’ve followed the roller-coaster of announcements and denouncements, you’d believe that nothing is set in stone. Even if we do get a sequel, I’m not sure it will be what we want. I’m sure UbiSoft will be making some massive changes to the formula. From a business point of view, the product didn’t sell, therefor something must be wrong with it, and needs “fixing”. I’ve seen a lot of fans clamoring for more Jade, but I’m placing my coin on pessimism this time.

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I’m not the biggest fan of Xenogears. It’s definitely got some rough edges, and the 2nd half is a complete cluster-fuck of a story, but praise must be given for it’s complex and mature tale. I can totally understand the people who can’t tolerate the endless hours of text it forces you to read, but I still must insist you all give the soundtrack a listen. Without question, it’s Mitsuda’s masterpiece, and that’s saying something considering how often people label him (nerd bias aside) one of the finest composers in history. Creid was an official arrangement album released a couple months after the Japanese launch of the game. The recording quality and production value were absolutely stellar for the time. Arrangement albums typically didn’t get this level of effort back then, and even today, I’ve only honestly come across half a dozen that follow suit.

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This was probably the first Playstation title that made me second guess my choice to go with the Saturn. Many, many weekends were spent in the deathmatch mode with a friend. The series has definitely seen better days. The first launched strong, the 2nd perfected the formula, but everything after that point went downhill. The series traded hands here and there, and in the process, it lost a lot of it’s identity. The sequels were lacking in metal, too wacky, too drab, or the gameplay just wasn’t there. In some cases, it was all of the above. What’s even stranger is that the composer for TM1 and TM2 seems to have absolutely no other music credits to his name. Know that there are rumblings of a new sequel/reboot, but I’m keeping my expectations in check.

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Hard to believe, but Iji was likely my GOTY for 2008. I don’t know why it is, but I was really moved by this little freeware title. I think I have a thing for sympathetic female cyborg ass-kickers. I went so far as to conduct an interview with the surprisingly modest developer. The composer has since started up his own little company here, and it looks like he’s had some new jobs since. The track I’m sharing is actually a fan-remix of the end boss theme found on youtube. It’s unfortunate that the majority of the game’s score was in mono sound. Chris said there’s no fixing that, as that’s just how it was sequenced together, and he also lost the project files in a crash at some point. Final note: You can find my own playthroughs of the boss battles here.

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Another album I bought recently. CDBaby had it for $8. Zeno Clash was one of the most recent third-party Source engine games. Aside from the perplexing visual design, the main selling point was the first-person melee combat. While not flawless, it certainly conquers all other attempts I can think of, except for Dark Messiah of Might and Magic. Many people griped about the voice acting, but for what it was, I enjoyed it. It’s a bit of a dry script, but they probably figured they could either do a B-movie style dubbing, or try to go authentic and have everyone speak in some kind of false language to suit the setting. Maybe something like an outback accented version of Simlish.

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