Pixelated Audio

The Adventures of Little Ralph, developed by NEW Corporation is a 2D platformer released only in Japan for the Sony Playstation on June of 1999. Like Ralph, there's a big game in this unassuming package. With its tight controls, engaging scoring mechanics, and a polished 1v1 fighting mini-game engine, this is one you're bound to keep coming back to. Composed by Hiroshi Kuronuma, Naoki Tsuchiya and...

Neural Gear, developed by Fill in Cafe and published by Cross Media Soft, is a 3rd person rail shooter (riding in the light of Space Harrier) released strictly for the Sharp X68000 on November of 1990. While the game doesn't win any awards in the visual department it makes up for it in audio. Composed by Keishi Yonao, Neural Gear features both a soundtrack designed for the OPM/OKI (FM/PCM) sound s...

SNK produced some of the best titles to grace the arcades but also covered the spectrum in genre and variety. Only twice in the company's history did they attempt to produce a wrestling game and Big Bang Pro Wrestling released in 2000 for the Neo Geo Pocket Color was out of this world. Taking lots of inspiration from the Fire Pro Wrestling series, the handheld quasi-adaptation delivers everything...

After a short break, we're back! Starting off 2018 with a new episode featuring the music of Tetris DS on the Nintendo DS. In 2006, Nintendo did classic puzzle enthusiasts a solid by not only chalking the game full their 8bit all-stars, but also producing a phenomenal Tetris title with loads of new content. Join in as we take a listen to some new arrangements of some well-loved tunes. Tetris DS, 2...

WonderBoy III: The Dragon’s Trap is a special game for a lot of people in a lot of ways. Today we will explore all the different paths to find its hidden gameplay and musical treasures. Much like the game, with its colorful cast of playable characters, we will not be alone on this journey of discovery. We are joined by the original composer Shinichi Sakamoto as well as Michael Geyre, Omar 'Bock' C...

Today's Expansion Pack tends to lean heavy on the Sharp X68000 (not planned) but that's not a bad thing. Some amazing tracks selected from the Pixelated Audio team for your listening pleasure. Be sure to let us know your thoughts about the music as well! Track List: 00:00:00 Victory is Imminent - Lord Monarch (FM Towns) Mieko Ishikawa, Atsushi Shirakawa, Masaaki Kawai 00:10:15 Premonition - Lagoon...

Pixelated Audio Music Disk Vol. 3 features the 7th and final music disk from GC-clusterz. Released in December of 1991, this compilation includes both arrangements of video game music AND original tunes made for the PC-8801 series of computers by NEC. Led by GEPPEL, this doujin group only lasted a year (as GC-clusterz) but produced a ton of music in that short span of time. Join in as we take a li...

Cuphead is the first game by the indie studio called StudioMDHR based in Canada, which was created by brothers Chad and Jared Moldenhauer. In development since 2010, Cuphead graced the gaming world only last month but is the first of its kind. Now, we've seen many action platformers and many boss-battle systems pop up before (no short supply here) but a beautiful art style that is reminiscent of c...

It's Halloween season and we're bringing out a soundtrack to one of the most terrifying adorable ghosts around (even makes your ghost emoji look scary). Yuurei-kun (aka Mr. Ghost) is a side-scrolling action game released for the MSX2 and higher compatible machines in 1989  both published and developed by System Sacom. While the soundtrack was written using simple PSG (3 voices), the late Manabu Sa...

In this installment we're exploring the soundtrack of an overlooked SNES Action-RPG released in 1994, titled: Brain Lord. It was developed by Produce! in conjunction with a sound group called Opus, and published by Enix for the Super Nintendo (or Super Famicom). Composed by Masanao Akahori, the game has a totally catchy soundtrack and some truly wonderful moments that were clearly inspired by 80's...

Riding on the heels of our last episode (MAGWest Panel), Gene co-hosts with us once again for a Sega Genesis/Mega Drive themed Expansion Pack. We've got a lot of great music and hopefully some new stuff that you might have missed! Check the site for track list! pixelatedaudio.com/89

MAGWest was the first West Coast MAGFest event in Santa Clara, California (August 25th-27th) and we were stoked to be invited to do a panel this year. The topic we landed on was the sound system of the Sega Genesis/Mega Drive and how the two sound chips (Sega PSG/YM2612) complemented each other for a rich audio experience. This year and had two guests join in on the talk. Well-known chiptune artis...

Heading back to the YM2608 for a look (and listen) at a game called Starfire for the  PC-9801. A system exclusive, 1st person action RPG, released on October 14th of 1994; developed and published by a small company called StarCraft Inc. It's an interesting game that, even though a Japanese only title, borrows heavily from Western games like "Might and Magic." More importantly, the music composed b...

The third Natsume NES/Famicom spotlight on the show features music from another strong composer. Dragon Fighter is a side scrolling action platformer, released for the Famicom in Japan in 1990, developed by Natsume and published by Towa Chiki. In 1992 the game was brought to the North American audience by a company called SOFEL Corp. Using the driver by Iku Mizutani, composer Kouichi Yamanishi del...

We're taking a break... Don't worry, just this week. :) In this episode, we got together for a bit to listen to how we started (episode 1) that was released just over 3 years ago now. We talk a little about the show, how we've changed, the way it's produced, and the other additions as well. If you were expecting a normal episode, we do apologize but hope that you join in this mini retrospective on...

In this installment of Pixelated Audio, we're heading back to the Game Boy featuring a soundtrack from a Japanese-only title called Uchuu no Kishi Tekkaman Blade, developed by Sun L and published by Yutaka in 1992. This game is based off the short lived anime by Tatsunoko Production and Sotsu Agency. The game is a blast and has a great soundtrack composed by Norihiko Togashi, who has contributed t...

BlaZeon is a horizontal shooter, developed by A.I Co and published by Atlus in 1992 for the arcade. Originally a Japanese only release, Atlus ported the game to the SNES for Japan AND the US shortly after (in the same year, 1992) The music (composed by Tsukasa Masuko) is totally pumpin' and deserves a listen. Join in as we dive into the soundtrack.

Lunar touched many gamer's hearts as it told the story of a young boy whose dreams of becoming a Dragonmaster begin to unfold. The game has remarkable storytelling (wether you love or hate the translation) mixed with adventure, love, and friendship that's a must-play for any RPG fan. But the key to any good RPG is the music. Noriyuki Iwadare's (岩垂徳行) composition brings out the emotional qualit...

The 90s were a particularly strong era for game audio on all fronts. The console market was thriving by creating a simpler way to play a game on the cheap, but the PC gaming scene continued to deliver unique experiences with many different hardware configurations. Guest, Gene Dreyband, joins us for a look at some 90s PC/AT music that rocked our world in this expansion pack. Track List: 0:00:00 The...

We are back with another Music Disk volume to satisfy the craving for more FM synth! Today we're featuring some select tunes from a disk title "Firecracker Music Collection vol. A: Comiket 42 Special" composed, arranged, and programmed entirely by CHEMOOL (Takahiro Yonemura). This disk was release for the PC-8801 on August 16th, 1992 and uses PMD v3.3 (by KAJA). Join us for some good ol' fashion d...

Arumana no Kiseki (The Miracle of Arumana) is a sidescrolling action game released by Konami in 1987 for the Famicom Disk System. The game bleeds Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. Seriously. Gameplay has similar bits and pieces from Castlevania and Bionic Commando but still sets itself apart as a nice little title. More importantly, the music is stellar and it's what we would expect from the 8...

Mitsume ga Tooru is a 2D side scrolling action platformer that was developed by Natsume and published by TOMY in Japan for the Famicom in 1992. It might not have made a western appearance, but what's not to love? The gameplay is simple, accessible, and challenging -but not in a frustrating 'rage-quit' way at all. Natsume packed tons of details into the game which gives it a very polished and total...

In this episode we have a healthy dose of video game music from a variety of different games, systems and composers. Join in as we discuss the music and explore the games in Expansion Pack 18. Track List: 0:00:00 B: The Prairie - Lucky Luke (GB/GBC) - Alberto José González 0:09:26 J: A Premonition - Styx - Ys III (X68k) - Mieko Ishikawa 0:13:31 B: Track 1 - Artist Tool (PCE) - Unknown 0:18:31 J: S...

Toaplan was one of the most well-loved developers in the shooter genre with a number of releases including Tiger-Heli, Twin Cobra, Hellfire, Truxton, and Zero Wing. In 1990, they released a different style of shooter called Out Zone which and is one of the most significant departures from the company’s catalog but still retains all the excitement, difficulty, and attention to detail. Join us as we...

Back with another selection of semi-random VGM tracks from a number of different systems. We've been a bit overdue for an Expansion Pack so listen in, join the fun, brush that 3D horse hair, and let us know what you think of the tunes. Track List: 0:00:00 J Pick: Ultima - Dragon Saber (Arc) Shinji Hosoe 0:08:49 B Pick: BGM #5 - Wonder Classic (WSC) T. Fujitani 0:15:35 J Pick: Highly Responsive to...