CD Arrangements - The good and the bad

[esteban]

Shadow of the Beast -- You folks covered it. Brilliant! I had played the Genesis cart a lot. I played the Amiga version when it was being demo'd in a local store. That was a blast!

Super Raiden -- The original arcade/pce version has a simple, catchy chiptune soundtrack (the songs looped too quickly, sadly). It was decent; I liked it. Anyway, the symphonic beauty of the the CD's Red Book really got me pumped and excited. I suppose it "breathed new life" into chiptunes that I had heard thousands of times. I don't know if anyone here appreciates the Super Raiden Red Book as much as I do, though.   It's not something I would foist upon others, unless they were a huge fan of Raiden's music, already.

Todd's Adventures in Slime World -- I played the Lynx version. The Red Book adds a whole new level of crazy. Most are goofy, but I still like them (guilty pleasure): witness the record scratching and vocal samples in (http://junk.tg-16.com/audio/Slime_World/Slime_World_06.mp3
to my favorite track:
http://junk.tg-16.com/audio/Slime_World/Slime_World_04.mp3
If you know me, you'll recognize that "Worthy of being in Valis II" is the highest praise I can place on a tune.   This single track elevates Slime World out of the muck and the mire. TRUTH.

Note: the entire soundtrack is available, just change the file name in the URL from "_04" to "_01" through "_07" for all 7 tracks.

[sunteam_paul]

Super Raiden music rocks. It has a similar feel to Hellfire, which also manages significant rockage.

[saintfu]

Shadow of the Beast - The arrangement is awesome, especially the first forest BGM, I like the use of drums.

Hellfire S - Well, most of the arrangement from T's music were awesome, including this "HellfireS", especially the title, the first stage and the second stage.

Monster Lair - also a very good arrangement, far beyond the arcade FM version.

Super Darius II - I like the Arcade FM version, but the SCD arrangement is better, the recording is also need to be mentioned.

Forgotten Worlds - I like the new arrangements, except the 3rd stage, because the use of the electric guitar for the melody is not so appropriate for the fantastic game. I will give Arcade/Genesis FM version higher score.

Fighting street - Again, the arrangement is far beyond the FM version, the most favorite tune for this game is England stage.

Strider - Actually, I got disappointed with this arrangement, some tunes were missing, and the use of the synthesis instruments were not so good. I prefer the Arcade/Genesis FM version, especially the first stage "RAID", FM version got more Slavonic feeling.

Art of fighting - I have all the arcade card fighting games, but I think the CD version of those fighting games were too crystal clear, the Arcade version has more dirty and bass sound, which is more suitable for the fighting game.

SNATCHER - Although some of the tunes were made of PSG, the CD arrangements were awesome, when I first time heard this RSS recording soundtrack 20 years ago, it's really shock me.

[sunteam_paul]

Super Darius II - I like the Arcade FM version, but the SCD arrangement is better, the recording is also need to be mentioned.

Yes! I've been sorting out a music video for my site recently and there are 2 or 3 tracks that have suddenly become some of my favourite PCE CD music.

[esteban]

Some of it is avant-garde, that music in Super Darius II.

[ddd1234]

Dungeon Explorer 2-The remixes of the chip tunes blew me away.

[Necromancer]

I'm digging the funky groove of Slime World's tunes, so thanks for sharing esteban.  It's just too bad the game is so tedious.

[esteban]

I'm digging the funky groove of Slime World's tunes, so thanks for sharing esteban.  It's just too bad the game is so tedious.

The game stinks, even for the Lynx, where I gave much more attention than it warranted simply because I was starved for games.

But, I will never grow tired of the "serious sound" in the PCE Red Book for Slime World.

Did anyone mention Double Dragon II yet? And my fetish for 2-4 particular PCE Red Book tracks? Or that the chiptunes in the NES version are hard to top?

[spenoza]

Downtown Nekketsu Monogatari
I think I actually prefer the NES music. Bad synth guitar does nothing for me. In fact, the later GBA version of this game has good remixed tracks as well.

Ys III
I'm surprised it took so long for this to get mentioned (by BT). I actually like the tracks in this game better than the ones in Ys 1 & 2. I think some of the Ys 1 & 2 tracks are fundamentally better composed, but I really like some of the CD renditions of Ys III. That said, I also really loved some of the SNES renditions. I have to say that I'm spoiled where the SNES is concerned, though. Actraiser was one of the first games I played so even otherwise awesome sounding SNES games were less impressive to me when compared to Actraiser. It's too bad Yuzo Koshiro didn't compose anything specifically for the PCE like he did with the Mega Drive and SFC.

[esteban]

Ys III
I'm surprised it took so long for this to get mentioned (by BT). I actually like the tracks in this game better than the ones in Ys 1 & 2. I think some of the Ys 1 & 2 tracks are fundamentally better composed, but I really like some of the CD renditions of Ys III. That said, I also really loved some of the SNES renditions. I have to say that I'm spoiled where the SNES is concerned, though. Actraiser was one of the first games I played so even otherwise awesome sounding SNES games were less impressive to me when compared to Actraiser. It's too bad Yuzo Koshiro didn't compose anything specifically for the PCE like he did with the Mega Drive and SFC.

A lot of folks say that they really dig Ys III more than Ys I & II, but I staunchly defend Ys I & II as the superior. That's not to say that I don't love Ys III (I do, it is brilliant), but, for my personal tastes, not only does Ys I & II simply offer a greater range of beauty, it has a greater number of "superior" tunes.

Truly, it is a matter of personal taste.

So, I should at least throw out some appreciation for the SMS Ys I soundtrack: it's no slouch.

[ddd1234]

The music in Ys IV is the best IMO!

[esteban]

The music in Ys IV is the best IMO!

Blasphemy.