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Welcome to GamesRadar's daily blast of all things pertaining to the ever-growing field of game music. Each post will introduce new sounds, games, composers and fan-made remixes of gaming's greatest aural achievements.
April 23, 2010
Game: Blaster Master
Song: Final Boss
Composer: Marumo, Kodaka and Hara
Above: Area 7 from Blaster Master
Just about everyone who was playing games in the ‘80s has a soft spot for Blaster Master. Its impossibly strange story, about a boy who follows his pet frog through a tunnel that leads to a radioactive fantasy land, turned heads even in the nonsensical NES days. Once the game begins you’re dropped in a cannon-mounted ATV that can jump, walk on walls and eventually fly, making even the playable character a unique departure from heroes like Mario, Link and Samus. But 22 years after its release, it’s the melodic, energetic music that lives on without a hint of aging.
Given the game’s steep difficulty, most of us never made it to the final boss (or even Area 7, which plays the same song). Shame, because this is a fantastic showcase of how close NES music can come to the freakish speed of thrash metal. I listen to a (sex)load of NES music and can’t recall another song that has such a furious pedal beat. Definitely great music to hear while you’re tossing grenades down the last guy’s throat.
Above you’ll find the ending music, which we actually used to close out one of our podcasts a year or so ago. As far as I’m concerned it’s among the best NES ending songs, which is a rewarding sub-sub-genre of music to explore if you’re really digging these daily game music updates A good NES ending needs to sound celebratory, but maybe just a tad melancholy because the adventure is now over. Like, truly over, because most NES games didn’t have an incentive to beat them again.
It’s also a nice song to end out the week. Cue it up, look forward to your weekend and check back Monday for another entry.
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Epic shredfests by Miyashita
Game music of the day: Bionic Commando
Main theme by Fujita and Tamiya
Game music of the day: seven amazing cover bands
The Advantage, Black Mages and more
8bitBaby - July 2, 2010 12:22 a.m.