Substance TV

The hype machine for Sonic 4 was launched into a frenzy with the release of that infamous trailer. Since then, there has been much joy and much butt hurt. Digging through the interwebs, I stumbled upon the music for the level “Splash Hill Zone – Act 1″. I thought it was decent, but it didn’t impress me all that much. Take a listen for yourself and see what you think.

And would you believe it, but there are already remixes of this song. I knew I may be exposing my ears to some awful music. Try as I may, I couldn’t resist. I must say, I’m glad I went on this little musical adventure. A remixer (I guess that’s what you call them) by the name of geckoyamori posted a remix of this song but with a decidedly Sega Genesis flair to it. The arrangement and sound is leaps and bounds above the original. Just listen.

That is some seriously amazing stuff right there. He also has some amazing remixes of other songs from Mega Man and even a reinterpretation of Super Metroid with a Sega Genesis vibe.

geckoyamori’s 8 bit collective page
geckoyamori’s Youtube page

I know, some of you are saying, “What in tarnations is OGNS?”. Well it stands for “Old Games New Sound”, the series previously covered here on the site. For those of you who haven’t checked this out, it’s a show that takes old games and takes all the audio out and inserts new music and sound effects. This episode he has taken on the classic shoot em up (or shmup) Life Force for the NES. So I’ll dispense with the small talk and let the video do it’s thing. Enjoy!

I’ve been playing bass for around 15 years now, and one of my favorite types of music to play is funk. Specifically, the funk slap bass. But even before I plucked my first note, I dug the slap bass. Sure, I could give you a laundry list of who’s who in bass guitar (Victor Wooten FTW!), but not even they were my first exposure to the stylings of slap bass. No, no, no, that honor would go to Galaxy Force and Galaxy Force II.

I can still vividly remember walking into the Aladdin’s Castle at Towne East mall and beholding the visage of the beast that was the full Galaxy Force arcade machine. This was no mear cabinet mind you, it was a twisting, rolling, spinning machine that responded to your every move. But that wasn’t the half of it. Though I was blown away by the amazing graphic, controls, and overall experience, the music caught my attention from the first note. What was this funky beat I was hearing? This melodic bass running through these melodies. Something about that bass just stuck in my head. Even years later, I can still hear those riffs grooving in my brain.

Of course, as a bass player and lover of all things video games, I have learned my share of video game songs. But as I was strolling through YouTube land, a video caught my eye. It was of a faceless man playing bass accompanied by the original arcade soundtrack of Galaxy Force II. Even though many of you haven’t the faintest idea what Galaxy Force II is, I find it amazing. Alright, I’ll stop geeking out and show you the video. Enjoy!

From time to time, Erik and I have a few side projects we enjoy doing. One of Erik’s newest projects is “Old games, new sound”. The title pretty much sums it all up. He takes footage from an older video game, mainly those without the capability of CD sound, and completely strips the sound from the original and replaces it entirely.

Think of it as a re imaging of the games you love, but with a small upgrade in the sound department. The first episode featured the much beloved Shinobi 3. This time he’s back with another third. Castlevania 3 to be exact. As always, I am extremely impressed with the quality and painstaking detail this project demanded. Only this time it’s an entire level! Just hearing and seeing this all come together makes me wish this could be a reality is some form.

The music is from Shadow of the Colossus, Castlevania: Curse of Darkness, Castlevania Chronicles and Final Fantasy Advent Children. All sound effects and speech is completely original.

So, without further ado, enjoy!

P.S. A high quality version of this will be available for download in the weeks to come.