Game Soundtracks For Your Soul: Level Seven

Metal Warriors was a game that came late in the Super Nintendo’s console lifetime. It was a game my brother rented from our local video store and I am still happy today he made that choice.  We both fell in love with the game for its multi-player vs battles. The game featured 6 unique mech units, and gave you the ability to eject and if you were fast enough get into another functional or damaged mech and kept the battle going.  Some play sessions could go for several minutes and sometimes result in ridiculous explosive tie games.

The music for the game was composed by Eric Swanson ^[3] and the sound design was handled by David Warhol ^[4]. From what I have read online the sound designer had a method of importing midi files directly into the snes audio environment.  The music in the game was never released but is available on YouTube ^[5] thanks to user SnesOST. My favorite pieces are the songs that played during vs battles. “Vital Mission” ^[6] has a solid guitar melody and drum beat, and what sounds like flute or high pitched guitar solo that repeats though the track.  “Stealth Operation” ^[6] has a wicked base track, and the flute or high guitar returns for some awesome soloing.  But my favorite track has to be “The Enemy Commander” ^[7] which suits versus-play perfectly and had a rapid pace.  I could never get far in the single player campaign so I’m assuming it was a boss track.

The tracks use a lot of wild bass riffs, rapid guitar and some unique sounding synth strings that brought an intensity to the gamplay. If you have never had the pleasure of playing the game take this opportunity to enjoy it’s excellent music.

^[8]

Chip and Dale Rescue Rangers was (after  TMNT II: The Arcade Game,  and Bigfoot) where my brother and I spent most of our NES multi-player hours.

The music in the game was composed by Harumi Fujita ^[9] who composed the music for Strider, and the “Needleman Theme” for Megaman III.   In the vein of several other Capcom titles her compositions for this game are forever stuck in my head.   The soundtrack ^[10] has been uploaded to YouTube by user Wiiguy309 and the first level track “Zone 0” ^[11] has a silly lighthearted melody that you can’t get tired of, and enhances the “Boss Battle” ^[12] once you hear it for the first time.  The music that plays during the end of each level “Bonus Round” also has a perfect pacing giving the players the sense of urgency to try and collect items before the time runs out.  The final level in the game “Zone J” ^[13] is an NES sonic masterpiece which has a darker tone than the other game tracks with a crystalline layered melody.  The whole soundtrack can be heard in just over 10 minutes, so if you’ve never heard it experience it for yourself.

This music is a part of me and a game score I will always treasure because it took up so many hours of playtime.

Have you had an epic battle in Metal Warriors or defeated Fat Cat and his goons in Chip and Dale Rescue Rangers?