Pre-Order

Doujin, Game Music

Date Locked ‘n Ready: Contra 4 Rocked n’ Loaded Pre-Order Opens!

December 16, 2009 | Audun Sorlie | 1 Comment Share this

After two years of the manliest sweating, bleeding and tear-shed you can imagine, the CD is finally here! You might have read our ongoing production roundtable concerning this project, giving you an interesting insight into all the hard work that has goes into planning and producing projects like these, and if you haven’t, well, you have some catching up to do!

The release date is January 1st, at MAGFest, a gaming convention in Virginia that Original Sound Version will be attending. Jake Kaufman, the composer of Contra 4 is featured on the CD arranging his own work and many of the very best artists in the game arrangement community appear on the album and rock out your favorite Contra 4 tunes, and some old favorites as well. The CD will be $12 USD for North America and $18 USD international shipping included.

So come get some at Rocked ‘n Loaded and check back on Saturday for the next production roundtable!
Game Music

Putting Some Shine On Toushinden Wii: DVD Pre-Order Bonus

November 19, 2009 | Audun Sorlie | 1 Comment Share this

Remember Toushinden? It was one of the launch titles on PlayStation back in 1995 under the name Battle Arena Toshinden. The game was quite awesome in my opinion, as I always enjoyed fighters and took a special liking to ones that didn’t immediately fall into the Street Fighter II clone pit. The music was great too, done by Yasuhiro Nakano with some assistance from Makoto Mukai. Toushinden was followed by numerous sequels for PSX and Game Boy, and even got the anime treatment from Masami Oubari, the man who was also behind the Fatal Fury and Voltage Fighter Gowcaizer animes. The series eventually faded at the dawn of the PS2 release, and nothing has been heard since.

Until now that is! Takaratomy have announced they are reviving the series on the Wii, and have released some promotional videos to showcase the game, which can be compared to Castlevania Judgment. They also announced that pre-orders will come with a limited edition DVD, containing a making-of, character profiles, artwork, voice actor interviews and the complete soundtrack! As of now the composer is not known, and it is unclear if they are bringing back Yasuhiro Nakano to score the game, but I wouldn’t hold my breath on the chance of that happening. Takaratomy have however revealed they are using the voice actor group AKB48 with talent like Sato Amina and Yui Matsushita. Another male voice actor who has been confirmed is Hikari Midorikawa, a well known voice actor fondly remembered by fans as Heero Yui in Gundam Wing. The game is out on December 10th.

What do you think of Toushinden returning?
Game Music, Reviews

Welcome Back to the Stage of Destiny: Best of Soul Calibur Soundtrack (Review)

September 28, 2009 | Jayson Napolitano | 1 Comment Share this

I’ve always been a huge fan of the music from the Soul Calibur series despite never really getting into the game aside from the amazing arcade title, Soul Edge (Siegfried is my character, by the way). Well, with the recent release of Soul Calibur Broken Destiny for the PSP, Namco Bandai has surprised fans by including a little CD tucked away in the back sleeve of the “Art of Soul Calibur Broken Destiny” booklet that was included as a pre-order bonus for the game.

“Best of” is a big title, so you’re likely wondering what’s on it. Well, there are 25 tracks, 10 of which are from Broken Destiny, of the rest of which are distributed evenly with three tracks each from Soul Edge, Soul Calibur, Soul Calibur II, Soul Calibur III, and Soul Calibur IV. It’s really a great collection, and amazing how well all the music fits together despite the age and number of titles between them.

Find out the details in our review of the CD after the jump. (more…)
Game Music

Bone Chilling Bonus: Silent Hill: Shattered Memories Pre-Order Soundtrack

September 14, 2009 | Audun Sorlie | 3 Comments Share this

Silent Hill, a series with a massive fan following, has always been noted for it’s excellent use of audio, from the creepy sound effects, to the vocal themes tied to the game. With the re-imagining of first title, titled Silent Hill: Shattered Memories being right around the corner, there’s alot to be excited about for the common Silent Hill fan. Especially with the confirmation that Akira Yamaoka is back to compose the game as noted in the interview we had with SHSM producer Tomm Huelett at E3 2009.

So how can you sweeten the deal further? Well, turns out if you pre-order the game today, you will receive the Silent Hill: Shattered Memories Soundtrack! The CD is expected to contain new composed music along with some arrangements of older material. Make sure to put a pre-order in now as the game is set to launch November 3, 2009.

What’s your thoughts on the direction they are going for with the game, and do you think Yamaoka’s work will be as good as the earlier titles? Let us know!
Game Music

Metroid Metal: Varia Suite is Almost Ready to Suck Away Your Money

August 17, 2009 | Audun Sorlie | 5 Comments Share this

It’s almost here, the Metroid Metal studio album is right around the corner! Grant Henry, AKA Stemage is well known for his work on Metroid Metal where he has arranged the full soundtracks for Metroid, Metroid 2 and Super Metroid into pure metal glory, and has gone on to start arranging the music from the Prime series. Last year, he put together a live band consisting of Dan Taylor, Dan Behrens, Mike Molnar and Kevin Lawrence for an amazing performance at MAGFest 7 and also to record the long awaited Metroid Metal studio album! The release date is September 8, 2009, so get your wallets ready and be prepared for what might be the best game arrangement CD of 2009. They posted a preview on YouTube for everyone to enjoy.

You can also catch Metroid Metal live at PAX at September 4th, and pre-order their CD here. Be sure to watch for our review of the album soon!

Do you feel the Metroid spirit is retained in the metal style? And is there any other game you would like to see get similar treatment?
Game Music

A Bad Production Worth Getting: CHRONOTORIOUS Revealed

August 3, 2009 | Audun Sorlie | 5 Comments Share this

Mustin and the Bad Dudes have finally revealed the details on their upcoming project, CHRONOTORIOUS! With big names onboard like Mustin, Danimal Cannon, Ailsean and even OSV’s Tim Sheehy and our own little punching bag, Dhsu, you can be sure this will be an album to look out for! They are planning on pressing a limited number of CDs, which will contain 5 extra bonus track, and as a pre-order bonus, you get a poster as well. If the prototype CD artwork above is any indication, this should be a nice bonus. An iTunes release will follow a few weeks later, though without the 5 bonus tracks.

Bad Dudes released Castlevania: Symphony of the Night – Resurrection last year, with a varied style of music, and this release seems to follow in the same spirit. Personally I am very excited for the Bladiator piano track and the ever so awesome Ailsean doing “Frog’s Theme.”

The CD will be released August 18th, so mark your calendars! You can check out the samples for each track over at the Bad Dudes website.
Game Music

More Atlus Bonus CDs? Knights in the Nightmare and The Dark Spire!

March 5, 2009 | Jayson Napolitano | 1 Comment Share this

Yeah, Atlus has you covered once again. While I’ll admit I don’t know much about Knights in the Nightmares, I am very much excited about the oldschool dungeon crawler, The Dark Spire. Even more, the music, composed by Kenichi Arakawa, is looking to sound quite amazing. It seriously sounds like a hybrid between Castlevania and Ninja Gaiden.

If you’re unaware, the game will feature both a “modern” and “classic” mode, each with its own distinct visual and audio style. I highly recommend checking out the soundtrack samples that Atlus has provided to hear what you’re missing. This is the Atlus CD not to miss!

For those who are looking to hear even more, Success released a 2-disc soundtrack for the game back in September in Japan. I may consider picking this up… after I pick up The Dark Spire here in the States.

Have you been looking forward to The Dark Spire? Do you think the samples are “classic” enough?