It’s refreshing to see more obscure video games from the bygone era of the Commodore 64 getting recognition almost 30 years after their hey-day. Much like the Symphonic Shades concert held back in 2008 celebrating the music of Amiga-era composer Chris Huelsbeck (Turrican II, Great Giana Sisters), a new concert series in June will be honoring his work on a lesser-known C64 game Huelbeck worked on called Katakis.
A side-scrolling shmup that release on the Commodore 64 in 1988, and was later re-released on the Commodore Amiga, Katakis (also called Denaris when re-released) is a simple space-fiction story that features the same mechanics as another Huelsbeck-composed game, R-Type. (Which almost got the game into some trouble with Activision.) It also sports a multiplayer mode and featured 12 levels of play. Now it’s getting tribute in the orchestral realm this summer.
I am very excited and honored to announce that, as part of the Symphonic Selections concert at the gorgeous Konzerthaus Dortmund on June 11th, the Dortmunder Philharmoniker will be presenting a world premiere performance of my music from Katakis in what will be an incredible evening of video game themes.
I’m doubly pleased that the arranger of the piece is Andreas Hedlund, who was also responsible for the fan favorite tracks Techno Dungeon and Air Combat on my recent Kickstarter album Turrican – Orchestral Selections, and I can promise you that the quality is amazing. I love what Andreas has done and I can’t wait for you to hear it too. – Chris Huelsbeck
Katakis may not be one of Huelbeck’s more well-known games, but it does feature more of his style used in other games and, as I said, it’s nice to see obscure game music be given some spotlight.
Tickets for Symphonic Selections – Video Game Music in Concert, which also features music from Final Fantasy and Secret of Mana are available now.
