4/30/2023 0 Comments Gradius 2 soundtrack![]() ![]() This series contains remixed music from the Salamander and Gradius 2 games to fit with the theme of the series. What about other media that use vgm, such as the soundtrack to a film or tv show based on a game? For this example, we have the Salamander OVA(1988-9), a three-part anime loosely based on Gradius 2: Gofer’s Ambition (1988). So far, we’ve looked at original and licensed music used in games as well as music about games. She was one of Konami’s first composers Read the rest of this entry ? Miki Higashino, who also composed the Salamander arcade soundtrack (as well as Gensousuikoden), is the composer of the Gradius soundtrack (done while freelancing as a part-time worker). “1st Stage” was remixed in Gradius Perfect Selection as “Challenger 1985“, a wonderfully groovy rock piece with a slick guitar and brazen synth trumpets. A cleaner copy can be heard in the Gradius Arcade Soundtrack(2002), which compiles music from all four arcade games. The B side of the album also had gameplay recordings – game music arrangers weren’t quite sure at this time what the best way of putting game soundtracks onto an album would be. The Gradius arcade soundtrack was first released on cassette in 1987 and featured musical scores as inserts. ![]() It is vgm at its earliest and purest form. Indeed, what she chose was a good fit (though a couple of the mid-stage themes I don’t find terribly fun). In an interview with Yasunori Mitsuda (conducted while collaborating on Ten Plants), Higashino states, “I tried to create songs that would stimulate the listener’s ears and send out pleasant pulses to their shooter-brains.” This philosophy was based on what the player’s experience would be during the game, and changed depending on the type of game as well as the stage within it. The music instills joy and confidence in the player, moving the game pleasantly forward – it is, in short, the idealized thrill and freedom of cartoon combat flight. The note range reflects the maneuvering of Vic Viper, notes rising and falling with the ship. The song is very short, with only an A and B section. ![]() “1st Stage” is pleasing to the ears with the long notes in major scale that we’ve come to identify with memorable vgm. The soundtrack was composed by Miki Higashino.Ĩ-Bit Mondays: Gradius – “1st Stage” (Miki Higashino) That said, Gradius makes full use of those four minutes to create several impressive and memorable tracks, my pick of which is the “1st Stage” theme. Released in 1985, the arcade Gradius featured pleasant music with loops averaging about 30 seconds each – one of which, the “ Boss” theme, is still used today! Seven stages plus boss battles means that there was a little over 4 minutes of music total (not including the “Morning Music”). Gradius is one of the longest-running soundtracks still in use today (incidentally, predating Super Mario Bros. New artwork created by Ian Wilding ( ).After months of technically having posts a day late (I usually post after 10 PM), I decided to skip ahead and do the 8-Bit Mondays on Sunday night so they would, in fact, be available on Mondays. Included with the album is a double sided insert, with one side featuring a close up of Ian Wilding's cover artwork and the other side featuring liner notes from Retronauts' Jeremy Parish. Faster and more driving than the Famicom version, GRADIUS 2 remians an absolute treat for VGM and retro synth fans. Containing deep, humming synth lines that are more in line with the Konami Kukeiha Club's arcade output. Only released in Japan (and in Europe as NEMESIS 2), this version of the soundtrack is a completely different beast than the Famicom counterpart. The B-Side contains the lesser known soundtrack to the spin-off GRADIUS 2 for the MSX computer. ![]() Where the original game's soundtrack was a high watermark in the early days of video game music, GRADIUS II pushes the Nintendo Entertainment System's humble audio chip to its limits, creating memorable, improvosition based tracks that listeners will be humming long after the record stops spinning. The A-Side of this record contains the original soundtrack to the Famicom/NES version of GRADIUS II. Further developing the sound of GRADIUS, Part II continues with the hard driving sound that the Konami Kukeiha Club became world famous for. is proud to present, for the first time on vinyl, the soundtrack to Konami's classic shoot-em-up GRADIUS II. ![]()
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