05 June 2013

Episode 136: 1998

The year 1998 is the topic of Episode 136.  The Game Boy was going real strong during this time, the only console that was significantly active during the 16-bit era (which was reaching it's end).  There were a few titles coming out for other systems, but this episode ends up being almost entirely a Game Boy focus.  Brent and Rob pick tracks from games released in 1998 and talk about other things going on in the world that year.  Brent also meets a new friend.  Full track listing below.




Game - Composer - Song - Company - Console - Year (North American release unless otherwise indicated)

Oddworld Adventures - Eric Nunamaker - Paramonian Temple - Saffire/GT Interactive - Game Boy - 1998

Famicom Tantei Club Part II: Ushiro ni Tatsu - Kenji Yamamoto - Reasoning 1 - Nintendo/TOSE - Super Famicom - 1998

Wario Land II - Kozue Ishikawa - Underwater Tunnels - Nintendo - Game Boy - 1998

Gyogun Tanchiki: Pocket Sonar - unknown - gameplay - Bandai - Game Boy (Japan) - 1998

Bomberman GB - Yasuhiko Fukuda - Monster Trial (World 1) - AI/Nintendo - Game Boy - 1998

Monster*Race - Kennosuke Suemura - Wild Monster Race - Koei - Game Boy (Japan) - 1998

Bust-A-Move 3 DX - Norihiro Furukawa, Andy Brock (arr.) - Final Round - Taito/Probe/Acclaim - Game Boy (Europe) - 1998

Rockman and Forte - Akari Kaida - Groundman - Capcom - Super Famicom - 1998

Harvest Moon GB - Tsuyoshi Tanaka, Youjirou Okino (arr.) - Party - TOSE/Natsume - Game Boy - 1998

International Superstar Soccer - unknown - Title Screen - Konami - Game Boy - 1998

Pocket Monsters Pikachu - Junichi Masuda - Cinnabar Island - Game Freak/Nintendo - Game Boy (Japan) - 1998

Mini Yonku GB: Let's & Go!! All-Star Battle Max - Toshiyuki Ueno - New York Map - ASCII/Jupiter Multimedia - Game Boy (Japan) - 1998

Game Boy Camera - Hirokazu Tanaka, Minako Hamano, Kentaro Nishimura - Credits - Nintendo - Game Boy - 1998

Wario Land II - Kozue Ishikawa - Lost in the Ruins - Nintendo - Game Boy - 1998

Nectaris GB - Jun Chikuma - Opening - Hudson Soft - Game Boy (Japan) - 1998

18 comments:

  1. "It's like a ii-V situation"

    LMH record for fewest users understanding what you just said ;)

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  2. Fun fact about the Game Boy Camera track: It's sort of an extended arrangement of the file select theme from Earthbound - which Hirokazu Tanaka originally composed!

    I still have my Game Boy Camera somewhere, I loved that thing back in the day... but I probably haven't touched it since 1998...

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    1. Actually, it's originally from Mother during the Twinkle Elementary School, and then was remixed for Earthbound. But there are newly composed sections for the version on Game Boy Camera. Most likely, the new sections were by Tanaka as well, but it's possible Minako Himano did them (and maybe even Kentaro Nishimura), so those two composers are listed in addition to Tanaka.

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    2. I... I think I just got SONNED! I forgot about the Twinkle Elementary School theme. I'm not as familiar with Mother as I am with Earthbound. Any version of this tune is awesome, though!

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  3. Thanks for the shoutout! It works because I'm a junior in real life too hah I'll try to come correct when I feel like I'm going to correct somebody from now on.

    I had totally forgotten that I owned Bomberman GB but when that track came on it was a blast from the past. Awesomely composed too

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  4. Bomberman GB was released in North America as Wario Blast: Featuring Bomberman! You can find the song you played here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LChAJf3yLXQ I remember playing this game as a kid!

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    1. Actually, Bomberman GB in Japan was released in North America as Wario Blast: Featuring Bomberman!, but Bomberman GB 2 in Japan was released in North America as Bomberman GB, and that was the game Rob played the track from (even though, that track appears in the earlier game). Same thing with the Bust-A-Move 3 DX track, that one originally appears in Bust-A-Move 2. It's a little confusing that Bomberman GB (North America) is the sequel to Bomberman GB (Japan). Kind of like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Japan) being the sequel to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (North America).

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    2. Confusing! Especially since the same track was in both games!

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  5. Hi!
    I really love the work of Kozue Ishikawa (didn't know the name until now). The soundtracks of Wario Land are absolutely amazing and have a very unique style.

    I have noticed the first song sounding with lots of aliasing. What do you use to record the Game Boy tunes?

    Cheers!

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    Replies
    1. That first track was recorded from Youtube, which is why it was a little distorted. Usually, we use Game Music Box.

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    2. Thanks for the info. Now I remember having asked the same question before.
      Cheers

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  6. No real comment, just wanted to say I like the show.

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  7. So many people getting sonned up and down this page. Way to go on another great episode, guys. Even though 1998 truly sucked for so many reasons, you proved that the classic game music was still awesome.

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  8. Lots of sonning happening on this episode's comments.

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  9. That Monster*Race track was a straight-up Mega Man sound-alike. Fire Man + Metal Man + Snake Man + a few others

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