Remember that time we took a hike through the outskirts of The Mushroom Kingdom and we got lost with only a gameboy to guide us? You kept complaining about my sense of direction and I kept insisting we were on the right path. Do you recall stumbling onto that meadow full of delicious fungi and eating entirely too much? You always were a glutton. How about that bouquet of flowers I picked for you that enabled you to throw fireballs at will? That was neat. I think my favorite part was how we saved the entire population of Mushroom Kingdom from the clutches of that weird turtle/dragon guy. Good times.

Today we welcome FuturNari to our bustling metropolis with his latest E.P. Another Unlikely Hero. Click the link to download and enjoy the music!

Another Unlikely Hero [21.8MB.zip]

TRACK LISTING:

1. Breaker of Bricks 02:08

2. Devourer of Mushrooms 02:20

3. Conjurer of Fire 01:49

4. Saviour of Toadstools 02:41

From the very same team that brought you the hit Famicom adaptation of The Drifting Classroom comes an 8-bit take on another Kazuo Umezu manga, Fourteen. This monsterpiece—which follows Chicken George as he grows from a sentient pile of chicken flesh to a full-sized creature who absorbs and implements all of our scientific knowledge in the most twisted way imaginable—debuted in Big Comic Spirits in 1990, and could possibly be the master’s most mental work yet.

If you want to read about the specific insanity of Umezu’s Fourteen, here is as good a place as any. Unlike The Drifting Classroom, you won’t find much information awaiting you on Wikipedia. Details on the game are equally scant, though a few tracks from the rare soundtrack were recently unearthed.

“The Birth of Chicken George” and “The Liberation of Chicken George” follow the first and second stages, respectively. The first finds the player controlling the lump that will become Chicken George, maneuvering past scientists in the lab, and eventually making it toward a series of computer terminals while fighting off attackers and growing piece by piece. Stage two has George free at last, and running rampant through a zoo filled with scientific horrors, releasing them all and unleashing them on the unprepared masses.

Enjoy, and hope that one day we can play this Japanese classic once and for all. Perhaps by the time the manga is translated and licensed for North America…

01 The Birth of Chicken George

02 The Liberation of Chicken George

Created by Moldilox using Milky Tracker (OSX)

Special thanks to Ryan Sands of Same Hat; pretty sure it was this post that originally introduced me to Fourteen!

Had Beast Blaster been domesticated closer to its Japanese debut it would no doubt be a highly coveted classic today. However, the port took so long that it was nearing the end of the NES’s life when it finally came out, though fans “in the know” still consider themselves the fortunate few. Beast Blaster is a lighthearted action/platformer on the surface, but there’s incredible depth beneath, as well as some startlingly violent boss battles that clash magnificently with the stages that precede them.

Take this track for instance. Halcyon Hills, an early stage, is bright and colorful. Sure, stomping about in the grass and flowers are killer robots that want our hero Ace’s head, but it’s otherwise cheery, taking full advantage of the system’s palette. However, once its two levels are cleared, Moxy Bulboom slams down from the sky, turning the grass red. What follows is a fight that sends flesh flying, as the only way Ace knows to best a beast is bloody blasting.

Shake those dark thoughts for now, though, and come along with us on a saccharine sonic journey.

Halcyon Hills

Created by Moldilox using Milky Tracker (OSX)

Shawn and Ryan are collectively doing something a little different with chip music than some of you may be accustomed to. Through Noisewaves and their self-titled debut EP released this year on Pterodactyl Squad, these fine fellows have crafted an appropriately airy mix of shoegaze rock and the game-like chip stylings we’ve all grown to know and love. It’s both familiar and fresh, so we sat down with Shawn to discuss how Noisewaves came about, what influences their style, and what’s in the future for the pair down the road.

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Everyone knows and loves the Very Quest series. You may recall we posted one of the most beloved themes in Very Quest II, “Cave Visitors”, at the very beginning of Beep City. The series certainly didn’t slack down the line. Much like Square Enix’s venerable Final Fantasy series in popularity (though more of an action-RPG at its core), Very Quest spawned numerous sequels, and one of the best was without a doubt Very Quest IV: The Mystic Throne.

VQIV is most notable for having more minigames than any other entry in the series, truly fleshing out the mystical world of Verania. Two fondly recalled classics are Goblin Sack Race, which is more or less self-explanatory, and Thimblerigger, a true to life game of chance more commonly known as the fraudulent shell game. You may find yourself humming along instantly as you jam their themes below!

Goblin Sack Race

Thimblerigger

Both songs created by Moldilox using Milky Tracker (OSX)

Beep City welcomes with open arms the talents of our good friend and lover of all things VGM, Genoboost (aka Anthony Ruybalid) as he bestows upon our fair metropolis a recurring feature he likes to call STAGE SELECT. Join Geno as he delivers a fresh perspective on new hits and old favorites from the Chip Music community and beyond. Once you’ve had your mind blown and your horizons broadened, be sure to swing on over to Geno’s own website, Game Music 4 All and check out the smorgasbord of game music reviews, original VGM inspired releases, and more!

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Imagine, if you dare, being stuck inside a place so terrifyingly conflicting, you just don’t know what to do with yourself! Such is the plight of Victor Cazarian, famed researcher-slash-adventurer that finds himself trapped in the confines of the nefarious Baron Blood’s Lunatic Lair. Does he dance with the devil in the pale moon light? He may not have a choice!

This late ’80s gem was perhaps most famous for its party or die philosophy. It confounded players with a moral dilemma. Sure, you could traverse the sprawling manor with relative ease by gettin’ down with the ghoulish guest list. But boogie too much with these batty beasts and you may just end up on permanent vacation! Then again, refuse their decadent delights and it’ll be time for Victor to use his fleet feet for something else entirely: kicking butt.

The question of fight or flight has never been so… groovy.

Party in the Palace
Download the .xm file
Created by Moldilox using Milky Tracker (OS X)

Marc Weidenbaum’s blog, Disquiet, recently presented an audio reply to an article on the state of the music industry printed in the latest issue of The Atlantic. He asked a handful of artists to contribute musical responses/interpretations of an accompanying illustration, which you’ll see above this text.

There’s much more to it than that, and I definitely recommend reading the full set of articles, and checking out the mix of music and soundscapes in the release post below:

Disquiet – Despite the Downturn: An Answer Album

So how does this cross over with Beep City? Why, there’s a new Moldilox track in the collection! “Discard” is the third track of the album, so give it a listen. Many thanks to Marc for getting Moldi off his ass for some new jams.

Matt Creamer is Norrin_Radd. Norrin_Radd is the most face-melting chiptune artist on the block. These are the facts of life, folks. Everyone’s been clamoring for a new release from Norrin, well, ever since his last one, Melodia di Infinitá, rocked the world back in 2007. Since then, he’s been working on Anomaly, the NES metal album to rule all NES metal albums.

So if you felt a sudden jolt of electricity this week—an almost inexplicable seismic burst—you can blame Norrin, because Anomaly is out. We caught up with the man to talk about inspirations, what it takes to craft metal that sounds like it would be at home right on Nintendo’s classic console, and more.

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On March 18th. 2010, Josiah Tobin released the album Test Subject under his chiptunin’ alias Bit_Rat. Some of his previous works include Channel 1, an album composed entirely on one channel, and Ant Attack, the soundtrack to the NES-styled iPhone game of the same name. You may also remember his track “Warm Green Something” as the opener to our first compilation, Love Songs from the Future.

Whether your first exposure to Bit_Rat was any of the above, or even this very interview, there’s no question that he’s one of the most unique artists working with chips today. We caught up with Josiah and asked him a few questions about Test Subject, his preceding works, and what’s next for that wily, scampering rat.

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