The Music of Video Games [233] Strider

[blakemetal]

This theme is so good. I prefer the Genesis version over the original arcade version. Nice upload.

[Ponjos]

Hey Garudoh,

Why is "The Music of Video Games [234] Road Rash" marked private?

Thank you.

[1shoryuken]

The GrandMaster Meio... is such a bastard, he was one hell of a cheap final boss.

[coulthard1984]

the intro is amazing

[DrakenBadguy]

How come on EVERY Genesis video people have to compare it to the Snes? Both were good systems, both had there good and bad points, both are 2 of the greatest systems ever made so just fucking chilll and enjoy their music rather than ripping them apart with specs.

[aryinc]

back in the days this was one of those just fine ports from arcade to genesis.outrun was't perfect either neither was rolling thunder.but what was/is the other option? buy the arcade cabinet? and that be just for the graphics.

[DBDP3]

Once again, I love this music! And the graphics were killer in it's day

[kimchipower]

Have to complain about your track selection a bit. You used the jungle theme twice, and omitted classic tracks (for instance, those that play during the mountainside dash scene, the first boss, the icy 2nd stage, and the theme of Uroboros). And why did you bother with that horrible 4th stage track (around 3:20, consisting mostly of a stupid bongo drum)??

[jasonthecanadian]

I remember thinking coming in on that glider was the most epic thing ever. This was one of the most beautiful games of that gen.

[luco7666]

groovy

[DBDP3]

Thank you so much. This was my favorite game and music from games during the 90s!!!

[IngialV]

It's a shame you couldn't fit "Theme for Counter Attack" on here- it's worthy of Vangelis!

[TheMVRules]

I think this version has almost-arcade accurate music

[Camwi]

I've only played Strider in Marvel Vs Capcom 2, but he was a total badass in that game.

[tehkevxor1983]

Genesis/Mega Drive seemed to have a better bass sound to me. It wasn't as deep and booming as it was on SNES, but it was more up-front in the mix.

[aryinc]

when the snes sampled guitar it sounded a heck worser then genesis yes it was clear but also cut same with some other samples on snes,while genesis may sound a bit sharper the whole peice at least flows like it does on a amiga nes etc.@ times it seems like snes music is recorded into peices with time between each section.like rtype 3 nice guitar but it sounds like a astma machine nice but stuttering.

[jIlxg]

Thanks for the upload, ive been looking for this for a while.

[dlyavhoda]

нифига, казахская асср

[LADYTHUNNDER]

best graphics ever on genesis great music , fun to play best memories.

[oakiiedoe]

especially at 2:50 to 3:25

[fawnha]

One of the best musical scores ever in a game

[TrevorHamerMusic]

Totally agree! I've been wanting to re-orchestrate these themes forever.

[wawawis]

I loved the grandmaster theme. It has a unique dark feel to it. Everything about the ending of this game was just stand-out classic!

[BentoBoxBobbyTV]

Thank you so much for uploading. This is the only music pretty much that I listen to when I am down and alone. ^^

[Alianger]

sounds pretty flat and empty in this version, but the tunes are great.

[vagu14]

it sounds flat indeed, cause sound and bg music used to blend amazingly with the action. it was like a film. amazing effort. even today's games dont do that.

[Alianger]

Ok maybe I should've expanded on that a bit, I meant to say that it doesn't take advantage of the hardware very well, some of the instrumentation is really bad. I'm assuming it was supposed to be orchestral music.

I'd agree that it was a milestone in a way, but it's not like later games didn't improve on that concept. Half-life 2, Baldur's Gate 2, Resident Evil 2 come to mind. Todays games are much more like film in general.. maybe too much.

[RainMan34]

The instrumentation is VERY close to the arcade version. The problem lies within the poor sound chip of the Genesis and is lots of times out of the controls of the composer when making a port. All said and done, Junko Tamiya did a great job

[Alianger]

Poor sound chip? That's bs, listen to some high quality MD soundtracks. This sounds OK for an early effort, but it doesn't begin to tap the full potential of the hardware.

[RainMan34]

No, it is not BS. Across the board, the genesis sound chip doesn't allow for much dynamics between eq ranges, poor sampling standards in regards to instrument choices. It featured decent eq's in the higher registers and terrible bass response. Genesis games suffered from fart bass syndrome. In nearly every way, it was far inferior to the snes soundchip.

Granted, it has its own distinct style, but it was generally difficult to get good mixes with the sound chip. Again, Tamiya did well

[Alianger]

The MD is FM based, not sample-based like the SNES. Bass on SNES is much worse than on MD, because of its lowpass filter. MD can play bass at a lower frequency. Fart-bass? Listen to Streets of Rage 1-3. Again, what you say is BS. Tamiya could've done much better.

[RainMan34]

Yes, you heard me. Fart-bass. I've listened to streets of Rage 1-3 many many times. There is fart-bass there as well. They also happen to be some of my favorite video game soundtracks.

With genesis, the bass response is better than the snes, but bass isn't everything. Especially when it comes at the expense of good dynamics in all other ranges, the genesis sound chip is inferior to other sound chips of the time. Lower bass frequency doesn't automatically mean you are right, lol

[Alianger]

you dont seem to know what the word means to most people.

...of the time? In 1988 the competition was PC-Engine, Amiga and NES. Only the Amiga was superior.

[RainMan34]

I didn't realize you had taken a census of what the word means to most people. Thanks for that, it really makes your arguments WAY MORE CREDIBLE. COOL STORY BRO, WAY TO GO.

[neptronix]

@Alianger low-pass filters filter high frequencies, not low ones. low-pass filtering on the snes was used to prevent ugly sample 'aliasing', yet simultaneously had the negative effect of cutting the high end frequencies.

The snes also had a meager 64kb of sound RAM.

But they both have their ups and downs.

[bobos01]

fart bass......ha.....love this game...i know sound...you do too.

[neptronix]

@RainMan34 The YM2612 had EQs?

And what do you mean by sampling standards?

MD can do low bass, but with video games back then being optimized for low-end television sound, often times bass sounds were pitched up or changed so that they could be heard. This is one reason why the slap-bass was really popular on the snes :p

[RainMan34]

We're talking about minimum/maximum eq band ranges and the reason I brought that up was to show the differences inherent between the sound quality of gen vs. other consoles, particularly SNES.

Sampling standards refers to the instruments available for each sample package and the way that they are used. Each company typically used different sound fonts. The fart-bass is actually awesome, as far as I'm concerned. I love all those console sounds so it's quite ridiculous to be comparing

[neptronix]

I think you are unclear about your terminology.

an eq is a filter that emphasizes or de-emphasizes certain ranges of sound frequency.

Sound Fonts are a technology developed by e-mu/creative labs & were used primarily on older Sound Blaster PC sound cards.

There are no sample packs on either system. Genesis used FM and PWM for instruments, and the SNES' sampler was programmable to use whichever sample the developer wanted.

And for the record, i like myself a good ol' fart bass too.

[RainMan34]

EQ, in general, is not a filter. Eq is a range depicting certain frequencies detectable to the human ear. There are filters which pertain to certain frequencies and heighten or lower certain frequencies, but you already know about that. If you are talking EQ production, that is another story and your definition would be correct.

Sound fonts, in the general sense once again, are the instruments chosen to depict sound. It's a standard used by actual composers in the field.

fart bass rox

[RainMan34]

I'd like to add that I LOVE the genesis sound chip, despite its flaws.

[Normal1S]

Couldn't agree more--it STILL stands the test of time. . .

You know, you can actually put this up against the arcade version and it matches really well--with only subtle differences.

[aryinc]

@Alianger

tru batman and robin comix zone pulseman and i can go on even with genesis games sounding even better then arcade conversions.i can guarantee anyone hear that you won't hear the same guitar that is used in tf4 in any other game till cd gaming came in.BTW what is the bitching about over here man i'm enjoying this music allot and allot more then snes.1st faster 2nd not shitty low pass samples,who used trumpets and orchestrated music for everything? wasn't that the snes?.

[CADAVERHUSK]

what a great game this was...big graphics and great sound

[dominicluzzi]

the best song is the song at 421

[dominicluzzi]

the best song is the track at 421

[GypsyRed]

The track at 1:28 is my fave. I especially love the PCE version. Can't wait to hear that again. ^_^

[toecutterr6]

I love that song the best as well.What's the PCE version like?

[ToLDrood]

omg i love this game big round room with no gravity boss was ftw

[GypsyRed]

That's my fave boss in the whole game. Strider was the first game I ever played on the Genesis.

[LongBeach2SanDiego]

it's crazy how much the genesis music sounds much like the arcade music.

[flatcapman]

The music from 2:43 is called Venomus cloud it I totaly love it. It sounded nice and moody on the Genesis much like it did on the arcade. Many thanks for that.

[garudoh]

I'll eventually be uploading a vid for the PCE CD version of Strider, which has some awesome arrangements. You'll probably enjoy that as well.

[RainMan34]

I love Junko Tamiya. She was utterly brilliant

[phrozac]

man i always loved the music in this game. yuzo koshiro on revenge of shinobi was awesome too.

[garudoh]

I agree, and as a matter of fact, the video for Revenge of Shinobi is already done. It'll be #272.

[currentgodhandowner]

kool...i wuz wondering where strider hiryu came from