10 Minutes of Video Game Music - Metal Squad from Thunder Force IV

[mistertitanic]

Hey, I have another question. How did you record this off of the actual console? I don't recall seeing a sound test...

[Ace9921]

@mistertitanic - Every Thunder Force game on the Genesis has a hidden sound test/options screen which requires you to hold A, B and C before you press START.

The actual recording was done using a 3.5mm headphone to RCA Stereo cable plugged between the console's headphone jack and my TV capture device. The multi-A/V out at the back of the Genesis Model 1 only outputs Mono audio, so I don't use that since pretty much all games on the Genesis have Stereo music.

[mistertitanic]

@Ace9921 I had a feeling it was a secret code...So just like the Sonic games. Well, 1 and 3.

But man! Why would they make it secret!? Wouldn't they want everyone to hear this awesome music?

Thanks man.

[mistertitanic]

@Ace9921 I got the game a few months back. Turns out you only need to press A and start to go to the Sound test. Not A B and C.

[strikerk]

A shame the quality of this recording is so interpolated~ but good rip regardless.

[Ace9921]

@strikerk - This will be the next of my 10 Minutes of Video Game Music videos to be reuploaded as 15 Minutes of Video Game Music with improved quality.

And if you're used to using Genesis emulators, the quality will seem radically different because all my Thunder Force IV music is recorded off an *almost* launch-model Genesis Model 1, which has the heaviest filtering of any Genesis model you can find for the most high-bass audio you can get off a Genesis out of the box.

[strikerk]

@Ace9921 I have a Genesis as well, had a Model 1 and 2... and I don't remember it sounding very interpolated or filtered off the TV screen speakers. Could be due to the low quality speakers in those sets. Perhaps due to having to listen to it on a quality PC speaker system, I can notice such things~ but even when I run the .vgz using a program like Audio Overload or the like, it sounds a lot clearer. I honestly would probably blame Youtube before any of your rips. Looking forward to the future.

[mistertitanic]

@Ace9921 So are you saying the Launch model has heavier bass fitering than the other models? Aren't they identical Except the 3rd Revision model 1 Genesis?

[Ace9921]

@mistertitanic - As long as the motherboard revision is not VA7, the sound is clear and with heavier bass than all the other Genesis revisions.

[mistertitanic]

@Ace9921 So I have a Launch model Genesis, that has the heaviest bass of all Genesis revisions?

I have other revisions, and models 2 and 3 as well.

[Ace9921]

@mistertitanic - A launch-model Genesis is guaranteed to have good audio with the heaviest bass possible.

There's also the Sega Nomad which has the same heavy bass as a pre-VA7 Genesis Model 1. It still sounds a little different due to the Nomad using a different implementation of the YM2612(pre-VA7 Genesis Model 1s use a discrete YM2612 while the Nomad integrates the YM2612 inside a custom Sega ASIC).

[mistertitanic]

@Ace9921 It's a good thing I have both of those systems :D

The original launch model was from 1989 and had no lockout right? How long did they produce those?

[Ace9921]

@mistertitanic - I hope by lockout you don't mean region lockout. All the early 1989 models of the Genesis(any motherboard revision of the Model 1 up to and including revision VA5) lack TMSS, which is used to lock out unlicensed games. TMSS has absolutely nothing to do with region locking. Region locking depends on the game. Some games will detect the region settings set by the region jumpers on the motherboard and either load a different version of itself or display an error message.

[mistertitanic]

@Ace9921 I have the one with no lockout from region, unlicenced games, or anythign whatsoever.

[Ace9921]

@mistertitanic - There's no such thing as a region-free Genesis. They all have region-encoding, but most games don't make use of region lockouts(those were at the discretion of the game companies). Thunder Force IV is a perfect example of a game with region lockout. I can't play my US copy on my Japanese MegaDrive or my region-modded Genesis Model 1 if the region switch is in the wrong position(another non-TMSS model with motherboard revision VA3 like the one used to record the song).

[mistertitanic]

@Ace9921 The Sega Genesis model 3 is region free. I've even tested so. The Sega Nomad is also Region free.

I guess I never tested my launch model genesis to play other games. Maybe when I actially get a european Megadrive game. (I've only testeda japanese megadrive game, doesn't fit in a genesis, but fits in a nomad, and model 3)

[Ace9921]

@mistertitanic - I'll say this one more time: THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A REGION-FREE GENESIS. The only reason the Japanese MegaDrive game you tested worked on your Nomad and Genesis 3 is because it doesn't have region locking. Have a look at this video:

watch?v=XV22J6Eh9jY

The same thing would happen if you were to use the Japanese version of Street Fighter II on a Genesis 3 and Nomad, and on any region-modded Genesis with the region switch in the wrong position.

[mistertitanic]

@Ace9921 Well whatsyour defenition of Region-free then? Perhaps I have misunderstood you.

[Ace9921]

@mistertitanic - Region-free, to me, means absolutely no region locks. The Genesis does not qualify as a region-free system because Japanese MegaDrive carts don't fit in a Genesis Model 1 or Model 2 and many of the later games like Thunder Force IV and Street Fighter II implement region locking within the game ROM. If the region code the game looks for is mismatched with the region code the console is set to by its on-board region jumpers, the game gives you a region code error.

[mistertitanic]

@Ace9921 Thats what I'm talking about with the Genesis model 3. I've played through several japanese megadrive games on it with no special accesories like a game genie. Just put the game in the system, and turned the power on. It worked perfectly.

[Ace9921]

@mistertitanic - And that's all because they're not region-locked. If you were to file down the cartridge slot on a Genesis Model 1 and Model 2 to fit a Japanese MegaDrive cartridge, they'll work on those systems too. Region-locked games, however, will refuse to boot and show a region code error.

[mistertitanic]

@Ace9921 Yes I understand. I never knew the launch Genesis was region locked. I might as well go buy a brazilian or european megadrive game and test it out...Thanks for the info.

[FireBomberBassist]

I use to go to the sound mode just to hear this track when I was kid. LOL

[damjen666]

Pure eargasm!

[crapheadandidiot]

Wow... I just listened to this all the way through for the first time, and I can tell you, ace, that this song never gets old, no matter how many times you listen to it! Keep rocking dude!

[SuperYoshi]

Man I wish more people like you would rip Genesis soundtracks from the actual system instead of an emulator. I could tell without even reading the description that this was a legit recording and not a WAV dump from Gens or whatever.

[Ace9921]

People are still using GENS? Holy shit, that emulator is SO outdated. Kega Fusion v3.63 all the way!

I hate using emulation to record soundtracks because there's always that little false note due to faulty emulation of the sound chip(s), not to mention the sound quality is much different. The only time I ever use emulators to record a tune is if I don't own the original cartridge.

Same goes for original hardware...

[Ace9921]

...I don't know if you're aware of this, but Sega, during the last days of the Genesis Model 1 and most of the days of the Genesis Model 2 used a sound circuit that caused the sound to come out distorted, hissy(you can hear hissing when music plays), and with VERY poor quality. That's why I only use a pre-TMSS Genesis Model 1 when recording music off original hardware. Its sound is super-clean, and has the signature Genesis Model 1 high-bass sound that other models lack(late Model 1, Model 2/3

[SuperYoshi]

I know of the deteriorating quality of the systems depending on the model. There's a whole article with comparisons somewhere on the TPH forum, an old site that dedicated itself to providing game rips from the actual system, and as far as I know, the only site where good sounding rips of Ecco 1 and 2 for the Genesis exist.

Although I must admit I don't actually own a model 1 system (I have a 3/4 motherboard Model 2. Apparently the best sounding model 2 aside from the high-bass missing)

[Ace9921]

Hey, did you figure out about the quality of the 3/4 motherboard Genesis 2 from Sega-16? If that's the case, I wrote that guide. My username on Sega-16 is simply Ace.

[SuperYoshi]

Oh, cool, didn't realize that.  Yeah I did get all that info from there. I never joined, but I've been going to the site for a good amount of years now.

[Scioneer]

@Ace9921

Funny thing is, the Nomad is also very clean sounding, not as good as an early Model one, but pretty close, much better than the Model 2 and 3.

[Ace9921]

@Scioneer - The Nomad actually has the same high-bass audio as the Genesis Model 1, but the sound is ever so slightly different on the Nomad due to the Nomad's different implementation of the YM2612. All Genesis Model 1s with VA0 to VA6.8 motherboards use a discrete YM2612 whereas the Nomad uses an ASIC implementation of the YM2612 with better clarity and less quantization noise, which changes the sound a bit.

[singularity3]

@SuperYoshi I don't think you would be able to tell the difference between this and a recording from Fusion or Regen.

[Ace9921]

@singularity3 - I can tell right away because I don't think everyone enables the sound filter in Fusion(and I don't use Regen). But even then, the PSG is louder in Fusion, so I can tell with that little difference in volume balance between PSG and FM Synthesis whether a song was recorded off Fusion or a real Genesis.

[singularity3]

@Ace9921 Actually, I just noticed that I can too. Fusion does do a great job reproducing the audio, but the volume levels are a bit off.

[crapheadandidiot]

Hey Ace? You wanna know what I think about this song? \mm/ too much metal for one hand! Kick***!

[Ace9921]

It kicks so much ass that simply saying "kickass" is not enough to describe the awesomeness of Metal Squad.

[andy1hit]

i love this song best 1 in the game

[crapheadandidiot]

You know, people hated the songs in this game for being too "Metallica" style. I, for one, say those people have no taste. Listen to any metal songs, and it's going to sound like Metallica. Just listen to my dad's band, Skif. Apart from a different singer, they sound the same.

[crapheadandidiot]

I've played Thunder Force IV, but I've never heard this song. When does it play?

[Ace9921]

Stage 8.  It's the Stage I can never get past.

[crapheadandidiot]

Maybe you can't get past it because this song is too godly! lol, jk, I used cheats to get to that stage, and wow... It is hard. I can't beat either, but the song is kick***!

[VASH1291]

Another classic piece of Thunder Force pedigree :D

[maz12004]

Yes! This rocks! \m/

[Ace9921]

Damn right!  My personal favorite Thunder Force song of all time.