I feel that this preamble to today's selection may be a little bit on the ramble-tastic side, so please bear with me.
Bomberman is a WEIRD franchise for me. I really don't like the 2D top down games. maybe I just never had the right multiplayer experience with the likes of Saturn Bomberman or the TG16 stuff or something, but... my favorite entries into this franchise are the n64 titles.
Maybe this was born out of some sort of lack of other titles to play, or maybe I enjoyed the experimentation going on, but I feel this was the era where Hudson was in their top form. Each of the 3 N64 titles are so different in flavor as they all struggled to find identity for Shirobon, and I delighted in this. This experimentation shows in each game's soundtrack as well.
I couldn't choose just one game to reprisent, so today, I bring you THREE seperate songs!
First on the docket is Blue Resort from Bomberman 64. Bomberman 64 was composer Afumi Tada's only video game composition credit, but there's some real awesome variety in this soundtrack in the early parts of it until it really starts getting to that House/techno sound for it's later levels and bosses in particular. Blue resort is my go-to song for the sort of French quartet thing that a lot of the Layton games and Pokemon X and Y went for. I think it's the drum beat underneath giving it a bit more energy and drive to it.
Secondly, let's go with Redial from Bomberman Hero. possibly one of the most upbeat and adventurous D&B/Jungle songs I've ever heard. Composer Jun Chikamura really went out of her way to infuse Bomberman Hero's more action-y soundtrack with Drum n' Bass goodness. it fits perfectly with the 3D Platformer experiment, given that the genre really had hit it's stride in that late 90's period. I really think this piece in particular transcends the game and ends up being one of the best composed D&B pieces I've had thte pleasure of listening to, period.
The Second attack was more of a... weird Metroidvania-ish sort of game that actually adhered more to traditional bomberman gameplay while departing at the same time. with the mix and variety of environments, the elemental bombs, and the weird sort of co-op partner in pommy, it's no surprise the game has a bunch of composers. Epykyur here is one of the optional last planets that's based on weird puzzle elements and this... weird amusement park idea. the music is jovial, but also a little off-putting, which is why I felt that maybe for a change of pace it would be the ideal pic over something like Starlight's Las Vegas Muzak or Horizon's airy flute melody.
Topic: Post happy video game music here (Read 15857 times)
