Armadillo for famicom

[Garnobium]

I tagged this nsfe myself so it has ludicrous track titles. http://bimshwel.com/noise/armadillo.zip Maybe somebody respectable has done one by now, I don't know.

The single audio credit is http://bimshwel.com/fupe/sbigland.png SOUND PROGRAMER S.BIG LAND. This is obviously an alias, so I wonder if it's possible to trace this to a real person. I would go so far as to say the music kind of sounds like the work of Pero Tonomura http://vgmdb.net/forums/showthread.php?t=7794 (especially some of the sound effects), but then maybe I just think every good mystery NSF sounds like that so I won't assume it.

I've been remotely obsessed with this game ever since I found the rom over ten years ago, probably. The game itself is too awkward to be much fun but some of the music is interesting (I wrote this paragraph first). Very good nsf work for one of those crummy game companies (IGS, I think. I can't name another game by them). I even went so far at one point as to make a questionable midi interpretation http://bimshwel.com/noise/dilla.mp3 of the battle tune + entrance + failure jingles. But that is beside the point.

[Foxhack]

I dunno, I didn't feel any similar vibes in the game music to the guy from Duck Tales. But that's just me.

And I know this game's music by heart... I did this, after all.

[Garnobium]

I was thinking more toward the conspicuously Asian Destiny of an Emperor end of things, since I played that one more in the old days. I was scared of Ducktales for some reason. And as I mentioned some distinctive scraggly sound effect that's similar to the "critical hit" noise. That was only a recent guess, though, and not something I've dwelled on. I wouldn't wager the great prestige I've accumulated in 13 posts on it.

Oh I forgot there was a translation patch. I remember finding it a year or so ago. I'm also somewhat afraid to play through this again, but it's neat that you made that. I remember I had to edit the graphics because one of the minor foes really bothered me.

[VRC-7]

I'm thinking it's Junya Kozakai, who was a sound designer at Arc System Works years ago. The pause tone is the same as the one in some of the other FC/NES games he worked on. (The game itself was developed by AIM [later Fortyfive].)

[CHz]

My money is on 大島 俊一, who shows up in the credits of the AIM-developed games Faussette Amour and Lord Monarch (SNES). Name is probably read Shunichi Ooshima, but I'm not aware of any games it appears in English. (Maybe him? http://www.s-oshima.net/)

The characters in Ooshima literally mean "big island," so massage his name a bit and you can get "S. BIG LAND."


FUN FACT: Manabu Namiki really likes this soundtrack! He even mentions it in his comments in the INH set for Ketsui.

[VRC-7]

You're probably right. But Kozakai must have programmed the audio or something. That sound is unmistakable.

[Garnobium]

Ah thank you! That makes sense, with the name, and it being someone I had otherwise not heard of. Unfortunately, to my knowledge, the nsfe tagging/archiving isn't nearly as comprehensive as for spcs so it's harder to compulsively hoard soundtracks for games that didn't have US releases or that I haven't played, much less know who did what. I will definitely look up Ooshima and likely the other two sooner or less soon than that.

In semi-unrelated observations, Junko Tamiya supposedly made the music for GundotSmoke, another old west themed nintendo game whose music sounds more like it should have ninjas jumping around in it (and it DOES have a ninja in it). Which I would contrast with a Tamiya soundtrack that is completely appropriate, like Bionic Commando's.

[dissident93]

Originally Posted by Garnobium

In semi-unrelated observations, Junko Tamiya supposedly made the music for GundotSmoke, another old west themed nintendo game whose music sounds more like it should have ninjas jumping around in it (and it DOES have a ninja in it). Which I would contrast with a Tamiya soundtrack that is completely appropriate, like Bionic Commando's.

It's been confirmed that she did.

[Garnobium]

I believe it! I have a tendency to use uncertain language on things I can't personally verify and I've gotten invalid tags off the place I downloaded that one before.

I should probably retract or uncertainize that remark about "crummy" video game companies, given my lack of experience with 45 and friends. Investigating Lord Monarch indicated that Falcom was involved, which reminded me that Falcom has itself released heaps of mediocre games with music I like. 45's games might be good, or their less good games having well done music may not be unusual at all.

Now I'm curious what the Manabu Namiki comment was; maybe I should have expected it but I can't quite read the booklet accessible from the Ketsui page there.