Zuntata
SELF – BIG Beat Remix
Living in Japan has many benefits, amazing food, a fantastic public transit system, affordable health care, no guns, and of course, easier access to limited run special editions of games.
Taito just released the Darius Cozmic Collection, which includes several versions of early Darius games, both from the arcades and home. It comes in a massively-oversized box that also serves as a home for a wonderful book full of pictures and information about the games (albeit entirely in Japanese).
All that stuff is great, and I’m happy that I finally own decent home ports of these classic games. But I’m going to be real, the the main draw for me when it comes to Darius has always been its amazing music, and this collection is no exception. Included in the box set is the Darius The Omnibus II CD, a compilation featuring remixes of several classic Darius tunes, as well as a super-limited edition bonus CD. Most of that CD is dedicated to the soundtrack to PC Engine exclusive Darius Alpha, but it opens with this exclusive remix to the track “Self.” I might be mistaken here, but I think “Self” first appeared on Darius Gaiden. It’s hard to say though. Yo, there are a lot of Darius games.
While this track is impossible to buy without shelling out $300 for an import collection of 80s arcade shooters, it’s worth mentioning that most of Zuntata’s music is not only in print, but able to buy in America on iTunes. Want the complete soundtrack to Darius Gaiden? They got it, as well a soundtracks to deep cuts like Sonic Blast Man, Space Gun, and Kid Kaikai. Credit where credit is due, good on them for making all that stuff easy to get.
ALFH LYRA
Street Fighter II Medley (GMF Version)
Nearly all Street Fighter II music is in-print and easy to come by, thanks largely to Brave Wave and their amazing Street Fighter II re-issue from a few years back. But a few tracks have fallen through the cracks, like this live medley featuring the greatest hits of Street Fighter music. This was originally performed at the 1992 Game Music Festival in Japan, and was included on the CD of the same name.
The Game Music Festival was a thing in Japan for at least a few years in the early-90s and possibly the late-80s as well. The 1990 Game Music Festival CD bills itself as “Zuntata vs SST Band” and holy shit I’m jealous that I can’t track that disc down.
Again, if you like the music to Street Fighter II, be sure to pick up Brave Wave’s absolutely incredible release that features the game’s complete soundtrack, even both the CPS-1 and CPS-2 variations. In a time where so many game music releases are limited releases manufactured with scarcity in mind, it’s important to call out the studios that are doing it right.