Games Revue

And so, we come to the last day of Antivent. I'll keep this brief, since you've all probably got food that needs eating and whatnot.

Our last theme comes from The World Ends With You. I won't lie, this is not only my favourite game on the DS, it's also one of the best games I've played in the last decade. The gameplay is fantastic, the soundtrack, sublime and the story compelling as all hell. I was addicted to the game for about a week solid and the final boss battle was the crowning moment for me.

Today's final theme, Twister Remix, comes from that battle. In a game with an exemplary OST, it takes something special to stand out from the crowd. If you ask me, Twister Remix has that in spades. Enjoy.



And finally, because it wouldn't be Christmas without gifts, we present you with everything we've covered here (minus Breaking The Girl because that could land me in a buttload of trouble. Don't worry though, you'll like the alternative). Download merrily and have fun, people.

Antivent Pack 1
Antivent Pack 2

Time for something very different today. I know I said at the start I said I was keeping this to one series/one song, and yes, this is from a Final Fantasy game, but bear with me, my reasoning is just.

Dancing Mad was originally the final boss theme from Final Fantasy VI, probably my favourite of the series. In its original form, the track was great, but sadly it hasn't quite aged as well as others. You should probably listen to it before we go any further. Go ahead, I'll be waiting here.

Heard it? Great.

Hellion Sounds is a group that covers game music. Yes, another one. But rather than doing a straight up cover, they take the general spirit of the music and embellish it til it doesn't just shine, it radiates with the brightness of a sun. They take the original music and turn a good song into something beyond special. Words honestly can't do this one justice. Just click for yourself and see what I mean.

Dynasty Warriors! A game that is to hystorical accuracy what orbital bombardment with nuclear weapons is to subtlety. They never had electric guitars back in feudal China. Their loss, since heavy guitars, as we've proven oh so many times this month, makes anything that little bit cooler. Today's offering is from the 5th game in the series, and probably my favourite piece of music from any of them: Great Red Spirit.

Okay, bear with me, because this one's a little weird. The Guilty Gear games have always been known for their hard-rocking soundtracks. Unsurprising, considering the number of musical references in the game. These soundtracks have always been highly acclaimed and are generally seen as some of the better fighting game OSTs. However, when Guilty Gear XX #Reload was released in Korea, they saw fit to give it a completely new soundtrack, the music being provided by a band called N.EX.T. The end result? A selection of music every bit the equal of the originals, arguably surpassing them on many points, and the single greatest character select theme in the form of today's track, Redemption. Crank this one up: if the walls aren't shaking, you're doing it wrong!

There's a thin line between challenge and frustration. Knowing that you died because you fucked up, as opposed to a cheap shot is, simultaneously irritating and gratifying - yeah, you died, but at least you can improve. If any game personified this line, it would be God Hand, hated and adored in equal measure for its almost crushing difficulty. If you 'got' it, it was a stupidly fun OTT beat-em-up, a modern-day relic of a simpler era. If you didn't, it was too hard, the graphics were shit and too stupid to bother with (see: the feckless idiots at IGN.)

Aside from it's difficulty, the other thing it's famed for is its sense of humour. Almost nothing is taken seriously, and in an age of generic bald space marines who take everything super serial, that's only a good thing. Its developers, Clover, died after releasing a scant four games, each and every one a burst of colour and life in a brown and grey world.

Today's offering is the closing theme from God Hand. If you've never played it, this is a great example of what to expect. If you have, you'll probably know the words by heart.

If I could say any single game changed my life, it would be Secret of Mana. This was the game that kickstarted my love of RPGs in general, and probably the single best game on the SNES for my money. I still remember the day I got it, taking it home, switching it on and hearing this, the opening theme. At the time, aged 13, it was the most amazing piece of music I had ever heard in my life. Now... even now, it's still a front-runner.

Honestly, I don't have the words. See for yourself.

The Dark Spire was a DS game released this year aimed almost solely at the old school market. And by 'old school' I mean 'so old, they refer to single-celled lifeforms as newbies'. Probably the most harder-than-hardcore dungeon crawler I've played since Nethack, The Dark Spire, unsurprisingly, failed to catch on almost anywhere. Which is a shame, since it has an absolutely fantastic soundtrack that demands a wider audience. That the game itself is fun (if obtuse as all hell) is a bonus, really. This is the more sedate Shop theme, a counterpoint of sorts to the standard battle theme, and probably the single most relaxing piece of music in this list.

Doing things slightly different again today. The Protomen are a Canadian group currently working on a three-part rock opera based on... Megaman. The first part, Hope Rides Alone came out in 2005, with the second, The Father Of Death following this year. You'd think it'd be difficult to adapt the story of the original Megaman games, what with them being so complex and sprawling, and damn near impossible to make it worth listening to on its own merits, but in my opinion, they've succeeded admirably.

This is the title track and opening song off their first album, chronicling the rise and fall of 'the first son of Doctor Light': Protoman. Trust me on this one: it just gets better from here.

I'm one of those weird folks who plays old games as often as they play new ones. You've probably heard of us. Maybe even crossed the street to avoid us. Castlevania 4 (A.K.A. Super Castlevania) is one I get regular mileage out of, arguably the best of the classic Castlevanias (and in my opinion, one of the best in the series, even if you include the Metroidvania games). Today's track is the game's update of Simon's Theme, a mainstay of the early games. It's hard to see it now, but its 16-bit upgrade was a major deal back then, offering the programmers an opportunity to push their soundtracks to heights they hadn't been able to reach til then. Coincidentally enough, that was also the point game soundtracks started to be regularly released on CD. Funny that.

Okay, not strictly in keeping with the theme of these videos, but it's my list so shut up.

Everyone has at least one song on Guitar Hero or Rock Band that they like to play simply to show off: that one song that you can 100% with ease. This one would be mine.

(I do vocals in case you're wondering)

This video doesn't involve me, before anyone asks, but it's surprisingly hard to find decent quality vids of this song which are also worth watching, so much kudos to the folks involved.