Forever Sound Version

It’s our second system-specific episode on the bounce, following on from Episode 9’s Speccy focus by pressing fast forward and landing on the mighty Nintendo 64! Nintendo’s cartridge-based 64-bit beast was big on graphics and pure gameplay, not necessarily making sound and music a priority, but many VGM composers still managed to produce some great pieces for this much-celebrated machine. For this episode, I’m joined by special guest Michael Thorne!

What we’re gonna do right here is go back… How far are we gonna go back? Way back! It’s time for some chip music from a highly esteemed home computer system, Sinclair’s ZX Spectrum. Lock in and enjoy tracks that make use of the Speccy’s built-in beeper, as well as some tunes from the 128k version’s square wave sound chip. Extra special thanks to Daz for helping me to put this show together – most of the tracks that feature on this show are his suggestions!

Snake? Snake? Snaaaaaaaaaaaaaake?! It’s time for some top drawer ‘tactical espionage action’, as I am joined by ace FOXHOUND luminary John Baldasera to explore the utterly fantastic music of Metal Gear Solid on the Sony Playstation!

Whilst the Shadowrun video games of the nineties might be considered fairly obscure – they didn’t exactly fly off the shelves at the time – they possess some very special charms, their soundtracks being among them. In this episode, I cover the music from the Shadowrun franchise’s games for the SNES, Mega Drive, and Mega CD.

Bomb Jack was one of the very first video games that I ever played, so it’s a title that is particularly close to my heart. This episode turned out to be a diverse one in terms of music, featuring cheerful retro arcade jingles, driving SID chip jams, and some truly inspired moments from Alberto Jose Gonzalez.

The Sharp X68000 was a real monster of a home computer for its time. It was only available in Japan, but it boasted a wealth of great arcade ports as well as some inventive original titles. This episode features some of my musical picks from Sharp’s 16-bit powerhouse, incorporating both the system’s built-in FM synthesis chip, and the optional MIDI card expansions.

I've been looking forward to this one...! For episode 4, I get my old friend and fellow Samus fanatic Stuart on board to tackle the exceptional soundtracks of the 2D Metroid games from Nintendo. Lock in and enjoy the best of the franchise's sinister soundscapes and rousing anthems! Deer force!

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: the premier brightly-coloured roundhouse-kicking zord-summoning crusaders of the mid-nineties. They captured the hearts and minds of many a youngster (myself included, I have to admit) and probably made Saban and Bandai mind-boggling amounts of money with their official Power Rangers toys and games, including video games for the Game Boy, Mega Drive, and SNES. Are these games any good? Some of them are! The soundtracks of said games? Packed with burners – packed! So, lock in and jam on this barrage of thoroughly righteous heavy metal chiptunes until your brain changes shape. After all, as the famous catchphrase goes: it’s time to morph! (That was the catchphrase, right?)

The subject of episode 2 requires absolutely no introduction! I am joined by my friend - and co-host of the Pre-Alpha Podcast - John for a review of the soundtrack from one of the most iconic games of all time, Street Fighter II. We cover well-known tunes from the original CPS arcade versions and the SNES ports as well as some deeper cuts from systems such as the Commodore 64 (yes, really) and the Game Boy.

In Forever Sound Version’s maiden voyage I cover tracks from a variety of systems to offer an idea of what’s to come. Chip music versus redbook audio! Eighties versus nineties! Bona fide classics versus some more obscure deep cuts!