Monday, September 11, 2017

SuperPhillip Central's Favorite VGMs - "X Marks the Spot Twice This Week" Edition

Last week saw an article on SuperPhillip Central showcasing six more underrated games with underrated soundtracks. Two of the games featured on that list are a part of that article, so check it out here.

Nevertheless, as the title of this edition of SuperPhillip Central's Favorite VGMs hints, two games with X's at the end of their titles get featured this week. These are Xenoblade Chronicles X and F-Zero X to begin with. (Sorry this time around, Mega Man X fans!) Then we go on a bit of a rampage in Platinum Games' Anarchy Reigns.

And while X does mark the spot twice this week, so do arranged albums. F-Zero X's selected song comes from the Guitar Arrange album for the game while Mega Man Battle Network 3 has an entry from the Rockman.EXE 15th Anniversary Arrange Best Track album. Last but not least, Road Rash is pure, unfiltered chiptune awesomeness in music form.

To remind you, just click on each VGM title to hear the song spotlighted via YouTube video. Meanwhile, the VGM Database has all past 1465 VGM volumes spread out for more than five years of SPC's nine-year history. For now, however, let's get on to the music!

v1466. Xenoblade Chronicles X (Wii U) - Re:Arr X


Monolith Soft, the developer behind Xenoblade Chronicles X, does not only create games for Nintendo systems exclusively now, but the studio also helps out on the tech and development side for other Nintendo projects. A notable case here is the Nintendo Switch launch title and Wii U game, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Hiroyuki Sawano mostly sticks to anime in which he composes scores for, but this time around he lent his talents to the Xenoblade Chronicles X soundtrack with varying degrees of success. This revival of Theme X from the game's soundtrack is one of my favorites in the entire game.

v1467. F-Zero X (N64) - Grand Prix Ending (Guitar Arrange Version)


Alongside 1998's release of F-Zero X in Japan, members of the sound team for the game got together and put out a Guitar Arrange album, a Japan exclusive. It featured most of the major tracks in F-Zero X with real instruments as opposed to synth waves and the like. I've featured a handful of F-Zero X Guitar Arrange since the beginning of SuperPhillip Central's Favorite VGMs, and for good reason, as there is absolutely no dud on the album.

v1468. Anarchy Reigns (PS3, 360) - Kill 'Em All


Known as Max Anarchy in other parts of the world, I'd like to use the North American name of the game, as I live on the continent. Anyway, Anarchy Reigns was a spiritual successor to the Nintendo Wii's MadWorld, even featuring several characters from that game. Instead of black, white, and red being the only colors of the game as seen in MadWorld, Anarchy Reigns consists of a larger and wider color palette, though you can tell it's a seventh generation game due to how brown and dark the overall visual appearance is. The music in Anarchy Reigns is a mix of hip-hop, rock, and rap, just like MadWorld before it.

v1469. Mega Man Battle Network 3 (GBA) - Final Transmission (15th Anniversary Arrange Best Track Ver.)


I talked about F-Zero X's Guitar Arrange Album, but recently, the Mega Man Battle Network received a special 15th anniversary album of arranged tunes from all games in the series. Rather than all being rock like F-Zero X's arranged album, this Battle Network one is much more varied. It's nice to hear the wonderful tunes of the Mega Man Battle Network series with much better clarity and more importantly, less painful chiptune music than what the Game Boy Advance could only offer at best.

v1470. Road Rash (GEN) - Pacific Coast


I'm just trying to go for a ride on the Pacific Coast, officer. So what if I took this chain and whacked a few dozen competing riders off of their bikes and probably caused immeasurable damage and harm? Road Rash is a series that needs to come back in some form. Heck, I even loved the 3D incarnations. Regardless, there's no question that the original Road Rash is one that most Genesis owners have fond memories of, and that's also due to the appealing music. Gotta love the distinctive sound of Sega Genesis chiptune music!

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