SuperPhillip Central's Favorite VGMs - Olympic Gold Edition

SuperPhillip Central's Favorite VGMs is here to cap off your Monday evening right with a collection five fantastic video game tunes. With us being right in the middle of the Olympics, it only makes sense to have at least one VGM volume dedicated to the event. First, however, we kick things off with a battle theme from Fire Emblem Fates. THEN, we dive into the Olympics with Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. Super Monkey Ball 2 delivers a chill tune, followed by Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth offering a dungeon theme. Finally, Kingdom Hearts HD 2.5 ReMIX concludes this Olympic Gold edition of the Favorite VGMs.

v1206. Fire Emblem Fates (3DS) - Alight (Storm)

Kicking off this week's edition of SuperPhillip Central's Favorite VGMs in high gear is a battlefield theme from Fire Emblem Fates, another great entry in the Fire Emblem series. This earlier-in-the-year release came in three versions. I'm still knee deep in Birthright, but there was also Conquest and Revelation. Regardless of which version you pick, you're bound for an enjoyable game with an absolutely astounding soundtrack.

v1207. Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games (Wii U, 3DS) - Football (Chorus Mix)

Coming from the latest in Mario and Sonic the Hedgehog's Olympic rivalry, this version of the football theme has the crowd providing vocals during a tense game of the footie. Even if things don't go your way on the field, you can take pride that you did your best with no regrets. Take THAT, Hope Solo!

v1208. Super Monkey Ball 2 (GCN) - Monkey Target 2

Let's go from some action-packed themes to something much more chill and relaxing. It's the mini-game theme of Monkey Target, making its second appearance in a Super Monkey Ball game. The warm electric guitar synth ostinato that covers the entire track forms a stellar harmony with the main melody. It's a perfect song to unwind after cursing out the incredibly stressful main campaign.

v1209. Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth (PS4, Vita) - Final Phase

Another release from this year (Fire Emblem Fates and Mario & Sonic being the others), Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth offers over 100 hours of gameplay to those who clamor for it. The RPG action is mighty tempting to do just that. Then, you have the wonderful soundtrack to go along with it, such as this theme for the final dungeon in the game.

v1210. Kingdom Hearts HD 2.5 ReMIX (PS3) - Roxas

The somber and melancholy theme of Roxas from Kingdom Hearts II and its up-port on the PlayStation 3 is what rounds out this week's video game music picks. Yoko Shimomura pulls at the heartstrings with her flute and piano composition. A truly marvelous theme.

SuperPhillip Central's Favorite VGMs - Pi Day 2016 Edition

Welcome to a new week of posts at SuperPhillip Central. I caught a massive head cold midweek last week, but I'm feeling well enough to resume posts once again. At least during this period of my sickness my hands aren't constantly touching snot-stained tissues.

...With that lovely picture in your head, let's focus on SuperPhillip Central's Favorite VGMs! Here, I try to bring to my readers five great video game songs a week. This week, we start off by partying like it's 1999 with Mario Party 2. We then go serious for a moment with a boss battle theme from Tales of Symphonia. Following that is a return to something sillier with Super Monkey Ball 2. Bringing us back home on this edition of SuperPhillip Central's Favorite VGMs is a duo of Hitoshi Sakimoto composed themes, one from Valkyria Chronicles II and one from Final Fantasy Tactics, taking us to our 1,100 VGM volume.

If you're yearning for even more VGM goodness, check out the VGM Database!

v1096. Mario Party 2 (N64) - Pirate Land

Mario Party 2 took on an amusement park/costume party theme with each of the game's six boards taking place in a different themed area with the party participants wearing different themed costumes. Pirate Land is the first board of Mario Party 2, set across three main isles separated by bridges.

v1097. Tales of Symphonia (GCN) - Fatalize

Fatalize is the type of theme that gets you pumped and primed for battle. When you hear this boss theme for Tales of Symphonia, you know it's time to get serious-- that is, if you weren't already. Whether it's against big beasts or ancient evil, draw your weapons and get ready for a fight!

v1098. Super Monkey Ball 2 (GCN) - Amusement Park (World 5)

Super Monkey Ball 2 introduced plenty of new things to the familiarity of rolling a monkey ball through obstacle-laden courses. The biggest addition was a story mode that might not have been needed, but it wasn't anywhere near as egregious as making a whole game with a story like we later saw with Super Monkey Ball Adventure. Super Monkey Ball 2's music kept an uptempo feel, perfect for carefully tilting each course to guide Aiai and friends (hopefully) safely to the goal.

v1099. Valkyria Chronicles II (PSP) - Exciting Battle

Valkyria Chronicles as a series had an interesting release pattern to it. While the first Valkyria Chronicles released on the PlayStation 3, its sequels would release on the PlayStation Portable. The third game wouldn't even get localized. Now, the original game is seeing a remastered version on the PS4. Regardless, though the graphics took a hit on the PSP, Valkyria Chronicles' arrival on the system didn't allow its soundtrack to be held back. No, Hitoshi Sakimoto's wonderfully composed tunes shined brightly with this portable sequel.

v1100. Final Fantasy Tactics (PS1) - Antidote

Another song by the fantastic Hitoshi Sakimoto, this time from what I consider my favorite video game soundtrack ever composed, Final Fantasy Tactics. I continue to replay this game when I get the chance with any excuse. Of course, new games always take priority, as I have to keep up to date on what's out on the market. Still, it doesn't mean I can't listen to the great music from FFT while writing reviews for said new games!

Best Levels in Gaming History - Volume Twelve

WARNING: POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD!

One of my favorite aspects in gaming is level design. Levels have always fascinated me, and as young as I can remember being, I loved drawing up little maps for games like The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past and Mega Man X, for example.

My personal history aside, we last looked as some of my favorite levels in gaming history back in July. I think it's high time for another peek at what some of the greatest levels ever devised are with this twelfth volume. This volume contains levels and areas from Final Fantasy VII, Saints Row IV, and Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS, to name just three. 

If you missed a previous edition of Best Levels in Gaming History, have no fear. I have collected the links of all previous eleven entries in my long running series for your convenience!

Volume One
Volume Two
Volume Three
Volume Four
Volume Five
Volume Six
Volume Seven
Volume Eight
Volume Nine
Volume Ten
Volume Eleven

The Bombing Mission - Final Fantasy VII (PS1)

So many RPGs prior to Final Fantasy VII started the same-- in bed or in an otherwise subdued fashion. Meanwhile, Final Fantasy VII kicked things off as if bidding adieu to the old style of RPGs the series was associated with in the past, and saying "I am Final Fantasy VII. This is a new generation of Final Fantasies. Hear me roar." And boy, did Final Fantasy VII's opening bombing mission at a Mako reactor in Midgar roar like a lion on steroids.

You play as a part of an anti-Shinra (a corporation with a firm hold on the government throughout the world) militant group AVALANCHE. As the ever-sociable (not) Cloud Strife, your team of militants rush out of a steam locomotive and towards the Mako reactor, one of many in Midgar that AVALANCHE considers Shinra to be using to suck the life out of the planet.

The Shinra rebels leap from the locomotive, knocking out the guards at the station platform. Barret, leader of AVALANCHE, runs forward after giving the newcomer Cloud instructions to follow him. After a battle with two blue-clad soldiers, Cloud and the anti-Shinra militants run into the Mako reactor for the goal of planting the bomb.

Final Fantasy VII's first boss battle occurs, having Cloud and Barret temporarily team up to take on the Guard Scorpion robot. Despite an incorrect translation when and when not to attack the robot, it is an easy battle, as expected from a first encounter with a boss. From there, the bomb is successfully planted and a ten minute countdown is given for players to am-scray or else get blown up with the Mako reactor. 

After exiting the reactor, a tremendous explosion occurs from it, jostling the entire massive city of Midgar with it. AVALANCHE's mission this time around is a success, and so is the developers' attempt at creating one of the most exciting, adrenaline-pumping, and fun openings to any Final Fantasy game, much more to most RPGs. 

Zero Saints Thirty - Saints Row IV (PS3, 360, PC)

We go from one opening mission to another with Saints Row IV's ridiculous first mission. Well, really, most of Saints Row IV's missions classify as ridiculous, but I digress. A nuclear threat has gripped the United States thanks to former STAG commander Cyrus Temple. It's up to a joint effort by the Saints and MI6 to save the day, the country, and look pimpin' while doing it.

Saints Row IV starts out with the Saints in a chopper en route to the missile silo that Temple is holed up in. Upon arrival they meet up with an MI6 agent named Asha Odeckar and proceed to do some reconnaissance on a nearby hilltop. However, the Boss of the Saints' patience isn't the greatest, so he (for purposes of consistency and my own sanity, I'll refer to the Boss as a "he") runs, guns blazing and knives ready to strike into combat, absolutely ripping all of the terrorists outside of the missile silo's entrance a new one. The rest of the group follows into the missile silo and proceeds to give the player control of the Boss, running, shooting, and carving up terrorists with his knife. 

Upon reaching Cyrus, the two duke it out with their fists, a fight revolving around quick time event button presses for the player to successfully pull off in order to win. When Cyrus reaches for a machine gun in a box, the Boss leaps to a nearby gun and blasts him over the railing, into a vat of hazardous material. Before Cyrus is fully bathed in the liquid of certain death, he triggers the nuke to launch. Target? Washington D.C.

Throwing caution to the wind once more, the Boss decides to apparently sacrifice himself to stop the nuke, leaping towards it and hanging off the side. For the award for perfect use of a licensed song in a video game, as the nuke enters the nighttime sky, Aerosmith's "Don't Wanna Miss a Thing" begins playing as the Saints give their final goodbyes to the Boss as the Boss rips into the circuitry of the missile. Heck, even Asha has a goodbye message for the Boss, although it's what you'd expect from someone who just met the Boss less than ten minutes ago.

Regardless, the Boss victoriously destroys the warhead, leaps from the missile, giving a thumbs up as it explodes behind him, and falls into his seat in the oval office, returning to work as president of the United States. With a quick kicking up his feet onto his desk, another mission to earn America's eternal love and gratitude is in the books.

Saints Row IV's Zero Saints Thirty mission sets the stage for the entire game. This is a game that is here to give player insane moments and crazy good fun. It successfully carves a niche for itself in a genre of open-world sandbox games and distinguishes itself from the Grand Theft Auto franchise in the process.

Mute City - Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS (3DS)

Super Smash Bros. fever is hitting SuperPhillip Central! I've got it! Do you?! I've been really enjoying Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS. I take it as an appetizer to the main entree, the Wii U version, releasing in less than two weeks! It only seems appropriate to bring up one of my favorite new stages within the 3DS game.

Mute City features 2D platforms and original sprite vehicles cast on top of the Mute City race from the original SNES F-Zero game. Typically the layout has two 2D platforms on either side of the Blue Falcon that races along the course. Along the way, different vehicles like Pico's Wild Goose, for example, enters the battlefield from one of the sides of the screen as a makeshift platform. Just don't stay too long on these secondary vehicles, as they'll quickly retreat out of the battlefield.

There are plenty of new stages in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS that I really admire and love battling on, but Mute City somehow manages to blend retro visuals with the enjoyable Mute City track environment to make for my favorite.

Bury My Shell At Wounded Knee - Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IV: Turtles in Time (SNES)

Taking place aboard a train in the Wild West in the year 1885-- wait, are the TMNT and Back to the Future series in the same universe? That would have been some kind of crossover! ...Anyway, sorry about that. Taking place aboard a train in the Wild West in the year 1885, Bury My Shell At Wounded Knee takes the pace of Turtles in Time and ramps it up. It sure beats sailing one mile per hour on a pirate ship, does it not?

This level has a lot to it beyond the moving background, however. There are large barrels that can be used to a turtle's advantage, hitting them into a row of enemy Foot Soldiers. There are Foot Soldiers that pull up to the train via horse and dismount onto the train itself-- showing some mighty fine athleticism, mind you. There is also the ending enjoyment of challenging the killer croc with a nasty fashion sense, Leatherhead, in a one-on-one, one-on-two, or if you're in the arcade, one-on-three, one-on-four battle. (Seriously, was it necessary for me to type that all out?) 

Anyhow, Bury My Shell At Wounded Knee is like an old West train ride-- bumpy, entertaining, a thrill from beginning to end, and it always concludes with you battling a bipedal talking crocodile!

Nintendo - Super Monkey Ball 2 (GCN)

I conclude this edition of Best Levels in Gaming History with an ode to one of Nintendo's home consoles of yesteryear, the GameCube. As an owner and lover of the system, I have a wide assortment of software for my purple little lunch box. Two of my favorite titles on the system are both Super Monkey Ball games. (We don't talk about Super Monkey Ball Adventure on this site.) 

I always found the second game the more entertaining of the two, due to the ability of grinding for a multitude of extra lives and continues. That's how I was able to play the final level in the ultra-hard series of Master levels in Super Monkey Ball 2, simply entitled "Nintendo."

The level has you rolling on a slowly spinning Nintendo GameCube. You have to be incredibly careful with your finger-work, as if you fall into one of the cavities on the underside of the system, you would have no momentum to get out. Thus, when the GameCube turned over, you would fall into the abyss below. 

Unlike many of the later stages in Super Monkey Ball 2, the Nintendo level was fair and didn't require running at full tilt and hoping for the best like how more stages than many would have liked were designed. It was all about going over the edges of the ever-turning GameCube at a sufficient enough pace that you didn't go too fast and slide down the side, or too slow and not have enough momentum to get to the other side. 

At the end of the level, the top hatch of the GameCube system opened, revealing the level's goal inside. I can't tell you how badly I cursed when the system's lid unsuspectingly opened with me on top of it. Into the bottomless abyss I went, along with my hopes and dreams...

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How did you enjoy this edition of Best Levels in Gaming History? Which levels would you add to the list? Perhaps they will a part of a future installment!

Bad Levels in Gaming History - Volume Three

Level design has always been a feature of games that we've marveled at. There's a big difference between a level that is frustrating due to challenge and a level that is frustrating due to design. Now, we aren't going to pretend that we are masters of creating excellent levels. No, we're very much not. However, we believe we've had enough experience playing games that we can weed out the good levels from those that are bad. This series of articles talks about the latter, where we focus on those levels that either poorly designed, frustrating for all of the wrong reasons, or just boring in general. (We have a series of articles dedicated to great levels anyway.) After we've exhausted our picks for this third edition of Bad Levels in Gaming History, help us come up with some more levels for future installments and your reasoning as to why your chosen levels are so bad.

Miss out on Volume One and Volume Two? Click those links, then!

Poochy Ain't Stupid - Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island (SNES)

...Oh, yes he is! Poochy Ain't Stupid is the unlockable level found in the first world of the SNES classic Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island. It is unlocked by scoring a perfect 100 points on each of world one's eight levels. If one were to unlock this level without venturing into the next world, then Poochy Ain't Stupid would be the player's first encounter with the adorable-looking dog. It's also important to note that these extra unlockable levels do not contain any mid-stage checkpoints, so if you perish in the level, you must start over from the very beginning.

Poochy Ain't Stupid is a thorn in many players' sides, and that can really be said about any of Yoshi's Island's six extra stages. However, what makes Poochy Ain't Stupid so unbelievably frustrating is actually a combination of things. First, the level is almost totally auto-scrolling, a game convention that doesn't make any sense but is usually used to present a fun challenge. The second part of Poochy Ain't Stupid that makes for frustration is that dying is quite easy, what with all of the one-hit kill lava inside the cave.

You're really at the mercy of the titular level character Poochy. Looking at his cute but not very bright mug certainly doesn't help things. In the level you must ride on the back of the pooch for the majority of the level. When you are on top of Poochy, which way Yoshi is looking is the way that Poochy will move. Simply completing the level is an already arduous task, but combine that with the 100% completion goal (having 30 stars, collecting all 20 red coins, and nabbing all five flowers) and you have a really tough, really aggravating challenge.

We do love how the level is much different than others in the game, and that its premise is very clever. However, it's not really the execution of it more so having to deal with the ever-hyper Poochy's movement eccentricities, but the forced auto-scrolling and erratic behavior of Poochy make this level quite despised.

Pistons - Super Monkey Ball 2 (GCN)

Like a fair share of levels in Super Monkey Ball 2, although the game is still very much recommended and enjoyable, Pistons is one that is a crap shoot. The level features a ramp that leads to a hexagonal platform made up of multiple thin paths that intersect one another. Of course, that isn't the entire level. As the title of the level suggests, in the triangle-shaped holes that surround the paths a series of same-shaped pistons shoot upward. They quickly rise upward in a methodical pattern, one row after the other.

The crap shoot comment here comes from the fact that unless you are incredibly quick and precise with your movements, you will be launched up into the sky. Strategy is pretty much thrown out of the window, as t's more hoping that you somehow land near the goal to finish this masochistic level than precise planning. Many players gave up on trying to do Pistons "legit", instead parking themselves on a given piston, being shot into the air, and trying, however fruitlessly, to aim for an area nearby the goal. A popular criticism with Super Monkey Ball 2 is that a disturbing number of later levels require less finesse and more luck to overcome them. Pistons is just one example of such a level.

Burnt Rubber - Gears of War (360, PC)

Welcome to a poor level in an otherwise competent third-person shooter. Why, it's none other than Chapter Seven's Burnt Rubber from the original Gears of War. This level is all about driving a heavy junker vehicle through dilapidated city streets. This is all the while needing to shine the junker's UV turret on swiftly approaching Kryll, bat-like creatures that crave darkness and will mercilessly shred their prey alive.

This wouldn't be so bad if you could drive and fire simultaneously. However, this is somehow impossible, even with having the rest of the Gears crew inside the junker with you. Perhaps they're too busy painting their nails... With warnings of Kryll coming from 6 o'clock, 12 o'clock, from the right, from the left, etc. This level is nothing but an inconvenience, a pain, and changing the game into something it shouldn't be, just to create some kind of unwanted variety.

Mercedes Showdown - Gran Turismo 4 (PS2)

This is it. You've driven past the competition in every race so far. You've outperformed beyond anyone's wildest dreams. You've earned your victory lap countless times. Now, are you up for the final challenge?

Well, get ready to be frustrated and disappointed. Why, it's Gran Turismo 4's final challenge, the Mercedes Showdown! While it might sound awesome taking control of the seemingly omnipotent Mercedes SLR Mac Laren, the actual vehicle has been fine-tuned to handle as well as butter on a sizzling pan. This level of artificial difficulty (a big reason why it's on this edition) is only made more irritating by the fact that you're racing against three lower end Mercedes vehicles. However, these cars have a three minute head start on your vexing-to-handle vehicle. Add in the fact that you're racing on a track whose real life version causes upwards of a dozen deaths per year, Germany's Nürburgring Nordschleife, and you have to wonder who the sadistic psychopath created this event was.

Flame Temple - 3D Dot Game Heroes (PS3)

Ah, the Flame Temple... This dungeon from the excellent and old school Zelda-like PS3 game 3D Dot Game Heroes is a notorious one among fans of the title. It's not even just the dungeon itself that is difficult and irritating (and it very much is), but the labyrinth that precedes it, a very obnoxious cavern full of falling rocks, is essentially the harbinger of what lies ahead.

The Flame Temple itself has a plethora of enemies that do a lot of hurt on heroes. There's the Gray Magi, a wizard that only one specific spell will defeat it, it can drain your magic quite quickly with one successful hit, and it vanishes across the room like it was on fire. How about the Dark Ropus, a spider that scurries speedily along the dungeon's floor. If it comes in contact with the player, it completely drains your magic and it leaves you will only a half of a point of health. Let's not forget about the Darknut-inspired Knight, which can only be attacked from behind, has a fair amount of health, and is pretty strong to boot.

But all of that doesn't make for a bad level; it just makes for a really challenging one. No, what makes 3D Dot Game Heroes' Flame Temple a bad level is its premise, which has the player needing to press certain switches to advance through the dungeon. However, if you were to save, quit, and then later reload the game, the switches will revert back to the way they were upon entering the temple, essentially removing all of your progress. Oh, but that's not the kicker. The kicker is that upon dying, which will occur as many times as there are months in a year, maybe more so, the switches will do the same thing. Have fun retrying this temple over and over again, and your prize for reaching the dungeon's furthermost room is a seriously difficult boss. There's old school difficult, and then there's the more ridiculous "Nintendo hard" difficult. This is the latter, and it's not that much fun.

SuperPhillip's Favorite VGMs - Let the Games Begin Edition

Other than the name of this edition of the VGMs, this installment really has nothing to do with the Olympics at all. Instead we will listen to five tracks from retro and more modern games. These are five picks that run the gamut of video game eras, franchises, and styles. From Super Monkey Ball to Bomberman, we have a lot to get to, so let's do it.

v161. DuckTales (NES) - The Moon

Not pony tails or cotton tails, no DuckTales. Who knew that one of the most classic and regarded 8-bit tunes would come from a licensed video game based on a Disney animated series? DuckTales was developed by Capcom, a powerhouse when it came to licensed Disney games. Mickey Mouse, Aladdin, Chip 'n Dale, and more, Capcom was incredible with platformers in the NES and Super Nintendo days. DuckTales is but part of this long line of excellent Disney platformers.

v162. Bomberman 64: The Second Attack (N64) - Game Planet Starlight

Set on the Game Planet Starlight, full of bright lights, casinos, and various ways to lose your hard-earned cash through gambling, this world of Bomberman 64: The Second Attack is complemented by some seriously catchy music. But there's no time to lounge around with one of the Astral Knights loose on the planet. The soundtrack was composed in part by the great Yasunori Mitsuda of Chrono Trigger/Cross and Xenogears fame.

v163. Super Monkey Ball 2 (GCN) - World 7 (Bubbly Washing Machine)

Giving off a distinctly Japanese feel as your monkey in a ball rolls around courses suspended above a bloody washing machine, World 7 from Super Monkey Ball 2's story mode is the penultimate world of the game. Super Monkey Ball 2 had some levels that were more based on luck than actual skill. This put some experts of the original game off quite a bit. Despite this, I managed to somehow complete every level in the game. That is one of my proudest accomplishments alongside my 95% finished F-Zero GX save data.

v164. Drill Dozer (GBA) - Art Museum

Before Pokemon, Game Freak worked on the game Pulseman on the Sega Genesis. Then they crafted a series that some had called a fad. Well, the Pokemon "fad" is still going strong more than a decade later with no signs of slowing down. In between Pokemon games Game Freak had the opportunity to develop one of the last Game Boy Advance games for the system, a unique platformer known as Drill Dozer. The cartridge of the game had rumble built into it. The main character of Drill Dozer, Jill, would see the light of day once more in a guest starring role as an assist trophy in Super Smash Bros. Brawl.

v165. Muramasa: The Demon Blade (Wii) - Dusky (Both Versions)

We continue our Japanese theme from volume 163. Do you recall the name Hitoshi Sakimoto? Well, he was the man behind a good portion of the music of Final Fantasy XII and the Final Fantasy Tactics series. Dusky, particularly Dusky A, is a theme that I absolutely adore. It is perfect for venturing through wheat fields, through demon-filled forests, and across isolated mountaintops. Vanillaware (Odin Sphere) did a wonderful job with the visuals of the game. It is a work of interactive art, wouldn't you say?

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That concludes this eclectic mix of music for the Let the Games Begin edition of the favorite VGMs. Next week we will have five more intriguing themes for your ears to take pleasure in. For now, take solace in the fact that you can listen to past installments with the Favorite VGM Database.