SuperPhillip Central's Favorite VGMs - Eternal Wings and the Facing Worlds Edition

A new work week at SuperPhillip Central nearly always means it's time for SuperPhillip Central's Favorite VGMs, a segment where I deliver unto you five new video game themes that I consider to be excellent ones. This week is a mishmash of music from games like Baten Kaitos: Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles' first arcade outing, some more RPG action with Xenosaga III, and to cap things off, some stuff from Guilty Gear Xrd -SIGN- and Unreal Tournament! Before we get down to the gnitty gritty, check out the VGM Database where all past VGM volumes are located!

v931. Baten Kaitos: Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean (GCN) - Start on a Voyage

It seems like Motoi Sakuraba is a soul that just can't let SuperPhillip Central's Favorite VGMs go. He seems to always be here, or at least every other week! His work on Baten Kaitos: Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean is fantastic, as is most of his composition profile. Start on a Voyage brings memories of roughing it on the rough waves to travel from location to location.

v932. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (ARC) - Boss Battle

Let's get some arcade action into SuperPhillip Central's Favorite VGMs with this VGM volume! It's the boss battle theme from an absolute classic of the arcade scene, the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Although it's hard to track down an arcade cabinet of this game nowadays, you can jump in to the Xbox Live Arcade and download it for both local and online play.

v933. Xenosaga III (PS2) - Godsibb

The final boss theme of Xenosaga III, the final chapter of the Xenosaga... er... saga, gives off a haunting feeling due to its wonderfully magical female vocals. What starts as a mysterious theme turns into a rocking one with percussion, guitar, and strong strings.

v934. Guilty Gear Xrd -SIGN- (ARC, PS4, PS3) - Fizz

We rock out to this theme from Guilty Gear Xrd's expansion, -SIGN-. This is the character select theme for the game, and it almost makes you not want to choose a character to play as. Or it at least makes you want to linger on the menu longer than you otherwise would, thanks to this awesome theme.

v935. Unreal Tournament (PC) - Foregone Destruction (Facing Worlds)

This track is a familiar one to most Unreal Tournament players. It plays during the Facing Worlds map, which is devised up of two towers with a branching duo of paths in the middle. It's all over an outer space setting that players can fall into if they're not careful. Facing Worlds is indeed one of Unreal Tournament's most popular maps.

SuperPhillip Central's Favorite VGMs - Destination Vacation Edition

Sure, we might be back from our week-long hiatus, but SuperPhillip Central's Favorite VGMs still has its mind on vacation! This installment of SuperPhillip Central's Favorite VGMs travels to all sorts of places, from The Himalayas to India, from a limestone cave to Zora's Domain. Such games represented this time around include The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, DuckTales Remastered, and Xenosaga III. As usual, just click on the name of the VGM volume to be transported to its YouTube link. It's the power of the Internet!

v656. DuckTales: Remastered (Multi) - The Himalayas

Jake Kaufman provided his own take on the various classic themes of the NES hit DuckTales. The end result was something very, very good for the ears! Even if you didn't find the new arrangements as endearing as the originals or wanted a more classic experience, you could unlock the 8-bit versions from the NES original.

v657. Sly 2: Band of Thieves (PS2) - India

Sly Cooper and the gang are one of two Sony platforming properties receiving motion pictures coming soon. The other is Ratchet & Clank. That's just random trivia-- onto Sly 2! Sly 2: Band of Thieves featured larger hubs and a more open-world-like execution to them. We liked the formula shown in the original Sly Cooper, but the one used in its various sequels isn't bad either!

v658. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (Wii, GCN) - Zora's Domain

Originally from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Zora's Domain gets a huge upgrade in Twilight Princess. Not only is the area more amazing to marvel at, but the music is absolutely even more soothing than what was in Ocarina of Time. How that's possible is beyond us, as the Ocarina of Time version was already enough to soothe the savage beast, as they say!

v659. Tales of the Abyss (PS2, 3DS) - Meaning of Birth

Phil said in his review of the 3DS version of Tales of the Abyss that the music wasn't particularly memorable save for a few select tracks. One such track is "Meaning of Birth", a symphonic wonder that definitely brings the drama to the game. Although the cast of characters is one of the most obnoxious parties to ever grace a JRPG, at least the battle system was worthwhile, right?

v660. Xenosaga III (PS2) - In a Limestone Cave

We conclude this edition of SuperPhillip Central's Favorite VGMs with a relaxing piece. It's played in one of the dungeons of the game, and it's quite low-key. The deep strings heard throughout the piece invoke a feeling of calm, despite the place being full of ravenous monsters ready to take your battle skills up to task.

SuperPhillip Central's Favorite VGMs - New Year, New VGMs

Happy 2014 everybody! It's a new year, and we're celebrating it right with a new installment of SuperPhillip Central's Favorite VGM. On this edition we have it all-- Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch, The Last Story, and Monster Hunter Freedom Unite. We can't wait any longer-- time for some great music!

v536. Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch (PS3) - Taking to the Skies

Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch won runner-up at our SuperPhillip Central Best of 2013 Awards, coming just behind The Last of Us. Ni no Kuni is like an interactive fairy tale that presents the player with a magical world to explore. Joe Hisaishi's soundtrack (the same man who does the music for Studio Ghibli's films) for the game assists in this greatly.

v537. The Last Story (Wii) - Invitation to Madness

The team of producer Hironobu Sakaguchi and composer Nobuo Uematsu deliver an interesting RPG world with the Wii exclusive The Last Story. While the game does not outshine the likes of its same console competition in Xenoblade Chronicles, there's no denying that The Last Story is still a worthwhile game to play and own in the Wii library.

v538. Xenosaga III (PS2) - Assault #2

The third and final Xenosaga game, Xenosaga III had its music composed by Yuki Kajiura, and in brilliant fashion, might we add. Yuki Kajiura's previous credits include Xenosaga II, .hack//SIGN, and Noir. Xenosaga III would not be as engrossing a game without Kajiura's musical presence.

v539. Golden Sun: The Lost Age (GBA) - Mars Lighthouse

Famed composer Motoi Sakuraba lent his many musical talents to the Camelot-developer Golden Sun: The Lost Age, the sequel to Golden Sun. Both games released on the Game Boy Advance, and it's quite amazing how Sakuraba-san crafted music within the parameters and limitations of the Game Boy Advance sound capabilities. Such a great example of this is the theme we've chosen, Mars Lighthouse.

v540. Monster Hunter Freedom Unite (PSP) - White Fatalis Theme

Imagine that you're walking along an icy valley when suddenly you turn around and are greeted by a colossal white beast and this theme begins playing. That is what many Monster Hunter Freedom Unite players experienced when they first encountered White Fatalis. That and a lot of one-hit knockouts!