Back in September, I asked Bitmobbers, through a challenge called Concept Album, to show the world how music can make a great game better. Seven people responded to the prompt, and now these headliners are ready for their opening night

Caught in a Loop: The Sound of Falling Tetrominoes
By Richard Moss
Richard’s piece on Tetris is a good place to start. While Tetris’ music uses very simple technology and largely comes from Russian folk music, it serves as a template for what video-game music should be: catchy and in tune with the gameplay.

Concept Album: Sonic the Hedgehog 2
By Chase Koeneke
Our next stop is the '90s rapper of video-game characters, Sonic The Hedgehog. No matter how many family films or fitness workouts Sonic sells nowadays, you can't take away his earlier masterpieces. Chase focuses on the blast-processing classics from the Blue Blur’s second game.

Donkey Kong Country 2 and the Case for Thematic Themes
By Jeremy Signor
Like a revolutionary '70s rock band, the Donkey Kong Country games were a major force in the 16-bit era, but since then the franchise has dabbled only in strange pet projects. We’ll see if the series still has it when Donkey Kong Country Returns hits shelves later this year, and if you read Jeremy’s article you’ll wish Nintendo had David Wise, DKC's composer, on speed dial.

Castlevania's Soundtrack of Horror
By Jonathon Oyama
Unlike the earlier entries, Castlevania has beenpretty  consistently good since its inception, even when you know it will play "Vampire Killer" at every stop. Jonathon highlights Rondo of Blood, an important game that bridged the early Castlevanias with the modern incarnations of today. I wonder how many garage bands are named after Castlevania games?

Skate Punk Perfected: The Soundtrack of Tony Hawk's Pro Skater
By Nick Nordstorm
Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater has always been about the punk rock scene, and like many acts, in time, the franchise fell into disfavor and became the corporate entity it originally rebelled against. Nick brings us back to happier days, when we were still trying to hit a million points in three minutes and licensed music was still a rarity.

Concept Album - Street Fighter 3: 3rd Strike
By Chris Hoadley
Like The Beatles, the Street Fighter series has gone through distinct eras and everyone has their favorite. Consider Street Fighter 3: 3rd Strike the studio era, where the band dropped the colorfulness of the Alpha years and went in its own direction.

Concept Album - BlazBlue: Continuum Shift
By Marcel Hoang
Daisuke Ishiwatari had it all in with his uncompromising heavy metal fighter Guilty Gear -- that is, until the series made an ill-advised foray into action-strategy and everything fell apart. But now Ishiwatari has cleaned up and returned with a new act, BlazBlue. Marcel shows us why he is still the best at making righteous tunes that tell a story. 

Shining the Holy Ark (Concept Album)
By Ryan Good
Shining the Holy Ark is a Sega Saturn effort that’s related to the Shining Force titles. The Shining series is sort of an underground act in the world of role-playing games, and I wished Ryan could have written into the 400- to 800-word required range for this prompt. That way he could make elaborate more on why the music is memorable. 

Big thanks to everyone who submitted a piece. If you didn’t see your article up here, please let me know in the comments. This month Jeremy Signor has taken the reins for his Editor’s Choice challenge. Be sure to join forces with a fellow writer and prove that two heads are better than one.