Bitmob Community Jukebox #13: Unlucky 13 Edition

Editor's note: There are some fantastic tunes in this "Unlucky 13" edition of the Bitmob Community Jukebox. But don't take my word for it -- listen for yourself! - Aaron


Apparently you people hate me.

In this edition, I had to deal with Lynyrd Skynyrd and The Offspring. And let's not even talk about the hilarious travesty that is Brian Petro-Roy's choice.

But it's all in good fun. Listen on for Brian Shirk, Jasmine Maleficent Rea, and Evan Killham's superior choices.

And now, on to the Unlucky Number 13 Ironic Enjoyment Edition of the Bitmob Community Jukebox.

 


There are two ways to listen:

Method 1: Pick and Choose

1. Grim Fandango - Swanky Maximino

2. Silent Hill - Theme

3. Pitfall: The Mayan Adventure - Lakamul Rainforest

4. Chu Chu Rocket - Theme*

5. Rez - Area 5

6. Super Mario Bros. 2 - Ending Music

7. Ninja Gaiden 2 - The Parasprinter

8. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City - Japanese Boy by Aneka


Community Jukebox

9. Dark Cloud 2 - Rainbow Butterfly Woods suggested by Evan Killham

10. Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles - The Eliptic Express suggested by Jasmine Maleficent Rea

11. Super Smash Bros. Melee - Fourside Remix suggested by Travis McReynolds

12. Burning Rangers - We Are Burning Rangers suggested by Brian Petro-Roy

13. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas - Freebird by Lynyrd Skynyrd suggested by Lance Darnell

14. Crazy Taxi 2 - No Brakes by The Offspring suggested by Alex R. Cronk-Young

15. Half Minute Hero - The End of Agony suggested by Brian Shirk++good


Method 2: Let It Ride (click here to listen in a separate window)


For all you newcomers, here's how it is. Even though I've done a Meet the Mob, there is something important you should know about me.For some reason, over the years, my mind has acted as a sort of a Roledex for great videogame ditties.  (For all you youngsters out there, a Rolodex is an archaic device that people used to keep important contact information on. I guess it's sort of like an abacus at this point.)

Because of this, every Monday I will be posting fifteen well-known and not-so-well-known video game songs.

There's a catch however; I will not be providing all of the songs; I'll provide only the remainder of the total fifteen. To clarify, most will be suggested - hopefully songs I've never heard - and hopefully only a few will be chosen by me.

Ultimately, I would like enough suggestions to have it so that five, or even one song is donated by myself, thus truly making it the Community Jukebox.

It's important to note that all submissions will be credited to the community members who provided them.

The only guidelines are that any song chosen must be from a non-music game, or from a music game with original content. Licensed songs are also OK, but they must be from something other than a music game.

This means that Fallout and Grand Theft Auto songs are fair game, whereas Guitar Hero and Rock Band songs aren't. If licensed songs become too prolific, however, I may stop taking them as submissions.

Also, to note, I will try my hardest  to find the original names of every song, yours or mine, but if I can't, I will give it a name, and mark it with an asterisk. In addition, all songs are set to open in a new tab, so feel free to click away and have them play in the background as you surf Bitmob or get some work done.

Songs appear in no particular order whatsoever, save that community submissions will be segmented from my choices and shown last.

Each week, I will also be choosing my favorite submission, The Double-Plus Good Pick of the Week. The winner will receive exactly nothing, except being last song with this beside their entry: ++good.

As a small guideline, if you'd like to win the The Double-Plus Good Pick of the Week, try to pick something obscure or, at the very least, recent. We all know titles like Mega Man and Final Fantasy had great music  in the 8-bit and 16-bit eras, and I will be featuring songs like these every week (that's my bread and butter).

But, in the interest of keeping the Jukebox new and surprising,  if you can come up with a great song that I've forgotten, or, better yet, never heard, you'll have a leg up on the competition. Just keep in mind what I said at the top, and if you've read my Meet the Mob, the size of my game case.

Either way, feel free to submit whatever you like. Please. I can't reinforce enough that all submissions are welcome.

As an added bonus, I will also try to add an immediate comment about the awesomeness of the winner commenter's song and why everyone else should pay special attention to it. This will be an in-joke for those who keep up.

Most importantly, since I hope to keep doing this for awhile, only one submission response per person per post. That way I'll have less to parse, and you folks will be able to submit for an extended period of time. If you submit multiple requests, I will not listen to any of them.

Again, only one submission response per person per post.

~James D., read at The Sophist, heard at, Sophist Radio

P.S. Freebird!!!! Freeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeebiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiird! (Hopefully we've gotten that out of the way now.)

Comments (12)

This week's double-plus-good was a narrow victory. I wanted to give to Jasmine and Evan as well (and secretly Brian P.).

But there's something to be said about hearing a great song you've never heard from a game you've never played.

I also love eastern breath instrument styles and how they leave out brasswinds. There is something nautical and wistful about the way they sound the eschews the catapulting sound of western brass.

Eastern flutes and woodwinds lull you rather than wowing you.

Mostly though, Brian reminded me of a song that I want to use on the next Jukebox, and that's why he got ++good.

Cheers, Mr. Shirk, and if you could, in your comment tell me more about what kind of game Half Minute Hero is.
James DeRosa , November 01, 2009
Satomi Tadashi Pharmacy theme 2009
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_UkRcnh8HQ

The lyrics tell you what the items in the shop do for you. Helpful, if you speak Japanese. this is arguably the best version of the song and from the Persona PSP remake.
Jasmine Maleficent Rea , November 02, 2009
Great list of songs once again! Loved 'em all, but I especially liked the Ninja Gaiden II song. And I haven't played Burning Rangers, but that has to have some of the best rapping ever in a video game.

So Half-Minute Hero is a PSP title that includes 4 different games. One's a series of 30 short RPGs you have to complete in 30 seconds each. Another is a series of 30 escort missions. A third game has thirty real-time strategy missions, and a fourth has 30-side/vertical-scrolling shooter levels.

Basically, Half-Minute Hero is a bunch of bite-sized games featuring 8-bit styled art that pokes fun at JRPGs. Its soundtrack is quite diverse with around 14 composers including famous Japanese guitarists and a number of respectable composers such as Yuzo Koshiro and Motoi Sakuraba. I reviewed it if you'd like to know more.

Okay, but for this week's pick, I'm going with one more from Half-Minute Hero called Last Battle:

http://www.youtube.com/user/Wplayer#p/u/36/GrRt5TclDh8



Brian Shirk , November 02, 2009
My suggestion is the first level from Everyday Shooter.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sg8svFw3Zk4
J. Cosmo Cohen , November 02, 2009
Damn you Cosmo! I was going to use that soon!
James DeRosa , November 02, 2009
@ James - I'll pick a different one, but give me a bit.
J. Cosmo Cohen , November 02, 2009
It brings a smile to my face to see all of the love for We Are Burning Rangers this week - I think the funniest thing about it is that it's a serious performance of a completely ridiculous song.

Anyway, let's go with a much more respectable selection from the Saturn musical catalog this week, with "Flight" from Panzer Dragoon:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4oTU0srt2I

I dare you guys to listen to that song and *not* imagine yourselves soaring through the air on the back of a dragon.
Brian Petro-Roy , November 02, 2009
@J. Cosmo Cohen You don't have to! I was just kidding.
James DeRosa , November 02, 2009
@ James - Ha ha, I know! But if you want to use it for a special edition or whatever, I'll seriously pick another one.

About three weeks ago right before my wife hurt her back, I was like, "Okay, I have the perfect Jukebox selection! Everyday Shooter!" But then she hurt her back so I haven't been able to suggest it.
J. Cosmo Cohen , November 02, 2009
It's brand-new, but this is what I've been playing.

Cage the Elephant - "Ain't No Rest for the Wicked" (from Borderlands)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_Tr8YQuKAA
Evan Killham , November 02, 2009
The Theme from Grandia. When you got to... uh, that place... and this theme kicked in. I got chills. Every single time I've played this game, which is at least 3 or 4, I've gotten chills.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i36tXq7yK6c
Alex R. Cronk-Young , November 04, 2009
I don't think I've seen any Um Jammer Lammy on here before, so let me venture this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DsbO_riTJos
Travis McReynolds , November 04, 2009

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