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Today's Track is a remix from Dj Sharpnel: Gradius - Challenger 1985 (Stage 1)
Please note due to copyright issues I can not make this song available for you to download directly.
Gradius, one of the first Shoot 'em Ups back in the mid 80's, it surely made a trend for other games of its type. And of course, something that truly strikes from Gradius is the soundtrack, so many songs have been remixed by many artists in many different styles, especially Challenger 1985 which is the iconic theme for the first stage of Gradius. Also Dj Shapnel has some pretty great songs and his Gradius remixes are awesome, but I like this one the most.
While the original song is more calmed and slow, this one is very high paced which captures the spirit of Gradius going to space a really high speeds dodging bullets and enemies in path and also shooting them. It's a really good remix and probably my favorite, since I use it when I play the game.
If you enjoyed this song and have any comments or suggestions for future "I love that song" segments, please click the "Add new comment" link or contact us via Twitter: @olr, @Darktetsuya or me, @act_deft!
Final Fight: Magic Sword: (Normally this is the part where I'd say I can't make these available for download, but read the article for details!!!)
Normally I wouldn't do such a recent release, but after getting to check this game out early at WonderCon 2010 (if you haven't seen my write-up it's back on the site a little ways, go read it if you haven't!) I can safely say the game looks to be particularly awesome. It's available now on PSN and XBLA so if you're looking for some oldschool Capcom-flavored beat-em-up action, then I highly recommend checking this out!
Final Fight is probably the more popular of the two. Mayor Mike Haggar's daughter has been kidnapped! and it's up to our muscular ex-wrestler hero and his friends Cody and Guy to save her from the evil Mad Gear gang! Smash your way past armies of the Mad Gear's thugs on the way to rescue her!
Magic Sword probably isn't as popular, but still a pretty good action-platform game. Run from left to right thru over 50 levels slashing enemies and jumping on plaftorms and over pits, all in an attempt to destroy the evil Black Orb. You can also rescue compainions to aid you along the way, and have a 2nd player join in at any time.
But what's really awesome about this update, is that you can play with both the original CPS1 audio, or the newly remixed soundtrack! They hired Simon Viklund to remix the music (for Final Fight -- Magic Sword was remixed by Trond-Viggo Melssen and Erik Thunberg, both of them also former employees of Grin. Thanks gunnarankafor the heads-up!) and I have to say he did a really fucking amazing job with Final Fight. I really liked this arrangement (So much that I muted the music on my copy of Capcom Classics Collection and played thru the game using the arranged version soundtrack.)
Lastly, did you notice the lack of a disclaimer saying I can't tell you where to download this soundtrack? Another sweet bonus is that Capcom has actually made the soundtracks available for free! You can download it HERE! Just so you know the mixes I've featured don't contain the entire OST, (both of them would've been a good 10 minutes each otherwise) but I think I captured a good selection of the music from both games.
After a quick laundry lesson at the top of the show, we jump into game news with a report on the shakeups still happening at Infinity Ward, and what this could mean for the Modern Warfare franchise. Also, we discuss a rumor that Conan O'Brien might have shook up Xbox Live if he had not gone to TBS. We talk gaming soundtracks and 3DS, and then discuss an interesting story about a sleep study dealing with violent video games. In Part B of this weeks show, we talk about the closure of Playstation Room, and why Playstation Network releases might be bumped back a few days. Some big rumors leak out of a Capcom press event in Hawaii, but what is less surprising-- the actual game announcements themselves, or the fact it leaked out? Before we get to the phone calls we cover a very strange story about a woman who falls off a Wii Fit board and then she.... well you will just have to listen to find out, because you can not make this stuff up. All this and MORE including your LIVE chatroom antics, phone calls, twitter topics, e-mails and more on the video game show where EVERY gamer has a voice-- Orange Lounge Radio!
Is it fall/winter 2010 yet? I only ask because with the deluge (okay, maybe more like slight trickle here and there and not even at a consistent rate) of information coming out for Final Fantasy 14, I'm looking to find a way to hibernate until it releases.
Thanks mostly to the fact that the game is in alpha, information on some of the very basic aspects of Square Enix's new MMO have been brought to light. We already knew that levels that characters earn in the traditional sense have been taken out in favor of earning ranks for specific disciplines based on the weapon you equip. However, you still earn points to customize your character's permanent stats that carry over to whatever discipline you decide to play as at any given time. Since it's in the alpha stages, who knows if these points you distribute are permanent or if there will be an option to redistribute for a fee or something similar (my bet is on the latter given the random information that has been leaked). The possibilities of this extra level of customization are amazing. I could be a Conjurer with an insane amount of HP - probably to the point where my magic abilities would suffer greatly, but I could take tons of hits and survive. Impractical? Yup. But it's my character and this system allows me to play however (messed up) I want to.
It also seems that they've come up with a way to incorporate a form of Final Fantasy 11's subjob system into the game. Reports state that some of the abilities you learn under one discipline become available to you as another discipline once you hit certain ranks. An example I've read is learning a taunt from the Pugilist class called "Whistle" and equipping it to a more tank-suitable discipline. I've also heard of learning "Fire" as a Conjurer and using it on one of the Disciples of War disciplines.
Being that, again, the game is only in the alpha stages, all of this could change. I don't want it to, though. These gameplay aspects make Final Fantasy 14 quite different than anything on the market. Gamers seem to constantly be clamoring for something new and exciting that can change up the MMO formula, and this game looks like that's what it's trying to do. If this changes are just what they've got going in the alpha, I can't wait to see what they can do for the beta and beyond. Here's hoping they pick me to help with the beta so I won't have to play vicariously until it releases. And if they don't pick me, it's back to finding a way to hibernate.
