Konami's unique use of percussions were one of my favorite things about their music. You knew it was a Konami game when you heard those signature sounds.
3:14 Wow, the sound effects and music in the NES version of Pooyan sounds so close to the ones from the original arcade version( despite using a 2A03 instead of an AY sound chip)!
1:48:25 Say what now?! NANI?! There was gonna be a PAL version of the Famicom before the NES was invented?! No way! Man, I wish that actually happened, would have really benefited from that!
That music playing during Doremiko isn’t just Konami-sounding music, it’s from Gradius. Also one of the other commenters is right. The music from Life Force is too slow. I don’t know if it’s the difference between the Japanese and American versions or what. Love this video! So much great information. I’d heard the reason some Natsume games like Abadox and SCAT has Konami-esque sounds was because one of the sound guys left Konami and went to Natsume, but I didn’t know TWO did and I didn’t know their names. Great work!
It's interesting how their earlier works on the NES/FC PSG chipset are very much shaped by what the MSX's sound chips could do - you could feel the programmers get more and more comfortable working outside their usual PSG chipsets with each game.
What an incredible insight in this company's history! Thanks a lot, this is truly fascinating for anyone who's into retro games, music making or who's just curious about where it all started.
This and your similar Capcom NES music video have to be two of my favorite videos out there on UA-cam. Both have an amazing amount of time and effort put into researching information, same can go for the podcasts they're based on (that are amazing too btw). There's sound design analysis is also super detailed and rich; I wish there were more chiptune sound design analysis stuff out there. I would love to see videos like these done for individual chiptune composers, specially Alberto J. González, Jeroen Tel and/or Tim Follin.
1:18:07 I recall the reason why Snake's Revenge references the VRC4 is because that was planned to be used for the first Metal Gear on NES, but could not be used, hence the infamous mech being replaced with the supercomputer we remember the NES port for.
Thanks so much! That Gradius 2 track is sick. And Zen: Intergalactic Ninja was a new discovery for me as well. I've heard people say they've liked the soundtrack before, but it wasn't until putting this together that I finally gave it a listen. It's REALLY good.
Lagrange Point needs more exposure...that music is lit af.... also, Castlevania is fucking awesome, Contra's hard as balls, and Konami made some fire TMNT and Tiny Toons games.
No joke I used to play this 24/7 non-stop. I still remember coming back to school and immediately booting up my NES and enjoy Twinbee till my mom forces me to stop playing xD
This video is so perfect! I'm beginning to make NES style music and this helps so much to gives inspirations and also the tips and trivias are super duper cool! Thanks a lot ❤️
Fantastic compilation! I love the Konami sound, most of their compositions are rather short loops but they're very creative and tend to mix different genres. Some of my favs are: Bayou Billy (of course, that funky bassline, these drums, that guitar!) Snake's Revenge, Monster in my pocket, Mission Impossible, RollerGames, TMNT III, Top Gun 2 and F1 Sensation, among many others of course! I like how these japanese VG companies did care a lot about the sound department, whereas american-developped games were, you know... not that good, in terms of music (and in general).
Kenji Fukui of The Lone Ranger actually is Kenichiro Fukui. And I believe it's the only NES game He composed for Konami. Just to think that someone was involved with the sound of an astounding NES US-exclusive made by Konami, and would later go on to work for Square Enix?
It's sad what Konami has become in modern times... the composers they had in the 80s were so far ahead of the curve and I respect their attention to pushing the sound limits of the Famicom and FDS. Audio is 50% of the experience after all.
A thing about Skate or Die's title theme... it's definitely an arrangement by Kouji Murata, as it still has that Konami sound, and I highly doubt Konami would've gotten Hubbard to just do one song. Hubbard did do his own NES-based take on the theme in Skate or Die 2, which is a lot closer to the original C64 Skate or Die's title theme.
That would make the most sense, though in reviewing these games' music I somehow wound up with the impression that it wasn't very Konami-sounding, which I found interesting. Something about the instrumentation and arrangement feels a bit different. They likely just tried to do a good job covering the track, and wound up making something very much not in their typical style.
Thanks! I plan on doing more, for sure. I'm currently researching Capcom's NES music (really probing into the sound engines and weird audio quirks), so that would likely be next. But that could still be a couple months away. I did do a podcast episode on Sunsoft, so some of what went into that podcast could be reworked into a video like this as well. But I'll probably save that for after Capcom. :) soundcloud.com/retrogameaudio/the-evolution-of-sunsoft-audio
Was Konamic Tennis outsourced to an uncredited third-party developer, I wonder? The whole thing feels slightly *off*, even compared to Konami's earlier games. (The menu font, in particular, reminds me of a whole bunch of 'ghost-developed' Famicom games.)
That's a good question! It could help explain why it sounds so un-Konami-like. I wonder if it's another game by Tose that simply hasn't been identified as theirs yet. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tose_(company)
Ah, it was published by Konami, but not developed. As far as I can tell by the audio too, it doesn't really fit into the evolution of their sound design. The following games were omitted for that reason: Mighty Atom, Motocross Champion, Defender of the Crown, Silent Service, Where in Time is Carmen Sandiego?, Pirates!, Bill Elliot's NASCAR Challenge, Nightshade, Star Trek: 25th Anniversary, King's Quest V, Tiny Toon Adventures: Cartoon Workshop, and Noah's Ark. I meant to clarify this in the video information, but ran out of character-space! :)
For Gradius: is there a particular reason that makes you think it may be a error in programming? Irregular measures and complex time signatures do exist in music!
I can't be certain and it could just be a subjective bias, but there's a couple things that make it feel "uneasy" in a way that feels more sloppy than artistic. The bass notes are always 1 frame behind in time from the melody-- maybe not a "mistake", maybe they meant for the base notes to have a slightly slower attack, but it's a little odd. Then for the melody, there's these two notes near the end of the loop that are delayed by a 16th note. It has a herky-jerkyness that doesn't feel very musical. I get a sort of Elevator Action / A Boy and His Blob vibe from it, where the timings are iffy but not in a competent sounding way. Contrast this to something like Overture from Castlevania 3, or a bunch of tracks from Contra Force, where odd meters are present but don't sound like someone learning to play an instrument :)
The Goonies II track sampled in this video is a cover of the Cyndi Lauper song. It's also a redone version of the same track from the Goonies I game, but with more channels utilized and better techniques that composers had learned over the years
I would expect they didn't bother getting permission. I'd imagine this sort of thing to fly under the radar, especially one of their earlier games like this. But of course I don't know for certain!
Man, this is when Konami was still a respectable video game developer. Nowadays they are just make pachinko, slot machine and sad imitation of video games.
This is what I call an VGM encyclopedia. Very nice work, congratulations. Hope every VGM fan could stop and watch this.
i realize I am kinda off topic but does anybody know a good site to watch newly released movies online ?
Konami's unique use of percussions were one of my favorite things about their music. You knew it was a Konami game when you heard those signature sounds.
3:14 Wow, the sound effects and music in the NES version of Pooyan sounds so close to the ones from the original arcade version( despite using a 2A03 instead of an AY sound chip)!
43:04 And the pulse waves in this soundtrack sound like those sax pulse instruments from Bayou Billy and S.C.A.T.
1:05:09 This track's use of DPCM bass samples is so Sunsoft-esque!
1:48:25 Say what now?! NANI?! There was gonna be a PAL version of the Famicom before the NES was invented?! No way! Man, I wish that actually happened, would have really benefited from that!
01. 0:00:00 Yie Ar Kung Fu (イー・アル・カンフー Ī ) 02. 0:01:11 Antarctic Adventure (けっきょく南極大冒険) 03. 0:02:16 Hyper Olympic (ハイパーオリンピック) / Track and Field 04. 0:02:32 Road Fighter (ロードファイター) 05. 0:02:38 Pooyan (プーヤン) 06. 0:03:22 Hyper Sports (ハイパースポーツ) 07. 0:03:28 Twinbee (ツインビー) 08. 0:05:14 The Goonies (グーニーズ) 09. 0:06:12 Circus Charlie (サーカスチャーリー) 10. 0:07:11 Gradius (グラディウス) 11. 0:07:56 Ganbare Goemon! Karakuri Dōchū (がんばれゴエモン!からくり道中) 12. 0:08:52 Akumajou Dracula (悪魔城ドラキュラ) / Castlevania 13. 0:09:54 Moero TwinBee: Cinnamon-hakase o Sukue! (もえろツインビー シナモン博士を救え!) / Stinger 14. 0:11:19 Nazo no Kabe: Block-kuzushi (謎の壁 ブロックくずし) / Crackout 15. 0:12:30 King Kong 2: Ikari no Megaton Punch (キングコング2 怒りのメガトンパンチ) 16. 0:14:39 Hi no Tori Hououhen: Gaou no Bouken (火の鳥 鳳凰編 我王の冒険) 17. 0:16:17 Esper Dream (エスパードリーム) 18. 0:17:33 The Goonies II (グーニーズ2 フラッテリー最後の挑戦) 19. 0:19:11 Green Beret (グリーンベレー) / Rush'n Attack 20. 0:19:27 Ai Senshi Nicol (愛戦士ニコル) 21. 0:20:27 Meikyū Jiin Dababa (迷宮寺院ダババ) 22. 0:21:51 Exciting Billiard (エキサイティング ビリヤード) 23. 0:22:32 Getsu Fūma Den (月風魔伝) 24. 0:24:19 Exciting Basket / Double Dribble 25. 0:25:00 Arumana no Kiseki (アルマナの奇跡) 26. 0:26:09 The Maze of Galious (魔城伝説II ガリウスの迷宮 Majō Densetsu Tsū: Gariusu no Meikyū) 27. 0:27:21 Dracula II: Noroi no Fūin (ドラキュラII 呪いの封印) / Castlevania II: Simon's Quest 28. 0:28:30 Double Dribble 29. 0:29:03 Salamander (沙羅曼蛇 / サラマンダ) / Life Force 30. 0:30:27 Falsion (ファルシオン) 31. 0:32:04 Top Gun 32. 0:33:32 Doremiko / Doremikko / Doremi-ko (ドレミッコ) 33. 0:34:38 Dragon Scroll (ドラゴンスクロール 甦りし魔竜) 34. 0:36:24 Exciting Baseball 35. 0:36:53 Exciting Boxing 36. 0:37:44 Metal Gear (メタルギア) 37. 0:39:16 Konami Wai Wai World (コナミワイワイワールド) 38. 0:40:28 Contra (魂斗羅) / Probotector 39. 0:42:16 Exciting Soccer: Konami Cup 40. 0:44:17 Bio Miracle Bokutte Upa (バイオミラクル ぼくってウパ) 41. 0:45:38 Final Command: Akai Yōsai (ファイナルコマンド 赤い要塞) / Jackal 42. 0:45:58 Risa no Yōsei Densetsu (リサの妖精伝説) 43. 0:46:59 Jarinko Chie (じゃりン子チエ) 44. 0:47:29 Konamic Ice Hockey / Blades of Steel 45. 0:48:33 Mad City (マッド・シティ) / The Adventures of Bayou Billy 46. 0:50:05 Konamic Tennis (コナミック テニス) 47. 0:50:53 Konamic Sports in Seoul / Track & Field II 48. 0:51:44 Gyruss (ジャイラス) 49. 0:53:36 Castlevania 2: Simon's Quest 50. 0:54:51 Gradius II (グラディウスII) 51. 0:55:49 Skate or Die! 52. 0:57:10 Ganbare Goemon 2 (がんばれゴエモン2) 53. 0:58:47 Ganbare Pennant Race! 54. 0:59:56 Q*bert 55. 1:00:39 Gekikame Ninja Den (激亀忍者伝) / Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 56. 1:01:55 Cosmic Wars (コズミックウォーズ) 57. 1:03:10 Racer Mini Yonku: Japan Cup (レーサーミニ四駆 ジャパンカップ) 58. 1:04:32 TwinBee 3: Poko Poko Daimaō (Japanese: ツインビー３ ポコポコ大魔王) 59. 1:05:07 Top Gun: Dual Fighters / Top Gun: Second Mission 60. 1:05:41 Akumajō Densetsu (悪魔城伝説) / Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse 61. 1:07:32 Ganbare Goemon Gaiden: Kieta Ōgon Kiseru (がんばれゴエモン外伝 きえた黄金キセル) 62. 1:08:49 Kings of the Beach 63. 1:09:50 Super Contra (スーパー魂斗羅 エイリアンの逆襲) / Super C / Probotector II: Return of the Evil Forces 64. 1:11:49 Moai Kun (モアイくん) 65. 1:12:25 Jack Nicklaus' Greatest 18 Holes of Major Championship Golf 66. 1:13:12 Mōryō Senki MADARA 67. 1:15:05 Quarth (クォース) 68. 1:16:58 Snake's Revenge 69. 1:18:45 Castlevania 3: Dracula's Curse 70. 1:19:56 Mission: Impossible 71. 1:20:42 RollerGames 72. 1:22:14 Akumajō Special: Boku Dracula-kun (悪魔城すぺしゃる ぼくドラキュラくん) 73. 1:23:16 Parodius Da! (パロディウスだ! －神話からお笑いへ－) 74. 1:24:11 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Arcade Game 75. 1:25:08 Wai Wai World 2: SOS!! Parsley Jō (ワイワイワールド2 SOS!!パセリ城) 76. 1:27:16 Yume Penguin Monogatari (夢ペンギン物語) 77. 1:28:48 Ski or Die 78. 1:31:28 Gun Sight (ガンサイト) / Laser Invasion 79. 1:32:20 Lagrange Point (ラグランジュポイント) 80. 1:33:47 Cyber Stadium Series: Base Wars 81. 1:34:45 Crisis Force (クライシスフォース) 82. 1:35:52 The Lone Ranger 83. 1:37:03 Rampart 84. 1:37:50 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III: The Manhattan Project 85. 1:39:26 Tiny Toon Adventures 86. 1:39:59 Ganbare Goemon Gaiden 2: Tenka no Zaihō (がんばれゴエモン外伝２ 天下の財宝) 87. 1:40:40 Bucky O'Hare (バッキー オヘア) 88. 1:42:20 Monster In My Pocket 89. 1:43:13 Esper Dream 2: Aratanaru Tatakai (エスパードリーム2 新たなる戦い) 90. 1:44:19 Contra Force 91. 1:45:40 Tiny Toon Adventures 2: Montana Land e Yōkoso / Tiny Toon Adventures 2: Trouble in Wackyland 92. 1:47:05 Konami Hyper Soccer 93. 1:47:31 F-1 Sensation / Formula 1 Sensation 94. 1:49:02 Batman Returns 95. 1:50:14 Bio Miracle Bokutte Upa 96. 1:51:02 Zen: Intergalactic Ninja 97. 1:52:29 Rackets and Rivals 98. 1:53:49 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tournament Fighters
That music playing during Doremiko isn’t just Konami-sounding music, it’s from Gradius.
Also one of the other commenters is right. The music from Life Force is too slow. I don’t know if it’s the difference between the Japanese and American versions or what.
Love this video! So much great information. I’d heard the reason some Natsume games like Abadox and SCAT has Konami-esque sounds was because one of the sound guys left Konami and went to Natsume, but I didn’t know TWO did and I didn’t know their names. Great work!
Upon hearing Doremiko I was instantly reminded of this:
ua-cam.com/video/aPQN8lpq3Qs/v-deo.html
It's interesting how their earlier works on the NES/FC PSG chipset are very much shaped by what the MSX's sound chips could do - you could feel the programmers get more and more comfortable working outside their usual PSG chipsets with each game.
Then, I think most of Konamis early Famicom work was MSX ports too.
What an incredible insight in this company's history! Thanks a lot, this is truly fascinating for anyone who's into retro games, music making or who's just curious about where it all started.
This and your similar Capcom NES music video have to be two of my favorite videos out there on UA-cam. Both have an amazing amount of time and effort put into researching information, same can go for the podcasts they're based on (that are amazing too btw). There's sound design analysis is also super detailed and rich; I wish there were more chiptune sound design analysis stuff out there.
I would love to see videos like these done for individual chiptune composers, specially Alberto J. González, Jeroen Tel and/or Tim Follin.
1:18:07 I recall the reason why Snake's Revenge references the VRC4 is because that was planned to be used for the first Metal Gear on NES, but could not be used, hence the infamous mech being replaced with the supercomputer we remember the NES port for.
I am LOVING This channel.
Also, Holy shit, 'dat Exciting BIlliard track is amazing, actually.
Thanks so much! That Gradius 2 track is sick.
And Zen: Intergalactic Ninja was a new discovery for me as well. I've heard people say they've liked the soundtrack before, but it wasn't until putting this together that I finally gave it a listen. It's REALLY good.
Lagrange Point needs more exposure...that music is lit af....
also, Castlevania is fucking awesome, Contra's hard as balls, and Konami made some fire TMNT and Tiny Toons games.
Hi Bucky, this is Mills, your game audio rips are the best. Thank you for your work and dedication
Great to hear from you Mills! Glad you dig it! :D
No joke I used to play this 24/7 non-stop. I still remember coming back to school and immediately booting up my NES and enjoy Twinbee till my mom forces me to stop playing xD
thanks for this awesome music collection :)
this is heaven for me
I'd love a Sunsoft NES music vídeo like this...
59:57 (Q*Bert): The track played actually does play after you complete Level 9 and see the game's ending.
Oh. I love this idea. Subbed.
This video is so perfect! I'm beginning to make NES style music and this helps so much to gives inspirations and also the tips and trivias are super duper cool! Thanks a lot ❤️
Fantastic compilation! I love the Konami sound, most of their compositions are rather short loops but they're very creative and tend to mix different genres.
Some of my favs are: Bayou Billy (of course, that funky bassline, these drums, that guitar!)
Snake's Revenge,
Monster in my pocket,
Mission Impossible,
RollerGames,
TMNT III,
Top Gun 2 and F1 Sensation, among many others of course!
I like how these japanese VG companies did care a lot about the sound department, whereas american-developped games were, you know... not that good, in terms of music (and in general).
Fantastic video. Entertaining, informative, and it's fascinating to see the evolution and changes.
that is awesome! thank you very much!
Wow. Thank you for making this video. Love the commentary.
I can't believe Tmnt tournament fighters is the last Konami nes/ famicom game, what a shamed :(
I miss old Konami...
Same
正しくそうです。🥺
Exactly...
@@BestAlmaz1987
We need to tell them that we miss them
Nice job, dude. Grate information.
It's worth mentioning that Antarctic Adventure music is an interpretation of Skater's Waltz
Same with Harold Faltermeyer for Top Gun and "76 Trombones" by Meredith Wilson for Ganbare Pennant Race!
That Esper Dream song, shame i never got to play it when I got FDS craze, but Esper Dream 2's docks theme is great too, and the game is also an RPG
Kenji Fukui of The Lone Ranger actually is Kenichiro Fukui. And I believe it's the only NES game He composed for Konami. Just to think that someone was involved with the sound of an astounding NES US-exclusive made by Konami, and would later go on to work for Square Enix?
It's sad what Konami has become in modern times... the composers they had in the 80s were so far ahead of the curve and I respect their attention to pushing the sound limits of the Famicom and FDS. Audio is 50% of the experience after all.
A thing about Skate or Die's title theme... it's definitely an arrangement by Kouji Murata, as it still has that Konami sound, and I highly doubt Konami would've gotten Hubbard to just do one song. Hubbard did do his own NES-based take on the theme in Skate or Die 2, which is a lot closer to the original C64 Skate or Die's title theme.
That would make the most sense, though in reviewing these games' music I somehow wound up with the impression that it wasn't very Konami-sounding, which I found interesting. Something about the instrumentation and arrangement feels a bit different. They likely just tried to do a good job covering the track, and wound up making something very much not in their typical style.
Esper Dream From Famicom Disk System Is Music Of The American NES
Track & Field had Europe Version It's Named Track & Field in Barcelona released by Kemco Europe in 1991
Konami has the best games and ost in these years and now has only one game PES...wtf are u doing Konami? bring back old ips restore you golden age
Thaaaaankssss!!!! #PolyStation
1:22:36 I also appreciate the sequence
Up up down down cheat is also applicable in that game
The mystery Q*Bert track plays (incompletely) during the game completion sequence. Find the TAS to hear it in action.
Any plans for a Konami SNES video? (And Capcom) :)
i would love a video like this for sunsoft...
Cool video! Will you do another for, say, Capcom or Sunsoft?
Thanks! I plan on doing more, for sure. I'm currently researching Capcom's NES music (really probing into the sound engines and weird audio quirks), so that would likely be next. But that could still be a couple months away.
I did do a podcast episode on Sunsoft, so some of what went into that podcast could be reworked into a video like this as well. But I'll probably save that for after Capcom. :) soundcloud.com/retrogameaudio/the-evolution-of-sunsoft-audio
the salamander music sound like too slow(pal version ?). Parodius was released not only on famicom but on nes in europe too (1993).
Konami pause is recognizable
I checked Wikipedia and Parodius was released in Europe in 1992 mr. Bucky
Can you do one for Konami's MSX games, too?
The Jack Nicklaus song honestly sounds like a Konami take on a Blaster Master song.
50 years of Konami
No wonder konami was gold age in 80s
They make 98 GAMES 👏😃
Was Konamic Tennis outsourced to an uncredited third-party developer, I wonder? The whole thing feels slightly *off*, even compared to Konami's earlier games. (The menu font, in particular, reminds me of a whole bunch of 'ghost-developed' Famicom games.)
That's a good question! It could help explain why it sounds so un-Konami-like. I wonder if it's another game by Tose that simply hasn't been identified as theirs yet. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tose_(company)
It just uses Higashi Mikio's old driver that's it.
The real mystery is actually Doremikko, which was programmed by Human Entertainment.
You Forgot! Noah's Ark on NES
Ah, it was published by Konami, but not developed. As far as I can tell by the audio too, it doesn't really fit into the evolution of their sound design. The following games were omitted for that reason:
Mighty Atom, Motocross Champion, Defender of the Crown, Silent Service, Where in Time is Carmen Sandiego?, Pirates!, Bill Elliot's NASCAR Challenge, Nightshade, Star Trek: 25th Anniversary, King's Quest V, Tiny Toon Adventures: Cartoon Workshop, and Noah's Ark.
I meant to clarify this in the video information, but ran out of character-space! :)
For Gradius: is there a particular reason that makes you think it may be a error in programming? Irregular measures and complex time signatures do exist in music!
I can't be certain and it could just be a subjective bias, but there's a couple things that make it feel "uneasy" in a way that feels more sloppy than artistic. The bass notes are always 1 frame behind in time from the melody-- maybe not a "mistake", maybe they meant for the base notes to have a slightly slower attack, but it's a little odd. Then for the melody, there's these two notes near the end of the loop that are delayed by a 16th note. It has a herky-jerkyness that doesn't feel very musical.
I get a sort of Elevator Action / A Boy and His Blob vibe from it, where the timings are iffy but not in a competent sounding way. Contrast this to something like Overture from Castlevania 3, or a bunch of tracks from Contra Force, where odd meters are present but don't sound like someone learning to play an instrument :)
Why was Salamander slowed down? There wasn't any explanation on that game too.
Is the Cyndi Lauper song in Goonies II?
The Goonies II track sampled in this video is a cover of the Cyndi Lauper song. It's also a redone version of the same track from the Goonies I game, but with more channels utilized and better techniques that composers had learned over the years
Jarinko Chie's music here sounds like some of the goofy tunes you hear in the Osomatsu-kun '88 anime or the Japanese version of Samurai Pizza Cats.
Enter Your Name: BUCKY... I know that guy! Sub'd!
I do not think Konami produced the Famicom/MSX versions of Pooyan.
I wonder if they paid Vangelis royalties for Hyper Olympic
I would expect they didn't bother getting permission. I'd imagine this sort of thing to fly under the radar, especially one of their earlier games like this. But of course I don't know for certain!
It's highly likely they didn't, especially considering modern re-releases of T&F alter the song so that it doesn't sound like Chariots of Fire.
Seems like Getsu Fuma Den borrows some notes from Outrun?
Why the hell is the Life Force music so slow?
Show Konami \0/, like in vídeo
1:05:41
Wait so Contra was released AFTER Konami Wai Wai and not before it? O_o
According to famicomworld, Wai Wai World was released roughly 1 month before Contra. Seems like they might have been developed around the same time.
@@retrogameaudio
OK i just realised, Contra was first released for the arcades
isn't 75 a contra song? what the f ! xD remixed and weird but it is..
Man, this is when Konami was still a respectable video game developer. Nowadays they are just make pachinko, slot machine and sad imitation of video games.
What I learned from this video is that Bucky sucks at shooting game.