For the open minded
techno /
trance /
rave fans,
video game music can offer a surprising variety of
bouncing tunes and
happy beats. Even before
Wipeout, which was one of the reasons for the original
PlayStation's successful start, and obviously after it as well, games have employed techno often for its fast, energetic,
background music style.
Sota Fujimori is Konami's techno god, responsible for the overblown remixed soundtrack to Castlevania Chronicles, a PlayStation rerelease of the original Castlevania's X68000 iteration. When you start the game, you are treated to Vampire Killer, Fujimori's dance floor take on the Castlevania series' best-known theme. This might appeal most to Castlevania afficionados, especially with the series überhero Simon dancing his way to the gate of Dracula's accursed castle exactly in the rhythm of Fujimori's beats.
The Sota Fujimori style from Castlevania Chronicles has carried over to the Shin Contra soundtrack, one of video game music's most brilliantly designed albums. While Silent Hill maestro Akira Yamaoka mostly provides the thrash metal component of the soundtrack, Fujimori works furiously to bring the listener fast-paced techno tracks like Battle Train, The Dusk Gathers and Super-Power Robot Yokozuna Jr. Fujimori continues in Neo Contra, opening the game with what could be called a trash techno track with vocals by Paula Terry.
For a varied look into Japanese game music composer's styles, Street Fighter Tribute Album
is the perfect album. Released to celebrate the tenth anniversary of Capcom's Street Fighter 2, the ancestor of almost all modern beat 'em ups, Street Fighter Tribute Album features remixes of the original game soundtrack by some of the video game music most profilic composers. It is also heavily focused on techno, with a fine sampling of game music composers' talent in the genre. Ayako Saso crafts Chun-Li Stage out of a heavy bass, Asian instruments and melody and the character's voice samples. Yuuzoo Koshiro provides a classic drawn out techno track with slow development into a spectacular climax for the boxer M. Bison. Kooji Hayama of Choaniki fame, meanwhile, retains his ability to create an utterly mad but at the same time epic mix of Japanese madness in E. Honda Stage.
Ayako Saso is also notable for her involvement with game music composer group Super Sweep (We R Sound creator.Your ear is bombed.), headed by Shinji Hosoe. This group seems to be very techno oriented, and its members have provided video game music with albums like Ridge Laser, Ridge Racer music remixed into overdrive, and Mega Man fans with remixes of some series classic compositions in Mega Man Network Transmission.
Generic techno background music might be too familiar to some players because of the style's popularity in games, often due to easy implementation because of its tracker style, but the best of game music beats should appeal even to the bit layman.