Nintentunes: The anti-Nintendo edition

Video game music has come a long way from the bleeps and bloops that populated most game at the inception of the medium, and seems only right to take a look back at not only game that have appeared on Nintendo consoles, but ones that have appeared on consoles that do things that Ninten-don’t (see what I did there?). With that said, I hope you enjoy this weeks walk down memory lane in this edition of non-Nintentunes!
Sega Master System – Alex Kidd in Miracle World
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L39tsgrW99o [/youtube]Coming from an Nintendo fansite you might have already guessed it, but I have always been a Nintendo kid. I was always interested in what my fellow playground buddies were talking about when they talked about their ”˜Master System’ when I was having a good time with R.O.B. and my NES, and it wasn’t until the Virtual Console that I was able to experience the systems flagship title Alex Kidd in Miracle World. After all these years the game actually holds up surprisingly well and is quite challenging. I can’t say that I’ve beaten the game to completion, but who knows. Maybe someday I’ll boot it up on the old Virtual Console and give it a whirl.

Sega Genesis – Castlevania : Bloodlines
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yjdVflSHxN4 [/youtube]The second generation of the Nintendo/Sega battle for console supremacy was the first real time I wish I could have owned another console in addition to my Nintendo machine, and Castlevania: Bloodlines was a big reason for it. Sure, the SNES had Super Castlevania IV and Dracula X, but the grass is always greener right? In retrospect, Nintendo gamers probably better Castlevania titles at the end of the day (and two of them instead of one), so I suppose I really don’t have much room to complain. I love me some Castlevania however so if you’re anything like me you should give Bloodlines a shot.

Sony Playstation – Command and Conquer: Red Alert
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tb-gI_pFog0[/youtube]
I know, I know the Command and Conquer series is best played with a mouse and keyboard, but I have got to say, if you didn’t own a personal computer that could handle what was then high quality visuals, then the Playstation version was a good alternative. I happened to enjoy the game on the PC, 56K modem multiplayer and all, and it was fantastic. I’m not a huge real time strategy fan per se, but whenever a Command and Conquer game is released I can’t help but get excited.


Sony Playstation 2 – Tales of Legendia
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OI1W13QWmS8&feature=related [/youtube]My love affair with the ”˜Tales’ series started way back on the SNES with Tales of Phantasia, and I have been eating up every release I can get my hands on since. One of the games in the franchise that I only got to play while leaching off of friends is Tales of Legendia because I never owned a PS2 until very recently. While it isn’t my favorite game to bear Tales name, it does contain some great music. If you have yet to play a Tales game and own a 3DS, Tales of the Abyss 3D will be coming in February and I highly suggest you give it a go. Otherwise, Tales of Symphonia and it sequel Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World are great in their own right.

Xbox 360 – Mass Effect
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJ9yhSEEz9Y&feature=related [/youtube]The Mass Effect games are perhaps my favorite new IP to be introduced this generation, and for good reason. What Bioware has done with the series by taking character data from one game to the next is a fantastic feature that hasn’t been quite done in the same way before. Where the folks at Bioware really excel is in the dialog options available that really give the game a ”˜build your own adventure’ feel to it. With Skyward Sword here and gone I have got to say that aside from the launch of the Wii U, Mass Effect 3 is my most anticipated anything of 2012.

Eugene lives in New Mexico and has been a life long gamer since getting his hands on an NES. Always partial to Nintendo, Eugene has made it a point to keep informed on all things Mario.