Kirby’s Epic Yarn – Butter Building (Tempest Towers, Wii, Nintendo/Good-Feel/HAL Labs, Tomoya Tomita, Jun Ishikawa and Hirokazu Ando)
It seems that there is no way to ruin this song. I covered it earlier with the Brawl remix, and again this song comes out aces for Epic Yarn. This piano-driven take is beautifully paced, capturing enough of the original melody yet taking it on its own path, and is excellently played. Love it!
Batman – Stage 3 (NES, Sunsoft, Naoki Kodaka and Nobuyuki Hara)
Kodaka does it again with his Batman score, which is a perfect accompaniment to the game’s action. Kodaka has a knack for the NES sound chip, making it do things many composers would not be able to perform until much later in the system’s life. A triumph.
Sonic CD – Sonic Boom (intro to US edition, Sega CD, Sega, Pastiche, Spenser Nilsen)
Some people poo-poo on the US music in Sonic CD compared to the Japanese originals, and that’s fine. I felt that Sonic CD’s opener with Sonic Boom was awesome without that knowledge, and I still do. In fact, I stumbled upon the Japanese intro earlier and felt it was not as in sync as Pastiche’s take. To each their own, I guess.
Project Justice – Taiyo High School Rooftop (Dreamcast, Capcom, Yuki Iwai, Etsuko Yoneda, Setsuo Yamamoto)
I found Project Justice’s music to be hit or miss, but this one is particularly good. It’s got an upbeat energy that works well with the school battling hi-jinks, and it’s also one that I can gleefully listen to outside of the game. A keeper!
