The theme for RoboCop on the Commdore 64 is amazing

[SsnakeBite, the No1 Frenchman]

Chiptune music is really popular these days but this is from a time when this made because that was the technology that was available and it's... kind of amazing. Just listen to how dream-like this is:




This was made by a guy called Jonathan Dunn, who is apparently well known for his outstanding chiptune music and the craziest part is that as far as I can tell, the game itself is a fairly standard shooter that doesn't get very emotional or philosophical, so for it to have such an incredible theme feels a bit surreal.

So yeah, just wanted to share some awesome old-school gaming music and a great example of doing a lot with very little.

[DiBiase is Good]

I used to play this game constantly on the Spectrum back in the day and the music (including the title track) was awesome. It turned up in a Botchamania recently too.

[thirteen3]

ＤＥＨＵＭＡＮＩＺＥ ＹＯＵＲＳＥＬＦ ＡＮＤ ＦＡＣＥ ＴＯ ＢＬＯＯＤＳＨＥＤ

SPOILER: Click to show

{Spoiler}What came first, Ranch or Cool Ranch?

[Jiren]

It was used in an advert as well



Commodore had some killer music, 2 faves

[chazraps]

Feb 2, 2017 18:49:20 GMT -5 SsnakeBite, the No1 Frenchman said:

Chiptune music is really popular these days but this is from a time when this made because that was the technology that was available and it's... kind of amazing. Just listen to how dream-like this is:




This was made by a guy called Jonathan Dunn, who is apparently well known for his outstanding chiptune music and the craziest part is that as far as I can tell, the game itself is a fairly standard shooter that doesn't get very emotional or philosophical, so for it to have such an incredible theme feels a bit surreal.

So yeah, just wanted to share some awesome old-school gaming music and a great example of doing a lot with very little.

DUDE! YOU JUST FOUND THE SAMPLE OF ONE OF MY FAVORITE SONGS OF 2015!

[Mozenrath]

It's amazing what people could do with the limitations of the hardware. I guess it's bittersweet, the advancement of technology. You have so many more possibilities, but necessity is the mother of invention, after all, and it's hard not to wonder if we miss out on ingenuity.

[MrElijah]

Yuzo Koshiro work on Revenge of Shinobi, GG Shinobi 1, Streets of Rage 1 & 2 is amazing considering the Genesis soundchip wasn't that great.

[Hit Girl]

I'd put the cassette in, then go downstairs to have my tea. By the time I was finished half an hour later, the music would be playing and it would almost be loaded.

[The Sam]

They also used it for the Game Boy version;

[SsnakeBite, the No1 Frenchman]

Feb 3, 2017 13:37:42 GMT -5 Hit Girl said:

I'd put the cassette in, then go downstairs to have my tea. By the time I was finished half an hour later, the music would be playing and it would almost be loaded.

Please tell me that's an actual childhood memory and not just something you said as a joke.

[Ryushinku]

I remember when it got used for that Ariston ad years after, that was really damn surreal

I also remember so very much of the chip tunes from my 8-bit Speccy days. Like the themes for all the Dizzy games!

[SmashTV]

Feb 2, 2017 18:51:26 GMT -5 DiBiase is Good said:

I used to play this game constantly on the Spectrum back in the day and the music (including the title track) was awesome. It turned up in a Botchamania recently too.

You and me both - that was when the Spectrum was in its prime, Ocean games took graphics, music and gameplay to another level from 1988 - 1990. I loved this theme, I'd always listen to it all the way through before starting the game.

I also remember the Ariston advert and couldn't believe that the Spectrum version of the Robocop theme was being used. I hope Jonathan Dunne got some royalties from it.

[Hit Girl]

Feb 3, 2017 15:06:50 GMT -5 SsnakeBite, the No1 Frenchman said:

Feb 3, 2017 13:37:42 GMT -5 Hit Girl said:

I'd put the cassette in, then go downstairs to have my tea. By the time I was finished half an hour later, the music would be playing and it would almost be loaded.

Please tell me that's an actual childhood memory and not just something you said as a joke.

Seriously that's how long it took to load.

[DiBiase is Good]

Feb 3, 2017 16:20:19 GMT -5 SmashTV said:

Feb 2, 2017 18:51:26 GMT -5 DiBiase is Good said:

I used to play this game constantly on the Spectrum back in the day and the music (including the title track) was awesome. It turned up in a Botchamania recently too.

You and me both - that was when the Spectrum was in its prime, Ocean games took graphics, music and gameplay to another level from 1988 - 1990. I loved this theme, I'd always listen to it all the way through before starting the game.

I also remember the Ariston advert and couldn't believe that the Spectrum version of the Robocop theme was being used. I hope Jonathan Dunne got some royalties from it.

Yeah, that Ocean period was pretty glorious. They were not only producing games for licenced products like Batman and The Untouchables but conversions of arcade games (mostly Taito) like Operation Wolf/Thumderbolt, The New Zealand Story, Cabal, Arkanoid, Chase HQ and other classics like Target Renegade and Head over Heels.
I remember people criticising the monochrome nature of the graphics but the gameplay would always make up for that and it wasn't unusual for the Speccy conversions to be the best received of the home versions, even when up against much more powerful machines.

[DiBiase is Good]

Feb 3, 2017 19:09:29 GMT -5 Hit Girl said:

Feb 3, 2017 15:06:50 GMT -5 SsnakeBite, the No1 Frenchman said:

Please tell me that's an actual childhood memory and not just something you said as a joke.

Seriously that's how long it took to load.

Half an hour is a bit of an exaggeration but they did take a long time.
With the Spectrum, the newer games had an option to load a 128k version instead of the standard 48k. This would load all the levels at once, rather than an annoying loading period when finishing a level. It would also load better music and sound in some cases. The trade off was a longer load time. For a game like Chase HQ for example, you could load the 48k version in about seven minutes but then, would have to deal with loading levels when needed. The 128k version took about twelve minutes to load but as I said earlier, all the levels were loaded and you also got much better in-game music and sound (and digitised speech that didn't sound like a robot farting trough a kazoo).
(IIRC, the longest loading time was Daley Thompson's Super Test which clocked in at just under seventeen minutes).
I often compare buying a new game today to loading up an old Spectrum game. Admittedly, you only have to do this the first time you play it but the fact that you have to download updates and then install them before you can even switch the game on (and this isn't relevant for every game) is a backwards step IMO.