Thursday, June 12, 2014

My Gaming Audio History: Battletoads (1991)

Today's a momentous occasion: the last of the NES games in My Gaming Audio History!  Truth be told, I realized that I've skipped a few games that I did play.  This realization came about because I went to UM's Engineering library and browsed through old Nintendo Powers and saw old games I had played but forgotten about.  Maybe I'll go back and cover those old games eventually, but for today, the last NES game we bought and played: Battletoads.

Battletoads was an awesome game.  The two player setting was really well done and my brother and I would return to the NES even after we got our SNES to play this game.  I could rock out the first few levels, but I never quite figured out how to jump correctly in the third level underground racing area, so I mostly ended up watching my brother play.  I'm not sure if I ever saw him beat it, or watched another friend, but I have seen the final boss before watching on a longplay.  Interestingly, I know the music from the third level the best as well because I used to hear it so many times as I tried to get good at that level.

Cool that the first thing you hear is the sound of space travel rather than starting with music...


The composer is David Wise. I came across this Square Enix interview with David Wise and am intrigued by the information about Battletoads.  It's not exactly clear, but sounds as if the arcade music was created before the NES or SNES versions.  Fascinating because the NES version was released in 1991 and the arcade in 1994, so I'm wondering if this means he just worked on with the more advanced hardware as he composed or ???  More information is needed...  In the meanwhile, I'm giving the arcade version a listen as I write, but don't hear any similarities yet.

There are some game audio conventions in place in this game that I've not heard before with a David Wise score.  For instance, in all the racing levels, the music speeds up as the level progresses.  This, of course, adds tension for the player and heightens the gameplay in a Space Invaders, Super Mario Bros, et al, way.  Also, even the sound effects have clever rhythms.  Take, for instance, the sound of the defeated boss robot pieces falling apart at the end of the first level.  I used to sing this rhythm along with the visuals onscreen as a kid.  These touches are small, but clever, and add deeply to the connection between gameplay, visual, and audio.

Little more than 13 minutes of music in this game.

The following detailed notes were made using this soundtrack.

-Title Screen: 90 (ish) sec.  A major.  Intro (4) A B C(2, intro?) A B B'(transposed) C' (transposed, intro?) Drum vamp.  Not clear to me if the end loops indefinitely or eventually cuts off.  Awesome opening track that uses repeated material to build familiarity.
-Interlude - The T-Bird: 26 sec.  D minor.  A A' (melody over bass vamp).  This is really 2/4 not, 8/8, as a space saver, but I catalog when the loop repeats as the length, not necessarily musical material.
-Ragnarok's Canyon (Level 1): 66.5 sec.  E minor.  Awesome, rocking groove.  Variations over bass.  Irregular phrase shapes.
-Wookie Hole (Level 2): 80 sec.  D minor.  A6 A'8 B4 B'5 A''4 A'''5 C4 A'''8 D4 E8 E'8 Irregular phrase lengths.  Uses downward glissandos to emphasize the descent aspect of the level.  Also a series of variations, although there are changes...
-Turbo Tunnel (Level 3): 8 sec.  D minor.  Short vamp in preparation for the next theme.
-Turbo Tunnel Bike Race: 79 sec.  G major.  Intro (3) A (9) A'(Intro? 4) A(9) B6 B' B'' uses bII and IV.    First bar of intro doesn't repeat.
-Turbo Tunnel Bike Race Extended: nothing new.  In game, speeds up.
-Arctic Caverns (Level 4): 50 sec.  E minor.  A (2+5) A' (4+5) B
-Surf City (Level 5)/ Terra Tubes (Level 9): 57 sec.  C minor.  A(9) B A' A''(4)
-Karnath's Lair (Level 6): 63 sec.  E minor.  A(4) A' B B'(4) C
-Volkmire's Inferno (Level 7):  24 sec.  Bb major.  A B(4).  Short, economic loop.
-Volkmire's Inferno Rocket Race: 46 sec.  D minor--> D major.  10 sec intro doesn't repeat in loop.  Intro -A B (10)
-Intruder Excluder (Level 8):  43.5 sec.  C minor.  Intro (8) A(6) B(4) C (4).  Intro only second 4 repeat.  First 4 have "race sounds" over the music.
-Terra Tubes (Unused): 36 sec.  E minor.  Did not include this in the calculation since it's unused.
-Rat Race (Level 10): 47.5 sec.  Eb minor.  Intro(4) A B C.  Regular loop.  Speeds as the race continues.
-Clinger Wingers (Level 11): 19.5 sec.  E minor.  Intro (6) A(4).  Short loop.  Rising pitch at the beginning mimics the speeding up of your race.
-The Revolution (Level 12): 69 sec.  G minor.  Rising keys and falling progressions build tension and uneasiness.  A4 A'4 A4 B3 C D12
-Armageddon- Boss Battle: 10 sec.  E minor.  Typically short boss loop.  Brief intro doesn't repeat.
-Level Complete: 2.5 sec.  E minor.
-Game Over: 12 sec.  F major?

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