Taro Omiya

Taro Omiya

Software Engineer, Game Designer

  • Weekly Game Music: mrs mushroom likes LCD soundsystem (Botanicula)

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    New week, new music.  To celebrate Amanita Design again, here’s a playfully named music, mrs mushroom likes LCD soundsystem by DVA.  It’s a nature-inspired, if a little trippy, collection of sounds and composition from the beautiful game, Botanicula.

    Botanicula narrates a light-hearted adventure of 5 small friends, Mr. Lantern, Mrs. Mushroom, Mr. Poppy Head, Mr. Feather, and Mr. Twig.  Mr. Lantern find himself taking on the duty of planting the last seed from the great tree that he and his friend inhabit.  The seed, which gives Mr. Lantern a vision, describes how the mysterious black parasites had started infesting the tree.  Quickly realizing the significance of this task, he gathers his loyal friends to help him trek down the large and complex home of theirs.

    Botanicula is an unorthodox point-and-click adventure that involves directing the direction the group should go.  The game has no inventory system, and most of the actions require assistance from the player rather than the in-game characters themselves.  As an example, catapulting things off a twig is done through the player’s mouse instead of the character taking that action.  Similar to their previous games, Botanicula is narrated entirely without text.  Lastly, the game has numerous hidden secrets, which becomes a fun meta-game in-and-of-itself.

    Botanicula was released on the PC, Mac, and Linux in 2012.

    Extra!

    Title: zatoichi
    Game: Botanicula
    Composers: DVA

    Title: juchu
    Game: Botanicula
    Composers: DVA

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  • Weekly Game Music: Sweet Memories of Earth (DuckTales)

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    New week, new music.  Here’s a rock-and-roll remix of the The Moon Theme from DuckTales, Sweet Memories of Earth.  The remixer, CarboHydroM, successfully adds adrenaline to Hiroshige Tonomura’s dreamy 8-bit composition.  Many of you will undoubtedly feel nostalgic about it!

    DuckTales narrates Scrooge McDuck’s treasure hunting journey.  Much like any platformers in the heydays, Scrooge would jump, climb, and waltz his way through the dangerous caves, villages, and even the moon.  Somewhat unique to the game was the ability to use you cane not only as a weapon, but also a pogo stick to reach higher locations.  It even allowed Scrooge to bounce through spiked floors!  Rather surprisingly, especially in comparison to today’s standards, DuckTales ended up being a critically appraised IP-based game.

    DuckTales  was released on the NES in 1989.
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  • Weekly Game Music: Title Screen (Animal Crossing)

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    New week, new music.  Here’s yet another piano composition from the famed Nintendo music composer, Kazumi Totaka.  The calm, jazzy Title Screen music is quite appropriate for this laid back game, Animal Crossing.

    The story behind Animal Crossing is very simple, if lacking.  You (yes, you) decide to leave home and travel to a town full of animals.  As you set yourself for a new, independent life, you encounter the main plot of the game: the local shopkeeper, Tom Nook.  Or, more precisely, the debt you owe for buying one of his houses.  Thus begins your quest for trying to pay-off this sneaky businessman, as he slowly inflates the haunting debt.

    Fortunately for you, though, Tom Nook is in no hurry.  As a communication RPG, that’s rather critical.  The majority of the time is spent on talking with your randomly-generated neighbors and taking care of their errands.  The main draw of the game are its collectibles.  It allows you to customize your house with various furniture and accessories.  Since the game grades you on your content, it’s implied that you make it look as pretty as possible!

    Animal Crossing was released on the Gamecube in 2001.  Its sequels were released on the Nintendo DS and Wii.  A sequel for the Nintendo 3DS is currently in the works.
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  • Weekly Game Music: Jinjo Theme (Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts)

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    New week, new music.  One thing that’s always exciting about sequels are its attempts to modernize previous tunes.  From that perspective, the marching composition, Jinjo Theme from Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts, absolutely exceeds expectations.  And no wonder: series veteran, Grant Kirkhope knows too well how to make an amazing cartoon theme to fit this comical re-imaging of a popular Rare series.

    Banjo-Kazooie starts with one disappointing beginning: Banjo and Kazooie’s arch nemesis, Grutilda, hobbles out of the crushing boulders to get her revenge on the bear-and-bird duo.  As duty calls, our heroes slowly rises up from their television, and grunts all the way to where Grutilda (now only a skull) is squawking.  Before things become more anti-climatic, however, Lord of Games (LOG) appears, declaring this game series as stale and no longer profitable.  He throws the three into a parallel universe, refits them to their athletic conditions, and orders them to resolve their conflict through a new and unorthodox means.

    As LOG dictates, Banjo-Kazooie is a mission-based game revolving around cartoon battle vehicles with various collectibles.  His mighty missions that Banjo and Kazooie must endure includes battles, races, and collecting items.  Despite these drastic changes from the previous game, though, the Almighty had the smarts to retain the series key feature: collecting a ton of stuff to reach to the next level.

    Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts was released on Xbox 360 in 2008.

    Extra!

    Title: BanjoLand Theme
    Game: Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts
    Composers: Robin Beanland and Grant Kirkhope

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  • Weekly Game Music: Morning, Thinker (Armored Core series)

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    New week, new music.  Lets explore yet another genre I haven’t explored yet: mecha combat.  Here’s a remix of Silent Line: Armored Core and Armored Core 4 music, Morning, Thinker by Mattias Häggström Gerdt and Deia Vengen.  It’s an aggressive techno, best depicting the chaotic, yet strategical nature of piloting a bipedal tank.

    The Armored Core series revolves around power-hungry corporations frequently throwing war at each other.  It seems only natural, then, that Silent Line: Armored Core begins after much destruction of the human population.  While humanity is slowly regaining its former glory, scouts discover a portion of the globe where seemingly all communications are lost.  You’re tasked to investigate this mysterious location, the Silent Line.

    All Armored Core games revolves around customizing and experimenting with your mech, and putting your construction into practice.  As expected from a future war game, the walking tanks you create must gun through numerous vehicles, artillery, and other mechs.  Special in Silent Core, parts can be damaged individually, and retains its damage between sessions.  This requires the player to constantly replace its weapons and upgrades per session.

    Silent Line: Armored Core was released on Playstation 2 in 2003.  It was later ported to the PSP in 2010.  Armored Core 4 was released on the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 in 2007.
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  • Weekly Game Music: Jeremy (Granado Espada)

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    New week, new music.  We need…more MMORPG music!  Here’s Jeremy from Sword 2 (or Granado Espada outside of North America and Europe).  It’s composed by a group of South Korean composers, known as S.F.A.  The dramatic crescendo best portrays the wonders of discovering a new world.

    Sword 2 is free-to-play at GamersFirst.com.

    Sword 2 is loosely based off of the European colonization on the North American continent.  In the mist of a losing war, the king of Opoluto commands the explorers to Gilbert Granado and Ferrucio Espada to find an ocean route to get its upper hand on its enemies.  Instead, they find a new land, Granado Espada.  The discovery was a big surprise…for the enemy countries.  Soon, many nationalistic people ventures to this new land of hope, not letting the monster-infested land get in the way of their desire for power.

    Sword 2 plays similar to the World of Warcraft: click to attack enemies, collect loot, gain experience points, etc.  It does, however, have one distinct twist: instead of controlling one character, you can control up to 3.  This allows for some neat party system, such as allowing the player to devote one character into healing without the need to be defended by their friends.  Surprisingly, this makes it an engrossing experience for even people preferring to play as the lone warrior.

    Sword 2 was released on the PC in 2007.
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