Taro Omiya

Taro Omiya

Software Engineer, Game Designer

  • Weekly Game Music: Last Movement (Enemy Zero)

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    New week, new music. ย I just realized haven’t introduced any music from horror games (unlessย Killer7ย counts as a horror game), so here’s our first one from the famed British movie composer,ย Michael Nyman.ย  Last Movementย is a simple composition that gives you a sense of drifting away. ย A fitting music to the Sci-Fi horror game,ย Enemy Zero, that is also set in a place all too easy to get lost in: space.

    Enemy Zeroย is part of an odd game series, collectively calledย D, where the only thing recurring between each game are the characters. ย Not even their memory or personality carries over to their sequel. ย The player takes the role of Laura Lewis, a pilot of AKI spaceship, who is quite unfortunately affected by amnesia after waking up from a malfunctioned cryogenic sleep. ย The cause of the rude awakening turns out to be an invasion of carnivorous aliens who are invisible. ย Equippedย with a device that alarms its bearer of the approaching enemies, and anย unwieldyย laser pistol, Laura makes a desperate escape from the slaughter house the spaceship is becoming.

    Much likeย Killer7,ย Enemy Zeroย requires the use of sound to detect the location of the enemies. ย The story-heavy game uses aย Doom-like first-person perspective. ย When you hear an enemy approaching, you have to charge your pistol before firing at the right moment. ย The frustrating controls adds to the surprise horror of hearing an alien screeching at you as it pounces. ย Coupled with the dark and claustrophobic maze-like hallways,ย Enemy Zeroย does everything to make you feel uncomfortable.

    Enemy Zeroย was released on Sega Saturn in 1997. ย It was later ported to the PC in 1998.
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  • Weekly Game Music: Soaring In The Stars (Flight)

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    New week, new music. ย Time to drop those remixes, and back onto original music. ย Here’s a movie-like music,ย Soaring In The Starsย by David Orr. ย The title quite literally points out the objective of the free flash game,ย Flight.

    You can playย Flightย at its own website.

    Flightย depicts several disgruntled figures who write their wishes on a piece of paper, fold it into a paper airplane, and throw it as far as possible. ย The gameplay, of course, involves throwing the paper airplane, and controlling it with limited fuel to extend it’s flight as far as possible. ย Along the way, the plane can bump into stars, which acts as a currency to buy better upgrades on the next throw. ย The distance of the plane’s flight accumulates, allowing it to reach to new locations.
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  • Weekly Game Music: Cheetahmen Techno (Cheetahmen II)

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    New week, new music. ย Let’s do something completely different: introducing the spectacular internet meme, theย Cheetahmen IIย theme song! ย Cheetahmen Technoย is, as its title implies, Nico Nico Douga user, ็พŽ่ทฏ็›†@LunchBox’s 90’s techno remix of the notoriously terrible (andย unreleased!) game’s theme. ย Unfortunately, the original composer for the music remains unknown due to lack of credits or licenses. ย Wikipedia can only guess that the credits could go to Mario Gonzalez, Ed Bogas, Rob Base, DJ E-Z Rock, Mark Steven Miller and/or Jason Scher. ย Whoever wrote the original composition, I salute you.

    Cheetahmen IIย begins with Doctor Morbis creating a new sub-human, Ape Man, to fight against his mortal enemies — and incidentally, his ownย “failed expirements [sic]”ย — the Cheetahmen. ย They are, after all, the only ones that stands against his evil plans…whatever that is. ย It stands to reason that the Cheetahmen trio — Aries,ย Apollo, and Hercules — fights against Doctor Morbis and his evil mutants!

    Simply put,ย Cheetahmen IIย is a “it’s so bad, it’s good” game that attempts to ride on the popular platformer gameplay. ย Each Cheetahman can run, jump, and attack their enemies…if they are tall enough. ย The funny thing is, most enemies are so short, none of the heroes can hit them. ย Even worse, apparently each Cheetahman can only survive a small fall before dying, making the platforming portions more difficult than necessary. ย Stacked on top hilariously bad glitches, confusing hit-box detection, and “everything can kill you” mentality,Cheetahmen IIย has all the ingredients to become a legend on the internet landscape.

    Cheetahmen IIย was intended to be released on the NES in 1992, but alas, never saw the light of day.
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  • Weekly Game Music: Wind Waker Unplugged (Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker)

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    New week, new music. ย Late again this week, but I’m currently checking out SIGGRAPH 2012, and it’s quite a bit exhausting. ย Anyways, lets go with something special this week. ย Here’s Fredrik Larsson’s medley,ย Wind Waker Unpluggedย , which quite predictably blends together various tunes fromย Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker. ย It does great justice to the original compositions by Kenta Nagata, Hajime Wakai, Toru Minegishi, and Koji Kondo.

    Legend of Zelda: The Wind Wakerย begins with a common formula in the recentย Zeldaย series: asย a young boy named Link, you’reย unsuspectingly thrown into an epic adventure when someone very close to him — his sister, Aryll — gets kidnapped by a gigantic bird. ย Determined to save his sister, Link gets dropped square into the plot of a growing, evil force.

    Sticking with the series’ tradition,ย Legend of Zelda: The Wind Wakerย plays like an action-adventure. ย Sword combat is executed through a simple control-stick, B-button combination. ย New to the series is the introduction of countering and using dropped weapons against your enemies. ย Wind Waker also strongly focuses on its wind physics, where gliding and sailing becomes essential. ย Of course, noย Zeldaย game is complete without complex dungeons and many creative tools to conquer them!

    Legend of Zelda: The Wind Wakerย was published by Nintendo on the Gamecube in 2003. ย No other port exists.

    Extra!

    Title:ย Hyrule Field Theme
    Game:ย Super Smash Bros. Brawl
    Remixer:ย Yutaka Iraha
    Original Composer:ย Koji Kondo

    Title:ย Saria’s Song
    Game:ย Super Smash Bros. Melee
    Remixer:ย Hirokazu Ando, Tadashi Ikegami, Shลgo Sakai, Takuto Kitsuta
    Original Composer:ย Koji Kondo


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  • Weekly Game Music: Sweet Georgia Brown (Charles Barkley Shut Up and Jam: Gaiden)

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    New week, new music. ย What’s the absolute, most epic boss music you can ever play when you fight against your worst rival? ย According toย Barkley Shut Up and Jam: Gaidenย , it’sย Sweet Georgia Brownย by Ben Bernie and Maceo Pinkard. ย …I don’t really have a good joke to follow up on that one, so I’ll let the jazzy tune explain for itself.

    Barkley Shut Up and Jam: Gaidenย is a hilarious self-referencing game. You can download it at Tales of Games.

    As the title suggests,ย Barkley Shut Up and Jam: Gaidenย follows the famed basketball player, struggling to support his son, Hoopz, in a post-apocalypse world. While secretly teaching his son the outlawed basketball dribbles, Charles is falsely accused by the head of B-Ball Removal Department, Michael Jordan, for killing 15 million people with a Chaos Dunk. Charles naturally escapes from Michael’s clumsy grasps, and seeks for a safe refuge while hunting for the real culprit.

    Barkleyย is a turn-based JRPG that uses a quick-time mechanic to enhance your attacks, much likeย Super Mario RPGย series. The puzzles may remind some people of theย Golden Sunย series as well. ย And the enemies appearing readily on the map will remind many ofย Earthboundย , down to touching the back of enemy giving you an extra turn.
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  • Weekly Game Music: Above the Treetops

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    Goodness, I keep forgetting about this. ย Better late than never: I’ve got yet another MMORPG music for all of you. ย Here’sย Above the Treetopsย from ultra-popularย MapleStory. ย Unfortunately, the name of the composer(s) seems elusive at the moment, but enjoy the mellow tune as it is.

    You can play the game for free atย Maplestory’s website.

    The plot ofย MapleStoryย is a simple one: the Black Mage, once sealed by 5 legendary heroes, has unfortunately re-awakened! ย As the knight of the Maple World, you must fight! ย Cue all the cute monsters that tries to rock your level 1 boat.

    The gameplay is a little more interesting. ย Much likeย Legend of Zelda IIย ,MapleStoryย is a 2D side-scrolling RPG, with some light platforming. ย As with the MMORPG tradition, the collectible weapons and character costumes significantly spices up the action. ย Any player should be able to find their most ideal play style, whether it’d be short-range, brute-force brawler style or long-range,ย tacticalย style.

    MapleStoryย was released on the PC in 2005. ย Offspring versions exists on the Nintendo DS and, oddly enough, Facebook.
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