#Kaori Nakabai

[fancypantsrecords]

Various Artists - Giants: Legend Of The Master Musicians | Brave Wave / Black Screen Records | 2024 | Light Blue Translucent | /300

Concept album that has retro game composers work alongside modern game music composers for both covers and new compositions.

[snesgsts]

(1995) Ninja Gaiden Trilogy

this is a port of the 3 Ninja Gaiden games for the NES. but it’s one set and one game so it’s one post.

yeah it’s a lot of music and a lot of artists (I’m using their aliases and real names in the tags)

I’m not too familiar with the originals, but this does seem to be nicely expanded (at least in that I can’t match some of the SNES tunes to any NES counterparts)

it’s nice overall imo

fav from NG1 : “Jaquio's Theme” fav from NG2: “Mountain” fav from NG3: “Laboratory”

[pes2019patch]

Context is king. Which is what makes this afternoon's performance in a busy Kyoto hall all the more interesting, really. Behind a small table on which a pair of laptops and some mixing desks are neatly laid out, two well-presented middle-aged Japanese people study their screens for a few moments, exchange a couple of nervous glances and then let rip with a high-pitched arpeggio that's soon joined by a kicking four-to-the-floor beat. It sounds intense, with all the drive and swagger of a clubhouse classic. And of course it's the soundtrack to a video game that's coming up to 30 years old.

It's hardly the first time that an 8-bit soundtrack has been used to fill a dancefloor, though I do detect a slight sense of bemusement from the two performers when I speak them elsewhere that day. Keiji Yamagishi and Kaori Nakabai are two veterans of the Famicom era, reunited at this year's BitSummit for a live performance of the Ninja Gaiden 3 soundtrack, and brought together by the resurgence of interest in 8-bit soundtracks in recent years.

Maybe that's because they're an endearingly humble pair, giggling their way through our brief interview and clearly enjoying the opportunity to reminisce. Both worked at Tecmo in the 80s, Yamagishi getting his break on the US version of Star Force while Nakabai worked on the likes of Captain Tsubasa and Ninja Gaiden - though they both had different entry points into the industry.

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[smlpodcast]

The SML Podcast - Episode 548: RumbleCast 2020

Download Episode 548

Royal Rumble season means another SML Wrasslecast with Tim Ekkebus, so strap on your boots, douse your self in oil, and let's go!

The show kicks off with Tim Ekkebus joining to chat about all of the matches and happenings set to go down this weekend! Between WWE's Royal Rumble, which is a perennial fan favorite event, to the NXT World's Collide event, we cover all of the matchups, all of the speculation, and make our (probably wrong) picks about who wins!

After the Wrasslecast, Cole joins as the three of us discuss the latest news of the week including new Xbox Game Pass additions, Ninja Theory's Project: MARA, the final word on the Left 4 Dead 3 rumors from Valve, Nintendo rumors, PC ports, delays, and Rocket League leaving Mac & Linux! Plus after all that, Tim heads off and we dive into reviews!

Jacob Garner joins to review Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot experiencing the life of DBZ beyond the epic battles from CyberConnect2 & Bandai Namco. A Long Way Down is a deck-building roguelike RPG in a dark and tormented world from Seenapsis Studio, Goblinz Studio, and Maple Whispering Limited. The Office Quest is a stylish and humorous point and click escape from office life from 11Sheep.

Far-Out from Escapism Softworks is an old school one man show of full freedom to do anything, but remember to survive! Lumini is the story of a long forgotten species in a hostile land of discovery from Speelbaars & 2Awesome Studio. Finally, FoxyLand 2 is another journey to rescue your children and collect cherries thanks to BUG-Studio & Ratalaika Games.

We end the show with a track by Kaori Nakabai off the Cards of Darkness: The Remixes album from Brave Wave Productions & Materia Collective!

Kaori Nakabai - The Baxlan Delves (Cards of Darkness)

http://cyberconnect2.ca/ https://www.bandainamcoent.com/ https://www.seenapsis.studio/ https://goblinzstudio.com/website/ http://www.sheep-service.info/ http://www.escapismsoftworks.com/ http://speelbaars.com/ http://www.2awesomestudio.com/ https://bug-studio.net/ http://ratalaikagames.com/ https://store.bravewave.net/album/card-of-darkness-the-remixes https://www.materiacollective.com/ https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-sml-podcast/id826998112 https://open.spotify.com/show/6KQpzHeLsoyVy6Ln2ebNwK https://play.google.com/music/m/Ip2gi72kuype4waf6bji5hukm7i https://twitter.com/theSMLpodcast/ https://www.facebook.com/theSMLpodcast/ https://www.patreon.com/theSMLpodcast ALL REVIEWED GAMES HAVE BEEN PROVIDED FOR FREE FOR THE PURPOSE OF ANY COVERAGE ON THE SHOW

[soundtracktracklist]

Ninja Gaiden The Definitive Soundtrack Vol.1 & 2

#NinjaGaiden The Definitive #Soundtrack Vol. 1 & 2 - Ninja Gaiden (NES & Arcade), Ninja Gaiden II, Ninja Gaiden III

Original Game Soundtrack (Vinyl) from a video game Ninja Gaiden – The Definitive Soundtrack Vol.1 & 2. The music composed by Various Artist.

Source: Ninja Gaiden Video Game Genre: Original Game Soundtrack Music by Various Artists (Keiji Yamagishi, Mikio Saito, Ryuichi Nitta, Mayuko Okamura, Rika Shigeno, Kaori Nakabai) Label: Brave Wave Format: Vinyl (Box Set) Release Date: August 24, 2018

Ninja…

[moosterrecords]

Mondo announced a brand new Death Waltz release this week, THE VOID. They will also have copies of the all new pressing of John Carpenter's CHRISTINE soundtrack, along with a restock of Brave Wave's NINJA GAIDEN BOX SET and a distributed title from Enjoy the Ride, ACE VENTURA: WHEN NATURE CALLS. Please note HELLRAISER will now go on sale 10/11.

As always, all new releases go on sale on Wednesdays at NOON (CT). 

DEATH WALTZ

The Void - Original Motion Picture Score LP. Music by Jeremy Gillespie, Brian Wiacek, Menalon and Blitz/Berlin. Pressed on 180 Gram "Drop in the Void" vinyl. Limited to 500. $25

Death Waltz Recording Co., is proud to present the original motion picture score to THE VOID.

When police officer Carter discovers a blood-soaked man limping down a deserted road, he rushes him to a local hospital with a bare-bones night shift staff. As cloaked, cult-like figures surround the building, the patients and staff inside start to turn ravenously insane. Trying to protect the survivors, Carter leads them into the depths of the hospital where they discover a gateway to immense evil. Heavily influenced by Lovecraft lore and practical horror effects of such classics as John Carpenter’s THE THING. You can listen to the soundtrack courtesy of our friends Lakeshore Records who released it digitally.

The soundtrack is an ominous synth driven beast, genuinely unsettling and thrilling. Shape shifting from ambient to semi-industrial in the blink of an eye. This limited one-time pressing is housed in a laminated reflective jacket, and pressed on 180 gram "Drop in the Void" vinyl (blue, color-in-color) limited to 500 copies.

Christine - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack LP. Released on Varèse Sarabande. Music by John Carpenter in association with Alan Howarth. Artwork by Gary Pullin. Pressed on Blue Vinyl. $23

Released by our friends at Varèse Sarabande, this classic John Carpenter soundtrack returns fully remastered with an all-new fantastic original art design by Gary Pullin and pressed on blue vinyl.

Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls. Released on Enjoy the Ride and Enjoy the Toons. Pressed on Green vinyl. $27

Enjoy the Ride and Enjoy the Toons, in conjunction with Morgan Creek, are proud to announce the first ever official release of the 1995 cult classic film, ACE VENTURA: WHEN NATURE CALLS on colored vinyl and digital download. Composed and conducted by Robert Folk, the album is over 45 minutes of nostalgic adventure!

Housed in an upgraded 400gsm jacket featuring original artwork by Steven Wild, this release also includes a digital download code. This is a true companion piece to the ACE VENTURA: PET DETECTIVE release; not only are both are chock full of easter eggs hidden past the locked grooves, there are also some hidden within the gatefold artwork. 

Pressed on Limited edition Green vinyl.

Ninja Gaiden: The Definitive Soundtrack 4XLP. Released on Brave Wave. Contains Vol.1 and Vol. 2. $85

The newest Generation Series release from our friends at Brave Wave - NINJA GAIDEN: THE DEFINITIVE SOUNDTRACK. Available as separate 2XLPs (Volume 1 and Volume 2), or as a complete 4XLP box set.

Vol. 1 contains the complete soundtracks for Ninja Gaiden on NES and Arcade. There are 59 tracks in total, with 31 for the NES edition and 28 for the Arcade. They were composed by Keiji Yamagishi, Mikio Saito and Ryuichi Nitta.

Vol. 2 contains the complete soundtracks for Ninja Gaiden II: The Dark Sword of Chaos and Ninja Gaiden III: The Ancient Sword of Doom. There are 29 tracks for Ninja Gaiden II and 30 tracks for Ninja Gaiden III. They were composed by Ryuichi Nitta, Mayuko Okamura, Rika Shigeno and Kaori Nakabai.

[postgamecontent]

Ninja Gaiden Spotlight Extra: Ninja Gaiden The Definitive Soundtrack

Just as I was putting the wraps on this series of articles, a little bit of serendipitous timing occurred. I was given the heads-up from Alex Aniel of Brave Wave that they would soon be releasing two compilations containing the soundtracks to Ninja Gaiden (Arcade), Ninja Gaiden (NES), Ninja Gaiden 2: The Dark Sword of Chaos (NES), and Ninja Gaiden 3: The Ancient Ship of Doom (NES). Brave Wave graciously set me up with digital versions of Ninja Gaiden The Definitive Soundtrack Vol. 1 and Vol. 2, the latest in their Generation Series of video game soundtracks. So as I tapped away on the final words of this spotlight, I had more or less the perfect music to write by.

The two volumes are available as digital albums for $12 each, or as physical CD sets (which include the digital versions) for $15 each. You can get both digital albums combined for $20, as well. The soundtracks will also be available on vinyl record, if that’s what you’re into. The first volume includes the complete soundtracks for Ninja Gaiden (Arcade) and Ninja Gaiden (NES). This even includes the songs that were cut from the Virtual Console re-release of the arcade game for being a bit too similar to certain contemporary hits. The second volume includes the complete soundtracks for Ninja Gaiden 2: The Dark Sword of Chaos and Ninja Gaiden 3: The Ancient Ship of Doom. This is actually the first time Ninja Gaiden 3's soundtrack has been released anywhere in any form, so that's already something to be excited about. Note that these are not remixes, but the actual music you remember from the original games, recreated and presented in crisp, clean form.

As often as the Ninja Gaiden games are heralded for their excellent graphics, responsive controls, and challenging level designs, the games also feature some of the most memorable music from that era. While there's a major difference in style between Mikio Saito's rock-heavy soundtrack for the arcade game and the drum-heavy NES themes that oscillate between frantic and somber as the situation demands, a lot of talented musicians had their hands in the music that many of us associate with the series. Mikio Saito handled most of the tracks for the arcade game, while Keiji Yamagishi did the bulk of the work on the first NES game. Ryuichi Nitta filled in the gaps on both of those games with his signature style. As we find out in the interview included with The Definitive Soundtrack Vol. 1, Nitta is responsible for The Dragon Ninja, the iconic theme that plays during the first stage in Ninja Gaiden (NES).

Saito's soundtrack for the arcade game is probably the lesser-known of the bunch here, but it's no slouch. He was clearly inspired by the popular music of the day. Perhaps a little too inspired with some tracks, some might say. The theme for the New York stage is obviously riffing on Michael Jackson's Bad, and Saito couldn't resist pairing up the bosses who resembled the pro wrestling tag-team Legion of Doom with their expected theme, Black Sabbath's Iron Man. Nitta even got in on the action, with his ending credits theme sounding an awful lot like Kyu Sakamoto's popular 1960s hit Sukiyaki. Yet to merely write this soundtrack off as a pack of homages undersells it, I think. The whole idea of the game was about a Japanese ninja battling through America, and the music does a nice job of blending those ideas. The Grand Canyon stage's theme is a good example of this. The beginning sounds distinctly Japanese but quickly morphs into something evocative of the Old West. It's a cheesy soundtrack, to be sure, but that's exactly what the game called for.

The soundtrack for the first NES Ninja Gaiden is obviously the main draw of this set. While I prefer the music in the second game, it's hard to argue against the significance and quality of that of the first game. Its use of a drum sample gave the game a sound unlike most other games on the NES at the time, setting the game to a beat and motivating the player to follow it. The music in Ninja Gaiden has a real texture to it that wasn't seen in many of its contemporaries. Nitta's unusual style of composition made his few tracks particularly memorable. I can't hear In Hiding: Pursuing the Nightmare without instantly imagining that awful machine-gun guy in the Amazon jungle taking shots at me as I tried to make jumps across precarious platforms. Yamagishi's The Amazing Ryu is as close to a main theme as the series would get, and Battlefield is one of the all-time great boss tunes. As good as Yamagishi's full tracks were, he had a particular talent for packing a ton of emotion into shorter tunes. The one-two punch of The Moonlight Duel and Determination: Father's Message sold the game's cinematic aspirations almost immediately. Meanwhile, his act-opening Eyecatch and frequently-heard Game Over jingles are seared into the gray matter of anyone who played the NES games.

Ryuichi Nitta stepped into the role of the main composer on Ninja Gaiden 2: The Dark Sword of Chaos, and I think his work here is some of the strongest in the whole series. Overdrive, which first plays during the windy trek up the mountains in Act 2-2, is so completely lodged in my brain that I hear it whenever I step outside on a particularly blustery day. In keeping with the darker tone of some of the stages, compositions like World Enslaved and the special boss music Lord of Night took on a more threatening manner. Backing Nitta up on the Ninja Gaiden 2 soundtrack is Mayuko Okamura. Her music is mostly used in the cut-scenes, so it has a slower, creepier, and sometimes sadder tone to it than the fast-paced themes Nitta created for the gameplay sections. Triumphant tracks like Act 1-1's Going Gets Tough shows she could change her style up when the situation called for it, though.

Ninja Gaiden 3 had a new duo behind its music. Kaori Nakabai and Rika Shigeno split the chores on this one, and when I say 'split', I mean it. They seem to have divided up the action stages and cut-scenes almost evenly. In keeping with the game's shift from an occult theme to a bio-mechanical one, the music also takes on a distinctly electronic style. Shigeno's Stage 2-2/5-2 is practically crackling with sparks and energy, while Nakabai's Stage 1-1/5-1 is a fast-paced number that calls to mind blinking panels of lights and flashing displays. Even with this new approach, however, Ninja Gaiden 3's soundtrack is recognizably of the series, making heavy use of drums and flitting between zippy tunes and slower melodies to convey the drama. As usual, the music makes you want to rush forward, and with the tight time limits of the levels in Ninja Gaiden 3, that's a more important lesson than ever.

The tracks are divided by game and presented in the order in which they appeared in-game, for the most part. The first volume includes a short track of the game's distinctive sound effects, which were created by Yamagishi. Some of the tunes are quite short, naturally, but the stage themes are allowed to play out for a couple of minutes to give them the right feel. These are new recordings and restorations done under the guidance of some of the original composers, aiming for the highest quality while staying faithful to the original tracks. It all sounds great, and it's a particular treat to have Ninja Gaiden 3's music presented like this for the first time. Nakabai and Shigeno had big shoes to fill and did an excellent job of it, regardless of how you might feel about the game itself.

If you've picked up any of Brave Wave's prior releases, you'll know they like to include some extras in the package. Ninja Gaiden The Definitive Soundtrack doesn't disappoint. You get some great art on the covers and an extra booklet filled with treats for retro game fans. The first volume's booklet contains an enjoyable short essay written by former Retronaut Ray Barnholt, some extra artwork from the games, and the first part of a round-table interview with some of the developers behind the games. The booklet in the second volume includes art from Ninja Gaiden 2 and Ninja Gaiden 3 along with the second part of the developer round-table. The participating members include Hideo Yoshizawa, Masato Kato, Takashi Yamashita, Keiji Yamagishi, Ryuichi Nitta, and Kaori Nakabai. There's a lot of great behind-the-scenes information in this round-table that goes beyond the music and into general development tidbits. I particularly enjoyed the story about how the series got both of its names.

Ninja Gaiden The Definitive Soundtrack is a wonderful treat for fans of these classic games. Having all of this music together, sounding the best it ever has, accompanied by some invaluable extras makes for a great package. If you're enjoying my trips through memory lane on this franchise, you'll certainly want to grab these two volumes to listen to while you read. It makes the experience that much more authentic, I promise. You can get both volumes of Ninja Gaiden The Definitive Soundtrack starting tomorrow, April 13th, through Brave Wave's homepage, iTunes, Bandcamp, and any other shops that carry their products.  

Disclosure: Brave Wave Productions provided me with free codes for the digital versions of both albums for review purposes.

Previous: Ninja Gaiden (Master System) & Ninja Gaiden Trilogy

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[snesgsts]

(1993) Tecmo Super Bowl

basically a collection of rock-flavored pre-show songs. 

which makes sense considering the name of the game, but yeah. 

i wasn’t digging it much, but found “Unused Song 15″ worth keeping

[fancypantsrecords]

Various Artists - Ninja Gaiden: The Definitive Soundtrack | Brave Wave | 2017 | Orange + Red + Yellow + Blue

[pes2019patch]

There was a funny notion being passed around recently that indie development had become stagnant - something which seemed all the weirder to me as I'd just finished roaming the halls of this year's BitSummit, the now well-established celebration of all things indie that takes place in the beautiful city of Kyoto.

It's one of the more vibrant shows I've had the pleasure of visiting, fitting snugly into a single hall where masses of developers assemble with their latest wares, overlooked by a small stage where a succession of acts and talks take place. Keita Takahashi talks Shuhei Yoshida through his latest offbeat creation, rapper Doseone puts in a small set while composers Keiji Yamagishi and Kaori Nakabai reunite for a live performance of the Ninja Gaiden 3 soundtrack. Familiar faces stalk the floor; Kouji Igarashi walks inquisitively from demo pod to demo pod, Q-Games' Dylan Cuthbert - a key figure behind the event - snaps away with his camera like an enthusiastic tourist, and Hideki Kamiya spends the entire show manning Platinum Games' t-shirt stall.

There are names you know, then, but really the essence of a show like this is the thrill of discovery, of stumbling upon something entirely new, and the floor is full of such delights. It feels like a disservice to only name a handful, but there's only so much you can play over a couple of days so that's exactly what I'm going to do, starting with perhaps the personal highlight of Unpacking, a gloriously soothing puzzle game that makes a virtue of tidying things away as you rifle through cardboard boxes. It's shot through with domestic detail that hints towards the lives you're organising; Tetris, with a touch of storytelling. It's sublime.

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