Aug 092012
Three of the greatest NES soundtracks star in this episode devoted to Ryu Hayabusa
Become the ninja dragon with one click
SHOW NOTES
0:00:00 – Intro Part 1
0:00:18 – Intro Part 2
0:07:40 – Galesburg
0:09:05 – Outpost
0:10:30 – Death Valley
0:19:24 – Walter Smith Dies
0:20:31 – Foster’s Theme
0:21:58 – The Nails of Lukifell
0:23:27 – Bazlisk Mine Field
0:35:40 – Chaosium Sword
0:37:12 – Thunderstorm
0:38:58 -Overdrive
0:46:11 – The Parasprinter
0:47:23 – Fire Cavern
0:48:34 – Unlimited Movement
0:56:07 – Stage 1-1
0:57:35 – Stage 2-1
0:58:40 – Stage 2-2
1:06:25 – Stage 3-2
1:07:51 – Stage 4-2
1:11:47 – Irene and Ryu
1:13:15 – A Long Way to Go
blow, cool me
Excellent! a new VGMpire!
And this is great, i remember playing the shit out of the first Ninja Gaiden, but I don’t remember the music all that well, so this will make for a sweet reminder ^^
The Ninja Gaiden NES games are so fun, but so damn hard! I can see Ninja Gaiden’s wall-climbing gameplay influencing Mega Man X considerably.
I’m ashamed to say that I’ve only finished the three Ninja Gaiden games in their inferior SNES form, albeit with cheat codes. At least the SNES cartridge is a rare collector’s item. Although the Ninja Gaiden Trilogy SNES music is pretty crappy, I like that trumpet sound!! Haha.
I personally thought the weird sounds in Act 2-2 of NG3 sound like a dog barking (ARF ARF!).
NES: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VFaTTp9VFzE (ARF! ARF!)
They removed the sounds in the SNES version, unfortunately: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6doYUG54WAs
I think it may be time for me to tackle the first game on my NES. I’m scared to death about that last level though…
All I can think of is “drum assault” with a lot of Ninja Gaiden tracks. They always made me feel like I had to keep going forward and not stop. I guess the fast-moving time limit was also part of that whole sense of urgency. I think “Outpost” is my favorite from the first game, it’s just so freaking catchy.
You’d LOVE Vomitron’s cover of the first Ninja Gaiden’s music, it’s done accurately and HEAVILY:
Acts 1-3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LbWfXUXGCds
Acts 4-6: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dFVhEjcXKkA
The Advantage also did a great version of Mine Field/Shaft from NG1. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-f0UcbBwq5I
Also. funny you mention Dream Theater (although they began in the late 80s, early 90s): Square Enix composer Tsuyoshi Sekito (Brave Fencer Musashi, Kingdom Hearts 3D) lists them as an influence, so I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if the composers for the Ninja Gaiden games were big prog rock/metal fans.
Team Ninja, you fools! Why didn’t you just use shredding guitar covers of these songs as the soundtrack to your Ninja Gaiden games? Excellent episode, Brett.
Great episode but for some reason my download went super slow
[…] Three of the greatest NES soundtracks star in this episode devoted to Ryu Hayabusa. LISTEN NOW! […]
“Become the ninja dragon with one click” … I can’t be the only one who misread that…
listening to this made minecraft insanely intense
Stupid birds! ARRRHHHGGGG I quit!
BOY! those mics are sensitive.
somebody there had a dry whistely nasal passage hee hee.
i tease.
this was an excellent episode.
i hadn’t listened to the NG music since those games originally came out. wow. the flash backs i was having.
Another great episode. Keep it up!
Looking forward to this. The game is very rare and has an amazing soundtrack. I was lucky to get a copy.
Awesome Podcast. Keep it up!
My favorite song was Act 5-3
I found a metal cover of it. That riff is sick!
Ninja Gaiden Act 5-3 Metal Version – http://youtu.be/KCNoUfEDq6c
Funny I actually played the Arcade more than the NES, since I didn’t actually own it. Always meant to go back and play it some more, and the music really kicks ass.
This was an amazing episode Brett, some of the best music on the NES being showcased here. The mere mention of a Journey to Silius episode has me giddy with anticipation as well. Can’t wait to see what you pull up next!
Great podcast!!! Listened halfway through. I actually bought ninja gaiden trilogy snes at funcoland in wayne (now gamestop), and although i got to play all three games (still hard), the music was terrible. I guess someone borrowed it from me and kept it for a long time. I still have ninja gaiden1 for nes, which i think is the hardest nes game of all time. It was innovative for its cutscenes, which was before metal gear changed it. The music was pretty good and the graphics were cool. I also have the xbox ninja gaiden, which is way more harder than the nes version.
The best part about these podcasts is that you are so very enthusiastic about what you’re talking about. I am a mostly silent supporter of you and all the old T-Dar cast and I’ve been listening to all of you since the Seth Killian interview about that rad new Street Fighter IV game. I just want you to know that I enjoy listening to you and your friends talk about this love of retro game music. Keep up all your hard work and know that every time you post this stuff up, you’re making someone’s life out here a little easier to deal with.
Thanks! 🙂
This episode completely turned me on to old school NG music. I’ve listened to it countless times, and blasted songs like Basilisk Minefield while pulling out of my college, windows open. Good shit, mr. Elston. Good shit.
Great episode! Hearing these tracks brings back so many good memories. These games were difficult at first but after playing them over and over, you get used to pattern and defeating them became very manageable.
I just found this podcast, so my comment is about 2 years too late. Regarding this episode, I am surprised that one of the tracks was not included. The song I am referring to is “Midnight Runner” aka “Going Gets Tough”. Not only is this a great song, but it is played during the BEST scene of the game and probably one of the best scenes in the entire trilogy.
The cut scene was played after stage 7-1 and involves special intelligence officer, Rob. It is such a powerful scene because earlier in game, when Rob and Irene were escaping, Jaquio intercepts them and he is able to take Irene away from Rob. Ryu later catches up with Rob whom was injured by Jaquio. Rob fills Ryu in on the details of what happened when Jaquio’s goons are seen approaching them. Rob decides to stay behind to slow them down to allow Ryu go after Irene.
For actual scene itself, it can be seen here: http://youtu.be/37v8_bIhT3o?t=30m47s
It was heavily implied that this was Rob’s last stand. In the scene, he says to himself, “So…this is the end of road, eh? It’s dark…everything is getting cloudy. Ryu, get’em…for me.” And a slight smirk can be seen on Rob after this line. He fires his gun one last time and the scene fades away then cuts to Ryu running towards his goal of finding Irene. Again, this is such a powerful scene, and it was found on the 8 bit NES.
It’s too bad that neither Ryu nor Irene mentions Rob at the end of the game. Maybe the creators of the game wanted to keep Rob’s fate ambiguous in case they wanted to bring him back in another Ninja Gaiden game.
For something less serious, in NG3, I found that the music in stage 4-1 (the stage with the upside down mountains) to be very good as well. It is more melodic which is quite different than the tracks that were chosen for the podcast. I will re-listen to this one everyone now and then. Great job all around guys.