Oct 082014
Rocktober moves ahead into Pokemon’s Game Boy Advance days, including Ruby, Sapphire, Emerald, FireRed and LeafGreen.
00:00 – Title Screen (RSE)
15:42 – Dive (RSE)
17:35 – Route 120 (RSE)
19:04 – Mt Chimney (RSE)
27:59 – Battle vs Trainer (RSE)
30:16 – Battle vs Team Aqua and Magma (RSE)
32:46 – Battle vs Team Aqua Magma Leader (RSE)
42:40 – Battle vs Legendary Pokemon (FRLG)
43:35 – Battle vs Deoxys (FRLG)
46:14 – Nanashima (FRLG)
47:58 – Cerulean and Sekichiku City (FRLG added in post)
52:41 – Safari Zone Gate (HGSS)
53:39 – Safari Zone (RSE)
56:47 – Ending (RSE)
And again, check out iTunes’ huge selection of Pokemon soundtracks. It’s very rare for complete OSTs to make it on official channels so show them some love!
Thanks for keeping up the good work, guys!
I only played LeafGreen for nostalgia over Blue….
I sure hope Giratina’s theme from Platinum is in Rocktober week 3 😛
Bleh Ruby and Sapphire, easily my least favorite of all Pokemon generations. It has the biggest ratio of lame/lazy Pokemon designs, and it really wasn’t that impressive presentation wise even though it was the first “next-gen” Pokemon.
But anyway, let’s see how well the music holds up.
I didn’t like R/S either mainly because of the “break” they mentioned.
I was someone who had “caught-em-all” in Gold, so I was pretty pissed that those Pokemon all had to die on that cartridge.
Whereas, like Henry also mentioned, I have Pokemon in my Pokemon Bank right now that came all the way from my original version of Ruby. And Nintendo’s assurance that the Bank is always going to be a thing going forward from now on gave me the confidence to catach-em-all again. All 718 of them.
It always pissed me off how Nintendo basically managed to fuck up the controls on every handheld after the the Gameboy.
GBA – Essentially a portable SNES. Only has 4 buttons to the SNES’s 6.
DS – Essentially a portable N64. Has no Analog Stick that is basically a requirement for most N64 games.
3DS – Essentially a portable Gamecube. Only has 1 Analog Stick to the GC’s 2.
So basically, no port of any game from the system the handhelds were attempting to emulate were ever able to control properly.
With the New 3DS, which is essentially going to be a portable Wii, at least the touch pad has SOME of the functionality of a motion controller.
Woo! Cerulean City theme!
Thank you!
The R/S/E title screen is probably my favorite title screen of all of the Pokemon games.
Was this the first Pokemon game that you had go to an outside source to be able to catch certain Pokemon(not counting giveaways)? I remember in this game had puzzles in braille which you had to complete to get to registeel, regice and regirock.
Time really does fly when listening VGMpire, keep rocktober going guys, thanks
Wow, it’s been a year since the month of Final Fantasy? Crazy. I don’t have any nostalgia for any of this music or these games since I never owned a Nintendo System. However, I didn’t have any nostalgia for the Castlevania games either, and loved that Rocktober. So far I’m enjoying these tunes. Hopefully as we go forward in the month I’ll hear some songs that I love as much as the Castlevania songs.
Good work Brelston! I heartily enjoyed this episode. I never got to hear much GBA music at the time, so it’s nice when you bring ’em out. I also appreciated the banter about the GBA’s characteristics. It almost sounds like it had a SNES-ish sampler chip *and* a PSG. The chiptuney stuff sounds near gameboy, but you’re right, it wasn’t quite the same. There also seems to be a lack of dynamics in all the GBA tracks I’ve heard. You’ve piqued my interest; I’m going to have to learn me some knowledge about the GBA chip.
Thanks for Pokemonth! I’m really enjoying this a lot. I’m happy to rediscover this show at such a time.
This is a damn fine episode. I also fell off the pokemon train around this time, so refreshing myself of these great tracks makes me much more hyped for oras. I am excited for how the 3ds will transcribe the bombastic brassiness of the originals. This podcast has really piqued my interest in the games, so thanks guys.
Also, I wonder how large the next podcast will be since the DS library covers a lot of games. I look forward to it though; B&W are my favorite of the series, in part because of the soundtrack. I do hope some of the more unusual tracks are shared as well.
Love Pokemon and this is a great idea for a month of music
Sometimes I feel like I’m the only one who really liked Gen. 3, as well as its music. In fact, it would probably be my favorite if not for the “gap”. I have a lot good memories associated with Sapphire and its soundtrack, but people on the internet seem to love spamming “DURR WATER TRUMPETS” whenever Hoenn is brought up.
I was so blown away by that “Dive” track from Pokemon Ruby/Sapphire! The drumming especially, it’s so complex. It’d be a really fun track to jam to.
I’ve only played a bit of the demo of Pokemon Ruby at a local EB Games back when it came out, so I missed out entirely on that generation. I’m glad I’m finally getting a taste of the music I missed out on. I especially liked the arrangements done by Pokemon Symphonic Evolutions when I saw them in Philly. Their Victory Road and Ending Theme renditions stood out for me, particularly.
“Battle vs Deoxys” was totally rad! I wasn’t aware of the big additions to FireRed and LeafGreen. Makes me wish I got a copy when it originally came out. I remember those damn carts being $35 at Gamestop when they were phasing out their GBA stock. The remakes of FR & LG’s music is hit-or-miss for me. Some of it is great, like the “Battle VS Legendary Pokemon” music. I love the addition of percussion and the subtle elements of the GB’s chiptunes. I’d have to say that I prefer the original GB version of “Cerulean and Sekichiku City” though. Funny enough, that’s a track where I didn’t think the percussion fit with the tune.
Looking forward to hearing some HeartGold and SoulSilver tunes!
I feel like you either dropped out or first started pokemon with Ruby and Sapphire. I have almost no nostalgia for those games so my excitement level is pretty moderate for the remakes. Those trumpets though…man.
FR/LG I actually got pretty obsessed over. Nostalgia for sure and just seeing everything more colorful and realized was great. I’m sure a lot of people have never heard that Deoxys theme considering it was an even pokemon, what a crazy song that’s hidden away.
I never played any of this era, but some of this music is killer! Thanks for showcasing it, Brett. I probably wouldn’t have ever heard this stuff without this episode!
I realize this episode is old as hell, but I discovered this podcast recently and thought I’d throw in my two cents.
First off, two songs that I feel you missed. One of them is Route 113, which plays on a route that entirely covered in soot, and the other is Mt. Pyre Peak, which plays on this hill that has been turned into a graveyard. Both are really nice, and very different from what you typically hear in the series.
I generally feel that RSE has a lot of very good compositions that are kind of murdered by the GBA’s capabilities of producing audio. Overall it probably is generation with the worst music because of that, but the few that stand out really stand out. That said, all the remixes of the GBA songs from games like Pokémon Colosseum and other media of the time are excellent, so if you want these compositions without the limitations of the GBA hardware, there’s options. I wasn’t a fan of ORAS’s remixes, though, there’s something about them that just feels off.