Feb 032016
One of 2015’s best soundtracks gets its own episode! We discuss not only the game’s relentlessly upbeat tunes, but also its unique Nickelodeon meets Jet Grind Radio universe.
SHOW NOTES
00:00 – Splattack
08:40 – Ink or Sink
11:15 – Seaskape
14:10 – Metalopod
24:06 – Friend List
26:11 – Hooked
28:37 – Eight-Legged Advance
35:35 – Maritime Memories
I’m convinced this game is proof that Nintendo has some closeted Jet Set Radio fans in-house. Splatoon was such a fun surprise mechanically and musically! The Splattack song is really fun riff to jam out on guitar.
I’m really glad that AGDQ did a run of the singleplayer campaign this year as I feel like it’s unfortunately overlooked just on the merits of it’s great multiplayer. One of the most satisfying final bosses from a AAA game I’ve experienced in a dogs age.
Favorite music is definitely the shop theme, which changes up slightly depending on which one you’re in.
ive listened to this soundtrack a bunch, and never laid a finger on the game.
Chris, gay rat? care to explain whatever that is? haha
I haven’t played Splatoon in about two months now, but the music still plays in my head all the time. The Multiplayer VS Theme 3 (Seaskape) is the song that I always hear. when I’m drawing, it pops in my head and my mood gets really upbeat and positive and I just feel super good. My roommate has caught me on more than one occasion whistling the “chorus” part while cooking in the kitchen. It’s really very Ska like and that’s okay because I love Ska. you can really tell how old the composers are based on the sound they went for. It’s very reminiscent of the musical sound of the 90’s. which would explain the Ska/Rock, Pop/Punk, Rap/Rock sound. a delightfully frenetic game with an aggressively upbeat and fun OST. Also, Mikel’s right, music it really does remind me of The Pillows work on the FLCL OST and a little bit like the Japanese band High Voltage who did the ending theme “Underground” for Gurren Lagann. really it sounds like a lot of the kind of music the guys at Gainax attached to their films in the late 90’s and early 2000’s up til’ around 2010 with the Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt OST. yep. still, excellent mini episode, so glad we get more VGMpire now.
Ah, the timing on this is great. I just got the Splatune album (best name) and have been listening to it a lot off the back of playing tons of the game itself last year.
I love the fictional bands behind each ‘genre’ of tracks credited on the soundtrack that you mentioned at the top. It adds a real fresh flavour to the game you usually only get in games with ensemble soundtracks like Jet Set(/Grind) Radio, but with greater worldbuilding cohesiveness.
Was completely blown away by the music and atmosphere of the final boss in the Single Player when first getting into the game. The two music tracks associated with it make for one hell of a moment.
Hope Nintendo push this into franchise territory, as on every level I am excited for more.
There’s some speculation that the live Squid Sisters music concert in Japan recently might be testing the waters for something like that to be their for the public E3 event like the pre release Smash Bros tournaments and the like in recent years.
Seems potentially a bit too Japanese culture centric, but I’d love if it were true!
I had no idea the soundtrack for Splatoon was this good. Thank you for the great episode.
After I finished the episode, I looked up the soundtrack and found a remix of the main theme played on kazoos. It made me feel important.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5C9Nh5o69vU&w=560&h=315%5D
oh my gawd! kazoos! haha that’s so weird
I might be crazy but the Battle Results track reminded me of that ridiculousness Madden 93 tune even down to the voice sample. Am I losing my mind?
Compare for yourself
Splatoon https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBzWCawaSmg
and
Madden 93 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6kxv3YUicQ8
Aww man was my comment too dumb 🙁
that’s curiously similar. my skin crawled a little. haha
Man do I love Splatoon, single-handedly justified my Wii U purchase. I love how much the music is part of the game. The final boss fight is a Scott Pilgrim style battle of the bands between DJ Octavio and you and the squid sisters! Also all the puns, my favorite is Callie and Marie who together are calamari aka fried squid. They revealed that it sold 4.06 million copies which is only half a million less than Smash Bros sold. They also revealed that in Japan the top 3 selling amiibo were the 3 Splatoon amiibo. With success like that I bet we see more Splatoon in the future.
One of the devs of Splatoon said that the music in the game is supposed to be what the Inklings enjoy listening to.
Another great soundtrack from a game I’ve never played. Love the chiptune parts of Friend List!
Yo Elston! Good mini. I’ll have to give the whole soundtrack a listen. When you guys talked about the “Veronica Mars” track, it initially reminded me of that “Hey you, I don’t like your boyfriend” song on account of the cheerleader chants. But then Michael referred to it as “sort of irresistable”, which made me realize it was totally reminiscent of “Simply Irresistible” by Robert Palmer. So Michael gets the award for best wordplay of the episode, regardless of whether or not it was intentional.
And Drunktista was hilarious and gregarious. He was grelarious. Everything’s good in moderation; I guess that even applies to drunken silliness.
Lastly, I loved the last track; it reminded me of an updated and less saccharine version of the NiGHTs ending tune. Love these VGMinis, sir. You are very close to undermining my inertia and inspiring me to visit Patreon.
Glad you’re enjoying! 🙂
I always do. Even when I bitch, it’s because I care. 😉
If it weren’t for Hotline Miami 2, Splatoon would’ve been my favorite soundtrack of 2015 🙂
It’s really great though. I never feel like I’m too good at Splatoon but it’s still super fun, and the music and aesthetic are a huge part of that. I do wish you could cycle through more than just 2 levels at a time when playing online though. I know they rotate maps every so often throughout the day, but playing the same 2 over and over for an hour is kind of a bummer.
Nevertheless, I adore the game and its music (and unintentional squid memes). The 90s Nickelodeon similarities are spot-on, too.
One of my favorite tracks aside from “Splattack!” is the music that kicks in when you have one minute left in the match. It’s very moshy and has this great intensely fun vibe to it that really makes you want to go nuts in the last moments of the round. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ahn_k9oG8io
ALSO: The behind the scenes footage of the musicians jamming out and recording the game’s music is a must-see. I love how into it some of them get! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-13CQUlcPQ
“NYAN-NYAN, NYAN-NYAN, NYAN-NYAN-OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO”
If you like the Splatoon soundtrack I recommend checking out the band Polysics. In fact the first time I heard Splatoon I checked to see if Polysics were involved at all because it sounded so similar to their style. (Not in a bad plagiaristic way, just in terms of the general vibe)
Glad you guys did this episode! In my mind Splatoon has one of the best OSTs in recent memory and a huge part of what makes the game so great. And thanks for mentioning CDJapan! I started listening to this on my way home from work, and bought Splatune from there as soon as I got home!
Pretty late to the party but hopefully someone will like what i link here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lRXyflaJNTE thats the live concert they held in japan featuring the squid sisters ala sorta a hatsune miku concert
and then here is this a little behind the scenes recording of the tracks featuring not kids or squids
I’m glad you did this episode–the soundtrack is so worthy. However, ironically, i couldnt listen to most of it because after 100+ hours of SPlatoon gameplay, i’ve HEARD THESE SONGS SO MANY TIMES I CANT REALLY ENDURE ANY MORE OFFLINE SOUNDTRACK! ;’]
[…] VGMini 03 – Splatoon Tunes – One of 2015’s best soundtracks gets its own episode! We discuss not only the game’s relentlessly upbeat tunes, but also its unique Nickelodeon meets Jet Grind Radio universe. […]