MagicEngine

ccovell · Regular Joined: 19 Dec 2005 Posts: 100 Location: Japan

Hi, folks. I've found out a bit more about the musicians on some of my favourite PCE games, so I'm happy to share this information.

A little while back there was a little debate as to who made the music for Legendary Axe II. Was it Hiro T. Suzuki? Was it Macco? If not, why was it so similar to Dungeon Explorer's music?

Well, in fact, there are 2 musicians. Or even 3. Tsukasa "Macco" Masuko, "Steinberger" Hiro, and maybe even another T. Suzuki.

I did a little HES music ripping this weekend (see here) and I ripped the music to Maniac Pro Wrestling, which is a terrible game but has fantastic music. In the credits, the sound director is listed as Macco, and the composer (sound creator) is Steinberger Hiro.

Macco is the more famous of the two, as he has worked for Atlus for a long time, making the PCE music for Kyukyoku Tiger, PC-Genjin (Bonk), and Dungeon Explorer. He's done lots of other game soundtracks, like Cosmo Tank on GB, Bio Senshi Dan on Famicom, and the Megami Tensei series on several platforms. Some of the songs in Maniac Prowres are clearly similar-sounding to Dungeon Explorer and Cosmo Tank. So Macco's hand can be heard at work here.

On the other hand, Hiro, (or possibly Hiro T. Suzuki) is most (only?) famous for the wonderful music in Legendary Axe II (Ankoku Densetsu). His style is quite similar to Macco's, but I think I can tell apart what tunes in Maniac Prowres Macco did, and which ones Hiro did. For example, "Music 5" in the HES is clearly Macco's, and sounds just like a song in Cosmo Tank. And then the "Ending" music is clearly done by Hiro.

I just wish I could clear up Hiro's name. "Steinberger" is obviously a nickname. In the credits to Legendary Axe II, the music is listed as being done by "Hiro T. Suzuki". That could be one person or two, since Japanese people never (?) have middle names. It could be Hiro and a T. Suzuki. (Takeshi Suzuki maybe?) credited next to each other.

Anyway, that's all I know for now.
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http://www.chrismcovell.com

sideshow · Posted: Tue Apr 25, 2006 4:17 am Post subject:

Nice .hes rips and thanks for the info on those composers. The Pcengine will go down in history of videogames for having the best music. Hucard and CD. Very Happy

David Shadoff · Posted: Tue Apr 25, 2006 4:46 am Post subject: Spiff !

Wow, that's really great, Chris !
I take it that you got the bug for ripping PCE PSG music from Manbow J's site ?

It sounds like you folks have ripped quite a bit more - is there a central repository for these HES files (or the tools to rip them) ?

There are quite a few CD games with decent PSG music; it would be nice to have a universal HES header for them; it always seemed to me that the PSG music is generally isolated into its own bank, so if you can find the entry points for the music, maybe it's pretty easy to rip them (but then, maybe it isn't either....)

- Dave

stevek666

Keranu · Posted: Tue Apr 25, 2006 9:53 am Post subject:

Wow, that's some impressive information you have supplied us. Thanks a lot!
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LaZer Dorks

Kaminari · Posted: Tue Apr 25, 2006 11:22 am Post subject:

Interesting stuff :)

The Game Music Composer List is always a good start for that kind of research. There are also many Japanese BBS where people actively discuss about those forlorn composers, but the information is sometimes more speculative than factual (not that there's any choice, considering that many composers of the time wish to remain anonymous).

ccovell · Regular Joined: 19 Dec 2005 Posts: 100 Location: Japan

Kaminari · Posted: Tue Apr 25, 2006 7:00 pm Post subject: Re: Spiff !

Paranoia Dragon · Elder Joined: 09 Apr 2005 Posts: 366 Location: New Iacon

2X4 · Member Joined: 20 Jan 2005 Posts: 39

I really like the music in Legendary Axe II, is this soundtrack already ripped by somebody? I don't know if there is a rule about asking for hes rips, but since I own the game it should be kosher. If anybody has info on where to find this or any other great psg music, I would really appreciate it!
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ccovell · Regular Joined: 19 Dec 2005 Posts: 100 Location: Japan

Kaminari · Posted: Sat Apr 29, 2006 1:55 am Post subject:

Shameless plug: Kaminarimon. Browse through RX-Files > HES Music Archive.
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Kaminarimon HES Music Archive | Tokugawa Corporation | YouTube Channel

kingshriek · Visitor Joined: 19 Mar 2006 Posts: 3

I don't really have anything to add, but I thought I'd provide a few rips before I put them in the next site update.

DE-JA (HES) - http://h1.ripway.com/kingshriek/DE-JA.zip

...and because it's relevant,

Cosmo Tank (GBS) - http://h1.ripway.com/kingshriek/CosmoTank.7z

Also, has anyone else looked at the source code to NEZplug+ to try to figure out/determine the problem with ADPCM. The foundation is at least there for it, but I can't figure out why nothing is working.

Paranoia Dragon · Elder Joined: 09 Apr 2005 Posts: 366 Location: New Iacon

Hey 2X4, just so you know, Legendary Axe 2, is under Ankoku Densetsu(Dark Legend). Very Happy

I still don't know what Makyo Densetsu translated to, anyone here know??
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Sentience is the right of all freedom beings?

Kaminari · Posted: Sat Apr 29, 2006 6:26 pm Post subject:

Makyō Densetsu roughly translates as Legend of the Evil World ("makyō" means something like "evil frontier"). Not sure why the official undertitle is Legendary Axe :)
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Kaminarimon HES Music Archive | Tokugawa Corporation | YouTube Channel