The sounds of my childhood

Last night I went weird and stayed up til 2:30 downloading old video game music. It was glorious.

Here's the deal: I was born in 1981, and quickly became a member of the Nintendo generation. I got the NES for Christmas in about 1987, which back then came with the classic game to end all classic games - Super Mario Bros. I also got the Zapper gun and three Zapper games - Duck Hunt, Hogan's Alley and Wild Gunman. Thank you, dad.

Over the next ten years I was an avid player, though my supply of games was limited. Except for rare occasions, my parents would only buy me new games and Christmas or for my birthday. Which meant spending most of the year planning and trying to decide which games to put on my wishlist. Sometimes you'd get what you wished for, sometimes they'd buy you Section Z or Captain Comic instead. Fuck you, dad.

In 1992 or 1993 I got the SNES for my birthday, though my dad insisted I'd pay for half of it myself. Thank you and fuck you, dad. The SNES is still my favorite console of all time. Then again, I haven't played many consoles since as I sort of dropped out of the video game thingamajiggy in the late 90s. Other interests (booze and boobs) took over I guess, though one day when I'm a millionaire I'm gonna buy every console made since 1998 and do nothing but play every game I can get my hands until the day I die. That's a promise.

Though I can't imagine any of them consoles being better than SNES in terms of games quality and pure joy. But that's obviously just my nostalgia speaking, so pay no attention the previous sentence.

I did get a Game Boy Advance for my birthday about five years later, in 2002 or so, and I love it dearly. And I bought a used Nintendo 64 not long ago, which I enjoy from time to time. Other than that I've managed to stay clear of any video games made since the turn of the millenium. It's not that I'm stuck in the past just playing the old games over and over, I don't. I still have my trusted old NES and SNES but they haven't been plugged in for years. Not sure what happened. I guess I prefer thinking back at the good times we had as opposed being stuck in the good old times, if that makes any sense.

I will always associate video games with that golden era of 1987 to 1997 when playing my beloved NES and SNES took up most of my time, and the rest of the time was spent pining for those precious games I might get for Christmas. Good times, people. Good times.

So, last night I sat down and downloaded the music for those old games I used to play. My favorites have been compiled for my own pleasure, though you might enjoy it as well.

Since most of this music was never given official names, you'll have to settle with sexy titles like Stage 1, Stage 2 and Title Screen Theme. Ooooooh so hawt.

(zip) Metal Bastard's Nostalgic Nintendo Mix (50 mb)

1.Super Mario Bros. - Underground theme
2. Castlevania - Stage 2
3. Kid Icarus - Stage 1
4. Wizards and Warriors - Title screen theme
5. Mega Man - Gutsman stage
6. Blaster Master - Area 1
7. Blades of Steel - Game start
8. Super Mario Bros. 2 - Stage 1
9. Tetris - A-type music
10. Batman - Stage 2
11. Snake Rattle 'n' Roll - Stage 1
12. Duck Tales - Amazon stage
13. Little Nemo The Dream Master - Mushroom forest
14. Dr. Mario - Chill
15. Super Mario Bros. 3 - Overworld 2
16. The Simpsons: Bart vs. The Space Mutants - Title & stage theme
17. Super Mario World - Overworld background music (Yoshi)
18. F-Zero - Big blue
19. Street Fighter II - Chun Li
20. Bart's Nightmare - Title & staff roll
21. TMNT: Turtles In Time - Bury my shell at Wounded Knee
22. Alien3 - Mission 1
23. Donkey Kong Country - Aquatic ambiance
24. Yoshi's Island - Flower garden
25. Donkey Kong Country 3 - Dixie beat

Random memories and recollections of said games:

Super Mario Bros - Immortal classic. Played it everyday for years.

Castlevania - I don't think I ever made it past the third or fourth stage. The controls completely blew ass, and the dude both looked and walked like a leper with a limp. I managed to kill the motherfucker every time he had to jump somewhere.

Kid Icarus - A game which I never actually owned until about 1996 when the NES was dying and some store was selling it for no money at all. Though back in the day I used to borrow it from friends who owned it and play it from time to time. Unfortunately they always wanted it back before I'd managed to get very far in the game. Just as well probably, as I'd always get turned into a fucking eggplant anyway. Somehow I could never avoid being turned into a fucking eggplant. But the consolation was the main character's name - Pit. Which sounded identical to "pitt", the Swedish word for "dick". That never stopped being funny.

Wizards and Warriors - Another game I bought after the fact when I'd half-abandoned the NES and was mostly playing the SNES. I bought it dirt cheap while on caravan holiday with my parents (good times) and had to wait about a week and a half before I could get home and try it. It wasn't really worth the wait, but the music was good.

Mega Man - Was I a retard or this game was fucking hard? Rhetorical question, don't answer it. I loved it and played it endlessly but I could never quite get the hang of it. The Fireman and Elecman stages always fucked me up. And the Iceman stage with those blocks appearing and disappearing? I could never figure that shit out. I probably would've done at lot better at this game if it hadn't taken me ages to realise you could actually use each boss' special power once you'd beaten them. Okay, I was a retard.

Blaster Master - Another game which I loved though I never quite got anywhere. I'd just go over the first two stages again and again.

Blades of Steel - Clearly the best ice hockey game ever made. The music ruled, the fights were awesome, and that polar bear at half time was kickass. I always picked the Minnesota team, the white and purple ones. Together we won every tournament. Yay us.

Super Mario Bros. 2 - By far my favorite video game of all time, I know every pixel of it like the back of my hand. I don't care if it's just a redesigned version of another game completely unrelated to the Mario universe, don't give a shit about the lack of koopas and goombas, this game fucking rules. It. Fucking. Pwns. It's perfection. The Lost Levels, you say? Ha! Don't make me laugh.

Tetris - I nearly wore out my Game Boy playing Tetris all day. Though I'm not as fanatical about it as many others; I must admit I always preferred Dr. Mario.

Batman - I was nuts about everything Batman when Tim Burton's movie came out the late 80s. The tie-in game didn't really live up to my expectations (the controls are somehow even worse than those in Castlevania) but looking back it had some utterly excellent music.

Snake Rattle 'n' Roll - Yet another one I bought years after its release when I'd moved on from the NES, but I still got quite a few hours of enjoyment out of this one even though I could never quite get my head around the diagonal controls (those who have played it know what I mean).

Duck Tales - Another all-time favorite, probably because it was so easy. And also because I'd been watching the cartoon for years. I got nothing but fond memories of this one.

Little Nemo: The Dream Master - Another one that looked like a cute cartoon, so I liked it before I'd even played it. I seem to recall it being quite annoying to play as the whole thing would flicker every time there were more than five sprites on the screen at the same time, but I loved the riding the gorilla. The bee was cool too.

Dr. Mario - The world's #1 puzzle game in my book. I've played this so much I could beat you at it in my sleep. The only games I've owned on three consoles; the NES, SNES and Game Boy. It's that awesome.

Super Mario Bros. 3 - I remember the expectations for this were ridiculous. My dad and I went to some shady store to book a copy long in advance, though I got a cool SMB3 hat with the downpayment. Pretty sweet. Great game, clearly one of the best of all time, but I still prefer SMB2.

The Simpsons: Bart vs. The Space Mutants - Fucking hell on earth. Impossible controls, antique graphics, and annoying music. Yet I loved it and couldn't stop playing it. I have no idea why, I must be a masochist in addition my retardation. I don't think I ever got past that fucking theme park stage. Just getting past the mall stage was a pain in the ass.

Super Mario World - My first SNES game. I'd say this is my second favorite game of all time, right behind SMB2. Sublime. The best thing about it? Pressing down repeatedly really fast whenever Mario was sitting on Yoshi, as that made it look like Mario was furiously humping Yoshi doggy-style. Yes, good times.

F-Zero - I was the KING of F-Zero! Seriously, no one could beat me. Even to this day I don't think anyone could beat me. I'd challenge any of you motherfuckers. Not a fan of racing games, but for some reason this one hooked me. I always picked the heavy, pink car/spaceship/hovercraft/whatever the fuck it was. A slower starter but once I got going: VROOOM! Watch my fucking backlights as they disappear into the distance, bitch.

Street Fighter II - I used to rent this game all the time at a local retailer until I realised I'd save money if I just bought a copy. I was always Guile or Zangief, them niggas were br00tuhl. Never Blanka though (fuck you, Slusk). Sometimes I'd pick Chun Li and just make her jump around to see if I could look up under her skirt. I couldn't.

Bart's Nightmare - Another Simpsons game. One time my final score was a B- but usually I'd just an F and have Homer and Marge scowl at me. I sucked at this game too, but remember the parts where Bart walks down the street to be quite fun, as it felt quite random and interactive. You could get gum stuck on your face, run into principal Skinner, get run over by a mailbox, get kidnapped by the bullies etc etc. The Bartzilla stage was the shit.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles In Time - Another favorite. I played it all the time and got the whole thing down pat. After a while I could do a perfect speed run like nobody's business. I always picked Donatello (obviously). Bo staff ftw.

Alien3 - I'm beginning to realise how crap I was at most of these games... I'd either pwn a game completely or get stuck in the first level. Alien3 was in the latter category. Fun game though, and the music was spectacular! Some of the best I've ever heard.

Donkey Kong Country - So far ahead of its time graphics wise that it felt like playing something from the future. I'd play this all day long with the Hassan prank call CDs playing the background - for me the two will forever be entwined. I also seem to associate this fame with Axe Musk body spray. Not sure why.

Yoshi's Island - One of the games I have the fondest memories of - the music, the crayon-like graphics, the bosses which were absolutely gigantic for its time... the whole thing is brilliant.

Donkey Kong Country 3 - I somehow missed DKC2 and went straight to the third one. I remember the SNES was coming towards the end of its run with the advent of the Nintendo 64, which also became the beginning of the end of my game playing run. Kind of sad in a way. Pretty ballsy to cut Donkey Kong himself out the game completely.

Okay, that's it. Download and listen.