#WeeklyGameMusic: Prime #4507 (Echochrome II)


This week’s #WeeklyGameMusic may sound like generic elevator music, but is actually a world record holder. That’s right, we’re talking about the single longest video game track ever composed (as of this writing, year 2020, according to Guinness World Records), Prime #4507. This whopping 75-minutes long piece was composed by Hideki Sakamoto for the mind-bending puzzler, Echochrome II; a game developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) Japan Studio.

Echochrome II is a puzzle game where one uses the motion controls to move the light source and create a shadow path from a bizarrely arranged array of toy blocks for the artist mannequin, cast, to travel across. Depending on the angle, some blocks reveal interactive puzzle elements, including springs, holes, tunnels, and of course, the goal of the level. Much like the predecessor, the player has little control over how the cast moves, aside from making it stop and change directions; instead, much of the puzzle solving comes from the cast’s environment.

Echochrome II was released on the PlayStation 3. No other ports exists, as of this writing; though presumably, it can be purchased online from the Sony online store like other past Playstation titles for the modern console. As a complete aside, number 4507 is, indeed, a prime number.

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#WeeklyGameMusic: Planet Novalis: Tobruk Crater (Ratchet & Clank)


Back to them classics! This week’s #WeeklyGameMusic is from Insomniac Games’ classic, Ratchet & Clank. Planet Novalis: Tobruk Crater, composed by David Bergeaud, merges together action, thrills, and a little bit of swing to create a unique track like no other. Come take a listen:

Ratchet & Clank stars a humanoid feline creature named Ratchet, and his robot buddy, Clank. The story begins with Clank crash-landing onto Rachet’s home planet. Fortunately, Ratchet is a very handy repair-creature, and fixes up Clank in no time. Thankful, Clank informs Ratchet that a greedy race of aliens are planning on overtaking Ratchet’s planet to use up all its resources. The two agree to team up and defend their home from these incoming forces, which of course meant they’ll have to up their…arsenal.

Ratchet & Clank is a third-person collectathon, much in the same vein as Banjo-Kazooie. Platforming and swinging wrenches will be one of the early moves the player will be learning when starting this game series. That said, perhaps the most stand-out feature the series has is its creative library of long-range weapons. That’s right, that raunchy pun in the prior paragraph isn’t just for show (or a reference to a subtitle in one of the series entries): these games are all about guns, and lots of it! Get ready to pummel aliens in sci-fi city environments, all bundled with wonderfully smooth and expressive animations that really adds to the cartoon-factor.

The first Ratchet & Clank was originally released on Playstation 2. It has been re-released for Playstation 3, Vita, and 4.

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#WeeklyGameMusic: Hello World (Touch My Katamari)


#WeeklyGameMusic: New week, new music. Next up is Hello World, composed by Hiroshi Okubo. And series fans should immediately recognize the music’s hip style, which comes from none other than Touch My Katamari.

The surreal and bizarre Touch My Katamari starts with The King of All Cosmos suddenly becoming depressed after overhearing a small human boy mention he thinks of the king as no greater than other common people he knows. To, uh, rekindle his fragile ego broken spirit, he sends his own son, The Prince, to Earth prove to how great the king is…by having The Prince roll Katamaris. Yes, the story makes just as much sense in context.

Rolling on: Touch My Katamari continues the series trademark of utter insanity and apocalyptic destruction rolling the titular Katamari (roughly translates to “clump” in Japanese), a gravity ball that sticks to objects smaller than itself. Once an object is stuck to a Katamari, it becomes part of its mass, thus making it capable of gathering more larger objects. Unique to this entry is the touch-based gestures one can input on the backside of the PS Vita, which makes the Katamari either squash horizontally and cover more ground, or stretch vertically to fit through tight spaces. The game infamously starts you gathering small objects, like thumbtacks, gum, and small dice, until it horrifyingly colorfully escalates to cats, dogs, people, cars, buildings, cities, islands, entire continents, planets, stars, galaxies…

Touch My Katamari was published by Bandai Namco on the PS Vita. Sadly, no other port exists.

P.S. Snark aside, and to this entry’s credit, it explicitly spells out what was hinted throughout the game series that being rolled up in a Katamari is actually a euphoric and unifying experience. Which of course is why every living being reacts to being rolled up by screaming like there’s no tomorrow.

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#WeeklyGameMusic: Blue Sky Town – Dol Dona (.hack//G.U.)


#WeeklyGameMusic: New week, new music. Today’s track is Blue Sky Town – Dol Dona, composed by Chikayo Fukuda. It’s a pleasant town music from Bandai Namco’s mega-long multi-media series, .hack, specifically, the .hack//G.U. trilogy.

Before there was Sword Art Online (SAO), there was .hack. That’s right, this game, manga, and anime series all takes place in the fictional MMO Action-RPG, The World. Dull naming aside, much like SAO, players start falling into a comatose state, both in-game and in real-life. Unlike SAO, the devs blame it to a computer virus, presumably spread by malicious players. The G.U. trilogy stars Haseo, who seeks for revenge after his close friend catches this comatose spell.

.hack//G.U. is a single-player action-JRPG series. Unlike, you know, real MMORPGs, .hack//G.U. is a story-driven game with no character customization, and A.I.-controlled party members. The party explores randomly-generated dungeons: battle initiates when a monster gets close to the party, constraining them into a tight circle. Perhaps the more unique side of the game is how narrative plays: there are email logs, marriage simulation, and other MMORPG-like communication methods to suck the player into its universe.

.hack//G.U. is available on PC via Steam, PS4, and PS2.

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Weekly Game Music: The Flaming Tree (Tsugunai: Atonement)


New week, new music.  This week, we return to a calmer tune, with a hint of wonder.  Yasunori Mitsuda composition, The Flaming Tree, has a mysterious feel to it.  Quite fitting for a spiritual game like Tsugunai: Atonement.

Tsugunai: Atonement tells a story of a daredevil mercenary named Reise. When he attempts to retrieve the Treasure Orb as one of his missions, however, the gods angrily handicaps him by splitting his soul away from his body.  Now only a ghost, Reise must atone for his sins by possessing other people and helping them aid their life.

Tsugunai: Atonement is a turn-based RPG.  Unlike a generic JRPG, however, the “party” is only one character Reise happened to possess at that time.  In this sense, the town acts as a character hub for Reise, where each possessee have their own special abilities.  Once possessed, Reise may visit a nearby dungeon to fight through monsters and defeat the main evil.

Tsugunai: Atonement was released on the Playstation 2 in 2001.

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Weekly Game Music: moony [advanced] (Futari No FantaVision)


New week, new music.  Since the holidays is just around the corner, here’s a little festive trance music from the Japan-only puzzle game, Futari No FantaVision.  Introducing moony [advanced] by Soichi Terada.

Futari No FantaVision is actually just a 2-player version of a game that was released in the US, FantaVision.  In FantaVision, you control a ray that can detonate rising fireworks if you’ve successfully aimed at three or more like-colored fireballs.  The game becomes a sort of rhythmic puzzle game, where you attempt to detonate as many fireworks as possible.

Futari No FantaVision was released only in Japan on the PS2 in 2002.  It’s “prequel,” FantaVision was released in the US on 2000.

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