Download Episode 44 – “Shmup Trax 2” Here!
Mike and Ed take to the skies again in an episode featuring more music from their favorite shoot ’em up titles! Expect tons of danceable grooves, some hard rock, and… the blues? What? Listen to find out more!
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The Tracklist:
Format: Game Title (System) – Track Title – Composer
1 – Silpheed (Sega CD) – “Hyperspace (Stage 5)” – Mecano Associates (Mariko Sato, Mamoru Ishimoda, Yoko Sonoda, Hiroshi Kawai, Fumihito Kasatani)
2 – Verytex (Mega Drive) – “The Void of Space (Stage 1)” – Hitoshi Sakimoto, Masaharu Iwata, Yoshio Furukawa
3 – Legendary Wings (NES) – “Stage 3” – Manami Matsumae, Tamayo Kawamoto
4 – 1944 the Loop Master (Arcade) – “Nightmare Valley (Stage 7)” – Unknown?
5 – Iridion 2 (GBA) – “Dynamic Main Menu” – Manfred Linzner
6 – Ketsui: Death Label (DS) – “Defensive Line – Lurk In The Darkness (Stage 4)” – Manabu Namiki
7 – Hellfire (Sega Genesis) – “Ready to Go – Captain Lancer” – Tatsuya Uemura
8 – Aqua Kitty: Milk Mine Defender – “Buttermilk Bay” – Electric Cafe
9 – Liberation Maiden (3DS) – “Liberation Day (instrumental)” – Akira Yamaoka
10 – Phalanx the Assault Fighter A-144 (SNES) – “Destroyer” – S. Yamaguchi
11 – Crisis Force (NES) – “Stage 1” – Kenichi Matsubara , Yasuhiko Manno, Jun Chuma
12 – Battle Mania Daiginjou (GEN) – “Burning Heart” – Yasuyuki Hamada, Shigenori Masuko, Youko Suzuki, Fumito Tamayama
PixelTunes Radio VGM Podcast 
Hey guys,
Really enjoyed the episode. Prompted me to check out videos of Battle Mania Daiginjou, which looks incredible. Also prompted me to check out Silpheed for the PC-88, which hardly looks anything like the Sega CD version.
Hey, I noticed that your NES game tracks are playing back in stereo. Is that a conscious decision? If I were playing an NES game, I might find it pleasing to tweak with the panning on the individual voice channels. However, in a podcast format like yours where you’re exposing people to music they might not have heard before, it kind of messes with the original composers’ intent. I don’t know if you two have had a private or public discussion about this before, but my own personal opinion is that a track should be played as it was intended.
A fine exception to this rule would be the “Dynamic Main Menu” track you played in this very episode, in which the creator’s intent was that you could make the track however you wanted. Also, music since Super Mario 64 has become somewhat interactive, since parts fade in and out depending on your situation.
Anyway, I just had to throw my two cents in. This is the internet, after all. It was wierd, hearing stereo separation on an NES track, then hearing much newer tunes from other systems where the composers chose to make the music almost entirely monaural.
Keep up the good work!