The Greatest Game Music

Reviews of truly outstanding game music

  • Soundtracks
  • Composers
  • Companies
  • Platforms
  • Franchises
  • Music Genres
  • Game Genres
  • Years

Battletoads Soundtrack (Sega Genesis)

Battletoads Soundtrack (Sega Genesis)

Battletoads Soundtrack (Sega Genesis), David Wise, 1993

Yes, it might have been a blatant attempt to ride the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’ coattails. Still, Rare’s 1991 NES Battletoads game was successful enough to see it ported to a plethora of other platforms. Probably the highest-profile port was the Battletoads version released for the Sega Genesis in 1993. Reviews of the game were somewhat divided. More than a few critics pointed out that the developers could have done more to improve the game in the two years that had passed since the NES release, instead of releasing what was mostly a simple conversion that arguably didn’t push the Genesis graphics chip much.

In fact, where the Genesis port of Battletoads probably shines the brightest is with its score. Before delving deeper into this version of the Battletoads soundtrack, a few disclaimers are necessary. Available information on who developed the Genesis port is conflicting. Some sources point to Rare, others list Japanese studio Arc System Works. Keep in mind: Arc System Works developed the Battletoads Game Gear port. That game’s soundtrack was ported by Hikoshi Hashimoto, not original composer David Wise himself. So while Wise is commonly listed as the composer of the Battletoads soundtrack for the Genesis, there is a chance that the music was actually ported by someone else (assuming Arc System Works was involved). The fact that there is no credits roll at the end of the game doesn’t help matters. In the absence of definitive information, we need to assume Wise ported his own NES soundtrack to the Genesis.

[Read more…]

Tagged With: 1993, Arc System Works, Battletoads (Franchise), David Wise, Electronic, Fighting, Rare, Sega Genesis

Search

Twitter

Follow us @BestGameMusic

Popular tags

1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1999 2000 2008 2012 Action Adventure Adventure Akihiko Mori Battletoads (Franchise) Chiptune Chunsoft David Wise Electronic Electronic Arts Fighting First-Person Shooter KOEI Michael Giacchino Might and Magic (Franchise) Mixed Music Genres Mobile N64 NES Orchestral PC Platformer PlayStation PlayStation 2 PlayStation 3 Racing Rare Rock/Metal RPG Sega Genesis Shoot'em Up Simulation/Strategy SNES XBox 360 Yoko Kanno