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Impressive VGM By Year: 1989

Probably the best pure YM2151 OST up until the mid '90s as well asYamanaka'sbest FM synth work, Knight Arms features a mix of synth rock/prog, metal and jazz-tinted disco/dance. There's great use of stereo, echo, chorus and modulation effects here, some rather unique and expressive lead instruments, double channel basslines (Stage 2, Last Boss), as well as virtuosic soloing in many tracks. The only real minus is the somewhat weak FM percussion (there are good fan versions of some tracks with added sampled drums out there that I might upload at some point).

Gradius III (ARC, YM2151 w/ K007232)

Turbo Out Run (ARC, YM2151 w/ SegaPCM)

Racing Hero (ARC, YM2151 w/ SegaPCM)

Starship Rendezvous (X68K, YM2151)

Castlevania III/Akumajou Densetsu (FC/NES, VRC6),Alternate

Shadow of the Beast (AMI)

By now we knew that the Amiga was great at producing synth pop music and... chopped up avant-garde sci-fi electro (Captain Blood), but attempts at a more acoustic sound had been pretty lacking overall. Shadow of the Beast defied expectations with its intimate and haunting soundscapes made up mostly of of lonely flutes, breathy voices and tribal sounding percussion. And since this was back in the 80s, when the soundtrack suddenly veered into more of a funk pop sound it wasn't nearly as jarring as it might seem now. Two nitpicks I have against it on a technical level though is that the sample quality is a bit inconsistent and that there aren't enough parts (one exception being the game over tune) where it seems like you're listening to more than 4 channels of audio.

Turbo Outrun (C64, different)

Revenge of Shinobi (MD/GEN (YM2612 w/ SN76489))

Koshiro sets a new standard for consoles here and uses the chip almost to its fullest right away with sampled drums, PSG harmony, echo and chorus effects (also single instrument/voice chorus), single channel FM chords, phaser effects, and a nice variety of timbres. Stylistically it's a blend of contemporary funk and rock with traditional japanese music, also incorporating some dance/breakbeat in "Ninja Step" which is a hint at what's next for Koshiro and some other 90s composers. My one nitpick is that the drums are kind of muffled sounding.

Space Quest III (PC, MT-32)

Notable as an early example of portraying not just a scene or environment's mood but a specific game character's personality via the music (thanks to ewmailing).

Code Name: Iceman (PC, MT-32)

Nighthunter (C64, unreleased, sample heavy)

Robocop (C64),GB ver. (1990)

Aspar GP Master (PC Speaker PWM)

While not the first, I consider this to be the best use of the technique up to that point and until Pinball Fantasies in 1992, with a sound quality that rivals some other sample-based music of the time. Again though, no music is used in-game and you're stuck with the regular single channel square wave there.

38 Man Kilo no Kokuu (X68K, YM2151)

Myth: History in the Making (C64)

Star Cruiser (X68K, YM2151)(upload fan stuff)

Ghouls 'n Ghosts (AMI)

Super Hang-On (X68K)

Blazing Lazers/Gunhed (PCE)

It didn't take that long until we saw a game featuring solid sampled drums for this system, and it turns out everything else about the sound design here is pretty great too (check out the eerie synth voice in 1st Boss for example), except for the lack of stereo effects and the occasional weird lead sound. Shubibinman from the same year is of similar quality, plus it does have some stereo effects.

Laser Squad (AMI)

Cal.50/Caliber Fifty (ARC, Seta X1-010)

Wings of Death (AMI)

Might seem like an odd placement, but in a way the C64-like sound design here is interesting in that it resembles the nostalgic wave of games with "fakebit" music and sfx that started appearing in the '00s like Cave Story. It can be seen as part of the first throwback/revival wave of game OSTs along with Hybrid, Battle Squadron, Turrican (1990) and a few others.

Motos (X68K, MT-32)

Captain Blood (A2GS)(mono, emulation?) - find hq?

Test Drive II: The Duel (A2GS)- find hq

Fire! (PC Speaker PWM)

Stormlord (ST, some samples only tracks?),PSG track

Genocide (X68K, YM2151)

Hybris (AMI)

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles/TMNT (ARC, YM2151)- Streamed title track (mono)

Meta Fox (ARC, Seta X1-010, mono)(some vocal tracks) - re-find full rip

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles/TMNT (NES)

Cyber Armor Wer Dragon/Armored Beast WerDragon (PC-88, OPNA),Alternate

Four Trax (ARC, YM2151+C140)

Hollywood Poker Pro (C64)

Space Harrier (A2GS, unreleased, different)

Space Manbow (MSX SCC)

Battle Squadron (AMI)

Sly Spy (AMI)

Herzog Zwei (Duke Two)(MD)

Shubibinman (PCE)

M.I.A./Missing In Action (ARC, YM2151)

Colonel's Bequest/Laura Bow (PC, MT-32)

Ghouls 'n Ghosts (C64),Full OST

Besides some rather organic sounding instrumentation (flute, bell, acoustic bass) and great overall use of effects, this one's main theme is notable for including a chip generated weather effect simulation (rain and distant thunder) as intro as well as simulated screams during the track. While some tracks are completely different to the arcade version, they fit the game rather well overall (well, except for the groovy solo in level 1).

Gekitotsu Pennant Race 2/Baseball 2: Pennant Race (MSX SCC)

Quest For Glory (PC, MT-32) & VGA Remake

Sword of Vermilion (MD)

Mean Streets (PC Speaker PWM)

Contra (MSX SCC)

S.P.Y.: Special Project Y (ARC, YM3812/OPL2)

Battle Ace (PCE)

Castlevania: The Adventure (GB)

Nemesis/Gradius (MSX SCC+ w/ AY-3-8910)

Ganbare! Golf Boys (PCE)

TwinBee (MSX SCC+ w/ AY-3-8910)

Batman (NES)

Providence (PC-88, OPNA)

Xak: The Art of Visual Stage (MSX FM w/ AY-3-8910)

Phobia (C64, samples)

Stormlord (C64)(sample heavy)

Xenon 2: Megablast (AMI)

Thunder Force II (MD)

Silpheed (PC, MT-32)

Dungeon Explorer (PCE)

Final Fantasy (MSX FM w/ AY-3-8910)(bass added?)

I've commented on how limited the OPLL is before. Add an AY-3 chip however (and Uematsu), and it sounds quite nice. Almost like MD music. The compositions are otherwise the same as in the NES game from 1987.

DuckTales (NES)

Budokan: The Martial Spirit (PC, MT-32)

Leisure Suit Larry 3 (PC, MT-32)

Sly Spy: Secret Agent (C64)

Line of Fire (ARC, YM2151)

Ys III: Wanderers from Ys (PC-88, OPN)

Fester's Quest (NES)

Sunsofttook a different approach hereby incorporating five bass samples and letting the triangle and noise channels handle percussion, which sounded great overall (and even better in later games with better bass samples). Besides that, all the tracker effects you would expect were used and some tracks had orchestral hit samples instead. Pretty cool considering it's also a fairly complex game for the time. The one thing that doesn't quite work is that the samples sound kinda bad at certain pitches in some tracks.

Onslaught (AMI)

Cosmic Wars (NES),Title

Motos (X68K, YM2151)

Last Survivor (ARC, YM2151)

Bloody Wolf (PCE, US & JP),Bloody Wolf (ARC, HuC6280)(1988?, OPN used for coin sfx only)

Sky Shark (NES)

Mugen Senshi Valis II (X68K, YM2151)

World Grand Prix (ARC, YM2610B)

While there's only one "proper" track here, the OST is notable for its great drum and synth chord samples, as well as decent guitar samples on this chip. The FM synth work is pretty solid too; only the synth guitar is a bit thin and grating (Run Wild, etc.) and some backing harmonies are kinda dry and twangy.

Wanderers from Super Scheme (PC-88, OPNA)

Dangerous Seed (ARC, YM2151)

Fire Hawk: Thexder the Second Contact (PC-88, OPNA)

Fantasy Zone (X68K, YM2151)(one or more new tracks)

Crime Fighters (ARC, YM2151)

Death Bringer (X68K, YM2151)

Savage (AMI)

Dan Dare 3 (ST, some samples only tracks?)

Gyruss (NES)

Top Gun: The Second Mission (NES)

Super Hydlide (MD)(added reverb?)

Double Dragon II (NES)