Shujin Academy VGM Club

Episode 12 - They Can’t All Be Winners

Sometimes, a bad game has a good soundtrack. This episode is all about some terrific soundtracks from mediocre games.
 
You can find the archives of Kotaku’s Morning Music feature at https://kotaku.com/culture/morning-music, and you can find the article that helped inspire this episode (and introduced me to the Waterworld soundtrack) at https://kotaku.com/waterworld-is-one-of-the-snes-best-soundtrack-delivery-1847021569. 
 
Special thanks to Josh Grisham of Nerd Informants for recording the promo for poison mushrooms. You can find him on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZPHI7dFhWSg8VYoXwOiZ8g or Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/NerdInformants/ or on Twitter @NerdInformants.  Also thanks to BokiBokiPixelArt for the show logo. You can find him on Twitter @BokiPixelart.
 
If you want to reach me, you can email me at shujinacademyvgmclub@gmail.com. You can find me on Twitter at @ShujinVGMClub, and on Instagram at ShujinAcademyVGMClub. Please leave me a five star rating on iTunes or Spotify or wherever you’re finding this episode.
 
Track Listing:
00:00 - Show Tagline
00:05 - SNK vs Capcom Card Fighters DS - Recycle Machine Card
00:25 - Talk Segment 1
02:23 - Waterworld - Attack 1
06:15 - Waterworld - Mission Theme 1
11:57 - Waterworld - Mission Theme 2
15:34 - Waterworld - Mission Theme 3
19:47 - Talk Segment 2
20:45 - Silver Surfer - Summoned by Galactus
21:17 - Silver Surfer - BGM 1
22:54 - Silver Surfer - BGM 2
24:35 - Silver Surfer - Device Completed
25:35 - Silver Surfer - High Score
28:33 - Talk Segment 3
30:56 - Haunted Castle - Devil’s Revival (Stage 2 - Watery Caverns)
32:47 - Haunted Castle - Bloody Tears (Stage 3 - Main Hall)
33:53 - Haunted Castle - Den of Worship (Stage 4 - Abandoned Mine)
35:35 - Haunted Castle - Basement Melodies (Stage 5 - Clock Tower)
37:35 - Haunted Castle - Don’t Wait Until Night (Stage 6 - Bridge)
38:58 - Haunted Castle - Devil’s Resurrection (Boss)
39:46 - Haunted Castle - Dracula’s Room (Final Boss 1)
40:13 - Haunted Castle - Sent to the Devil’s Requiem (Ranking)
41:15 - Talk Segment 4
43:33 - Lunar: Dragon Song - Excitement
45:59 - Lunar: Dragon Song - Tomorrow
43:33 - Lunar: Dragon Song - Port Town
51:30 - Lunar: Dragon Song - Gentle Breeze
54:36 - Lunar: Dragon Song - Main Title
56:14 - Lunar: Dragon Song - Wind of Future
59:00 - Talk Segment 5
1:02:08 - SNK vs Capcom Card Fighters DS - Introduction
1:05:00 - SNK vs Capcom Card Fighters DS - Battle Theme
1:06:10 - SNK vs Capcom Card Fighters DS - Floor to Floor 
1:07:29 - SNK vs Capcom Card Fighters DS - Shop Theme
1:08:34 - SNK vs Capcom Card Fighters DS - Card Menu
1:09:49 - SNK vs Capcom Card Fighters DS - Last Floor
1:11:08 - SNK vs Capcom Card Fighters DS - Boss Battle
1:12:24 - Show Outro

Episode 10 - The Sounds of the Aipu FZ22

The history of gaming has quite a few failed systems, in addition to the well-known consoles like the SNES and the PlayStation. The Neo Geo Pocket Color, the CD-i, the 3DO, the Atari 5200 - the list goes on and on. For this episode, we take a look at the sounds and history of one of the least-known systems of the 8-bit era: the Aipu FZ22, a console with a very limited library that never made it outside of Japan.
 
If you want to reach me, you can email me at shujinacademyvgmclub@gmail.com. You can find me on Twitter at @ShujinVGMClub, and on Instagram at ShujinAcademyVGMClub. Please leave me a five star rating on iTunes or Spotify or wherever you’re finding this episode.
 
Track Listing:
00:00 - Show Tagline and Intro
03:14 - Golfer Sarutahiko - Yokohama Course BGM
04:00 - Talk Segment 
04:19 - Star Forneus - Confrontation
04:58 - Talk Segment 
05:26 - Power Intuition - China BGM
05:57 - Talk Segment 
06:28 - Train of Life - BGM 4.1
07:11 - Talk Segment 
07:38 - Gambla Goemon - Hot Blooded Man of Chance
08:24 - Talk Segment 
09:07 - Punch Ouch - Jab Jab Uppercut!
10:04 - Outro Talk Segment

Episode 9 - Chilly McFreeze II: Ice Dagger

After my first chill music episode, I decided to make another episode devoted to laid back VGM. I may even make some more in the future. 
 
This is an episode that’s heavy on the music, so if you like a lot of VGM without much talk in your VGM podcast, you’re in luck today.
 
If you like the chill VGM concept and you want to hear more, check out my fellow VGM podcast KVGM The Last Wave at https://www.kvgmradio.com/. 
 
If you want to reach me, you can email me at shujinacademyvgmclub@gmail.com. You can find me on Twitter at @ShujinVGMClub, and on Instagram at ShujinAcademyVGMClub. Please leave me a five star rating on iTunes or Spotify or wherever you’re finding this episode.
 
Track Listing:
00:00 - Show Tagline and Intro
01:23 - Waterworld - Map
03:16 - Romancing SaGa - Theme of Solitude
05:15 - Earthbound - Winters White
07:37 - Seiken Densetsu 3 / Trials of Mana - Another Winter
12:16 - Front Mission: Gun Hazard - Cenktrich 
15:56 - Talk Segment
17:57 - Shinobi III: Return of the Ninja Master - Sakura
19:25 - Shining Force II - Elven Town
21:03 - Pixel Puzzle Makeout League - TalkJams
24:42 - Coffee Talk - Gleefully
31:25 - Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic - Pazaak
32:49 - Final Fantasy X - Wandering Flame
37:27 - Parasite Eve - Missing Perspective
41:07 - Legend of Mana - Ranch Night
42:19 - Talk Segment
43:34 - Final Fantasy: The Four Heroes of Light - Trading City Vulpes (Day and Night)
45:51 - Picross e5 - BGM 0
47:58 - Animal Crossing: New Leaf - Club LOL
49:23 - Persona 2: Innocent Sin - Seven Sisters High School
52:48 - Danganronpa 2 - Beautiful Ruin
57:23 - Show Outro

Episode 8 - Professor Tom’s Pokémon Journey

For the first time ever, Shujin Academy VGM Club welcomes a guest. Save Point Sam (also known as Professor Tom’s son) joins the show to play some Pokémon songs and discuss the finer points of Pokémon with Professor Tom, who knows little of Pokémon beyond what he’s seen on TV. This is an interview-type show, and as you may imagine, the ratio of music-to-talk here is tilted fairly heavily towards the talk instead of the music. 
 
If you want to reach me, you can email me at shujinacademyvgmclub@gmail.com. You can find me on Twitter at @ShujinVGMClub, and on Instagram at ShujinAcademyVGMClub. Please leave me a five star rating on iTunes or Spotify or wherever you’re finding this episode.
 
Track Listing:
00:00 - Show Tagline and Intro Talk Segment
01:00 - Pokemon Red & Blue - Opening Theme
02:52 - Talk Segment 2
06:16 - Pokemon Diamond & Pearl - Routes 209 & 212 (Day)
13:16 - Talk Segment 3
16:56 - Pokemon Gold, Silver & Crystal - Johto Gym Leader Battle Music
19:56 - Talk Segment 4
24:07 - Pokémon Ruby & Sapphire - Victory Road (Inside the Pokémon League)
31:07 - Talk Segment 5
33:40 - Pokémon Diamond, Pearl & Platinum - Champion Cynthia Battle Music
36:40 - Talk Segment 6 / Outro

Episode 7 - The King of Episodes

To celebrate the release of King of Fighters XV, we’re devoting an entire episode to SNK’s venerable franchise mash-up fighter. I hope you like the Neo Geo sound, because this one is all King of Fighters, all the time. 
 
You should watch the amazing Woo vs Reynald match from Evo 2013’s KOF XIII tournament. It was one of the coolest grand finals sets ever in a fighting game tournament. Check it out at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqWf5G9bcRY 
 
Are Kyo and Iori secretly in love? Listen to “The Evening Sun and Moon” and decide for yourself at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uA2QwP7Y_2A. That video even includes lyrics, so there’s no room for debate. 
 
Do you like the Psycho Soldier team song? Do you want to hear an in-depth discussion of it’s history? Of course you do! I’m not going to cover it in this podcast because Drew Mackie covered it so well on an episode of his VGM podcast, Singing Mountain. You can check that out at https://singingmountainpod.com/episodes/athena-asamiya-theme or https://soundcloud.com/singingmountain/the-magic-effervescence-of-athena-asamiya?utm_source=clipboard&utm_campaign=wtshare&utm_medium=widget&utm_content=https%253A%252F%252Fsoundcloud.com%252Fsingingmountain%252Fthe-magic-effervescence-of-athena-asamiya. 
 
If you want to reach me, you can email me at shujinacademyvgmclub@gmail.com. You can find me on Twitter at @ShujinVGMClub, and on Instagram at ShujinAcademyVGMClub. Please leave me a five star rating on iTunes or Spotify or wherever you’re finding this episode.
 
Track Listing:
00:00 - Show Tagline
00:12 - King of Fighters ‘98 - Opening Theme
00:57 - Talk Segment 1
05:47 - King of Fighters ‘98 - Kurikinton (Gomame Guitar Version)
07:49 - King of Fighters ‘94 - SLUM No. 5
10:36 - King of Fighters ‘94 - NAPOLITAN BLUES
13:06 - King of Fighters ‘97 - Rhythmic Hallucination
15:56 - King of Fighters ‘96 Arranged - Psycho Soldier Remix ‘96 (Psycho Soldier Team Theme)
19:19 - Talk Segment 2
21:42 - King of Fighters ‘96 - ESAKA?
25:02 - King of Fighters ‘96 - Stormy Saxophone 2
26:59 - King of Fighters ‘97 - COOL JAM ~Stormy Saxophone 3~
28:29 - Talk Segment 3
30:52 - King of Fighters 2000 - KD-0084 (K’ Theme)
34:29 - King of Fighters 2000 - Ice Place (Kula Diamond’s Theme)
38:45 - King of Fighters ‘99 SHA-LA-LA (Women Fighters Team Theme)
41:13 - King of Fighters 2002 - TACOS DANCE (Mexico stage theme)
43:31 - Talk Segment 4
45:57 - King of Fighters 2003 - Splendid Evil
50:13 - King of Fighters XIV - Tiger and Dragon (ART OF FIGHTING TEAM BGM)
54:39 - King of Fighters XIV - IKARI -KOF XIV ver.- (Fateful Battle BGM)
57:21 - Outro Talk Segment
57:58 - KOF The Best - The Song of Fighters

Episode 6 - 116 Pixels, 3 Colors, 2 Lovers, 1 Heart

It’s nearly Valentine’s Day, and this episode is devoted to video game songs that are all about romance!
Special thanks to the voice of Heart Containers. Your devotion to romanticism is admirable, and it shows in the promo.
If you want to reach me, you can email me at shujinacademyvgmclub@gmail.com. You can find me on Twitter at @ShujinVGMClub, and on Instagram at ShujinAcademyVGMClub. Please leave me a five star rating on iTunes or Spotify or wherever you’re finding this episode.
Track Listing:
00:00 - Show Tagline
00:05 - VA-11 Hall-A - Your Love is a Drug
03:03 - Talk Segment 1
05:47 - Hatoful Boyfriend - Dispersion Relation
09:48 - Final Fantasy IV - Theme of Love
11:36 - Fire Emblem Awakening - I Feel A Little Uneasy
15:06 - Katamari Damacy - Que Sera Sera
20:36 - Talk Segment 2
22:39 - Tokimeki Memorial - Tokimeki (Opening Demo)
23:56 - Tokimeki Memorial - Meeting (Personality Entry)
25:48 - Tokimeki Memorial - The Start of Our Youth (School Entrance Ceremony)
27:57 - Tokimeki Memorial - Rising Dragon - Chaotic Transition (Fireworks)
29:55 - Tokimeki Memorial - The Tactical Art of Love (White Day)
31:22 - Tokimeki Memorial - Song of the Southern Islands (Okinawa Trip)
33:26 - Tokimeki Memorial - Lilac Hill (Hokkaido Trip)
35:22 - Tokimeki Memorial - Hill of Wishes (Romance)
36:43 - Tokimeki Memorial - Goodnight Love (Miharu Tatebayashi’s Theme)
37:43 - Tokimeki Memorial - Confession
38:29 - Tokimeki Memorial - Confession
40:14 - Tokimeki Memorial - Ballad of the Effeminate Geek (Bad Ending)
41:23 - Talk Segment 3
41:58 - Persona 4 - Theater
43:48 - Capcom vs SNK 2 - This is True Love Makin’
47:06 - Outro Talk Segment

Episode 5 - Chilly McFreeze

I like laid back video game music, and this episode is devoted to some of my favorite tracks that are calm.  
Special thanks to the mysterious voice of Save Point. You know who you are, and I’m glad you helped with this episode.
If you want to reach me, you can email me at shujinacademyvgmclub@gmail.com. You can find me on Twitter at @ShujinVGMClub, and on Instagram at ShujinAcademyVGMClub. Please leave me a five star rating on iTunes or Spotify or wherever you’re finding this episode.
Track Listing:
00:00 - Talk Segment 1
04:36 - Secret Little Haven - Defragmentation
05:50 - Secret Little Haven - Chilling on the Information Superhighway
07:07 - Shiren the Wanderer - Peace
11:59 - Tales of Phantasia - Sylphis
16:16 - Picross e - Background Music 0
18:37 - Earthbound - The Unforgiving Desert
20:50 - Donkey Kong Country 3 - Hot Pursuit
24:20 - Final Fantasy X - Calm Before the Storm
27:30 - Lunar: Dragon Song - Background Music 9 
28:53 - Wii Shop Channel - Wii Shop Channel
30:32 - Tales of Phantasia - Good-by Friends
34:09 - Garou: Mark of the Wolves - Full Moon - Heartful 
35:36 - Talk Segment 2
37:30 - Coffee Talk - Calming Drizzle
42:50 - Coffee Talk - Onto the Bridge
48:57 - Final Fantasy V - Reminiscence
50:33 - Earthbound - Because I Love You
54:21 - Picross E2 - Background Music 0
56:45 - Donkey Kong Country 2 - In a Snow-Bound Land
59:41 - Final Fantasy VII - A Secret, Sleeping in the Deep Sea 
1:04:09 - Street Fighter III: Second Impact - Staff Roll
1:08:25 - Outro Talk Segment

Episode 4 - Enter the Revenge!

Ninjas abound in classic gaming as both protagonists and antagonists. This episode is a look at some classic VGM songs from games that prominently feature ninjas. 
 
Special thanks to friends of the show Scott Horberg for a headset and Josh Grisham of Nerd Informants for being the voice of ninja magic. 
 
If you want to reach me, you can email me at shujinacademyvgmclub@gmail.com. You can find me on Twitter at @ShujinVGMClub, and on Instagram at ShujinAcademyVGMClub. Please leave me a five star rating on iTunes or Spotify or wherever you’re finding this episode.
 
Track listing:
 
00:00 - Show Tagline
00:05 - Ninja Garden - Duel
00:25 - Talk Segment 1 
01:52 - The Last Ninja - The Wastelands 
05:47 - The Last Ninja 2 - The Basement
10:53 - The Last Ninja 2 - The Street
16:27 - Talk Segment 2 
18:08 - Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (NES) - Introduction
19:22 - Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (NES) - Streets
20:00 - Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (NES) - Save the Dam!
21:18 - Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (NES) - Building
22:10 - Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (NES) - Sewer 2
23:44 - Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (NES) - Foot Clan Base
24:56 - Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Arcade) - Let’s Start! (Character Selection)
25:24 - Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Arcade) - Factory (Scene 4, Stage 1)
27:41 - Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Arcade) - Fire! (Scene 1, Stage 1)
29:23 - Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Arcade) - Underground (Scene 2, Stage 2)
31:27 - Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Arcade) - Down Town (Scene 2, Stage 1)
33:02 - Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Arcade) - Krang (Boss)
34:24 - Talk Segment 3
36:01 - Shinobi (Arcade) - BGM 2
37:32 - The Revenge of Shinobi - Ninja Step (Stage 4-2 and 7-2)
39:40 - The Revenge of Shinobi OST - Make me Dance (Stage 2-2).mp3
41:49 - The Revenge of Shinobi OST - Sunrise Blvd. (Stage 2-1 & 5-2).mp3
43:40 - Shinobi III: Return Of The Ninja Master - Inner Darkside.mp3
48:21 - Shinobi III: Return Of The Ninja Master - Izayoi.mp3
51:21 - Talk Segment 4
54:07 - Street Fighter - Geki’s Theme
55:51 - Street Fighter Alpha 2 - Stage Guy
58:41 - Street Fighter Alpha 3 - No More Swingin’ (Guy’s Theme)
1:01:41 - Street Fighter III: Third Strike - Twilight (Ibuki’s Theme)
1:04:06 - Talk Segment 5
1:06:25 - The Ninja Warriors - Motherless Children
1:09:15 - The Ninja Warriors - Japanese Smile
1:11:15 - The Ninja Warriors - Daddy Mulk
1:15:56 - The Ninja Warriors - Voice Epilogue