Last Ninja 2 - Central Park (Commodore 64) | Reacting To Video Game Music!

[@akinordman7145]

I don't know man. I'm 42 and still found some c64 themes to be the Best tunes of all time.

[@McSlobo]

That's because you're 42 (or 43, 44)?

[@stunthumb]

That's because you're right. I mean, the LN soundtrack gives me goosebumps.

[@BrokenCurtain]

Check out Matt Gray's KZbin channel, he has released a remake of his Last Ninja II music. He's doing that with a lot of C64 music, his own and others.

[@cgbyrobert]

Still hums to last ninja 2 😁

[@MrKarlyboy]

@@stunthumb 100% right. My jaw dropped when i heard it. Ben Daglish, Anthony Lees and Matt Gray produced some of the best ever c64 music. Rob hubbard was the King and untouchable and Chris Huelsbeck uo there too with memorable music.

[@HerbJon]

Yep. Holy shit dude. Been listening to this music for like 40 years now. There's simply nothing like it. And this tune is up there with the best for sure.

[@redrock733]

There's a C64 song for a game called "International Karate". It's about 11 mins long, and some parts of the song sound like there's 5 or 6 channels of sound going on at once. The C64 has 3 sound channels, but the waveforms for each channel can be switched on the fly, so composers back then (in this case, Rob Hubbard) used this technique to create the illusion of more instruments playing at once. It's incredible.

[@phlebiax5592]

Don't forget Jeroen Tel! Cybernoid etc!

[@SpearM3064]

Also, you can use the volume register (at least on the original 6581 SID chip) to play back digital samples. It's the kind of thing you'd only do at title screens, because it uses so many CPU cycles, and you're sacrificing half your volume (since you're essentially switching volume between 15 and 0 dozens of times per second). Jeroen Tel did this for the title screen of Stormlord and Outrun, for example.

[@DemonBlueDays]

​@@phlebiax5592robocop 3! Mr Tel (comment on his live shot a few years ago) kindly gave permission for myself to use the robocop 3 theme for my streaming once I can get myself off the ground.

[@weepingscorpion8739]

Oh, yes, Rob Hubbard's International Karate is frickin' amazing. Now, granted, a huge chunk of it is a cover of Ryuichi Sakamoto's "Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence" but that does not take away from the track. The way he uses that theme and adds to it is so nice!

[@andyukmonkey]

While most of the internet is raving about NES music, Commodore 64 owners are sitting there wondering what all the fuss is about.

[@CopiousDoinksLLC]

"Look that's great and all but I can't hear a damn word you're saying because I'm too busy listening to the Spy Vs. Spy 2 theme, sorry."

[@Pekka.Pekka.1296]

So true!

[@MrKarlyboy]

Nes not patch on thd c64 music or Atari 8bit music chips both could perform Brilliant when the right people used then. Also the msx with yamaha chip in the cartridge.

[@jacobnoergaard]

Agree. The NES had SHITTY music compared to the C64. The SID was way ahead of the times.

[@inphanta]

@@jacobnoergaard there is some great NES music, but the SID was clearly more capable despite what modern day revisionists would have you believe.

[@stigkenobi7525]

The whole soundtrack was remastered a few years ago. Matt Gray knocked it out of the park.

[@CitroenC407]

His remaster of that soundtrack is truly epic. Sounds incredible.

[@peggieschafer485]

I had to give it a listen after seeing this in the 1000 Episode special and Oh. Sweet. Jesus. The whole album is a banger, start to finish. Reformation: The Best Of by Matt Gray 🤩

[@JanGaarni]

You forgot to add " ....... again!" at the end there. 😂

[@littleandy1209]

The C64 has a built-in real synthesizer called SID. Hence it's amazing cross-modulation possibilities which could basically do the same things as a Roland JX-8P. Way ahead of it's time really.

[@pegeman1510]

I played this game so much and that ticking tune at the beginning is still in my head. It was a good game and the music made it even better.

[@Vulkans]

I had a C64, and geez man, that ancient comment gave me emotional damage cause that wasn't even the first personal computer I used. (That was the VIC-20 also made by Commodore) It was a popular joke to make back then, that you would get a free Mastertronics game along with your new Ben Daglish/Rob Hubbard/Martin Galway music disk. About Last Ninja 2: Matt Gray had some really big shoes to fill after the legendary Ben Daglish's work in the original Last Ninja, which is up there as some of the C64's best music offerings, I would say he nailed it in his own style. The first game was set in feudal Japan, whereas Last Ninja 2 has the hero being transported into 20th century New York to stop *the big time travelling baddie*, the first level is set in Central Park hence the name of the song. Matt was working on a Last Ninja 2 reformation album though it seems to have gotten stuck in limbo as I have not heard anything about it lately, there is however pieces of it available on Matt's KZbin channel with Central Park being one of the remastered tracks. One of the more interesting tidbits about composing for the SID chip back in the C64 days is that you not only had to be a talented musician but also a talented programmer, there were no trackers available like there are today so all your compositions were less musical notation and more programming code. There is a fascinating documentary called "From Bedrooms to Billions" that covers this era of videogame music. Additional C64 music to take a look at: One Man and His Droid, The Master of Magic, Wizball, Monty On The Run, The Last V8, Cybernoid 2 and oh god there are so many others.

[@JessesAuditorium]

Can't wait to dive more into this world :D (I'm ancient too)

[@KarverLau]

Omg Thank you so much for introducing so many amazing music to my attention and Monty on the Run is quite something special that i was not expecting from the art of the game :)

[@kylereece1979]

Excellent post, mate. Before I got a Sega Megadrive for Christmas (1992!!😂), I was obsessed with my c64. When KZbin became a thing and people uploaded footage/ tunes from c64 games, I was utterly blown away and swept back in time from it all. The various "Ocean Loader" tunes are timeless. Not to mention games like Creatures, Turrican, Midnight Resistance, Salamander, Commando. Fantastic games, memorable soundtracks. Rob Hubbard's score to the shoot em up, "Light Force" is amazing aswell!!

[@richtakings3359]

I cannot imagine a world without the Commodore 64. It shaped so much, culturally, socially, musically....How many IT industry staff out there owe their careers to Commodore? All those game devs of your favourite games owe the 8-bits they learned to code on, and a lot of those will be because of the C64 and 6502 assembly.

[@temporalwolf7054]

The C64 absolutely went harder than it had any right to. So many songs that feel like they should have lyrics.

[@JittikMieger]

I remember playing this game when my friends, with their "bleep, bleep" and 16 color PC machines, came over. They were absolutely blown away! :) Some personal C64 favorites: The Last Ninja series, Yie Ar Kung Fu, Rambo First Blood Part 2, Platoon, Commando, the Ocean Loaders (it took ages to load games in the past, so you got a nice image and an awesome piece of music during loading). There was so much awesome music on the C64! It was truly ahead of it's time. I taped the music to listen to it on my walkman, on the bus rides to school. Awesome times!

[@Gardelain]

"Fascinating" is the word of the day when it came to this request and Supremacy's title theme. On their own, they're already excellent songs that I'd happily listen to again and again. In the context of the time it was released and the restrictions of an old machine like the C64? It's downright *mesmerizing* to hear the pair. That's why I saved these two for my birthday specifically. They're some of the most fascinating pieces of VGM history I've ever heard. And good news! You expressed interest in hearing what the songs would be like covered in the modern day and that's EXACTLY how I managed to find them in the first place! There's a pair of excellent covers for both Central Park and Supremacy's Title Theme done by LukHash that I'd highly, *highly* recommend for anyone to listen to if they even remotely enjoyed these songs. Thanks so much for what you do, it's been a wonderful start to my birthday!

[@xS1D3SW1P3x]

People who can crank out crazy music on systems like the C64 are what I call Musical Magicians, one notable named Tim Follin, who did the music for MANY systems. I recommend Timetrax title theme for the MEGADRIVE, it's sorcery.

[@PatrickSPoet]

The fuzziness in this song is uniquely a Commodore thing: The C64 (and a couple other Commodore machines) had actually analog audio filters, like a wah pedal, built into their sound hardware, instead of making the sound fuzzy digitally.

[@kylereece1979]

I am 44, and the late 80s very early 90s were happily dominated by the C64. Its 'Sid Chip" is legendary with its fans. The Last Ninja Trilogy contained some of its most memorable tunes. The first gsme in the series' soundtrack is more Oriental, Mystical , as is the Third game. Also fantastic. But THIS!!! Last Ninja 2 is prime time action Metal. There are heavy metal guitar covers of this ETERNAL soundtrack on YT , that , as a metal fan since teenage days, it is wonderful to hear nostalgia being redone and redefined. The 'lead solo" that plays towards the fadeout is to me, up there with my favourite classic "Solos". Regards from Ireland, lad. 👍 Brother, get in on this- Rock out to the rest of the Last Ninja 2 soundtrack. Legit, Genuine one of my favourite Albums of all time. 🤘🤘

[@GabrieleCuscino]

Guitarists such as Puffy64 and metal bands such as the Fastloaders rendered this and other Matt Gray tracks from The Last Ninja 2 as they are supposed to be: metal rock tracks. And the results are amazing and will give an insight on how those beautiful, composer's minds that worked on the C64 SID chip envisioned their music, despite the limitations. Matt Gray's own remakes are also a staple in the niche music industry for remastering 8 and 16-bit OST.

[@ilpohartikainen2771]

Btw, Commodore 64 was huge hit here in Finland. HUGE! Why is that? There was more C64 home computer per captita than anywhere else in th World. Granted, 100 000 C64 home computers isn't much comparing to sales numbers at Germany or UK. But the impact was something else (population of Finland were about 3,2 million peeps). C64, home computer of Republic, the home computer which later caused technology burst of computer sciences.

[@kke]

3.2 million was the population in the 1950s. 1979 - 1989 the population grew from 4.7 to 4.98 million. 5 million was reached in 1991. It was estimated that 3 people out of 100 had a C64 in Finland those days, if you exclude the elderly and just include families with kids to be the people who bought it, probably something like a third of the kids had one in the family. Total number of C64s sold was about 13-17 million world wide, some 5 million more if you include the compatible C128. It still holds the record of being the most sold computer model in the world.

[@JemyM]

Last Ninja 2 was among the most important games of my childhood. For me "The Mansion" was the masterpiece of that soundtrack. The intro alone gives me goosebumps but it just keeps on climbing and climbing and climbing for eight minutes without ever getting boring.

[@hogne]

The original version of the intro is found on the track Alchemy of the Heart from the 1986 album Tyger by Tangerine Dream. The Office is also a Tangerine Dream track (Midnight in Tulsa) and the level loading theme for the Office is Beat Dis by Bom the Bass

[@JemyM]

@@hogne Thanks a ton for this. I am currently working on a retrospective on the last ninja series and you were right in time! ^_^

[@vahlok1426]

If you wanna hear another C64 banger, I reccomend anyone listen to the theme of Commando on C64. Rob Hubbard apparently had one listen to the arcade original and made it in one night.

[@HojoNorem]

Such a wonderful reaction. Enjoyed watching greatly. The C64's SID is an instrument and like any instrument music that is written for it will loose something if transposed to a completely different instrument. If you do then it's just a cover and no longer chiptune. How can it be without a real chip or accurate emulation of one? You want to REALLY hear the C64 being pushed, try some modern works like LMan's 'Hi Fi Sky', or soundtracks for demos like 'Coma Light 13' or 'Wonderland XIII'.

[@BMan100]

I happened on this games OST from a bbc doc about old and new games, this tune always stuck out to me, the I found the remixes. Then I see the look on your face of “WHAT HAPPENED!?”

[@johankaewberg9512]

Matt Gray did that track, though it sure as hell sounds like Ben Daglish (from number one). The other greats are Rob Hubbard, **Martin Galway**.

[@control_the_pet_population]

I grew up with the C64, bought it with paper route money in 1986... so it will always hold a special place... and this soundtrack was one of my favorites. Matt Gray knocked it out of the park (even if 2 or 3 of the tracks were outright covers of Tangerine Dream songs). I think what gets lost today is just how far ahead of the curve this was compared to what "computer music" was in the mid 80s. Today it can sound distorted and burpy and fuzzy and blooping and bleeping... but compared to Atari or Colecovision it was a revelation.

[@lothar3073]

Love when old (REALLY old) gems like these catch us off guard.

[@talideon]

4:17 - yup, the SID has a ring oscillator!

[@painoman5083]

Didn’t expect to see Commodore 64 music here! If we’re talking C64 songs though you’ve got to check out the Monty on the Run main theme, that song almost still holds up today lol

[@meridian-child8908]

I am not super familiar with C64, but the Monty on the Run theme is easily the best song I heard for that machine.

[@acetamerragna2852]

You know, I went blind into this and this song goes hard. Definitely going to the walking playlist.

[@grogsrevenge]

FNG here, you've earned a like and even a comment. Props to Gardelain for putting you through this misery/pleasure. o7 Yes, the sound is fuzzy (to me, as a Swede I'd even call it it growly. That bass...). It can have a certain... anger to it, but as you said it can be melodic, and this song is a good example of that. And, let's not forget, it's only three voices (at most three instruments at a time. The C64 is famed for its arpeggios for a reason) and using no sampled sounds. Matt Gray was, what, 17 at the time, before he moved on to a career as a dance music producer. "This is fascinating. It's almost unpleasant, but not". That about sums up the C64 sound for me. It's very fuzzy, but it's got a warm organic feeling to it. The SID (sound interface device) was truly unique and it really sold the machine. They had plans to make it 16 voice (or was it 32? embarrassing myself here), but honestly I'm glad they stuck to three. It forced the composers to make the most out of a very limited tool set, and what we got was... art. edit: It's not my place to ask, but I suggest you give Sean Connolly's Turbocharge (kzbin.info/www/bejne/gJrQo2WApciAsJI, also C64) a listen, publicly or privately. It's beautifully crafted, still three voices but it definitely doesn't sound like it (to say nothing of Rowland's Creatures. One voice? SERIOUSLY?) And that's what we got back when the C64 was still "alive". There's been plenty of developments (with sampled sounds etc) and songs that would qualify as swan songs, except the SID refuses to die... May it live forever.

[@rexmandrake4182]

There are so many amazing songs on C64. SID chip was something very special.

[@SGSHAGMAN]

I'm a bit late to this one, but pretty much grew up with a few C64s, lots of C64 games, have listened to quite a lot of C64 SID chip music over the years and this particular track (and associated OST) is one of my personal faves. For a bit of context, the story and set-piece for this track and OST were pretty much "Ninja from hundreds of years ago gets randomly transported forward in time to 1980s New York to vanquish his nemesis and ends up fighting/avoiding army of New York locals and hazards along the way". The game and series reviewed really well back in the day, but by modern game standards is obviously pretty dated and has a number of old-school game things (like clues for the game's puzzles being in the manual while the game itself doesn't, lots of insta-death hazards and "platforming", a dated combat system) that I think would put off most people these days if playing it or the other last ninja games without a walkthrough. The things that really carried the last ninja games I think were the graphics (impressive by standards back then) and soundtracks. As far LN2's soundtrack goes aesthetic-wise, to my knowledge I think it might've been going for a feel/blend of 80s/90s New York movies and 80s/90s ninja and martial arts movies with references to LN1's soundtrack. This particular track is a level theme where the set piece is Central Park in New York. Definitely recommend listening to the rest of the soundtrack and other LN soundtracks time permitting. For some particular track recommendations for this and the other LN soundtracks I recommend the following: LN2 - Matt Gray - The Street Loader LN2 - Matt Gray - The Mansion LN1 - Anthony Lees/Ben Daglish - The Wasteland LN1 - Anthony Lees/Ben Daglish - The Inner Sanctum LN3 - Reyn Ouwehand - Intro LN3 - Reyn Ouwehand - Wind Also, here's some general track recommendations from a range of C64 musicians: Chris Huelsbeck - R-Type Loader/Title Theme Ben Daglish - Bombo Tune 1 Martin Galway - Wizball Title Theme The Follin Bros - Gauntlet 3 Title Theme Jereon Tel - Cybernoid 2 Title Theme Johannes Bjerregaard - Stormlord Title Theme

[@Lofote]

Second best level 1 music of all time, only giving the crown to The Last Ninja 1 level 1 track

[@Gingerzilla]

The C64 rocked. The smaller the creative box to work within for the artist pushed them to produce greater levels of creativity that is needed to get something great out of a super limited system. RIP Ben Daglish who did the first Last Ninja. He was pure genius. FYI back in the day this blew our minds. It brought the visuals together with the imagination that had to fill the rest. Then we had techno… 😮 trackers!

[@januzi2]

The website with the remixes says that there are 125 remixes with the words "Last Ninja 2", but they've made the remixes for all of the tunes that were in the game, not only the "Central Park". I remember playing the first and the second part. I had problems with the rivers, because the view was isometric and the games (at least the first one) required from players to be pixel perfect with the jumps. Other than that, Last Ninja series were probably the first isometric games on Commodore 64 (ZX-Spectrum had few of those as well, a few years before C64 if I remember the dates correctly). The great thing about the c64 music, at least for me, is that you can take any tune - directly from the game, by ear, or from the HVSC (which has almost 60k of files) - and turn it into anything you'd think of. Song with the lyrics? Sure, why not. Flamenco, heavy metal, guitar, orchestral, trumpet, techno, even mashups? Do I have to mention that there are rock bands and even orchestral groups that are playing the c64 music at the concerts?

[@talideon]

The SID was the brainchild of Bob Yannes, who later founded Ensoniq. That's all you need to know!

[@boloisdaman]

This game was confusing to little kid me but the music always got me hyped and I would sit through that long c64 tape loading time just to rock out to this jam. :)

[@weepingscorpion8739]

Oh, I love music from The Last Ninja games. If you want another suggestion, try the Loader from The Sewers level. It has a fricking nice 8 bar section that makes the entire track worth it. My favourite for sure.

[@Takaho31]

the Last Ninja games were life-changing, man. You should play them all if you can, starting from part I. Back in 88' the dungeons truly scared many of my friends who I showed the game to.

[@johnhorak2000]

This is peak of C64 music. It had dedicated chip SID just for music, but still, they made this pieces within few kbs. Composers were basically geniuses who could program as well plus they made some cheating with frequencies so it sounds like multiple instruments playing at the same time. Crazy stuff. International Karate, Commando and Robocop songs also pretty good.

[@larsfreiheit8185]

NEVER GETS OLD ....

[@TheSy182]

Still love this tune

[@thedigitalemotion]

Listen to Matt Gray's (The composer of these tunes) remakes. They are unbelievably stunning.

[@THENAMEISQUICKMAN]

The Commodore 64 was capable of truly awesome music when in the right hands. I think the most famous example is Turbo Outrun - infamously, the port was kinda bad, but the title screen music was so good and was about 7 or 8 minutes long that people bought it anyway just to listen to it.

[@talideon]

Nah, Turbo Outrun is very well regarded on the C64. What was terrible about it was the multiload!

[@Foxomatic]

Last Ninja soundtrack blew my mind as a kid. The remixes by Matt Gray, released some time back also blew my mind.

[@PDGtheModman]

We always had great tunes from Matt and many of my friends ❤ This is my childhood and it still holds up ❤Jean Michel Jarre also chipped music on the 64 ❤ and many other famous composers ❤

[@DemonBlueDays]

A year late to the party for this but Matt Gray (the author of many legendary titles alongside other great tuners of the era) had a signature for deep and sweeping bass filled songs Another one of his well two as when I find the link I'll post it as a comment below this, is from the game Tusker, a game I've had everyone look at me funny when I mention it. Also Matt Gray did Re-release Central Park (the track named after the level it was designed for)updated for modern day and Holy SHIT if you haven't heard that update now a year later please comment ill find it as I saved that video when it popped up when he released it. Anyway: Here's the jungle theme for Tusker, you can tell its Matt Grey the moment it starts kzbin.info/www/bejne/bGHHiX2aZcl9idEsi=f5DpgBDpoxXaxuO9 I'll comment the desert theme below as well as the updated version of central park shortly

[@Asty1981]

And it's just 4 channels. :) It ROCK's ! :)

[@MarkTDKKnight]

The C64 sound chip has 3 channels, although you could squeeze a 4th 4 bit sample channel out of it as well.

[@Null_Experis]

You should listen to some of the game soundtracks for late 80s/early 90s PC games too. There were several competing sound standards during that 10ish year period so you'd get games that had like 6 versions of their soundtrack made for every one, from the lowly Internal PC Speaker (the thing that makes computers beep on boot) to $600 Roland Synthesizers like the MT-32. A really good example of this is Monkey Island, which has sound tracks for PC Speaker, Tandy Sound, Game Blaster, Adlib, MT-32, and a later CD-ROM version that used Redbook Audio. And if that wasn't enough, it also sounded different on the Amiga and Macintosh II releases as well.

[@jhna314]

Most people can only quote the game music. But apart from that, very good pieces have been and are still being produced. Of course, technically even higher quality. Almost all of my favorite songs come from artists from the last 30+ years.

[@weertangel7231]

Gods! i saw the game name and i was like" i know that game!!" i think i was like 8-10 years old when i played it with my brother, remember we had to use a guide to find the pieces of the nunchuks in that area. The music i did't remember though, might be becouse our version did't have music(C64 games were notoriously incomplete sometimes) or something else. nice to have a trip down memory lane.

[@TotalMK]

Great video. My favourite C64 tune of all time is from Last Ninja 2: "The Mansion - In Game" I would love to see you talk about that one! The theme of that track is all brooding and revenge themes It's all spooky and creepy and its 8 minutes long!

[@UKNeGuy]

Have a listen to fast loaders, they do it with a rock full band. The C64 Sid was only 3 channels and was designed by someone who understood music and was not just a chip designer, until the Amiga came around there was NO other sound chip that could touch it. Oh most music was coded in a few KB.

[@asbjrnknutsen8761]

The song is made on computer with 64kb of mem, running a game at the same time. The SID sound chip has just 3 channels Rob Hubbard the compuser/programmer squised this into a samll fragment of the 64 memory! its amazing. the sounds are just waves of sound, there is net to no memory for samples.

[@Mrinsecure]

There's an old game series from the Sega Genesis era called Valis which had music that went way harder than it had any right to. Valis III in particular had some fantastic tunes, imo. There was even two versions of every song: the chiptune versions in the Sega Genesis SKU of the game, and the more "traditional" versions for the TurboGrafx SKU.

[@control_the_pet_population]

As somebody who grew up with both, the Genesis was the next true step-up from the SID as far as classic chiptunes. A lot of really tremendous stuff on the Genesis that isn't nearly as well know just because C64 stuff were floppy disks that were pirated to high hell.

[@FranMatsusaka]

The interesting thing about this music is that it was made at a time when the video game industry was in its infancy. The programmers, graphic designers and musicians were kids who enjoyed their hobbies through microcomputers. They were far from being professionals, yet some of them demonstrated great passion and great talent that otherwise would not have emerged.

[@meridian-child8908]

Only played a little of this game on our Commodore Amiga 500. Apparently this came out in 1988 for the C64 and google shows me reviews from 1990 for the Amiga. The amiga version of this sounds really clean, but has a different vibe. Btw. I'd love to see some Amiga songs on this channel. That system had a lot of great music and the soundchip for that machine was just ahead of the other popular stuff that was around that time. Funny you mention AVGN. His latest episode was about the NES port of Last Ninja 2. Actually it was an old episode from 2006(?) he never released, but he reworked that episode and did a new spin on it. Recommend checking it out. Made me remember why I didnt bother more than 1-2 hours with this game as a kid.

[@gildan]

There are some amazing c64 tunes and some of the stuff they are still doing today is incredible on the machine

[@varzsha2]

3 tone generators (voices), frequency 0-4 kHz. 4 forms of waves (sawtooth, triangle, rectangle pulse width modulation, (white) noise /rush). Programmable filters (low pass, bandpass, high pass). 11:44 .. oh! Master volume in 16 steps. :D All it.

[@Terbie36]

You can also react to 'Cybernoid 2' by Jeroen Tel, 'Commando' and 'Warlock' themes by Rob Hubbard, 'Giana Sisters' by Chris Hülsbeck and 'The Last Ninja 1' themes by the late and brilliant Ben Daglish (all on C64). And on Amiga, all the Shadow of the Beast (1) soundtrack (especially the intro thene and the theme at the game's start). In the meantime, here's a live cover of Central Park by FastLoaders (solid band with a great lead guitarist, Jarle H. Olsen).

[@matteosky3194]

wonderful a entire era in a sound track

[@Supernionra]

Not sure if you're aware but Matt Gray (composer of the game's soundtrack) is still composing music and has done a lot in his ReFormation series.

[@Scopie33]

Probably my fave c64 tune and don’t forget each level and loading screen has its own soundtrack!

[@rsyncd]

As much as I like modern gaming and the realistic experience we can achieve, the C64 holds a special place in my gamer heart. This is a 8bit computer with only 32KB of memory available at any time, game designers and musicians were Magicians back then making these games and banger ingame music

[@Mik_S]

I did not have a C64 myself (my parents got a spectrum 48k instead) but my friend did and the Last Ninja games were one of his favourites that he could actually finish them (except 3, never could figure out one level). I don't know the technical stuff but I do know that the C64 had it own custom SID sound chip that was unique and gave the C64 the best music of all the systems at the time. Some of the best music was while the game was loading which seemed to make time go faster even though it was taking 10 mins to load a level.

[@ericpepunkt3561]

5:39 this tune can melt braincells! 🤪😁

[@wajjidmahmood452]

Yeah when that synth tune plays the last time it sounds like it’s got to it’s peak perfection!

[@Tets_MK]

Not familiar with the C64 but we did own a Commodore Amiga back in the day. Actually requested a song from one of my favorite Amiga games back in December so you'll get around to it in a few months ;)

[@meridian-child8908]

May I ask what game you requested? No matther what its always nice to see some Amiga love.

[@Tets_MK]

@@meridian-child8908 The main theme of Turrican II: The Final Fight!

[@meridian-child8908]

​@@Tets_MK Actually was about to guess if its something from Turrican when I made that comment. Great pick! Looking forward to his reaction.

[@rexmandrake4182]

@@Tets_MK Amazing choice. Turrican soundtracks are one of the best ones ever created.

[@JemyM]

@@Tets_MK After hearing this I searched his videos to see if he had done Turrican II: The Final Fight yet.

[@drandal]

Courtesy of Matt Gray, one of the best chiptunes ever. Check out Tim Follin's ZX Spectrum 1-bit music for Agent X, Target Renegade Level 1 music or Silver Surfer Stage 1 Theme. Might want also listen to Jeroen Tel's Robocop 3 Main Theme (NES version).

[@JoostMerkens]

Music was an important part of the experience considering the graphics in that time. It really hyped to the sensation.

[@atraxos]

There's a "Guitar Remix" of _Last Ninja 2 - Central Park Theme_ floating around out there arranged by one Richard Braithwaite that I recommend as well.

[@MarquisLeary34]

GOD that tune deserved a much better game to go with it. This was a track that demanded something along the lines of Ninja Gaiden, fast and stuffed with ninjas dueling it out. It's downright timeless and the remixes are incredible.

[@MarquisLeary34]

@@svartesverdhockey I only played the NES port of LN2, so I guess my opinion is a bit clouded by it. It does seem to be better regarded on the C64

[@vetodrom]

@@MarquisLeary34 The NES version is an example how to mess up a good game big time.

[@MarquisLeary34]

@@vetodrom So the C64 version is much better?

[@vetodrom]

​@@MarquisLeary34 It is like night and day. The C64 version is way better in every aspect. Even with the controls (which are often criticized as being too complicated on the C64, but are inconveniently transferred to the buttons on the NES).

[@siverwrites]

I don't have a ton of experience with C64 stuff; I was too young. But, our dad made games for it and submitted to the Loadstar discmag, Most of what I've played is the stuff he made :D. I do know some music from him playing it from games he and mom liked to play and I still have some of those files kicking around: Ultima 3, 4 and 5, Times of Lore, Theme of M.U.L.E. and a few others. The stuff people can do in tight restraints is just so cool as proven here and the other video.

[@jovanfilipovic]

Actually decieced composer Ben Daglish was the one writing this music for SID chip. Best game of my childhood, Greetings . John from Serbia

[@XtreeM_FaiL]

SID has its limitations, but back in the 80's it was something unheard of.

[@dAstroboy]

Game - League of Legends Band - Pentakill Songs - Conquerer / Lost Chapter / Aftershock

[@HayatoEvoker]

Both of these C64 themes remind me of a game I played on the NDS called The Dark Spire wherein the ost is also a masterclass in Chiptune tracks, it's REALLY fucking good

[@SilverJackLeg]

Mat Gray had other hits - I personally like the loader theme from Driller very much. It's not complex like LN2 tunes, but it really gives you the atmosphere. People were really squeezing the maximum out of the SID chip. I mean, it was one the best selling home computers at the time. I got my C64 in '85 and was glued to the screen. Amigas after that and then the drab PC.

[@CitroenC407]

Pretty much everything Matt Gray did on C64 was legendary. Tusker is another personal favourite. Amazing soundtrack.

[@NigelWoods-l5t]

C64 and the Amiga where amazing sound chips. The music on both were way above their time.

[@Music-tg5is]

It's even more impressive when you consider how limited the sound hardware in the C64 was at the time these 80s tunes were created.

[@Jubellymmel]

Not bad for an '80s home computer

[@kylereece1979]

Incidentally mate, there is a band from I think Norway that perform Metal versions of Classic chip tunes, especially from C64 games. Theres a stunning gig where they played the whole GodDamn Last Ninja 2 soundtrack. And its magnificent. Watch it.🤘🤘🤘🤘🤘 You MUST hear the "Central Park Loader". It is the music that blasted from the television as the Game was loading up onscreen. Some big games often took between 4-5 minutes to load- but to this day I have Total Recall of the anticipation of playing the game as the loading screen music kicked my ass!

[@johankaewberg8162]

Given hardware limitations this is insanely good. Central Park is the location of the titular ninja at this point.

[@beo3627]

hey, two you might check out are Coils of light and Daimon's 2nd form both from a game 'Dragons Dogma', coils of light is the main boss theme, the 2nd form is a secret bossfight if you clear the game again.

[@jovanfilipovic]

Small update on subject: Central park is the name of the park where 1st level of the game is located. Psycho trip and cranky noise is triggered and related to the last ninja entering the basement level full of dreadfully creatures hunting your life. SID Chip is capable producing only 4 type of waves: Pulse, Sawtooth, Triangle, and Noise. This is why you get fuzzy bass) which has bass freq and no bass inside. With help of imagination creative people can make amazing songs: R-type, Legend intros, various Roman Majewski Compod C64 chiptunes (e.g. Go West by Pet Shop Boys). Waiting on your more reactions to Game music. Please try to adress AMIGA games: Leander, Superfrog, Leander, SwitchBlade, Shadow of the Beast, Flashback, Frontier.. Greeting from Serbia.. John and Anastasia F.

[@bokan1056]

Central Park is a Banger :D

[@thombrown]

If you check out Sidology 2 by Machinae Supremacy, this track makes and appearance in that, along with others.

[@ravnkottr]

You should look into Keepers Of The Gate from the Dusk OST. You won't regret it

[@staggabob]

My favourite soundtrack of all time- and probably my favourite game. But I don't recommend playing it these days, I did recently and the control system is astonishingly bad 🤣 PS there's loads of modern covers and Matt Gray's own version is on KZbin on his own channel - "Central Park In Game Theme From Last Ninja 2 (Full Length Remake) by Matt Gray"

[@KarverLau]

o/ I have one in this room that im on right now (its on a corner of my closet, not enough space) but i have to say that i caught the C64 after its time as it was a cheap version of a mega drive or super nintendo when my father gift it to me but i did get a lot of hours out of it but my game library was oh so small, like maybe 7 games and two of then weren't complete :( (Altered beast and Back to the future 2) and based on that small list i have to say the Tom & Jerry intro and the Escape from Planet of Robot Monsters track are some that stick on my mind, but with this two you reacted to brought back quite a urge go and search for some and the comment section if being quite useful :)

[@IainMetcalf]

Matt Gray the original composer did a reformation of the Last Ninja 2 soundtrack a few years ago and is well worth checking out. Reason for the naming is the first level of the game is set in Central Park, second level music is City Streets and then Sewers and so forth. It was impressive what they managed to do with the SID audio chip back in the day. The chip has 3 channels : "The SID chip has three sound channels that can play simultaneously using three basic waveforms, plus a fourth “noise" waveform that produces rumbling to hissing static sounds, depending on the frequency. The chip has the ability to filter and modulate the channels to produce an even wider range of sounds." To get round limitation I read that they managed to use one of the channels to squeeze different notes inbetween the beats of the main 2 channels which is really clever. Check out the reformation : kzbin.info/www/bejne/iXXShXdjnaydgrc

[@shaunbebbington6411]

To rock out properly, try the music to "Arcade Classics", a C64 game with music by Rob Hubbard, or almost *any* SID music by Rob Hubbard. Or the Tetris theme C64 music by Wally Beben.

[@KevPage-Witkicker]

COMMANDO must stand out as the best C64 tune.

[@Sprocketjoo]

I've been enjoying this tune since 1988 😅. You can try some more epic C64 stuff such as Cybernoid in-game tune

[@daibonehead]

Try Yars Revenge by Linus. Relatively recent and an absolute banger. Also, try Delta by Rob Hubbard. His in-game track is one of my favourites. But maybe you had to be there.

[@Netreek]

There are ALOT of music which are on C64 or Amiga really awesome. In compare to PC to that time, PC was an annoyence to tune. You HAD to buy a Soundcard to be able to hear music. You had to get an EXTRA Card, just for music, for sound to be able to hear something else but beeping noises, while on Commodore you had really nice music in comparison. Best example: Pool of Radiance at the title screen. on Amiga you had music. On PC you had SILENCE.

[@8-bitcentral31]

I have this on my c64 and the music for the game is some of the best music ever made for the machine. I actually don't think that central park is the best song in the sound track but it is definitely up there. I personally like seeing it through an oscilloscope as it allows you to see what each of the 3 voices on the SID chip are doing. A brilliant video to see this is: kzbin.info/www/bejne/mJvFf2WIrr-Lfqs

[@adroharv5140]

the thing with listening to something for the first time is you don't really know if the piece appeals. The brain is great at processing all the sounds easy enough but something about music while very evidently heard, wont necessarily appeal yet. I personally never found this music appealing although it's technically very sound

[@brucechen6708]

You really should react to mega man's music dude :) Let me suggest you a few songs: Megaman3 Title Megaman 2 Intro , and Sonic Mania also has a lot of bangers !!!!

[@SniperYanda]

Reminds me a ton of the music Tim Follin's made for NES and C64, they go hard on the chip tunes.

[@daskraut]

you might wanna check out "the fastloaders" playing it on real instruments.

[@KawaiiNeko333]

So I just remembered a song worth listening to. ZeroRanger - Sacred Defender.