Tales of Phantasia SNES Opening

[@dezinfectant]

first time playing this, I was like "WTF THIS GAME HAS VOCAL TRACK?"

[@momerion]

dezinfectant Nintendo does what Sega don't xD

[@RAMChYLD]

JSP Producciones!! Except that Sega had a vocal track in Lunar: The Silver Star. In 1992. Of course, they cheated. Sega CD.

[@ikagura]

@@RAMChYLD The Sega CD and the PC Engine CD were technical marvels when they came out. They didnt "cheat" because it would mean the PS1 cheated with the CD support as well

[@ikagura]

@Dr_Doctor Well the SNES cartridge could have a chip and a code written to make that music (closer to games like Star Fox for exemple)

[@ikagura]

Yeah I know, that's why I said that some of them had a special chip

[@PikminWarrior454]

I love how the best footage they could get of Chester was of him completely missing 2 shots

[@samrogers9559]

lol

[@futaenokiwami6349]

As I recall, he's pretty much useless after the time-leap in the SNES version, right? The PS1 version had some event where he trains by himself to close the gap between him and the rest of the team.

[@solaeris6346]

He doesn't even have a TP in snes version

[@sarysa]

@@futaenokiwami6349 He was actually kind of overpowered if you leveled him up and got him a decent bow. Tended to do far more DPS than the casters and didn't slow the game down.

[@batterybroken]

PFFFFTTTTTTTT

[@pinkspider28]

I'm 42 years old and today I find out the SNES has a vocal song intro. This is amazing!

[@marioj00001]

If I remember correctly, the song alone was well over half the cartridge ROM

[@pinkspider28]

@@marioj00001 wow

[@とふこ]

@@marioj00001 i don't know but the game was 6 megabytes, the song is not too long, and sometimes sounds like it mixed with midi, and sounds like a low bitrate mp3, so probably not half of the 6MB. I played through this game in my pentium 1 pc with zsnes.

[@dumpling3309]

@@marioj00001 lmao does that mean it took over 50% of the memory of the rom? It sounds wonderful

[@edisonespinosa9778]

Lo jugué en japonés tremendo juego, después en español y tiene una historia monstruosa, y las voces son excelentes el mejor juego de snes

[@inceptional]

Not only is it just impressive to hear full singing on SNES, but this is actually a really good tune too.

[@Peter_1986]

Yeah, it is a pretty cute feel-good song.

[@KratosAurionPlays]

For SNES you have to admit this was pretty good.

[@MrOmegatronic]

Considering the SF/SNES actually isn't even capable of handling an opening song with voice acting like that, I'd say "pretty good" is a bit of an understatement. xD

[@Sebastian-xy3xk]

This is amazing for any Cartridge-Based Game. This game is about 48 Megabits (6 Megabytes) big which is one of the biggest games on the SNES ever! I still find it hard to believe that the SNES could do this on it's own without any external chips like the MSU-1. The whole song should be just one long recorded Sample which is even more impressive because 85% of Samples used in the 4th and 5th are barely a Second long recording. And even some recordings of voices are just 5 Seconds long. THIS SONG IS LIKE A MINUTE OR TWO LONG!!

[@MrOmegatronic]

Helloz World The SNES actually _isn't_ capable of doing that without any additional chips. So, to work around that... if I remember correctly, they broke the song down into a ton of little sound bytes that it _could_ handle, then basically streamed them all from the cartridge (very simplified explanation, and I'm pretty sure it wasn't _actual_ streaming).

[@Sebastian-xy3xk]

MrOmegatronic Well they were Sampled Recordings, but the SNES can't stream Samples directly from the Cartridge. So they did have to break down the Voice into parts, but even though they were more likely to be 10 Seconds long or so every section, that is still quite a long Sample to play. The SNES Sound Chip can take in up to 64KB of Recorded Samples per song, but I have heard from what I remember is that some companies to by pass the Limit they would just quickly swap some Samples so it could play a song that would technically would be much bigger than 64KB. Thus most likely the reason how the SNES could do this. :D

[@MrOmegatronic]

Helloz World Yeah, that sounds about right.

[@AnTran147]

This is still freaking amazing in 2016.

[@FantasyAnimeSite]

+An Tran Yes it is :)

[@asurafang5367]

yup can't agree more

[@AQWBlaZer91]

Oh yeah.

[@christophermcgregor4724]

2017

[@ClimbatizVideos]

2018

[@Lion-EXE]

Some of these voice actors would later on voice some very popular characters. Mint's voice actress did the voice of Pichu and Togepi. She also voiced May in the first Guilty Gear. Archie's voice actress voiced Purin (Jigglypuff) and O-Chan from Hebereke. Klarth's voice actor voiced Kakashi from Naruto.

[@gamerprince-tl5hg]

Wow that's pretty cool

[@Abigdummy4life]

Cless and Chester are Trunks (another time traveller) and Ky Chester's other voice is Chouji, Renji and Yun

[@christopherchasteen4990]

Also, Klarth's voice actor voiced Reiji Arisu from 'Namco x Capcom'.

[@Abigdummy4life]

Christopher Chasteen and Kars

[@BardockSkywalker]

RiBB|Lion Wait... Kakashi... IS CLAUS... From ToP?!?!? *MIND BLOWN*

[@gamerprince-tl5hg]

Like everyone else in this comment section, I'm still somewhat mind blown by the fact that they managed a way to put voice acting into an SNES game. This is just amazing.

[@Peter_1986]

There are also some NES games that have very impressive voice clips. Check out "Action In New York" for example, that game starts off with the line "You must destroy them! The Earth is counting on you! Good luck!", and that voice sounds absolutely crystal clear. It's awesome.

[@noneofyourbusiness1998]

For a Super Famicom title, this is absolutely mind blowing!

[@FantasyAnimeSite]

+Markell Hawthorne It sure is! :)

[@excrono]

+Markell Hawthorne Even with improved technology available for future remakes, the original was still not done justice. The only thing they would have need to do; was not change the original Sakuraba soundtrack one single note.

[@MrOmegatronic]

It was also absolutely impossible to do on the SF/SNES. They did it anyways.

[@Peter_1986]

Yukari Yoshida has a very cute voice as well.

[@dhay03]

I still can't believe this happen on Super Nintendo.

[@AlejandroRodriguezWebDesigner]

Neither can I :)

[@dezinfectant]

:') same here.

[@GiordanDiodato]

you know what else happened on SNES? Star Ocean.

[@rexmageuser]

You forgot about Power Rangers and Clayfighter on SNES.

[@yukatoshi]

@@GiordanDiodato Yeah. Too bad the audio on Star Ocean is so muffled though.

[@GlobalWarmingSkeptic]

The absolute edge of SNES capability. This was he peak of game developer talent to get both this trailer and this song on a processor designed for just a handful of sound samples.

[@NFITC1]

It required a specialized chip to make it work too. It was one of the few SNES games that used the 48 Mbit chip too.

[@n2n8sda]

@@NFITC1 There is no "special chip" in the tales of phantasia cartridge. Only 2 mask roms and an sram. There is some skillful programming to make better use of the SPC700 Sony sound co-processor inside the snes. During the development of the game towards the latter stages a lot of internal conflicts caused many developers to leave Namao and form Tri-Ace.. they used such techniques for voice again when they released Star Ocean, which does have a special chip (SDD-1) which is used to decompress the graphics data, something the SNES was not powerful enough to do itself. While both TOP and Star Ocean use 48mbit of ROM data (6mb) thanks to the SDD-1 used in Star Ocean it would take almost 96mb of conventional rom space to store uncompressed.

[@Milestone5cyclops]

If it had more cart space, it could stream in 32khz but this is impressive for what it is.

[@GlobalWarmingSkeptic]

I've worked with a lot of software and hardware. What they were able to do on something as primitive as the SNES graphically and musically was unparalleled. People who worked with the SNES who made top level games knew the hardware inside and out and how to pump every last ounce of performance out of it, more than any other machine in history. When I first heard this, it was when I was trying out emulator games. At first, I thought it was a fan game made post-production for an emulator, but no this ran on an actual SNES. The level of musical and presentation talent is insane.

[@MrOmegatronic]

Early emulators used being able to emulate this very game as a selling point. So, if anything, the _emulators_ were made for _it_ . ;3

[@excrono]

@@MrOmegatronic This game breaks so effortlessly on modern emulators, today I found out that overlocking (only) the SNES CPU using BSNES HD is a bad idea (SPC700 becomes unstable and will intermittently) soft lock the game), having known this soundtrack all too well I could tell when there were slight auto sequencing defects preceding, it’s really impressive with HD mode 7 overclocked to 400% on the world map however.

[@elkhaqelfida5972]

this is the definition of what AAA should be, pushing the limit of the hardware.

[@Milestone5cyclops]

Yeah, not pushing our wallets.

[@asch3671]

I still cannot believe there are vocals in a SNES game o.0

[@FantasyAnimeSite]

+Asch-kun Right? It's so incredible! ^_^

[@GiordanDiodato]

play Star Ocean 1 on SNES

[@asch3671]

I am

[@MrOmegatronic]

It's even more impressive if you take a look at how they did it. The SNES actually isn't capable of doing that, but they basically said "Screw limitations", and wrote a custom program for the soundchip that streams it from the cartridge a few kilobytes at a time.

[@Peter_1986]

I like the singer's voice, it sounds cute. :D

[@irregularzero9537]

This game filled a dark void when I was a teenager and this opening still brings tears 17 years later.

[@Shartwichh]

0:35 “Fast Aido!” Why does she sound like 5 years old it’s a adorable

[@StivsLair]

Fairsto aido

[@urbinax]

@@StivsLair fasuto aido

[@KertaDrake]

"Isee Needo!"

[@decoyaardvark2828]

First Aid!

[@Shartwichh]

anD WHy did Chester miss his arrow?

[@Mitwad]

This game was very ahead of its time to be honest. It looks beautiful, has very polished details and the very combat system by itself was on a level of its own compared to all the other j-rpgs still going with turn based combat. I still can't understand how the West didn't get it, it would probably have boosted the franchise a lot.

[@MrOmegatronic]

It was a matter of bad timing, more than anything else. The game came out near the end of the system's lifetime, and would've had to compete with PS1 titles by the time it could be translated. RPGs were apparently having a bit of a dry spell in NA at the time, too, so they probably didn't think it would be profitable enough to put the effort into (probably since effort spent on it could interfere with getting out a title for the shiny new system).

[@moseslalmuanpuia8988]

It's sad really. Despite being the first, in any modern tales games, this one is largely ignored.

[@daniellclary]

Its crazy the graphical and audio they got from the Super Nintendo. First game I played that had lyrics, and reflections. live action RPG mechanics, Not alone everything else.

[@karlkoskie2891]

The GREATEST unknown game on nes And the start of one of jrpgs great franchises

[@danielbarrera8391]

I used to watch this every morning before a horrible day of school and it was like a feeling of holding hope for the future. Somehow it got me through and the lyrics really get you in the feels pretty deep.

[@justanotheryoutubechannel]

Wow, Voice acting on a SNES game. That’s incredible!

[@inceptional]

It's a little compressed sounding but still extremely impressive to hear on a SNES.

[@MrOmegatronic]

This game showed just what the SNES is capable of.

[@mischitary]

One of the earliest fan translations I can remember was for this game. That was how I played it!

[@Norrbottning]

"The Dream Will Never Die" is such an incredible song and perfect for the opening.

[@platinummad4701]

12 years after your comment Tales of Arise released and the dream hasn't died yet.

[@GiordanDiodato]

Happy 25th anniversary to Tales of Phantasia

[@CorvetteCoonass]

Starting with Star Fox, the SNES demonstrated that even 16 bit systems were capable of greater feats than originally intended. The damn system could run on 32 bit carts, same type of systems Sony PS1 and Sega Saturn were utilizing. Obviously the SNES had to try harder, but the fact that it could still impresses me.

[@downsouth420]

That’s a common misconception. When something is 16-bits, it means the processor can accept 16 bits of data at a time. When cartridge size is talked about, it means just that: how big the game itself is in terms of megabits. (It should be noted that people describe sizes in megabytes, and there are 8 bits in a byte) It’s actually a common question people had even back in the day: how could a 32 meg cart play on a 16-bit system? And the answer is that they are unrelated to each other to begin with.

[@DonkeykongSw2]

32 (mega) bit (cartridge space) != 16-bit (hardware) By the way, the cartridge was around 48Mbit = 6MB.

[@TheFDEL]

I always found Mint's engrish pronounciation of "First Aid" to be really cute, especially since it gives you HP in battle :D

[@ryonagana]

fasto eido

[@TransRoofKorean]

all i hear these days in my mind is "indignation" over and over ... and I'll take it, no indignation here personally

[@Faceless_time_traveler]

First it's an SNES game ... It should not have voice acting Second ... Even if it did , it should be cringy and emotionless . This game did the impossible twice . Truly amazing

[@MrOmegatronic]

It gets better: The system explicitly didn't have enough audio memory to play vocal tracks, and its custom sound format didn't support sample swapping. So they just _wrote a custom driver that constantly swapped dozens of tiny samples into memory so it could play the vocal track anyways_ . (For comparison, instrumental tracks were easy for the system to handle, and didn't really take up much memory.) When you say the game did the impossible, it's not figurative; it's *literal* . -And then they went on to make -_-Star Ocean-_- , which is even more impossible. xD-

[@My2Cents1]

@@MrOmegatronic Isn't it amazing how technical limitations always seem to give birth to greatness?

[@MrOmegatronic]

For sure, @@My2Cents1. It's a shame we don't see it nearly as often anymore.

[@jitensha5231]

Based Hiroya Hatsushiba

[@Peter_1986]

I love when game developers are like "this console cannot do this thing, but we don't care", and then do it anyway, lol. Absolute boss.

[@dcb99filmz]

While most games at the time had voice acting from their staff, Namco went out of their way to hire big names like Takeshi Kusao, Mika Kanai and Kaneto Shiozawa... Most other companies wouldn't do this until around 1997.

[@TheIvorySleep]

So many memories associated with this particular intro, which funny enough, I got to experience from your site back in the early 2000s. Thank you for introducing me to so many different JRPGs! I still visit FantasyAnime regularly :)

[@ranchdressing]

How the HELL did they program this. o_o

[@abraveastronaut]

I don't think any game for a newer system can ever have the "holy fuck how did they DO that" factor you get from late 16-bit console games, and I don't mean that in a NEW GAMES BAD way or anything. It's just that this was the last era where the "normal" limitations of the console were obvious enough that it immediately stood out to ordinary gamers when some clever programmer had gotten it to do something it shouldn't be able to do.

[@christophercanupp6358]

I'm glad that Tales of Vesperia is on Nintendo Switch, that way I can enjoy it on the go and on my TV and Tales of Phantasia on my laptop.

[@LaTabernaDeVile]

tales of phantasia is a masterpiece

[@Kelohmello]

I grew up with the GBA and PS1 versions of this game. I'd played Tales of Symphonia first, but then went back and played Phantasia because of its story connections to that one. The anime opening for the PS1 version is so nostalgic to me, but my mind is *blown* to know that they had the same song playing on the SNES intro! That's nuts! As an adult I can appreciate now how absurdly ambitious Tales of Phantasia was on its original console. Absolutely Phenomenal.

[@Soddarkryder]

The song is so remarkable, they even had a dog sing it in one of the villages.

[@Half-HeartHero]

Despite this being in 1994 and dated by today's standards (2017), it was cutting-edge at the time due to the limiting hardware. Although the SNES Sound Chip was a bit limiting, it was almost capable of CD quality audio.

[@saturntime]

this wasn't just cutting edge on release, this was outright exceeding the designed capability of the console it was successfully released for. It the kind of brilliant thinking outside the box programming that literally hasn't really existed since the end of the PS2 era of game releases, with the extraordinarily unique hardware architectures to work with and around. Between this and Star Ocean, the west literally missed out on the two most advanced games ever made for the SFC.

[@GiordanDiodato]

and there are three reasons for that 1. They were late SNES games (in fact the Playstation had released in NA just 3 months before Tales of Phantasia debuted in Japan) 2. Text-heavy RPGs that would take over a year to translate 3. RPGs weren't popular at the time.

[@ajtstvandmusicarchivechann1585]

Half-Heart Hero The game stoll was able to blow me with its graphics and sound. Such a classics

[@raycearcher5794]

Imagine the most voice you've heard from a game is "the last metroid is in captivity, the galaxy is at peace" then you slap THIS in

[@abraveastronaut]

Or "SEEEEGAAAAA"

[@StefanHomberger]

The audio quality in this game has always astounded me; especially this incredible opening. An amazing series from the start.

[@furorteutonicus9045]

the nostalgia man, tears welling up in my eyes. just stunning!

[@maurindioalessandro4259]

The best Tales of ever :3

[@FantasyAnimeSite]

Mauricio Valdez Agreed :)

[@BardockSkywalker]

FantasyAnime *COUGH COUGH* Abyss *COUGH COUGH*

[@GiordanDiodato]

not including every single game that came after it.

[@Xaviwan1978]

La mejor intro que se creo para super nes!! I de los mejores juegos de rol de la historia,impresionante!!!

[@runefaustblack]

La mejor y la única :v

[@makukenobi5385]

Badass game , downloading this back in early 2000's loved this game ever since

[@onceuponaban]

Man these graphics wouldn't have been out of place on a nintendo DS!

[@Wockes]

+onceuponaban It looks even better on an old CRT TV.

[@GiordanDiodato]

eh they don't look as good as Chrono Trigger's graphics.

[@ajtstvandmusicarchivechann1585]

Giordan Diodato this game is way better than chrono trigger

[@GiordanDiodato]

Gameplay wise, maybe. Everything else, forget it. Chrono Trigger is a classic for a reason

[@KeMeEscupaUnPollo]

@Sean M Chrono Trigger hiped? For fucks sake.. Shut the fuck up.

[@cellmaleymhp]

still on top my top 10 favorite game ever, every support included

[@Kyuubeythe3rd68k]

One of the best games for the SNES! A great game that pushes one of my favorite systems of all time to its limits!

[@attackofthecopyrightbots]

that quote in the beginning caught me off guard. also, techno

[@vashe9]

And even if it's from a game, it's true...

[@Crayolapup]

This makes me want to go back to the late 90’s… & I was born 1995… I just remember everyone being into these Japanese import games back then. Well, in our circle in the Bronx NYC.

[@asmadeous]

I bet this song alone took up 70% of the SNES cartridge space, lol

[@LeafDew]

Prob the best color palette of any SNES game.

[@nintendoloverin9567]

Late SNES games had such wonderful pixelart. I am kinda sad that all these years of experience go somewhat to waste now that big companies don't want to use this artstyle as much... If anybody knows of interviews by the graphic designers of the SNES games I'd be very thankful!

[@downsouth420]

The character designer was Kosuke Fujishima, who did You’re Under Arrest, Ah! Megamisama, and Ex-Driver. He also did Tales of Symphonia. He was always one of my favorite mangakas and artists of all time for as long as I can remember.

[@noahmeyer9756]

@@downsouth420 Wasn't he also character designer for the Sakura Taisen series?

[@holykirby95]

when ever i hear the opening i smile and it doesnt go away this was the best battle system the new tales games are smash and bash now i loves them but this was an extremely active turn based game dont you think? cless does one attack goes back you can easily control magic. oh god im smiling right now :D

[@monsterofgod3315]

This game shocked me on the audio capabilities of the snes. Voice acting on spells and the opening sounds fantastic! Game was ahead of its time.

[@suprememingus6877]

For sure. A landmark game. Especially liked that the antagonist was misunderstood. As a kid I loved the heroes, but each time I play it and the more I learn about the story that never made it into the final game (ToP had a complicated history to say the least) the more I understand Dhaos. The main cast is still very likable, and most of them want revenge on Dhaos for ruining their lives and you can’t blame them. Rambling aside, many JRPG antagonists of this time were solely evil, which is fine, but it was refreshing to have a game which makes you question if you are truly in the right. And this was 1995. Most Tales games have DNA from this release, and it’s a shame it’s so underrated in the west.

[@SephirotGamesBr]

Tales of Phantasia merece estar no hall dos melhores rpgs japoneses já feitos por toda sua inovação e sistema de batalha diferenciado, um RPG muito a frente do seu tempo, levou o SNES ao seu limite ainda mais com essa intro cantada que não envelhece nunca..

[@aurelionsolisop619]

Verdade linda, tbm adoro

[@ezrouwuowo4781]

I remember playing this on my SNES, and now I'm on my 20's struggling, listening to this again brings back memories and I just can't stop the tears from dropping :')

[@dawan6020]

You had an SNES back in the early 2000s?

[@efrenarevalo2025]

"I won't say goodbye because we'll see each other again someday!"

[@FantasyAnimeSite]

I agree, the 90s had awesome video games :) I love Klarth and Arche too! They're great characters

[@GiordanDiodato]

RIP Unsho Ishizuka (original voice of Morrison)

[@yuantheblue]

I only got to play this once, but it stuck with me so good. Brought back memories.

[@EricToTheScionti]

0:00 - 0:13 always gives me chills

[@jerrysander8371]

I feel so nostalgic after hearing this opening song from SNES This so awesome for SNES opening game have voice

[@LanIost]

Was not expecting the "Produced by Namco" screen.. damn.

[@Soridan]

That's it, I'm replaying this game.

[@MrBroken030]

Datawise tales of phantasia is the biggest snes game ever released and im pretty sure a good chunk of that space is just for the stunning intro, well worth it ^_^

[@CameronB]

MrBroken030 No, Star Ocean is actually the largest SNES game beating ToP by I don't know how much. Check it out.

[@Sebastian-xy3xk]

MrBroken030 Star Ocean is twice as big because while the game is 48 Megabits technically, it features an S-DD1 chip on top of that to handle heavy decompression of the code. So when the game is completely decompressed and readable to the SNES, it comes to a whopping 96 Megabit game!!

[@MrBroken030]

Oh damn, sure, i totally forgot about Star Ocean!! :D

[@CyberMSX2]

I keep imagining this opening in the MSU-1 version. I was going to cry!

[@tovopro]

Bet you all, many of you would let the intro play thru and pump up the TV volume in order to impress your friends and family. And all you got back was a weird look. LoL

[@cyrudejesu]

They won't even understand that it was so insanely amazing that time, especially with a very limited hardware like SNES LOL.

[@DoctorTalon]

Nice! Suzu is named after the writer of the lyrics to this song! Ever since I noticed it when her last name was revealed, I thought it was as awesome a reference as having Motoi Sakuraba play piano in the bar! 8-D

[@N40AX]

That clean voice track was breathtaking for the time.

[@Weedopia]

Le Rêve Ne Mourra Jamais...

[@novostranger]

Impressive how they could make music with vocals on the snes, must been mind-blowing to 1996 Japanese kids

[@Fiahkla]

"The Dream will Never end" Words by S.Fujibayashi Is that Sheena? ._. from Tales of Symphonia? O_O

[@GiordanDiodato]

different Fujibayashi.

[@yuriravanal6543]

Es de la misma descendencia.

[@3misanchez567]

in this game comes sheena's offspring

[@moopbread5582]

Those vocals must take up half the cart. This is unbelievable.

[@ikagura]

I didnt know this game at the time but even today I am impressed about that

[@EricToTheScionti]

That opening quote is so haunting...and yet so very true.

[@EricToTheScionti]

@Shaman X lol

[@carnicero27]

the art of the characters was made by the creator AH! MY GODDESS :)

[@toddoroi4947]

Yes, because of the SNES's low sample bank limit, this can be bypassed in one of 2 ways. Either sample something down to it's basic waveform or use an extremely low sample rate. With 16-bit resolution a low sample rate sounds okay, with 8-bit (as in what the MD has) a higher sample rate is needed (but atleast it sounds quite sharp). If I remember correctly this song is sampled at either 8khz or 4khz.

[@LFrock12]

wow never know SNES have vocal opening

[@superandroidtron]

The Super Famicom and SNES are internally identical. There are absolutely no differences.

[@sblugdu4726]

Memories....

[@littleraven89]

damn...that nostalgia

[@FantasyAnimeSite]

Agreed :)

[@typhlocube9359]

1:50 Words by Sheena Fujibayashi

[@CharmDevils]

2024還在聽完這首.

[@Tambuburay888]

Awesome so this is the origin of tales of series 😲

[@AliceinNirvanagarden]

@JPThunder01 Not Quite. Star Ocean was a freaking 64 mgbit fattie - it had tons of VO work, especially for a SNES game.

[@teledelocos]

This game, Street Fighter Alpha 2, Donkey Kong Country are the most powerful games in SNES. The beast with in...

[@Chelaxim]

Star Ocean

[@KertaDrake]

This game seriously could have had the same hype as the Final Fantasy series if they had only released it in the US back on the SNES... If they kept this opening it would have been the sort of mind-blowing experience that stuck with people for years!

[@typhlocube9359]

We missed on so much amazing RPGs back then like Fire Emblem, Live A Live, and this

[@BigA207]

How does this game have a VOCAL track? It's on the SNES!!

[@FantasyAnimeSite]

+Paintamaster2000 It was made possible because it's actually not a full audio track. It's not easy to notice but the song was broken up and vocal notes are re-used. In other words, using a form of compression like a zip file.

[@enemia93]

+Paintamaster2000 +FantasyAnime If I'm not wrong, Tales of Phantasia also used a higher capacity cartridge. I think even after compression the file wouldn't have fit in a usual cartridge :3 Btw, ToP also had voices during the fights. ToP is probably the only episode of the Tales series that has been technically impressive for the time of its release.

[@dezinfectant]

+Paintamaster2000 super low sample rate and bit rate, combined with SNES synth. Samples are chopped into pieces to save bytes. Since NES era, game consoles can actually play samples as part of BGM.. But a vocal track is definitely something else X)

[@imTheSpoonKiller]

+Paintamaster2000 I was wondering the same shit over here.

[@iam16bits]

+Paintamaster2000 Lots and lots of compression, It's 48 Megs making it one of the largest games on the SNES.

[@siimonplay]

This is still amazing in 2020. ;) P.S. Nice avatar @FantasyAnime

[@DraigGwym]

Same idea as Module music formats like XM, MOD, IT etc. It acts like a list of notes like in a MIDI music file, But calls samples directly inside the file rather than off the soundcard like midi does. A lot of games for PC back in the day used to use Module music to save space but keep a fairly decent sound. In the case of ToP the lyrics verses are each their own sample and some can be called twice or more (Like refrains) saving more space. Very well coded indeed.

[@MarceloPereirax3]

Cuando vi el título del juego pensé que era otra cosa, cuando empecé a jugar, se volvió algo personal

[@chemergency]

They really made the most out of the SNES's sound capability with this beast of a game.

[@Slash0mega]

i want to point out that the snes was always capable of sample playback, technically every instrument is a sample, but managing to fit a game with full word samples is still impressive,

[@masalps]

This opening sounds incredibly good for a Super Famicom game. Hopefully buying this game really soon.

[@theLuigiFan0007Productions]

The amount of DPCM samples in that is absolutely insane. I didn't even know that kind of thing was possible.

[@MrOmegatronic]

It wasn't, they had to write a custom audio driver to make it work. xD

[@theLuigiFan0007Productions]

​@@MrOmegatronic The hardware was still capable though, which is the most interesting part. That audio, specifically the vocals are VERY clear for being samples on the SNES. Having wrote a custom driver is equally impressive, as it probably was quite difficult.

[@MrOmegatronic]

That's the thing, @@theLuigiFan0007Productions, the driver is what _makes_ the hardware capable here. xD Long story short, the SNES doesn't have enough audio memory for a vocal track, and its custom audio format (BRR) didn't really support sample swapping all that well (I don't remember the specifics here), so they made the Flexible Voice Driver to constantly swap samples in and out of memory on the fly, while still playing the instrumental track as normal. This in turn let them break the vocal track into dozens of tiny samples, and then effectively (but not literally) stream them from ROM. And then they used the FVD to one-up themselves in _Star Ocean_ , by having a ton of vocals, swapping instrumental tracks on the fly, and even giving the game surround sound (IIRC). The SNES era was a time of insane innovation, honestly. xD

[@SanicTK2]

love this song and Mint's Theme

[@FantasyAnimeSite]

The SNES and Super Famicom have the same hardware :)

[@agenciaarturo7063]

😮😳no sabía que el snes tenía un juego así y cantado y eso que es mi consola favorita de todos los tiempos 😮

[@faelgamesantigos5957]

esse jogo frito o super nintendo kkk, que abertura foda maaanno do ceu, fizeram milagre no snes, quem gosta de chrono trigger tem obrigaçao de zera esse jogo

[@aurelionsolisop619]

Vai a merda chrono trigger e uma merda tales of mto melhor seu luxo

[@notyoursavior78]

I was playing this on a snes emulator on my PSP, but the PSP and the snes emulator for the PSP couldn't handle this game very well. The introduction was so amazing though and emotional. Sucks we got screwed outta all these great snes rpgs originally. This, Star Ocean 1, 7th Saga 2, Dragon Quest V etc.

[@ikagura]

Why cannot we get something technically as stunning as this nowaday?

[@ikagura]

Badly worded sorry (my main language isn't english) but I meant that there's barely anything impressive technologically today

[@MrOmegatronic]

Mainly because there's not as much need for insane technical innovation right now, and most teams just use a standardised engine instead of rolling their own.

[@ikagura]

@@MrOmegatronic So what is the point of having a PS5 and Xbox SX instead of a "PS4 Pro +" and "Xbox One SX"?

[@MrOmegatronic]

Hardware upgrades, mainly, @@ikagura. The new consoles will enable the next iteration of game engines to pull off all-new tricks that their predecessors couldn't really handle, at which point a lot of developers will get complacent and just rely on the engine's built-in tricks instead of coming up with their own. xD