If only the PCE was an SFC

[Black Tiger]

It sounds like Mega Man X instruments but almost like they're off a bit or something....  Maybe muffled or something.  Seems like the sounds should be a little sharper.  Listening to that and then Storm Eagle's stage music...  yeah somethings not right.

Did you listen to Storm Eagle's stage from a recording off of real hardware? SNES emulators enhance the audio, which has lead to a generation of hip young "8-bitters" believing that the SNES actually sounds that way.

[ishiyakazuo]

I don't know why Hudson and NEC made the crappy PC Engine when they could have made the glorious SNES instead.

FINALLY!  Someone gets it!

... But seriously though, I seem to recall hearing somewhere that the PC Engine was originally pitched to Nintendo to be a successor to the Famicom, and Nintendo basically told them to shove it, because Famicom was still insanely popular at the time.  Sounded like they also intended PCE to be somewhat backwards compatible with Famicom when they originally designed it, but it took a different turn after Nintendo shunned them.
Soooo... maybe if Nintendo had jumped on that, it WOULD be called Super Famicom.
Wish I could find that article now...

[ccovell]

It sounds like Mega Man X instruments but almost like they're off a bit or something....  Maybe muffled or something.  Seems like the sounds should be a little sharper.  Listening to that and then Storm Eagle's stage music...  yeah somethings not right.

The instruments sound off-key, that's most likely.

Also, tracked music that uses samples from systems (ie: SNES/Gen) usually don't include pitch bends, filters, or flanging that the original games used, so these re-makes often sound a bit flat.

[Digi.k]

I've recently come to appreciate Cyber Core's chip tunes. Lots of deep bass in them. So many games have PSG tracks that fail to exploit the low frequencies... such a shame.

Those low frequencies tho when I hear them...

[VenomMacbeth]

can you do soldier blade on the genny sound hardware? I want to hear the brown.

Stand by, I'm working on City of Death (stage 3) in Thunder Force 4 synths.

[SamIAm]

Why is it that this thread reminds me of this Chris Rock bit?

Hmm...

[spenoza]

In defense of this horrible track, it appears that someone just took a MIDI version of the game music and applied a Megaman X soundfont to it. I'm not sure you can sabotage such an effort much worse than that.

[ClodBuster]

I think the Turbo is able to deliver good chip generated music if done by talented people. Gradius, Salamander and R-Type are very faithful to their Arcade versions. Bomberman 94 is just pure joy for the ears. I've got mixed feelings for Blazing Lazers' music, though.

The Turbo's Redbook audio can be nice if accompanied by good sound effects.



SNES' music is a hit-and-miss. Some games have outstanding music that couldn't have be done anywhere else without redbook (Terranigma comes to my mind), while there are still lots of games with boring or even really bad sounding music.


I have no clue of the Genesis' music capabilities aside from Sonic 1 & 2, Rocket Knight Adventures and Jurassic Park.

[shubibiman]

The PCE soundchip is perfect as it actually is. I'm not fond of the SNES soundchip. Sounds like shit. So I might say it's a soundshit :p

[esteban]

In defense of this horrible track, it appears that someone just took a MIDI version of the game music and applied a Megaman X soundfont to it. I'm not sure you can sabotage such an effort much worse than that.

Yes. I hardly think we can judge SNES by this.

It would be like using Rastan Saga II as the only representation of the PCE/TG-16's sound capabilities.

 

[Black Tiger]

In defense of this horrible track, it appears that someone just took a MIDI version of the game music and applied a Megaman X soundfont to it. I'm not sure you can sabotage such an effort much worse than that.

Yeah, that's supposed to be a given. The instrument sounds aren't being used the way they were intended, they aren't matched to the music very well and the recording doesn't sound good. Yet straight SNES conversions of other consoles' music seems fairly popular.

But too many of these kinds of poorly conceived quick conversions get way too much praise and in SNES vs Genesis sound debates in Nintendo zealot circles, stuff like this is posted as proof that everything sounds better on SNES.

[MrBroadway]

Did you listen to Storm Eagle's stage from a recording off of real hardware? SNES emulators enhance the audio, which has lead to a generation of hip young "8-bitters" believing that the SNES actually sounds that way.

It sounds just fine on real hardware.

[Black Tiger]

Did you listen to Storm Eagle's stage from a recording off of real hardware? SNES emulators enhance the audio, which has lead to a generation of hip young "8-bitters" believing that the SNES actually sounds that way.

It sounds just fine on real hardware.

Although I'm a fan of the Mega Man X soundtrack due to nostalgia alone and appreciate that they went for more of a metal style, people love to trash the sound of the first MMX game. I don't care how many farts and sharts are in the game, I like most of the compositions and the sounds suit the overall style of the game.

While emulation sounding different is a separate issue (*try listening to Drac XX's "Vampire Killer" on youtube), you can still hear each instrument from that Soldier Blade cover in the MMX music and the difference between polished emulation sound and real hardware is that real hardware sounds more like that cover.

[esteban]

Did you listen to Storm Eagle's stage from a recording off of real hardware? SNES emulators enhance the audio, which has lead to a generation of hip young "8-bitters" believing that the SNES actually sounds that way.

It sounds just fine on real hardware.

Although I'm a fan of the Mega Man X soundtrack due to nostalgia alone and appreciate that they went for more of a metal style, people love to trash the sound of the first MMX game. I don't care how many farts and sharts are in the game, I like most of the compositions and the sounds suit the overall style of the game.

While emulation sounding different is a separate issue (*try listening to Drac XX's "Vampire Killer" on youtube), you can still hear each instrument from that Soldier Blade cover in the MMX music and the difference between polished emulation sound and real hardware is that real hardware sounds more like that cover.

I would love a few videos/or mp3's that showcase the "real hardware" vs. emulation.

For example, a billion years ago, there was a short comparison (.mp3) of a PSG tune from Tengai Makyo.  It was interesting to hear the differences.

 

[lukester]

Some SNES games sound great, especially MegaMan X.

But dear lord, those MegaMan X instruments killed the song.