♫Stage One BGM, BLOODY WOLF (Arcade), SNES Arrangement - NintendoComplete
100This is an arrangement of the stage one music from Data East's 1988 arcade game, "Bloody Wolf" (also known as「ならず者戦闘部隊ブラッディウルフ」, and "Battle Rangers" in Europe). I have arranged it for native playback on SNES hardware, and the audio was recorded directly from a launch model US SNES console.
The original arcade version of Bloody Wolf was great. It had that familiar Data East "feeling" to it, if that makes any sense. It wasn't at all original, but it was well put together using the best pieces of all the like-minded games that came before it, and it was presented with the slick, high-budget veneer of an 80s one-man-army flick.
And the soundtrack was a good match for it. It had a lot of catchy beats, and they got pretty creative with some of those PSG instruments - I sampled one standout example for this arrangement. If you've played this version, I'm sure you're familiar with it - it's that really loud mechanical sound that blasts during the intro and the first level. Don't worry, though. I took most of the sharp, ear-piercing edges off of it before I put it to use.
The arcade game's music was PSG-based, driven by a HuC6208, which as you may know is PC Engine hardware. Though the coin-op also had an FM chip and an external DAC for digital audio, those bits aren't used in the music, so it's pure 6-channel Hu-magic for this one.
And the music was fantastic! The biggest problem for it, though, was that the the Turbo port got treated to a brand new soundtrack using the same hardware. So why does that constitute a problem? Well, because the Turbo's soundtrack is phenomenal, and as a result, this one just sort of gets left to the side.
If you aren't familiar, this is a link to original track that I listened to as I wrote this: https://youtu.be/5J2WHpL7Zuw
But ugh, I had to listen to it over, and over, and over... as cool as they were, I really hated trying to figure out those brass arpeggios that were bouncing between tracks. I think I got them pretty close... at least I hope so. I also had to get creative with some of the chords, but though I took some definite liberties on a number of things, I'm confident that it's a fairly accurate reinterpretation of the music. It really tested my ear, hahaha, far more than I expected when I sat down to write it.
Since I was in the mode to work on something ridiculously over-amped and bombastic, I thought that I might as well show some love for the less cool older brother. For maximum bombast, if you will, I did some experimenting with layering synthesizer patches to thicken up and strengthen the sound, placing my bets on a whole lot of synth brass and FM-style pads. I also wanted the drums to punch hard, so I spent a lot of time tuning and filtering the snare, toms, hats, crash, and the kick so they could better violence their way through the sound. Because who doesn't like violencing?
Hope you all enjoy it! Please let me know what you think. I always consider and appreciate the feedback :)
Since it was requested, here is the .SPC file that I recorded this from. It should work on any SPC player (I recommend SPC700!) or flashcart: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1aO-zkP2gEIUPmFop9z28vxTIHxQzIPCo/view?usp=sharing
You can find my playthrough of the TG16 game here: https://youtu.be/OCfORusqXag
And finally, if you liked this track and you're interested in hearing some of my other work, you can find it all in a neatly organized playlist right here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL3gSj_kh1fHueSujqQR8xQQ84DWIjrU4F
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