This is my favorite video game soundtrack. [Ys 3: Wanderers from Ys / PC-Engine, 1990]

Channel:

Red88Rex

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Published on July 8, 2016 3:29:51 PM ● Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WUll23Ktfwk

Game:

Ys III: Wanderers from Ys (1989)

Duration: 1:05:13

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16

Hi all, this is part of some list of things I want to do to expose more of you to video game music. I know many of you are already familiar with the stuff I like, but much of this flew under the radar. I have made it abundantly clear that the Final Fantasy composer, Nobuo Uematsu, is my favorite and most inspirational musician. So this is a bit weird for me to not give him the #1 slot. I could easily put FFVI here. But this is different in some way...look, Uematsu can make me shed tears and inspire me to be a better artist...but this stuff, makes me run an extra mile.

This case is especially interesting to me. We all know "retro" game music is limited to the sound chip of the console it came out on. And we can ALL agree that some really awesome music came out of the 8- and 16-bit eras! The tech may have been limited, but the composers definitely had some neat ideas and it's super impressive how they made the most of what they had.

Now I'm a fan of the third Ys game and I have been since my age was in the single digits. I had Ys 3 on the Super Nintendo and played it occasionally, although it was the only Ys game I ever had. I always loved the music. It was a game I *specifically* played just to hear the music in (before the internet and Youtube). Especially "Ballacetine/Valestein Castle". Many of you know my obsession with that song and it's been there for well over 20 years now. I remember being so young and not knowing what the song was called, or who composed it, how they composed it, or how to play music myself (yet)....all I knew was it was awesome!

Fast forward to today, thanks to emulators, I have played Ys 3 on MANY consoles. It was released on I think 14 of them, dating from the NES to the SNES to Sega to TurboGrafx to PS2 to PC and PSP remakes. In all cases, the soundtrack is the same, but will be unique in different ways thanks to the console capabilities. By the time it was released on PC in 2005, it had gotten a full rock/orchestra overhaul. But it's the same melodies and rhythm and all that.

So I've heard all these versions of it...and let's talk about the 1990 port to the PC-Engine/TurboGrafx. Due to the fact that the console takes DISCS...it was able to bring "redbook audio" to gaming consoles. The reason this music sounds so incredible is they were able to use actual CDs, which as we know, produces much better sound than the beeps and bops of other consoles in 1990. It might be hard to believe, but this is ACTUALLY the soundtrack of the game. Falcom made awesome music not only for the Ys series, but their other games as well, such as Sorcerian. On top of that, they put out MANY arrangement CDs over the years, starting back in the early 90's. You can find them with titles like "Perfect Selection/Collection" or "Super Arrange". There are SO many of them, even *I* have trouble keeping them straight! There is also spoken dialogue, which is painfully dated at this point, but it had to start somewhere.

I hope you enjoy, I know you will NOT be disappointed. I LOVE late 80's/early 90's Japanese synth-rock with all my heart, so you can imagine why I am so infatuated with this game's soundtrack. I will be adding more of my favorites as time goes on. It may shock you, but #2 is also NOT an Uematsu OST ;)

All gameplay is taken from my PC-Engine longplay and I simply put the audio tracks over it in the appropriate scenes. Composed originally by Mieko Ishikawa and arranged by Ryo Yonemitsu.

1. Dancing on the Road 0:00
2. Prologue 0:26
3. Premonition 3:00
4. Opening 4:23
5. Trading Village of Redmont 6:20
6. Quiet Moments 7:49
7. Welcome!! 8:28
8. Prelude to the Adventure 8:54
9. The Boy's Got Wings 9:15
10. Be Careful 11:20
11. Dark Beasts as Black as the Night 14:21
12. Ilburns Ruins 19:25
13. A Searing Struggle 22:26
14. Snare of Darkness 25:20
15. Shock of the Death God 28:15
16. Quickening Dream 33:08
17. Steeling the Will to Fight 33:22
18. Tearful Twilight 36:11
19. Valestein Castle 36:50
20. Prayer for Love/Radient Key 39:53
21. Sealed Time 41:47
22. Darling Elena 44:37
23. Beat of Destruction 45:43
24. Tower of Fate 48:42
25. Behold!! 50:06
26. The Strongest Foe 51:15
27. My Dear Brother 56:15
28. Departure at Sunrise 56:49
29. Wanderers from Ys 1:00:35
30. Treasure Box 1:05:07

*For some reason, "The Theme of Chester" does not play in this version, but it is a great song:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9HltIkTWEFk

My playthrough of this version:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWL71dIM0D4

PC remake OST:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXFCen2Icpc

Super Nintendo OST:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xk-kaSEGT0U

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ys_III:_Wanderers_from_Ys

http://www.racketboy.com/retro/turbografx-16/tubrografix-16-tg16-101-beginners-guide

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