Muzax 8, 3rd and final part – Turrican or Chris Huelsbeck’s music references

In the third and final part of Muzax, dedicated to Chris Huelsbeck, you will hear music from the games "The adventures of Quik and Silva", "Apidya", "Jim Power: In Mutant Planet" and "Turrican 3" as they appear on Amiga, Atari ST, Super Nintendo and on audio CD.

Listen to and download this podcast in MP3 format by clicking on this link. (comments in French)

Content of broadcast:
Welcome to Muzax, the video games music broadcast.

Let's continue to discover music composed by Chris Huelbeck.

Highly appreciated in the 80s and the 90s, digitalized voices show off the skills of the developer/musician and produce amazing sound effects.
The intro of "The adventures of Quik and Silva" on Amiga is an excellent illustration of the use of digitalized voices.
We are now listening to the music you hear during the game.

The first CD of Chris Huelsbeck, called "Shades", was published by "synSONIQ" in 1991. It is a best-of of his most famous hits including R-type, Turrican and Shades, of course.

Apidya, a very well-designed production, is released in 1992. It is also a shoot 'em up game and unexpectedly the player doesn't pilot a spaceship but a bumblebee.
The music of this game was played by a symphony orchestra during the « Symphonic Game Music Concert ».
This event has been taking place several times a year since 2003 in Leipzig, Germany.
Let's go right to the heart of the game.
Let's go to level 4 with a completely different style of music.
We can easily identify the 90s music style.

« Jim Power: In Mutant Planet » is published by « Loriciels », one of the most dynamic French companies in creating and publishing video games in the 80s and the 90s.
At that time, Loriciels published famous personal-computer games. But unfortunately, just after Jim Power release, the company went into liquidation because of a large outstanding payment from its American distributor.
Now listen to the Atari ST version.
The style is different but the adaptation remains faithful to the original version.

Chris also made console versions for PC-Engine, Super Nintendo, Sega Megadrive and PC
The third episode of Turrican is called "Super Turrican" on Super Nintendo and "Mega Turrican" on Megadrive. Fans put pressure on them to produce a version for Amega. It was released under the name "Turrican 3".

When the golden age of 16-bit computers such as Amiga and Atari ST had passed, video game companies decided to release their new games on the latest generations of consoles and PCs.
Let's go to the first level of Turrican on Super Nintendo.
Of course Chris follows this evolution and composes music for games published on these new machines.
He also composed film and show music and brought out several audio CDs of his most famous hits.
Listen to the music from the end of Turrican 3 on the CD version.

Since the age of 17, Chris has composed the music for over 70 games.
In 1998, he left Germany and followed the company Factor 5 to California where he composed several pieces of game music for them, including those for the Star Wars series.

This broadcast dedicated to Chris Huelsbeck is now over. Thanks for listening and tune in soon for a new episode of Muzax.

Muzax 8, part 2 – Turrican or Chris Huelsbeck’s music references

In the second part of Muzax dedicated to Chris Huelsbeck, you will hear music from the games Turrican, Z-out, Turrican II and Gem’X as they appear on the Amiga, the Atari ST, and the Commodore 64.

Listen to and download this podcast in MP3 format by clicking on this link. (comments in French)

Content of broadcast:
Welcome to Muzax, the video games music broadcast.

Let's continue to discover music written by Chris Huelbeck.

« Turrican » was published in 1990 by Rainbow Arts. This game was a real blockbuster. We are now listening to the intro music as it appears on the Amiga.
Chris doesn’t compose the music on every device; they are adapted by several musicians.

Let’s hear the conversion made on the Atari ST by his counterpart Jochen Hippel.
The result is surprising and shows that the Atari ST, despite poorer characteristics than the Amiga, has a potential that only passionate senior programmers can highlight.
Let’s go back to the Amiga version.

While waiting the game levels’ loading, the player can listen to the famous music of the loader.

We are now ready to enter the first level of the game.

Let’s continue with the Amiga version produced by Chris Huelsbeck.
The game consists in the exploration of huge levels which are infested with enemies and traps in order to find the exit and so go to the next level.
The player moves a soldier through 13 levels over 5 worlds.

Still in 1990, « Z-out » is released. It’s a shoot’em up game having the same characteristics as the famous “R-type”. Chris writes the introducing music of the game.

As Turrican had a great success, the episode 2 is released just one year later and Chris composes some of the best music he has ever written.
This second episode has technical characteristics even more impressing than the former episode. It has more colours, larger levels and more voices in the music, a nearly perfect multidirectional scrolling. It is not surprising that Turrican II is considered as one of the games the best completed.

Jochen Hippel is the creator of a routine on the Amiga called “Amiga 7 voice replay routine” that includes 7 voices simultaneously whereas this micro-computer has just 4 voices.
Chris reuse this technology in his own routine called « The Final Musicsystem eXtended » alias « TFMX », for intro and ending music of Turrican II.

Also developed on the Commodore 64, the music we are listening to is the one of the loader on this machine.

We are in the first level of the game listening to music in the Atari ST version adapted by Jochen one more time.
Let’s observe the versions from the Atari and the Amiga.

Chris produces in 1991 music for the game “Gem’X” on the Amiga, the Atari ST and the Commodore 64.
While listening to the music in C64 version, this second part dedicated to Chris Huelsbeck is finishing. Tune in soon for the next episode of Muzax!

Muzax 8, part 1 – Chris Huelsbeck’s music

The eighth broadcast of Muzax is part of the mini-series « Presentation of a famous videogame music composer ».

The pieces you will hear are composed or adapted by Chris Huelsbeck, a major composer in the videogame world.


In the first part of this broadcast, you will hear music from the demo of Shades and the games Bad Cat, The Great Giana Sisters, R-type, Grand Monster Slam and X-out on the Commodore 64 and the Amiga with a version by Machinae Supremacy.

Listen to and download this podcast in MP3 format by clicking on this link. (comments in French)

Content of broadcast:
Welcome to Muzax, the video games music broadcast.

Today we are going to discover the music of Chris Huelsbeck, a major composer in the videogame world.
“Shades”, his first composition on the Commodore 64, was the music which won him the competition organised in1986 by the German magazine “64’er” read by Commodore 64 fans. This was the beginning of a long career.

One year later, Chris has already composed music for 9 games. We are listening to “Bad Cat”.
Most of the sounds he uses are digitalized. These sound completely compared to the existing music on the Commodore 64 and provide a better sound quality.

One of his first big hits - the music for the game “The Great Giana Sisters” was released in 1987.
This game is very similar to the famous “Super Mario Bros game”. Too similar according to Nintendo who sued the game publisher Rainbow Arts and succeeded in banning its distribution outside Germany.
This tune/melody is used over and over. This is a cover version by the Swedish group “Machinae Supremacy”.
Despite being illegal, “The Great Giana Sisters” remains a reference in micro-computer games.

“R-type” is one of the most famous shoot’em up games and has been adapted for several consoles.
The arcade version has no music before the beginning of the game, that is to say when the title of the game appears and the player is asked to insert coins.
Chris is in charge of writing the intro music. We are listening to the Commodore 64 version.
He wrote another version for the Commodore Amiga in a completely different style.
The quality of the sounds he uses gives a real depth to the music. We can note through this composer’s various musical creations how important digitizing is to his creations.

Still in 1989, Chris writes the “Grand Monster Slam”.
This game is published by Rainbow Arts, one of the main companies he works for.

From the late 80’s, more and more video games have an animated sequence as an introduction to the game. Here is the intro music of “X-out”.
Progress made in micro-computer programming allows games to be more advanced in terms of the level of animation level but also terms of their graphics and music.
This requires a higher level of data storage and consequently it takes longer to load the game.
As a result some music is specially written to entertain the player while he is waiting.

Let’s listen to the X-out loader.
Used for short instants, this music is generally pretty repetitive.
As we listen to music from the 2nd level of this game, this first part dedicated to Chris Huelsbeck is coming to a close. Tune in soon for the next episode of Muzax!

Muzax 11, part 3 – The Lemmings, the first great success of DMA

In the 3rd part of this Muzax episode dedicated to the games developed or published by Psygnosis, you will hear music from the games Lemmings, Awesome, Leander, Shadow of the beast 3 and Lemmings 2: The Tribes on the Amiga and Microcosm on the Amiga CD32.

Listen to and download this podcast in MP3 format by clicking on this link. (comments in French)

Content of broadcast:
Welcome to Muzax, the video games music broadcast.

Let’s continue our exploration of the music world of the games from the company "Psygnosis".

The "Lemmings" appeared on the Amiga in 1991 and was a real hit.
Developed by "DMA Design", this game of strategy was brought out on around twenty different consoles.
The Lemmings are small green-haired creatures who wear blue dresses.
The player has to guide them to the exit of each level by making them dig, climb or build steps etc as necessary.

"Awesome" is a action/strategy game which takes place in outer space.
Before even starting to play, the player gets the feel of the game thanks to a pre-calculated 3D introduction.
The capacity of the consoles of the time were not able to support detailed real-time 3D animations.
That is why pre-calculated 3D is used in order to give optimal graphical execution.

In 1991, Psygnosis released "Leander".
This game is the first one to be produced by the British studio "Traveller's Tales".
Right from the beginning, the production quality attracts attention.
Like most action/platform games, the scenario is pretty basic.
Leander is very pleasant to play and stands out from the others by its graphics, its animations and its music.
"Shadow of the Beast III" was released in 1992 on the Atari ST and Amiga.
This third and last episode of the series is, once more, exceptionally well produced.

Despite this, it was not such a big success as the first episode.

In 1993, Psygnosis published "Lemmings 2: The tribes".
The success of these tiny creatures allowed the British company to invest in research and development and to fully contribute to the creation of the new generation games on CD-Rom.

"Microcosm" is a shoot’em up.
This game, developed and published by Psygnosis, is released on platforms equipe with a CD player such as the 3DO, the Mega-CD and the Amiga CD32.
The bigger companies were envious of Psygnosis’ fame.
In 1993, at the dawn of the 3D era and of the CD-Rom, Sony Corporation bought out Psygnosis.
This is how the Japanese company got ready to release its first television console: the Playstation.

The third part of this broadcast dedicated to Psygnosis is now over. Tune in soon for the next and last episode of this series about Psygnosis!

Muzax 11, part 2 - Shadow of the Beast, by Reflections Software

In the 2nd part of this Muzax episode dedicated to the games developed or released by Psygnosis, you will hear music from the games Ballistix, Blood money, Shadow of the Beast and Shadow of the beast 2 on the Amiga and Chrono quest II on the Atari ST.

Listen to and download this podcast in MP3 format by clicking on this link. (comments in French)

Content of broadcast:
Welcome to Muzax, the video games music broadcast.

Let’s continue our exploration of the music world from the games of the company “Psygnosis”.

The first 16-bit game developed by « Reflections Software » is « Ballistix » released in 1989.
Despite its meticulous production, this futuristic ball-game doesn’t manage to dethrone « Speedball » the famous game developed by « The Bitmap Brothers ».

« Dave Jones », founder of « DMA Design », developed « Blood Money » from his bedroom.
Being passionate about arcade games, this young Scottish man wanted to afford players the same thrills as in shoot’em up games available in amusement arcades.
The Amiga version of the game has two floppy disks. The first one is entirely devoted to its spectacularly high-resolution introduction.
The second floppy disk has the four levels of the game on it. Every level is a huge planet that the player has to explore in order to rid it of hordes of enemies.
The game is carefully produced; it stands out from the crowd due to its introduction and also its theme music written by « Ray Norrish ».

After Ballistix, Reflections Software produces one of its most beautiful games on the Amiga 500, « Shadow of the Beast ».
The reputation of every Psygnosis game is preceded by the company’s logo: the famous purple owl.
When he sees this, the player expects a high quality game.

« Shadow of the Beast » is no exception to the rule.
With 128 colours displayed simultaneously, 13 levels of parallax scrolling backdrops, 50 images per second and numerous sprites - some of them enormous, the Amiga version is a real technical achievement.
The game was a great success and was adapted to go on around ten platforms.
Once again, the music is written by « David Whittaker ». It is one of his biggest hits.
He is called upon to write exceptional music. He has achieved this by using high quality instrumental samples.
Despite being fairly ordinary in terms of manageability and in interest-value, the Amiga version of this legendary game has received several awards.

« Chrono quest II », also called « Explora II » in France, was released in 1990 on the Amiga, DOS and the Atari ST.
This second episode is full of even more meticulous graphics and digitalized voices.

Just one year after the release of the first episode, « Shadow of the beast 2 » was released on the Amiga.
This second game has taken on board the criticisms of the first. This follow-up version turns out to be more thought-provoking and challenging.

The drawback, however, is that on a technical level the game is less impressive.

The second part of this broadcast dedicated to Psygnosis is now over. Tune in soon for the next episode of Muzax!

Muzax 11, part 1 - Music from Psygnosis games

The eleventh episode of Muzax is part of the mini-series “Famous music by video games companies”. The music you will hear is from games developed or produced by the company “Psygnosis”.

In the 1st part of this Muzax episode, you will hear music from the games Brataccas, Captain Fizz Meets the Blaster-Trons, Chrono Quest, Menace, Obliterator and Baal on the Atari ST, the Commodore 64 and the Amiga.

Listen to and download this podcast in MP3 format by clicking on this link. (comments in French)

Content of broadcast:
Welcome to Muzax, the video games music broadcast.

Today, let’s discover the range of music found in games by the company “Psygnosis”.

Psygnosis was founded in 1984 by former managers of the company “Imagine Software”: Ian Hetherington and Jonathan Ellis. Psygnosis developed « Brataccas » in 1985.
This game is one of the first games released on the Amiga and the Atari ST.
As a matter of fact, you can easily recognise the very basic original sounds of the Atari.
They use high resolution graphics.
This technique is rarely used. It has a 640x200-pixel display which uses only 4 colours.

« Captain Fizz Meets the Blaster-Trons » was released in 1988. We are listening to the intro music on the Amiga.
The music incorporates several digitalized voices.
This technique was very fashionable at the time and was highly impressive. It established Psygnosis’ reputation for releasing state-of-the-art games.
The first games by this British company located in Liverpool are developed in-house, like Arena, Deep space, Terrorpods, and their first real success, Barbarian.
On the other hand, Captain Fizz is developed by an external studio: Papyrus Design Group.

« Chrono Quest » is produced by Psygnosis.
This game is well-known in France as « Explora: Time Run ». Actually, it is developed by “Infomedia”, another famous video game company from the 80’s and 90’s.
The Music is written by the famous musician, David Whittaker, whose style is recognisable in the different pieces of music in the Atari version.

The game « Menace » is developed by the studio « DMA Design » but produced by Psygnosis
This shoot’em up was released on the « Psyclapse » label on the Amiga, the Atari ST, DOS and the Commodore 64.
The game has 6 levels all featuring the same music.
Menace has a very basic scenario like most shoot’em up games.
Its strengths are in its graphics, its scrolling and its animations.

Still in 1988, « Obliterator » uses the same concept as the game Barbarian. But, this time, in a futuristic world.We have just listened to the title screen music from the Atari version. Now, here is the ingame music on the Amiga.
The player controls the hero using the buttons on the mouse.
The size of the sprites is pretty impressive for that era.
Actually, a sprite is an animated element such as enemies, projectiles or the hero himself.

« Baal » was released on the Amiga in 1989. This time, the game has multi-directional scrolling.
This technique allows the player to move his character in every direction.
Because of this the game becomes more wide-reaching, is richer and more complex than before, in turn, making the game last longer.

The first part of this broadcast dedicated to Psygnosis is now over. Tune in soon for the next episode of Muzax!