Style: Video game music
Primary Emotions/Themes: Flying around space, shooting everything in sight
Thoughts: There are quite a few games in the shoot 'em up genre of video games. Not many are made these days, but in the world when arcades were the primary focus of the gaming realm they were among some of the best that the genre had to offer.
Salamander 2 is a bit of a hidden gem. In my immediate circle of friends have not many have heard about it let alone played it. That's a damn shame because the game is excellent, as is the soundtrack. The fact that it's pressed to vinyl is something that blows my mind.
The music contained in this soundtrack is a testament to what makes great video game music. It sounds unapologetically like video game music. This is from the golden age of video games when the VGM sounded like nothing else, because they had no other choice. They were limited by the sound chip of the console (or in this case arcade). But in those limitations came creativity that has not been seen since.
Tension builds with each stage as the player progresses deeper and deeper into the. The music starts out almost light hearted with the stage 1 music. By the time stage four comes in the music has taken a on a more serious tone. It showcases slower and more deliberate melodies that seem to drive home the seriousness of the situation the player finds themselves in. They are deep into the game and any mistake is fatal.
Salamander 2 is a really fun and incredibly difficult game. It would eat so many quarters in my youth, it probably took me five dollars to beat the game because my ships kept meeting untimely deaths. Listening to the record brings back a ton of fun memories from those ages past.
Written September 3rd 2024
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