Neo & SNK ports with an exclusive AST

[Azathoth]

I know that the Neo ports by Hudson on the PC Engine (Art of Fighting, World Heroes 2, Fatal Fury 2, Fatal Fury Special) all have a unique arranged soundtrack that are exclusive to those ports. Do any other ports feature a unique AST that doesn't appear anywhere else?

I'm not too familiar with Neo CD releases so I was unsure of what other ports used the soundtrack found on them. Isn't the AST for Fatal Fury on the PS2 collection exclusive to that port? What about the handful of Atomiswave ports to PS2/Xbox?

The 3DO port of SS as well as the two Sega CD ports use the original cart music as redbook audio, so nothing new is found there.

 

[yagamikun]

Fatal Fury Special on SNES has an AST by Takara with some significantly different arrangements of songs and jingles while some were almost outright replaced like Chang's stage. I actually like that particular arrangement better than the original.

If memory serves correctly, the Kizuna pack on PS2 has an AST for Kizuna Encounter that is exclusive to that version.

KOF XI on PS2 has some track replacements with new arrangements of old tunes - Terry has a new arrangement of Big Shot for example.

I'm sure there are others...

 

[zaneiken]

Garou on DC/PS2

 

[Neo_Mike_81]

Does KOF 2000 for Dreamcast count?
Also Samurai Showdown for SNES aswell?

 

[wyo]

Which Neo-Geo CD Games Have Arranged Music?: New Thread

Here is a pretty much definitive list (not counting exclusives) I've personally tested most of the library JPN names only sorry ;) Art Of Fighting ~Ryuuko No Ken Gaiden~ Bakumatsu Roman – Gekka No Kenshi Bakumatsu Roman Daini Maku – Gekka No Kenshi Baseball Stars 2 Big Tournament Golf Breakers...

www.neo-geo.com

 

[Neo Alec]

I don't think chiptunes like the SNES and Genesis ports count. Those are obviously not going to be the same.

I will check out that FF1 AST on the PS2.

 

[zaneiken]

Does KOF 2000 for Dreamcast count?
Also Samurai Showdown for SNES aswell?

KOF2000 definitely has an amazing AST.

 

[yagamikun]

I don't think chiptunes like the SNES and Genesis ports count. Those are obviously not going to be the same.

I will check out that FF1 AST on the PS2.

I encourage you to check out FFS on SNES, man. It's a legit special case for 16-bit arcade ports in the sound department.

Unlike, say, Fatal Fury 2 on the SNES where the aim was to get as close to the original as possible (which I also wouldn't count as an AST), the actual musical arrangements in FFS SNES are radically different than the original leading to a different tone and vibe all around. I feel it's even more unique than the Neo CD AST, which are essentially higher quality versions of the MVS original outside of a few extended tracks with vocals (like Duck Duck Dub).

Since FF2 and Special on the Neo use the same music tracks, and each game got a separate port to the SNES, this is a fair comparison. You don't have to like the arrangements, many people don't, but the composer was clearly trying something different here.

Check out Cheng's theme:

• Neo FF2/Special Original
• SNES Fatal Fury 2 (recreation)
• SNES Special Arrangement

 

[SignOfGoob]

Yeah, the SNES version of FFS has the SNES sound going on for sure, lots of reverb and frumph frumph sounds. Some will love it, some will not. I think it’s in Dolby Surround too, isn’t it? Or Roland Sound Space or something?

The SNES soundchip is like auto tune or TB303…exactly what you want in certain situations, tacky corny garbage in other situations.

 

[Neo Alec]

I'm pretty sure the reverb was included on the SNES soundchip to help smooth out the fact that the same low quality sample is being stretched to play so many different notes (the SNES has very little sound memory). Without the echo effect, SNES voices would probably sound very similar to Mega Drive and PC Engine voices.

 

[Azathoth]

If memory serves correctly, the Kizuna pack on PS2 has an AST for Kizuna Encounter that is exclusive to that version.

You're right. I dug into the PS2 collections and unless I'm mistaken all of these have a new AST created specifically for them.

Fatal Fury
Kizuna Encounter
Ninja Combat
Ninja Commando
Sengoku
Sengoku 2

I might be wrong but I think Sengoku 3 is the same soundtrack but just higher quality.

KOF XI on PS2 has some track replacements with new arrangements of old tunes - Terry has a new arrangement of Big Shot for example.

Thanks for the info. Most of my experience is with the PS2 ports so I'm not too familiar with the Atomiswave originals.

 

[SignOfGoob]

I'm pretty sure the reverb was included on the SNES soundchip to help smooth out the fact that the same low quality sample is being stretched to play so many different notes (the SNES has very little sound memory). Without the echo effect, SNES voices would probably sound very similar to Mega Drive and PC Engine voices.

True, but they also use the reverb and the frumph frumph just to use it. It was the SNES’s calling card and people, at the time, liked it.

Earthbound? Awesome. But 3rd party stuff would get kinda super irritating after a while sometimes, the “more cowbell” problem.

I played a lot of FSS in SNES back in the day but honestly it sounds like you’re playing it inside a giant metal container.

 

[Yamazaki]

KOF2000 definitely has an amazing AST.

This!

the arranged version of Zero's Theme is amazing

 

[SignOfGoob]

Rugal ‘98 “Make some noise…KOF!!!” will always be my favorite.