Omega Five is a horizontal shooter for the Xbox Live Arcade, featuring an unlockable retro mode, during which both the graphics and sound are stylized to imitate 16-bit hardware. The soundtrack represents a new take on the sidescrolling shooter by revisiting previous conventions of the genre.
The score by Natsume veteran composer Hiroyuki Iwatsuki contains up to three versions of each song, with the categories of contemporary game music, retro chiptune sounds, and remixes (by the sampling masters of Super Sweep) represented within the same album. Siliconera had the chance to catch up with the game's composer and arranger to hear his thoughts on the multifaceted soundtrack album.
Andriasang: The release list in this week's Famitsu has some mega carnage for Hudson fans. It looks like many of the publisher's upcoming titles have been cancelled, presumably due to the recent Konami acquisition.
It's okay if you don't remember Omega Five. The Natsume-developed side-scrolling shump hit XBLA in early 2008 and has since shot into obscurity. According to Famitsu, the game is set to appear on Nintendo 3DS in Japan during Spring 2011 -- where it'll probably make a more memorable bow among a launch lineup otherwise devoid of "traditional" shoot-em-ups.
Having worked at Natsume for nearly 20 years, veteran composer Hiroyuki Iwatsuki discusses his memorable video game soundtracks, from classic scores on the Famicom to the soundtrack for XBLA title shoot'em-up Omega Five -- also sharing the challenges of producing 8-bit songs.
Ugh. I don't want to make a Live account, but this game is so tempting..