PS2 – JC Cawley

Kong’s T’day Tune #11

J.C. Cawley — Thu, 21 Mar 2019 13:52:30 +0000

I’ve put together a list of 60 tunes that have stuck with me through the years, inspired by Jeffrey Canam (@GrahfMetal)’s Twitter rundown of his top 100 favourite video game tracks. I’ve attempted to limit myself to a couple songs per game, but there are exceptions.

I’ll post them here and on Twitter every Tuesday and Thursday using the hashtag #KongsTdayTunes.

#11

This is the chillest fucking overworld theme in any game ever. It’s got swagger. It’s got stealth. It throws in a couple staccato electric guitar chords for a zest of action. Rockstar’s best game?

Track: “Walking Theme” (YouTube Link)
Game: Bully (PS2, 2006)
Composer: Shawn Lee

Kong’s T’day Tune #44

J.C. Cawley — Tue, 27 Nov 2018 14:03:39 +0000

I’ll post them here and on Twitter every Tuesday and Thursday using the hashtag #KongsTdayTunes.

#44

Final Fantasy XII basically defined the first year of my PhD program. What a great game. Hitoshi Sakimoto has composed better songs, but this one kind of fills the same role as the Teostra theme song from last month—great atmospheric background music with a grand hook. Listening to this for several hours while chipping away at Yiazmat burns it into your brain.

Track: “Boss Battle” (YouTube Link)
Game: Final Fantasy XII (PS2, 2006)
Composers: Hitoshi Sakimoto

Kong’s T’day Tune #48

J.C. Cawley — Tue, 13 Nov 2018 17:16:25 +0000

I’ll post them here and on Twitter every Tuesday and Thursday using the hashtag #KongsTdayTunes.

#48

I got into the Dynasty Warriors games via Koei’s somewhat heavier Romance of the Three Kingdoms strategy series, and this track contains a nice thematic throwback to Yoko Kanno’s original main theme for those games, making the title particularly apt for me. It successfully invoked nostalgia then, and it continues to do so today.

I sing this song to my dog.

Track: “Memories” (YouTube Link)
Game: Dynasty Warriors 5 (PS2, 2005)
Composer: Masato Koike

Kong’s T’day Tune #53

J.C. Cawley — Thu, 25 Oct 2018 21:38:19 +0000

I’ll post them here and on Twitter every Tuesday and Thursday using the hashtag #KongsTdayTunes.

#53

You know, this game isn’t even particularly special to me. I’ve been a fan of Koei games since playing the original Romance of the Three Kingdoms on NES. It prompted me to read the book in junior high, and my voracious consumption of all things Three Kingdoms eventually made me branch out into Koei’s peripheral properties.

Samurai Warriors 2 has a kind of endless castle mode where you hack & slash through floor after floor of mindless peons until your skills (or patience) fail you. Every once in a while, this peppy tune kicked in, and it was somehow the perfect match for my murderous endeavours.

Track: “City of Flowers (Sengoku 2 Mix)” (YouTube Link)
Game: Samurai Warriors 2 (PS2, 2006)
Composer: Masato Koike