Raw, punchy mid-80s arcade sound chips doing exactly what they were built to do. Konami GAME MUSIC VOL.1 dropped in 1986 and collects tracks from some of the company's earliest arcade hits. "Gradius" is here in both its original and arrange versions, and hearing the difference is wild.
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"Twinbee" bounces with that sugary energy that defined the series, and "Yie Ar Kung-Fu" still goes harder than any fighting game theme from that era had any right to. Ten tracks total. Gyruss, Rock'n Rope, Poo Yan, Time Pilot.
Names that sound made up but were absolute quarter-eaters in the arcade. The arrange versions of Gradius and TwinBee hint at what these melodies could become with better hardware. If you want to hear where Konami's legendary sound team started, this is literally track one.