Some games are just flat-out terrible and destined to never to see overflowing love from the gaming world (but that’s okay). This describes Hole Chaser for the PC-8801 perfectly. If you were to pass over this game because of its graphics or because of the erotic storytelling you would be missing out on one truly amazing soundtrack by Masahiro Kajihara. In this episode of Pixelated Audio we’re making sure that this music isn’t forgotten and can receive some of the love it deserves plus an interview the composer!
Track List:
0:00:10 Opening (OPNA)
0:07:14 BGM 1 (OPNA)
0:13:23 BGM 2 (OPN)
0:15:55 BGM 5 (OPN)
0:22:35 BGM 2 (OPNA)
0:27:01 BGM 5 (OPNA)
0:39:39 BGM 3 (OPN)
0:40:29 BGM 3 (OPNA)
0:46:32 BGM 4 (OPN)
0:47:28 BGM 4 (OPNA)
1:05:02 BGM 6 (OPNA)
1:25:01 Ending (OPNA)
Hole Chaser (PC-8801) composed by Masahiro Kajihara
Packs contributed to vgmrips.net by 2ch-H
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:26:11 — 116.4MB)
Really enjoyed the episode, especially crazy bass stuff and I love that Kajapon has a webpage with all his stuff!
Yeah he was such a cool guy to talk to and I wish that more composers had preserved their work like that.
thanks vampirefrog. glad you enjoyed it. he’s a cool dude
I’ve just finished listening to the podcast. Fully enjoyed it!
Masahiro Kajihara is one of the most underrated retro game composers IMO, being a major contributor to the Japanese PC game music scene in the 90s. I listen to his FM music everyday (Princess Maker 1 & 2, Rusty, Totsugeki Mix, Hole Chaser & more).
Next time, please make a Rusty or Princess Maker 2 podcast (covering both the OPN/OPNA and the IBM PC OPL2 versions as well, I’m glad he put so much effort on the OPL2 side as well, very few Japanese composers besides those from Toaplan (Zero Wing) and Queensoft (Mad Paradox) seemed to bother with the YM3812 back then) !
Thank you so much! and couldn’t agree with you more. KAJA is often overlooked but was a key factor in music for all the OPN-family chippies. And on top of being a great engineer, he was also an amazing artist. I find it fascinating that he started the driver and many of those soundtracks at such a young age.
You better believe we’ll do a show on Rusty and/or PM2 in the future and we’d never leave a chip off the plate if it’s had music written for it :) When we cover a game, we like to look at ALL versions of it. Otherwise we wouldn’t be doing it justice, right? ;)
Japanese didn’t give the YM3812 much love but the Koreans did. Did you happen to check the Illusion Blaze episode? Thanks again!
Thanks for the response! I will definitely check the Illusion Blaze podcast as well.
Indeed Kajihara is an awesome sound programmer & composer. I know he was mostly involved in doujin circles and niche companies (e.g. Ryokusui, C-lab), but I wonder if he was ever invited or asked by a console/arcade dev (e.g. Sega, Konami) or at least some guy with connections to a console game developer, to compose FM music back then in the early 90s for the Sega Megadrive/Genesis or even arcade systems.
I would have LOVED to see a Sega Megadrive/Genesis version of the PMD sound driver (for YM2612+SN76489 PSG). God, a MD port of Rusty, Totsugeki Mix or Princess Maker 2 would have been really cool.
I mean Hitoshi Sakimoto already composed god-tier FM stuff on both PC and console-based platforms (King Breeder – DEFINITELY MAKE A PODCAST FOR THIS GAME, that spooky ADPCM choir-like sound is fantastic!, Devilish, Gauntlet IV, Master of Monsters, Midnight Resistance – , etc.) using various implementations of his TERPSICHOREAN driver. If KAJA ever had the opportunity to compose at least for a Megadrive or arcade game, I think he would have become much more famous and requested by more devs.
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