Namco was known for their extravagant arcade systems and over-the-top designs, however, they also had one of the most impressive sound chips in the early 90s. The 32-voice C352 and it’s driver “Quattro” were both innovative and polished but more importantly, they were utilized by an amazing roster of composers.
Guest-hosting the show, ctr (from our affiliate site vgmrips.net) joins in to discuss his latest playback and logging tool QuattroPlay which has been released today alongside the show!
Based on reverse engineering of the original “Quattro” sound driver, this program lets you play music and sound effects from over 75 Namco games, including “Ridge Racer”, “Tekken”, “SoulCalibur” and so on… It also supports channel muting, WAV and VGM logging, and a tracker-style pattern visualization (which looks really neat). Please see the readme included for instructions on how to use.
Bitbucket repository
Github repository
Windows binary
macOS binary
*Here’s the California Extreme video of Pixelated Audio playing Prop Cycle. Periscope Broadcast
Track List:
0:00:09 Ridge Racer Power Remix – Ridge Racer – Shinji Hosoe
0:15:24 Wind Ride Kids – Cyber Cycles – Shinji Hosoe
0:22:45 Give it Together – Alpine Racer – Takayuki Ishikawa
0:31:43 Regret – Kart Duel – Unknown
0:43:54 Euphoria – Rave Racer – Ayako Saso
0:52:13 Capriccio – Fighting Layer – Ayako Saso
0:59:48 Duelists (Mitsurugi Theme) – Soul Calibur – Junichi Nakatsuru
1:07:51 A Song for the Man of the Future – Ehrgeiz – Takayuki Nakamura
1:16:29 SUN-J99Mix (Jazz Groove) – Paca Paca Passion – Takayuki Aihara
1:25:27 Georian – Mr. Driller – Masaru Shiina
1:35:42 Story BGM 01 – Golgo 13: Kiseki no Dandou – Jin Watanabe
1:41:20 Exeo – Nebulas Ray – Masahiro Fukuzawa
1:49:39 Area 1 – Xevious 3D/G – Ayako Saso
2:01:58 Wind Woods (ctr mix) – Prop Cycle – Yoshie Arakawa
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 2:06:36 — 179.7MB)
Excellent episode, guys! There was so much good music, and between you and ctr, I learned a ton about Namco hardware. I still can’t believe the C352 used 8-bit samples. When I think of 8-bit samples, I think of OutRun and whatever sampler Del tha Funkee Homosapien used to make beats in the 90’s. The Namco chip screams quality. That classic Ridge Racer shout at the very end of the episode is so clear. And props to ctr; I can’t wait to try out QuattroPlay!
Bryan, there is a Malibu Grand Prix about 5 miles from my house. I haven’t been in years; I’ll have to visit in your honor.
The song “Capriccio” from Fighting Layer was awesome. I loved the strange time signature at the beginning, which was 7/8 time, as ctr said. I especially loved that breakdown halfway through the song, where the guitar and bass play the same riff. It sounded like a super sick hiphop or funk loop.
Since I only played Soul Calibur on the DC, I had no idea the arcade version used the System 12 hardware. I can’t imagine playing that game with PSX-level graphics. Hearing Mitsurugi’s music brought back memories though; he was my man(along with Astaroth). But Voldo was too weird for me. He’s like an S&M version of Marilyn Manson.
Hey, that closing Prop Cycle track was Jam! I remember that game from back in the day, but I only played it a few times. Such good music!
you guys still have Malibu Grand Prix?! I’m jealous :) hopefully they still have a good arcade selection there. btw, i was cracking up on your voldo comment. we used to say the same thing!
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