After the Library of Congress we’re kicking off a new short episode format and making a return to the wellspring of great VGM with another sports title. This time we’re listening to the music of tennis game Rackets & Rivals released on the NES in 1993 only in… Europe?
Developed and published by Konami or more accurately their European subsidiary Palcom, Rackets & Rivals is an unremarkable late-era NES game with a brief but excellent soundtrack worthy of some attention. The range of Konami technical tricks is on full display here.
Just after recording, Bryan confirmed with Hiroshi Takeyasu (of Bemani fame) that he did indeed compose 2 songs and create sound effects for the game. Although he couldn’t recall which two tracks, stylistically Match Results and the Unused track sound most similar so that’s our best guess. The other suspected composer Tomoya Tomita also responded to Bryan with a confident “no”, so the second composer of the game remains a minor mystery. Enjoy!
Track List:
All tracks composed by Hiroshi Takeyasu and (?)
- 00:08 Title Screen
- 08:41 Main Menu
- 13:48 Next Opponent
- 17:52 Match Results
- 22:05 Tournament Victory
- 29:07 Unused (Ending/Staff Roll?)
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 30:48 — 23.3MB)