H.A.T.E Title Theme

H.A.T.E (Hostile All-Terrain Encounter) was a Zaxxon clone written for most of the home consoles of the 1980s, including the ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64 and of course the Atari ST. It's sad that a lot of the emulated versions of this game don't work as the copy protection kicks in shortly after play. In fact, this game was so obscure that I actually had to upload it to YouTube myself, as there wasn't a copy to link to.

 

Upon loading up and after a lengthy wait going through developer logos and the Gremlin publisher intro, you were greeted by this; a snarling, loud title track with some excellent emulated toms/drum fills. This quickly moves on to some quirky and catchy square lines and has to be one of my favourite chiptunes from the Atari ST era.

Wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hostile_All_Terrain_Encounter_(H.A.T.E.)

Hustle Maryama Maruyama 2 - Dynamite Headdy

Dynamite Headdy was a late release for the Sega Mega Drive / Genesis in 1994. A rather kooky title by the guys at Treasure (made of ex-Konami staff, who are famous for the legendary Gunstar Heroes title amongst others), this follows the story of Dynamite Headdy and his quest to free his people from the clutches of Dark Demon. Stranger still, this is all told through the medium of puppets and a stage show, so there are plenty of weird props hanging around, parts where Headdy goes behind the scenes and so on. A truely bizarre and compelling title, this went on to be a cult classic.

 

Those who were quick to dismiss it as a straightforward platformer had clearly never played it before, as this title combines wild platforming action, shoot em up sections, boss rushes, hidden easter eggs everywhere, varied music score and plenty of cool powerups, where Headdy literally replaces his head to take advantage of faster movement, more damage and even sleep to regain health (except the bastard big head that you have to crawl around, taking damage). 

Even better was the lengthy soundtrack, with some excellent and varied music being squeezed out of the Mega Drive's FM synthesis chip. This is just one good example of the soundtrack and I had a hard time selecting even this one.

Logistics - Fear Not!

Label – Hospital Records

Release - 2012

Length - 15 tracks / 70 minutes

Genres – Drum & Bass, Dubstep, Drumstep.

Not content to sit back on his laurels, Logistics has come back with a new collection of rave-inspired, bass-heavy tracks designed to shake the dance floor; just in time to lay the groundwork ahead of Hospitality festival dates in the summer. No stranger to pumping dance music, this release harkens back to his beginnings in drum and bass and forges new ground with some excellent drumstep/ dubstep material as well.