That C64 sound

[Sik]

I don't suppose you're talking about the GameFreak game of the same name. That might explain why it was given a different title outside Japan, to avoid confusion with the other Nintendo exclusive Jelly Boy game.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F80kmUzwPIE

It didn't get released apparently but that didn't stop bootleggers from bundling the game with a clone >.>; (seriously, I got the cartridge with a model 2 clone when I was 7, cue my surprise when I find out that it was supposedly not released) Admittedly graphics and sound are worse than the SNES version (certain screw up with the lightbulb effect aside) but the game physics are the exact opposite (alright on the Mega Drive, completely broken on the SNES to the point a bonus stage is unwinnable), not to mention that on the Mega Drive you press, huh, down to duck (on the SNES you press A - what?).

Still, that video should give you an idea of how it sounds (and what happens when you make it play too many sound effects at the same time =P)

[OneCrudeDude]

I was making a joke about how there were two irrelevant games with the same name. Oddly, the European game came out much later than the Japanese game.

@Tepples: It's not a remix of a non-NES song, so it's fine. I like that harsh buzzing sound you used though, especially considering that I hate how developers always aimed to use that nasally buzzing sound. Very few games used triangle wave styled sounds, Pokemon RBY uses what sounds like a hybrid between the Triangle and Sawtooth. That's one of my favorite sound types, second of course to the triwave itself.

[tepples]

I like that harsh buzzing sound you used though, especially considering that I hate how developers always aimed to use that nasally buzzing sound.

It's intended to squeeze two, three, or four notes out of the wavetable channel. I think I have a minor third (5f and 6f), major third (4f and 5f), perfect fourth (3f and 4f), and a power chord (2f, 3f, and 4f) in there. Some of the instrumentation choices are inspired by ports of Dr. Mario to later console. (I own it for NES, Game Boy, Super NES, N64, GBA, and Wii.) Oh, and the NES side has a sample from the theme song to 3-2-1 Contact.

[DRW]

I've got another question about that C64-sounding apreggio effect: What exactly is it that makes this effect sound like on the C64?

What I mean is: When I listen to the first seven seconds of "Lethal Weapon", the title music of "Asterix" or two specific songs by Shiru, I immediately think of the C64:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=MrNQrPeJPus
www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjV7GzDtWyE
https://shiru.untergrund.net/files/mus/ ... treets.nsf
https://shiru.untergrund.net/files/mus/ ... e_rain.nsf

While the sound of "The Immortal", "M.C. Kids" or "Skate or Die 2" doesn't sound particularly C64-like to me:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=4HWHneafZ8w&t=1m1s
www.youtube.com/watch?v=4HWHneafZ8w&t=1m21s
www.youtube.com/watch?v=4HWHneafZ8w&t=2m26s

Is this just a subjective feeling or do the above sounds actually include something that the below ones don't?

[Memblers]

It's definitely the pulse-width changes, the first ones you listed are changing the duty cycle, while the other ones aren't changing the waveform.

C64 has a much wider selection of pulse-widths, so it tends to get varied quite a bit in C64 music. Google search shows it has 12 bits to select the width (really?!), while the NES pulse has just 3 different widths.

[rainwarrior]

Google search shows it has 12 bits to select the width (really?!)...

Yeah, it's ridiculously fine-grained. It's funny, since the VRC6 does a pretty good job of aping it with just 3 bits.

[ccovell]

Also the 2nd group of games is using the triangle voice as a lead/arp, DPCM hits, etc... quite un-C64-like.

Immortal and SOD2 were made by a Brit (Rob Hubbard) working in the U.S. (IIRC), so maybe that influenced his sound. Rob Hubbard's style was more 3-voice calliope and Blues-inspired anyway.

[rainwarrior]

3-voice calliope

I'm curious about this term. Are you referring to the kind of mechanical organ one might hear attached to a merry-go-round, or is "3-voice calliope" a musical genre of some sort?

[ccovell]

No, it's not a genre, just my opinion of the style of "The Entertainer" in this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S6jdMhDMxVM