Recommended MSU-1 SNES titles?

[opa]

There seem to be a lot of SNES games with enhanced soundtracks now. Are there any titles that are worth checking out? I've played a little Actraiser and it sounded really great. I wouldn't mind playing a little more of it to see if it stays strong throughout.

Chrono Trigger was kind of a miss. I played up to the warp in the fair (around 3 different songs). I don't think it really needs orchestrated music and it's kind of off. It doesn't have the same impact as the original score.

Are there any stand-out titles wherein an upgraded soundtrack breathes new life into the game?

[Ziggy]

Check out the uncompressed music for Donkey Kong Country 1-3. Someone painstakingly recreated all of the songs in DKC using the original samples, so that they can be heard without the compression from being on a SNES cart, and that was in turn used for the MSU-1 hack. I've played through all three games and they sound great. There's some technical limitations for the second two games, though. You have to choose certain tracks because of ID issues. Like Wrinkly's save cave in DKC3, the music changes depending on what she's doing (working out, sleeping, playing Super Mario 64) but you can only ever hear one song.

Some other ones I liked were ones that use the music form the arcade version. Mortal Kombat II and Turtles in Time are two that I played, and they were both excellent.

I might have some more recommendations, I'll have to check my MSU-1 folder on my FX PAK.

Oh, and check this out in case you already didn't know: https://blog.qwertymodo.com/2017/07/the ... ained.html

The above link is worth reading because there may be some old patches still floating around with "boosted audio," which you kinda don't want these days.

[marurun]

David Wise insists he composed to the SNES sound chip, so he’s one of those “full-quality samples aren’t the authoritative soundtrack” types. Not that it matters to the audience, but I thought it would be worth a mention.

[Ziggy]

Well also, compression or no compression, there's also the fact that these uncompressed recreations aren't mixed by David Wise. So they wouldn't be the definitive versions anyway. They are definitely clearer, but I wonder what liberties were taken when mixing. For example, in DKC1 when you talk with Cranky at his shack, there's a steel drum part that I could never make out before. I don't think it's just that it's more clear, I think the part is also louder in the mix than it was in the original. When I listen to the original SNES track again, it's there, but extremely quiet. There's some other parts in other tracks across all three games where I think some liberties were taken with the mix.

I wouldn't say the uncompressed versions are the definitive version or anything like that. But for a fan of the games, they sure are fun to listen to.

[Anapan]

I find all the fully orchestrated songs very distracting. It's just too much with the crash-cymbals and all. In my experience, that is the majority of them - either midis run through a gigabyte sized GM sample bank - Orpheus2.sf2 etc, or people remixing the songs in DAWs with samples. Sounds bad, or at least takes away from the videogame experience.

I'll list only things I played with on my FXPak Pro; I haven't updated for a couple of years. You know about Zeldix, I expect. That's where they all are.

BS SoundLink livestreaming restoration:

Some Japanese Broadcast Satellaview games had SoundLink live-streaming audio commentary and radio-play-like cutscenes during gameplay. Linked video was the same team so all audio and background music was the same in the live broadcasts. Using VHS recordings off Nico Nico Douga a team translated the commentary and got professional voice actors to make English dubs for BS The Legend of Zelda, and BS Zelda: The Ancient Stone Tablets (A pseudo-sequel happening six years after A Link to the Past). This recreates the experience of playing them back when they could only be played during the live-streams for one week each chapter. I don't think any of the other BS games have had commentary added. I was hoping I could play with the original Japanese voice audio, but the creators said the recordings were low quality and full of sound effects and so it wasn't worth trying to restore.
I prefer playing the heavily modified versions of those games with the BS kid characters, timed events and time limits removed, but the effort the teams put into creating an authentic experience is really impressive.

Sega Genesis soundtrack for Mega Man X (I made this PCM pack):

A long time ago, I found the YouTuber Savaged Regime had done an amazing full cover of every Mega Man X track using Sega Genesis YM2612 hardware. I got his permission to make a MSU-1 hack using it. I think the Yamaha FM Synth sound suits the futuristic theme of the game better than generic Roland patches. I used to play the DOS version and the FM synth in my soundcard sounded better than the Roland default IMO. Savaged Regime killed it with some great grunge guitar, added pitch bends and destroyed the default Roland drum samples with some of the best FM timbre drums I ever heard. Gotta admit, I screwed up in the end-phase, heaving one of the early flashcarts, and not checking the last few songs. Someone got my back and fixed it when they knew I ghosted.

Improvements from official later port superior audio:

Dracula X has Rondo Of Blood PC Engine CD or PSP Chronicles soundtrack, Fatal Fury has its Neo-Geo CD soundtrack, Earthworm Jim has the Sega CD soundtrack, Rock & Roll Racing has original and instrumental-only music (well, they're official karaoke versions), Secret of Mana 1&2 have the PS4 remake soundtracks (I replaced Into the Thick of It (PS4 Remake Version) with TRO's Cover),

Video:

The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past has a fan-made FMV intro based on the official manga that can be added making use of the MSU-1's video streaming capability. Someone made the a SNES port of The FMV Arcade Game Road Blaster, too.

Other than that, the MSU-1 packs I tried are mostly a novelty. There's some entertaining 8-bit/NES style soundtracks for the Mega Man, Metroid and Zelda games. Even some MSU-1 packs for the Super Gameboy games. I'm totally impressed every time Shiru does anything (He's the best at FM synth since ancient times), but I think the GBA soundtrack for F-Zero is less good then the original.

Talking of novelties, I've been thinking I should make a PCM set for Chrono Trigger from Chrono Jigga. It's a really good album.

Edit: made links