F-ZERO 99 (Switch, 2023)

Game info: Wikipedia
Listening: YouTube, extracted audio

Credits

Audio Lead: James Phillipsen
Audio: Eric Pansulla

Info

It’s the monkey’s paw wish fulfillment for a new F-ZERO game that no one asked for! Though everyone I know who’s been playing this has been having a lot of fun with it, so it’s fine actually. The game was made by Nintendo’s U.S. subsidiary Nintendo Software Technology, so the audio was done by two of their staff: James Phillipsen, who’s been the main audio guy there for years, and Eric Pansulla, a recent hire out of DigiPen.

Since the game recreates/reuses a lot of stuff from the SNES F-ZERO, almost all of the soundtrack is just reused directly (including all of the course themes), but there are a few new original pieces, arrangements/extended versions, and jingles written with the original SNES samples or reproductions thereof, which is cute. The additions do a pretty good job of fitting in with the rest of the soundtrack, nothing sticks out to me as wrong or misplaced. I’m not actually that big of a fan of the original F-ZERO soundtrack though (uh oh!), so new pieces in the same style isn’t necessarily my kinda thing.

Recommended tracks:

  • Race Complete” adds drums, a countermelody, and a slappier bass sample to the original results theme to make everything a little funkier

  • Lucky Bumper” is an original piece arranged similarly to “Mute City” but bouncier

(track titles are unofficial)

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