Playmaker (Playdate, 2023)

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Game info: Playdate store
Listening: Bandcamp

Info

Starting the “stuff I didn’t get around to listening to in 2023” memorial tour with a Mario Paint-like creativity suite for the Playdate where you can draw things and make music and all that. The Playdate is a throwback handheld console with a monochromatic screen, although despite the throwbackness it doesn’t have a PSG or FM audio chip or what have you in there; the audio’s all done in software and just output so you can just play whatever streamed audio you want, CPU cycles and memory allowing. The SDK does have a chiptune synthesizer and sequencer built in, though, so you can make some old-sounding music if you feel that’s more tonally appropriate for how your game looks.

Maxo’s soundtrack consists of just three songs: a perky, feel-good track for the main menu and two cute ambient tracks for two of the art modes. I believe all three pieces are streamed audio, though one’s a pure chiptune and the other two are sequenced with some Maxo-style cheap instruments, so they all sound like the game they’re coming out of. If you like staccato-heavy tunes with nice chords that make you happy to be alive, then this is a fun li’l seven-minute package.

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