ultimate battle

 Welcome friends and allies of love, decency, and music!  It is I, your musically challenged homer of a pal, JOSHUA. And this week we're getting WACKY as shyte!!  We're talking battle music in a sleeper hit 16-bit videogame!

Ryuji Sasai - Video game music composer/legend

If you grew up with a Super Nintendo, you may have passed over the lesser known RPG, Final Fantasy Mystic Quest often dismissed as "Final Fantasy Lite." But the moment you stepped into your first battle, all those complaints about simplified mechanics vanished. Why? Because Ryuji Sasai decided to turn a 16-bit RPG into a full-blown heavy metal concert.

The battle music still shreds!!

The standout, of course, is the Standard Battle Theme. Most RPGs start you off with a jaunty little tune, but Sasai greets you with a driving bassline and a lead synth that mimics a distorted electric guitar so perfectly it’s hard to believe it’s coming from a 1992 console.

Decades later, you can still find countless metal covers of his tracks on YouTube, proving that Sasai didn't just write background music—he wrote riffs that were meant to be played loud. Even if the game was meant for "beginners," the soundtrack was strictly for the hardcore. and HARDCORE YOU ARE!!