There’s some nice use of C64 arpeggios at about 2:00, followed by nice timbre from the square wavs. It’s hard to pick a favorite piece from the album, but I would have to go with “pressure cooker” for its combination of heavy bass and intricate melody – not to mention Palsson’s slick whispered “V”’s that break up the beat. I also like the high speed action of “positive force”, which plays in a fast-scrolling elevator area, and “potential for anything” has a nice floating trance that reminds me of “Hot Pursuit” from Donkey Kong Country 3. The song’s dynamic range is much narrower, making the player feel confident and safe (although it is still possible to die in this area). This is followed by the adventurous and determined “pushing onwards”, the first level of the game, which has a nice transition into “passion for exploring”, the slower-paced theme of the main area where the player’s home base is located. The album has a nice, slow opening through “presenting vvvvvv”, where Palsson whisper’s the game’s title (including a two-second silence track!).
While retaining the aesthetic, this is not something the original hardware is capable of doing, and so sounds like a C64 on steroids. VVVVVV makes use of the Commodore 64 aesthetic, as does the soundtrack, which draws on the system’s 8-bit sound, complete with its trademark ringing arpeggios, though infused with modern synths for percussion and supporting instrumentation. (Available for PPPPPPreview on Bandcamp).$10 (MP3, FLAC, or CD) sometimes available in bundles for less.
In fact, I still listen to it regularly, even though I bought it about 6 months ago in the Game Soundtrack Bundle. The melodies here are pure gold – it’s refreshing to see such catchy, lyrical melodies in today’s games that are dominated by epic atmospheric scores. This Swede produced one of the most amazing chiptune soundtracks in recent memory, which he dubs PPPPPP – and each track in the game begins with the letter “P”. However, a big part of VVVVVV‘s charm comes from the game’s fantastic soundtrack by SoulEye (Magnus Palsson).
The puzzles are intense but addicting, and the save points are close enough to where you died that you are tempted to immediately try again. VVVVVV is an addictive indie game by Terry Cavanagh where you navigate your way through a hyper-dimensional space station by reversing the gravity to slingshot up into the air and back.
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