The Super Nintendo homebrew scene has been having a blast with byuu's MSU-1 chip. It's an aftermarket cartridge expansion chip (similar to the SuperFX) that allows native playback of CD quality audio. With it, modders were able to recently add streaming CD audio and full motion video to The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. Natively! Today, the chip is breathing new life into Mega Man X.
Coming from Paulie Retro:
"Recently a CD quality music patch/mod was released on romhacking.net. Credit for this hack goes to Michaël Larouche AKA DarkShock - Programming/hacking, and TheRetromancer - Music programming, minor cleanup. If you have either a particular emulator or an SD2SNES flash cart, you can play Mega Man X with nearly all of the background music replaced by CD quality audio tracks. While there is definitely charm in the original Mega Man X, with it being some of the greatest video game music ever, there is something cool about playing the game with music recorded by an actual band covering the soundtrack.
I'm sure many who don't have the capability of doing this are curious as to how it sounds while playing, so I've created this video. It gives you a small bit of most pieces of music in the game, including the title screen, intro level, stage select screen, password screen, boss select screen, as well as the first 30 seconds of each Maverick's stage. In this video I"m playing this directly on my SNES with my SD2SNES flash cart."
To enjoy this patch you will need to have a legally obtained original Mega Man X SNES ROM. Full instructions on how to patch this ROM can be found here, or you can refer to this patching guide on YouTube. Keep in mind this is only playable on the original hardware via SD2SNES, or by emulation via byuu's higan.
Thanks to Joseph for the tip!
Awesome! I loved the new tunes!
ReplyDeleteI'd love to hear the Alph Lyla arrangement for Armored Armadillo's stage while playing it. It would be the best thing.
ReplyDeleteYa know, that exact same thought went through my head as I watched the video. "I wonder what this game would sound like with the Rockman X (aka "Rockman X Jazz") album's tracks..."
DeleteIt's an interesting novelty, but the whole concept gives off that "I'm playing a remake" sensation.
ReplyDeleteIt's not altogether bad, but I think some people underestimate the true quality of 8/16-bit chip music.
Like 2-D sprites, they can be a genuine work of art, and Megaman games typically had the best of both.
For once, Prof. Megaman, WE AGREE! There is a certain beauty to the sounds of chip music. In the past year, I got acquainted with other console music through playthoughs on Nico, like the "Nemesis (Gradius)" series on MSX & a game called "The Story of 4.6 Billion Years" on PC-98 (Later remade into "EVO: The Search for Eden" on the SNES). Its amazing to hear how different some of your favorite tunes are from essentially the same game.
DeleteHoly mother of crap! Prof. Megaman and I are in agreement on something! And he wasn't inflammatory while presenting his stance! It's a New Year's miracle!
DeleteThat's pretty neat, but where was Dr. Lights theme!?
ReplyDelete"To enjoy this patch you will need to have a LEGALLY obtained original Mega Man X SNES ROM"
ReplyDeleteLMAO ULTRA LOL!!!
Do any of you want me to put an already patched megaman x rom link btw??
i like it but the password screen sounds weird with rock music like it never sounded like rock music to me in the original version?
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ReplyDeleteThis patch doesnt work
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