Aug 122015
An hour of soul soothing tunes from three easygoing flight sims. Time to relax!
00:00 – Title Screen (Pilotwings)
08:40 – Light Plane (Pilotwings)
10:25 – Skydiving (Pilotwings)
11:55 – Rocketbelt (Pilotwings)
16:40 – Hang Glider (Pilotwings)
18:18 – Helicopter (Pilotwings)
27:00 – Hang Glider (Pilotwings 64)
32:12 – Rocketbelt (Pilotwings 64)
36:02 – Birdman (Pilotwings 64)
47:55 – Hang Glider (Pilotwings Resort)
50:10 – Plane (Pilotwings Resort)
52:03 – Rocketbelt (Pilotwings Resort)
56:18 – Midnight Altitude (jcd via OverClocked ReMix)
OOOOOOOOOooooooohhhhhh man. This is a great idea. I love the music from Pilot Wings. Puts me in a great mood.
Thank You Brett!
In general, thank you for everything, in specific, I have been waiting for a Pilotwings episode since the very beginning of VGMpire. Yes!!
Oh man, as soon as you announced that the Rocket Belt song would be playing in the SNES block, I was thinking “Why haven’t they referenced Rugrats yet? C’mon! C’MON, THE INSTRUMENTATION IS JUST LIKE RUGRATS!”
And then when you got back from the break I was finally able to breath a sigh of relief.
Great episode!
The song Plane had to be inspired by the Guardia Fair music from Chrono Trigger. That opening part that repeats throughout the song is almost note for note.
yes this!! glad someone else caught that
Great episode. I have always loved the general weirdness of the Pilotwings series not to mention the music. It should also be noted that you guys were really on fire on this episode. I was cracking up constantly.
Don’t worry Brett, you’re not the only one who enjoys weather channel music. Weather channel for life! The only Pilotwings game I’ve played is the 3DS one but I enjoyed it quite a bit.
This was a really great episode, I have only ever played the 3DS Pilotwings, after hearing some of this music I may have to look around my workplace for these. Thanks Brett and the LT team for making this show so entertaining in addition to the good music as well.
I’ve been re-listening to many VGMpire episodes lately. This is something I don’t usually do with podcasts. I especially love the episodes featuring music that leans towards sounding ambient or relaxing. Pure Moods indeed. The Pilotwings episode will definitely be added to the rotation next to the Animal Crossing and Menu music episodes. Thanks Brett.
One question – will you be making anymore Bandcamp compilation albums? I’d love to throw specifically throw VGMpire some dough and I’d really pitch in for any physical release of some nature as well. Regardless, great work.
I have a lot of great memories with Pilotwings & Pilotwings 64.
I first got the first one at a flea market in 2003, lady was selling a mint-in-box copy for $3. It was a steal. It’s one of those games I can just play casually without regard to how well I’m doing. I don’t think I can ever get good at the skydiving and hang glider parts, though. The reactions those flight instructors have when you ace something is hilarious though, they go all bug-eyed and go “WHAAAAA,” it’s so satisfying to see.
Pilotwings 64 was a fun rental back when I first got a N64. Gyrocopter & Birdman were the best levels ever. That Continental USA level was a lot of fun, too. I think if you shot the Mario face at Mt. Rushmore he turned into Wario.
Musically, I love how chilled-out everything is. The SNES’ “Light Plane,” “Skydiving,” and 64’s “Hang Glider” and “Birdman” were some of my favorites.
I only played my 3DS Pilotwings Resort copy a few times. I liked what I played of it, but it also doesn’t feel like it has the personality of the first two games. It’s hard for me to put my finger on it exactly. I hope they make some sort of full-fledged sequel on Wii U or NX. Really surprised by the soundtrack, though, it’s fantastic! I heard some references to the 64 soundtrack in there.
Also, the island in Super Mario Sunshine was Isle Delfino, not Wuhu Island. Yer welcome.
Surprised the Smash Bros. for Wii U Light Plane Vocal Remix didn’t get a mention, it’s stellar!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0Dge8jXlcY
Oh and:
BWOOOH BWOOOH BWOOOH-BWO-BWEH-BWOOOHHHHH
I don’t know if it’s the weird/zen/funky tunes or what, but you guys all killed it this episode. I normally listen for the sweet-ass jams and insightful commentary, but this ep might be the *funniest* VGMpire I’ve ever heard.
Great episode all around. Grew up on Pilotwings, though I played 64 before the SNES original. Still, I ended up liking the original Pilotwings more since… hmm, not really sure why. Maybe I’m just a sucker for the Mode 7 gimmick.
Also, Dave, good ear about comparing Pilotwings to Sim City, since Soyo Oka composed both of them. She had an ear for smooth jazz, apparently.
Hmm. Soyo Oka sounds more like somebody from Zimbabwe than from Japan. So YO! Okay, anyhoo, it was a fun listen. I didn’t get much into Pilotwings; it always kind of felt like a tech demo to me. But I can appreciate the music. Makes me want to play SNES Kemko and Koei life simulations for some reason. And it increased my happiness quotient by 40 points.
Nonsense aside, I loved the Resort tracks. Never played the game, so those tracks really took me by surprise. SO good.
Hey, I don’t know where else to bring this up(not a Twitter guy), but do you know Sam Dillard? I found out about him via Top Score; he’s a composer who does tribute game music, tribute movie soundtracks, and original compositions. His music is AMAZING. He does orchestral compositions, completely on a keyboard/pc setup, but I swear a lot of the stuff he does sounds like a real orchestra. He’s doing a Kickstarter campaign for a Chrono Trigger tribute album, and he’s done Metroid and Zelda albums, among other things. Check out his soundcloud page; I was very impressed.
Midnight Altitude is one of those rare songs I know better from OCR than from the source material.
Interesting pick this time around.
I happened to miss all this series but I always appreciate a weirder selection of soundtracks.I sometimes seek out and collect weird soundtracks
Also have you guys ever thought about doing an episode on Final Fantasy Tactics? Its always been one of my personal favorites.
CANT WAIT to listen to this episode–the music is so uniquely soothing and simultaneously distinctive. Awesome idea!
I actually logged onto to the site to suggest an idea for an episode–what about a whole episode of songs from impossible-to-buy NES games? Im thinking of any game that retails/resells for over $100 these days. Shouldnt be too hard to put together a themed (or multiple) episode(s) on this trajectory….maybe could even span multiple systems? I thought of this idea when listening to the music from Mr. Gimmick, which is hard to find, and lists for around $70 these days from what ive seen.
Keep up the good work–been listening for about 50 episodes and love the show. for real. I listen to every single one, even the ones for systems/games I dont like, because you’re good at exposing me to new games and tracks.
Thanks! I actually played some Gimmick stuff back on the Fiddlin’ with the Famicom episode: http://www.vgmpire.com/2014/08/27/vgmpire-75-fiddlin-with-the-famicom/
But yeah, I appreciate any ep suggestions so I’ll keep it in mind!
I am so glad that you did this episode. I had no idea that Pilotwings sounded this good. Really relaxing and jazz-like music. I’ve added a ton of this to my YouTube playlist.
There was a casino game I found on SNES that sounded similar as well. Who would think casino games would have such great soundtracks?
These kinds are gems are a big reason that I keep listening — discovering new and interesting music for franchises I completely overlooked.
I am so glad that you did this episode. I had no idea that Pilotwings sounded this good. Really relaxing and jazz-like music. I’ve added a ton of this to my YouTube playlist.
There was a casino game I found on SNES that sounded similar as well. Who would think casino games would have such great soundtracks?
These kinds are gems are a big reason that I keep listening — discovering new and interesting music for franchises I completely overlooked. Here is to more Jazzy jams.
I swear I’ve heard the Pilotwings 64 Hang Glider theme (30:29) somewhere else. Possibly a Wii game, like Wii Sports Resort?
Btw this is my first post, but I have been enjoying this podcast since the Mystical Ninja episode. Got a lot of boring adult stuff done to this. I kind of can’t clean my house without this show now so don’t stop making episodes…