Gaming
Games
Diggin' In The Carts Episode 3: Street Fighter II
Flying Lotus, Thundercat and others recall the lasting influence of the 16-bit Capcom game.
16 min
Diggin' In The Carts, episode 3
Episode three of Diggin' In The Carts ushers in a new dawn of gaming music as 16-bit takes hold.
In the third instalment of Red Bull Music Academy’s Diggin’ In The Carts, we zoom forwards from the 1980s straight into the '90s, from 8-bit technology to the revolution of 16-bit.
Video-game music became more cinematic and ambitious in its scope than ever before. The expansion of franchises meant bigger, bolder soundtracks: Street Fighter II brought with it iconic sounds from Japan’s most famous female video-game composer Yoko Shimomura, and the Final Fantasy games featured ever-more complex music from the mind of Hayato Matsuo.
Both composers feature in this new episode from directors Nick Dwyer and Tu Neill, who travelled to Japan to create the Diggin’ In The Carts series with input from the original pioneers of digital music, as well as the contemporary producers they inspired. Also in this episode, look out for Brainfeeder boss and Warp-signed beatmaker Flying Lotus and grime heavyweight Dizzee Rascal.
“I think this music is still relevant today because you cannot create it any in other way,” says director Nick Dwyer. “Those chips inside the Famicom or inside the Mega Drive – they are all unique and they all create such beautiful individual sounds. Without a doubt, there is nostalgia involved on my side and many around the world. But even to a younger generation that didn’t grow up playing the games, these sounds are still wonderful. They have such a sparkly and glistening appeal to them that is timeless.”
Watch the full episode in the player above, and check back here next Thursday, September 25, for episode four of Red Bull Music Academy’s Diggin’ In The Carts.
