In late 2022, Konami released the 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Cowabunga Collection' which contained 13 game (9 'unique' games since some here were ports) ranging from titles on the original Nintendo System, Game Boy and Arcade cabinets. Limited Run Games handled the physical collector's editions of the games but their sets were missing a crucial part.
Soundtracks.
Now almost a whole year later, Limited Run Games has announced soundtrack releases for all 9 of these games. Their press release,
Starting this summer, Limited Run Games will begin publishing a series of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles game soundtracks. New releases will launch every month from July 2023 through March 2024.
Each collection will include a classic Turtles soundtrack on CD, cassette tape, or vinyl. In addition, we will be launching special green vinyl pressings in limited quantities alongside our standard offerings. Fans will have four weeks to pick up their favorite TMNT tunes!
Releasing first is the soundtrack to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles on NES. Naturally, Limited Run is beginning where many Turtles fans began their gaming journey back in 1989. Go back in time and reexperience the catchy, upbeat music that brought Leo, Raph, Donnie, and Mikey onto home consoles for the first time.
Emphasis mine. Some of the music in these games are incredible. The NES theme (The one that plays in the background in the video above) is my #1 favorite TMNT theme of all time. It's so good! I'm so happy that it's got an official soundtrack release.
Kind of agree with you on that. I can't imagine that the first CD, even if all the different melodies/tunes are looped twice, will be any longer than 20 minutes. Assuming it is limited to the NES soundtrack. That all said, I'm buying every one of them most likely!
NOTE TO ALL: Limited Run Games is well-known for delays in manufacturing and shipping their products. Having done a lot of business with them, I can personally attest to that. Though this album's announcement says 4-5 months, I'd expect nothing shorter than 6 months at the least. Just going off of my own personal history, for what it's worth!
If this was a box set people like you would be calling it a cash grab as well.
MV
Not billions. But yes, they are making money off this. The issue here is that the music from these games are very short. Usually looped. They could have fit more than 1 game OST on a single disc. But to maximize profits, they are doing separate releases.
And they only produce as much as are ordered. And people are paying ahead before they are even producing the product. So LE is getting all the money up front. Its not the same type of business you do MV.
The only bummer about having 9 separate, staggered releases is that you can only order one at a time as they're announced for pre-order, which means we'll be paying separate shipping charge for each CD (that's over $50 in shipping alone for US customers if you buy all 9).
Regardless, I preordered the first one and am really looking forward to it. I still have the first TMNT NES game in the original box! (not sealed, of course, as we love to break out the ol' NES on game nights).
The only bummer about having 9 separate, staggered releases is that you can only order one at a time as they're announced for pre-order, which means we'll be paying separate shipping charge for each CD (that's over $50 in shipping alone for US customers if you buy all 9).
Regardless, I preordered the first one and am really looking forward to it. I still have the first TMNT NES game in the original box! (not sealed, of course, as we love to break out the ol' NES on game nights).
Yes, and you need to remember to order all the other ones lol
Yeah I might only pick up the second one as it's the original arcade game, and also has the NES version on the same disc.
Bigwax.io in Europe usually carries the soundtracks released by LR, I got the Panzer Dragoon Remaster from them, and received it fasted than folks who ordered from LR Directly.
NOTE TO ALL: Limited Run Games is well-known for delays in manufacturing and shipping their products. Having done a lot of business with them, I can personally attest to that. Though this album's announcement says 4-5 months, I'd expect nothing shorter than 6 months at the least. Just going off of my own personal history, for what it's worth!
It will be interesting to see how well Limited Run Games performs on this front. Outside of their own store's soundtrack*, this is the first time I've seen them release a soundtrack to a game they've sold entirely on its own.
This is something that I've been waiting for a long time since many soundtracks are bundled in with collections that are out of my price range, and I hope they continue this trend in the future.
Of course... I can understand the many concerns consumers might have regarding the validity of having each game be it's own unique release. One CD I own, 'Mario The Music' contains music from eight games across 79 tracks running at 73 minutes. Stage music is looped twice, fades out on the start of the third, jumps into the "HURRY UP!" jingle, and plays the sped-up rendition of the music in the same fashion all on one track. Unless this collection contains unused music (Which do exist for a lot of games, even for the original Super Mario Bros.), I don't really see how this release couldn't have been done as a two or three-disc set with all the same content spread out.
Another area I'm a bit miffed on is the lack of tracklisting and running time.
Interesting! Frankly, this is a project I probably would prefer to buy via download than premium on CD, but there are a few of these that will be nostalgia buys.
I will once again bring up the fact that when I bought CDs from LRG some years back, for the Shantae games, they were lossy -- and this despite a true lossless version available FREE on Bandcamp.
Though LRG in general has MANY problems, enough for people to want to steer clear on them in general.
Mostly commenting as a bookmark for thread searching later. I think I'm interested but not certain. Long delays, manufacture based on preorders, all sales final and potential for lossy give me pause.
Mostly commenting as a bookmark for thread searching later. I think I'm interested but not certain. Long delays, manufacture based on preorders, all sales final and potential for lossy give me pause.
I don't think this is the kind of music that the IP owners would release as a lossless digital download. Shantae is a game that's made by a developer who are way more open about releasing content related to their games than Konami is. And as La-La Land's MV has stated, licensing physical media vs. digital media are two completely different ballgames. So I'd say it's safe to stick with this release.
I don't think this is the kind of music that the IP owners would release as a lossless digital download. Shantae is a game that's made by a developer who are way more open about releasing content related to their games than Konami is. And as La-La Land's MV has stated, licensing physical media vs. digital media are two completely different ballgames. So I'd say it's safe to stick with this release.
Dunno if you meant to reply to someone else who mentioned a DL preference but my concern isn't that if you reread my post. My preference is CD, one of the few clear positives of this series at this point.
I just checked out their Instagram and, man, people are savage about their production delays.
Thing about being a big gamer, delays come with the territory. One game I was looking forward to the other, a musical no less, delayed it's release a whole week so it wouldn't compete with Baulder's Gate 3.
Are delays an issue for me? No. My concern is the quality of the product. The only soundtrack that Limited Run Games handled that was totally botched was for the collector's edition of Turok: The Dinosaur Hunter. The music on the CD had pitches so off you'd presume it was a remix. And here's the worst part.
Track 6 'Underwater' is only 1:20 on a single loop. The CD's length? 15:22. And the track is not listed as 'extended' or 'looped'. The second longest track after that is 4:24. I don't know how this all happened, but someone messed up the soundtrack in a LOT of ways.
But it's not all bad. I don't know if anyone recalls the remastered version of 'Command & Conquer' released a few years ago, but that featured a multi-disc soundtrack collection that was PERFECT... at least when it came to the CDs. The digital versions that came on a flash drive were good, but they had absolutely no meta data. The CDs thankfully had all the right info when taken from a database.
It's pretty uncertain for sure, but I'll be on top of it when it's out.
