Pro Tip of the Day - sound test

Pro tip: Blue Marlin's Sound Test

Will — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 12:50:19 +0000

Trying to catch fish in any fish-catching video game can be tedious. Good thing that the designers gave you some passably decent music to listen to. If only there was a way to listen to it without trolling for fist.

Like going somewhere in the title sequence

then holding Start + Select and hitting the Reset button to go to some kind of screen where you could hear the music any time you wanted

Yeah, something like that would be awesome.

Pro tip: Shatterhand's secret menu

Will — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 12:30:58 +0000

Some people think that Shatterhand is the epitome of NES gaming. I'm not quite sure that I agree.

But it's pretty tough, regardless, especially the boss fights. But there's a way you can practice them without having to go through the stages first.

First, go to the title screen

Then (quickly) press the following buttons:

A, A, A, A, B, B, B, B, A, B, A, B, A, B, A, B

Done quickly enough, you'll be taken to a screen loaded with goodies

You can hear any of the sounds the game has to offer or, more interestingly, you can play any of the bosses

But you don't have the aid of your little mech thing, so it's going to be a little harder than it could be. But practice enough it at, and it won't matter.

Pro tip: Listening to Tecmo Super Bowl sounds any time you want

Will — Fri, 29 May 2009 12:17:00 +0000

So what do you do if you want to hear some of the sounds that Tecmo Super Bowl produces, but don't want to bother playing through a game to do it?

Do you go to the title screen?

Do you hold B and then press Left on the control pad?

Do you then listen to all the sounds available in the game at your leisure?

It turns out that you do!

Pro tip: Whomp 'Em's sound test

Will — Thu, 14 May 2009 12:27:24 +0000

Have you ever been playing Whomp 'Em and thought to yourself that you'd really like to hear all the music that this game has to offer without having to slog though the game proper?

Me either.

But! You totally can anyway.

First, go to the title screen.

Then hold A + B on Controller 2. Press Start on Controller 1 and keep holding A + B on Controller 2 until you get this screen

Now you can listen to all the sounds this game makes to your heart's content.

Pro tip: Listen to the songs in Ys III: Wanderers from Ys any time you want

Will — Thu, 07 May 2009 12:27:30 +0000

Ys III: Wanderers from Ys is one of those games that I played and really liked the music to (bonus pro tip, the game name, "Ys" is pronounced very similar to "Ease"), so wouldn't it be great if you could listen to the music any time you wanted?

Well, then, good news!

First, bring up your menu by hitting Select on controller 1

Then press Select on controller 2

Ta da!

Now you can listen to all the sounds and music that the game has to offer.

And as a bonus, the song you pick will continue to play after you close the menu and until you change areas.

Pretty awesome!

Pro tip: Listening to Castlevania III's music any time you want

Will — Tue, 05 May 2009 12:32:10 +0000

It should probably come as no surprise by now that I like video game music. Especially from games that have good music, like Castlevania III.

You probably recognize the title screen if you've ever played this game:

But, hold down A and B while you press Start and:

Ta da!

You use Up and Down to choose your song, B to play it, and A to stop it. Perfect for making your own mix CD.

Which we'll have to talk about another day.