SID-licious #7: Bombuzal

SID-licious is a series of blogs where I postCommodore 64SID tunes every week. They'll be available for download until the next entry goes up, when I'll be pulling the previous week's files down. I'll probably have the mp3 floating around, though, so if there's some tune(s) you're reading about in a past blog and want to grab a copy, shoot me a PM.

My grandmother died recently, less than a week shy of reaching her ninetieth birthday. She was a lovely and amazingly independent woman who lived on her own for decades after her husband passed away, and had not lost any of her mental edge at all until she went. We had our flights all booked to go have a big party for her milestone birthday, and instead were using those same flights to attend her funeral.

The whole trip was a bittersweet affair, and it caused me to think back fondly on time spent with her. On one particular occasion she was looking after me, I was playing the ace puzzle game Bombuzal (Bomb Uzal to some) on the Commodore 64. A favourite feature was that it had some muddy, crunchy synthesised speech in the game, advising me to "get ready" at the start of each puzzling level.

I'd been playing Bombuzal for hours – the later levels can get really tricky and death is to be expected – and restarting after each brief life was snuffed out would cause my C64 to gurgle "get ready" again and again, over and over. After a while, my grandmother came in and told me:

"If that thing says 'gebbedy' one more time..."

I fell about laughing.

So is Antony Crowther's tune for Bombuzal a world beater? Not at all, although it's a pleasant enough Galway-lite ditty that suits the tone of the game very nicely. What this tune does, though, is remind me what a funny and awesome lady my grandma was.

Note: although it's not in the actual SID file, I've glued the "get ready" sample to the start of the tune.

[ Here's where the music was. I've probably still got the mp3 if you wanna PM me! ]

SID-licious is a series of blogs where I postCommodore 64SID tunes every week. They'll be available for download until the next entry goes up, when I'll be pulling the previous week's files down. I'll probably have the mp3 floating around, though, so if there's some tune(s) you're reading about in a past blog and want to grab a copy, shoot me a PM.

My grandmother died recently, less than a week shy of reaching her ninetieth birthday. She was a lovely and amazingly independent woman who lived on her own for decades after her husband passed away, and had not lost any of her mental edge at all until she went. We had our flights all booked to go have a big party for her milestone birthday, and instead were using those same flights to attend her funeral.

The whole trip was a bittersweet affair, and it caused me to think back fondly on time spent with her. On one particular occasion she was looking after me, I was playing the ace puzzle game Bombuzal (Bomb Uzal to some) on the Commodore 64. A favourite feature was that it had some muddy, crunchy synthesised speech in the game, advising me to "get ready" at the start of each puzzling level.

I'd been playing Bombuzal for hours – the later levels can get really tricky and death is to be expected – and restarting after each brief life was snuffed out would cause my C64 to gurgle "get ready" again and again, over and over. After a while, my grandmother came in and told me:

"If that thing says 'gebbedy' one more time..."

I fell about laughing.

So is Antony Crowther's tune for Bombuzal a world beater? Not at all, although it's a pleasant enough Galway-lite ditty that suits the tone of the game very nicely. What this tune does, though, is remind me what a funny and awesome lady my grandma was.

Note: although it's not in the actual SID file, I've glued the "get ready" sample to the start of the tune.

[ Here's where the music was. I've probably still got the mp3 if you wanna PM me! ]

OK, now I see why people love Commodore 64 music so much. I'll still take the SNES over it any day, but now I've a greater appreciation for a system I've never touched.

First off, condolences on the loss of your grandmother.

It's heart-warming to see that the music from the game could bring back such fond memories for you.

Personally, I also put in an inordinate amount of hours playing the game... but that's a different story!

Was just strange to see the name pop up after all this time.

As a long-time extremely avid fan of everything c64-music-related, I'll be following your blog with a keen interest. Keep it up.

@MoleyUK: Yeah, I was so into Bombuzal and couldn't stop until I solved all the boards! Making this blog has also reminded me that I've got the SNES version on cart at home - I might introduce my puzzle-loving lass to it at some point.

I'm actually still surprised how many (good) games for this system I know nothing about - But I am of cause also limited by the random selection of games my bigger brother got hold on, and didn't read magazines about games before I had an Amiga.

Maybe I should try this one out. The SID is... adequate, but not really anything special IMO. But I'm well aware that personal nostalgia goes a long way. I'm sure I have my fair share of favorite SIDs, that not all hold in as high regard as I do... Some are probably simply *burned* into the brain from playing repeatedly for hours :-)