SID-licious is a series of blogs where I post Commodore 64 SID 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.

In a digital world where its meaning and usage have been distorted (and even ridiculed), I never use the word "epic" lightly*. But that's exactly how I would describe Rob Hubbard's stirring tune for Zoids. Listening to it today, it's almost as triumphant and moody and futuristic and mysterious as the first time I heard it.

Of course, back then I didn't know that Hubbard had based the music on "Ancestors" by Synergy. These days, even though I'm aware of the pedigree, I still like the Hubbard version more. I don't know if it's because I grew up with his take, linked as it is to one of my all-time favourite formative systems, or if it's just because I prefer the actual sounds of the SID, but his is just the more engaging version to me.

The actual gameplay of Zoids itself was nigh-impenetrable to me as a young boy, and a lack of instructions didn't help matters. The screen is filled with dials and weapons and systems and icons and buttons, all with no text to inform you of their functions. But dammit, the music was so good that it didn't stop me trying. Occasionally, I'd wrestle with the joystick and actually manage to win the battle subgame, and Rob Hubbard's majestic industrial march was there to make sure I truly felt like the victor.

*That said, I'll probably use "epic" again when I talk about Parallax. Don't worry, stick with me and you'll hear it for yourself soon enough.

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