Rolando, Ngmoco’s critical and commercial darling for Apple’s iPhone and iPod touch, is a game that oozes gobs of style. When it was first shown, Rolando was scrutinized for ‘borrowing’ the graphical aesthetic of LocoRoco, but it does have one thing that ups the ante from Sony’s tilt based platformer: A soundtrack by Mr. Scruff.
For the uninitiated, Andy Carthy, aka Mr. Scruff, is a successful DJ hailing from Manchester England. Scruff’s style encompasses a wide variety of musical genres (which include Trip Hop, Jazz, Funk, Dub and countless others), so trying to pin down and define his actual style is a difficult prospect at best. Unlike the common image of the simple Wedding or Club DJ, Scruff’s music feels completely original with unique mixes made from beats that could only be found after years spent digging through crate upon crate of vinyl records.
The soundtrack of both Rolando and Rolando 2: Quest for the Golden Orchid weren’t composed specifically for the games themselves, but the trip-hop influences that permeate Scruff’s music draw comparisons to the inherent repetitive nature of older chip-tune style compositions. As it was many gamers first exposure to Mr. Scruff, the soundtrack avoids the negative stigma most titles that use licensed music are associated with.
Mr. Scruff – Stockport Carnival
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Music from both games were pulled directly from Scruff’s studio albums, which include 1999’s ‘Keep it Unreal,’ 2002’s ‘Trouser Jazz,’ and 2008’s ‘Ninja Tuna.’ Since tracks were taken from releases that span his entire career, the added layer of variety helps to keep the illusion of a truly original soundtrack. The way in which HandCircus (developer of both Rolando titles) integrated a relatively unknown artist into their game’s soundtracks serves as a blueprint of how licensed music should be handled.
Mr. Scruff – Kalimba
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If you haven’t played either Rolando games, the price of admission for each is covered by the inclusion of a music player so you can jam out to Mr. Scruff if the need to get funky should ever arise. Check out Mr. Scruff’s website for streaming music from his studio albums, as well as recordings of his DJ sets (Which range from 2-6 hours in length). No solid release date has been set for Rolando 3, but when the game finally makes it’s appearance I am hopeful Scruff will once again be taken along for the ride.
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