Tim Follin: The Best Game Composer You Never Heard Of
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 2 ต.ค. 2024
- This week we look at Tim Follin, his origins, and many of the soundtracks he worked on.
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Intro music by me. All other music is by Tim Follin (with others where noted)
"Title Music" from Time Trax (unreleased, Mega Drive/Genesis)
"Enemy Attack 1" from Future Tactics (PS2/Xbox/Windows/Gamecube)
"Title Screen" from Vectron (ZX Spectrum)
"Title" from Star Paws (ZX Spectrum)
"Level 1" from Agent X II (Commodore 64)
"Title" from Gauntlet III (with Geoff Follin, Commodore 64)
"Level 1" from Silver Surfer (with Geoff Follin, NES)
"Main BGM Theme" from Solstice (NES)
"Mini-Game 2" from Pictionary (NES)
"Tori" from Equinox (with Geoff Follin, SNES)
"Cotton Island" from Plok (with Geoff Follin, SNES)
"Sleepy Dale & Plok's Town" from Plok (with Geoff Follin, SNES)
"Track 2" from Starsky & Hutch (with Dave Sullivan and Matthew Costello, PS2)
"Perils of the Coral Reef" from Ecco the Dolphin: Defender of the Future (Dreamcast)
I think a lot of gaming music composure in general are criminally over looked, even from Tim's time there's Ben Dagleash, Rob Hubbard Etc.
But for Plok, the title screen music was so impressive that when Shigeru Miyamoto first heard it, he thought it had come from a modded SNES as he didn't believe the machine was capable of that kind of music.
i belive that. Question Larry. do you have a steam. cause i wanna talk with you mate.
I was very impressed by the music that he did for Rock N Roll Racing for the SNES when it first came out.
I didn't know who did the music back then of course, but he really did solidify my taste in the music of hard rock.
Back in high school, I was listening to my das soundtrack cassette of Easy Rider and I kept listening to Born To Be Wild EVERYWHERE, in school, in the car and in my room.
Then I noticed the game Rock N Roll Racing sitting in a game rental shop and saw that it had the music of Steppenwolf Born To Be Wild on it, the box art looked cool to me so I rented it out and was blown away as to how good Born To Be Wild sounded in the game.
I couldn't agree more. ^-^
Oh Hello from 8 bit/16 Bit, Larry
Larry Bundy Jr Hello you!
Oi, mate, I didn't think Plok was too mediocre. It had a great art style and it was legit fun, though it was pretty difficult~
One of the best Soundtracks for the SNES and still a great platformer.
Agreed! Plok is quite good!
It was a pretty decent platformer, but the platforming was a bit to sluggish and heavy, and the graphics could've been a lot better if they added some more texture to the composition.
as were most games at the time man. killer game.
I disagree: Plok is a very good game. It is also criminally underrated. For those who don't believe me, give this game a try, you won't be dissapointed (especially if you like platformers).
Worked alongside these guys. Fantastic musicians and such a laugh all through the difficult projects. They seemed to take it all in their stride. Great times.
Got any good stories? Would love to hear them.
@@TylerSteven9 we will never get those good stories :(
Treasure Master for NES was probably Tim's most impressive NES soundtrack because of its really nice compositions and atmosphere. The intro screen was even a really good remix of the Starsky and Hutch theme.
Man! I remember first playing Treasure Master, and boy, that MUSIC! HMMNN! I started headbanging after seconds of hearing that first level theme, and I just couldn't stop! And ever since that day, my life had changed to never be the same again.. ever since that day, after hearing those awesome tunes, I instantly became a fan of Follin's compositions, and now listen to them on a daily basis, enjoying them just as much as my first time listening to them.
On Space Paws, the reason it sounded like a new console because it WAS one.
Space Paws was on the ZX Spectum 128k , which had a AY-3-8910( 3 channels of square waves and noise ) while Vectron was on a ZX Spectrum 48k, which only had a 1-bit beeper. The reason they sound differnet was because of the hardware, not one of Follin's drivers.
Yes, I discovered that after the video was already up. Thanks for the input! Finding this info is surprisingly difficult.
+Major Third If you have questions about any of the 8-bit stuff for future videos, why not ask me? chris at c64audio.com
Also, Space Paws was originally composed by Rob Hubbard for the C64 version of the game. Tim Follin only arranged the ZXS version, but made some few changes to make it better.
R.I.P. Geoff Follin (1966-2024)
Tim Follin is a mad genius, and his talent exceeds beyond the musical realm. Last year he released an excellent game called Contradiction. :)
TF has always been my favourite video game composer ever since I heard the title track for ghouls n ghosts on the c64.
Man, did you play Timetrax without mentioning it ? Its simply the greatest of Follin` ever !
Plok is quite an underrated but quite good SNES game. It sucks it never had a save feature though. Don't know much about Follin but the Plok soundtrack is pretty cool. The boss theme is pretty much a dance classic and the fleapit music is awesome also.
Tim Follin + ZX Spectrum + Chronos = Amazing Music. Also the C64, Spectrum and Amiga are not CONSOLES, They're Computers!
+0Dark30 The Chronos music is simply great.
I'm gonna make the hot take that his "bad luck" wasn't just the universe conspiring against him. Working on low budget games or with bad teams was his own choice, and with his renown, he could've rejected those. If anything, I think he undervalued his immense skill and that's a lesson we should learn from.
Did you mention Time Trax for the Genesis? I know the tune is playing at the start of this video.... but not a mention?
rip
TimeTrax was never released, though despite that I think it has one of the best gensis OSTs. He used the maximum potential of the system instead of just using GEMS
@@atomicmelodies no, Tim wasn´t use the maximun potencial on the system, no PSG and no PCM, but that´s what I found it interesting, he used only 5 FM channels whitout PCM, the percution is pure FM, and the result it´s outstanding
Tim's music always tells a story.
It's difficult to not become enraptured.
Very informative video. Thank you.
The only reason I know who Tim Follin is, is the fact that my brother and I spent so many hours in the early 90s playing Silver Surfer. Back then if a game was hard we didn't pussyache about it, we played it and were thankful that it didn't lose its appeal after finishing it in three hours.
Ive always liked Plok >:(
Thinking Mouse great game
You know, instead of hiring Jake Kaufmann for your next soundtrack...how about Tim Follin? That might propel him to the fame he deserves.
Tim Follin, the original Vapor Waver. Equinox had that A E S T H E T I C .
Zygma But it was his own music
Favorite game with Tim Follin music? Definitely Future Tactics. I even still own it for the PS2.
Ghouls 'n' Ghosts for the C64 is Follin's best work
Actually, Tim Follin was "famous" among gamers, video game and demoscene composers of the 80s and 90s in Europe (especially for C64, Spectrum and Amiga users). So the title of your video seems historically out of context.. Star Paws by the way, is originally by Rob Hubbard. Follin adapted it from the C64 version.
Even independent of Tim Follin's awesome soundtrack, Plok is well remembered by those who've played it. Lumping it in with the likes of Silver Surfer is pretty harsh!
The Star Paws theme was originally by Rob Hubbard. Follin converted it from the C-64 original theme to the AY-3-8910, so he can't really be credited as the composer in that case (though it was a great conversion).
Arguably, it's on the C-64 where Follin's music was best paired up with good games.
The European C64 version of Bionic Commando comes to my mind
I like how a good majority of these comments are responding to what you said about Plok
another suggestion for composer spotlight: Frank Klepacki
he was recently seen in a webcam chat on a Livestream on his small-scale game, Contradiction.
Dude has greyed big time. (oh yeah, that's not Geoff Follin but fellow VG composer Matt Furniss)
It should be a crime that you didn't include any music from the greatest video game soundtrack that the Follin brothers ever composed and which is arguably the best game soundtrack of all time not composed by Koji Kondo: Spider-Man and X-Men in Arcade's Revenge. If you have any appreciation for Jazz, Funk, or Rock, you will know what I'm talking about. (If you don't, then you have zero musical taste.) That soundtrack is TOO good to be limited to a video game. Yes, it's that awesome.
I agree! It was one of the most memorable soundtracks of my youth!! As soon as that intro title faded in I had an eargasm!!!
After this I'm glad to see he at least made a what some may have a cult respect for in the game Contradiction, the music itself always lingers in great underappreciated theme discussions.
Seriously, Pictionary does NOT need the soundtrack it got. Minigame Theme 2 is such a banger!
Completely skipped over Treasure Master (NES).
One of his best OSTs.
I don't understand why people even dislike videos like this he didn't do anything overly spectacular that would cause me to like the video or make me want to watch it again yet he didn't do anything stupid or dumb or was it badly named or composed or acted in any anyway to the point to where I would dislike the video that's just rude
Bloody excellent composer!
What no mention of Agent X? Note the ZX spectrum 128 had a massively upgraded sound chip over the 48K, thats why Star Paws sounds so different. Agent X was on the original hardware and is easily the not only the best for the system but impressive in its own right.
right now tim follin has a game on steam he wrote and directed called contradiction if anyone cares. he may even be in it, i havent played it.
4:46 FANTASY MOOOOOOOOOOONTH!!
Wow, I've never heard of this guy, thanks for the hidden gem!
Have you seen this ? His new game and new music ! itunes.apple.com/gb/app/id953844528
Stumbled across this video after stumbling across a Silver Surfer track and looking up Tim Follins. Great video! Thanks for all the info!
Plok and Equinox are amazing games.
I worked with Geoff Follin, and also Tim, but where did you get that photo of Geoff from? He's changed a lot since I last saw him if it is him!
I think I literally just googled "Geoff Follin composer" and saw that photo in association with Tim. Granted this was also years ago and a lot more info and interviews with Tim have happened since then.
God damn that Silver Surfer theme gets me pumped.
Ghouls n Ghosts was brilliant. Some of the best tunes on the 64, ever.
Tim and Geoff had left Software Creations by the time Ken Griffey Jr. Presents was being made. They ended up credited on a few soundtracks they didn't actually work on, because the sound designers/composers used old samples of theirs. I still haven't worked out how the hell they ended up credited on the Acclaim/Probe mess, Batman Forever, in 1995.
You should have mentioned Time Trax! That's one of my favorites from Tim, it's an unreleased Genesis title
I LOVED his Ecco the Dolphin Defender of the Future soundtrack
Lumping Solstice in with games like Silver Surfer? HOW COULD YOU?! ;) Solstice is one of my favorite NES games of all time! It's an underrated masterpiece, if you ask me, and can easily hold its own against the Marios and Zeldas of the world... at least, in my mind!
Still, glad to see Follin getting a little love here. He definitely deserves it.
I was responding specifically to a comment made in the video about the games themselves, though.
Good job on giving respect where it's due. Nicely done.
Silver Surfer OST to me is one of the best all time SID produced Sound Tracks. [certalinly top 5 in the 8 bit world]
Infact I'm just working on the Silver Surfer Title Screen music remix as I'm writing this :D
Every time I listen to this soundtrack it just blows my mind how much "next level" it was back then compared to other NES sound tracks production wise.... also the songwriting is fenomenal - you can really hear the rock influences :) but at the same time the guy is amazingly technical when it comes to sound shaping.
Nice video. I didn't realise many Americans were aware of Follin. I noticed most of the stuff you featured was from the NES. Bionic Commando on the Commodore 64 is an example of a good game he soundtracked. Chronos on the Spectrum was also very good, considering the hardware.
I appreciate that you say "it's British, so it's zed, not zee". I'm Canadian, so it's "zed" here too. But while I haven't yet developed anything for the "zed"X Spectrum, I'm quite familiar with the Zilog "zee-80". I do my best to call it that, since it was American.
Implying that Solstice and Plok aren't fantastic games... Lies. Equinox is good. Ken Griffey Jr. Presents MLB and Rock N Roll Racing are fondly remembered. Sky Shark and Silver Surfer are alright, even if Silver Surfer is a bit too tough to be fun. Treasure Master is okay. His Speccy, C64, and Amiga games were overall better.
But still, most of the games he did work on were not good. Just not some of the games you showed when you were stating that.
Genesis album* :DAlso you started on the part that sounds like the really rhythmic almost polymeter portion of the title track to Close to the EdgeWhere you could have started at 0:55 where it goes straight Early 70s Tony Banks off the ass 10/10 mode ;) Akrillic may be my favorite piece of game music ever at this point lol
What I wouldn't give to hear Tim Follin do another video game soundtrack like he did in the 80's and 90's...
4:10 isn't the middle picture from anticipation? Not pictionAry? (Anticipation is another fun game to try when you're drunk).
The fact that his arguably best track, «Beach» from Plok!, is not even included here, speaks volumes of Follin’s quality👌
I always wondered who was the genius behind these brilliant compositions, because that the game could be shitos but what made the game amazing was just the music.
And his Amiga soundtracks where amazing as well. You forgot to mention Amiga games.
Holy fuck, how could it possibly slip my mind that he also did Agent X II? I've always thought that song and the Solstice title theme to be like how it would sound if Joe Satriani wrote a collaboration with Dream Theater and Yes. I've definitely seen his name on both, but I don't know why it never clicked that he was the same guy.
I just came here to say that Equinox is an incredible SNES game and Tim's influence on the "take time to figure things out" style in easily manifested in the Equinox OST. This game.. i won't spoil it, but if you haven't played it, please find it and play it. It will challenge your perspective of perspectives, and Tim's ambient music is second to none.
You didn't mention the game but used its best track: Future Tactics The Uprising's Enemy Attack 1
Also why isn't your username major chromatic mediant kek :3 lmfao Im just fucking dude this is a super great and informative video CHEERS
Hey, he's back at making games, on his own, with a new skill: video.
The game is Contradiction, check it out :
store.steampowered.com/app/373390/
itunes.apple.com/fr/app/contradiction/id953844528?mt=8
Criminal to mention Arcade's Revenge but not play a track! I'll let you off with a warning.
Wow you actually made a video on the Follin's. Fucking AWESOME man. This guy made some incredibly weird and dissonant music.
I see King Crimson, oh mama
ecco the dolphin on Dreamcast is the most meditative music you can listen to while reading and relaxing. Sleep on some Tim and you'll see what I mean. :3
Nice review! I always liked, how Tim used his arpeggio effect in some C64 and NES titles, especially in LED Storm. The master nowadays actually working on a game called Contradiction which is a murder mystery, and it looks like a movie. You can see some updates about his project on his Facebook page: facebook.com/tim.follin.9?fref=ts
we need him back...the C64 is also coming back , so he should think about...
Man, I grew up with Equinox and only just beat it a couple of years ago. I remember feeling scared any time I went into a new dungeon just because of the music. The dripping in Tori was especially unnerving, but the Quagmire was probably the worst for me. I'm glad Tim Follin's getting some appreciation and I hope more people find his work.
Good music, bad placement
It's really sad, really
Just made it 333 likes on channel major third. Today was a good day.
Plok's soundtrack fucked me up... goddamn it was so good!
I came here to see all the comments from people who had already heard of him.
Cool video bro! Just doing my part to contribute to the algorithm
could you make a video of chris hullsbeck work?
More like best I HAVE heard of.
Miss Time Trax, for the Genesis 😕
CHRONOS...?!? Where is Chronos? You forgot to include Chronos on your video... :/
+Trigger-Hoppy 63 1/3 Oh... They missed all the Spectrum golden era...!
I have def heard of this fellow. ty for video
Never Heard?
Timetrax, Plok and Rock 'n Roll Racing soundtracks rules!!!
I liked the Silver Surfer game play.
Ooooh your channel is great! Subscribed! And of course well aware of Follin brothers, but i guess you have to come from the ZX Spectrum corner for that to be the case.
I think that was simply the way of British videogame industry at that stage - publishers received (often shitty) submissions from aspiring developers, polished them up if they weren't too terrible, and sold them on for a couple of pounds. They had their graphics artists and musicians, and ironically, the games with best music are often the shittiest because they were simple and small submissions, where there was plenty of RAM and tape length left over to pack the music into from the lack of programmer skill and time. It's not like nice sprites and tiles take up more room than shitty ones, you're not gonna have more colour or anything, because there's only one display mode. Similar things happened on C64. It's not like you can cut costs by making a smaller ROM cartridge, the RAM is already there.
As to you missing the fact that later Follin tracks run on a different soundchip, well, perhaps you can involve some of your viewers into research, like find a nice place to poke us with questions. Some of us may know a guy who knows a guy who knows THE guy, or may have experienced some of these things as they were happening.
Oh i was wondering, there was this particular SNES game, that had FM synth like music? But i can't remember which >.< It's not Follin's, i was just hoping someone in the audience here might have an idea. It was recommended to me in TH-cam comments, but i can no longer find it.
Rip Geoff Follin, ya legend :(
Target Renegade has awesome music
What an amazing show! just discovered it right now, very well made and clever informations, GREAT
An unsung hero of our creative lineage.
He stopped in 2005? OH NO! ;~;
His departure from hard rock to ambient was unregrettable. From being the only man playing "electronic hard rock" to being one of the thousands men making ambient... and of course, I never heard of him, before 1987.
Tim Follin also wrote the music for Sky Shark, a game that somehow had five levels but only four gamemplay songs written. Perhaps that's due to the fact that levels 2-5 repeat in perpetuity once you've beaten the game, but play it long enough and it's easy to forget which level had which music.
The "Continue?" countdown music was also carried over into Abobo's Big Adventure, where the saw gradually lowers onto him after losing all your lives in the platforming levels.
That screenshot for Pictionary is actually from Anticipation, a similar game from Rare with great music by David Wise. He's pretty well-known for the legendary Donkey Kong Country soundtracks, but his early chiptune work on the NES is similarly underappreciated.
3 or 4 minutes? Equinox has tracks that don't loop for 12-14 minutes if memory serves.
+Trigger-Hoppy 63 1/3 I stand corrected. I was just remembering back to when I played the game a few years ago, but evidently the tracks aren't as long as I thought they were. Thanks to you I've just relistened to the whole OST. Next up: Plok.
All the ones I owned were great games, despite not being particularly successful. I think they all suffer a little bit from having that "easy when you know how" quality that makes them a bit inaccessible these days. Not suitable for impatient gamers.
Very glad to have stumbled upon this video to present a nice slice of Tim's work. I'm going to be doing a play through of Plok on my channel and I'm going to link here.
Plok has incredible music
You forgot Time Trax
He made a damn good Ford Racing 3 main song
You know what I’m saying
Hey I'm glad somebody made a video.
Tori from Equinox. You picked the right track from that game for this vid, for sure.
Can you do a video on Jun Ishikawa
Simply a-m-a-z-i-n-g!!! I knew a few especially Plok. But the other stuff is incredible.