Ninja Gaiden 2 (NES) - World Enslaved/Act 3-1 Theme (All Instrument Cover)

Here's a classic track amongst many from Ninja Gaiden 2 on the NES, World Enslaved, which is the theme song for Act 3-1 and Act 6-1. Ninja Gaiden 2 was released in 1990 late in the NES lifecycle, which might have contributed to the soundtrack being cut a notch higher than many NES games from the late 80s in terms of orchestration. Whatever the reason for the quality, this is a classic track from a soundtrack full of epic tunes!

The main them of this tune is an ambiguous quasi-chromatic melody consisting of notes C, C#, E, F, and F#, all played against a droning A in the bass. This brooding section is quite memorable, and contrasts with the equally memorable chorus type part which has a slippery lead melody played over some slightly dissonant 16th note trills, the latter of which translated surprisingly nicely to guitar.

For recording, bass was direct in, and drums were tracked with my usual mic configuration. I tried backing off the parallel compression on the drums a bit, which I think resulted in the drums breathing a little better, but mileage may vary! Guitars were all double tracked thru the fender cybertwin amp mic'd with an sm57. The lead melody parts were also doubled with keyboards using the Surge XT synthesizer.

This is a really cool, short sweet tune that gets right to the point with great melodies, sets a mood, and doesn't overstay its welcome!

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