720° was just a regular old NES game:

http://i.ebayimg.com/t/NINTENDO-720-NES-GAME-COMPLETE-WS-/00/$(KGrHqV,!i8E4sEfbUu-BOVtYpeYWw~~60_35.JPG

I did find a decent video of some of the arcade action though:

It’s MUCH less disruptive than the NES version, both in terms of the sound effects (gotta love that sampled speech) and the game’s pacing, which makes a lot more sense in the arcade version (not just in terms of the music — it also looks like it’s actually fun).

I couldn’t get away from Brennan/Anderson this afternoon, and I stumbled upon a few more pieces of interesting info that I felt I should tack on here. For one, this bio of Anderson (http://www.vgmpf.com/Wiki/index.php?title=Gavan_Anderson#History) has a very interesting quote, apparently directly from Anderson himself, basically calling out Brennan for “not being able to read or write music.” Ouch, hahah.

Also, while poking around on that site a little further, I also discovered that apparently Brennan actually composed that theme song for Bad Street Brawler, although Anderson and Tania Smith arranged/programmed it. I’m not sure I’d consider a basic, forgettable blues jam a “composition,” so I would still argue that everyone involved is equally at fault, hahaha.

One other thing, and I probably should have done this sooner.. I imported the Nintendo Sound Format (NSF) file for 720° into a newer version of Famitracker that lets you see whats going on on each sound channel, and while most of my observations just from listening were accurate, I should mention that some of what I previously thought were “noise-channel kicks” were actually short, soft thuds happening on that second square wave channel I thought wasn’t in use. This is still pretty inexcusable, in my opinion — what it demonstrates to me is even more inefficient usage of the sound chip’s potential. It’s like he figured that a few barely audible noises every once in a while were probably good enough for that channel. Or maybe he thought those minimal sounds completely ruled out the possibility of doing anything else with that channel in the empty spaces between them. Either way, it’s essentially just as good as not using the channel at all.

Thanks again, and keep the comments coming. Oh, and if Neil Brennan, Gavan Anderson or anyone else involved ever read this blog, please note that I’m sorry if any of this offended you guys! I hope I explained my criticism in a way that wasn’t simply negative but at least kind of made sense and was educational. I wrote this because it genuinely, seriously interested me, and I learned a lot just from researching it! Without original NES composers, I’d be nowhere, and I don’t take that for granted. I just wanted to get a few things off my chest about this soundtrack

The real sin for me lies in the second video, where you can hear the soundtrack during gameplay. What was that guy thinking? As you pointed out, the interruption by the SFX and short shelf life of music is ridiculously obnoxious. If a game is to have quick scene shifts like that with different themes popping up on the different screens, the screens need to be longer and the music has to say a lot more in a short amount of time. It’s so bad.

I’m interested in listening to the arcade music in context. Did it act the same way? If so, the only thing that redeems it is that more is happening in a shorter period of time (though “redeems” is a strong word). Not to mention, listening to that and then hearing Brennan’s attempt to recreate the music on the NES makes the music sound even more pitiful. If I were a fan of the arcade game and then had to suffer through that after having anticipated playing it at home? Ugh.

“Street Brawler” was a good choice to throw to the flames, too. Sounds like Anderson just learned how to outline a 12-bar blues in Jazz 101.

Final verdict? LET THEM BURN.

So …your assumption about him not actually knowing how to compose for the NES very well may be correct. Was 720 one of those bootleg unlicensed Tengen games?