I went ahead and recorded the entirety of the Contra 4 score, via the in-game sound test mode.   The soundtrack is available for download in a .zip file on Megaupload:

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=QXGLNXR1

I'd love to hear more opinions on the music.  Personally, I thought Kaufman did a fantastic job, expertly combining the more memorable and edgy melodic hooks from the original Contras, with his own compositional spin.   Love the direct throwback to the Base battle theme in "Tunnel Boss," and the final stage suite brings back the dramatic flair of Contra III.   The new Jungle theme, dubbed "Jungle 1" and based on his original "Vile Red Falcon" chip composition, easily finds its way into the Contra Theme Hall of Fame.

Who's the composer again?

Jake Kaufman, who longtime fans of game music remix may know as virt. I still have some tracks from an old conceptual RPG soundtrack Jake had composed, and I remember thinking "damn, he has some real talent. It'd really be cool to see him actually compose a game soundtrack someday."

Thanks for the quality rip, Angela, and the very thorough tags.

Yes, completely awesome.  As a long time friend of Jake's, I'm really happy for him, as this is a project come true for him.  We actually published a news item announcing him as the composer with a quote from him which was quite nice:

http://www.music4games.net/News_Display.aspx?id=649

He's done a lot of other stuff, including Scurge: Hive, which had great music, and Juka and the Monophonic Menace.  Should definitely check those out, as there is a Scurge: Hive rip out there.

Funny enough, I ran into Jake just last weekend, as his band, Smash Bros. played the FFXI Fan Festival.  There should be a writeup of the show coming soon, but yeah, loved the game's music at E For All, and am looking forward to hearing it in the game if I can ever beat the first level.

Going to take a definite listen and report back..Thanks much, Angela!

I'm just beginning to get into the game, but the music definitely sounds great in both composition and quality, really great to hear such good stuff coming out of DS. Loud, rocking and developed, I think it'll take some time to really dig into these tracks.

virt is sick. Thanks Angela.

Even cooler still, I grabbed the attention of WayForward's Matt Bozon, and he graciously sent me virt's audition track.  It's a high-powered arrangement of the original Jungle that isn't featured in the game, though a condensed version of it is used for the official Contra 4 website.  Matt got the OK from Konami and gave me permission to share it:

Contra4_Virt-Original-Jungle:
http://briefcase.yahoo.com/bc/angie_liu … ic&.view=l

I love these guys.  Really.  ^_^

oh, yahoo briefcase full of mysterious and delicious video game music, I missed you so

(thanks for the rip, too!)

It's actually scary how much of the original music (via the remixes) I recognize.

As for the new stuff, it's very solid. "Jungle 1" is especially catchy. New, and yet unmistakably Contra-esque.

Ah, nostalgia! Thanks for the rip - looks like I'll have to add Contra IV to my already growing wish list of Front Mission and Final Fantasy IV (whenever that hits stateside after Japan's release) DS games for Christmas. If they release the OST, I'll definitely pick it up. This is the first time I've heard of Jake Kaufman and he's no slouch of a composer - awesome remixes!

My favorite is Heart Battle. Just couple moments ago, I listened to it and caught a part that definitely was a remix of a tune in the original Contra. Took me a while to think of it but when I figured it out, I was grinning. The remix of the final Alien Lair in the first game was a most pleasant surprise.

The ol' Contra chiptunes are still some of my favorites. Hardcore even to this day.

Thanks a bunch...Getting now, will spend a good portion of tomorrow listening. The music for Level 4 is really useful in maintaining my sanity...It rocks. Now I get to sample the other five levels I'm starting to think I'll never get to. ;p

Thanks Angela!  I'm hoping that Virt stayed relatively close to the feel of the source material.

Man, this is pretty great stuff.

"Ocean" reminds me of some game series, but I can't for the life of me think what it is. Megaman X? Right at '34 and onward for a bit it sounds so damn familiar. I should know what that sounds like, and I'm sure it's not previous Contra games...

Ugh, what is it? Is anyone else getting this feeling? I want to say it's an action game series, but I guess it could be an action RPG or something....but I have no idea. It almost seems vaguely NON-ish, but I don't think I'm thinking of Gunstar....am I? No, too much obvious guitar...

Man, like I said, this is great. I have no real ties with any Contra music other than that of Contra III, and this entire score makes me feel nostalgic.

I had more fun reading the Korean; it was interesting to see how they wrote 'download'. It would have to be pronounced 'taullodeu'. A lot of that music did sound familiar, though. Thanks.

That's a great recording. Thank you very much, Angela!

Ok...I'm on board...I picked it up today, very good.  Why do we have to wait for a system like the DS to have so many GREAT games?  I suppose it's the retro aspect...

This game is two decades late, but still very much welcome.

The soundtrack hits at the very heart of primo Kukeiha Club chip tunes.  How did a non-Japanese Yankee do that?!?!  He obviously is a huge fan, and definitely did his homework.  I love the odd meter Boss 1 battle music.  Waterfall is another favorite.   This is what game music should be. My only real gripe with the soundtrack is the quality of the samples used, they seem to be generally lower quality than other DS cames (For example Castlevania).  It wouldn't surprise me however, if it was completely intentional.   Do we have a mouse fart's chance of getting an arranged CD from a Japanese group?  American composed, and Japanese arranged..THAT would be a first.

Good stuff all around.  I don't know if my fingers are up to the challenge, but I'll give it a go. 

cheers

- Brandon

Stranger things have happened, though virt has told me that there aren't even plans for an official OST release yet.  C'mon Konami, do it!

I recall Konami's Tomm Hulett saying in an interview that he would love to see cover artists doing Contra 4.  Already I'm pining for a balls-to-the-walls rockin' arrangement of Jungle 1 and Harbor -- and I'd want virt himself to do it.  :D

Thanks for the rip, Angela!

I was convinced that this would be good once I heard Jungle 1, but it took me a couple listens to get hooked on the later tracks. Yes, I did hear "Vile Red Falcon" long before hearing this soundtrack, but even as a fan of chiptunes, I definitely prefer this DS version. I also think Waterfall, Harbor, Factory, and Credits are all awesome. I was just disappointed that the final boss themes were so boring. It's like everything between the Heart Battle and the Credits is skippable (except for the excellent Game Clear arrangement). Nevertheless, it's solid as a whole. I'd love to hear covers/arrangements of some of these songs.

I really liked the end theme.

Nothing like a sweet medley to cap off both game and music score.  It took me a few listens to grasp which tracks made up the End Credits, especially the more subtler, downplayed ones, but here they be: Harbor, Factory, Waterfall, Neo City, Jungle 1, and Game Over/Jungle 2.

I absolutely love the music for this game.  It fits the atmosphere so well, and what can I say other than it's definitely Contra.  Playing games like this always puts me in a good mood (well, for the most part -- This game is frustrating haha, but I love it), and the music makes it a great experience.

There is one thing I've been wondering about one of the songs, though.  I was browsing trailers on youtube before I got the game, and there was one song that really caught my interest.  However, a different version was put into the game.  I wonder if the version of the "Ocean" theme that is in the youtube video is out there somewhere.  I was kind of disappointed when I found out there is a different version in the game, but it's still a great song and it sounds almost the same.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m4rNq_0l … re=related

You're right. I wonder if this is the Hard difficulty version?

Which brings me to a question... I've heard from various sources that the Hard difficulty has straight arrangements of the classic Contra tracks. However, Angela's rip only has a track like this for the first stage. Are there more tracks in the game that haven't been recorded?

The only classic stage arrangement in the game is "Jungle 2" - all the rest of the Hard mode tracks are exactly the same as in Normal.  A well-placed bit of fan service, but still one hell of a tease; I, too, was hoping for more classic remixes in Hard.

As for the Ocean theme..... it is fundamentally the same track, though it's apparent that it went through a few changes in the final mix.  Personally, I find the differences between the two negligible.

Looks like it begins.  There's a bitchin' submission of "Alien Hive" and "Heart Battle" for December's Dwelling of Duels.  Could it be from virt himself?

Let's Attack Aggressively! (Alien Hive & Heart Battle)
http://dod.vgmix.com/past/jan08/03-Dani … ck-DoD.mp3

December's Dwelling of Duels:
http://dod.vgmix.com/past/jan08/

EDIT: Looks like Danimal Cannon and Chris Dlugosz were responsible for "Let's Attack Aggressively!"  They won third place, too.  Great job, guys!