Neil Voss

Last updated
Neil D. Voss
Birth nameNeil D. Voss
Born (1974-10-07) 7 October 1974 (age 50)
United States
Genres Electronic, techno, video game music
Occupation(s)Composer, musician, producer
Years active1990s–present

Neil Voss (born October 7, 1974) is an American video game composer. His first recognized work was on Tetrisphere for Nintendo 64 in 1997, an acclaimed effort that earned him a "Best Soundtrack" award from Nintendo Power that year. He later composed tracks for The New Tetris in 1999, also for the Nintendo 64. Voss subsequently transitioned to the Game Boy Advance, producing soundtracks for Racing Gears Advance in collaboration with Orbital Media Inc.. Many of his compositions for the Commodore 64 are included in The High Voltage SID Collection.

Contents

Background

At the early age of 12, Neil Voss began experimenting with electronic music on his Commodore 64, and this hobby soon became a significant part of his life. He later emerged as an underground electronic music developer but observed his fellow composers signing with game developers, prompting him to join H2O, a third-party developer for Atari's Jaguar. His first project was Phear, but after the Jaguar platform's failure, the project was moved to Nintendo and evolved into Tetrisphere . As audio director, Voss produced, composed, and engineered the entire soundtrack for Tetrisphere, which some attribute to the game's success. [1] Voss went on to create more notable techno music for the N64 puzzle game The New Tetris . This soundtrack quickly became a favorite. [2]

In 2005, Voss worked on Racing Gears Advance for the Game Boy Advance, which received the award for "Best Use of Sound" from IGN . [3]

Related Research Articles

<i>Dr. Mario</i> 1990 video game

Dr. Mario is a 1990 puzzle video game developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Entertainment System and Game Boy. It was produced by Gunpei Yokoi and designed by Takahiro Harada. The soundtrack was composed by Hirokazu Tanaka.

<i>Yoshis Story</i> 1997 video game

Yoshi's Story is a 1997 platform game published and developed by Nintendo for the Nintendo 64. It was released in Japan in December 1997, and worldwide the following year. The game has been subsequently re-released on the Wii, Wii U, and Nintendo Switch.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tetsuya Mizuguchi</span> Japanese video game designer, producer and businessman

Tetsuya Mizuguchi is a Japanese video game designer, producer, and businessman. Along with ex-Sega developers he is one of the co-founders of the video game development firm Q Entertainment. He formerly worked for Sega as a producer in their Sega AM3 'arcade machines' team, developing games like Sega Rally Championship and Sega Touring Car Championship, before moving on to become the head of Sega's United Game Artists division, the team responsible for Rez and Space Channel 5. Mizuguchi is better known for creating video games that incorporate interactive synesthesia into his game design, regardless of genre, evidenced by Rez, Lumines, Child of Eden, and Tetris Effect.

Metroid is an action-adventure game franchise created by Nintendo. The player controls the bounty hunter Samus Aran, who protects the galaxy from Space Pirates and other malevolent forces and their attempts to harness the power of the parasitic Metroid creatures.

The fifth generation era refers to computer and video games, video game consoles, and handheld gaming consoles dating from approximately October 4, 1993, to March 23, 2006. The best-selling home console was the Sony PlayStation, followed by the Nintendo 64 and Sega Saturn. The PlayStation also had a redesigned version, the PSone, which was launched on July 7, 2000.

Timothy John Follin is an English video game music composer, cinematographer, visual effects artist and game developer, who has written tracks for a variety of titles and home gaming systems, including the ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, Amiga, Atari ST, Nintendo Entertainment System, Mega Drive, Super NES, Game Boy, Dreamcast, and PlayStation.

<i>Diddy Kong Racing</i> 1997 video game

Diddy Kong Racing is a 1997 kart racing game developed and published by Rare for the Nintendo 64. The game revolves around Diddy Kong and his friends' attempt to defeat the intergalactic antagonist, a wizard pig named Wizpig, through winning a series of races. The player takes control of any of the featured characters throughout the game. Diddy Kong Racing features five worlds with four racetracks each, and the ability to drive a car, hovercraft, or pilot an aeroplane.

<i>Pokémon Puzzle Challenge</i> 2000 video game for the Game Boy Color

Pokémon Puzzle Challenge is a puzzle video game developed by Intelligent Systems and published by Nintendo for the Game Boy Color. Released in Japan on September 21, 2000; in North America on December 4, 2000; and in PAL regions on June 15, 2001, it is the second Pokémon-themed entry in the Puzzle League series. While its Nintendo 64 counterpart Pokémon Puzzle League is visually based on the Pokemon anime, Puzzle Challenge instead draws inspiration from the Pokémon Gold and Silver games. The game features multiple modes of play and support for competitive play between two players. Puzzle Challenge was later digitally re-released via the Nintendo 3DS's Virtual Console line on November 6, 2014.

Nintendo Space World, formerly named Shoshinkai and Famicom Space World, was an annual video game trade show hosted by Nintendo from 1989 to 2001. Its three days of high-energy party atmosphere was the primary venue for Nintendo and its licensees to announce and demonstrate new consoles, accessories, and games. Anticipated and dissected each year with hype and exclusivity, it was a destination for the international video game press, with detailed developer interviews and technology demos.

<i>Tetrisphere</i> 1997 video game

Tetrisphere is a puzzle video game developed by H2O Entertainment and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo 64. It was released in North America on August 11, 1997, and in PAL regions in February 1998. The game, originally titled Phear, was initially intended for release on the Atari Jaguar in early 1995 but was reworked into a Tetris game for the N64 after Nintendo, a licensee for The Tetris Company, obtained the publishing rights.

<i>The New Tetris</i> 1999 video game

The New Tetris is a puzzle video game for the Nintendo 64. The game was developed by H2O Entertainment and published by Nintendo, based on the Tetris series. The game was originally released on August 2, 1999, in North America.

<i>Pac-Attack</i> 1993 puzzle video game

Pac-Attack, also known as Pac-Panic, is a 1993 falling-tile puzzle video game developed and published by Namco for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System and Sega Genesis. Versions for the Game Boy, Game Gear and Philips CD-i were also released. The player is tasked with clearing out blocks and ghosts without them stacking to the top of the playfield — blocks can be cleared by matching them in horizontal rows, while ghosts can be cleared by placing down a Pac-Man piece that can eat them. It is the first game in the Pac-Man series to be released exclusively for home platforms.

<i>Alien 3</i> (video game) 1992 video game

Alien 3 is a run and gun game based on the 1992 film of the same name. It was released for the Genesis and Amiga in 1992, then for the Commodore 64, Game Boy, Game Gear, Nintendo Entertainment System, Super Nintendo Entertainment System, and Master System.

<i>Tetris</i> (Game Boy video game) 1989 video game

Tetris is a 1989 puzzle video game developed and published by Nintendo for the Game Boy. It is a portable version of Alexey Pajitnov's original Tetris and it was bundled with the North American and European releases of the Game Boy itself. It is the first game to have been compatible with the Game Link Cable, a pack-in accessory that allows two Game Boy consoles to link for multiplayer purposes. A remaster, Tetris DX, was released on the Game Boy Color in 1998. It was released for the Nintendo 3DS' Virtual Console in December 2011 without multiplayer functionality. The game was released on the Nintendo Switch Online service in February 2023.

<i>Tetris 64</i> 1998 video game

Tetris 64 is a puzzle video game developed by Amtex and published by SETA for the Nintendo 64. It was released exclusively in Japan in 1998, and came packaged with a unique accessory, the "Bio Sensor", which alters the gameplay based on the player's heart rate.

<i>Racing Gears Advance</i> 2004 video game

Racing Gears Advance is a combat racing game for the Game Boy Advance system released in 2004 and includes licensed vehicles from GM, Dodge, Mitsubishi and Lotus Cars.

Boss Game Studios was an American video game developer based in Redmond, Washington. The company was founded in 1994 and closed in 2002. It specialized in Nintendo 64 racing games with releases such as Top Gear Rally and World Driver Championship.

Tiertex Design Studios Limited was a British software development company and former video game developer based in Macclesfield, England; it was founded in 1986, focusing on porting games to home computers and handheld platforms.

Alberto José González Pedraza is a Spanish video game graphic artist, music composer, designer, producer, and co-founder of Bit Managers and Abylight, who has worked on a variety of titles, most notably games released by French video game publisher Infogrames. He has composed music for or worked on over 60 games, ranging from music composition to graphic programming, and eventually became one of the lead designers at the Spanish developer Abylight. Despite having composed dozens of full soundtracks for video games, González has never had any formal music training.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Raphaël Gesqua</span> French composer, arranger and sound designer

Raphaël Gesqua is a French composer, arranger and sound designer.

References

  1. "IGN: Composing Tetrisphere". Archived from the original on 2012-02-05. Retrieved 2006-09-09.
  2. "Fathers of the U.S. Gaming Industry 2001". Archived from the original on 2016-03-03. Retrieved 2006-09-09.
  3. IGN.com presents The Best of 2005