Mining Mechs Xbox Review 7.5/10 "A budget title that drills down deep into the well of fun" ⛏️ @DelayedVictory_ @eastasiasoft #IndieGame #GameDev

It’s always fun to cover smaller games that are under a fiver, as it’s always pleasant to be surprised by a game that may otherwise have passed me by. Mining Mechs is a game that was released on Steam in 2023 and has now been ported to consoles. I played Mining Mechs on the XSX, and was quite won over by the core gameplay loop, surprisingly catchy music, silly humour, and pixel visuals.

The Story of Thor: A Successor of The Light – Britt's Vinyl Review 💿📀 #vgm #videogamevinyl #vinyl #vinylrecords #OST

Originally released on the Sega Mega Drive back in 1994, as part of the 30-year celebrations, Wayo Records have released this deluxe 2-disc vinyl set, with audio captured as purely as possible for absolute authenticity.

Known as Beyond Oasis in North American markets, the game was Ancient’s take on the Zelda formula, and tells the story of Prince Ali, who has found a golden armlet and must travel the land of Oasis, visiting four spirits in order to gain the eventual powers and abilities to defeat a rising evil who has located the corresponding silver armlet.

The music for The Story of Thor was composed by the mighty Yuzo Koshiro, someone that Wayo Records have previously worked with in their release of ActRaiser, and I’m sure is a luminary that our readers here will be very much aware of from his incredible resume of solid gold on the 16-bit machines. Heck, we named our son after one of his characters!

Wayo Records releases are always of exceptionally high quality, and this soundtrack doesn’t shy away in terms of its presentation. The cover features Prince Ali brandishing his weapon, with the gold armlet in view and various in-game characters rising up behind him. The rear continues the Arabian / Anime art style and shows two further characters, with the track listing laid out on the right-hand side. 

The main colouring of the background here is white, and it gives a crisp, clean feel that allows the illustrations to pop. The collector’s edition comes with an incredible shikishi signed by Yuzo Koshiro himself, this shikishi features the same characters as featured on the LP cover, but in a style that leads more towards anime. It has to be said, Yuzo Koshiro is such an important figure in the realm of video games that this is a very cool inclusion for the fans out there.

Opening the gatefold shows a double-page spread of character portraits, with Prince Ali on the right, and the characters Dytto, Efreet, Shade, and Bow spread across the pages, which have a faux-marble background. Inside is also where we find the classic Wayo records booklet – a favourite inclusion of mine – which begins with the track listing and story before moving on to two full colour pages of key scenes from the game itself – a mix of action shots and moments from cutscenes. 

There is then a two-page spread of Q&A that was compiled by Ancient Corp. from various social networks that add context to the choices made by the Ancient development whilst designing the game. 

Following this there are two pages of concept art, that then leads us on to the back pages, which consists of a Japanese style comic strip, and the credits. These are incredibly valuable in terms of the information they provide with no space wasted, as there are small illustrations of Prince Ali in each bottom corner in various action poses, whilst on the very back cover there is a drawing of Prince Ali mid-combat. 

The hand-drawn style is very tasty, and I was especially keen on a small section below the credits that details the audio extraction process followed for the creation of the vinyl, to give the purest possible sound.

The records themselves are ensconced in two anti-static sleeves (always appreciated), and the inner-circles of each contain the detail of Prince Ali utilising various in-game items and weapons on each image -honestly, there are tiny details everywhere to enjoy. The vinyl are transparent yellow, and this is a double-disc edition, with 34 tracks spread across each record.

SUMMARY

Wayo Records really know their stuff, and this is again a celebration of a key Mega Drive title with an incredible amount of care and detail that evokes memories of the game itself. Pure, pristine production – the record was mastered by Benjamin Joubert – means that this is very much one for your turntable, and you can flick through that luxurious booklet as the music washes over you, and takes you back to the land of Oasis. Another cracking release from Wayo records.

Right, I’m off into the garden to see if I can dig up a golden armlet.

Wayo Records – Purchase Link

TRACKLIST

SIDE A

1 Introduction

2 Awakening

3 To Begin

4 Peaceful

5 Battle

6 The Story of Thor

7 Holiness

8 Aqua

SIDE B

1 Burning Cave

2 Fortress

3 Vessel

4 Indication

5 Stone Place

6 Boundless Cliff

7 Raging Wind

8 Abyss

SIDE C

1 Mysterious Green

2 Chaos

3 Evil Territory

4 Water Cave

5 The Huge Creature

6 Voice From Darkside

7 Last Battle

8 Triumph

9 Item Get!

10 Magic Jewel

SIDE D

1 Encounter

2 Requiem

3 Concentration

4 Fire Ball

5 Deep Hole

6 Confession

7 Ending

8 Master Mind