I've recently become fascinated with PCM samples on the original Game Boy and Game Boy Color. Not the Game Boy Advance, though, as everyone knows they can do that type of audio. When I first played Joe & Mac on the Game Boy, I was surprised to hear the sound of a dinosaur roaring. Not just a cheap FM imitation - the real thing, in digitized audio. That was my first experience with it. As I began to play more and more games, including the games on racketboy's list of games that "push the limits", I began to notice more and more of this type of sound. Since no one has made a list like this before, I have made one. These are only the ones I know of, though, as there's probably some other games that I don't know of.
007: The World is Not Enough - Similarly to some other games, this game uses PCM samples for most (if not all) of its sound effects. The music also probably uses only 3 of the channels as well.
10-Pin Bowling: This game uses digitized bowling sound effects.
102 Dalmatians: Puppies to the Rescue - This game is one of the few to use PCM and the other channels in music (like Little Nicky), using it for a sampled xylophone in the music. This game also has sampled sound effects as well.
3D Pocket Pool - This game has some PCM chords and drums in music, and also has some other sampled sounds as well.
720* - Similar to Paperboy, it has some very bad quality sound effect and voice samples, such as "Skate or die!". However, this one doesn't seem to be able to play samples at the same time as the music, unlike Paperboy.
Alone in the Dark: The New Nightmare - The selection sound effect (?), and also uses samples for ambience in-game, which I feel does a good job.
Arcade Hits: Joust & Defender: This is only the third game I've found that uses PCM for all of its audio. This uses audio sampled from the original games!
Arcade Hits: Moon Patrol & Spy Hunter: Digital Eclipse is at it again with more arcade conversions featuring PCM audio! Although Moon Patrol doesn't seem to have any PCM, Spy Hunter uses it for most of its sound effects, similar to Mortal Kombat 4.
Army Men - This game has a lot of voice samples for the soldier, as well as drum beats in the music.
Army Men 2 - Same as the first Army Men.
ATV Racing - This racing game doesn't feature any music, but all of its sound effects (car revs, light countdown/selection) are PCM.
Blue's Clues: Blues's Alphabet Book - Some voice samples of Steve and Blue, as well as a few more.
Boxxle - One of, if not the first game to use PCM samples. This game has a raspy-sounding "Yeah!" when completing a level. There are also possibly some other samples, but I couldn't get past the second level to find out.
Boxxle II - Same as the first Boxxle.
Cannon Fodder - Heck, ALL of the audio in the game is sampled. At least that I know of. It includes ambient and war sound effects, voice clips such as "Let's kill them!" and "It is the enemy!", and it even has a theme song, which says "War has never been so much fun!" The last one sounds terrible, but it's probably degraded due to the fact that it does it while playing a full-motion video. Same with the helicopter sound effect.
The Chessmaster - Both the GB and GBC versions of the game feature voice clips saying "Welcome to Chessmaster." on the title screen as well as "Capture." and "Check." during in-game, in addition to sampled orchestra notes played at different pitches at each move.
Deer Hunter - Some ambience and voice clips.
Disney's Tarzan - All of the music tracks consist of sampled loops of jungle music. It works well, but there's an annoying buzzing sound.
Dragon's Lair - Features some sampled audio from the original laserdisc arcade version. The fact that it's able to do so while playing a full-motion video and without the quality degrading is amazing.
Duke Nukem - All of the sound effects are sampled. Like some other games, the music is only on three channels, leaving one for just the sound effects.
Gauntlet II - Just like the NES version, the vast majority of the sound effects are samples, including an announcer. For example, at the start of the game, he says "Welcome, (player type).", and other times in the game such as "(player type) now has (item type)." or "(player type) is about to die." The samples also seem the same as the NES version, which was presumably made by the same musician and the same company as well. The "Welcome, (player type)." even sounds the same as at the beginning of the SMS version of the first Gauntlet!
Godzilla: The Series - Features a sampled roar sound of Godzilla on the title screen.
Godzilla: The Series: Monster Wars - Same as Godzilla: The Series.
Hammerin' Harry: Ghost-Building Company - This game has three (almost unintelligible) voice clips (which are the same as Hammerin' Harry for the NES, which this game is sort of the sequel to) of the main character, including at the start of the level ("Let's get busy!" ), when losing a life ("Ouch!"), and when you complete a level (some other voice saying "Hammerin'...Harry!").
Jimmy White's Cueball - There are voice clips of the announcer (presumably Jimmy White) throughout the game. For example, at the title screen, he says "Welcome to Jimmy White's Cueball!"
Joe & Mac: Caveman Ninja - Before each boss, a voice sample of the boss you're about to fight plays. It turns off all the other audio, but it doesn't freeze the game.
Kirby: Tilt 'n' Tumble - There are several voice samples of Kirby in-game, as well as a voice saying the name of the game.
Klax (1999) - Just like Cannon Fodder, all of the audio is sampled. There's voice clips such as "Klax wave".
Knockout Kings: Features PCM audio covering the entire game, as far as I know. This even features sampled music!
LEGO Stunt Rally - This game uses sound effects during race gameplay.
The Lion King: Simba's Mighty Adventure - All of the sound effects are sampled. Like Mortal Kombat 4, the music is only on three channels, using one for the PCM sound effects.
Lingo - With PCM audio rare for a game for the original Game Boy, this game features a repeated, sampled "Let's go!" on the title screen.
Little Nicky - This game has an incredible amount of sample data for a Game Boy Color game. Not only a TON of voice samples such as "I'd like to take a moment on this one." and "What are you doing, Nicky?!", but this is also the only game I know of that uses the PCM channel AND all of the other channels combined for music. The samples are just one of the many things that make it feel more like a GBA game.
Mary-Kate & Ashley: Get a Clue! - There are many voice samples of Mary Kate and Ashley in this game, such as announcing the title of the mystery they are about to solve.
Mortal Kombat 4 - Just like Simba's Mighty Adventure, all the sound effects are sampled, and the music only uses three channels. This consists of the announcer's voice and some fighting grunts. It even works on the original Game Boy! Apparently the currently unreleased homebrew Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 does the same thing.
The Muppets - My second experience with PCM on the Game Boy. Each of the Muppets have their own voice clip, such as "Hey, waka, waka, waka!" on the title screen. Other than that, the audio is absolutely terrible.
The New Adventures of Mary-Kate & Ashley - There are many voice samples of Mary Kate and Ashley in this game, such as saying title of the game on the title screen, and announcing the title of the mystery they are about to solve.
The New Chessmaster - Same as The Chessmaster.
Oddworld Adventures - The main character, Abe, has a lot of voice clips from the PSX original. There are also some other sampled sound effects as well. Probably the only thing I like about the game. Oddworld Adventures II probably does the same thing.
Paperboy (1999) - The game, like several others, uses only 3 channels for the music, and 1 for PCM sound effects. However, the quality of the samples are terrible - for example, you can just barely make out the sound of a car beeping when it approaches you.
Perfect Dark - Most, but not all of the sound effects are sampled. I was surprised when I heard a full speech.
Pit Fighter - This game uses some voice clips while fighting, such as "Yeah!" when you hit the opponent.
Pocket Music - The music tracker's third programmable channel is dedicated entirely to samples, including drum samples and vocals.
Pokémon Pinball - This game has a few of the same Pikachu samples from Pokémon Yellow present.
Pokémon Yellow - I don't really play Pokemon that much, but I know that Pikachu has many different voice clips. These samples are at a very different quality than most of the other games, sounding less muffled but more distorted, like TMHT/TMNT 2.
Pooh and Tigger's Hunny Safari - A number of voice samples for Pooh and Tigger are present in the game.
The Powerpuff Girls: Bad Mojo Jojo - I haven't played this one yet, but it seems to be the same deal as Paint the Townsville Green.
The Powerpuff Girls: Battle Him - And again, the same deal...
The Powerpuff Girls: Paint the Townsville Green - Just like many other games on the list, the music is only 3 channels, with one using just PCM sound effects. All the sound effects are sampled.
Project S-11 - A little hard to notice, but this game seems to use rather-weird sounding PCM drums and bass in the music, similar to how Little Nicky and 101 Dalmatians: Puppies to the Rescue mix PCM with non-PCM instruments for the music.
Rampart (1999) - It features voice samples, sound effects, and even music taken from the arcade version!
Ready 2 Rumble Boxing - Features many voice clips from the arcade version, including the iconic "Llllet's get ready to rumble!".
The Ren & Stimpy Show: Space Cadet Adventures - There are several voice clips of the main characters Ren and Stimpy, including Ren's "YOU EEEDIOT!" which plays during the intro cutscene. Like The Simpsons: Escape from Camp Deadly, I had to use BGB for the speech to actually work. The voice samples are actually fairly high-quality for a Game Boy game.
The Ren & Stimpy Show: Veediots! - This game uses samples for most sound effects.
Rescue Heroes: Fire Frenzy - Uses voice clips for the different heroes of the Rescue Heroes.
Resident Evil (cancelled) - Like most other RE games, there's a "Resident Evil" voice clip at the title screen, but it's clearly a placeholder, because of how monotonous it sounds.
Resident Evil Gaiden - Just like the cancelled game, it has a "Resident Evil" voice clip at the title screen, but this one actually sounds right. Also, all the zombie sounds are sampled, which according to a review, are taken from Resident Evil 2.
Shrek: Fairy Tale Freakdown - This is the third fighting game (and probably the worst fighting game) I have seen to use PCM samples. Like Mortal Kombat 4, the music is only 3 channels, leaving one for just PCM sound effects. The PCM sounds aren't really voice clips, just selection beeps, punch impacts, and other more minor stuff.
The Simpsons: Krusty's Fun House - Just like the NES version, a laugh sound plays before the title screen music, but it sounds different than that version.
The Simpsons: Bart's Escape from Camp Deadly - One of the earliest games to use samples. There are three voice samples, and when each of them play, the game freezes and subtitles pop up at the top of the screen. When you get hurt, Bart says "Eat my shorts!", when you hit Lisa with a projectile, she says "Stop it, Bart!", and when you die, Bart says "Ay, caramba!" This doesn't appear to work on most emulators.
Spider-Man - Features several samples, but I haven't played this game much. In the intro, you can clearly hear an evil laugh. Spider-Man 2: The Sinister Six might use PCM as well.
Star Wars: Yoda Stories - All the sound effects in this game are PCM, featuring sounds such as lightsabers and R2-D2 beeping!
Teenage Mutant Hero/Ninja Turtles II: Back from the Sewers - At the round screen, one of the turtles says "Cowabunga!", and when you pause, after a baseball jingle plays, one of the turtles says "Pizza time!" These samples are at the same raspy quality as Pokemon Yellow, different than most other games.
Tomb Raider - A variety of sounds are sampled, such as shooting the gun and collecting an item.
Vigilante 8 - This has much sampled audio which accompanies much (although not all) of the game's audio.
WarLocked - This game has a variety of voice samples including the game's title, and "Yes, master!" and "Attack!", as well as a trumpet call.
Wayne's World - Features a voice sample when you lose a life.
Woody Woodpecker - At the beginning of the game, a laugh plays.
So, these are all of the official games I know of that use PCM samples. I'll tell you if I forgot any, or discover any more, and please tell me if you know of any other games in the comments.
I also recall there being a Woody Woodpecker GBC game that had a laughing sound on the title screen, and I recall Pocket Music using samples to create music, but I'm not completely sure.I'll check these games later.
Last edited by turboboy215 (Mar 19, 2018 1:52 am)
