To wrap up this week, I'm going to share some of my favorite video game covers. I'm not a die-hard fan of them, and just do not have the time to keep up with places like OCremix, but there are a handful of groups and covers of which I'm fairly fond. Consider this the creme.

The Minibosses - Mega Man 2



If you listen to video game covers at all, you've heard of the Minibosses. They've been around for what feels like forever, and everything they've done has been pretty polished. I saw these guys at the First Unitarian Church in Philly a while back, and somehow my shouts for them to play this next got through all the cries of "RYGAR." Best show ever.

No Crash Man, though. No one does that for some reason.

Hyadain - CRASH! Let's Do It



So I have to go to other sources for a Crash Man fix. Hyadain did a whole series of covers of the various Mega Man 2 themes, with homoerotic lyrics overlaid. They're hilarious. He's done a fair amount of work with stuff from other games, too, and most of his songs, while in Japanese, have alt videos where people have inserted English subtitles.

ArmCannon - Bhost Gustors



Another group that's actually covered Crash Man's theme, these guys seem to be now what the Minibosses were a few years ago, in terms of popularity and amount of live shows. The sound isn't the best version for this song (which is amazing), but this is pretty much their best video ever.

S.S.H. - Zeromus Battle



Out of Japan, these guys know what they're doing, have done a ton of tracks from a ton of games, and offer pretty much their entire discography for free on their website. The site's in Japanese, as are most of the track titles and game names, but a trip through Babelfish or abducting an East Asian Studies major should help you find what you're looking for.

Game Over - Little Mac's Confession



This one actually did hit OCremix briefly, but it was good enough that I shelled out to import their EP/demo disc, the aptly named Nintendo Metal, from somewhere in Sweden.

Vomitron - Contra



Another one-off, but this one's a hefty one, weighing in at least 10 minutes. They managed to medley every single Contra theme into one epically long track. Great driving music. Their non-game stuff isn't too bad, either.

The Protomen - The Trooper



For a change of pace, let's have a video game tribute band covering something normal, in this case, an Iron Maiden classic. Better known for their two Mega Man-inspired rock operas, these guys seem to love covering stuff. To be honest, I was torn between posting this video and this gem, another classic.

Cocoa Brovaz - Super Brooklyn



More a sampling than a cover, but really, there is no way this should have worked as well as it does.

Tanguy Ukelele Orchestra - Rainbow Road



Pretty much just a dude with a ukelele and a voice, TUO's video game covers are actually pretty good in most cases, and certainly quirky.

And, for a bonus, remember that Minibosses show I mentioned with the first video? This is how they closed it, along with Chromelodeon, a local Philly ambient/psychedelic group that was also playing that night, and has unfortunately broken up since.

The Minibosses & Chromelodeon - Legend Of Zelda Medley



This is the only time this collaboration has ever happened, and it was so beautiful in person that I was nearly moved to tears, given my eternal hard-on for the Zelda series. The video quality isn't nearly as good as the audio, but imagine nearly twelve dudes onstage, and yes that is an electric violin.

Well, it's been fun, hope you enjoyed at least some of the stuff I shared. Maybe they'll let me do this again sometime.