Ypx here—today we’re going to be listening to “Bonus Stage” from Lode Runner 3D.
Released in 1999, the Lode Runner series is an platforming puzzler game, often called the trap-em-up genre. What we’re listening to today is the soundtrack for the Bonus Stage.
We begin immediately in the groove, with a repetitive piano riff over a drum loop and an occasional bass guitar, but that changes quickly after a few phrases. Gone is the piano instead opting for a bell-like keyboard and a more prominent role for the bass. After a few phrases of this, the piano does return with its original riff and the bass mostly falls back to its occasional role. By the second time around, it is clear that the track is made of these two groupings of phrases and alternates between them.
