Three studies in what made Ben Daglish's SID music remarkable.
Gauntlet
1986 · US Gold · C64 · Original arcade: Atari Games
Atari's Gauntlet (1985 arcade) was a four-player dungeon crawler of
unprecedented scale. Its C64 port, published by US Gold in 1986, faced the familiar challenge
of representing a multi-speaker arcade sound system through the SID chip's three voices.
Daglish's solution was characteristically direct: he did not attempt to replicate the arcade
score but composed a wholly original set of dungeon themes that fit the game's atmosphere
while being achievable on the SID.
The title music is the standout. Built on a descending bass line that recalls medieval
troubadour music, it creates immediate atmosphere before a single dungeon tile has been
rendered. The harmonic language is minor and modal - unusual for C64 game music of the period,
which tended toward major-key fanfares. The use of silence as a compositional element (brief
rests that let the bass line breathe) shows a restraint rare in SID music.
The in-game dungeon themes are designed for sustained listening - they loop without becoming
irritating after ten minutes of play. This is harder to achieve than it sounds. Daglish
accomplished it by writing themes long enough to have internal contrast: a main theme gives
way to a contrasting middle section before returning. The loop point is placed at the end of
a musical phrase, not mid-bar, so the repeat never sounds like a cut.
Browse all Gauntlet subtunes on the Music page or view
Gauntlet box art in the Gallery.
The Last Ninja
1987 · System 3 · C64 · Composed by Ben Daglish & Anthony Lees
The Last Ninja is the most critically celebrated C64 game ever released,
and its music is inseparable from that status. The score is a collaboration: Daglish
composed the first two levels - Wastelands and Wilderness - and Anthony Lees
composed the remaining five. The HVSC STIL (Song Title Information List) documents the
per-subtune credits.
Wastelands & Wilderness (Daglish)
Daglish's two themes are pastoral and melancholy in a way that is unique in C64 music.
Wastelands opens the game: a sparse, pentatonic melody over a slow bass pattern,
suggesting a world of mud and autumn leaves. It does not try to be exciting; it tries to be
felt. Wilderness maintains this mood while introducing slightly more harmonic
movement - a sense of cautious progress through open country.
Both themes demonstrate Daglish's ability to write music that serves the game's emotional
atmosphere rather than its gameplay tempo. The ninja is not running; he is walking carefully
through a landscape of danger and beauty. The music understands this.
The Palace through The Basement (Lees)
Anthony Lees' five themes shift the character of the score toward the martial and ceremonial
as the ninja penetrates deeper into enemy territory. The Palace is imposing where Wastelands
was desolate; The Dungeon is tense where Wilderness was open. The transition between
composers is audible but not jarring - both use the SID's three voices in similar ways, and
both prioritise atmosphere over technical display.
The seamless integration of two compositional styles across a seven-level game is one of
the achievements of The Last Ninja's score. It works because both composers understood the
game's world and subordinated their individual voices to its demands.
All seven Last Ninja subtunes with composer credits are listed on the
Music page.
Krakout & Deflektor
1987 · Gremlin Graphics · C64 · The Gremlin In-House Era at Its Peak
The year 1987 produced two Daglish compositions for Gremlin Graphics that demonstrate the
range of his musical voice. Krakout and Deflektor
are complementary games - both are single-screen action puzzles in the Breakout tradition -
but their music is completely different in character.
Krakout
Krakout's title music is the more famous of the two. It is an energetic, upbeat theme with
a strong walking bass line and a melody that moves in eighth notes - busy, alert, relentlessly
forward. It became one of the most-played loading themes of the Breakout genre, partly because
Krakout was a successful game that spent many minutes loading from cassette, but also because
the music is genuinely enjoyable on its own terms.
The in-game theme is quieter and more repetitive by design - background music for concentration
rather than excitement. The contrast between the title and in-game themes shows Daglish
thinking functionally: different gameplay states require different music.
Deflektor
Deflektor's score takes the opposite approach. The game is a laser-puzzle in which the player
rotates mirrors to direct a beam toward a target; it demands careful, deliberate play.
Daglish's title music matches this: slower, more electronic in texture, with sustained notes
and careful voice leading. It sounds like thinking.
The juxtaposition of these two Gremlin titles from the same year illustrates the breadth of
Daglish's musical vocabulary: he could write both the rushing energy of Krakout and the
measured stillness of Deflektor, and both are exactly right for their games.