Flagship Titles

Cybernoid: The Fighting Machine (1988)

Platform: C64, Amiga, Atari ST, Spectrum, Amstrad, DOS · Publisher: Hewson Consultants · Developer: Raffaele Cecco · Music: Jeroen Tel

The Breakthrough

Cybernoid: The Fighting Machine was released in 1988 by Hewson Consultants. Designed and programmed by Raffaele Cecco, it was a shoot-’em-up of considerable sophistication for the era — and the game that introduced Jeroen Tel to the wider UK gaming audience.

The soundtrack earned a Zzap!64 Gold Medal alongside the game. Tel’s title theme demonstrates polyphonic SID composition at a new level of complexity: layered voices with careful use of the filter and the ADSR envelope to produce a sense of sonic depth that seemed to exceed what three-voice hardware should achieve.

Listen to all four subtunes via the music catalogue or browse the gallery for box art and screenshots. HVSC path: /MUSICIANS/T/Tel_Jeroen/Cybernoid.sid

What Makes It Work

The title theme establishes what would become Tel’s signature approach: a strong, memorable main melody supported by counterpoint in a second voice, with the bass voice providing rhythmic and harmonic foundation. The SID’s ring modulation is used sparingly but effectively to add metallic texture at key moments.

The in-game music maintains energy while the player navigates the single-screen stages. The bonus screen music — a shorter, more playful cue — demonstrates Tel’s range even within a compact composition.

Cybernoid II: The Revenge (1989)

Platform: C64, Amiga, Atari ST, Spectrum, Amstrad · Publisher: Hewson Consultants · Developer: Raffaele Cecco · Music: Jeroen Tel

The Definitive Work

Cybernoid II: The Revenge (1989) is widely regarded as Jeroen Tel’s most celebrated C64 composition — and one of the finest soundtracks ever written for the SID chip. Five subtunes across 208+ seconds of play time, each demonstrating a different facet of Tel’s compositional mastery.

The main theme is the centrepiece: a soaring, complex melody with counterpoint across all three voices, rich use of the SID’s filter, and a harmonic sophistication that rewards close listening. HVSC STIL notes describe the subtunes in detail.

The soundtrack appears in the music catalogue with all five subtunes listed. See the gallery for Cybernoid II box art and in-game screenshots. HVSC path: /MUSICIANS/T/Tel_Jeroen/Cybernoid_II.sid

Critical Legacy

Zzap!64 awarded Cybernoid II a Gold Medal. The community consensus in subsequent decades has consistently placed the Cybernoid II SID among the top handful of C64 compositions. Remix64’s community has produced numerous acclaimed arrangements. The 2024 live performance by Jeroen Tel demonstrates the music’s enduring power in a concert setting.

Hawkeye (1988)

Platform: C64 · Publisher: Thalamus · Music: Jeroen Tel

Driving Action

Released the same year as Cybernoid, Hawkeye (Thalamus, 1988) shows a different facet of Tel’s approach. Where Cybernoid is expansive and melodic, Hawkeye is tighter, more rhythmically driven — a kinetic score for a kinetic game.

The title theme sets an aggressive tempo that the in-game music sustains across multiple stage themes. Tel uses the SID’s voice allocation to push pulse-width modulation and hard sync effects for a harsher, more industrial texture appropriate to the game’s sci-fi shooting context.

Five subtunes: Title, Stage 1, Stage 2, High Score, Game Over. All available in the music catalogue. Box art in the gallery. HVSC path: /MUSICIANS/T/Tel_Jeroen/Hawkeye.sid

Myth: History in the Making (1989)

Platform: C64, Amiga · Publisher: System 3 · Music: Jeroen Tel

Epic Mythology Meets SID Precision

Myth: History in the Making (System 3, 1989) is an action platformer set across three mythological periods: ancient Greece, Egypt, and Arthurian legend. Tel’s soundtrack matches the ambition of the premise, with distinct music for each setting that nonetheless shares a compositional language.

The title theme is suitably epic — a long-form composition with a narrative sweep unusual for SID music of the era. The level themes (Greece, Egypt, Camelot) adapt the sonic identity to their cultural context within the constraints of the three-voice chip. The result is five subtunes of consistent quality across 2:32 of title screen music alone.

All five subtunes are in the music catalogue. See the gallery for Myth box art. HVSC path: /MUSICIANS/T/Tel_Jeroen/Myth.sid

Supremacy: Your Will Is Our Command (1990)

Platform: Amiga, Atari ST, DOS · Publisher: Virgin Games · Music: Jeroen Tel (Amiga version)

The Amiga Statement

Supremacy: Your Will Is Our Command (Virgin Games, 1990) is a space strategy game with an expansive scope. Tel’s soundtrack for the Amiga version is four minutes of precisely constructed electronic music that establishes the scale and tone of the game before a single decision is made.

This is Tel’s signature statement as an Amiga MOD composer. The tracker format allows him to move beyond the SID chip’s voice constraints into a richer sampled palette — and the result demonstrates that his compositional instincts translate perfectly to the new medium.

The module is archived at Amiga Music Preservation and Mod Archive. It appears in the music catalogue. See Supremacy gallery for box art and screenshots.

Beyond the Flagship Five

The five titles above are the critical landmarks, but the full Jeroen Tel catalogue is deep. The music catalogue covers all known commercial credits — from Eliminator and Savage (both 1988) through to OutRun Europa (1992) and beyond. The gallery holds box art and screenshots for most major titles. The demo page covers MoN’s scene releases including Cybernoid Music (1988) and Echofied 6581 (2010).