Vegas Dream (NES)

Vegas Dream

Platform: NES Year: 1988 Developer: HAL Laboratory, Inc. Buy: Amazon

Vegas Dream is a casino simulation game developed and published by HAL Laboratory. In Japan, it was published by Epic/Sony Records, and is one of the better casino games released for the NES. It features four casino staples: blackjack, roulette, keno, and a slot machine along with plenty more unusual forms of gambling. Occasionally you’ll be challenged by a high roller, there are also a couple minor scenes that happen every now and then where you can try you luck. Sometimes people ask to be lent money, sometimes you can buy stocks, sometimes you go to shows, etc. You can even get married in the game, though it's irrelevant to your success.

The game is split up into two modes; Vegas Dream, which is the main "story" mode of the game (if you can even call it that) where you must win a total of $10,000,000. The game takes place in the nonexistent HAI Palace Casino (Epic Palace in the Japanese version), based on Caesars Palace. A password system allows you to save your progress and keep your winnings until the next time you play. However, the password is very long, and some characters look like others, so you have to be careful when writing it down. The other mode is One Spot which is an exhibition game. The game can be played by up to four human players huddling around one controller. The slot machine appears to yield and overall positive gain over time, so it’s possible just to play it forever and beat the game. However, its tiny maximum bet of $300 makes it unfeasible. The other games don’t have a maximum bet, so you can make a killing on a single round. With the use of emulation, since the game is RNG-based, the player can easily win on the roulette table. Alternatively, if the player is playing on actual hardware, they can simply (but tediously) re-enter their password until they win.

The game also has an interesting feature; if the player loses all of their money, the staff at the HAI Palace casino give the player a free pull on the slot machine lever in an attempt to get one last chance. However, if the player fails here, it's game over.

Vegas Dream received a spiritual sequel, Vegas Stakes. There was also a more-direct sequel (by name) released for the Playstation, Las Vegas Dream 2 (PS1).

Screenshots

The title screen. Playing black jack. Talking to a businessman about stock trading. Going to a show. Well, that can't be good! Game Over.

Music

The music is upbeat and up-tempo which keeps the game feeling light and fun. The tunes begin to drag on you after a couple hours of play, so thankfully, each game and section of the casino has its own unique anthem. Most of the music consists of the familiar jazzy themes that you'd hear in Las Vegas in real life. There is also a song that plays for each event in the game, making the score quite big for a soundtrack of its time. Even these song go well with the game; when the player gets a good outcome interacting with an NPC, their result is announced on the news with a fast-paced up-tempo song. If the player gets bad news, then a downbeat depressing song is played. Even the song that plays when the player gets married has a snippet of Mendelssohn's Wedding March.

The game appears to be the only video game related work by professional musician Kuni Kawachi. The game also uses Hiroshi Yamazaki's sound driver. Kawachi most likely gave some form of tangible media to the developers to implement into the game. Because of his numerous music credits, it is most likely Kazuo Sawa arranged Kawachi's music to the NES.

Recording

#	Title	Composer	Programmer	Length	Listen	Download
01	Title	Kuni Kawachi	Hiroshi Yamazaki	1:12		Download
02	Blackjack	Kuni Kawachi	Hiroshi Yamazaki	1:30		Download
03	Roulette	Kuni Kawachi	Hiroshi Yamazaki	1:23		Download
04	Slot Machine	Kuni Kawachi	Hiroshi Yamazaki	1:20		Download
05	Keno	Kuni Kawachi	Hiroshi Yamazaki	1:52		Download
06	Got a Blackjack	Kuni Kawachi	Hiroshi Yamazaki	0:04		Download
07	Lounge	Kuni Kawachi	Hiroshi Yamazaki	0:51		Download
08	News	Kuni Kawachi	Hiroshi Yamazaki	0:58		Download
09	Show	Kuni Kawachi	Hiroshi Yamazaki	0:12		Download
10	Challenger	Kuni Kawachi	Hiroshi Yamazaki	3:09		Download
11	Wedding	Kuni Kawachi	Hiroshi Yamazaki	0:09		Download
12	Game Over	Kuni Kawachi	Hiroshi Yamazaki	0:12		Download
13	You Win!	Kuni Kawachi	Hiroshi Yamazaki	0:06		Download
14	Congratulations!	Kuni Kawachi	Hiroshi Yamazaki	0:29		Download
15	Pool	Kuni Kawachi	Hiroshi Yamazaki	3:09		Download
16	Credits	Kuni Kawachi	Hiroshi Yamazaki	0:58		Download

Credits

• Ripper: Gil_Galad
• Recorder: Doommaster1994
• Game Credits:
  • Music Composer: Kuni Kawachi
  • Sound Effects: Kazuo Sawa credited as K. Sawa
  • Uncredited Sound Driver: Hiroshi Yamazaki
• Manual Credits:
  • Sound: Kuni Kawachi

(Sources: 1, 2, Japan Manual)

The credits can be viewed after beating the game. There is both a music credit to Kuni Kawachi, as well as a sound credit to Kazuo Sawa, who most likely implemented Kawachi's music into the sound driver. A code comparison reveals the game uses the standard sound engine used by Sawa, programmed by Hiroshi Yamazaki.

The back of the Japanese manual lists a few of the staff members, Kawachi being credited for sound.

Game Rip

Format	Download
	Download (Info)

Ripping NES music is a very arduous process that is beyond the scope of this site.

Releases

Japan Title: Viva Las Vegas Platform: Famicom Released: 1988-09-30 Publisher: Epic/Sony Inc.     USA Title: Vegas Dream Platform: NES Released: 1990-03-?? Publisher: HAL America Inc.

Links

• en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vegas_Dream - Wikipedia.