‘90s Arcade Racer “RACING MUSIC” Interview – Scarlet Moon’s Jayson Napolitano Talks Audio Elements, Vince DiCola, and Stealth Drop

The dream of the 90s briefly shone bright with the Kickstarter for ‘90s Arcade Racer. While the game itself never came to be, Scarlet Moon’s recent stealth drop of “RACING MUSIC” on all major music streaming platforms gave racing fans a taste of two of the title’s sweet tunes.

Gamers Heroes recently got a chance to ask Scarlet Moon’s Jayson Napolitano questions about RACING MUSIC, from its audio elements, to working with Platinum-selling artist Vince DiCola, to what sparked its stealth drop – learn more with our interview.

‘90s Arcade Racer “RACING MUSIC” Interview – Scarlet Moon’s Jayson Napolitano Talks Audio Elements, Vince DiCola, and Stealth Drop

Gamers Heroes

‘90s Arcade Racer was announced during a hot time for retro revival-style Kickstarter projects like Mighty No. 9 and Yooka-Laylee. How did the audio elements come together during the Kickstarter period? 

Jayson Napolitano

So, we were brought on about 2.5 years after the Kickstarter. That is, the Kickstarter ran in early 2013, and we worked on the project in mid- to late-2015. 

We didn’t really have any part in the Kickstarter period or the direction of the general music since we were brought in to do a special guest theme given Tyrone at Nicalis was a fan of Vince DiCola’s work.

Gamers Heroes

SEGA’s racers like Daytona USA had a distinct flavor, with Takenobu Mitsuyoshi at the helm. 

I absolutely love the synth work on BURNING CLUTCH and THRILL OF SPEED that captures similar elements – that distinct 90s flavor that’s in the name! 

What were some of the other elements that led to the OST’s design? 

Jayson Napolitano

Interestingly, we were given much in the way of direction for the contribution. This resulted in what I feel is a very ’90s-esque pop song, “THRILL OF SPEED.” 

However, the direction we got is that we needed to up the tempo and make it more upbeat and uplifting, resulting in the revision of “BURNING CLUTCH” that became the final version of the song. 

If you can believe it, Vince DiCola and his writing partner Kenny Meriedeth had likely never heard the amazing music of Takenobu Mitsuyoshi in Daytona USA and were simply trying to do a ’90s pop song that would fit in a racing game.

Gamers Heroes

What drew Vince DiCola to ’90s Arcade Racer? 

I saw that he entered the game space around that time with Saturday Morning RPG and Angry Birds Transformers, but I also saw he was focused more on movie soundtracks for releases like Rocky IV and Transformers: The Movie before that.

Jayson Napolitano

Vince is an amazing artist who I’ve been friends with for a long time. We were always trying to find angles he could take to get into video games. 

When I launched Scarlet Moon, I asked if he’d allow me to represent him and his writing partner, Kenny Meriedeth. 

While we’ve since parted ways so he could pursue representation that did more work in the film space, I’m really honored to have been given their trust to work with them for a time. 

We did get to work on a small handful of projects, but unfortunately, many of the works we created were for prototypes and builds of games that never saw the light. This is another example. But we didn’t want this music to go unheard.

What sparked this collaborate specifically was Tyrone at Nicalis being a fan of Vince. We all met at the LA convention center for what must have been E3, in the dining area upstairs, and talked about the possibility of working together. 

That turned into ’90s Arcade Racer. 

Vince and Kenny were excited to try their hands at a racing game and already knew what ’90s pop music sounded like.

Gamers Heroes

Finally, what sparked the stealth drop of RACING MUSIC? 

Jayson Napolitano

I’ve been wanting to put this out for about five or more years now. 

We were told we could release the single any time after the trailer that was dropped in 2015 featuring the song was released. 

I emailed Tyrone many times over the years since then to confirm if we could use ’90s Arcade Racer key art, call it ’90s Arcade Racer EP, etc., and never got a response. 

I figured there was some story here now given how much time had elapsed, that is, it’s great that fans are getting to enjoy something that was created for the game in this way. 

I had planned to make a big story out of it and was shopping it around to outlets, but eventually just decided to release it and share in our fan newsletter and with a handful of press outlets. 

So I appreciate you taking notice!

Fans can stay connected with Scarlet Moon via their official Facebook, Twitter/X, and Bluesky social media channels, along with the official Scarlet Moon website.

True experts in the field, they currently represent legends like Hitoshi Sakimoto, Motoi Sakuraba, Hiroki Kikuta, Yuko Komiyama, Emi Evans, and Dale North!

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