UFO 50,000 Turns Every Game into a Two-Hour Mashup

A 50-track tribute to UFO 50

Dan Vecchitto, co-owner of Trombone Champ studio Holy Wow Games, has assembled a two-hour hip-hop mashup album using music from every game in UFO 50. The project, titled UFO 50,000, is available to stream on YouTube.

The idea began when Vecchitto was invited to appear on The Secret Lives of Games, a podcast that planned to cover all 50 titles in Mossmouth’s retro-inspired collection. He started with the music from Onion Delivery and Dorrough’s “Ice Cream Paint Job”, then made two more mixes.

About a year later, Vecchitto returned to the project and expanded it to 20 tracks. He initially expected to stop there because some of the remaining songs looked difficult to work with. Instead, the momentum carried him through 35 tracks, and completing the full set became the obvious conclusion.

“Once I had around 35 tracks remixed, the finish line was in sight,” Vecchitto explained. “Stopping before all 50 felt silly, even though the last few were challenging.”

Where game music meets hip-hop

The finished mix is built around connections between each game and its accompanying rap track. “Grimstone Road” reshapes Lil Nas X’s “Old Town Road” around the old-west RPG Grimstone, while “Still Mortol” pairs Mortol—a game about sacrificing lives to advance—with the Geto Boys’ grim “Still”.

Other standout combinations include “Can I Kick It Club?”, which joins the theme from soccer game Kick Club with A Tribe Called Quest’s “Can I Kick It?”, and “Velgress’s a Bitch”, a lively blend of Nas and Velgress.

Vecchitto’s favourite track

Vecchitto’s personal choice is “Waldorf Around”, which places House of Pain’s “Jump Around” over the music from the walrus platformer Waldorf’s Journey.

The source track’s unusual time signature made the arrangement especially demanding. Vecchitto chopped it into a 4/4 structure, transforming what began as a party anthem into something more dreamy and atmospheric. For him, that kind of recontextualisation is where a mashup earns its place.

A showcase for UFO 50’s soundtrack

UFO 50 contains a remarkably broad collection of songs, yet composer Eirik Suhrke’s work maintains a consistent 8-bit character across the different games. UFO 50,000 highlights that range by turning the individual themes into one connected, unpredictable mixtape.

You can listen to the complete album through the UFO 50,000 video, or jump between its timestamped sections to sample individual pairings. That pick-and-mix approach also suits the way UFO 50 itself is designed to be played.

For more arcade and retro-gaming coverage, browse the RETROCADE Arcade Blog, explore the latest arcade videos, or use the Arcade Machine Buying Guide when planning a dedicated games room.