Christopher Hülsbeck (born 2 March 1968), professionally known as Chris Huelsbeck, is a German video game music composer who has worked in the industry since the 1980s. His early work includes music for games such as The Great Giana Sisters and the Turrican series. He later worked on the music for Factor 5 titles such as Star Wars: Rogue Squadron and its sequels.
Career Huelsbeck's professional career began in 1986, when his composition Shades won a music competition organized by the German computer magazine 64'er. This led to a position at Rainbow Arts, where he composed music for games including The Great Giana Sisters.
Huelsbeck also developed music tools for home computers. In 1986, he published SoundMonitor for the Commodore 64 and later co-created the TFMX ("The Final Musicsystem eXtended") sound editor with programmer Peter Thierolf.
During the early 1990s, Huelsbeck composed music for the Turrican series and co-founded the game developer Kaiko, whose releases included Gem'X and Apidya. In 1998, he moved to the United States to join Factor 5, where he worked on the Star Wars: Rogue Squadron series.
Huelsbeck continued composing in later years, including Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams (2012), Tiny Thor (2023) and X-Out: Resurfaced (2025).
Orchestra performances Huelsbeck's music was performed in the Game Concerts series in Leipzig between 2003 and 2007, including works from Apidya, Turrican II, Turrican 3 and The Great Giana Sisters.
On 23 August 2008, Symphonic Shades was presented in Cologne as a concert devoted entirely to Huelsbeck's music, performed by the WDR Radio Orchestra and the FILMharmonic Choir Prague. It was the first video game music concert to be broadcast live on the radio. In 2009, selections from Symphonic Shades were performed by the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra as part of Sinfonia Drammatica, alongside music by Yoko Shimomura.
Selected video game credits Year Title Role 1987 The Great Giana Sisters Music 1988 Katakis / Denaris Music 1989 R-Type Intro music 1990 X-Out Music 1990 Turrican Music 1991 Turrican II: The Final Fight Music 1991 Z-Out Music 1991 Gem'X Music 1992 Apidya Music 1992 Jim Power in Mutant Planet Music 1993 Mega Turrican / Turrican 3: Payment Day Music 1993 Super Turrican Music 1995 Super Turrican 2 Music 1996 Tunnel B1 Music 1997 Extreme Assault Music 1998 Star Wars: Rogue Squadron Music 2000 Star Wars Episode I: Battle for Naboo Music 2001 Star Wars Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader Music direction 2003 Star Wars Rogue Squadron III: Rebel Strike Music direction 2012 Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams Music 2013 Doctor Who: Legacy Music and production 2017 Bubsy: The Woolies Strike Back Music 2019 Fade to Silence Music 2023 Tiny Thor Music 2023 Interstellar Sentinel Music 2025 X-Out: Resurfaced Music2026Apidya SpecialMusic
Selected discography Year Title Notes 1991 Shades Album 1992 Apidya Soundtrack Soundtrack 1992 To Be On Top Album 1993 Turrican Soundtrack Soundtrack 1997 Tunnel B1 Soundtrack Soundtrack 1997 Extreme Assault Soundtrack Soundtrack 2000 Merregnon Soundtrack, Volume 1 Composer, one bonus track 2004 Merregnon Soundtrack, Volume 2 Composer, two tracks 2008 Symphonic Shades Orchestral album 2013 Turrican Soundtrack Anthology Soundtrack anthology 2014 GEM'X Extended Soundtrack Soundtrack 2017 Turrican – Orchestral Selections Orchestral album 2023 Tiny Thor Soundtrack Soundtrack 2024 Interstellar Sentinel Soundtrack Soundtrack 2025 X-Out: Resurfaced (Original Video Game Soundtrack) Soundtrack
References
External links
Artist profile at OverClocked ReMix