Dan Forden
OccupationSound programmer

Dan Forden is an American sound programmer and music composer. He has worked on video games developed by Midway and its successor NetherRealm Studios since 1989. Forden achieved recognition for his audio work on the Mortal Kombat fighting game series where he was part of the original design team. He is also recognized for his Easter egg appearances in the series. Outside of video games, Forden played bass guitar in the progressive rock band Cheer-Accident from 1992 to 1993.[1]

Biography and working style

Forden is the youngest of their four children to Sara Forden (née Mazza) and Michael Forden.

Forden is a graduate of the Oberlin Conservatory of Music in the TIMARA program (or Technology in Music and Related Arts). He graduated in 1985 from the Conservatory and has since produced sounds for many Williams Electronics games. Forden's musical style, particularly for the Mortal Kombat series, is often a mixture of synthetic and organic sounds. A typical composition usually incorporates ethnic drumming with synthetic basses, synthetic leads and/or pads, and sometimes exotic instruments.[1]

In the Mortal Kombat series, he is credited as Dan "Toasty" Forden. The nickname derives from an Easter egg that first appeared in Mortal Kombat II, where Forden's head would appear in the bottom-right corner of the screen and shout "Toasty!" in a falsetto when an uppercut was performed. After being retained for Mortal Kombat 3, the Easter egg would not be used again until the 2011 reboot. It also appears in the "Tournament" stage of Mortal Kombat 11, using the Mortal Kombat 3 graphic of Forden. The "Toasty!" sound effect would be featured frequently in the series after its introduction, often in reference to fatalities performed by Scorpion.[2]

Two additional Easter eggs were created featuring Forden in Mortal Kombat 3 and Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3; freezing an opponent in "danger mode" with Sub-Zero would make him shout "Frosty!" and both players holding down the "High Punch" button after a Stage Fatality in Scorpion's Lair would make him shout "Crispy!"[2]

Forden also included the "toasty" quote in the pinball machine Medieval Madness. When the player hits the right ramp, one of the quotes that is played is "toasty!".

The "Toasty!" Easter egg is attributed in the dance simulator StepMania: whenever a player gets 250 consecutive Perfects or better (Excellents or better in the 4.0 CVS version), a "toasty" appears. The PopCap game Peggle also features a tribute, as does the Aerosmith-themed rail shooter Revolution X, where singer Steven Tyler shouts "Toasty!" in reaction to explosions.

Several songs that he composed for the Mortal Kombat 3 soundtrack were used in the precursor to South Park, Jesus vs. Santa.

Works

Pinball

Williams

Midway (Bally)

Stern

Video games

Year Game Role(s) System(s) Notes
Audio director Sound and/or Music Other
1989 Arch Rivals No Yes No Arcade Uncredited
1991 Super High Impact No Yes No Arcade
1992 Mortal Kombat No Yes No Arcade
1993 Mortal Kombat II No Yes No Arcade
1995 Mortal Kombat 3 No Yes No Arcade
Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 No Yes Yes Arcade Grunts, Screams, Groans and Gibberish
1996 Mortal Kombat Trilogy No Yes Yes PlayStation Graphics
1997 Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero No Yes No PlayStation
Mortal Kombat 4 No Yes No Arcade Only credited in MK4 Design Team
2000 Mortal Kombat: Special Forces No Yes No PlayStation
CART Fury No Yes No Arcade
2002 WWF Raw No Yes No Xbox Sound effects recording
NFL Blitz 20-02 No Yes No GameCube
PlayStation 2
Xbox		 Sound effects only
Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance No Yes No GameCube
PlayStation 2
Xbox
MLB SlugFest 20-03 No Yes No GameCube
PlayStation 2
Xbox		 Sound effects only
2003 MLB SlugFest 20-04 No Yes No GameCube
PlayStation 2		 Sound effects only
2004 Psi-Ops: The Mindgate Conspiracy No Yes No PlayStation 2
Xbox		 Additional audio
NBA Ballers No No Yes PlayStation 2 Commentary design
Mortal Kombat: Deception Yes No No PlayStation 2
Xbox
MLG Slugfest Loaded Yes No No PlayStation 2
Xbox
2005 Unreal Championship 2: The Liandri Conflict No No Yes Xbox Voice Production
Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks Yes No No PlayStation 2
Xbox
Blitz: The League No No Yes PlayStation 2
Xbox		 Additional audio support
NBA Ballers: Phenom Yes No No PlayStation 2
Xbox
2006 Mortal Kombat: Armageddon Yes No No PlayStation 2
Xbox
MLB Slugfest 2006 No No Yes PlayStation 2
Xbox
2011 Mortal Kombat No Yes Yes PlayStation 3
Xbox 360		 Lead sound designer
Batman: Arkham City Lockdown No No Yes iOS
Android		 Senior sound designer
2013 Injustice: Gods Among Us Yes Yes No PlayStation 3
Wii U
Xbox 360		 3 tracks in album[3]
2015 WWE Immortals No Yes No iOS
Android
Mortal Kombat X Yes No No iOS
Android
PlayStation 4
Xbox One
2017 Injustice 2 Yes Yes No iOS
Android
PlayStation 4
Xbox One		 3 tracks in album[4]
2019 Mortal Kombat 11 Yes Yes No PlayStation 4
Xbox One
Nintendo Switch
Microsoft Windows		 Music for the stage "Sea of Blood"

References

  1. 1 2 Naumenko, Michael (April 2011). "Dan Forden Interview: The Creation of the Mortal Kombat 9 Soundtrack (April 2011)". Game-OST. Retrieved March 26, 2015.
  2. 1 2 Williamson, James (August 19, 2020). "Where Mortal Kombat's Toasty Line Came From". Screen Rant. Retrieved August 19, 2020.
  3. ↑ "Injustice: Gods Among Us - Original Video Game Score". iTunes. Retrieved February 25, 2018.
  4. ↑ "Injustice 2 (Original Video Game Soundtrack)". iTunes. Retrieved February 25, 2018.
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