Archives

I have been more than pleased with the work of the publishing company “Sumthing Else.” Not that I have enjoyed all of their releases, but I do appreciate what they’re doing. Many of the Xbox-developed titles are developed in the US, which means the only way they’re getting a soundtrack release is if Americans publish… Read More »

When I first came across this soundtrack, I was hesitant to purchase it, or even spend any time listening to it. Based upon what I had heard in the first Vandal Hearts soundtrack, I expected more subpar Sakimoto-style strategy-RPG themes. You know the type: harps, booming drums and strings, blaring horns, wispy flute parts, that… Read More »

When Falcom ran their very first run of the “Falcom Millennium Series,” one of the many albums they chose to reprint was Falcom Special Box ’89. But, to confuse its fanbase even further, they took the 6 8cm set and put it on two regular sized CDs. This is the first of those two CDs.… Read More »

When Falcom ran their very first run of the “Falcom Millennium Series,” one of the many albums they chose to reprint was Falcom Special Box ’89. But, to confuse its fanbase even further, they took the 6 8cm set and put it on two regular sized CDs. This is the second of those two CDs.… Read More »

In the last few years, we’ve seen Nihon Falcom (a Japanese company) publish a number of Chinese-developed RPGs and Action RPGs in the land of the rising sun. This particular title, Moonlight Destiny (“Tsukikage no Destiny”), was an Action RPG developed by “Season Software.” The soundtrack features a standard and simple vocal introduction piece entitled… Read More »

Released as part of the 4th run of “Falcom Millenium Series” albums, this two disc set was technically a reprint, but split up in a different way. It took the first disc from Perfect Collection Ys and paired it with the first disc from Perfect Collection Ys II: which, not so coincidentally, were arranged entirely… Read More »

Welcome to the less popular half. When Falcom ran their 4th “Millenium Series” reprints, they split up Perfect Collection Ys and Perfect Collection Ys II in a whole new way, so that completionists would have to re-own the albums in a whole new setting. The first discs from the two albums made it to the… Read More »

For a release as big as Ocarina of Time (a.k.a. the only reason to own an N64), it’s no surprise that Nintendo of America published a soundtrack available through special order through “Nintendo Power” magazine. Compared to the Japanese release, this release had some advantages and disadvantages. The first advantage, at the time of its… Read More »

It’s rare that any of our import soundtrack reviews hail from Europe. It is even more disconcerting that this import soundtrack is for a Japanese title: a Zelda game, no less! But here it is: Ocarina of Time Vol. II – The Lost Tracks. Printed by Nintendo of Europe as a promotional item (after releasing… Read More »

Short version: Great soundtrack! Long version: Recently, Magna Carta: Tears of Blood was released here in the USA for the PS2. Though I myself can’t decide whether it’s a wonderful game or a piece of crap, most people generally seem to enjoy the game greatly despite its faults. However, before Tears of Blood (known as… Read More »

Tears of Blood: the newest chapter from Softmax’s Magna Carta series is a separate game rather than a sequel to Phantom of Avalanche. This new game (known is Japan and Korean as Crimson Stigmata) has a new cast, storyline and soundtrack. Thankfully, the soundtrack actually has a full retail release, unlike Phantom of Avalanche. While… Read More »

You know you all love Mario and Zelda music. You know it’s not because they’re impressive or stirring melodies. You know it’s not because they break new ground in the genre (although I guess they did back in the old days). The reason you like these tunes is because they’re fun, they’re catchy, and they’re… Read More »

No preamble to this review, I’m afraid. The Mario Story OST is, simply put, one of the most mediocre offerings I’ve ever received from a video game soundtrack. Yuka Tsujiyoko has managed to make a soundtrack that, while it may fit the game itself is, like the characters in it, about as substantial as paper.… Read More »

Welcome to a blast from the past. In this soundtrack we find the beginning careers of many prominent composers. While I am unsure of who Akie Ooba is, the other three listed composers have continued careers and worked alongside one another for various games. Noriyuki Iwadare, obviously, is recognized for his work in the Langrisser… Read More »

Langrisser II holds a special place in my heart. Growing up, I had a neighbor who was deeply obsessed with the Sega Genesis title Warsong (Langrisser I, the only one of the series to come to America). He loved the game so much that he managed to secure an import of Langrisser II. This game… Read More »

Originally released in 1993, reprinted (with two other Ogre albums) in 2000, All Sounds of Ogre Battle is a double-treatment to the 23 songs that comprise the original soundtrack to the Super Famicom title, Ogre Battle: The March of the Black Queen. Much like many future releases from Sakimoto and crew, we are given the… Read More »

“Perhaps the only thing born from one conflict is yet another conflict. Those who are fools will continue to fight.” Welcome to the Ogre Battle Image Album: The Entrance. Like the Final Fantasy III arranged album or the “Symphonic Fantasy White Witch,” this album opens with an English narrator telling the story of Ogre Battle… Read More »

The Nintendo 64 sound chip became obsolete quickly compared to the quality of sound in PlayStation games, because of the limited space in a cartridge. It basically has the sound of a slightly updated MIDI processor. However, despite this, some games on the system were able to either surpass the sound chip’s normal capabilities, or… Read More »

There’s something special about soundtracks from the era of the Super Nintendo. In the much earlier days of video games, compositions had to be both catchy and resilient in order to hold up to the sometimes ear-splitting tune produced by the primitive sound chips available to composers. In recent times, compositions have been able to… Read More »

One of the many things Falcom absolutely loves to produce is an album containing MIDI arrangements of their generally stellar material. They do this with just about every game they’ve made, so it shouldn’t be of much surprise that they made one (or rather two, as far as I know) for the acclaimed Legend of… Read More »

You always feel a little guilty when you review an album to a game you’ve never played. Oh sure, you can do it, but you still get that feeling in the gut that you aren’t doing the soundtrack true justice. It’s always that the arrangement is a little off, or the balance is wrong, or… Read More »

Let’s make this short, because speaking at length about this album would be too painful. The year was 1996, and VGM was progressing steadily: as a market, as a genre, and in terms of technology. Yet somehow, one company had begun to struggle to keep up. While synth was sounding great for early PS1 games… Read More »

After a number of false starts, Falcom finally gets it right. This print of the Legend of Heroes IV OST is the third “complete” soundtrack for the game, and was released in the “Falcom Millenium Series” alongside the Ys Eternal OST. This version of the soundtrack accompanied the re-made PC and PlayStation versions of LoH… Read More »

The PlayStation 2 version of Phantom of Inferno came out well after the original DVD and PC formats and it was blessed with its own soundtrack. This soundtrack is pretty much the same as the DVD original Sound Track, albeit with a handful of added tracks. I heard no difference in sound quality from one… Read More »

The storyline in Phantom of Inferno is one of the more depressing video game storylines I have experienced in all my years of gaming. It had deliberate pacing, an air of moroseness, and an almost constant atmosphere of nagging tension. It goes without saying, then, that the soundtrack would follow suit and have a heavy-hearted… Read More »