Archives

Koichi Sugiyama, one of the greatest names in the videogame music industry, started his career way before game music even existed. He had done music for TV commercials, some movies (one of which I am aware of is Godzilla) and anime (Magic Knight Rayearth is but one of them). His first known project as a… Read More »

Yasunori Mitsuda and Hitoshi Sakimoto. Not many can think of a better team of collaborators for a project. Now, throw the acclaimed Breath of Fire series into the mix. Surely it can be said there’s magic at work. Mitsuda, who is renowned for his work on Chrono Cross and Xenogears; Sakimoto, who left unforgettable tracks… Read More »

In my eyes, despite being incomplete, Phantasy Star Online’s OST was a truly a masterpiece. It’s originality and unique sound along with how it complimented the game’s environment and accentuated its atmosphere was masterful. And although I’d spent well over 100 hours playing the game itself, I could still pull out the disc and listen… Read More »

*Note: I suggest anyone reading this review first check out either http://remix.overclocked.org or www.vgmix.com and expose themselves to the wonderful remixes therein. I was not a huge fan of KFSS Studios’ first work, Project Majestic Mix: A Tribute to Nobuo Uematsu. Most of it felt too low quality, as if all the tracks could have… Read More »

It was only a matter of time before Yasunori Mitsuda received his own Tribute. In the eyes of many, he is considered the greatest game music composer of all time. Not only does his work enhance and transcend the settings of the games, but reaches out and touches the hearts of those who behold it,… Read More »

The Legend of Dragon Slayers is one of the three or four most obscure Falcom albums out there (Sound Fantasy Romancia and All Over Xanadu are two others that come to mind). Released under Polystar (as they didn’t start printing with King Records until ’89, I believe), music composed by the “Falcom Music Staff” rather… Read More »

JDK Band 1: One of the best arranged albums you can possibly find. Excellent combination of variety in styles and memorable songs. Highly recommended. JDK Band 3: One of the best game music vocal albums released, second only to Sakura Wars 2 Vocal Collection. Hated by some for the departure in style from JDK Band… Read More »

This CD contains the full soundtracks from the two Game Boy Advance Dracula games Circle of the Moon and Concerto of the Midnight Sun (the latter one apparently to be called Harmony of Dissonance upon its forthcoming release in the West). For a while, it seemed like Konami wasn’t going to release a soundtrack for… Read More »

Suikoden has always been a game about the unification of cultures in order to triumph over threat. Although there may not be any immediate danger in need of conquering, the same principle of diversified culture joined together is present in the musical score of the game, as well. In fact, you could say that the… Read More »

Leaf is my favorite dating sim developer. Granted, I’ve never played a dating sim in my life, but I just can’t help but be enchanted by the wonderful artwork and excellent music that the company creates for its games, not to mention I’ve actually watched the To Heart anime and am thoroughly taken by it.… Read More »

I absolutely love in-game vocals. Actually, let me state that more correctly; I absolutely love GOOD in-game vocals. It just so happens that “Leaf” makes it a habit of producing great vocal songs for their games, and Leaf Vocal Collection is a compilation of some of their best. I was first introduced to the company’s… Read More »

I was surfing around on Yahoo Japan, checking out some of the game soundtracks up for auction when I stumbled across this CD. It wasn’t so much the name that caught my attention as the picture. It was To Heart, and in my mind, I already knew it had to be good. Despite never having… Read More »

The success of the first two song albums of Sakura Taisen resulted in the release of more vocal albums, hence this new song compilation (and its stylish holographic cover), which is, unlike the previous two Kayou Zenshuu, not based on character themes from the game, but rather just a compilation of new songs (hence the… Read More »

Sakura Taisen Teigeki Kayou Zenshuu (Complete Songs Collection) is the first ever CD of the endless lineup of Sakura Taisen CDs. It consists of 9 character songs, plus the trademark opening and ending songs. The character songs in question are the ones that can be heard during each character’s ending, and are of course sung… Read More »

Jouki Chikuonkan (Steam Gramophone) is the second Sakura Taisen related CD ever released, and the soundtrack of the original Saturn game. For those not familiar with Sakura Taisen, it is a series set in a fictional neo-retro 1920s Japan, therefore the music offers pretty good examples of Tanaka’s traditional Japanese style music. Overall, the tracks… Read More »

Sakura Taisen 2 Kayou Zenshuu (Songs Collection) is the first vocal CD based on Sakura Taisen 2. Each of the eight heroines has her own vocal song, based off her character theme you’ve been hearing during the game. The game gave you a little taste of these songs in each girl’s ending, and here’s the… Read More »

Sakura Taisen 2 (or Sakura Wars 2) is the second installment of Red Company/Overworks’ popular dating simulation-strategy hybrid. The actual game already is a truly outstanding example of distinctly Japanese games, and its soundtrack managed to impress me in a similar way as the game. While being wonderfully lighthearted and romantic at some points, it… Read More »

Second soundtrack of the series, Sakura Taisen 2 Steam Gramophone is in various ways an improvement over the first one. The character themes are there, and the way the music is spread on the two CDs is much better than that of the first soundtrack. Moreover, this soundtrack includes all three game size opening songs… Read More »

The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask is the second game in the legendary Zelda adventure/RPG series to be released on the Nintendo 64. The first N64 Zelda game, The Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time, had a fabulous and highly under-appreciated musical score. I’m proud to say that The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask… Read More »

The music to Bokujou Monogatari (Harvest Moon: Back to Nature in the US) isn’t spectacular, it’s not even great by PSX standards, but it’s familiar, sweet, and most definitely a pleasure to listen to if you’ve played and enjoyed the game. Mostly all of the themes found within the game are here, including all four… Read More »

Even though I’ve been an avid collector and fan of game music for quite some years now, I’ve never quite gotten into Falcom. There are many different reasons for this, but the main one is my dislike for most arranged game music. And as most would agree arguably, Falcom is the company that has pushed… Read More »

One of Square’s most underrated and often overlooked composers, Noriko Matsueda, started her career at Square in 1995 to compose for the Square/G-Craft strategy RPG Front Mission along with the highly talented Yoko Shimomura. Shimomura had mostly taken care of the fast-paced themes, while Matsueda took care of the moody tracks. While the game may… Read More »

Suikoden music lovers rejoice! Konami has teamed up with composer Hiroyuki Nanba to bring you a compilation of arranged tracks from not one, not two, but all three Suikoden titles, and the result is glorious. Published under the Konami Game Meets the Famous Artist Collection series, Genso Suikoden Music Collection Produced by Hiroyuki Nanba is… Read More »

As a big fan of Suikoden music, I couldn’t help but seek out the two Genso Suikoden Music Collection albums. While I tend to enjoy Hiroyuki Nanba’s arrangements more because of their experimental nature, Kentaro Haneda‘s arrangements are solid through and through, relying on traditional instrument combinations and a mixture of chamber music, piano, and… Read More »

Well, this was one lucky find for me. This CD is one of three Langrisser CDs I know of that Iwadare doesn’t list on his personal site, because he didn’t work on them, his music was only used for them (the other two are the Langrisser III Song Album and a Langrisser V drama CD).… Read More »