Snatcher Battle Perfect Selection is the first soundtrack from the “Battle” series that we review here on RPGFan (since the others are for games that we don’t cover). If you have any familiarity with Konami soundtracks in general, you probably already know about the “Battle” series but if not, let me explain what this series is all about.
The “Battle” style of music is basically Japanese Power Rock. It’s usually extremely fast and furious with a LOT of emphasis on electric guitars and fast-pounding drums sometimes mixed with synths. It’s really different in style from the usual “rock” videogame albums.
Snatcher Battle Perfect Selection is a little tamer than the other Battle soundtracks. It doesn’t rock as much as the Dracula Battle (Castlevania) or Shooting Battle soundtracks. That’s not to say that it doesn’t rock at all, but not to the same insane level as the others.
As a big fan of Snatcher on the Sega CD and a big fan of the “Battle” series, I was ecstatic when I found out there was a Snatcher Battle soundtrack. Two of my favorite things brought together in harmony. Unfortunately, it was too good to be true. Since my experience from Snatcher was from the Sega CD version, I expected some of the familiar themes from that version to be covered on this soundtrack. Unfortunately it seems like the songs covered are from an older release of Snatcher on the MSX or from the non-redbook music of the Sega CD version or are arranged to a degree in which the original song can’t be recognized. In any case, I couldn’t recognize any of the songs on the soundtrack except for one or maybe two if I stretch my imagination.
Now, despite the fact that I don’t recognize most of the songs, this is still a Konami Battle soundtrack and as such, the music is great because I love that style of music. The guitars are still wailing, the drums are still pounding and I can never get enough of it. The only 2 exceptions are Twilight of Neo Kobe which is a lot slower and done in a rock balad style and The Peaceful Avenue which is a vocal track.
Basically, I don’t necessarily recommend this soundtrack to a Snatcher fan since he’ll have a hard time recognizing the songs but I do recommend it to fans of hard rock music and fans of Konami Battle style music.
