Seiken Densetsu 2 OSV was the first video game soundtrack I ever owned, when a friend gave it to me as a present way back in ’94. At the time, I was really crazy about the game, spending hours and hours building up my characters, and the music was one of the reasons I loved it so much; I played some areas of the game again and again only so that I could hear the music once more. I had even taped some of the music before I was able to put my hands on the soundtrack.
So what about the soundtrack? It contains all 44 tracks from the game, including the Game Over music (which is sometimes not included in soundtracks). The themes range from very touching pieces (such as 05, 17, 39), to dynamic, well-paced heroic themes (34). The game also has a few very beautiful themes you only get to hear a few times (such as the “Dark Star” theme, which I think was only heard once during the whole game), and with this CD you can fully enjoy these tracks. The first print of the CD was a very nice Digipack, with photos of the game’s heroes’ and various comments. I believe the biggest gripe one could have against this CD is the ‘synth’ nature of the music — this IS, after all, a Super Famicom game. But the melodies still sound very good for a 1993 game; in fact, the game’s music was supposedly a technical exploit at the time, using the Super Famicom’s sound capacities like no other game had before. The fact that each theme often rotates only once also comes up as a reproach for that CD, although I personally did not have that much of a problem with that.
Maybe the magic won’t work for those who don’t have the nostalgia factor like I do; still, this is undoubtedly a beautifully composed CD and probably one of the best Super Famicom soundtracks; a classic every RPG music lover should have on their shelves.
