Old school or not, I really enjoyed this soundtrack. I recently went on a Shining adventure and grabbed every soundtrack I could find, and I decided to start with this one. I couldn’t have been more pleased. If you’re accustomed to old school RPG soundtracks, then this will be familiar to you. From the self-titled “Shining Force” to the sad melody of “When the Light Dies Out,” this soundtrack will have you tapping your toes and nodding in agreement as it takes you on a nostalgic ride.
This soundtrack is a bit misleading because it was released in the old school days (in the 80s and 90s) when an OST meant an arranged album of sorts. The tracks are from the original Shining Force game, but they are arranged. If you want to hear the original tracks, you’re out of luck unless you can find a game rip floating around.
My favorite tracks are “Eternal Sunbeam,” which is a music box lullaby, “Shining Force,” which is a great overture, “The People of a Distant Time,” which is a pretty good ending theme. Overall, all of the tracks are great. I have to mention that Masahiko Yoshimura did a bang up job for this soundtrack. Yoshimura had a great understanding of the music and did it supreme justice. The only drawback is that the total running time of this disc is less than twenty minutes.
If you can find this soundtrack floating around, you should pick it up. It’ll run you about $40 because it was released with a TV Land game guide, but it’s well worth the price if you can find it. I give it an 9 out of 10.
