If you’ve ever really gotten into Sorcerian, you know that it’s an alright game for its time. And, while I feel it did not get the attention it deserved musically, the music does stand out. If you’re hardcore Falcom, you know what I mean. If not, come to a magical Sengoku-ish time-period, or perhaps a land filled with Pyramids?…You get the idea.
The first six tracks are the best of the CD, because…well, they’re the only arranged tracks. That’s right, the name has fooled you. You would think that “Super Arrange” would at least mean that the whole CD is arranged. It should be called “1/6 Super Arrange, 5/6 OST”, because this is what it is (technically the full title is Sorcerian Super Arrange Version III – Sengoku Sorcerian vs. Pyramid Sorcerian). What we have on this CD are six nicely arranged tracks, followed by a bunch of OST tracks that weren’t on any of the original OSTs, as these games were released after the OST. But, ignoring this trivial matter, let’s get down to the quality of compositions.
The arranged tracks are very cool. Each one starts out less than good, so you automatically underestimate how good the track will be. Somewhere in the middle, it gets a lot better and you say to yourself “gee, this is quite a song!”. However, the next day when you try to play it to someone, they’re like “this is boring…”: then, they hear it too, that cool part when the song gets better…usually when drums kick in. And keep in mind, Nanba knows what’s going on. He’s the man that can make any sort of little song a fun song, or a dramatic song, or an action-packed song. And the other guy? Well, I suppose he’s good too!
The OST tracks are still nothing to scoff at. Considering they were created in 1989, the sound quality is great. The actual composition of most of the tracks are upbeat, and fun to listen to. If you’ve played some Sorcerian, this is a great way to kick it “old-school” and have a good time listening to great music.
As for purchase, good luck finding the originals. They are few and far between. The reprint, however, can be purchased at Falcom’s Website for something like 2000 yen, or about $20. Again, you need to know some basic Japanese or have some sort of guide to get yourself around this non-English site.
