One of Idea Factory’s earliest RPGs was Spectral Tower, the first game in a long line of games with “Spectral” as part of the title. This soundtrack is an extreme rarity, but its obscurity doesn’t match the quality. That’s right, it’s another mediocre soundtrack from Idea Factory.
Though, we shouldn’t really say “another,” should we? This is actually one of the earliest I!F soundtracks out there: the earliest I’m aware of, in fact.
The music on here is generally a low quality synthesized string festival: chamber music, with the occasional full orchestra making an appearance. The opening medley takes the disco-pop style of the 70s and mixes songs from the soundtrack with a continual beat: not bad, and definitely a lengthy opener (8 minutes!).
The exception to the album’s orchestral music style is track 5, “Crypt of Bar.” This jazzy piece makes excellent use of the more primitive synth found on this early-era PS1 game. I enjoyed this one track much more than the others, perhaps because it wasn’t as droning as all the string pieces.
The album ends with the sound of a baby crying and a music box playing the game’s main theme…it was a startling experience when I first heard it. It’s an unusual but fitting touch to end the soundtrack.
The album is worthwhile to some collectors, but musically, it’s not impressive. It’s also a fairly short soundtrack, being only 40 minutes long. There are better I!F soundtracks out there, if that’s what you’re looking for.
