The Tokimeki Sound Collections (there are four of them) are essentially this: songs from the original version, extended, and arranged with some higher quality instrumentation. This first Sound Collection, released long before the other three came out, features character themes. There is a lot of synth used on these albums, but there is some good live stuff too (sax soloing on track 4 is awesome). The “doo” voice synth used in tracks 2 and 7 are atrocious, and I simply cannot stand either of these tracks.
It’s easy to pass the sound collections off as another way for Konami to milk the success of Tokimeki; and yes, that is part of what this CD is. But I always appreciate when a company puts a valiant effort in making SO MANY arrangements of the same music (such as FALCOM). The “extensions” on these tracks are what make them…after introducing the theme that is so similar to the OST version, they throw in some sort of wacky guitar solo or something along those lines…making for an interesting listen. So, while this album isn’t anything special to me, it’s a good listen and the live instruments are an awesome complement to the usual synth-filled Tokimeki music. If you can find it for a price-range of $15-20, go for it…but I suggest not paying any more than that.
