Three Wizardry Gaiden titles were released for Game Boy, and each got its own arranged album. For Wizardry Gaiden IV, a Super Famicom exclusive release, the only official music publications were three 8cm “mini” CDs. The setup for each of the three CDs was the same: track 1 was an arranged instrumental track from Ikuro Fujiwara (and it’s the same piece on all three discs); track 2 was a drama track that made up the bulk of the disc’s playtime; track 3 was an “image song” performed by J-pop group “W’s” (not to be confused with Contemporary Christian ska/swing group “The W’s”).
So, the only differences between each of the three singles is the drama (which includes a bit of background music), and the image song. The second image song, “Bless My Stars,” is a catchy J-pop piece that reminds me of something you’d expect to hear on a “Falcom Special Box” or “Falcom Vocal Collection” arrangement. In other words, the song reminds me of Falcom.
Even though these albums are extremely obscure and hard-to-find, making them interesting artifacts to hunt down, I still wouldn’t recommend them to Wizardry fans and collectors. The only way they’re even remotely worthwhile is if you understand Japanese well enough to enjoy the drama track. And, I suppose, owning one of the three albums so you get Fujiwara’s “Opening Theme” arrangement is worthwhile, if you can get the single for a low price.
