Mixed Music Genres Archives - Page 2 of 2

Secret of Mana Soundtrack

Secret of Mana Soundtrack, Hiroki Kikuta, 1993

It’s no understatement to say that for many gamers, Secret of Mana remains one of the most fondly remembered experiences of the 16-bit era. Of course, a lot of that has to do with the innate quality of the product. Square’s experiment merging action adventure and RPG elements was a resounding success, charming millions of players with its vibrant fantasy world and accessible, yet deep gameplay. But timing played an important role as well. Remember that back in 1993, US releases of SNES RPGs were the exception, not the rule (and for the German market, Secret of Mana might well have been the first localised SNES RPG ever). As a result, many gamers encountered the engrossing storytelling and vivid worlds that the best RPGs deliver for the first time with Secret of Mana.

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Shien’s Revenge Soundtrack

Shien’s Revenge Soundtrack, Akihiko Mori, 1994

In retrospect, the Super Scope seems like one of the more bizarre peripherals designed for the SNES – particularly considering how hard Nintendo tried to cultivate a family-friendly image during the era of the 16-bit console wars. Exactly how many parents would have been pleased to see their offspring in front of the TV with a bazooka-like contraption is anyone’s guess. Arguably though, if there was a genre that benefited from the Super Scope’s controls, it was rail shooters, with their static field of view and necessity to quickly and precisely move the cursor around the screen.

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Shiren the Wanderer 3 Soundtrack (Wii)

Shiren the Wanderer 3 Soundtrack (Wii), Hayato Matsuo, 2008

The Shiren the Wanderer franchise is one of those video game series that has generated a surprising number of titles, despite never being blessed with outstanding sales numbers. Upon its release in Japan in 2008, Fushigi no Dungeon: Fuurai no Shiren 3: Karakuri Yashiki no Nemuri Hime was the seventh game in the long-running franchise of roguelikes. Making matters somewhat confusing, Atlus USA released the game in the USA as Shiren the Wanderer (not to be confused with the 1995 SNES original). For the purpose of this review, we’ll stick with Shiren the Wanderer 3. Like more or less all other Shiren the Wanderer titles, the game generated respectable reviews and decent sales without leaving a particularly strong impression either way. What several reviewers did remark upon was that the game’s difficulty had been toned down somewhat from its predecessors, making this a more accessible entry in the franchise.

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Tamashii no Mon – Dante Shinkyoku yori Soundtrack (Soundware Version)

Tamashii no Mon – Dante Shinkyoku yori Soundtrack, Masumi Ito / Yoshiyuki Ito / Fiori Wakakuwa, 1992

It turns out 2010’s God of War clone Dante’s Inferno wasn’t the first video game based on Dante Alighieri’s 14th-century poem The Divine Comedy. But maybe that’s no surprise, given the work’s towering literary status and its vivid imagery of Hell’s nine circles, making it ripe for adaptations into other media. Another game inspired by The Divine Comedy was Koei’s Tamashii no Mon – Dante no Shinkyoku yori (literally: Gate of Souls – From Dante’s Divine Comedy). As one might expect, players assume Dante’s role as he struggles to find his way through the depths of Hell. The developers cast the game as an adventure title with platforming and melee elements while making excellent use of the ageing PC-98’s graphical capabilities. The clever use of a limited colour palette combined with fantastic sprite art truly brought the game’s nightmarish settings to live.

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The Caligula Effect 2 Soundtrack

The Caligula Effect 2 Soundtrack, Various, 2021

Expectations were running high for 2016’s The Caligula Effect – no surprise, given its pedigree. With the involvement of writer Tadashi Satomi and composer Tsukasa Masuko, who had worked on several Persona and Megami Tensei games, the connections to that beloved franchise were strong. Unfortunately, critics’ reaction to The Caligula Effect was tepid. Still, the game made enough money to warrant an improved remake in 2018 and finally a sequel in 2021, developed by Historia. With limited information on that game available at the time of writing, its plot seems like an almost straight reprise of that found in the first Caligula Effect. An almighty virtuadoll has created a utopian virtual reality (a high school setting) that offers refugee for wounded souls looking to flee reality. A group of students is trying to escape this simulation after one of them has his memories of the real world restored by another virtuadoll.

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The Lost Angelic Chronicles of Frane: Dragons’ Odyssey Soundtrack

The Lost Angelic Chronicles of Frane: Dragons’ Odyssey Soundtrack, Jordan Steven, 2011

With the rise of mobile gaming, one of the most popular genres of the 16-bit era made its triumphant return: 2d JRPGs. Given that these games often came with amazingly varied and ambitious soundtracks, the resurgence of these sorts of games heralded good news for game music fans. One of the best retro-styled JRPG scores of the new millennium turned out to be The Lost Angelic Chronicles of Frane: Dragons’ Odyssey.

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Torchlight II Soundtrack

Torchlight II Soundtrack, Matt Uelmen, 2012

To call one particular creation the culmination of an artist’s oeuvre can be a risky maneuvre. It suggests linear development across works and prescribes an easily identifiable trajectory. But it’s hard not to fete a work like the Torchlight II soundtrack as the realisation of a specific musical approach. On this album, Matt Uelmen combines all elements that have characterised his previous scores and perfects them.

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TowerFall Ascension Soundtrack

TowerFall Ascension Soundtrack, Alec Holowka, 2014

Created by Alec Holowka’s friend Matt Thorson, multi-player brawler TowerFall proved to be a hit with gamers and critics. In 2014, Thorson ported TowerFall as TowerFall Ascension over to the PlayStation 4 and other systems. Essentially, Ascension is an upgraded version of TowerFall, and this time the music received a dedicated soundtrack release on Bandcamp.

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World of Demons Soundtrack

World of Demons Soundtrack, Naofumi Harada / Hiroshi Yamaguchi, 2021

It’s very rare for a game to receive a limited release in a handful of second-tier markets, get pulled from store shelves within a few months – only to receive a second, worldwide release a full three years later. That’s precisely what happened to World of Demons, PlatinumGames’ first published foray into mobile gaming (it’s hard to ignore the fact that the developer’s previous mobile title – much-touted all-star JRPG Lost Order – was never released). Given PlatinumGames’ reputation as the action game auteurs behind titles like the Bayonetta franchise and Nier: Automata, World of Demons‘ announcement as a hack and slash inspired by Japanese mythology caused some excitement. Ultimately, reviews for the game were respectable rather than extraordinary, with critics praising its combat and art direction while finding fault with World of Demons‘ repetitive level structure.

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