Soundtrack Name: Seiken Densetsu Original Sound Version
U.S. Game Name: Secret of Mana
Musical Genre: Classical
Original Game System: SNES
Publisher: NTT Publishing Co., Ltd.
Copyright Holder: Squaresoft
Number of CD's: 1
Number of Tracks: 44
CD Length: 66 min 20 sec
Composers and Performers:
Hiroki Kikuta (Comp.)
Review:
Intro: The one thing I'll always remember about this game's music is how
soft and light some of the tracks are. I actually fell asleep while playing this
game. It was in the ice area while fighting wolves for money. Many games with
synthetic sounds from the older systems are very... heavy handed with their music.
You know, not bad, but very noticeable. Secret of Mana avoids this completely to
produce some of the best music made on the synth systems of old.
Packaging: Secret of Mana has what I look for in an average game music CD.
The front and back sides of the CD case have nice artwork from the game, and the
included booklet has game related pictures. In this case, the pictures are of clay
models of the characters from the game. A little odd, but interesting. There is
also a track list and liner notes, but those are in Japanese. Track times are listed,
which I like, but isn't really essential. All around, there is nothing to complain
about with this packaging, but not much to praise either.
Packaging Rating: C+
Music: When I said that this music was soft in the intro, I meant it.
Almost all of the early tracks (before 19, which is the boss battle music) are really
easy going, even the ones consisting mostly of percussion and bass. After track
19, the music is still really laid back, but there are some rather atonal tracks.
Specifically track 32, Ceremony, track 36 The Curse, and track 37,
The Oracle. Aside from these the sound track provides track after track of
nice, soft music. Even the tracks full of energy and determination have a tendency
to be soft. Even the final battle theme Meridian Dance lacks the "edge"
usually associated with the situation. Not that it's confusingly soft, but compared
to most final battle themes, it lacks teeth. That's not bad, just different.
Music Rating: B
CD/Track Length: It looks like this CD would come up short in the length
department, but somehow it doesn't. Even when tracks average about a minute and a
half, they don't seem short. Then again, after listening to the whole CD, it seems
like you've only been listening for maybe half an hour rather than the full hour that
the CD runs. The sound track is just quirky like that.
Length Rating: C
Other Misc: I don't know what makes this sound track so different from
other RPG sound tracks. Maybe it's the substitution of wind instruments for the
more common brass, or maybe it's the use of only two or three instruments at a time.
Whatever the case, this is a nice sound track and a decent addition to any game
music library. Oh, and if you ever play the game, let the intro music play. I always
skipped past it to get to the game and never realized how good it was until I got
the CD.
Final Rating (not an average): B-
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