Soundtrack Retrospective: Len'en

I've been a Touhou fan for roughly five years now, but I've never really thought to look into its weird sister series, Len'en, and I'm not really sure why. I've never been one to look down on games for taking inspiration for others, rather I encourage it and relish in seeing people put their own spin on familiar concepts. And after taking the time to check out the series, yeah, creator Jynx does a lot to make their series stand out from Touhou. A stronger focus on continuity with actual consequences for the protagonists being jerks, more humans to counterbalance the youkais, a cast of entirely gender neutral characters, flashier patterns and more options for casual players, and in the case of the recent games, a visible willingness to experiment not just with mechanics but with entire genres.

And the same applies to the music. Despite using many of the same instruments, once you've heard a few Len'en tracks, you'll immediately understand that Jynx has a vastly different musical style than ZUN. It's hard to really describe without just listening to it yourself, but Len'en tracks quickly develop their own unique chord progressions with a moodier vibe to them, and Jynx is also a bit more freeform in terms of genre experimentation. I also think it's kinda funny that I tend to prefer Touhou's stage themes over its boss themes, but Len'en's boss themes are far and away superior to its somewhat uneven-stage themes. I'll always have more attachment to ZUN's series and music, but Len'en's got some great soundtracks and a good amount of bangers so I wanted to give them the respect they deserve.

Evanescent Existence
Evanescent Existence is far and away the weakest Len'en soundtrack in my opinion. The sound quality is noticeably weaker than the later scores, it can be quite loud at times, and you can definitely tell that Jynx's is still figuring out their style. There are still plenty of really solid tracks like Lost Anchorage, In This World, and the stage 4 boss/theme duo, but there's also a fair amount of duds that don't really work for me like M-Theory and The Untruth Patronizes The Truth. The final and extra boss themes are particularly great, but even they don't quite reach the high points of the later games. It's a solid soundtrack overall, but the later games just sound more refined to me.

Highlights: Empire Power - Eternal Force is a pretty good first final boss theme. That tense piano build-up at the start is pretty fantastic, and once the drop hits, the main melody is a real banger.
3/5 Stars

Earthen Miraculous Sword
Earthen Miraculous Sword's soundtrack is a solid improvement over its predecessor. It sounds crisper and it's more consistent in that there aren't really any weak tracks, though it also takes a while for the tracks to become truly amazing. I also don't feel like Jynx fully nailed their style yet either mostly because of how many tracks sound very ZUN-esque, as they're still using the tried and true Touhou chord progressions for a lot of the tracks. However, what really pushes EMS's score over EE is the incredible final and extra boss themes which easily rank as two of the best tracks in the series. They're phenomenal musical climaxes to this very game and feel like the turning point for where Len'en music becomes something truly special.

Highlights: Below A Deep Vanishing Cloud - Mow Down is my favorite Len'en track, at least right now. It's a fantastic final boss that hits like the best of them, boasting so much grandiosity in its piano, violins, and ZUNpets, and that chorus where that distinctly brisk piano melody combines with a heavenly ZUNpet melody is truly transcendant. Honorable mention to Mono Eye though.
4/5 Stars

 Reactivate Majestical Imperial
Reactivate Majestical Imperial is my favorite Len'en soundtrack so far, Jynx truly refines their style with this one. This is the score where Jynx starts really leaning on those new Len'en chord progressions, along with playing around with some of the other instruments. Despite the story of an endless winter being quite similar to that of PCB, Jynx immediately differentiates this game by heavily using sleigh bells in many of its tracks, and it works! It lends the score a really cohesive feel, and weirdly enough gives me some Crash Bandicoot 2 vibes at point. And that's not even mentioning how good the second half's music is. It's got some of the best stage themes in the series, some fun fusion remixes for the rival fights in Stage 4, and an incredible triple whammy of great boss themes for Shion, Tenkai, and Sese.

Highlights: Moon Child is my second favorite Len'en theme, and an overall fantastic boss theme.  That intro has so much energy coming out the gate, and the track maintains that momentum with its catchy central melody and brisk tempo. Honorable mentions goes to the breathtaking wintery track Each Of Their Thoughts And Footprints, and the... infamous Present World Overhaul, aka ZUNpet spam incarnate (not that its a bad thing).
5/5 Stars

Brilliant Pagoda Or Haze Castle
Brilliant Pagoda Or Haze Castle is a wild game. Jynx really went all out to differentiate this one from not just the previous three games but from the Touhou series entirely by implementing this new roguelike system with three different routes, twelve possibles stages, and multiple potential bosses per stage. And while most shmups boast soundtracks clocking in at around 15-20 tracks, BPoHC has a whopping 54 tracks, around 30-40% of which are remixes of boss themes from previous games. It's a truly staggering achievement of a soundtrack and packs in a bunch of truly fantastic tracks... but I think RMI is overall the better musical package. 

As usual, the stage themes tend to be a bit hit or miss and it's particularly noticeable in a game with twelve of them, and while there are plenty of truly great original boss themes like Killing Superior, Lost Jackpot, and MO-NA-D-1, even they can often feel overshadowed by the remixes. That being said, the sheer scale of the score, the generally high quality of the remixes, and the big jump in terms of sound quality and musical variety still makes this a close second in terms of my favorite Len'en soundtrack.

Highlights: As far as the original tracks go, Haze Castle - Phantom Road stands out as easily one of Len'en's best stage themes for its intense melodies, suspenseful piano riff, and blaring ZUNpets, and Lost Jackpot is a uniquely jazzy piece of chiptune jazz that sounds straight out of a Toby Fox game. However, my absolute favorite track in the game is Necromaster, a similarly jazzy and upbeat remix of Those Dwelling In Unreality. Jynx really nails the jazzier pieces in this game overall, I think it could be an interesting direction for them to explore musically.
4/5 Stars

Ranking The Metal Slug Games (+ Soundtracks)

I just recently got around to playing the Metal Slug games, and they're pretty damn great. Remarkably consistent too, even the weakest Metal Slugs are still a fun time all around. So, I thought I'd rank them while also giving my thoughts on them and the series as a whole. Just as a disclaimer though, I'll just be ranking the mainline games, not any of the spinoffs, and I won't be ranking 2 or 7 since X and XX are pretty much superior in every conceivable way.

7. Metal Slug 4

Metal Slug 4 is often regarded as the weakest entry in the series, and yeah, it is, but it still has quite a bit to like. For starters, this is the first game where Toshikazu Tanaka took over as composer. I always preferred his Metal Slug soundtracks and MS4 definitely has one of the better ones in the series. Metal Slug 4 also has a pretty unique spy theming to it that I kinda like, between the more industrial environments, the final boss being an evil scientist, the Mission Impossible reference in the final stage, and the whole score sounding right out of a James Bond film. And at its best, Metal Slug 4 does have some genuinely great stages and setpieces, with the pirate ship stage being a series highlight in my eyes. Unfortunately, Metal Slug 4's biggest issue is the fact that it came after the Nazca trilogy, and their absence is sorely missed. The art direction can feel inconsistent since so many of the original assets made for this game aren't as detailed as Nazca's beautifully-animated sprites, though it's not like that matters much since MS4 reuses so much from its predecessors. But honestly, it's not even the asset flipping that drags Metal Slug 4 down for me, it's how repetitive and enemy spammy some of its later stages get. The mummy segment in Stage 4 is probably my least favorite bit in the entire series for that reason, and the final stage as a whole ended MS4 on a pretty sour note between its ridiculous amount of enemies, repetitive rooms, limp escape scene, and obnoxious final two bosses. I don't dislike the Noise Factory era and I think they were able to do some great things within the series, but Metal Slug 4 was definitely a bit of growing pains for them.

6. Metal Slug 6

Metal Slug 6 is a bleak entry in the series in terms of tone. The main premise is that a new species of alien has arrived that's even more powerful than the Mars People, and now you'll have to team up with every villain from prior entries in the series to stop them. MS6 stops at nothing to emphasize how hopeless your situation is in this game. The color palette is darker, the music is more robotic-sounding, and Stage 3 in particular has you walk through a city that's slowly being destroyed and taken over by the new alien threat. It shows in how MS6 starts off quite easy, but the difficulty immediately skyrockets the moment the new aliens show up, making for what's in my opinion the hardest game in the entire series. In terms of atmosphere, MS6 absolutely excels. For as popular as the goofy aspects of Metal Slug are, I genuinely love the more serious turns the Noise Factory games take and MS6 is the peak of that. But in terms of gameplay, it has issues. The first half of MS6 is great, but I can't understate how frustrating MS6 can be post difficulty spike, boasting a ton of obnoxious enemy spam and some of the most frustrating continue-eating bosses in the series (that goddamn Brain Robot, I swear to god). It also doesn't help that the only difficulty options in this game are Easy and Hard, the former of which not even letting you finish the game. There are plenty of other things I like about Metal Slug 6, like the brand new engine which introduces a ton of neat mechanical improvements like the combo system, weapon stock, and character-spectific abilities, and the final boss may just be the series' absolute best, but as a whole, the game just doesn't come together like it should for me since about a half of it just feels like a chore to play.

5. Metal Slug

 I actually played the first Metal Slug as a kid, so I actually have quite a bit of nostalgia for it, even if I couldn't get past the third level at the time. So it was nice to finally be able to see Metal Slug through to the end. This first entry is quite grounded, lacking much of the supernatural elements or crazy vehicles that the series would become known for, but that also means there aren't any wacky gimmicks or out-of-nowhere difficulty spikes. Metal Slug is an incredibly solid and visually-stunning action platformer from start to finish, and it established the series' visual and musical identities pretty much right off the bat. That being said, I think the first half is way better than the second half, I always seem to lose interest by the last few stages and the final boss is kind of unimpressive. Overall, I find it pretty easy to compare the Nazca trilogy of Metal Slug games to many other big platforming trilogies of the time. In the same vein of games like Donkey Kong Country, Spyro The Dragon, and Sly Cooper 1, the first Metal Slug is a simple but effective first game that's easy to get back into, even if many of its sequels reached far greater heights.

4. Metal Slug XX

Metal Slug XX is the one Noise Factory game that feels completely uncompromised. It lacks the heavy asset reuse of 4, the difficulty isn't as erratic as in 6, and it isn't rushed like 5 was. It almost feels like a culmination of everything Noise Factory had learned over the years, and easily stands out their most polished entry. Noise Factory's knack for thrilling setpieces and boss fights is on full display here. The boss roster is full of hulking intricate mechanical threats that are a joy to fight, and the stages are filled with fun and dynamic setpieces like the minecarts in Stage 2, the elevators and boulder chases of Stage 3, the parachute drop in Stage 5, and of course, the giant mech battle in Stage 6. It's also the longest game too at seven stages, taking advantage of the fact that it's the first mainline Metal Slug to release onto consoles. It adds in proper Easy/Normal/Hard difficulty options, the symphonic rock score by a returning Tanaka is as great as always, and we even get to play as Leona as a DLC character. Metal Slug XX is by all accounts a well-paced and consistently thrilling entry in the series... but it does feel a bit derivative? After aliens and spies and cults and more aliens, Metal Slug XX goes for a more grounded approach setting itself almost exclusively in caves and focusing almost entirely on fighting down soldiers, which means it ends up lacking the manic wackiness of Nazca's games or the heavier atmosphere of Noise Factory's other games. Metal Slug XX is absolutely a tight game and the argument can be made that it's one of the best games in the series in terms of the gameplay, but the fact that I also tend to forget XX even exists from time to time says a lot of how little of an impact it leaves compared to the other Metal Slug games, for better and for worse.

3. Metal Slug 3

Following the comparison I made with the first game, Metal Slug 3 is a lot like Spyro: Year Of The Dragon or Sly 3, being the super ambitious conclusion to the trilogy that may veer a bit too far into gimmickry but still manages to end things on a high. Metal Slug 3 introduces multiple routes which is a great addition that improves replayability, but it's a shame that the first four stages are kind of uneven in terms of quality. These stages throw everything at the wall to see what sticks from crabs to zombies to underwater segments to stealth sections to drills to slugs, and only about 50% of it lands for me. However, Metal Slug 3 more than makes up for that hit-or-miss first half with its incredible final mission, which just so happens to take up around half the game. Metal Slug 3's Mission 5 is my favorite mission in the franchise, filled to the brim with twists and turns, memorable setpieces, shifts in gameplay, and plotline resolutions that end the trilogy on a bang. Despite its crushing length, I found Metal Slug 3's infamous final mission to be super engaging the whole way through, so the game didn't feel like it dragged to me. Add in my favorite soundtrack of that initial trilogy, and you get a fantastic entry in the series overall, with only a shaky first half preventing Metal Slug 3 from taking the #1 spot.

2. Metal Slug 5

Metal Slug 5 is such an interesting game because it's so obviously flawed. MS5 is infamous for being rushed, and it kinda shows. It boasts a mere five stages leaving it feeling pretty short, the story is undercooked, there's a fair amount of jank, and the game boasts lots of cut content and bosses. It's a shame that Noise Factory wasn't able to fulfill their vision of Metal Slug 5 too, because I think it really had the potential to be my favorite game in the series. And yet, the game we ended up getting still managed to crack second place because even the "beta version" of Metal Slug 5 is still able to reach some of the series' highest heights. Compared to its predecessor, Metal Slug 5 shows a lot more ambition from Noise Factory. There are more original settings and the setpieces are more inventive, which leads to probably my favorite combined roster of stages and bosses in the series, rivaling X and XX in both those areas. The finale in particular is an action-packed thrill ride that sticks out as one of my favorite sequences in the series. Even more, MS5 displays a willingness to push the series forward mechanically. This is the only Metal Slug game to have a slide move and it's so useful and fun to pull off that it kills me that it's not in any other game. Unlike in something like Mega Man, you can shoot while sliding, which gives combat such a fun flow to it as you narrowly slide under your enemies' bullets. On top of that, Metal Slug 5 also introduces some of my favorite vehicles in the series like the walker/tank hybrid in the Slug Gunner, the adorable Slug Mobile, and the awesome Augensterm. In terms of atmosphere, Metal Slug 5 also stands out for its darker but no less bold color palette and its absolute banger of a heavy metal soundtrack. For me, Metal Slug 5 has pretty much everything I could want from a Metal Slug game, even with the jank. It's endlessly creative, exhaustingly paced, and always an absolute blast to replay.

1. Metal Slug X

Metal Slug X (aka Metal Slug 2 but with a good framerate) is the Metal Slug game that perfected the formula. I think it has the best balance of everything that makes the series great. For starters, it introduces Eri and Fio to the cast, and lets you pick between any of the four characters even if you're on your own. It also adds a bunch of new vehicles, weapons, and level mechanics, and of course, Metal Slug X even introduces supernatural elements to the series with the addition of the mummies and aliens. But it's not too biased towards the supernatural threats like 3 was, Metal Slug X has a balance between shooting down soldiers like in the first game and facing off against the weirder threats. On top of all that, Metal Slug X is just consistently fantastic and well-paced from start to finish. Every stage is an absolute blast and nothing drags on too long. From the inventive desert stages that kick off the game, to the phenomenal train stage, to the stage in China with all the food and the introduction of the Mars People, to the iconic and infamous subway stage, to that show-stopping finale where everyone teams up to take down the Rugname. Metal Slug X is everything a good sequel should be, and it's everything a good Metal Slug game should be. It's just nonstop high-octane action from start to finish.

 

And since I kept bringing it up, I did want to do a quick soundtrack retrospective of all seven of the mainline Metal Slug soundtracks as well:

Metal Slug: Takushi Hiyamata already established himself and his unique jazz fusion sound in the similarly great Neo Turf Masters soundtrack, but he really came into his own with the first score for Metal Slug. While easily the shortest of the Metal Slug soundtracks, MS1's score is pretty much all-killer, no-filler, being chock full of all the most iconic tracks in the series like Assault Theme, Final Attack, and Steel Beast. That being said, it still kinda falls around the middle of the pack for me since most of the later soundtracks have more bangers.
Highlights: Inner Station, Assault Theme, Final Attack
4.5/5 Stars

Metal Slug 2: From what I can tell, most fans tend to think Metal Slug 2/X has the weakest soundtrack of that initial trilogy, and yeah, I can kind of agree despite it being my favorite game in the series. While it certainly has its fair share of stellar tracks, MS2's soundtrack suffers quite a bit being sandwiched between the tight consistency of that first soundtrack and the intensity of MS3's score. Still, at its core, Metal Slug 2's soundtrack is more Takushi Hiyamata, so if you like his style of music, there's plenty to love here.
Highlights: Living On The Deck, Judgement, Steel Beast 6Beats
4/5 Stars

Metal Slug 3: Out of the Nazca trilogy, Metal Slug 3 has my favorite soundtrack, hands down. Not only does it bring back a whole bunch of the series' best themes, but it also boasts a ton of stellar original tracks that show Hiyamata maturing his sound a bit. There's still plenty of fun jazz here, don't get me wrong, but MS3's soundtrack goes for more of a heavy rock sound befitting the intended final game in the series. I always felt that Metal Slug music is at its best when it's rock, so this shift in direction absolutely worked for me. It also has my favorite version of Final Attack, for what it's worth.
Highlights: Final Attack, Hard Water, Marine Diver, Desert, Midnight Wandering
5/5 Stars

Metal Slug 4: As much as I like Hiyamata's jazzier scores for the first three games, my favorite Metal Slug composer has to be Toshikazu Tanaka, who worked on 4, 5, and 7. His tracks tend to be a lot more dramatic and symphonic, and they just go so incredibly hard all the time, and Metal Slug 4 is a great example of that. This is one dramatic as hell soundtrack, every track feels like it would belong to the final level of any other game. It also fits the spy theming MS4 is going for incredibly well, with tracks like Let's Run Through and Secret Place in particularly feeling like they belong in a James Bond score. I do think Tanaka's other two soundtracks reach higher heights, but MS4's score still ranks as one of the better ones in my eyes.
Highlights: Secret Place, Let's Run Through, Furiously, Go Ahead, Final Madness
4.5/5 Stars

Metal Slug 5: Metal Slug 5 has hands down my favorite Metal Slug soundtrack and it's not even close. The entire score is pure heavy metal and it shreds so freaking hard, there's not a single weak track in the bunch. From the heavy Stage 1 themes Heavy African and Ruins Excavation, to the heart-pumping Stage 2 themes Windy Day and Zoom Down, to the exhilirating boss theme Fierce Battle, to the phenomenal final stage themes Speeder and Last Ditch Resistance, to that godly guitar remix of Final Attack, MS5's music is on a whole nother level compared to the rest of the series, it honestly doesn't even feel fair to compare them.
Highlights: Speeder, Fierce Battle, Windy Day, Final Attack, Zoom Down, Last Ditch Resistance, Ruins Excavation, Heavy African, Bottom Of The Sea
5/5 Stars

Metal Slug 6: Well... this soundtrack is kind of weird. It wasn't done by Hiyamata or Tanaka, instead it was a collaboration between Manabu Namiki and Mitsuhiro Kaneda, and I just don't think their styles mesh too well. Namiki is actually a phenomenal composer, and most of his tracks are quite great, with Asian Impact in particularly being one of my favorite tracks in the series. He does a good job at capturing the atmosphere of each stage. On the other hand, Kaneda's orchestral tracks sound kind of aimless and generic, and don't mesh too well with Namiki's more techno-tracks. As a result, despite plenty of high points, the whole soundtrack to MS6 comes off as pretty disjointed and feels out of place compared to all the other soundtracks in the series.
Highlights: Asian Impact, Aim High Chase Fast, Cliff And Cave, Final Attack
3/5 Stars

Metal Slug 7: Toshikazu Tanaka is back and his last Metal Slug soundtrack feels like a fusion between the dramatic orchestral sounds of 4 and the heavy rock sounds of 5, leading to a ridiculously intense and dramatic symphonic rock soundtrack for 7. Remember how I said that it felt like every level theme in 4 would fit a final stage in any other game? Well, yeah, that applies doubly so to the level themes in 7. There's a real sense of finality to the music in Metal Slug 7, almost as if Tanaka knew this was going to be the last mainline Metal Slug game (hopefully just for now). While it doesn't quite top 5's soundtrack for me, Metal Slug 7's score is a very close second, it's right up there in terms of sheer consistency. It also has my favorite remix of the Assault Theme, for what it's worth.
Highlights: The Waterfall, Assault Theme, The Beginning Is The End, Underground Fortress, Coal Mine
5/5 Stars

Soundtrack Retrospective: Castlevania

Castlevania is another series I've been getting more into recently and it's really great. Even though I slightly prefer the Igavanias, the classic games are pretty stellar. As a whole, the series kept a pretty solid level of quality and the same applies to its generally phenomenal music. So it's about time for another Soundtrack Respective going over the music for the 2D Castlevania games (haven't played the 3D ones yet):

Castlevania: The first Castlevania game is incredibly solid on pretty much every level. Thoughtful level design, good difficulty curve, and consistently good soundtrack from start to finish. However, my biggest issue with CV1's music is the same issue I have with the game as a whole: It's too short. The entire score clocks in at a measly 13 minutes, and many of the songs don't even last a full minute, which just doesn't bode well compared to its many successors. That being said, for what it is, Castlevania does still have great music, and lots of catchy tunes that establish the spooky funk tone that the whole series would continue to stick to.

Highlights: Vampire Killer is the first song of what many fans call the "Big Three", the first three opening area themes that have shot up in popularity to become the most iconic tracks in the franchise. Personally, all three of them fall into Wily Castle 1 syndrome where I recognize their greatness but find them all a tad oversaturated when there are so many other amazing Castlevania themes out there... but that still doesn't mean Vampire Killer isn't the best track in this game in particular.

3/5 Stars

Castlevania II: Despite being a far worse game than its predecessor, Castlevania II's music is slightly better despite being just as short if not even shorter. The few tracks we do have though are a bit more complex and energetic than the ones in CV2, and you can really see Castlevania's rock influences start to show. Not really sure what else to say here, it's just some good music.

Highlights: Yeah, it's Bloody Tears. This is probably the Castlevania theme I find the most overrated, but I can't deny how hype it is.

3/5 Stars

Castlevania III: Castlevania III is the first soundtrack in the series to really knock it out the park, the vast majority of its tracks are absolute bangers. Vampire Killer from the first game had this fun funk vibe to it, so I guess Konami decided to make the entire soundtrack of the third game pretty much exactly like Vampire Killer, and it really paid off. There's also a bit more of a mysterious gothic vibe in some of the tracks like Clockwork, Nightmare, and Anxiety, and they play off with the more energetic tracks incredibly well. But what really elevates CV3's soundtrack is the Famicom version, which uses the console's improved sound capabilities to incredibly good use with some of the cleanest sounding chiptune on either the NES or the Famicom.

Highlights: AQUARIUS. Beginning is great and all, but Aquarius is like in my Top 3 tracks of the entire series. With an addictive melody, an energetic tone, and a nice dose of atmosphere, this is the definitive Castlevania track for me. Also, honorable mention goes to Mad Forest for being an absolute banger.

5/5 Stars

Super Castlevania IV: Super Castlevania IV is the most love-it-or-hate-it of the Castlevania soundtracks due to its more atmospheric tone. Either you love the vibes of it or you lament the lack of the classical-rock that defines the series. I was mixed at first, but SCIV's music is really starting to grow on me. The blend of experimental jazz, booming drums, and repetitive melodies is so unique for a video game soundtrack, with many tracks really sounding ahead of their time in how immersive and weird they are. Not every track is a home run, I find some of the boss themes noticeably weak, but when SCIV's mood hits, it really hits.

Highlights: Dracula's Theme in this game is absolutely transcendent. Those droning synths, the pattering notes, it's so haunting and melancholy making for a theme that's even wonderful to listen to outside of the game. And when Simon's theme kicks in halfway through the final battle, ah, it's so good!

4/5 Stars

Castlevania Bloodlines: Castlevania Bloodlines was the debut of Michiru Yamane, quite possibly the greatest Castlevania composer. From here on, she'd proceed to work on Symphony Of The Night, several of the handheld games, the two PS2 games, among several others. I don't think I can really mention her without saying she's gotten herself in a bit of... let's just say 2020-conspiracy-related controversies lately, which does make it a bit tough to just shower her with praise, so keep in mind that I'll specifically be talking about her music hear. Anyway...

With that being said, her debut with Bloodlines was absolutely fantastic. Yamane's blend of operatic goth and hard-hitting pop fits the vibe of Castlevania perfectly, it's almost like she was destined to make music for this series. On top of that, she manages to make the Genesis sound so good. While I find a lot of Genesis music to be a bit twangy and ear-grating, Bloodlines' music really plays to the console's strengths and dare I say rivals SCIV's soundtrack in sound quality. Speaking of which, Bloodlines continues the trend that SCIV of including the Big Three along with a stellar Theme Of Simon remix, but even with them, I still find the original level themes to be the highlight here. Reincarnated Soul, The Sinking Old Sanctuary, Iron-Blue Intention, and Calling From Heaven in particular being classics in my eyes. The only real weak spot in Bloodlines' music is that the boss themes aren't quite as good as everything else. Yamane's boss themes are generally pretty chaotic and frantic and she doesn't always pull it off, though they're still not bad! Just not as good as the high bar set by those amazing level themes.

Highlights: The Sinking Old Sanctuary isn't just my favorite Castlevania theme, it's one of my favorite pieces of video game music period. Bloodlines was my first Castlevania and until that point, all I really heard from the series music-wise was the aforementioned Big Three. So when I got to Stage 2 and I was hit by this absolutely stunning and ethereal track, I realized just how much musical range this series truly has. 

5/5 Stars

Rondo Of Blood: Rondo Of Blood is Castlevania's first CD quality soundtrack, and I cannot understate just how hard they went here. It has the same adrenaline-inducing 90s synth as Mega Man X4 (and I've already waxed poetic about how much I love that soundtrack), and pretty much every single song goes ridiculous hard. Once again, we have the Big Three here and I'd argue they have some of their finest remixes ever, but despite that, I once again think the original tracks manage to stand up right alongside if not even surpass them. Everyone loves Divine Bloodlines and Opus 13 (for good reason), but Cemetary, Picture Of The Ghost Ship, Den, and especially Cross A Fear and Slash are all fantastic in their own rights. Seriously, this whole soundtrack is that synthy Turbografx-CD sound at its absolute finest, a borderline flawless soundtrack and an easy contender for best in the series, though one other soundtrack does come pretty damn close to topping it.

Highlights: Where do I even start here? Divine Bloodlines is one of the finest opening area themes in the entire series, infectiously groovy and fun. Slash is a massive head-banger and adrenaline-pumping from start to finish. Opus 13 is just simply a massive bop. And as I said, Vampire Killer, Bloody Tears, and Beginning get some of their absolute best remixes here. But if I really had to pick my favorite, I think I have to go with Cross A Fear, which starts fun and groovy but slowly builds into one of the godliest and most powerful choruses I've ever heard. That synth lead, man, it just hits so hard!

5/5 Stars

Symphony Of The Night: Symphony Of The Night is good. It was one of the last games in the series I played though, so it and its music didn't feel quite as special as some of the games before and after, but that doesn't change the fact that it's yet another quality soundtrack from Yamane. Being the last CD-quality soundtrack we'd get for a 2D Vania, Symphony Of The Night feels like it blends Yamane's gothic and operatic stylings with the synths of Rondo Of Blood, and when it works, it works really well. Some of the best tracks in this game start off fairly simple but slowly build into a stunning climax, and there's a nice mix of genres from heavy rock to melancholic lullaby to smooth jazz. Like with Bloodlines, some of the boss themes and more atmospheric fare can be a bit more uneven, but overall, the hits far outweigh the misses.

Highlights: Lost Painting and Finale Tocatta, the two big "inverted castle" themes. They may be overused and poorly-looped within the game (especially Tocatta), but they are the two highlights of the soundtrack for me. Lost Painting is an hauntingly ethereal piece that never fails to give me goosebumps, easily one of my favorite themes in the series. Finale Tocatta, on the other hand, is a full baroque symphony that builds to one of the hardest climaxes in the franchise (shame you rarely hear in game).

5/5 Stars

Circle Of The Moon: Circle Of The Moon boasts an amazing soundtrack that takes a stellar batch of great new original themes, and blends them with phenomenal remixes of some of the best tracks in the series. And they didn't even use the Big Three this time. Along with Vampire Killer, we got Clockwork Mansion, Aquarius, and The goddamn Sinking Old Sanctuary. It's as if Konami knew what the best tracks in the series really were. While not one of the absolute best due to the aforementioned abundance of remixes, it's definitely in the upper echelon for just how quality it all is. It's definitely the best of the GBA soundtracks, and it sounds the cleanest too.

Highlights: The remix of The Shining Old Sanctuary takes one of the most beautiful and serene themes in the series and gives it a gritty rock bassline, and it works shockingly well, to the point where I don't even know if I like it more than the original. That being said, if I have to go with original tracks, I'm picking Awake, another stellar and criminally underrated opening area theme that should rank along with the best the series has to offer.

5/5 Stars

Harmony Of Dissonance: What... what happened here? Why does Harmony Of Dissonance's music sound so bad?! Circle Of The Moon's soundtrack was so good, why did this game's sound quality plummet so dramatically? From what I can tell it was because of all the visual effects on screen compared to CotM, but AoS used a similar artstyle and it sounded fine. And even if they really couldn't figure something out, how did Konami think this was okay to ship?! There are probably some good compositions here, not that I can tell when everything sounds like nails on a chalkboard. Easily one of the most accurate video game titles in history.

Update: Okay, since making this, I replayed Harmony to properly beat the true final boss, and you know what? I don't hate the soundtrack. The sound quality is certainly the weakest of the GBA games, but a game using chiptune isn't inherently a bad thing. The problem is that the composer, Soshiro Hokkai, was obviously trying to make a more atmosphere, jazzy SCIV-esque score that the console just couldn't handle, especially when Konami was prioritizing the visuals that hard. It's a shame because yeah, there actually are a lot of good compositions here and while some still manage to shine, some of them do cross the line into... well... dissonance. I don't think Harmony's soundtrack is bad or ear-grating, but I do think it was a waste of some pretty great potential.

Highlights: I gotta say, Offense And Defense is really good and I warmed up to it a lot. It's a hauntingly atmospheric track where the chiptune really doesn't hold it back all that much. It's a song that feels like what the entire soundtrack was trying to be, but was one of the few to actually reach that potential. Shame it's the track you hear the least!

2/5 Stars

Aria Of Sorrow: Aria Of Sorrow's soundtrack is good, perfectly solid Castlevania... but it's not amazing. I actually find a lot of it somewhat forgettable, which is a shame because there is a lot of really great music here, Yamane did another bang-up job. It's just that in a series like Castlevania, pretty good just isn't good enough, and it leaves Aria as the weakest of the Igavania soundtracks by quite a lot (Harmony exluded of course). The issue with Aria's soundtrack can feel quite low-key and chill, which I guess fits Soma as a character, but it makes for a decent amount of pretty forgettable themes. Aria's best music is often when it just goes full-on hard rock anyway, so I kinda just wish it did that more instead. Either way, still a good soundtrack, just not as good as it should've been.

Highlights: Despite being in an otherwise weaker soundtrack, Clock Tower is amazing. This track gets a lot of hype from fans and it's absolutely deserved, starting off mysterious and melodic before turning into a heavy metal head-banger with one hell of a chorus. The following track Underground Reservoir ain't half bad either, and neither is the catchy Top Floor theme.

3/5 Stars

Dawn Of Sorrow: Here we go! This is how it should be done! Dawn Of Sorrow's OST is everything a good Castlevania soundtrack should be. It's funky, gothic, and a consistent bop from start to finish. I'd even argue it's the funkiest soundtrack alongside Rondo which fits perfectly with Soma's cool, composed personality, but it's not too chill and muted to the point of feeling forgettable like Aria's soundtrack. Part of this is because of Masahiko Kimura who came in to compose half the soundtrack. He's responsible for the 64 games along with Dracula X, but this is easily his best work. All of his tracks rank among some of the best in the game, he nailed the Big Three remixes he was given, and he just gets Castlevania. That's not to say Yaman didn't kill it either though, she used the improved sound capabilities of the DS to great effect and the ending themes she worked on are some of her best. The DS is the peak of Castlevania musically (and gameplay-wise), but Dawn Of Sorrow's music in particular is slick and fun in a way no other soundtrack really manages to reach.

Also Amber Scenery should've been in the game, it's so good.

Highlights: Dracula's Tears is a Masahiko Kimura piece and it is one of the grooviest pieces of Castlevania music out there. It's so smooth and fun, never fails to get me bopping my head.

5/5 Stars

Portrait Of Ruin: Portrait Of Ruin is probably my least favorite of the DS soundtracks which is a real testament to how freaking good they are. Compared to Dawn Of Sorrow's more breezy tone, Portrait Of Ruin's soundtrack is heavy. The level themes are intense and hard-hitting, the boss themes are wild, and the gothic vibe is at its most unabashedly gothic. On top of that, they even brought in Yuzo Koshiro to make some tunes. Putting aside the fact that Koshiro is already a vgm legend, his soundtrack for Actraiser has been compared to Castlevania so many times that this almost seems destined. And as you'd expect, he absolutely kills it, even if he sadly didn't get to work on too much. Also, props for remixing non-Big Three tracks this time. Divine Bloodlines, Iron Blue Intention, and the Theme Of Simon Belmont are way better anyway.

Highlights: Hail From The Past is one of the best desert themes ever made. I love the ominous chime riff, the groovy melody, and that godly chorus, it's an easy Top 3 contender along with Aquarius and Sinking Old Sanctuary for me.

5/5 Stars

Order Of Ecclesia: Even by the very high standards of the past two DS soundtracks, Order Of Ecclesia still blows them out of the frickin' water. I truly cannot understate just how perfect OoE's soundtrack is. Every theme is great, every stage theme is phenomenal, and the sheer amount of 10/10 best-of-the-series tracks compressed into a single soundtrack is unreal. It has everything you'd want from a Castlevania soundtrack, from gothic rock to jazzy synth to elegant classical melodies, and yet it all manages to maintain that same dark and edgy vibe that perfectly fits one of the grimmest games in the series. It's also the longest of the 2D Castlevania soundtracks, and it never loses its quality through the whole thing. And the best part, it's almost all original. There are barely any remixes in sight. And look, I like all those iconic themes that keep showing up, but it says a lot about the quality of a Castlevania soundtrack that can stand up tall as one of, if not the best in the series entirely on its own. As I said above, I didn't think anything could top Rondo, but my god, did this one blow me away.

Highlights: What do I even pick here? Do I go with the heavy riffs of A Clashing Of Waves? The frantic tragedy of Lament To The Master? The banging rock of Sorrow's Distortion? Nah, it's gotta be Shanoa's main theme, the most iconic song in the game, An Empty Tome. It's so smooth, energetic, and perfectly fitting for both Shanoa's character and the scenes in which it plays. And the developers knew it was good, because they used it as the intro for the game to wet your appetite before it shows up halfway through. 

5/5 Stars

Castlevania: The Adventure Rebirth: Castlevania The Adventure Rebirth is a weird game for me. It's a solid Castlevania, but I just... don't get what it wants to be. It tries to be a retro revival ala Mega Man 9 but doesn't go for any defined Castlevania artstyle. It remakes one of the least-liked games in the series, but it also changes everything to the point where it's basically a completely different game. You get the improved air control of SCIV, but you can't jump onto staircases for some reason. It's all so strange to me. 

But the weirdest element here is the music, which remixes a variety of Castlevania tunes, but most of them are either from obscure entries in the series or are lesser known pieces themselves. And even more, none of the remixes are from Castlevania: The Adventure, the game this is meant to be a remake of to begin with! Well, okay, Battle Of The Holy did get a remix... that happens to be unused. And who did they even bring in to make these remixes? Manabu Namiki, who is far more associated with shmup games, FM synth, and amen breaks, none of which have anything to do with Castlevania.

That being said, despite the nostalgic anachronistic dissonance at play, we got a Castlevania soundtrack by Manabu freaking Namiki. That man is an FM god, right up there with Yousuke Yasui for me, and he really brought his A-game with these remixes. Crazy drum fills, Turtles In Time-esque orchestral hits, a lead that sounds a lot like the Sonic ring sound effect, this entire soundtrack is a hard-hitting adrenaline rush of Genesis nostalgia. Every single remix is super punchy and memorable, from the nonstop propulsion of New Messiah, to the spot-on recreations of Reincarnated Soul and Vampire Killer, to the groovy bass riffs of Lullaby Sent To The Devil and Something Loopy, to Aquarius simply being as incredible as always. And despite being unused, the Battle Of The Holy and Lost Painting remixes easily rank alongside or even surpass all the others in quality. Like with Circle Of The Moon, despite barely having an original song, the remixes are so well-executed that I rarely even notice or care. Namiki is just that good.

Highlights: Well, they're all remixes, so...

4.5/5 Stars

To cap things off, let's rank the 2D Castlevania soundtracks:

1. Order Of Ecclesia
2. Rondo Of Blood
3. Dawn Of Sorrow
4. Circle Of The Moon
5. Bloodlines
6. Portrait Of Ruin
7. Dracula's Curse
8. Symphony Of The Night
9. The Adventure Rebirth
   
10. Super Castlevania IV
11. Aria Of Sorrow
12. Simon's Quest
13. Castlevania
14. Harmony Of Dissonance

If there's one thing Castlevania soundtracks are known for, it's the first area themes. So you know what, let's rank those too:

1. An Empty Tome (Order Of Ecclesia) - Hey, technically it counts
2. Divine Bloodlines (Rondo Of Blood)
3. Invitation Of A Crazed Moon (Portrait Of Ruin)
4. Reincarnated Soul (Bloodlines)
5. Dracula's Castle (Symphony Of The Night)
6. Theme Of Simon Belmont (Super Castlevania IV)
7. Awake (Circle Of The Moon)
8. Bloody Tears (Simon's Quest)
9. Beginning (Dracula's Curse)
10. Vampire Killer (Castlevania)
11. Pitch Black Intrusion (Dawn Of Sorrow)
12. Castle Corridor (Aria Of Sorrow)
13. Chapel Hidden In Smoke (Order Of Ecclesia)
14. Successor Of Fate (Harmony Of Dissonance)

And to give them some extra recognition, here's my favorite non-first area themes as well:

1. The Sinking Old Sanctuary (Bloodlines)
2. Aquarius (Dracula's Curse)
3. Hail From The Past (Portrait Of Ruin)
4. Sorrow's Distortion (Order Of Ecclesia)
5. Cross A Fear (Rondo Of Blood)
6. Lost Painting (Symphony Of The Night)
7. Dracula's Tears (Dawn Of Sorrow)
8. Iron-Blue Intention (Bloodlines)
9. Lament To The Master (Order Of Ecclesia)
10. Slash (Rondo Of Blood)

Soundtrack Retrospective: Mega Man

So, I've been playing Mega Man games a lot lately, and while I'm still working through the X games, that wasn't enough to stop me from listening to every soundtrack in the franchise as well. Similarly with Sonic, a Mega Man game is almost always synonymous with great music.

Let's start with the classic games, all of which boast pretty reliably great soundtracks:

Mega Man: Mega Man's first soundtrack is a lot like the game itself. It's not one of the best, nor one of the worst, but with its simplicity comes a charm that helps it stand out even after all these years. Most of the main Robot Master themes are fairly short, but their catchy melodies, classical feel, and distinct minor keys still help to establish them as some of the most iconic pieces of music in the series, especially in the case of Bomb Man, Cut Man, and Guts Man. The endgame themes are a lot weaker though, coming off as fairly droning and off-beat (with the exception of that haunting Yellow Devil theme).

Highlights: This one's a bit of a no-brainer but Cut Man's theme is the Mega Man theme. It's energetic, catchy, and feels like a distinct part of this specific series. It's also one of the longest and most complex themes in the game and suffers a lot less from the short loop issue compared to many of the others.

3/5 Stars

Mega Man 2: Mega Man 2 is overrated... but not its music! Seriously, this soundtrack deserves all the praise it gets and then some, every single track in Mega Man 2 is a masterful piece of chiptune and an absolute banger. I don't really know what else I can add to the conversation here, I'm not super knowledgeable about what goes into a great chiptune song, so I'm just going to reiterate the point that many others have made: This is rock. It has the same intensity, fast pace, and flair that you'd get from one of the best rock songs, and as a fan of the genre, that makes Mega Man 2's soundtrack right up my alley. And yet, this isn't even my favorite classic Mega Man soundtrack...

Highlights: Isn't it already obvious? It's the first Wily's Fortress theme, one of the all-time greatest pieces of video game music. It's exciting, thrilling, and makes you feel like a badass, I probably wouldn't have noticed Mega Man to begin with had I not discovered this amazing theme in Super Smash Bros 4.

5/5 Stars

Mega Man 3: Mega Man 3 is the best classic Mega Man soundtrack. It takes the sheer energy of the second game's music and adds an extra layer of complexity and emotion. The tracks are lengthier, and have more parts of them. Songs like Needle Man, Proto Man's Whistle, and even the Title Screen theme feel more melancholic than you'd expect from the series at this point, and all the other songs are just ridiculously catchy and intricate, like Gemini Man and Magnet Man. Granted, I don't think MM3's soundtrack is as consistently solid as the last one, but the highs are so incredibly high that it's hard for me to care. When this soundtrack is at its best, not a single classic Mega Man game can top it.

Highlights: Snake Man's theme is my favorite classic Mega Man theme, hands down. It gives me chills every time I listen to it. It perfectly captures the vibe of adventuring into some mysterious ruins, with an eerie yet still catchy verse that loses the intensity in exchange for sheer drama for its beautiful chorus. But then we also got Title Screen, Spark Man, and Wily's Castle 2, which are also all great. Seriously, I can not rave about MM3's music enough.

5/5 Stars

Mega Man 4: I didn't really like Mega Man 4's soundtrack that much at first, mostly because it's sandwiched in between two of my favorites in the series. However, I did warm up to it the more I listened to it, even if I still think it's pretty average for a Mega Man soundtrack. I think the composers knew that this was the fourth game in the series and that they probably had a bit more freedom to experiment, which is great because some of my favorite songs in MM4 were the weird ones, like the smooth Toad Man, the reverse-sounding notes in Dust Man, and the layered chords in Ring Man. However, while most of the soundtrack is at least solid, who the hell thought the password theme sounded good? It's hands down the worst song in the whole series by a mile.

Highlights: This might be a bit of an obvious pick but Pharaoh Man's theme is such an easy standout for Mega Man 4. It has a catchy and nearly iconic melody, a great sense of energy, and a fantastic bassline.

3/5 Stars

Mega Man 5: Mega Man 5 is an underrated gem and one of my favorite games in the series. Thus, its soundtrack is also an underrated gem and, you guessed it, has one of my favorite soundtracks in the series. Mari Yamaguchi composed the music of MM5 and right from the get-go, she establishes a unique syncopated chiptune style that's really helps to unify this soundtrack, while also leading to some of the most complex and ambitious NES music I've ever heard. It's cohesive and consistent, while also having pretty much every single track be a jazzy banger. Gravity Man is pure unadulterated Mega Man, Crystal Man is super adventurous, Napalm Man is incredibly catchy and intricate, and Wave Man is beautifully relaxing. Also, they timed the boss theme so it doesn't get interrupted by the health bar filling up. 10/10.

Highlights: Despite all my raving about Mari Yamaguchi's style, my favorite track in the game may not have even been composed by her! While I don't know for sure, from what I've heard, the Wily Castle theme was made by Yoko Shimomura, aka my favorite video game composer. Whether it's Shimomura or Yamaguchi, this is the best Wily Castle theme in the series and one of my favorite Mega Man themes in general. It has such a haunting vibe to it, and gives the endgame a great sense of finality. 

5/5 Stars

Mega Man 6: Mega Man 6's soundtrack is an acquired taste, and ultimately I'm still somewhat mixed on it. On one hand, MM6 has some of the most complicated, intricate, lengthy, and crisp-sounding tracks on the entire NES. Yuko Takehara's more melancholic and grand style really shows in Mega Man 6's music, which has a strong sense of atmosphere and finality to it. Just by listening to the music alone, you can tell MM6 is the end of an era. However, I feel like a lot of the songs here can be a bit slow-paced, even the ones I really like. It's something I've gotten used to over time, but when you're coming off the heels of some of the other more high energy NES Mega Man soundtracks, it can feel a bit odd. At the very least, it's a rare soundtrack where it sounds just as good listening to it at 1.25 speed.

Highlights: The theme for Mr X Fortress is absolutely phenomenal and one of the best Classic themes in the series. It's climactic and hopeful and really captures the vibe of this being the final entry for the NES. 

3/5 Stars

Mega Man 7: Mega Man 7 is the first, and one of the only classic Mega Man soundtracks to not use chiptune, so I was a bit wary that it would feel like the black sheep of the series. I was wrong on both accounts, though, this soundtrack is fantastic! I like chiptune, but it's such a breath of fresh air to have instrumentation that's clearer and easier on the ears, and it allows for a much greater variety of songs. Like many other SNES soundtracks, Mega Man 7's music puts a big emphasis on the bass (makes sense, this game introduces Bass), and it allows for a really groovy soundtrack. The Robot Masters have some great themes here, but the entire endgame is especially strong, pretty much every castle and final boss theme is fantastic. The only thing stopping me from giving it a perfect grade is the theme for Auto's Shop, that's nearly a low on par with MM4's Password theme!

Highlights: Jurassic Jungle is so freaking good. It's energetic, adventurous-sounding, and, as much as I hate to repeat myself, just plain groovy. The central synth is super easy on the ears, and the backing trumpets, bass, and especially the drums all elevate the track.

4/5 Stars

Mega Man 8: If you've seen me bring up my thoughts on house music and DnB, you can probably guess what my opinion on the Mega Man 8 soundtrack is going to be. Mega Man 8 is pretty much the Sonic CD of the series music-wise, an experimental and weird yet oddly consistent and cohesive score that nails that 90s house feel. There are so many strange melodic choices in all these songs that it kind of took some time for me to fully warm up to them, but I came around to truly loving the majority of this soundtrack. I don't care how well it fits into a Mega Man game, this is exactly my kind of music. Also, apparently a Resident Evil composer made the music for this one and it kinda shows, there are some eerie pieces of music here. 

Highlights: While I love the dnb-heavy opening, Astro Man's theme is the highlight for me. It's a great and groovy piece of house music that feels right out of something like Super Monkey Ball, but the most noteworthy part is its weird piano usage that helps give the song a bit of a distorted feel, which fits the stage pretty much perfectly.

5/5 Stars

Mega Man 9: At first, I thought Mega Man 9's soundtrack, just like the game itself, was too derivative of Mega Man 2. But I was wrong, it's better. MM9's soundtrack is probably the most Mega Man soundtrack to ever Mega Man, and that's not at a bad thing at all. This is peak 8-bit rock, and it's filled to the brim with fantastic tunes for pretty much every Robot Master, especially Splash Woman, Plug Man, and Galaxy Man. Mega Man 9's soundtrack is ridiculously catchy, and the more you listen to them, the more they will worm their way into your head. Seriously, try to listen to Jewel Man's theme and not bang your head to the twinkly chiptune. And don't even get me started on the Wily Castle themes, easily some of the best and most dramatic in the series.

Highlights: Flash In The Dark is a fantastic Wily Castle theme, easily one of the best in the series. It's intense, dramatic, and super climactic, with an especially chill-inducing chorus. And yes, it is better than Wily Castle 2.

4.5/5 Stars

Mega Man 10: Mega Man 10's score is a true love letter to the series, bringing back every single prior classic Mega Man composer to work on at least one track. This means that, at its best, MM10 has some of the biggest bangers in the series from the composers of 2, 3, 5, and 8. Some of the tracks really play around with what chiptune can accomplish with songs like Absolute Chill and Deep In Space, which is absolutely fantastic. However, a soundtrack with this many composers could never be consistent, so while Mega Man 10's high points are ridiculously high, it's also a very uneven soundtrack with some lows as well. More specifically, the non-stage themes like the cutscene, stage select, and boss themes are a bit on the lackluster side. I still love MM10's music to bits, but its hit-or-miss nature prevents it from ranking as one of my absolute favorites.

Highlights: As mentioned above, Cybersheep's Dream is Mari Yamaguchi's contribution and it's absolutely phenomenal. Her jazzy syncopated style is shown in full force, and the song does things I've never really heard a piece of chiptune do. Easily one of my favorite classic themes.

4/5 Stars

Mega Man 11: This is the Sonic Forces of the series in terms of music. It goes for a hard electronic style that people will either love or hate, but I tend to leaning towards the former. Good electronica is good electronica and I really like how intense and head-bangy a lot of the tracks in this game are. At its best, we have probably my favorite Title theme in the series, one of the best Wily Castle themes, and one of my favorite lineup of Robot Master themes. However, I will also admit that the music in this game can get pretty samey and repetitive due to using the same instrumentation a lot, and outside of the aforementioned castle theme, there are some pretty weak tracks near the endgame.

Highlights: Fuse Man is so good. Capcom picked the perfect song to use for their trailer theme because this one goes incredibly hard, it's fast-paced, energetic, and just plain exciting. I also love the tense Torch Man theme and the explosive-sounding Blast Man theme.

4/5 Stars

Mega Man & Bass: When I first heard the soundtrack to Mega Man & Bass, I immediately chalked it off as the worst in the series and found it to be super unmemorable. I think that's a bit harsh. While it's true that Mega Man & Bass is one of the weaker classic Mega Man scores and doesn't reach the heights of other soundtracks, it's by no means the worst. If I had to describe the music for Mega Man & Bass in a single word, it would be groovy. The basslines are top-notch throughout, and pretty much every track is super easy and fun to jam to. While the game itself elicits a lot of frustration out of me, the soundtrack feels tailor-made to cheer up whoever is listening to it. Unless you're listening to the GBA version, of course. This soundtrack just doesn't work outside the SNES/SFC.

Highlights: I really liked the theme for the Data Base. It's so chill and nostalgic, a perfect theme to listen to while looking through the history of the classic Mega Man games. But fine, if I had to pick a level theme, it would have to be Ground Man's theme, one of the slickest pieces of video game music ever made.

Original: 3/5 Stars

GBA: 1/5 Stars

My ranking of the Mega Man soundtracks would be:

1. MM3
2. MM5
3. MM8
4. MM9
5. MM2
6. MM7
7. MM11
8. MM10
9. MM6
10. MM&B
11. MM4
12. MM1
13. MM&B (GBA Version)

The fact that MM10's soundtrack is in 8th place for me is a testament to how great these soundtracks are, I could see why someone could pick any of those first ten soundtracks as their favorites out of the classic series.

Next up are the X games. As a whole, I think these tend to have better soundtracks than the classic series... except for one, but I'll get there when I get to it:

Mega Man X: Mega Man X serves as the baseline for how a good Mega Man X soundtrack should sound. It's not my favorite in the series, but it is a fantastic soundtrack with a lot of incredibly iconic and memorable songs. Like with Mega Man 2, there's not much I can really say that hasn't been said about this one. It sounds like a full-on rock album a lot of the time (Boomer Kuwanger is particular could be a goddamn stadium anthem), the SNES bass is absolutely fantastic once again, and pretty much every Maverick theme is phenomenal. But even the non-gameplay themes are great, like the main themes for X and Zero, the title screen, and even the freaking password screen music! 

Highlights: Opening Stage is still one of my favorite pieces of music in the series, it's a truly iconic theme that really gets your blood pumping. However, I also have to give praise to the beautiful and dramatic Sigma Stage 2, which might even be better in some aspects.

5/5 Stars

Mega Man X2: Coming off the heels of the incredible first game's soundtrack, X2 feels like a bit of a let-down by comparison. The tracks are short and a lot more simple, and the general vibe of the soundtrack feels oddly relaxing a lot of the time. I still won't say the music in this game is bad, there are a lot of great tracks and high points, but it's as if the composers knew they couldn't top X's soundtrack and just didn't try. Also, for some reason the SNES MIDI guiltars don't sound quite as good as the ones in X, but they're still tolerable, unlike a certain other Mega Man X game that I have yet to talk about...

Highlights: X-Hunter Stage 1 is a pretty rocking theme that feels like it could fit into the first game's soundtrack perfectly... if it wasn't like barely a minute long, at least. Seriously, these songs are way too short.

3/5 Stars

Mega Man X3: This is the one bad Mega Man X soundtrack. Not just bad by Mega Man standards, it's straight-up bad. I don't want to fault the composer Kinuyo Yamashita too much, she did great work in Castlevania, but I don't think this was one of her better showings. The compositions are fine, if a bit short at times, but the real issue is the godawful instrumentation. The soundtrack uses these MIDI guitars that sound so much worse than the ones from X and X2, which still would have been fine in moderation. However, these guitars are used as the backbone for pretty much every song in the game, which not only makes them feel more homogenous and repetitive than they already are, but also makes for a soundtrack I felt physical pain listening to.

But wait, there's more. Because X3 also got a port to the Playstation and Saturn, where it got an entirely remastered soundtrack that's easier on the ears. While it does feel a bit weird seeing songs that were intended to be rock get turned into synth tracks more akin to MM8 or X4, this version of the soundtrack is loads better and helped me appreciate a lot of Yamashita's ambitious and complex compositions a lot more. 

Highlights: No matter what the version, Gravity Beetle will always be one of the best songs in the X series. While it does still use X3's guitars, the melody is so strong and recognizable that it does bring this track up for me a lot. And while the PSX version isn't quite as rocking as the original, the instruments are a lot easier on the ears and I love the jazzy take it provides for this song.

SNES: 1/5 Stars

PSX: 4/5 Stars

Mega Man X4: X4's music starts an entirely new era of music for the Mega Man X games, switching from the SNES's instruments to a focus on synth and EDM, which is a shift I actually really liked. Dare I say the PS1 era is the absolute peak of not just the X soundtracks but the Mega Man franchise as a whole in terms of music. Mega Man X4 is particularly masterful because I think it has the most cohesive soundtrack out of the X games, blending some of the most adrenaline-pumping themes in the series with a haunting sense of melancholy that perfectly fits the game's story. Songs like Jet Stingray, Final Weapon 1, and Magma Dragoon do a really good job at getting your blood pumping, but my favorites tend to be the more sorrowful tracks like Iris, Cyber Peacock, and X's Opening Stage. X4 just has a vibe to it, and I think it inspired a lot of other indie composers because I can look back to some of my favorite soundtracks like Freedom Planet and Half-Genie Hero and feel that same exact vibe. Also, the basslines in some of these songs are immaculate.

Highlights: As mentioned above, my absolute favorite tracks are Iris and Cyber Peacock due to their melancholic tones. Iris's theme is especially worth noting since it does a lot of the heavy lifting to sell the emotion of a scene that kinda got ruined by the dub, and maintains the trend of tragic fights having amazing music (Iconoclasts & Freedom Planet being good examples),

5/5 Stars

Mega Man X5: X5 is a game with all of its effort put into that final stretch so that the series could go on out a high note, since it was initially intended to be the final Mega Man X game, and I'd say the same is true of the soundtrack. The whole score has this chilling sense of finality to it, like the haunting opening theme that reprises Variable X in glorious fashion, the several bleak-sounding themes like Grizzly Slash and Zero's Opening Stage, the fantastic remixes like Duff McWhalen and Rangda Bangda W, and pretty much the entirety of the endgame, a flawless streak of thrilling and emotional tracks that stand up as the best songs in the series. The whole soundtrack masterfully blends techno and rock together, making for the perfect example of what made the PS1 era of Mega Man X so fantastic. It's also worth noting that this was the first Mega Man game that Naoto Tanaka helped compose. Along with Yamaguchi, he's my personal favorite Mega Man composer and he made a ton of my favorite songs in the series (Sigma 1st, X Vs Zero, Primrose from X8, all of X6's soundtrack).

Highlights: X Vs Zero is my favorite song in not just the X series, but the entire Mega Man franchise. It really sells just how big and important this fight between the series' two main protagonists is. It's high-octane, exciting, emotionally charged, and just plain fun to listen to. I also love Zero Stage 2 for not just being fantastic rave music but quite possibly the inspiration for Reisen's theme from Touhou.

5/5 Stars

Mega Man X6: X6 may not be a very good game but its soundtrack easily one of the best in all of Mega Man. Naoto Tanaka pretty much took the reins on this one, composing the whole score and nailing every single track. Genre-wise, it's a lot like X5's soundtrack but a lot more atmospheric and synth-heavy, almost giving off an 80s vibe with its wailing guitar riffs. It runs the gamut from incredibly calm tracks like the Opening Stage and the hardest rock ever in songs like Blaze Heatnix. Not to mention Ground Scaravich's theme which is basically just the Bomberman Hero soundtrack, as well as the fact that the X Vs Zero theme returns in this game making for a damn near perfect soundtrack.

Highlights: This game has two for me. First, there's Commander Yammark's theme, which is so uncharacteristically calm for a Mega Man game but absolutely works. It has that odd PS1 vibe and the instruments used here are so distinct and pleasant to listen to (those background chords especially, holy crap). On the complete opposite side of the spectrum, there's Infinity Mijinion's theme which is one of the most rocking and intense themes in the series, a theme so epic many have compared it to The Final Countdown. The range of X6's soundtrack is just insane.

5/5 Stars

Mega Man X7: X7 kickstarts the final era of Mega Man X music by switching genres one last time to full-on rock. While the game is once again not that great, I really like X7's soundtrack for its dark and industrial vibe. It's basically Mega Man's attempt at the Shadow The Hedgehog soundtrack, which is great because I really like that soundtrack. While I feel like the soundtrack sticking to the same style means X7's music can feel a bit repetitive (not unlike 11's soundtrack), I still think the general level of quality for these tracks is pretty high and I love the dramatic and operatic tone of some of these songs.

Highlights: In terms of gameplay tracks, Decisive Battle is my favorite song and one of my favorite boss themes in the series. It's a lot different from the rest of the songs in the game but it's incredibly energetic and catchy. However, I also have to single out Code Crush for being my favorite vocal track in the series and capturing the whole vibe of X7's music perfectly. I love the slow piano opening that eventually abrupts into this really menacing rock theme, it's fantastic!

4/5 Stars

Mega Man X8: I'm a big fan of X8's unique mystical-looking 2.5D presentation (which honestly gives me Klonoa vibes), so some of my favorite tracks in the game are the ones ended up being the songs like Primose, Booster Forest, and Lumine's 1st theme that feel really ethereal and unlike anything we've seen in the series. Unfortunately, those songs are few and far between, with much of X8's soundtrack being fairly standard buttrock. Whereas X7 is like Shadow's music, X8 is like Sonic's music, though without anywhere near the same amount of charm and energy as Jun Senoue's stuff. And while I said X7's music can feel a bit repetitive, this is way more of an issue here. Still, I don't really find any of X8's tracks bad per se, and I think one area where the soundtrack excels is in the high-tempo boss themes. Vs Boss, Vs Sigma, Vs Vile, and both Lumine themes are fantastic and rank as some of the best boss themes in the whole series. I also like how this is the only game in the series to have multiple themes for some of its stages. It's always a nice touch when games do that, and makes for one of the largest Mega Man soundtracks to date.

Highlights: Primrose is my favorite theme in Mega Man X8 despite being the most unconventional and unfitting track in the game. I love how, for one of the few times in the game, the guitar is placed in the background of the song. Instead, we have all these weird sitar and chime instruments that make the soundtrack feel so ethereal, and the melody is incredibly complex and catchy. Once again, it feels like Mega Man's take on a Klonoa song, and that will always be a good thing in my book. Also, Jakob is a pretty phenomenal piece of music as well, deservedly the most beloved song in the game.

3/5 Stars

My ranking of the Mega Man X soundtracks is:

1. X5
2. X4
3. X6
4. X
5. X3 (PSX)
6. X7
7. X8
8. X2
9. Literally anything
10. X3 (SNES)

If the classic series' soundtracks weren't good enough, the 1st-4th place picks would probably be the best soundtracks in most other series, which says a lot about how great some of these are.

Finally, I wanted to do the Zero and ZX games. Gameplay-wise, I think these are the best in the series, and their soundtracks are pretty fantastic too:

Mega Man Zero: While definitely the weakest of the bunch, I still really enjoy Zero's soundtrack for what it is. It feels like your standard peppy GBA soundtrack in a lot of ways, but with a bit of an edge to it, and that gives Zero 1 a charming vibe that helps it stand out a bit. Songs like Hell Plant, Intermission, and Enemy Hall are super catchy and memorable, and while definitely not the focus here, tracks like Express UG and Crash do still provide the rock/techno you'd want from the series. There are also plenty of fairly bland and forgettable songs like Resistance and Deadzone, as well as most of the cutscene themes, but the high points are high enough that I ultimately came away liking this one.

Highlight: While my favorite song in Zero is technically the reprise of Zero's theme, the original song that stuck out the most to me was Scorching Desert. It's a really great desert theme that sounds menacing and dark, though with a bit of hope. It also happens to have the "Koopa's Road" chords which always make for a great song.

3/5 Stars

Mega Man Zero 2: Zero 2's soundtrack is absolutely fantastic and a huge improvement on the first. It goes for a more heavy rock style, and sounds shockingly great. Despite the limitations of the GBA's soundchip, the composers were able to pull off some really complex tracks that really blew me away. The first half of the game is especially fantastic in terms of music, between tracks like the iconic Departure, Ice Brain, Gravity, Sand Triangle, Power Born, and the remix of Neo Arcadia. However, the second half of the game is a bit weak in terms of music, in my opinion. It has its great tracks like Silver Wolf, Cool Hearted Fellow, and the credits theme, but either the melodies just weren't as strong or the novelty of the GBA's MIDI guitar wore off. Still, that first half really does have some of the best music on the system.

Highlight: While most may say Departure (and that song is definitely great), Ice Brain was really the track that stuck out to me the most. It's such a chill track with a catchy melody and ice-y synth, and it all sounds fantastic. Also, Gravity is basically the Kashmir riff and that's awesome.

4/5 Stars

Mega Man Zero 3: Zero 3's soundtrack is really just more of the previous game's rock style, so there isn't that much I can say that hasn't already been said. Personally, I don't think Zero 3's music reaches the same high points as Zero 2's, but it does make sure to save all of its best stuff for the end this time around. From Cold Smile onward, the music in Zero 3 really takes a big bump in quality, peaking in the endgame. It's also worth noting that the game also has a bunch of remixes, mostly used during the part where Zero returns to old stages. Outside of the Infiltration remix, however, I found most of them to be inferior to the original, which was a bit disappointing.

Highlight: Zero 3's final boss isn't just the high point of the game in terms of visuals, story, gameplay, and difficulty, it's also the high point in terms of its soundtrack! The one-two punch of the grandiose and dramatic Judgement Day and the fast-paced and energetic Cannonball makes for one of the peaks of the Zero series as far as the music goes.

4/5 Stars

Mega Man Zero 4: So, Mega Man Zero 4's music kind of has an X3 problem where the soundfont chosen for the game just doesn't sound great on its original hardware. The MIDI guitars used in many of Zero 4's songs sound off, and really seem to strain the GBA. Thankfully, though, there are many official remixes of all the Zero games, including the DS remasters as well as the Remastered Tracks, Mythos, and Resonnent Vie albums, so there are many ways to listen to Zero 4's music as intended, which is good because composition-wise, this is hands down the best soundtrack in the Zero series and it's not even close. Where Zero 2 had a rough second half and Zero 3 had a rough first half, Zero 4's music is consistently strong across the board. The music in Zero 4 has a melancholy vibe befitting the sheer finality of this game, while simultaneously maintaining the heavy rock style that the last two games had. Zero 4 also happens to have one of my new favorite leitmotifs in any video game soundtrack ever, used in songs like Esperanto and Holy Land. It's so haunting and bittersweet, I love it!

Highlight: Look, Falling Down is a phenomenal piece of music and one of the best tracks ever made for the GBA... but Esperanto though. It's epic, it's dramatic, it's hopeful, it's bittersweet, it's beautiful, it's haunting, it's easily the best song in the Zero series and one of my favorite themes in the whole franchise.

Original GBA Version: 4/5 Stars? 4.5/5?

Literally every other version: 5/5 Stars

Mega Man ZX: Mega Man ZX's soundtrack is absolutely phenomenal, easily one of the best in the franchise. You can tell that Inti Creates' composers were excited to get to work with better sound hardware with the DS because ZX's soundtrack is nothing but absolute bangers from start to finish. ZX goes for a techno sound with its heavy use of synth, and there's so much energy in every single track. ZX's music is so happy and fun to listen to, it's hard to really say much more other than it's just really good. Please listen to the ZX soundtrack if you haven't already, it's super overlooked.

Highlights: Green Grass Gradation is the obvious pick here, that opening level theme so good it blew me away when I first played ZX. However, my favorite song in ZX is actually Gauntlet. Not only is it a thrilling and energetic banger on its own, but the fact that it's likely going to be the last mission you play makes its reusal of the first mission theme's leitmotif feel all the more climactic and memorable.

5/5 Stars

Mega Man ZX Advent: ZX Advent has yet another really fantastic soundtrack, and dare I say, it could genuinely be better than its predecessor. Well, sort of. Composition-wise, ZX Advent's soundtrack is top-notch, running the gamet from banging techno to somber bits of atmosphere to fantastic ZX remixes. It definitely reaches higher highs than ZX's soundtrack for me. However, Advent's soundtrack sounds a lot more compressed in-game than ZX's did, meaning some of the songs don't quite pack the same punch. It took listening to the cleaner Tunes remixes for me to really appreciate a lot of these songs. Still, even with that compression concern, ZX Advent still has one of my favorite soundtracks on the DS. As much as I love the Zero games, the ZX duology completely blows them out of the water in terms of music.

Highlights: Bullet Drive is flat-out one of my favorite themes in the series. It's so climactic, energetic, and thrilling, and the ZX Tunes version is even better. But of course, I also can't go without highlighting that godly remix of Trap Phantasm from ZX.

5/5 Stars

Here's my ranking of the Zero/ZX soundtracks:

1. Mega Man ZX Advent (Tunes version)
   
2. Mega Man ZX
3. Mega Man ZX Advent (Original)
4. Mega Man Zero 4
5. Mega Man Zero 2
6. Mega Man Zero 3
7. Mega Man Zero

So to cap it off, here's my Top 10 Mega Man soundtracks out of them all:

1. Mega Man X5
2. Mega Man 3
3. Mega Man X4
4. Mega Man ZX/Advent
5. Mega Man X6
6. Mega Man 5
7. Mega Man X
8. Mega Man 8
9. Mega Man Zero 4
10. Mega Man 9

Soundtrack Retrospective: Kirby And The Forgotten Land

So, Kirby And The Forgotten Land is out and it's absolutely fantastic, easily my favorite Kirby game to date. I'll reveal my full thoughts when I finish my Kirby retrospective post, but for now, I wanted to go over the soundtrack like I did for all the other games to see how it stacks up as a Kirby soundtrack:

Spoiler Warning: I am going to be spoiling Forgotten Land here, particularly the final boss and extra boss, as well as some story beats. I warned you!

Kirby And The Forgotten Land's soundtrack took a bit of time for me to appreciate it. While I adored the game as a whole right from the start, my initial impression of Forgotten Land's soundtrack was that it was a bit weaker than the past few in the series. This is because Forgotten Land's music is a lot lengthier, more ambient, and complex, meaning that it doesn't really have the same amount of catchy hooks that pretty much all of the prior Kirby soundtracks. As I listened to this game's tracks more and more, however, I started to warm up to them a lot because of how complex they are. It helped that the bulk of the game's best tracks are in its second half, but I even began to love some of the earlier tracks as well. Songs that I originally felt weren't catchy enough ended up having much listening value because of how dynamic they all are, constantly changing tempo and rhythm. I also found myself loving how, for lack of a better word, raw many of Forgotten Land's songs are. From Hirokazu Ando's several improvisational piano experiments, to the testosterone-fueled remix of Dedede's theme, to Morpho Knight's theme being easily the heaviest rock tune in the series. There's something very gritty and hard-hitting about a lot of the tracks that make them feel more impactful, especially considering that Forgotten Land is easily the darkest Kirby game to date.   

The other thing worth noting about this Kirby soundtrack is the sheer amount of variety in its genres and musical styles. This is because Forgotten Land's score has a whopping four composers, the most in any mainseries game to date. Thankfully, this doesn't make Forgotten Land's soundtrack sound all over the place, every track sounds distinctly Kirby, yet if you know who's composing what it's not hard to parse out each composer's style. Jun Ishikawa is the most well-known Kirby composer, so he has a lot of the standard cheerful and synthy Kirby-esque tracks like Abandoned Beach and Through The Tunnel, but he also has the most experimental tracks in the game as well, with the bizarre Pitch-Black Terror being a highlight. Hirokazu Ando tends to have a more grand and orchestral style and is notable for using the same cymbal crash sound effect in many of his songs (seriously you won't be able to unhear it), so he got a lot of really elegant tracks like Metro On Ice, Battle Of Blizzard Bridge, Faded Dream Of A Psychomeddler, and of course, the final boss theme. Yuuta Ogasawara returns from his minor contribution to Kirby Star Allies's score and knocks it out of the park, mostly doing all of the melancholy and rock-heavy themes like Northeast Frost Street and Morpho Knight. Oddly enough though, he also worked on the game's incredibly lighthearted main themes which shows a pretty impressive amount of range. And finally, there's the newest addition to the team, Yuki Shimooka, who manages to emulate the bombastic style of Shogo Sakai (Composer for Kirby Air Ride and Mother 3) so well I thought he was working on the soundtrack. Songs like Fast-Flowing Waterworks, Care For A Refreshment, and Moonlight Canyon feel like they belong in Kirby Air Ride, and I'm saying this in the best possible way. It's impressive how well Forgotten Land's soundtrack is balanced between the four composers while still feeling cohesive despite all the varying styles. Each composer has their times to shine and no one gets the bulk of the best songs.

Just like I do with episodes of the TV shows I review, I wanted to list out the "highlights" of this game's soundtrack, so to speak. These are the songs that really stuck out to me:

Through The Tunnel (Ishikawa): I was unimpressed by this song at first, only for me to realize that it's actually the world's best bait-and-switch. The first 5-10 seconds of the second seem as light-hearted as a Kirby song could be, only for the track to elegantly transition into a much darker cave theme that sounds right at home in Kirby 64. There are so many layers to this track too, from the jamming acoustic guitar in the background, to the wailing electronic guitar in the chorus, to the Klonoa-esque chimes halfway through the song. Through The Tunnel shot up from one of my least favorite tracks in the game to one of my absolute favorites.

Fast-Flowing Waterworks (Shimooka): It's hard to really pin down what composer Fast-Flowing Waterworks reminds me of, as the slow tempo and melancholic tone gives me David Wise vibes, but it also sounds a lot like the forest and volcano themes from Kirby And The Rainbow Curse. Don't take those similarities as a knock against Shimooka's skill, though, this still sounds unlike anything we've heard in a Kirby game like this and immediately stood out as one of the game's best tracks. Its slow and melodic pacing, tribal sound, and dramatic vibe really makes this one hit different.

Northeast Frost Street (Ogasawara): While there were plenty of tracks I enjoyed up to this point, Northeast Frost Street was the first song of Forgotten Land that really blew me away. I really can't rave about it enough. I love the laid-back rock vibe it has going for it, with its wailing guitar, heavenly violins, and calm drums. As a matter of fact, it sounds a lot like an overworld theme for a Xenoblade game, which just makes it that much better. The slow buildup to the soaring dramatic climax makes for a truly satisfying and beautiful piece of music. Winter levels categorically have fantastic music, but this might be one of the greatest winter themes ever.

The Battle Of Blizzard Bridge (Ando): This was another theme that really had to grow on me, but now that it has, this is easily one of the most impressive, complex, and smooth tracks in the whole series. There's so much to go over here but to put it simply, this whole track is basically a piece of progressive fusion jazz. I love the slow and chilly-sounding keyboard intro, the fantastic drum track in the background, the crazy piano improv, the back-and-forth between the keyboard and the piano, the fact that Ando's cymbal crash sound effect is probably the best-utilized out of any of his tracks, the fact that the second half of the track is taken over by an insane guitar solo. Seriously, you need to hear this tune for yourself, it's unlike anything I've ever heard in a video game. The more I think on it, the better it gets.

Roar Of Dedede (Ogasawara): Dedede's Royal Payback will always be my favorite Dedede theme, but this is easily the best version of his original theme and it's not even close. It takes the additions made to the tune in Star Allies and ups them to eleven by turning it into heavy metal, with Dedede's grunts and the sound of hammers striking in the anvils in the background for good measure. And when the chorus finally hits and you hear that iconic leitmotif, it hits like a goddamn freight train. This is easily one of the best and headbangiest themes in the series, and quite possibly the most masculine one too.

The Wastes Where Life Began (Ogasawara): Now that I think about it, Kirby's desert themes tend to perfectly encapsulate the vibe the respective soundtracks are going for. Kirby 64's Rock Star feels as DnB-heavy as the rest of the soundtrack, Return's Desert Area is fast-paced and arcadey befitting the score's retro style, and Planet Robobot's Dried-Up Sea straight-up sounds like a rave because it's the techno game. Knowing all that, The Wastes Where Life Began is a perfectly encapsulation of what Forgotten Land's soundtrack does well. It's intense, bombastic, grandiose, adventurous, and oddly oppressive as well. Given that this is the first track you hear after Elfilin gets captured and that the whole level takes place in a literal dried-up ocean, a dark and melancholic desert theme fits perfectly, and sounds fantastic to boot.

Moonlight Canyon (Shimooka): This track gives me serious Sky Sands vibes with its dramatic sound and triumphant tone, and is made a lot better by how it's utilized in the game. Halfway through the titular level, you exit a pitch-black cave only for the camera to pan up to this massive canyon as one of the most soaring themes in the whole game. It really made for one of the most memorable cinematic moments in Forgotten Land, and it's hard not to picture that moment of awe everytime I listen to this track. I also just love the changes in tone and tempo, and how the track calms down every once in a while making the bombastic chorus all the more impactful.

Burning, Churning Power Plant (Ishikawa): Similarly to Through The Tunnel, Ishikawa pulls a bit of a bait-and-switch here. The song's buildup throughout the first thirty seconds are heavy and industrial-sounding, almost as if he's trying to lead you into thinking this track is going to turn into a remix of Factory Investigation. But then, the track suddenly bursts into a brief acid techno refrain and turns into something entirely new. This still sounds a lot like a Kirby 64 track in a lot of ways, with a few hints of Sand Canyon 3 as well, but the way Burning, Churning Power Plant shifts and changes while still keeping a sense of haunting intensity makes for a really fresh track. It's as if Ishikawa is just showing off all the different types of techno he can pull off.

Two Planets Approach The Roche Limit (Ando): Kirby final boss themes are always fantastic, but this is easily my favorite one since CROWNED. It's not as bombastic as some of the others in the series, but Two Planets Approach The Roche Limit makes up for it in sheer elegance, style, and complexity. And I really mean complexity, as the genius of this song is the fact that it actually changes depending on what attack Fecto Elfilis is using. Each segment of the track is unique and memorable, from the dramatic organ segment to the intense rock chorus that plays whenever Fecto Elfilis starts tossing meteors at you. And it works well as its own track too, each segment slowly layering on an instrument culminating in that aforementioned rock chorus. Two Planets Approach The Roche Limit sounds fittingly heavenly given that you're technically fighting god here, and the buildup and payoff makes for the perfect final boss theme for one of my new favorite antagonists in the series.

Morpho Knight (Ogasawara): I honestly wasn't all that impressed with Morpho Knight's first theme in Star Allies. It wasn't bad, mind you, but given that it essentially replaced the iconic heavy metal Galacta Knight theme, I couldn't help but feel disappointed. Thankfully, Morpho Knight's theme in Forgotten Land made up for that in spades, and is quite possibly the edgiest theme in the whole series. Right from the choral opening theme, Morpho Knight's leitmotif is given this sense of weight, as if the song itself is telling you to dread his arrival. From there, the song erupts into rock as the gritty central guitar keeps repeating that leitmotif, further outlining how dangerous this character is. And that's not even it, the second half of the song is the Waddle Dee Town theme in minor key, which gives this song even more of a hopeless and dread-inducing feel. And when you consider the addition of lore that paints Morpho Knight as essentially Kirby's version of the Grim Reaper, you get a boss theme that does a perfect job of capturing just how terrifying of a foe Morpho Knight is.

Other Honorable Mentions: Faded Dream Of A Psychomeddler (Ando) gives me Touhou vibes in the best way possible, Pitch-Black Horror (Ishikawa) is glorious in its weirdness, Metro On Ice (Ando) takes chill winter music to a whole 'nother level, and Sword Of The Surviving Guardian (Ogasawara) is one of Meta Knight's most badass themes to date.

Overall, Kirby And The Forgotten Land's soundtrack is a lot different than those of many other Kirby games. With its longer and more open 3D levels as well as its darker story, the tracks had to be longer, more complex, and more atmospheric than anything else in the series. While this may mean we might not have as many catchy hooks as in some other Kirby entries, Forgotten Land's soundtrack got better the more I listened to it, with a fantastic variety of genres and composers, an at-times intense and melancholic tone, and just simply a ton of very hard-hitting tracks. I still wouldn't call it my favorite soundtrack, it does have some weaker tracks like with some of the endgame bosses and it falls into the Robobot trap of using its leitmotif too often, but the high points are some of the highest in the series. It's an easy Top 5 Kirby soundtrack for me, and a fantastic new direction for the franchise.

5/5 Stars

Touhou Soundtrack Retrospective Part 2: The Music CDs

So I pretty much finished my retrospective of my favorite music from my favorite video game series, but when I was reviewing the Touhou soundtracks, I noticed that I was excluding some of their best scores, those from the Music CDs. Touhou's Music CDs are super underrated and boast some of the strongest music ZUN has ever composed. They can be dark, experimental, and downright exhausting to listen to (in a good way!), so I wanted to rank all of them as well:

1. Changeability Of Strange Dream (#3)

Man, where do I even start with this one? When I said the CDs can be exhausting to listen to, this is the one I was talking about. CoSD's music is intense, every single song amps up the drama, melancholy, and eerieness with melodramatic piano solos and hard-hitting techno. But even more than that, CoSD's music is good, like really good. Every single song knocks it out of the park, to the point where sometimes I just get exhausted by how good it all is. The album grabs you with the ode to ZUN himself and never lets you go for all of its eleven songs. The ratio of remixes to original music is perfect, and both halves absolutely knock it out of the park. As far as the original music goes, we have the beautiful "Kid's Festival - Innocent Treasures", the quirky "Boys And Girls Of Science Era", and the chill-inducing "Border Between Dream And Reality". For the remixes, we got the return of two of Imperishable Night's best pieces, the criminally underrated Yukari theme "Night Falls", the phenomenal remix of "Mystic Maple" that pretty much invalidates the original, and the crushingly hopeless remix of one of Seihou's most memorable themes, "Phantasm Machine - Phantom Factory". Seriously, I cannot understate how good this album is, it might just be the best thing ZUN has ever done.

2. Dolls In Pseudo Paradise (#1)

If you like the uniquely distorted sound of Embodiment Of Scarlet Devil, wanted some more PC-98 and Seihou remixes, or wanted a Touhou soundtrack that's dark and eerie, then Dolls In Pseudo Paradise is for you. The story alone is one of the creepiest takes on Gensokyo to date, and the whole soundtrack is just plain beautiful. It's the perfect showcase of what makes early ZUN so great, with every song having a compelling sense of melancholy even with how upbeat they could feel on the surface. There aren't too many original tracks, but the ones that do exist like "Forest Of Dolls" and "Legend Of Hourai" are great, and the remixes stem from so many of ZUN's different works like Seihou, the PC-98 games, and even the obscure Torte Le Magic. And even with the variety, there's a consistently dark tone makes the soundtrack feel more cohesive than many of the other music CDs. It's also really hard for me to list my favorite tracks here, you really need to listen to the whole thing. The remixes "Enigmatic Doll" from Seihou 2, "UN Owen Was Her" from Touhou 6, "Eternal Shrine Maiden" and "Strange Oriental Discourse" from Touhou 1, and "Reincarnation" from Touhou 3 are all probably the highlights, all of which completely surpass the original compositions. The whole CD is great, though, so many of the themes rank up with some of my favorite Touhou music ever.

3. Magical Astronomy (#5)

As far as the original tracks go, Magical Astronomy is easily the high point of the CDs, with a whopping seven original tracks and all of them ranging from great to absolutely fantastic. The whole CD has wondrous and soaring vibe that perfectly fits its story about going into space. I also love how certain songs feel like they're directed towards pivotal figures in space travel, particularly "The Wheelchair's Future In Space" obviously being about Stephen Hawking. As far as highlights go, I love the awe-inspiring "Welcome To The Moon Tour", the emotional "The Far Side Of The Moon", the jolly "Greenwich In The Sky", and especially the epic "G Free" that could've been a perfect final boss theme (wait a sec...). There aren't too many remixes here, but along with a great Shoot The Bullet remix, we also get easily the greatest remix in all nine CDs in "Necrofantasia", which takes all of the previous versions of the song, improves the instrumentation in case the original hurts your ears, and turns it into a beautiful and impactful seven-minute track. Overall, Magical Astronomy is absolutely worth listening to if you're a Touhou fan, containing some amazing original tracks and ZUN's best remix.

4. Neo-Traditionalism In Japan (#7)

This is the perfect example of a CD that manages to juggle strong remixes and original tracks without one category overshadowing the other. Nearly every track here is great, with hardly a weak point to be found. For the original tracks, we get "Led On By A Cow To Visit Zenkou Temple" which nails the title theme vibe, along with the eclectic "Izanagi Object". As for the remixes, we have "Let's Live In A Lovely Cemetery" and "Heartfelt Fancy" getting great updates, along with "Fate Of Sixty Years" and "Youkai Back Street Road" getting remixes that absolutely bring them to new heights. My only issue with this CD is my struggle to figure out what kind of vibe it's going for, as if it's trying to capture that same weird vibe of Dr Latency and Dateless Bar without really going all the way. Despite that, Neo Traditionalism In Japan has easily one of the best selections of songs, with highlights for both the remixes and original tracks. 

5. Dr Latency's Freak Report (#8)

Dr Latency's Freak Report is weird and experimental, but unlike a certain other CD ranked lower than this, I think it tends to work a lot more. It's got a good balance of strong original tracks and a great selection remixes, many of which improve on the originals, and the CD has a general sense of consistency throughout. My only issue is that most of the remixes are so good, they kinda overshadow the original tracks. "The Frozen Eternal Capital", "The Shining Needle Castle", and "The Sea Where The Home Planet Is Reflected" are already some of my favorites in the series, so having them all in the same CD is a bit unfair. Still, there are some original tracks worth noting like "Natural History Of The Childlike Duo" and "Schrodinger's Bakeneko". Frankly, Dr Latency's Freak Report is a really good and consistently strong CD, but the original tracks, while still great, do struggle to match up against the phenomenal selection of remixes.

6. Ghostly Field Club (#2)

The first Hifuu club CD and easily the most solid of the bunch, in my opinion, with a pretty good lineup of both remixes and original tracks. My biggest problem with Ghostly Field Club is that it saves all of its best tracks for the second half of the CD. The first half has some solid remixes and great original tracks, but from "Mary The Magician" onward, the CD just becomes amazing, with some of my favorite tracks in both categories. "Mary The Magician" is an experimental and eerie track that borders into horror and "Illusionary Eternal Festival" feels like a triumphant yet melancholy credits theme. As for remixes, we get a strong remix of "Necro-Fantasy" along with an even better remix of Seihou's already great "Magical Girl Crusade". The second half even brings in an unused track from one of the mainline games just to make it even more special. Overall, I like Ghostly Field Club a lot, but I'd rank it as one of my favorites if the whole thing was just a bit more consistently strong.

7. Dateless Bar "Old Bar" (#9)

This CD goes for a bit of a goofy vibe, trying to create the feel of getting drunk at a bar or something. As a result, a lot of the music is experimental, and I do respect ZUN for trying something new with this one. Not much of the original songs really stuck with me, with the except of "Old Adam Bar" which might be one of my favorite original CDs songs in general. I also really love the remixes in this CD which tend to improve on their source material more often than not. "Omiwa Legend" gives one of the less memorable tracks a great techno vibe that makes it hit so much harder, "Pandemonic Planet" is generally higher quality, and "Rural Makai City Esoteria" adds more instruments to make it sound fuller. Not all the remixes are as strong, "The Lost Emotion" is exactly the same as the original, but overall, they're welcome additions. Overall, I quite like Dateless Bar, it has some unique original songs and great remixes, but it also doesn't stack up to the best CDs of the bunch.

8. Retrospective 53 Minutes (#4)

Some of the CDs suffer from an issue where the remixes completely overshadow the original songs, and this is definitely one of the most blatant instances of this. Retrospective 53 Minutes includes some of my favorite songs in the series like "Reach For The Moon, Immortal Smoke" and "Higan Retour", along with outstanding remixes of songs like "Locked Girl" and "Retrospective Kyoto", but the original songs are a bit lacking. The CD goes for a more chill and laidback vibe with a lot of its music which I'm just not a big fan of, with the worst being "Blue Sea Of 53 Minutes" which is relaxing to listen to but also completely lacking in melody. Still, the original tunes aren't all bad, I do really like "Hiroshige No 31" which is an upbeat tune all about trains. However, with only four original tunes and just one of them standing out, Retrospective 53 Minutes is definitely just carried by the remixes.

9. Trojan Green Asteroid (#6)

This CD is easily the weakest for me for a number of reasons. First of all and most importantly, the original tracks are mostly misses. The only original track in the CD that I really love is "Satellite TORIFUNE", which captures the exciting vibe of some of the series' best menu themes. As for the remixes, they're also a bit hit or miss. The remixes of "Hartmann's Youkai Girl" and "Desire Drive" actually surpass the originals, utilizing Ten Desires' distinct soundfont to give the songs a new twist. On the other hand, the remixes of "Emotional Skyscraper" and "UFO Romance", while still great songs, are nearly exactly the same as the original. It also feels like the CD is trying to go for a space-y vibe that other CDs do so much better than this one. Not to be too harsh, any music from ZUN is great and there are some great songs here, but Trojan Green Asteroid is a bit of weak point.