Level Up! Seize the Experience!

I wasn’t sure I was even going to look for this soundtrack, because a lot of the music was so-so and I really disliked the music picked for the non-boss battles. But over time, I became entranced by a few songs and I found the beauty in the scores I found annoying, so I searched for the CD set and found it relatively cheap on eBay. I am so glad that I didn’t pay very much for the CD set.A few pieces are beautiful and will evoke memories of playing, especially the music from Kaim’s memories. However, a lot of the music has an annoying video game sound, like it’s off of a Legend of Zelda soundtrack or a soundtrack from the early PSOne days. Kingdom Hearts 2, even with its mini-game music and songs from The Little Mermaid, has a more mature, symphonic sound. I found myself skipping through many of the tracks, because if I wanted to listen to those types of tones, I’d play Space Invaders.

I doubt I’ll ever listen to both CDs straight through again. I’ll most likely create a favorite playlist on my iPod and play only those pieces. I don’t regret purchasing the set, but it’s not one I can really recommend in whole, either.

These aren’t two different covers for the same soundtrack; they are two completely different soundtrack compilations for The World Ends with You video game. Both provide songs from the video game, but each presents them differently. Either way, you’re in for a musical compilation totally different from any other video game soundtrack out there. Its closest comparison: Katamari Damacy. Or I should say, the only soundtrack with possibly weirder and well, more different music is Katamari Damacy.

The black album was released before the game even was.  It contains 35 tracks of tunes directly taken from the video game, presented in the order the game presents them, no less. Want the hip hoppy tune heard while shopping for swag? This one has it.

So why even look at the silver album? Well if you’re a die hard fan. Duh. Or if you’re like me, a completionist with a collector’s mentality. Can’t do things in halves.

The silver album has 19 tracks of complete songs, a couple of them repeated for live versions. The game cuts up most of the songs and remixes them for a slight techno flair, and this collection has all of the songs in their original format.

Do I recommend one over the other? It depends what you’re looking for. If you want tracks directly from the game, buy the black album. If you like some of the songs from the black album enough to want to hear all versions of them, pick up the silver album. It’s hard to recommend buying just the silver album alone, unless you liked only a few of the songs from the game and can live without some of the random tracks, such as the tunes from the start up menu, phone menu, or shops.

But either soundtrack will fulfill your random desire for hip-hop/techno beats mixed in with a little J-pop. The game doesn’t have an orchestral score, so don’t expect to find one here either.

There is no doubt that the soundtracks to video games have come a long way since the games for the original Nintendo Entertainment System, let alone the Atari 2600. Ten years ago, I probably would never have thought about even looking for a video game soundtrack. My first game soundtrack was Kingdom Hearts, and then I picked up the soundtrack to Katamari Damacy not long after. A couple of years ago, I added the second Kingdom Hearts and Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker soundtracks to my library. This week, the soundtrack to Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII showed up on my doorstep, and it’s definitely the best gaming soundtrack I have ever heard. More than that, it’s the best soundtrack I have ever owned.

For me, personally, it’s everything I could ever want in a mix CD. I’m a huge fan of both classical music and hard rock, and the tracks on this CD flip back and forth between the two genres. One minute, I’m head banging to a piece from one of Zack’s many combats, and then the next, I’m listening to a sweet violin and piano ballad. One of the best things about it for me is that it doesn’t sound like a video game soundtrack, with the exception of one or two pieces. When I listen to the Wind Waker soundtrack, there is no doubt it’s a video game soundtrack. The “YOU GOT THE ITEM!!” chimes don’t help, but you can pick any tune off of the CD and hear similar game-like tones. I could probably get away with never telling anyone the music they are hearing is a video game soundtrack, except for my friends who are Final Fantasy VII fans since a few of the tracks are ripped right out of the original game, but with an orchestral upgrade.

I’d recommend this CD to anyone who likes gaming soundtracks or to anyone who likes the same mixture of genres I do. I will be playing the hell out of this CD. I’m not sure it will ever leave my car CD player, unless I trade in my car.

For those wondering, it is an import so it is more expensive than most soundtracks. However, if you poke around some of the sellers on Amazon, most of them are selling the CD set for less than half of what Amazon.com asks for.