~ URUSEI YATSURA & HUDSON ONGAKU ZENSHUU ~
Hudson Soft
CD-ROM
1990
Urusei Yatsura is an unspectacular digital comic that fails to impress with either its story or its graphics early on but steps up just enough in both areas during its second half to end up mediocre rather than worthless.
And as we already have a full review posted for the game, that one lengthy sentence will do for UY talk. The package covered here includes an audio disc containing nineteen tracks culled from nine Hudson Soft PCE CD releases, so let's focus on that instead.
If you're interested in only the "good stuff," you might be tempted to skip right to the ten-minute medley of Ys I & II tracks. It goes without saying that the material here is brilliant, but I wouldn't be surprised if people were disappointed with the structure and makeup of the medley. I suppose it was inevitable, given the ridiculous number of incredible tunes the game features, but quite a few great tracks were completely left out, and I'm not just talking about personal favorites here. Count on it: you'll be shocked that certain pieces weren't included in this. Something else I found frustrating (and I imagine there are others who will have the same gripe) is that many tracks are cut off just as they're reaching their strides. And the "Last Moment of the Dark" track utilized here is the one with Dark Fact's monologue recorded over it, which isn't a bad idea, except that this of course is the Japanese Fact, who isn't nearly as awesome or unforgettable as Michael Bell's.
It's kind of strange that I came away from ten minutes of great music with a list of complaints in hand, but that's how it went with the I & II medley, so I expected little from the seven-and-a-half-minute Ys III string that follows it. But III's medley actually comes off quite well. Once again, some good tunes didn't make the cut, but the omissions aren't as egregious as the ones made for the I & II amalgamation. (Granted, III's soundtrack features far fewer "musts" than its predecessor, but I guess that just makes it a more suitable culling ground for quick, effective medleys.) The track progression works extremely well: I expected almost wall-to-wall rock tunes, but focus is instead placed on subtler moments of the soundtrack. (Fear not, headbangers: there are two excellent rockers placed back to back right in the middle of the procession.) The only negative is that the compilers broke my heart by cutting the Tigre Mines track short just as it was heading into its filthy, kickass breakdown.
If you get your Ys fill and you're wondering where to look next for highlights, a trio of J.B. Harold Murder Club jazz tracks might be your best bet. As much positive attention as it has received over the years, and as awesome as some of its basslines are, the opening number is fairly repetitive. The "Investigation Rest" piece, a beautiful tune with lovely piano and horn melodies, is the true star of the J.B. soundtrack. The loungy ending tune is a stylish closer.
The next place to seek out excellence is the triumvirate of Tengai Makyou tracks, which feature a Far-East flavor that so effectively establishes atmosphere for the great RPG. The opening, intermission, and ending numbers featured here all contain numerous segues, transitioning without warning from soothing melodies to more ominous fare to the fast and raucous. They're high-quality compositions, though they do seem better suited for playing the role of atmospheric accompaniments than standing on their own as musical tracks.
You may be at a loss as to where to go from there. A glance at the track list will reveal three tunes apiece from Fighting Street and Monster Lair, two titles perhaps best known for being the first CD releases over here in the US, when absolutely no one was buying NEC's four-hundred-dollar player.
Actually, a lot of people cite the music as Fighting Street's "redeeming feature." I, on the other hand, believe Fighting Street has no redeeming features, and the two tracks I actually like from the game were left out in the cold by this disc in favor of crap like the bonus-stage music. To be fair, listening to the Retsu and Joe tunes outside of the deplorable FS in-game environment allowed me to appreciate neat things that were done with the instrumentation and hear parts that the numbers never had time to reach during play. Not that these discoveries made the tunes great as standalone audio pieces.
As for Monster Lair, its soundtrack is one of those that insist on being weird. Its stage music is chaotic, often taking the form of deplorable racket, but occasionally flaunting odd appeal. The ending tune is kind of bizarre instrumentally but somehow pretty pleasant to listen to.
There are some surprise inclusions on the disc. While Cobra is a very cool digital comic, I don't think anyone would expect it to be a source of material for a musical feature; but its brief opening track is actually a great little composition that stands up quite well on its own. Its ending tune, though, is long and eclectic to an extreme, and while "eclectic" is quite fitting for the game, it doesn't make for good listening.
Mitsubachi Gakuen provides a cheery, upbeat pop vocal. Placed in the unenviable position of following the wonderful Ys III medley, the tune never had a chance to begin with of impressing anyone, but it really isn't bad. The singing won't go over well with all listeners, however.
The two most unlikely and least-worth-listening-to tracks on the disc were pulled from Gambler Jikochuushinha. The "snazzy" opening is pointless, and the number that follows is just plain silly.
If you're going to buy Urusei Yatsura, then you might as well pick up the package that contains the music disc. It used to be that the audio CD's inclusion meant a price three times that set for the bonus-less UY release, but nowadays, we're talking an extra five bucks or so. It's not a fantastic compilation, but if you're buying Urusei Yatsura to begin with, you're probably not in the market for fantastic stuff anyway.
If you're interested in only the "good stuff," you might be tempted to skip right to the ten-minute medley of Ys I & II tracks. It goes without saying that the material here is brilliant, but I wouldn't be surprised if people were disappointed with the structure and makeup of the medley. I suppose it was inevitable, given the ridiculous number of incredible tunes the game features, but quite a few great tracks were completely left out, and I'm not just talking about personal favorites here. Count on it: you'll be shocked that certain pieces weren't included in this. Something else I found frustrating (and I imagine there are others who will have the same gripe) is that many tracks are cut off just as they're reaching their strides. And the "Last Moment of the Dark" track utilized here is the one with Dark Fact's monologue recorded over it, which isn't a bad idea, except that this of course is the Japanese Fact, who isn't nearly as awesome or unforgettable as Michael Bell's.
It's kind of strange that I came away from ten minutes of great music with a list of complaints in hand, but that's how it went with the I & II medley, so I expected little from the seven-and-a-half-minute Ys III string that follows it. But III's medley actually comes off quite well. Once again, some good tunes didn't make the cut, but the omissions aren't as egregious as the ones made for the I & II amalgamation. (Granted, III's soundtrack features far fewer "musts" than its predecessor, but I guess that just makes it a more suitable culling ground for quick, effective medleys.) The track progression works extremely well: I expected almost wall-to-wall rock tunes, but focus is instead placed on subtler moments of the soundtrack. (Fear not, headbangers: there are two excellent rockers placed back to back right in the middle of the procession.) The only negative is that the compilers broke my heart by cutting the Tigre Mines track short just as it was heading into its filthy, kickass breakdown.
If you get your Ys fill and you're wondering where to look next for highlights, a trio of J.B. Harold Murder Club jazz tracks might be your best bet. As much positive attention as it has received over the years, and as awesome as some of its basslines are, the opening number is fairly repetitive. The "Investigation Rest" piece, a beautiful tune with lovely piano and horn melodies, is the true star of the J.B. soundtrack. The loungy ending tune is a stylish closer.
The next place to seek out excellence is the triumvirate of Tengai Makyou tracks, which feature a Far-East flavor that so effectively establishes atmosphere for the great RPG. The opening, intermission, and ending numbers featured here all contain numerous segues, transitioning without warning from soothing melodies to more ominous fare to the fast and raucous. They're high-quality compositions, though they do seem better suited for playing the role of atmospheric accompaniments than standing on their own as musical tracks.
You may be at a loss as to where to go from there. A glance at the track list will reveal three tunes apiece from Fighting Street and Monster Lair, two titles perhaps best known for being the first CD releases over here in the US, when absolutely no one was buying NEC's four-hundred-dollar player.
Actually, a lot of people cite the music as Fighting Street's "redeeming feature." I, on the other hand, believe Fighting Street has no redeeming features, and the two tracks I actually like from the game were left out in the cold by this disc in favor of crap like the bonus-stage music. To be fair, listening to the Retsu and Joe tunes outside of the deplorable FS in-game environment allowed me to appreciate neat things that were done with the instrumentation and hear parts that the numbers never had time to reach during play. Not that these discoveries made the tunes great as standalone audio pieces.
As for Monster Lair, its soundtrack is one of those that insist on being weird. Its stage music is chaotic, often taking the form of deplorable racket, but occasionally flaunting odd appeal. The ending tune is kind of bizarre instrumentally but somehow pretty pleasant to listen to.
There are some surprise inclusions on the disc. While Cobra is a very cool digital comic, I don't think anyone would expect it to be a source of material for a musical feature; but its brief opening track is actually a great little composition that stands up quite well on its own. Its ending tune, though, is long and eclectic to an extreme, and while "eclectic" is quite fitting for the game, it doesn't make for good listening.
Mitsubachi Gakuen provides a cheery, upbeat pop vocal. Placed in the unenviable position of following the wonderful Ys III medley, the tune never had a chance to begin with of impressing anyone, but it really isn't bad. The singing won't go over well with all listeners, however.
The two most unlikely and least-worth-listening-to tracks on the disc were pulled from Gambler Jikochuushinha. The "snazzy" opening is pointless, and the number that follows is just plain silly.
If you're going to buy Urusei Yatsura, then you might as well pick up the package that contains the music disc. It used to be that the audio CD's inclusion meant a price three times that set for the bonus-less UY release, but nowadays, we're talking an extra five bucks or so. It's not a fantastic compilation, but if you're buying Urusei Yatsura to begin with, you're probably not in the market for fantastic stuff anyway.
No comments:
Post a Comment