Overview

Released in 1995, the Sega Rally Championship Ignition arranged album features compositions by Takenobu Mitsuyoshi arranged by Takayuki Hijikata. Unlike the original score, this album is only eight pieces in length. Is it as good as the more expansive album mentioned above or does it fall flat?

Body

The album opens up with a vocal theme, entitled "My Dear Friend, Rally" composed by Mitsuyoshi and sung by Naoki Takao. It's a pretty groovy theme with a clear 80s influence. I swear I hear some vocal samples that sound like they were taken straight out of a Michael Jackson song. It's got some nice keyboard and electric guitar solos, though, ensuring a very pleasing listen. While the vocals might not be sung by Mitsuyoshi, they're certainly filled with his quirky spirit. They are a bit on the corny side, but a lot of people will like that.

The rest of the album is quite rocking in style. They range from intense action-packed arrangements such as "Conditioned Reflex," which sounds like it could belong in a Guilty Gear game, to more bass-influenced tracks such as "Power Games" with its funky grooves and excellent guitar work. In addition to the rocking themes, there are also some more keyboard focused themes, such as "Reckless Running"; it's a pretty jazzy arrangement as well, and the synth sort of gives it a futuristic feel. The electric guitar accents are also quite nice, but the focus is more on the synth.

The last theme, composed by Tomoyuki Kawamura and arranged by Takayuki Hijikata, is entitled "Welcome to Sega Rally". It pretty much sounds like a fusion of classic Sonic the Hedgehog sound with a nice rock base similar to a modern Sonic soundtrack, but infinitely better. It's a nice way to close the album.

Summary

In the end, this is a pretty kickass album. If you can find it, given it came out in 1995, I highly suggest you pick it up. It contains a lot of awesome electric guitar and synth work, with some fantastic melodies. The vocal theme is intentionally corny, but the instrumental music more than makes up for it if you don't like that kind of thing.