Overview

Kenji Ito was the composer that introduced the Mana series to the world with 1991's Seiken Densetsu (aka Final Fantasy Adventure) on the Game Boy, though many associate the series' music more with Hiroki Kikuta and Yoko Shimomura. After over a decade's absence from the franchise, Ito returned in 2003 to produce the music for its Game Boy Advance remake Sword of Mana (aka Shinyaku Seiken Densetsu). The album release for the title featured three discs, featuring the arranged score, some piano arrangements, and a bonus orchestration.

Body

Kenji Ito immediately reflects the more expansive scope of the Sword of Mana score with "Awakening Tale", an original composition featured during the prologue. Fragments of his main theme for the game are interwoven with a tragic new leitmotif to give an immersive and mature sound. Subsequently, the main theme "Rising Sun" is heard in a full rendition on the title screen. The melody sounds as beautiful as ever, with its longing and pensive quality, though some of its warmth and clarity is lost on the transition to the Game Boy Advance's fuzzy sound chip. The string-based harmonisation is certainly thicker than the original, but comes across more as functional than creative. While this rendition is serviceable in the game, it's clear those that have come for definitive versions of Seiken Densetsu's melodies will be disappointed by the half-hearted arrangements and implementation featured here.

As the soundtrack progresses, it's clear that many of the arrangements are less enjoyable than their originals. The overworld theme "Endless Battlefield" builds up plenty of excitement with its opening arpeggiations, but soon disappoints when the excellent melody line is overpowered by muddy snare drum rolls. The intentions of the arrangement are clear, but the implementation is atrocious and takes all the fun out of the original. Ito attempts to convey a more spiritual sound on "Mana Shrine", but the various parts sound imbalanced and the suspended strings are often downright intrusive. Other questionable renditions include "Dwarves' Theme" with its gimmicky synth lead, the dungeon theme "Temptation of the Abyss" with its dreary dissonant soundscapes, and even the second battle theme "Courage and Pride from the Heart" due to the incredibly weak synthesis of the trumpet lead.

While most of the soundtrack is disappointing, Kenji Ito does greatly enhance some of the original pieces from Seiken Densetsu when needed, however. The primary battle theme "Believe in Victory" is no longer an uninspired affair, thanks to several new sections and a bolder arrangement. Meanwhile the second overworld theme "Seeking the Holy Sword" is even more enjoyable than the original, given the chiptune sounds are preserved and set to a retro pop beat. A few of the more intimate originals, such as "Village" and "Mission of Mana", are also given effective chamber arrangements. The latter, in particular, lights up every scene it is used in and makes the most of a limited handheld. A few tracks from the original soundtrack were also omitted from the release, including the Chocobo themes, though all the other favourites make prominent appearances.

Kenji Ito clearly composed the new tracks on Sword of Mana to fit the rest of the soundtrack. For example, "Pleasing Scenery" is a very stereotypical town theme written for woodwind lead and guitar accompaniment; it doesn't stand out as anything unique, but nevertheless brings some variety to the game's towns. Meanwhile "Entwined Heart" and "Broken World" are cinematic pieces that do the function they desired, but are too barren and repetitive to be of stand-alone interest. It's also interesting how Ito integrated familiar themes from the franchise into some of the pieces here. For example, hints of "Rising Sun" provide continuity in the chapter introductions "A Boy's Dream" and "A Girl's Admiration", while "Reminiscence Investigation" is a more gushing variation of Lester's theme. The soundtrack ends with a new epilogue theme and a faithful rendition of "Legend Forever".

The album release does offer some salvation for those that cannot tolerate the Game Boy Advance's synth. There is a second disc featuring seven piano renditions of favourites from the soundtrack, arranged and performed by Kenji Ito. He focuses on presenting the original melodies faithfully and gently on the right-hand above diatonic chords and arpeggios on the left-hand. In this regard, the arrangements are quite simple and stereotypical like many other piano albums out there, although clearly some thought was put into ensuring the chord choices were as emotional as possible. There are also some overdubbed string suspensions that, depending on the listener, will either enhance the atmosphere or be superficial distractions. The piano is such an expressive instrument that such additions would not be necessary for a more experienced arranger.

The highlight of the piano sound version is not the arrangements, but rather the performance. Ito integrates plenty of gushing dynamic and tempo changes during his performances in a semi-improvised manner. In doing so, he really demonstrates how personal tracks such as "Rising Sun" and "Mission of Mana" are to him — in fact, they are almost as emotional as Final Fantasy's most expressive ballads. The climax of "Lost Scene" from the 2:50 mark is especially tear jerking. Unfortunately, this balladic approach is conserved in all seven tracks and there are no darker or edgier entries to spruce up the variety. The disc therefore grows tiring following its promising start and serves to testify that Ito is chiefly an orthodox musician, not an experimental one.

The first edition of the soundtrack included a bonus disc featuring an orchestral track. The renditions of "Rising Sun" and "Endless Battlefield" featured are certainly superior to the Game Boy Advance versions here, but they still leave much to be desired: the arrangement choices are superficial, the samples used are low quality, and the length is a mere two minutes. There was no reason to press a third disc for this underwhelming track. Those wanting a true orchestral performance of these tracks should try Seiken Densetsu - Put Your Thoughts to Music instead.

Summary

On the Sword of Mana Premium Soundtrack, Ito adapted his solid soundtrack for Seiken Densetsu in three ways, none of which fully satisfy. Due to half-hearted musicianship and sloppy implementation, the Game Boy Advance score is filled with degradatory arrangements and unremarkable new tracks. The bonus discs are better than nothing, though the piano disc is often generic and the orchestral disc is completely pointless. It's better to purchase the Seiken Densetsu Sound Collections, which features the generally superior originals and a largely excellent orchestral suite.