Overview

Super Mario RPG was the last game released by Square Enix for the Super Nintendo. It needed to be perfect, giving us a lasting memory of what Square Enix has done for helping out Nintendo. Since Super Mario RPG was a team effort between Square and Nintendo, the music also got a team effort from both Nintendo and Square's finest composer(s). The core of the work (at least 80% in total) went to the creative Yoko Shimomura, who has created the scores to Live-A-Live, Front Mission, and Kingdom Hearts. In addition, Nobuo Uematsu, famous for his work on the Final Fantasy series, remixed three famous Final Fantasy IV tunes. In addition, the Nintendo composer none other than Koji Kondo, known for the Mario and Legend of Zelda scores, remixed classic Mario tunes for the album. The result: a perfect blend of happy and bouncy tunes, with still some excellent battle music, which Shimomura did on her own.

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Disc One is generally very upbeat and bouncy. It starts out with the amazing "Happy Adventure, Delightful Adventure," a nice remix of several tunes from the game, which is played in the intro of the game. "Fight Against Koopa" is a very neat remix of the Super Mario Bros. 3 battle theme used when you fight Bowser. This has certainly brought back the many memories while playing Super Mario Bros. 3 back in my younger years. The next track which got my attention was "The Sword Descends and the Stars Scatter." The organ is easily recognisable here, an instrument Shimomura used extensively in Live-A-Live. "The Road is Full of Dangers" is a happy bouncy tune, since the area qualifies as a dungeon, it sounds out of place. However, since Super Mario RPG is light-hearted, this sets the mood just fine.

The first proper battle theme, "Fight Against Monsters," is simply perfect — neither repetitive, nor annoying, unlike some of Uematsu's later battle tracks. The victory theme, "Victory!!," is also a nice touch. "Hello, Happy Kingdom" is the theme for the Mushroom Kingdom and it's simply full of uh. happiness! It easily conveys the peaceful life of its people. "The Road is Still Full of Dangers" is bit more of an epic dungeon theme than the first. It was first played in the Theive's Pass where Mario and Mallow chase down Croco. "Invincible Star" is that little piece of music that plays when you get a Starman, which renders Mario Invincible, and here we get a nice remix of it. Kondo never fails to amaze me! Then comes the standard boss theme, "Fight Against a Somewhat Stronger Monster." It's simply a great upbeat track and gives a hint of danger as you fight the normal bosses. Let us move on to the major boss theme, "Fight Against An Armed Boss." It's another winner battle track and it sounds more epic than the first. It is reserved especially for Kajidoh's Gang Members.

"The Dungeon is Full of Monsters" is simply perfect — the organ gives out a feeling of hostility and is just plain creepy. "Let's Play 'Geno'" is a remix of the first variation of level music in Super Mario World. I just love this arrangement. Ahhh, the Maze Forest, I'll always remember that place. The music for it, "Beware of the Forest's Mushrooms," is one of the things that really got me hooked on the game — I simply found that theme so beautiful. "From Inside the Earthen Pipe" is actually a remix of the underground music in Super Mario Bros (Everyone remembers that, right?) and what a remix it is — I just love the echo added to it. Another track that really got my attention is "Welcome to Booster's Tower," as it gives the feeling of the party struggling through the tower to save Toadstool from the somewhat retarded Booster. "Long Long Ago..." is another little gem. It is simply the old stage music from Super Mario Bros., but, boy does it ever bring back those memories!

The beginning of Disc Two isn't too impressive until we get to track five, "Sunken Ship." It's a great ambient track, which serves as the theme for the sunken ship all too well, plus it has those cracking sounds now and then, which make it sound even more realistic. One of the last town themes in the game, "My Paradise -Monstro Town-," just fits the surroundings of Monstro Town perfectly with its smooth melody. Then comes three special tracks from Nobuo Uematsu: "Fight against Culex" is simply a marvelous remix of the Final Fantasy IV "Fight 2" battle track and gives off a dramatic feel while fighting the mighty Culex and his Crystals. If you should win against Culex, you'll get two other treats — a remix of the good old Final Fantasy "Victory Fanfare," which appears in "Victory Over Culex," as well a remix of the Final Fantasy "Prelude," which appears in "Conversation with Culex."

We then move on to "Let's do the Fooka-Fooka! (Fluff Fluff)," which is the theme for Nimbus Land, Mallow's hometown. It's got a nice and catchy (and not to mention boucy) melody that simply latches on to you and doesn't let go. "Margarie Margarita," which I believe is Queen Valentina's Theme, is simply weird — those 'laughs' in the background give off the weird feel. Nothing more comes to mind about this track. The next track, "Dodo's Coming!!," is a winner in the most hilarious track competition. It is easy to see how DUMB Dodo is by listening to this track — it simply screams "Duuuuuhhhhhh!!!" Another old remix is "The Axem Rangers Drop In" (yes, a Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers rip-off!). Anyway, it's another remix of the Super Mario Bros. underground theme; it's only more fast paced than the other one.

Now we come to the final dungeon, the "Weapons Factory." It sounds a lot like it was influenced by "Devil's Lab" from Final Fantasy VI, as it sounds mechanical, and, of course, is just right for the type of area the party is venturing into in search of Kajidoh. When they find him, it's a decisive battle indeed. The final boss themes start with "Fight Against Kajidoh." It starts with an eerie organ, followed by drums, folowed by more organ, and the the main theme builds up. It's a very memorable theme, as well as an appropriate way to end the Super Mario RPG adventure. Once the first form bites the dust, Kajidoh reveals his true form. "Fight Against Kajidoh, Who Likes Transforming" simply brings a more interesting beat and it keeps your attention while struggling against Kajidoh for the final time. After that, it's the ending themes of course. "Happy Parade, Delightful Parade/And the Parade Draws to a Close..." is crafted the same way "Live For Live" was in Live-A-Live. It starts out peacefully and happy, then it incorporates several themes from the game, making it an all enjoyable ending theme.

Summary

Well, now that the review is over, I must break your heart by telling you some terrible news: the Super Mario RPG Original Sound Version has fallen out of print for some time now and is very difficult to find. I'd say eBay is the only place to even bother searching for it. Even if you end up shelling over $100 for this 2 CD Set, I assure you that it will be worth it, as this priceless gem is something you'll want to keep for years to come.

Overview

During the mid-90s, the success of Capcom's Street Fighter II spawned many fighting games that tried to be as good if not better than it. Some like Data East's Fighter's History Dynamite implemented the opportunity to tag team during fights while Namco's Tekken relied mainly on its 3D graphics to wow the audience. On the subject of Tekken, it did have one other noteworthy aspect going for it — the soundtrack. Composed by Yoshie Arakawa and Yoshie Takayanagi, it had a fairly varied soundtrack that not only relied on different instrumentation but also a bit of an atmospheric touch in a few tracks. Without further ado, let's dive into the meat of the album!

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Arakawa is the star of the album, as she contributes most of the tracks and those tend to be the most melodic of the bunch. For instance, "King George Island, Antarctica" uses what sounds like a harsh wind effect in the background, which would be fitting in the Antarctic. The theme itself is heavy on beats and percussion and provides an enjoyable melody. "Acropolis, Greece" has a sound that one would likely associate with ancient Greece; I can't really describe it, but just the slow pace and melody works wonders here. And speaking of wonders, "Kyoto, Japan" is likely my favorite of Arakawa's tracks. Just the traditional instruments plus the voice effect really gets the blood pumping here. It also helps that the theme is fast paced and quite melodic.

As for Takayanagi, her themes aren't quite as melodic and rely more on atmospherics. A perfect example of this is "Monument Valley, U.S.A.". It starts off with winds and has a choral effect and brings in a little bit of wailing synth. Not very melodic, but the atmospheric effect is a big part of the track. "Szechwan, China" fares much better in the melodic department thanks to some well placed synth solos and the Chinese percussions that provide the backing instrumentation. Returning one last time to Arakawa, the stage theme selection ends with the very fitting "Chicago, U.S.A." It has a very catchy melody plus makes use of a vocoder various parts of the theme, particularly in the introduction where it counts 1 to 4. Great in and out of context.

But wait, we're not done yet. Here comes the best part: the arrangements provided by none other than Shinji Hosoe, Nobuyoshi Sano and Takayuki Aihara. Hosoe's arrangement of Chicago just proves yet again his mastery with electronica, especially once the vocoder comes around and the main synth starts going. It's easy to be addicted by this track if you like this type of music. By the end, Hosoe throws in a nice little synth solo and ends the arrangement on a good note. Sano's arrangement of Marine Stadium is just so weird, especially the beginning, but once it moves into the main melody, things start to make sense. It's just how he seems to warp the beginning and middle that may throw off a few listeners.

Saving the most interesting till last, Aihara was responsible for the arrangement of the Kyoto theme. It starts off with chanting and quickly brings in flutes and drums into the piece. The melody here is fantastic and the retro-synth solo at about 1:30 into the track is just too charming. After that solo, Aihara goes the jazzy way by having a trumpet sound off with the rest of the instruments. Eventually it calms down until you hear some voices talking and screaming, which is easily the most amusing part of the track. It all ends with a well placed Gong.

Summary

So there you have it, a fairly short soundtrack (about 40 minutes) that has its shares of surprises. If you're looking for fighting game music that's a bit off the side of Street Fighter, this could be it. If it's catchy melodies you want, you're guaranteed those on Arakawa's tracks. And the arrangements speak for themselves; they're simply fun to listen to. I have no idea how rare this album is, but given it was printed in 1995, you could have a bit of trouble tracking it down for a fair price. But I believe this album deserves a spot in everyone's game music collection, right alongside whatever album of Street Fighter you may have.

Overview

Super Mario RPG was created while Yoko Shimomura was still part of its sound team. when Yoko Shimomura was still part of Square. In fact, the whole game was developed by Square on behalf of Nintendo and therefore there are some very interesting musical clashes here. The Super Mario RPG soundtrack is basically what the game was — a clash between Square and Nintendo. I don't think Yoko Shimomura was on as solid ground with this being the first game of its kind, but nonetheless there's some great/classic music on this disc.

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If there is one track on the album that always seems to stand out to me, it is "Beware of the Forest's Mushrooms". It sticks with the medieval feel of the game, but it is also very quirky. I think it's just the odd melody that makes it so memorable for so many fans, but I'd definitely call it a classic track. I have some personal favorites like "The Road is Full of Dangers" and "Welcome! Yo'ster Island!!". I like the latter probably because I just love anything that sounds remotely Yoshi-inspired. The former is more of a definitive faavourite as essentially the first overworld theme. Yoko Shimomura captures that charming adventure feel perfectly. Lots of other themes did too, but a lot just weren't as memorable albeit still enjoyable.

The normal battle theme "Fight Against Monsters" certainly stands out as one of the most Mario-esque tunes. I personally like it due to my bias towards happy melodies and fun music in general, but I can see why some would find it annoying fast. It's extremely repetitive and it's sad to see one of the most iconic tunes be the most shortly crafted. But hey, try not to get it stuck in your head! There are some better tracks such as the progressively more epic "Fight Against a Somewhat Stronger Monster" and "Fight Against An Armed Boss", or the transitory "Where Am I Going". In general, the action themes later on in the soundtrack seem to aspire more to the sound that Shimomura perfected in the Mario & Luigi series.

As I said earlier, a lot of the game has a Final Fantasy influence to it and the same is true for the music. A lot of the tracks have a more medieval sound to it, inspired by Square's big hit at the time, Final Fantasy IV. For example, "Margarie Margarita" and "Hello, Happy Kingdom" have a very traditional feel that suits the scenery of the towns themselves. The latter is more of an upbeat march, complete with admirably synthesized brass and percussion, while the former brings in more of Uematsu's influence with its harpsichord samples and ominous laughing. But while this influence is endearing, I think the Mario and Luigi series really found its ground by moving away from Final Fantasy a bit, along with the music.

There are of course various remixes of Mario classics throughout the soundtrack as well. Whether the truncated appearance of the underground theme on "Super Pipe House", the rocking reprise of Super Mario Bros. 3's final battle theme in "Fight with Bowser", or even the version of "Invincible Star", they're all charming and nostalgic despite their simplicity. I think these tracks are more enjoyable because of Koji Kondo's original melodies, rather than Shimomura's arrangements, but they never really grow old. There are also a few Final Fantasy IV remixes in "Fight Agaisnt Culex" and "Victory Over Culex". There are hilarious unexpected versions of the Final Fantasy battle and victory themes, albeit ones that stick very closely to the originals.

There are some darker themes during the soundtrack that embellish the adventurous feel. For example, "Weapons Factory" nicely sets the tone for the final battle with its percussive influences, much like Final Fantasy VI's "Devil's Lab". The final battle themes such as the organ-based "Fight Against Kajidoh" and beat-heavy "Fight Against Kajidoh, Who Likes Transforming" are great climaxes at the end of the adventure. The Super Mario RPG soundtrack ends with the classic parade credits theme. It remixes all of the tunes throughout the game, but it's definitely something that needs to be seen with visuals. Why listen to a parade with out seeing the cool floats that each phrase corresponds to? It's very fun and I'm glad they kept this as a tradition in a few of the more recent games. It really sets it apart form the normal credits remixes out there.

Summary

Overall, this soundtrack is a delightful blend of Mario influences, Final Fantasy influences, and a dash of Yoko Shimomura's flair. Ignoring those tunes that fall flat, listeners will find a soundtrack with much more elaboration and depth than normal Mario soundtracks, yet also much more inspired and fun than the earliest Final Fantasy soundtracks. It is what it is, and for such an odd venture for the time, it was really great and stands the test of time. While I think the Mario & Luigi RPG soundtracks were more consistent and demonstrated Shimomura's unique voice more, this precursor is very worthy too.