Overview

The Nintendo 64 is a superb video game machine, and the music from its games I have played deserve a place of honor in the halls of video game composition. The same thing can be said for this CD, a soundtrack to Enix's Wonder Project J2, composed by the late Akihiko Mori. Out of the N64 soundtracks I have, this is one of the better ones around because it is full of depth in composition and captures the spirit of the game itself.

Body

For those of you who don't know, Wonder Project J2 is a game where you must teach a humanoid girl how to survive in the real world. Unfortunately, the game has never been released on our shores and probably never will be. That is unfortunate, because it is a touching concept. This score recaptures the warmth, beauty, suspense, and horror of the game.

The music is masterfully done, in sound quality and composition. In fact, it almost sounds orchestral quality, with its high quality piano sounds, violins, and even occasional brass instrument. One track that demonstrates this is track 8, the main theme for the game itself. It begins with a crescendo, quiets down, and comes to a beautiful climax at the end with high quality timpani accompanying it. There are many more great tracks like that one, especially the four well synthesized arranged tracks at the beginning. They are a great way to get involved in Josette's world.

If there are some negatives I could point out, they're only a few very vague ones. The instruments occasionally sound distorted on a few tracks, and it isn't exactly in stereo. Also, people not familiar with Wonder Project J2 won't fully appreciate what the music is trying to do. The CD is enhanced with interactive material for your home computer. However, the multimedia material that is on this CD may not work on all machines, and most people won't be able to comprehend it anyway.

Summary

Still, any negative factors present do not take away the overall feeling of the album itself. This is Nintendo 64 music at its best, and it is not to be missed.