Overview

Phantasy Star 0 is a DS spinoff of the Phantasy Star series. In spite of the limitations of the console, the score was as ambitious as those for the Phantasy Star Online and Phantasy Star Universe titles. Series' sound director Hideaki Kobayashi returned to the score to offer stylistically diverse compositions in keeping with the space operatic tone of the series. He is joined by new contributor Tadashi Kinukawa while Fumie Kumatani's contribution is limited to the ending vocal theme this time. The resultant score spans a whole four discs, though the last disc is somewhat redundant. Let's take a closer look...

Body

We begin with the the vocal theme "Undefeated Heart". It is very short, but really shows the talent that the composer Hatsune Okumura and arranger Hideyuki Suzuki have in creating a moving vocal theme. It takes on a pop rock sound with a fairly epic finish. It really seems to lend a great hand to the overall peacefulness of this album. A full version of this would be nice, but as with many soundtrack releases these days, Sega limits us to just the opening version.

Sega's head composer, Hideaki Kobayashi, leads this album with a wide array of emotional and suspenseful pieces that are sure to bring many hours of enjoyment to the listener. Beginning with "Let's Go Together", Kobayashi immediately proves he will not step down as the leading composer here. As a moving area theme, he layers rich orchestrations on top of the electronic theme of the album, creating an atmosphere that I haven't heard from him in quite some time. This track displays a layer of hope while conveying a sense that foes might be on the horizon. He really backs this theory up with his vast collection of rare battle themes on this album. Mimicking his "Idola" themes from past soundtracks, Kobayashi flexes his electronic side yet again with heavy percussion and intense string sections.

This isn't the only style we see from Kobayashi, as he brings us the majority of light-hearted themes as well. The recurring "Rappy Fever" themes bring out a side in him I haven't seen too often. While he squeezes in a whopping eight arranges of these themes, they never seem to grow old. I get the picture of a character running through a field chasing some sort of rare creature in hopes of finally catching and proving to the world this "unknown" creature actually exists. I don't think that is what the themes are for, but that's the impression it gives me.

A composer I am not familiar with takes up the rest of the album. Tadashi Kinukawa seems to be a master at mimicking Kobayashi's style. "Joyous and Peaceful World" is a great example of this. Bringing the orchestral greatness that Kobayashi is known for, Kinukawa stretches it a step farther by repeating the melody and matching the emotional nuance I only hear from great composers such as Yasunori Mitsuda. He seems to strive for repeating melodies that build in the emotional suspense that is almost unheard of from up and coming composers.

Kinukawa isn't all about copying styles of other composers, as several of his tracks rely heavily on electronic beats that come off as quite original. "Reve" and "Machinery Pressure" rely mostly on heavy beats and rock harmonies, almost sounding like something from the SuperSweep gang. I may have contradicted myself there, but when you listen, you will hear the sound really doesn't fit with any composer mentioned thus far. To back this up, we'll move back to the beginning of the album and discuss "Sarisa". This track focuses mostly on string accompaniment, bouncing back from pizzicato strings to fully fleshed orchestral sections. The inclusion of the almost realistic cello samples to bridge the gap on the repeat builds this idea even more. I just can't get enough of this track!

The final disc of this album gives us a preview of a select number of the in-game tracks without the Nintendo DS sound limitations. Here we really get to see these composers shine. Kinukawa's "Sarisa" shows up here as well, backing up the points I made before in even more detail. Kobayashi is even more active here and particularly shines in the two "Crescent" tracks. While both are arrangements of each other, Kobayashi shows how the same theme can be made into an emotional event theme with the Serenade version and a crazy battle theme with heavy focus on the piano with the Crusade version. While this disc may just be reprises, it really shows what the composers intended this album to sound like without the DS hardware limitations.

I want to back up a second and discuss my favorite tracks on the album. Kobayashi brings back the popular "Idola" boss themes with "'IDOLA' The Imitated God" and "'IDOLA' The Devil's Shadow". Any fan of the past Idola tracks will instantly recognize the heavy electronic sound fused with the emotional orchestral passages present in both tracks. "The Devil's Shadow" really pays homage to the past themes, using more of the epic chord progressions while carrying the melody through various keys and styles. This set of tracks simply cannot be missed for any fan of the past "Idola" tracks. Listening to both back to back brings back a nostalgic feeling of the Phantasy Star Online series I haven't heard with any of the next generation versions of the game.

Summary

I can sum up this album with one short and non-descript word: Wow. When I first heard of this game's release, I didn't have much hope for Sega and their DS synth capabilities. I was shocked to find however that the two main composers did a stellar job incorporating their skills and making this album a highlight of what the DS is really capable of in the sound department. While the standard background static that most DS albums show is present, the Sega team seems to pull off the same quality heard in their major console works, which is a feat in and of itself. Any fan of past Phantasy Star albums headed by Kobayashi will want to check this album out immediately. If anything, this proves that the DS has no real boundaries when it comes to sound quality, and is worth checking out by anyone who is skeptical of the abilities of this handheld system.