Overview

Lunar 2: Eternal Blue was originally released in 1994 for the Mega CD, but was later ported to Sega Saturn as well as the PlayStation. As such, the entire game had an overhaul from story and graphics, to animation and music. Packaged with Working Design's US adaptation of the game was this semi-arranged soundtrack. How does it fare? Read on for details.

Body

The main theme for the game, "Eternal Blue", is quite a poignant and memorable one. The vocalist is strong, the instrumentation used is simple, which harmonizes quite nicely with the vocalist's voice, and the piece is uncluttered overall. Many vocal pieces today rely on heavy instrumental development, but this track seems to be able to craft a beautiful melody without such heavy development. It also receives a special instrumental arrangement used at two key parts of the game, which demonstrates Iwadare's strength as an orchestrator. It's a solid way to bind together the experience. It also recurs in a stereotypical sad version in "Heart-Shaped Tears".

However, "Lucia's Theme" is the most better vocal theme for the game. Compared to the earlier vocal theme, the vocalist is much stronger, the lyrics more meaningful, and the instrumentation used compliments the vocalist much better. At times, very simple, at others, more developed. The melody that Iwadare creates here is quite beautiful and I can find myself humming this tune on a daily basis. It also receives some instrumental arrangements. "Desire" slows the pace of the original and makes it more poignant on piano and woodwinds, whereas "Crowded Street Corner" is a bouncy piece of town music that presents the melody in a refreshing manner.

Among the other character themes, Leo's theme "Justice" oozes heroism. It's written in the style of a march, with a focus on brass and percussion, but the melody throughout remains uplifting and easygoing. Nevertheless, the development hints at some of the subtleties and vulnerabilities of this character. "White Mask Funk" is a funky track to portray quite an interesting individual, Mystere. It's completely dominated by its repetitive yet memorable bass line, which creates an image of funkiness, while developments such as the saxophone solo are also enjoyable. Ronfar's "Wine, Women, and Song" is a 'hillbilly rock and roll' fusion to capture the lazy chancer, while Lemina's "Holding On" is girlish and naive with its simple uplifting melody.

The overworld theme "Field to Tomorrow" develops as such a theme should. It starts off rather modestly with an oboe melody accompanied by a basso ostinato, but it eventually transitions into a really emotional section where strings seem to bow for all their glory. Iwadare seems to pull all of the instrumental stops during the development to capture the diverse scenery and emotions of the game. "Golden Voice" starts off with a beautiful arrangement of the original "Lunar Theme" from the first game. The harp uses harmonizes well with the woodwind and helps to create an angelic atmosphere. Once the strings are added, more development is seen and the track evolves in melody. It creates an equally strong melody before reverting back to the original. It is a nice piece of nostalgia.

One of the few battle tracks to appear on this album, "Brave Warriors" is a vast improvement from some of the Lunar: Silver Star Story battle tracks. While electric guitar starts off carrying the basic melody, strings offer quite an interesting role in this track as both a tension builder and melody double. Heroic and motivating, this is great Iwadare battle music. "Boss Battle" also acomplishes the main goals of a boss battle theme: it offers feelings of hope, exhilirating action, essences of fatigue, and more importantly supports the image of an evil presence. The melody is pretty gripping, as is the development, each of which are helped greatly by the diversity of the instrumentation.

"Zophar's Arrival" and "Growing Fear" are among the more tense tracks on the soundtrack. The former starts off with quite an ominous tone by the use of strings and timpani, but the initial soundscape isn't built upon well as the string melody is extremely repetitive. The latter is not much better. One of the defining pieces on the soundtrack is "Lucia vs. Zophar". From heavy organ to eerie strings and ominous brass passages, it is very much a militaristic theme with a very dark edge to it. The bass line adds a sense of action to the piece as the melody is yielded on a number of heavy instruments before moving into a hopeful section. It's a great way to thematically and emotionally unify the score.

Summary

While Iwadare is notorious for some of his works, this work is pretty decent. While by no means as strong as his first Lunar attempt, it still pushes enough original material to the surface to be considered. There are a few downers on the album, but most of the other tracks are worth a listen. The playful melodies Iwadare creates are always a welcome addition to any earlobe and the development some of the tracks see is pretty astounding. Overall, this album is definitely worth a listen.