Overview

In 1991, Square released Koichi Ishii's Seiken Densetsu: Final Fantasy Gaiden (aka Final Fantasy Adventure) for the Game Boy. Having debuted Square with the second SaGa game, Kenji Ito was given the opportunity to score an entire soundtrack for the first time on this title. Once again, he focused on producing memorable and expressive melodies that would transcend the notorious limitations of the handheld's hardware. The soundtrack was initially released separately before being bundled with an arranged suite in the Seiken Densetsu Sound Collections and eventually compiled into the series' box set. This review focuses on the original soundtrack release.

Body

The score opens with the title theme "Rising Sun". The track seems deeply inspired by the title themes of the SaGa series, with its long expressive melody and simple harmonisation. However, the lyricism here is distinctly that of Kenji Ito's and the composer goes some way to emphasising the more scenic focus of the series here. The track sounds somewhat hollow in composition and implementation compared to its various arrangements, but its melody sounds extraordinary even on the Game Boy's humble sound chip. Ito successfully builds on this approach with several other setting themes, notably with the soothing village theme, reflective "Jema's Relization", and elegaic "Mana's Mansion". Regardless of their simplicity, the melodies in each of these themes ensure they are emotional.

Away from the more relaxing entries, there are plenty of adventurous tracks to portray this story of good against evil. The overworld piece "Endless Battlefield" will be fondly remembered by all those who played the game thanks to its exciting pacing and, of course, uplifting melodies. While it can be frustrating that Ito adheres to diatonic tonalities so much, his call-and-answer phrasing is spot on here and delivers exactly the required resolutions. Other likeable ditties include the rock-tinged second overworld theme "In Search of the Holy Sword", the classically-oriented unreleased town music, and the ever-popular theme for the dwarves. The Chocobo theme from the Final Fantasy series is also featured in two arrangements here, though neither are particularly remarkable.

Ito is popularly known for his battle tracks and one of his best are featured in Seiken Densetsu. "Battle 1" is a decent accompaniment to the game's earlier boss battles, though the call-and-answer phrasing sometimes sounds laboured here. This may be due to lack of compositional inspiration or alternatively technological factors. Thankfully, "Fight 2" makes up for it and demonstrates Ito at his best. The rock rhythms are very exciting here, while the countermelodies are entirely satisfying. Ito reserves the only particularly tense battle track for the final battle and it's largely an effective one. However, the body of the composition is too short to make the most out of the epic introduction. The theme for the fighting arena is also a little too repetitive and brief to be worth relistening.

The soundtrack is rounded off by a range of more moody contributions. Anyone who has heard Nobuo Uematsu's Final Fantasy will know what to expect from the three dungeon themes here. There's lots of dark chord changes, crisis motifs, and suspenseful tempo changes, but not a lot of melody. These tracks are highly effective in context, but perhaps too barren to be worth stand-alone listening and certainly inferior to those featured on subsequent soundtracks in the series. The conclusion of the game features several more gentle tracks, including "Let Thoughts Ride on Knowledge" and "Legend Forever". The latter takes listeners round circle with a distant rendition of "Rising Sun" before moving into a slow reflective melody. The soundtrack thus closes as slowly and emotionally as it begun.

Summary

The soundtrack features all the clichés one might expect from an RPG soundtrack. There's the heroic overworld theme, rocking battle tracks, moody dungeon soundscapes, and light-hearted ditties. It's quite clear that Kenji Ito aimed to create a soundtrack that compared with Nobuo Uematsu's classics and didn't pay much attention to giving the series a personality of its own. Nevertheless, the soundtrack features such robust melodies and contrasting moods that it is a satisfying listen from start to finish. It's a recommended listen for those looking for a conventional yet polished chiptune soundtrack. However, it is better value to purchase the Seiken Densetsu Sound Collections to experience the arranged tracks as well.