Gameodactyl's Top Five: Arranged Game Music Of The Decade

Everyone on the ‘net is rockin’ the “aught” lists. And rightfully so. It’s the end of a decade, and it was a decade full of all sorts of wild, crazy, awesome, and less-than-awesome stuff.

One of my favorite hobbies as an avid audiophile and Gameodactyl is game music. You know, the soundtracks to games? I buy the things. I buy them en masse. And in Japan, they make such a big deal out of it that they often release arranged albums to complement the original soundtrack. It doesn’t get much more awesome than that.

So, to prove that no one on teh IntarWebz can get more niche than the Gameodactyl, I now present to you my five favorite game music arranged albums from the past decade. Check it out!

5. Final Fantasy X-2 Piano Collection (2004)

The Final Fantasy series is known for many things, but FINAL FANTASY X-2 is generally remembered for being a bad game. Spat and shat upon by the gaming press for being a lackluster, girl-tastic charlie’s-angels-clone fan-service-fest, many people ended up missing out on a great game; seriously, the job/ability system (“dressed up” as the dress sphere system) made the game awesome. The soundtrack was not as well received, perhaps because it was über-jazzy, but more likely because it didn’t have any Uematsu involvement.

Well, composers Noriko Matsueda and Takahito Eguchi didn’t take the criticism lying down. Instead, they made one of the best piano collection CDs in the history of game music. While nearly every FF piano has a place in my heart, none surprised me as much as X-2. With arrangements and performances by four different people, all with a jazz bent to them, and a good range between intermediate and “facepalm-impossible” pieces to learn, this epitomized what I loved about piano arrangements of game music.

Unfortunately, this also marked the end of an era. Noriko Matsueda, who had been with Square for over a decade, left after this last project, and apparently has no intention of ever writing game music again. For better or worse? You decide. Check out my full review of the album at RPGFan.

4. Atelier Iris ~Eternal Mana~ Arrange Tracks: DECEITFUL WINGS (2005)

The Gust Sound Team (usually: Akira Tsuchiya, Ken Nakagawa, Daisuke Achiwa) continue to wow me with each subsequent soundtrack they write. Currently I’m looking forward to their score for Ar tonelico III. One of their earliest scores as a full time was for ATELIER IRIS ~ETERNAL MANA~ for PS2, the first game in a long-running series to come to North America. A year after its Japanese release, prominent doujin-scene guitar-rock arranger Saitama Saishu Heiki (SSH) took some dungeon and battle themes from the game and created a straight up awesome arranged CD. Forget “The Black Mages.” This is what you really want to hear. For more rambling about this album, go here for my full review.

3. Dark Chronicle Premium Arrange (2004)

You probably know this game better under the name DARK CLOUD 2. This PS2 release didn’t have the world’s greatest soundtrack (composer Tomohito Nishiura is slowly improving, as seen in the PROFESSOR LAYTON trilogy). But his work was made infinitely cooler when a bunch of veteran composers and arrangers, including Yasunori Mitsuda, Yoko Shimomura, Noriyuki Iwadare, and others added their own skills to the pool of melodies. Twelve tracks, all awesome (some moreso than others), probably the most eclectic album I keep in my collection. Read a wall-o-text review for the album here.

2. Chiptuned Rockman (2009)

You probably love Rockman far more than you realize. You know him by his Anglo-name, “Mega Man.” Earlier this year, a whole bunch of indie “chiptune” artists, alongside a couple of prominent industry veterans, teamed up to do 8-bit “chiptune” (NES and Game Boy) arrangements of songs from the series. You may be thinking, “why do 8-bit arrangements of 8-bit songs?” Well, this album isn’t just Mega Man 1 through 6. It includes all sorts of modern Mega/X/Zero/random-characters-I-don’t-kn0w-about silliness. And it makes them better by making them sound older. No, seriously, it works. Don’t believe me? Check out my friend’s review at OriginalSoundVersion. And try to find some audio samples.

1. drammatica – The Very Best of Yoko Shimomura (2008)

Published by Square Enix’s music label last year, this fantastic orchestral arrangement album blew my mind. And it might just blow your mind too.

The whole album, minus one bonus track, was recorded by the WDR Radio Orchestra in Cologne, Germany. On this album, you’ll find arranged medleys of fantastic tunes from LEGEND OF MANA, HEROES OF MANA, KINGDOM HEARTS (series), LIVEALIVE, and FRONT MISSION. And the aforementioned bonus track? How about the full three minute version of “Somnus,” the theme for FINAL FANTASY VERSUS XIII? Yeah. Music for a game that, at the time, was a good two or three years away from launch. Tacked on as a bonus track to an already fantastic CD.

In case you forgot, Legend of Mana has one of the best soundtracks ever. And, somehow, it never got an arranged album of its own. The four arranged pieces from the game that grace this CD alone make it worth its steep retail price as an import (including shipping and handling, we’re talking like $35). The only letdown? It’s missing some of Shimomura’s most-loved works. SUPER MARIO RPG and PARASITE EVE are missing from Square, and she wasn’t even allowed to touch her (oft-uncredited) Capcom work: STREET FIGHTER II and BREATH OF FIRE.

If you haven’t gotten tired of links to RPGFan, here’s my full review of said CD.

Feel free to use the comments section to tell me what arranged albums I missed, or what game music you wish had arranged albums.