Capcom
Ghosts ‘n Goblins (Arrange Version)
Commando (Arrange Version)
These arrange versions are both from Capcom Game Music, a collection of tunes from Capcom games that was released by GMO Records in August of 1986 (according to the VGMdb). It was their sixth release overall, and their fourth collection of game music by a single company, following similar collections featuring Nintendo, Hudson and Konami.
While the Hudson collection featured an an entire side of arranged editions, this album copies Konami’s format, with just a pair of re-imagined tracks. Shame, I wish we would’ve been treated to arranged variations of music from games like “Section Z” or “Trojan” instead of ear-grating audio rips from “1942” and “Higemaru.” Neither of those games feature much music, so their tracks are mostly just raw game audio, and are very hard to listen to.
Like many other early arranged versions featured on GMO releases, the arranged mixes here are by Yoshihiro Kunimoto. Unlike future arrange albums, which often featured full bands or sometimes even orchestras, these are still largely digital affairs with drum machines and synthesizers abound. Very fun stuff though. I always view arranged versions like these as what the game company wanted the music to sound like at the time, if they weren’t limited by game hardware limitations. Both of these are great, but the “Ghost ‘n Goblins” version is better, mostly because it’s just a better song overall, but also because it has plenty of dope synth bass. Said it before, I’ll say it again – I love me that synth bass.
Namco
Pac-Man A Go-Go
Solo Suite Xevious -No. 1-
Main Theme From “Rolling Thunder”
The early GMO releases would usually feature just a handful of arranged versions. The focus was always on the original music. But by the 90s this would change, and more companies would embrace the arranged version as the showcase tracks, even releasing albums comprised entirely of arranged versions. Makes sense to me. If you wanted to hear the original game music, you could always just play the game. These albums gave the companies and the composers more freedom with the music.
Like I said when talking about the Capcom albu, most arranged albums I have feature mixes that are largely still digital and based around electronic instruments.
But This is Namco!, the album from which these tracks came from, is really different. All of the tracks here focus on live instrumentation, and with some really odd choices too. The “One O’Clock Galaga ’88” track reworks the theme music from that game as a big band jazz tune, while “Solo Suite Xevious -No.1-” takes the game’s rather simple melody and transforms it for saxophone (I think – I’m not up on my brass instruments). It’s a really sparse mix too, so raw and quiet that I can even hear the player’s breath between notes and the clicks of the keys.
There are some bold choices here, but overall I think the variety is a little detrimental to the final product. There’s just too much going on, the album has no focus on defined style. Yeah, the lullaby version of Mappy’s music is alright, but it’s sandwiched between the jazzy Galaga theme and a bombastic as fuck 80s-rock take on the music from Dragon Spirit. There’s no flow. And also, some of this music just isn’t all that great or memorable. Maybe I would feel differently I was more familiar with games like The Return of Ishitar and Dragon Spirit, maybe nostalgia would help. But I have no feelings for most of the games on this album, so it’s just a collection of (sometimes not great) versions of music from games I’ve barely heard of.
There are a few standouts though! In addition to the awesome saxophone Xevious theme, the full-on jazz version of the theme to Rolling Thunder is just an absolute banger. It completely nails the suave, suit-and-tie spy aesthetic the game was going for.
Also “Pac-Man a Go-Go” is great. Because Pac-Man is great. And good on them for somehow making an entire song out of what is probably 10 seconds of original game music.
May 2019 bring us more impressively reworked game music, and less white nationalists hellbent on killing us all!