Dopamix Soundtrack
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Album Title: Dopamix Soundtrack |
| Record Label: SuperSweep |
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| Catalog No.: SRIN-1098 |
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| Release Date: June 28, 2013 |
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| Purchase: Buy at CDJapan |
Overview
The Dopamix Soundtrack features music from G-mode’s Nintendo 3DS e-shop rhythm game of the same name. Featuring music by relative unknown Takumi Hayasaka, as well as some of the junior and senior composers at SuperSweep, it features a variety of electronic styles that work well within this genre. Is this work picking up?
Body
The majority of the music is composed by Takumi Hayasaka who is primarily responsible for some of the stage music as well as the victory jingles. His contributions range in styles from the catchy, bubbly “Blue Place”, to the rock-focused, free-spirited “Lightning Speed”, to the upbeat yet ethereal “Aurora”. All these compositions are impressively-conceived, well-mixed, and fit well with the gameplay. However, it’s a little disappointing that they’re all quite short at around 90 seconds each, probably due to the constraints of the gameplay. Highlights for me include “Parade,” which starts of with electronic beats in a marching tempo, before blooming into a memorable melodic piece. “Finale” is also lovely tune that serves as the ending theme. It features some beautiful piano work and matches the energy of many of the tracks found on the album, but even this one is quite brief.
The rest of the album features music by various members of Supersweep. The two composers with the most contributions are Takahiro Eguchi and Yousuke Yasui. Eguchi’s three tracks all encompass different styles. “Karma” is a dubstep influenced tune featuring Japanese rap. While this won’t be everyone’s cup of tea, the chorus focuses on a beautiful melody without focusing on bass modulation. “Blazing Wind” is an intense tune that features heavy beats and a slight rock influence. The B section manages to have this uplifting quality that many of Eguchi’s Nanosweep tunes feature and is a favorite on the album. Speaking of favorites, “Skywalk” features an infectious beat and a stunning piano melody. It is one tune on this album that really makes me wish some of these tunes were longer.
Yousuke Yasui contributes two tracks to the album. The first, “Pascal Shower,” is a upbeat and catchy vocal theme that features a great melody. However, for those who don’t enjoy kawaii vocals, this one might be har to enjoy. There is also a full version of this tune featured as a bonus track at the end of the album. His other tune, “Utopian Toybox,” on the other hand, is pure gold. It is a retro themed tune with an infectious melody and a fantastic soundscape. I can’t stop humming it!
The rest of the Supersweep composers each contribute a single track to the album. Teruo Taniguchi’s “Colorful Traveler” is a bubbly tune that features those ever-divisive kawaii vocals again; for those who can enjoy such vocals or look past them, it does feature a catchy melody. Kazuhiro Kobayashi’s “Spring has come” is another bubbly tune with some nice 8bit touches. To me, this one sounds like it would fit right in a classic Kirby game. Lastly, Shinji Hosoe’s “Rocket Valley” is an edit from one of his overdrive hell albums. As such, it is used as the most difficult tune on the game, given its chaotic and intense nature. In addition to the soundtrack versions, Atsushi Ohara creates a medley of many of the themes on the album in his “Love Deep Dopa-Mix.”
Summary
In the end, for a rhythm soundtrack, this one is quite good. There are plenty of styles to appease the different fans of rhythm soundtracks and each one, despite being short, manages to engage. It’s not quite up there with Technictix, Technicbeat, or Let’s Tap, but still similar and quite enjoyable overall. If you like this sort of music, whether or not you’ve played the game, this is worth a purchase. Now, let’s hope there’s a remix album in the works akin to Supersweep’s Technictix series.
Do you agree with the review and score? Let us know in the comments below!
3.5
Posted on April 27, 2014 by Don Kotowski. Last modified on April 27, 2014.
About the Author
Don Kotowski Currently residing in Philadelphia. I spend my days working in vaccine characterization and dedicate some of my spare time in the evening to the vast world of video game music, both reviewing soundtracks as well as maintaining relationships with composers overseas in Europe and in Japan.
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