Castlevania Pachislot II Original Soundtrack
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Album Title: Castlevania Pachislot II Original Soundtrack |
| Record Label: Konami Digital Entertainment |
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| Catalog No.: GFCA-228 |
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| Release Date: July 21, 2010 |
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| Purchase: Buy at CDJapan |
Overview
Following the success of their first pachislot adaptation of the Castlevania series, Konami decided to make a sequel in 2010. The soundtrack for the game once again blended classic reprises with modern cinematic cues. In doing so, it largely repeated the same mistakes as its predecessor.
Body
This soundtrack unfortunately does not resolve one of the main problems with the first soundtrack — the use of existing rather than new versions of the original material. In fact, a large amount of the material here is directly transported from the first pachislot soundtrack, including the anthems from the NES trilogy, two favourites from Curse of Darkness, and even six original cues. These are supplemented by two rehashed originals by Michiru Yamane, “Dance of Pearls” and “Abandoned Castle”, and four arrangements lifted straight from Castlevania Judgment. Such extensive reuse of previously published material will leave a sour taste in the mouths of collectors who spent 2400 JPY on this product.
Like its predecessor, the majority of the original compositions on this soundtrack are cinematics used to introduce various characters and stages. Once again, Takeshi Kuramochi’s compositions are necessarily brief for this purpose and also stereotypical with their tendencies towards low-end Hollywood scoring. Fortunately, most compositions are less repetitive in this instance and develop beyond four bar loops. Among the better achievements are the brutal dissonant orchestrations of “Judgment of Darkness”, the moody metronomic soundscapes in “Grave of Discipline”, and the intense gothic stylings from “Cloister of Hell”. However, even these tracks are hugely generic in their tendencies and superior material can be found in even most production music libraries.
When stripped down, listeners are left with only two tracks on the soundtrack that have any novel musical merit. One is “Capriccio of the Scarlet Moon”, an original composition by Takeshi Kuramochi that seems to have been inspired by the series’ past rock-orchestral greats. With its memorable melodies, potent stylings, and cutting-edge implementation, it’s good enough to stand among the giants. The vocal theme “Reinlich” was apparently a collaboration between Kuramochi and Yamane. They provide a soft gothic accompaniment to some melodies sung by the beautiful voices of baritone Shunsuke Tsuda and soprano Tomoka Hattori. While not quite as impressive as “Trezier de Spirit”, but still a fine composition fitting the series’ sound. Yet it’s too little, too late…
Summary
Once again, this soundtrack is astounding for its sheer laziness. The rehashes and re-rehashes here will really disappoint those wanting fully-fleshed arrangements and value for money. The original compositions are not abominable like its predecessor, but still too banal and short to be worth listening to. There are a couple of good tracks, but they’re not enough to redeem the release.
Do you agree with the review and score? Let us know in the comments below!
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Posted on August 1, 2012 by Chris Greening. Last modified on August 1, 2012.
About the Author
Chris Greening I've contributed to websites related to game audio since 2002. In this time, I've reviewed over a thousand albums and interviewed hundreds of musicians across the world. As the founder and webmaster of VGMO -Video Game Music Online-, I hope to create a cutting-edge, journalistic resource for all those soundtrack enthusiasts out there. In the process, I would love to further cultivate my passion for music, writing, and generally building things. Please enjoy the site and don't hesitate to say hello!
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