Vimana & Teki Paki
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Album Title: Vimana & Teki Paki |
| Record Label: Pony Canyon |
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| Catalog No.: PCCB-00071 |
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| Release Date: September 21, 1991 |
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| Purchase: Buy Used Copy |
Overview
This album contains soundtracks to two Toaplan games, the shooter Vimana composed by Toshiaki Tomizawa and the puzzler Teki Paki written by Tomoaki Takanohashi. How does the overall album turn out?
Body
Of the two soundtracks on this album, the Vimana soundtrack is definitely the more successful. “Space High” is an extremely memorable chiptune theme with an infectious melody and a great atmosphere — there’s that sense of adventure and heroism, combined with a feeling of flying. It’s a fantastic way to open up the soundtrack. There’s also a Type-B version of this theme that changes up the instrumentation slightly. “The Power of Darkness” is another invigorating and catchy chiptune. It has a sense of darkness, mainly due to the accompaniment, but the melody is absolutely marvelous, capturing both sinister moments and more heroic aspects.
“Max Power Up” is another amazing catchy chiptune melody that gives off a great sense of adventure, while at the same time, offering a bit of mystery, while “Bit Man” has a very catchy rhythm and a pretty decent chiptune overall. The lack of length in the track hurts its development a bit, but it still manages to capture the energy of many of the tracks on the album. “Hyper Voltage Wars” has a slight Asian influence, mainly in the accompanying harmonies, combined with some more Middle Eastern inspired moments in the melody line. At the same time, there is this fantastic sense of adventure and a futuristic vibe from the rest of the melody. Combine that with some insanely catchy rhythms and it’s a winner. Lastly, “Like Unto Fire”, has a very futuristic and heroic tone, thanks to the catchy melody and harmonies. The frenetic bridge before the loop really helps accentuate that feeling of the adventure coming to an end. The rhythm is also quite nice, providing a nice tempo and accentuating that feeling of invigoration.
The Teki Paki soundtrack, composed by Tomoaki Takanohashi, features only a few themes. The first, “Coin ~ G.E.A.R.,” is quite a sinister theme, focusing on industrial accompaniment and rhythms, but is too repetitive for my tastes. “Higher” is an intense theme with a fast paced tempo. While I do like the industrial influence, as it keeps the atmosphere from the first track intact, the overall track doesn’t really develop much, causing a very monotonous sound in the long run. “Quick, Junk, Seaquence” has a very sinister, mechanical flair to it. While the rhythms are catchy, I find that the overall melody is a bit lacking. Lastly, “Epilogue ~ Le-Vel ~ Mechatropolis” is a short theme that keeps the sinister and mechanical tones of the soundtrack in place.
Summary
In the end, I think that this album is a bit flawed. While I find the Vimana soundtrack to be quite successful overall, I find that the Teki Paki portion of the soundtrack to be rather lackluster. While I admire the cohesiveness of its atmosphere, I find that the melodic development to be severely disappointing. I’d pass on this album and opt for the Toaplan Shooting Chronicle, published by Supersweep, if possible; it contains a lot more music, including the superior Vimana soundtrack, most of which is quite successful.
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 Don Kotowski. Last modified on August 1, 2012.
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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