The Sega Mega Drive (Or Genesis if you’re American) gave us some of the pinnacle of game music with its superb 16-bit madness. This three track CD comprises of 3 medley’s taking 24 games and then doing a non-stop medley between them all for some exciting remixed madness.
The games included are: Alien Soldier, Outrun, Space Harrier II, Bare Knuckle II, Crying, Monster World III, Ristar the Shooting Star, Super Fantasy Zone, Pulseman, Super Shinobi, Ecco the Dolphin, Gunstar Heroes, Vermillion, Golden Axe II, Shining & The Darkness, Shining Force, Landstalker, Phantasy Star III, Phantasy Star II, Battle Golfer Yui, Shikinjo, Ninja Buraiden & Rent-a-Hero. Some you may be familiar with however a few of them I was not as they may be Japan only releases.
Not that it really matters because each game really does just have its main theme played through in true 16-bit synth style before a seamless transition to the next game theme. On each of the three tracks, the transitions are superb and you never get bored with each song clocking in at the 8 minute mark. It’s a great trip down memory lane and the songs haven’t sounded so good in a long time.
The first remix is the Arranged version, which takes each song into a dance version and polishes the synths and this is probably the best version. The second mix is using all the original synths completely which is daring and apart from some drum confusion, it works perfectly. The third and final mix (by Dr. Cova) is the “Super Medley” which kind of bridges the two and uses both original and revised synths and a follows a different pattern of songs altogether.
Fans of 16-bit music will find heaven here, and anyone wanting to know how remixes or 16-bit music can really revolutionize your vgm collection really needs to get the cd. An expert class in game music.