RPGamers Network > Reviews > Game Music Reviews > F-Zero
Reviewed by: Ersatz Sobriquet
Almost every single arranged track I've heard from Nintendo is always superb, and this one is no exception. I didn't even know Nintendo made an arranged CD for F-Zero until my friend, Hailey Megs gave me the CD saying the F-Zero soundtrack was on here. "And it's Jazz," he added. I didn't know what to expect when going into this. I always identified F-Zero with Rock music, and even on the synthesized SNES soundboard, I still thought it to be Rock. So I was more than a little skeptical.
My fears were placed to rest when I heard the first track, the Opening to the game, title screen music, if you will. The band is made up mostly of a guitarist, bassist, drummer, keyboardist and a man on sax, who leads many of the songs off. The song, Opening is done pretty sweetly. A horn section, I believe they're called a No Sweat Horn section played the main little quick section that is found in the original while the sax played the main melody. Not a bad job at all. Though the song does have a somewhat echo sound, as do most of the songs, like they were playing with the reverb effect or something.
Fire Field departs from the usual sax lead as an electric guitar with slight distortion plays lead with a happy head bop melody. It follows the original melody pretty nicely, and it's nice to be able to hear the keyboardist shine for once as well, as he continually plays throughout the song. The bass line is quick and he moves around on the fret board, not playing the same notes over and over, so this song was a treat to my ears, as well.
Port Town was already a sweet theme, so they really couldn't mess it up too much, and they didn't, thankfully, but improved upon it. It starts out with a nice little keyboard and then swings into the poppin' sound Port Town always carried. Nice work with the percussion is found on this track as well, and it really adds, making this sound somewhat different from the rest of the pack.
I could care less though how the other songs are and absolutely hate this album if Big Blue wasn't done right, one of my all time favorite albums. And, my fears can be placed to rest as Big Blue is done very finely. The chorus is very, very catchy, with the horn section doing the background music very well. Percussion work is done on this track as well and it's done very finely. At one point the keyboardist and sax play along together during the chorus and then fade out to let the keyboardist shine once more. A very moving track that was done so perfectly I couldn't ask for more. They exceeded my expectations and took me on new heights with this one.
Usually at this point of my review, I would spiel on all the negative things an album has, but I don't have to do that with this album! Every song is a joy and carries along with it some kind of jazzy trait that's wide enough for anyone to enjoy. Each song throws you for a nice loop and all the instruments gets its chance to shine, even the bass. A must listen to, even if you don't like jazz.
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| Album Information | Reviewer Rank |
|---|---|
|
F-Zero Published by: Tokuma Japan Communications Release Date: March 25th 1992 Composed by: Yumiko Kanki, Naoto Ishida Arranged by: PeeWee Hill, Michiko Hill 1 Disc, 12 Tracks Catalog: TKCA-30516 |
100 |
Reviewed by: Ersatz Sobriquet
Almost every single arranged track I've heard from Nintendo is always superb, and this one is no exception. I didn't even know Nintendo made an arranged CD for F-Zero until my friend, Hailey Megs gave me the CD saying the F-Zero soundtrack was on here. "And it's Jazz," he added. I didn't know what to expect when going into this. I always identified F-Zero with Rock music, and even on the synthesized SNES soundboard, I still thought it to be Rock. So I was more than a little skeptical.
My fears were placed to rest when I heard the first track, the Opening to the game, title screen music, if you will. The band is made up mostly of a guitarist, bassist, drummer, keyboardist and a man on sax, who leads many of the songs off. The song, Opening is done pretty sweetly. A horn section, I believe they're called a No Sweat Horn section played the main little quick section that is found in the original while the sax played the main melody. Not a bad job at all. Though the song does have a somewhat echo sound, as do most of the songs, like they were playing with the reverb effect or something.
Fire Field departs from the usual sax lead as an electric guitar with slight distortion plays lead with a happy head bop melody. It follows the original melody pretty nicely, and it's nice to be able to hear the keyboardist shine for once as well, as he continually plays throughout the song. The bass line is quick and he moves around on the fret board, not playing the same notes over and over, so this song was a treat to my ears, as well.
Port Town was already a sweet theme, so they really couldn't mess it up too much, and they didn't, thankfully, but improved upon it. It starts out with a nice little keyboard and then swings into the poppin' sound Port Town always carried. Nice work with the percussion is found on this track as well, and it really adds, making this sound somewhat different from the rest of the pack.
I could care less though how the other songs are and absolutely hate this album if Big Blue wasn't done right, one of my all time favorite albums. And, my fears can be placed to rest as Big Blue is done very finely. The chorus is very, very catchy, with the horn section doing the background music very well. Percussion work is done on this track as well and it's done very finely. At one point the keyboardist and sax play along together during the chorus and then fade out to let the keyboardist shine once more. A very moving track that was done so perfectly I couldn't ask for more. They exceeded my expectations and took me on new heights with this one.
Usually at this point of my review, I would spiel on all the negative things an album has, but I don't have to do that with this album! Every song is a joy and carries along with it some kind of jazzy trait that's wide enough for anyone to enjoy. Each song throws you for a nice loop and all the instruments gets its chance to shine, even the bass. A must listen to, even if you don't like jazz.
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