Alright, so here’s my take on the soundtrack for Xak III: it is the best of the three, despite the noticeable lack of Ryuji Sasai. There are awesome arrange tracks at the end of the disc.
The CD’s packaging sports some cool artwork. The game was released on Microsoft’s “MSX2” console in 1993 in Japan, and then brought to the PC Engine (TurboGrafx) in 1994. The game never came to America, but after listening to this soundtrack a few times, I have to say I’m intrigued. I love a good obscure RPG as much as I love a good obscure soundtrack for an RPG. The soundtrack, much like the first Xak, is comparable to the music of Falcom, though I think the “Music From” discs that Falcom released in ’93 and ’94 (most notably, in the Legend of Heroes series) don’t hold a candle to this particular disc. The quality of the MSX2 synth is surprisingly high, similar to Sega Genesis (Mega Drive) but with a clearer tone.
I know I already said it once, but I have to say it again: the arrange tracks alone make the album worth buying. Check out track 31, the arranged version of “Tera incognita.” That’s a strong synth arrange right there, on par with some of my favorite pre-Meguro Shin Megami Tensei music.
The CD is long out of print and quite rare. If you’re a collector and thinking about going out and spending the big bucks on something from the Xak series, this is probably the most worthwhile of the three albums to get given current circumstances (that is, as of the date of this review). The other two soundtracks can be procured through EGG MUSIC (digitally), but this one cannot. At least, not a version that has the arranged tracks at any rate.
