Ryuji Sasai

Game Music, Reviews

Start 2011 With A Fight: SaGa Battle Track Compilation (Review)

February 11, 2011 | Jayson Napolitano | 4 Comments Share this

Well, Square Enix is certainly looking to have a busy 2011 with several music releases already lined up for January and February. They’ve kicked off the New Year with the SaGa Battle Track Compilation album, featuring battle themes from the original SaGa on the Game Boy up through Romancing SaGA –Minstrel Song-.

Now, I know what you’re thinking. Didn’t we just review the epic SaGa Premium Box that contained all of the battle themes from the entire series? Why, yes, we did. And didn’t we just review several battle theme compilations that also featured music from the SaGa series? Again, yes.

Well, where does that leave this compilation? Find out in our review after the jump. (more…)
Game Music, Reviews

Prepare to Rock: SaGa 3 Shadow or Light Soundtrack (Review)

January 12, 2011 | Jayson Napolitano | Comments Off on Prepare to Rock: SaGa 3 Shadow or Light Soundtrack (Review) Share this

It was some time ago that we reviewed the SaGa 2: Goddess of Destiny remake soundtrack. If you recall, it was released around the same time as the enormous SaGa Premium Box, making it somewhat redundant with just a modest increase in sound quality and a single arrangement by artist muZik. For that reason, when the SaGa 3 remake soundtrack was announced, I didn’t think much of it.

However, when I learned that Ryuji Sasai was personally on board to work on arrangements of his music, including an additional bonus track the end, I changed my tune. Sasai is joined by Kenji Ito to arrange the entire soundtrack from SaGa 3 on the Game Boy, and there are even more surprises within.

Hit the jump to find out if the SaGa 3 remake soundtrack is actually worth your time and money. (more…)
Featured, Game Music

Soundtrack of the Month 01/2011: Final Fantasy Mystic Quest Sound Collections

January 5, 2011 | Jayson Napolitano | 7 Comments Share this

Looks like we’re starting a trend, as our January 2010 soundtrack of the month was also late! Our bad.

So, Mystic Quest. Too often is this game mocked and reviled by RPG fans, but I’ve always had a special place in my heart for this game. Not only did I love the characters, dungeons, on-field enemies, and changing animations as enemies took damage in battle, but Ryuji Sasai and Yasuhiro Kawakami’s soundtrack have remained one of my favorites to this very day.

The memory I primarily associate with this game is one summer that I spent with my cousins in Las Vegas where we would start a new game in the morning (naming our character CLASHION), and finish it by the evening, repeating the process the following day for nearly a week. Yes, I know this game, and I love it, and you should too!

Find out why you can at least appreciate the soundtrack even if you hated the game in our Soundtrack of the Month feature to start off 2011! (more…)
Featured, Game Music

School of Rock: Interview with Squaresoft Composer Ryuji Sasai

September 29, 2009 | Jayson Napolitano | 9 Comments Share this

When I first set out to write about my passion for game music I immediately had three interview goals tucked way in the back of my mind. I wanted to interview Kenji Yamamoto at Nintendo, Koichi Sugiyama, and Ryuji Sasai. While I had the pleasure of interviewing Kenji Yamamoto when I was over at M4G, I can now mark Ryuji Sasai off the list as we’ve finally tracked him down and tortured him with our relentless list of questions.

I can’t tell you how excited I am about this. His work on Final Fantasy Mystic Quest and Rudra no Hihou is some of my favorite from the SNES era, and I’m honestly shocked by his recollection of pieces that he wrote over 10-15 years ago. We also discussed his work in our recent review of the SaGa Premium Box, so he should definitely sound familiar even if you don’t know his music. While his responses are brief at times, there is some great stuff here, and for me, at least, I am fully content! From the sounds of it, he has a lot of music left in him, and hopefully we’ll see him writing new music in the near future.

In the meantime, sit back and enjoy our interview with former Squaresoft composer Ryuji Sasai after the jump. (more…)
Game Music, Reviews

Biggest Game Music Box Set Ever: SaGa Series 20th Anniversary Original Soundtrack -PREMIUM BOX- (Review)

September 21, 2009 | Jayson Napolitano | 8 Comments Share this

Well, you saw us unpack this beast last month, which was a 7-minute task in itself. It’s taken us quite some time to listen to the 500+ songs featured on the 21-disc collection, but we’ve done it, and we’re here to tell you about the experience.

If this collection taught me one thing, it’s that the SaGa series is pretty damn huge. Bigger than I had ever realized. Also, it features music from some of the most famous Square Enix composers in history, including Nobuo Uematsu, Kenji Ito, and Masashi Hamauzu, which I think some tend to forget. This is a truly impressive collection of music, and I’ve been looking forward to telling you about it ever since I got my hands on the thing.

Let’s get to it on our review of the SaGa Premium Box after the jump. (more…)
Game Music

OSVchannel: Unpacking the 21-Disc Behemoth That is the SaGa Premium Box

August 25, 2009 | Jayson Napolitano | 5 Comments Share this

So, it’s finally here. We mentioned this massive 20 CD + 1 DVD SaGa collection some months ago, and even talked to Square Enix’s Music Licensing Division Manager and Promotions Manager about the set, but we now have it in our hands a full day ahead of the Japanese release. I thought some of you out there who are considering purchasing the box, or have already placed your orders may be interested in checking out what’s inside, so we’ve gone ahead and done just that.

This thing is massive. And the “assembly required” thing I mention in the video? It will take you a good half-hour, and I still don’t know if I put it together correctly. When it’s done, however, it’s quite a stunning sight to behold. Oh, and the music is awesome too! I’ve been digging the Gameboy SaGa titles (they were my most anticipated soundtracks of the set), and am looking forward to digging into the rest of the material in the coming days. Watch for our review!

Is this unpacking video at all entertaining to you? If it’s something you find interesting, we can pursue stuff like this more often in the future. Anyway, I can’t imagine Square Enix is making very many of these, so get one while you can!
Game Music, Reviews

Coolest Game Subtitle Ever: Xak ~ The Art of Visual Stage (Review)

September 11, 2008 | Jayson Napolitano | 3 Comments Share this

Before last week, I had no idea what Xak was, and with good reason. It was apparently an oldschool dungeon crawler released on a variety of platforms back in the late 1980s, and it was only available in Japan. I guess it makes sense that the music, presented in FM, PSG, X68000, and PC-8801 formats reminds me of some of the old Falcom stuff from those days.

The main reason the series came to my attention was because of Ryuji Sasai’s involvement. He’s one of my favorite composers, and he worked on this title along with Tadahiro Nitta. The All Sounds of Xak album was released all the way back in 1989, but recently, thanks to EGG MUSIC, classics like the Xak series have been given another chance, albeit it in a digital format only.

Read about this early foray into VG synth rock and Ryuji Sasai’s debut in game music after the jump. (more…)