If you're a regular to this channel, chances are you already know that I love Konami's
Ganbare Goemon series.
At this point, I own nearly every Goemon game there is, only a couple away from a complete
collection, and I plan on covering each and every one in some form or another...speaking
of which, I'd better get on that, it's been a while.
Anyway, for video games that I really enjoy, I'm the kind of guy who likes to collect beyond
just the cart or disc.
For Final Fantasy or any kind of Nintendo series, it's pretty easy to find memorabilia
in the form of figurines, music CDs, clothing, and the like.
But for other properties, this is simply not the case.
Konami produced a lot of goods for the Gensou Suikoden series, but it's tough to be a fan
trying to collect for it, as Suikoden merchandise can be pretty hard to come by for some reason,
even online.
So imagine how much more difficult it must be to find anything related to Ganbare Goemon
that's not a video game.
Little things like eraser figurines are often plentiful and pretty cheap, but music CDs
are another story altogether.
Even if you're lucky enough to find one, be prepared to shell out over a hundred, sometimes
even over a thousand dollars just to be able to keep one of these hard-to-find discs on
your shelf in its laser-grid protected, glass display case.
But thanks to EGG Music Records, you can now own a large chunk of the Ganbare Goemon game
soundtracks in one convenient box set.
Released on May 26th, 2017, the Ganbare Goemon Sound Tamatebako Original Soundtrack Box is
a collection of the complete musical scores to 16 classic Goemon games and one bonus track
from a non-Goemon title, spanning 10 discs in all.
These titles include the arcade original Mr. Goemon, the MSX2 and Famicom editions of Ganbare
Goemon: Karakuri Douchuu, Ganbare Goemon 2 on the Famicom, Ganbare Goemon Gaiden 1 and
2, also for the Famicom, the first four Game Boy and Game Boy Color Goemon releases, the
four main Ganbare Goemon Super Famicom games, and the Super Famicom Ebisumaru puzzle game
spinoff.
The bonus track featured in this set is Goemon's theme from the Game Boy Advance Japanese launch
title Konami Wai Wai Racing, known as Konami Krazy Racers outside of Japan.
With 8- and 16-bit being the theme of this compilation, the absence of Ganbare Goemon:
Seikushii Dynamites Arawaru for the Game Boy Color is a particularly noticeable omission.
The ten CDs are held in five jewel cases housed in a sturdy outer box with some pretty cool
and colorful art.
I really like the sprite versions of Goemon and Ebisumaru as well as Impact peaking out
from the top and bottom sides.
The large spine card with the soundtrack list on the back is too big to store inside of
the box without bending, so I have a feeling most people are just going to throw it away.
The jewel case designs are simple and attractive, though the cover is just as single sheet of
printed paper.
Instead of liner notes for each of the CD cases, the set comes with a mini booklet containing
track listings, a bit on the history of Ganbare Goemon, mini OST reviews of each of the games
featured, and lists of all the Goemon titles as well as other games featuring the titular
hero or the series' iconic music.
For a fan of Ganbare Goemon, this box set is a dream come true.
The price tag is pretty steep, however, retailing for 14,500 yen plus tax, which amounts to
about 150 dollars U.S.
But when you take into account that with these CDs you'll get a total of 657 individual music
tracks, and an original pressing for over half of these games' soundtracks would probably
cost you more than that anyway, the price is quite reasonable.
Sure, you could just download or listen to these songs for free online, but it's nice
to have this option available, whether it be for collector's reasons or just to kick
back and listen to the music on an actual CD player.
The games themselves have aged very well for the most part, and there are only a few less
than stellar entries in the series, but one thing that always remained pretty consistent
among the Ganbare Goemon games is its excellent, timeless music.
Some of my favorite video game music tracks come from many of the games found in this
CD collection, though it is a shame it only covers up until the Super Famicom and Game
Boy Color eras.
Fingers crossed for a second compilation that includes the rest of the games—it would
be worth it just for the amazing music from the N64 games alone.
I pre-ordered this box set months before its release directly from EGG Music Records' online
store, amusement-center.com, which sent a brochure of its products and services along
with the CDs.
In addition to an amazing selection of popular and obscure video game soundtracks, they also
have a classic game download service called Project EGG that I might have to check out
sometime soon.
And something I'll also have to do soon is work on another Ganbare Goemon episode of
Import Gaming FTW!
So until next time, this is Jimmy Hapa saying to buy this CD set if you're a fan of the
Goemon series...maybe Konami will finally get some sense and do something with this
fantastic franchise again if they see that people still absolutely love these games.
We can only hope.
Anyway, take care.


Không có nhận xét nào:
Đăng nhận xét