Game info: HG101
Listening: game rip
Credits
Most of the game’s staff are simply listed as “Staff” without giving specific roles. Of those, the only person with audio credits in other games is Manabu Namiki; everyone else has graphics roles in other games by the developer. It’s probable that Namiki was the sole composer.
Update (2024-12-30): According to Manabu Namiki, the composer of this game was fellow Raizing staffer Tomoko Miyagi, who was not credited in the game.
Info
Ran across a game by Raizing I’d somehow never heard of before, so I checked the staff roll because Raizing games always have composers I’m interested in, and there was Manabu Namiki! A great way to get me to listen to something is to put Manabu Namiki in it.
This game is, like most of Raizing’s, a shmup, although perhaps unexpectedly it has a generally orchestral score that’s pretty midtempo and not super bombastic or high energy. You could compare it to Hitoshi Sakimoto’s score for Radiant Silvergun in that way, it has a similar vibe to it. It’s not purely orchestral: a number of tracks feature synthy/FM parts, sometimes subtly like just the bassline and occasionally right up in your face. Stage themes 4 through 6 also have a bit of dance music/jazz influence where some shmuppiness comes through, making them stand out from the more reserved pieces.
It’s a pretty cool soundtrack! The orchestration isn’t particularly complex, so don’t go in expecting some Sakimoto-level nonsense, but the writing’s not bad and some Namiki-ass cool chord changes made their way into most of the tracks. The mix of orchestral & FM sound sources is also pretty nice, makes it sound a bit more like a modern game fusing throwback sounds than a 2000 arcade game.
Recommended tracks:
There are some YouTube uploads of some other tracks besides these, but they seem to be noticeably slower than how the music plays in-game.
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“Boss 2 (Moon Sacrificer, Lord Brandisher, Flying Fortress ‘End Blue’)” has a bit with whole tone ascending orchestra hits at 0:34 that sounds like a Konami boss theme or something
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“Fourth Stage: The Industrial Zone” is one of the more overtly FM tracks and features some sick chordspam at 0:20
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“Sixth Stage: The Floating Island” has this weird, chaotic bit with unnecessary panning at 0:41
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“Seventh Stage: The skies above Yuga, the capital of the North Country” has a crystally synth at 0:27 that mixes with the old game orchestral samples like 👌👌👌
(track titles are taken from stage info published by the dev)
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