Gradius Arcade Soundtrack

This is a CD collection from every Gradius arcade game.

First I thought that two CDs definitely not be good for all four games - that many tracks would be too short, and so some of them are.

First the original Gradius. Indeed this one has simple music and the tracks aren't looped many times, and are short. But I would've liked to hear some tunes looped more.

Gradius II tracks are very much the same as on the very extinct CD "Space Odyssey Gradius 2 ~ Gofer's Ambition". Tracks are short and are looped twice. The sound is very sharp but don't have as much echo as on Konami Game Music Collection Vol.1 where tunes are on "dolby mode".

Gradius Deluxe Pack was released in the late nineties on Playstation in Japan only. The three tracks from it are cool, and make me want to play the Playstation version of Gradius I & II.

The last seven tracks on Disc 1 are arrangements. The quality of arrangements has some spirit of old Konami Kukeiha Club stuff.

Gradius III on disc 2 is like candy in a box. The tunes are "tune per track", and not merged tracks like on Gradius III OST. The length of tracks is the same as on the out of print Gradius III OST.

The low point of Gradius Arcade Soundtrack is definitely Gradius IV. The tracks are cut from the length of those in Gradius IV Fukkatsu OST. The tunes are looped just twice, and are indeed short compared to Gradius IV Fukkatsu OST.

Last three tracks on disc 2 are taken from Gradius III & IV on Playstation 2. It is a cool bonus to have them in the CD.

The inlay booklet contains sheet music from some tunes. Also there are some liner notes that I would like to read translated.

Gradius Arcade Soundtrack is a must-buy for any Gradius fan who doesn't own the rare OST CDs from games. I think the Gradius IV part is almost useless. So if that would been dropped out, and then the tunes from Gradius I-III would have been looped some more, Gradius Arcade Soundtrack would been then perfect.