For those who are not familiar with the game, "19XX: The War Against Destiny" was the last game in Capcom's World War II shooters, following "1942," "1943," and "1941." As the title indicates, the game itself does not really continue the World War II theme from the previous games.

The soundtrack contains all of the background music and sound effects from the video game. Knowing that, I was not expecting much from this CD. However, I actually received less than that.

One of the biggest problems with this soundtrack is that the music sounds and feels very weak. Drum support for most of the songs is very light, and there are no strong melodies or harmonies in any of the songs (two things that are usually emphasized in Capcom game music). Also, the boss music tracks are really lacking in the intensity category.

The major flaw with this soundtrack is the instrumentation. For example, "The Red Naval Port" has a loud (and annoying) African cowbell, which gives the song more of a goofy sound. Another song, "Dance of Green Gnome", contains bagpipes and bongos, and sounds... well, just plain weird.

Despite those flaws, there are a couple attention-grabbing songs on this soundtrack. One of them is "Silver Ice Sheet", which has an almost relaxing sound and is one of the few songs with an appropriate title. Another is "City Light in the Black Strait", which contains two really jazzy songs (the second being the better of the two). Two bonus tracks are also included, but one of them sounds as if it is from an 8-bit version of one of the earlier games (which, of course, isn't saying much).

Sadly, the best thing about this soundtrack is the bonuses included in the liner notes. Included are sheet music to "The Red Naval Port" and "Dance of Green Gnome", along with some screen shots and box-art of the previous games.

19XX: The War Against Destiny is not a terrible soundtrack, it's just... odd. Granted, this is an original game soundtrack, and not much should be expected of its quality. However, it is not one of the better original game soundtracks available, and definitely not one of the better soundtracks from Capcom.

19XX: The War Against Destiny is the fourth game in the 1941 shoot 'em up series by Capcom, released in 1996 on the CPS-2, and in my opinion is the best game in the series not only for its gameplay, but also its OST. The soundtrack is divided into 24 different tracks, and is composed mainly by Shun Nishigaki, with 6 songs contributed by Tatsuro Suzuki. As a CPS-2 game, the sound is generated from a DSP-16A chip and amplified through the Q-Sound program, which helped generate realistic sound patterns at a time when CDs were slowly taking over the arcade and console scene for sound creation.

The OST does a very good job of capturing the essence of the game, and many of the stage themes captured my attention, whether I was gliding my plane through the blue skies, a shipyard, an African forest, underground facilities, or the ice caps near Greenland. I especially enjoy the Stage 2 and Stage 5 themes, and in general the use of some interesting drum patterns combined with a variety of different instruments. Most of the songs follow a similar format, though the Stage 3 music makes for an interesting experiment in using instruments similar to traditional African pan flutes, bongos, and such. The soundtrack also manages to capture the experience of the game, accompanying battles with various mechanical bosses and enemy fighters, but also having a laid-back feel at different points, creating a good mix between different styles of songs. You'll feel yourself being drawn into the sound whether playing the game or just listening to the music, and you'll want to raise the volume to get the full experience of the soundtrack. It's one of the best CPS-2 soundtracks out there, and I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys game music.