This CD has me stumped. Some instruments sound synthy, yet others sound surprisingly realistic. A conductor is listed in the credits, but no musicians are listed. Perhaps he was waving at the mixing console? Whatever the case, Chocobo no Fushigina Dungeon (Chocobo's Mysterious Dungeon) packs 30 tracks on a regular CD, and two tracks on a bonus pack-in 8mm CD.

For those confused already about the instrument situation, the intro and ending are orchestrated, performed by a small group of musicians, and the remainder are mixed using synths. I could be totally off, but this is my guess.

The most comparable CD to Mysterious Dungeon is NiGHTS. While not consisting of live instrumentation, their synth instruments are several orders of magnitude better then say, Final Fantasy VII OST.

Several songs contain the Chocobo medley - you know the one - but thankfully only for a bar or two. The best songs usually enter the medley early in the song, and then build off of that to something entirely different. Or it's slyly inserted in the middle of a song to give your brain and ears a little perk.

The bonus CD contains the best song, "Chocobo's Happy Christmas?". An upbeat tune with a constant jingle bell in the background, it simply brings a smile to your face. This is the case with most tracks, but none of them stray into the land of saccharin. The battle/boss themes have darker overtones, though most fall into the frenetic BPM category.

Overall, the inclusion of the bonus CD tips this into the "buy" category. There are a few forgettable tracks, but not enough to detract from the whole.