The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap might be the most ignored Zelda game in the franchise. Every single part of it.That's a shame, too, because there's quite a bit to like about it. There are actually quite a few reasons why it feels unknown compared to other games in the series, though. The fact that it's portable doesn't help, for one. For some strange reason, people tend to regard portable entries in any given franchise as a distraction; they'll play them to have something to do when they're away from their consoles. Now, there's nothing inherently wrong with abiding by this practice (it's simply a lifestyle choice), but the unfortunate consequence is missing plenty of good games. Minish Cap just happened to be one of them.
The game also released close to the tail end of the Game Boy Advance's life; it released in America after the DS was already released, despite releasing in Japan and Europe before its launch. But the fact remains that Nintendo was, at that time (between the fall of 2004 and winter of 2005), moving a bunch of their game development assets and marketing to the then-odd double-screen miniature tank. This game just happened to be one of those transition titles.
By the way, it was also the last portable Zelda game developed by Capcom to date. They also developed Oracle of Ages and Oracle of Seasons for Game Boy Color, if you're wondering. And those games were also released at the tail-end of a system's life cycle!
No soundtrack cover to a game that never had an official soundtrack. And that blows. Minish Cap has a number of qualities, but as you could expect, the one I'd like to focus on here is the music. Minish Cap has one of the best soundtracks I've ever heard in a Zelda game, and some of the best music of any Game Boy Advance title. There's plenty of excellent material here, and I'd like to provide a sample of it.
This is the track used in Hyrule Town, which might be a town you've heard of if you've played a Zelda game before. As you'd expect, it's pretty pleasant and upbeat, but it's the overall melody of it that's so endearing. Variants of the tune are used in multiple Zelda games, but this one's my personal favorite:
Next we have another village theme, this one going to Minish Village. It sounds like a theme that would go with a mysterious place that exists in a certain part of the world no one knew ever existed. However, something about it is still calming. Notice that it moves a little slower than the Hyrule Town theme:
Last we have a track known as Cloud Tops, which...sounds familiar! But only initially, as it then branches out into its own original tune. This tune is the music to a dungeon that, as you could imagine, takes place within the clouds:
There are plenty of reasons why Minish Cap was sadly overlooked, maybe by even you! It's not too surprising, because many of us were fully in Twilight Princess hype mode around that time. If you apply, here's your chance to make amends by at least listening to the some of the soundtrack, which apparently never had an official release. Nothing uncommon when it comes to Nintendo, but it's still a damn shame. Enjoy the soundtrack, and the game if you can get your hands on it.
I guess I've been on a Sega kick lately. Might as well keep it up for the time being, right? Sure.
Like this one! Here we have the cover to Yakuza 3 for Playstation 3, which 
Fortunately, the next two efforts fare a little better. Next we have Infinite Space for Nintendo DS, a new space-opera RPG from Platinum Games (MadWorld, Bayonetta). It definitely looks intriguing, and if you haven't been following, Sega's also been dubbing the anime shorts (albeit with questionable, barely OK voice acting).
Last we have the covers for Resonance of Fate, known as End of Eternity in Japan (which couldn't be used outside of that territory 
I think that's pretty neat, actually. If there's 
Fans of the Yakuza games on PS2 were worried for the future of the franchise outside of Japan when they realized that the first two games didn't sell all that well in America and Europe. You could take it as an unfortunate realization that most people outside of Japan really aren't interested in something they really can't relate too, given how the games take place within the country. (Or, if you're really cynical, you could say that it's because people don't have a taste for imagination.) Due to their failure, Sega told fans they had no intention of releasing the third game outside of Japan.
We'll be getting this game on shelves in about a month, and around that time the fourth game will be releasing in Japan. Following the localization periods of the previous games (again, not including Kenzan!), that's right on schedule! That would mean we would be on track to get Yakuza 4 next year. You know, if three sells well enough for Sega. Hopefully people realize that you don't have to play the previous games in order to understand this one. The game releases in America and Europe on March 9th and 12th, respectively. In the meantime, why don't you enjoy 
So yeah, this entry is definitely going to be about Mr. Driller Sound Tracks (which in name sounds awfully Engrishy), but also about some of the best music Shiina has ever composed. It's a shame that Mr. Driller isn't a very prominent franchise, especially outside of Japan. The fact that some of its potential success has been squandered by the parent company recently hasn't helped; Mr. Driller: Drill Spirits for DS had its best mode, Dristone Driller, and a character removed from the American version, while Mr. Driller Online for Xbox Live Arcade had, ironically, a broken and glitch-ridden online mode, no local multiplayer, and fuzzy sprites. And to top it all off, Mr. Driller: Drill Land for Gamecube, heralded by fans as being the best game in the franchise, was never released outside of Japan. Needless to say, the situation hasn't exactly been rosy for Mr. Driller.
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