Oh look, I'm breaking my "don't discuss newer soundtracks" clause, and I almost feel bad about it!But that's mainly because this isn't the usual Recommended Soundtracks entry. Castlevania: The Adventure Rebirth has some quality tunes, all of which use older technology that sounds like it's coming from a Genesis cartridge (though it admittedly sounds slightly better than that). It's a great way to pay homage to older games, especially if games in that genre aren't being made anymore. In that way, I'm recommending the soundtrack; and it's pretty easy to digest since it's a small soundtrack.
It's packaged together with Contra Rebirth's soundtrack.I also want to discuss the game's soundtrack because it does something many Castlevania games don't do: remix lesser known tracks. The developers behind the upcoming Castlevania: Lords of Shadow have expressed interest in providing orchestral remixes of older tracks that fans are particularly fond of. That sounds fine on the surface, until you realize it probably means remixing "Vampire Killer," "Bloody Tears," and "Beginning" for the 10th time (a figurative guesstimate, but I wouldn't be surprised if that was literally accurate). They're all perfectly quality tracks, but does anyone really need another remix of these?
(And yes, I know this game also has a remix of "Vampire Killer." I guess it's a prerequisite.)
The fine folks responsible for Rebirth's soundtrack apparently realized this and decided to remix some tracks that weren't fan favorites, with the main job of remixing them being left to Manabu Namiki. They're redone versions of tracks that were (and are, really) woefully underappreciated but every bit as good as those aforementioned classics, and clearly someone thought they deserved another look.
Of course, the preferable alternative would be to have compositions of new music that's every bit as good as the older material. Nothing wrong with throwing in a few remixes, though.
"Reincarnated Soul" plays during the game's first stage, and originally comes from Castlevania: Bloodlines for Genesis, where it was also used for the first stage. It's almost remarkable to see how similar they sound, but that's not surprising. There's no problem with that either. Usually the best tracks from older console games are the first to be remixed, so who knows why this one hasn't been remixed yet. I would have loved to hear it in Portrait of Ruin, given that it's a sequel to Bloodlines. That's not a complaint, though, since PoR is chock full of fine tunes:
"New Messiah" is used for the third stage, and is originally pulled from Castlevania II: Belmont's Revenge for Game Boy, the only good Castlevania game on that system. The Adventure Rebirth is a reimagining of the original Game Boy game Castlevania: The Adventure, so it's fitting that it should include a track from another older portable title. Rebirth wasn't any good, so it desperately needed a remake. Both older Game Boy games have some excellent-though-woefully unappreciated tracks, so don't be surprised to see them pop up in a future entry:
"Aquarius" is used for the game's fifth stage, the final full stage, and originally hails from Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse for NES. This is one of my favorite Castlevania tracks ever, and I'm glad to see it get remixed. Again. It was also featured in Castlevania: Circle of the Moon for GBA. That version is noticeably mellower, and I prefer the version with more of a beat:
For how brief the game is, it sure has a nice variety of remixed tracks. The irony here is that's also precisely the main problem with the soundtrack. Castlevania: The Adventure still has a bunch of tracks clamoring for a remix, and this game would have been the perfect opportunity to showcase them. Hoping the LoS team considered some unappreciated tracks as viable candidates for remixing is admittedly a pipe dream, so I hope they decide to use them if there are more "Rebirth" games.
I might be wrong about something: this entire thing may not be inspired by Capcom's MM9, since Gradius ReBirth originally released in Japan in early-September 2008; that's actually before MM9 released (which was later that same month). Gradius Rebirth is like a best-of compilation, in that it takes levels from the previous games, gives them somewhat of a graphical overhaul, and places them together in one package to give the aura of a new title. It also took its time making it outside of Japan, not releasing in America and Europe until March and July 2009, respectively -- which probably led to the aforementioned thought process pertaining to an idea started by Capcom. Of the three ReBirth titles, it's received the least amount of accolades; fortunately, in this case, "least" is still pretty good.
To continue development of the formula, Konami went ahead with, which was, as you could have guessed, made in the spirit of the old Contra games. Contra fans have had it hard, constantly being dealt an unfair hand with a plethora of games in the last decade-and-a-half that missed the point of what made the Contra titles such an enjoyable experience. The old Contra games were difficult, but not in a way that felt cheap. Meanwhile, games like Shattered Soldier missed that "cheap" aspect, and opted for frustration and rote memorization over fun. You could consider Contra 4 a return to form, but it was a shame that the franchises' fanbase primarily resides outside of Japan, where its fans tend to favor consoles over portables. ReBirth was fortunately not as overlooked as its portable counterpart, and definitely received some good support. If you're an old-school Contra fan...well, you've probably already played this. But it's highly recommended if you haven't.
Lastly, Castlevania: The Adventure ReBirth was finally released in North America this past Monday, releasing in Japan around two months ago (i.e. in time for Halloween). The Adventure ReBirth is based on the not-very-good original Game Boy game, similarly titled Castlevania: The Adventure. It was Konami's intention to take the original game, a quest starring Christopher Belmont which had potential but seriously failed to realize it, and make something good with it. They seem to have succeeded, and have decided to remix some of the more obscure-though-fantastic music in the franchise along with it. It's also great for Castlevania fans who have been hoping for a new game in the style of the older titles in the franchise, something we haven't seen since the original Rondo of Blood back in 1993. Hopefully you're currently enjoying it, and hopefully they decided to redo a few of the other games in the franchise that had potential but squandered it; like Castlevania Legends.
When Silent Hill: Shattered Memories was revealed earlier this year, its developers promised that it would be a return to form for a franchise whose installments since Silent Hill 3 have been a pretty questionable (excusing Origins, of course). Shattered Memories is a retelling of the first game in the franchise that seeks to differ itself from the creepy immersion factor previous games in the franchise strove for. That's not to say it won't intend to be horrifying, but that its new features plan on making it more horrifying. The game is built from the ground up to use the Wii's motion controls to semi-realistically control protagonist Harry Mason's actions. Of course, the PSP and PS2 versions will miss out on that feature, not to mention they're being handled by a different developer.
Though it's not liable give you any scares, there's something harrowing about venturing through Dracula's Castle while blood is dripping from crevices in the background. It's the feeling that Castlevania: The Adventure Rebirth intends to recapture: the classic feeling of journeying through a bizarrely designed iteration of a castle whose platforming is as frightening as its enemies. Actually, this game being here is kind of a lie, because it's actually available on WiiWare right now. Well, in Japan at least. It's due for a release in America and Europe any week now, though a good week would have been this very one.
