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Game
Music

I'm not sure if anyone's gonna agree with me on this, but I firmly believe this game did a pretty poor job at enhancing the original's soundtrack.

Yeah, I appreciate the thought that went into making this sound more like the original game's OST, but they went way too far in trying to reach that goal. Most of the original melodies are either partially drowned out by other sounds, modified or done away with entirely (like with Aqua Qua, which is basically just Dreaming Tomorrow 2). It's a shame really, because I liked the original's new Shop and Boss themes and wanted to hear them expanded upon, but the composers don't seem to agree.

Not only that, the soundtrack as a whole feels a lot more homogenized. The fact the original was working with much stricter limitations in mind let the music for each of the stages feel a lot more distinct from each other than in here. Cosmic Dance doesn't really have of the chaotic, hyper energy the original's Sbardian track had. I personally believe arrangements like these run into the trap of touching tracks up a little bit here and there to "be original while still being relatable" but end up falling into auditory uncanny valley instead.

Only reason I'm saying this is because other people seem to have enjoyed this soundtrack a lot and it makes me wonder if I just have some kind of problem or whatever. Either way I massively respect the composers' efforts (even if I didn't enjoy what they made all that much) and the fact Fantasy Zone is beloved enough to get this game an official remake warms my heart.