Anubis of the Moon's Surface is one of those deep-cut SNES-era Japanese exclusives that Western audiences almost never encountered, but its GM-PROGRESS-4 soundtrack reveals a surprisingly ambitious sci-fi adventure score squeezed out of the Super Famicom's sound chip.
Read more
The opening "Flight to the Moon's Surface" sets the stage with sweeping cosmic ambition, and tracks like "Grand Universe" and "Twinkling Star" deliver the kind of stargazing wonder that defined the best 16-bit space narratives.
"Lunatic Dance" appears twice in the tracklist, suggesting it soundtracks a pivotal recurring scene. What really stands out is the sheer emotional range packed into this soundtrack. The game clearly has a strong character-driven narrative, evidenced by dedicated themes like "Theme of Leonard" and the recurring "Theme of the Partner," both carrying the melodic warmth you'd expect from a mid-90s JRPG.
But then there's a whole noir-thriller undercurrent running through tracks like "Suspicion," "Unfaithfulness," "Stalker," and "Sleepless Night" that paint a picture of a story with far more intrigue than your average moon adventure.
The soundtrack's back half leans hard into tension and psychological drama. "Cornered," "Disturbance," and "Approaching Person" ratchet up the anxiety before the reflective calm of "Nostalgia" and "Recollection" brings things back to emotional center.
Closing on "The Truth that I saw" and the enigmatically titled "E" suggests a story that ends on revelation rather than spectacle. It's a hidden gem from 1996 that rewards anyone willing to dig into the SNES library's more obscure corners.