This anniversary compilation is a fascinating window into Artdink, the quirky Japanese developer best known for the A-Train series of railway simulation games. Spanning a decade of output across PC-88, PC-98, TurboGrafx-16, PlayStation, and Windows platforms, the album reveals something remarkable about Artdink's musical philosophy: they loved adapting classical music into their game soundscores.
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Ravel's "Bolero" opens the collection as the A-Train theme, a choice that's both bold and oddly perfect for watching trains loop endlessly through your meticulously planned city. Holst's "The Planets" appears multiple times across different games -- "Jupiter" shows up for both Earth Defense Force and Far Side Moon, while "Mars" drives the military drama of Daikairei.
Berlioz's "Symphonie Fantastique" lends its wild fifth movement to Nankai no Shitou, and Mozart's Piano Sonata K.570 accompanies the arctic exploration game. Even Dukas's "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" gets a turn for How Many Robot.
It's a curatorial approach that was far more common in the 8-bit and 16-bit era, when classical MIDI arrangements were a cost-effective way to bring gravitas to games made by small teams. The A-Train II entries using the American and British national anthems add a charming touch of internationalism to a railway sim, while "Going Out to Sea" from Nankai no Shitou provides one of the album's few original compositions alongside all the classical adaptations.
As a historical document, this compilation is invaluable -- it charts the evolution of game audio across five different platforms over ten years, all filtered through one developer's uniquely highbrow musical sensibility.