Neo Geo sound hardware doing the absolute most right here. Twinkle Star Sprites has this competitive puzzle-shooter thing going on but the soundtrack plays like a full-on J-pop concert running through SNK's sound chip. Apricot Ground opens with this bright, uptempo melody that immediately sets the tone, all energy and color.
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Then Curiouser and Curiouser takes a weird detour into something almost whimsical with these staccato runs that shouldn't work but totally do. Love Will Never Die hits different as the last stage theme, pulling everything together with this emotional punch you weren't ready for.
The way each stage gets two BGMs keeps things from ever getting stale. If you love 90s arcade soundtracks that go way beyond what the game needed, start here.