Scarlet Moon's Prescription for Music is a series of albums featuring piano/jazz covers from classic and modern games. The latest entry in the series, Prescription for Sleep: Game Music Lullabies Volume III, has now been released on digital music platforms. The album features 12 tracks from 11 classic games, including songs from two co-op titles: Diablo and Legend of the Mystical Ninja.
The full Prescription for Sleep: Game Music Lullabies Volume III track list includes:
- Windmill Hut (The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time)
- Theme of Prontera (Ragnarok Online)
- Boomer Kuwanger (Mega Man X)
- Tristram (Diablo)
- This Dream (NieR)
- Eruyt Village (Final Fantasy XII)
- Yeul's Theme (Final Fantasy XIII-2)
- Traveling in the Town of Hagure (Legend of the Mystical Ninja)
- Kraid (Metroid)
- Rosenkranz (SaGa Frontier II)
- Trading Town of Redmond (Ys III: Wanderers from Ys)
- Daybreak (Original)
Prescription for Sleep III comes from GENTLE LOVE, a duo comprised of Norihiko Hibino (Metal Gear Solid series) and AYAKI (Etrian Odyssey/PersonaQ). As the title of the album hints, this is a very mellow album. The songs are brought to life primarily through piano and saxophone, and it's all peaceful and lovely. You could play this album for anybody, and they wouldn't even know it was game music, for better or worse. That said, the tunes are mostly faithful renditions that someone who is already familiar with the songs could potentially recognize.
"Tristram" is the song played in the town of Tristram in the original Diablo. In that first game, Tristram served as the hub area from which players would talk to NPCs and set out on quests. The town has been attacked by demons in Diablo II, but players can still visit it to view the destruction. Tristram returns as The Old Ruins in Act I of Diablo III. As for the song itself (video embedded above), it's suitably sober and mournful, though the jazz version sounds less dark than the original.
For those too young to remember, Legend of the Mystical Ninja (also known as Ganbare Goemon: The Rescue of Princess Yuki) is a Super NES launch title from Konami. The game is a top-down/side-scrolling platformer/adventure game starring the legendary thief, Goemon, and his friend Ebisumaru. The original "Traveling in the Town of Hagure" tune is a boppy song with a feudal Japanese flavor. The jazz cover on Prescription for Sleep III is not a bad song, but it's slowed down significantly and lacks the ancient Japanese flavor of the real tune.
Jazz isn't everybody's cup of tea, but gamers who crave some relaxing music will want to give this album (and others in the series) a listen. This is more a jazz album than a video game music album, but it still has a hint of gaming appeal.
Prescription for Sleep: Game Music Lullabies Volume III is now available for $8.99 at Amazon Music and $12 at Bandcamp and other digital storefronts. To learn more about the Prescription for Sleep series and sample its many albums, visit Scarlet Moon Records.