Product ReviewsThe Legend of Zelda (Original Sound Track) by Original Soundtrack (CD, 1998, Pony Canyon Records)

A general review of Game Sound Museum

NOTE: I originally bought the Super Mario Bros. 3 soundtrack, and because of an error in the auction listing, eBay has labeled this review "The Legend of Zelda". So, I'll just be posting a general review of the entire series.

ADD'L NOTE: Yikes! This isn't even the GSM series... hope this helps anyway.

I stumbled across the Game Sound Museum series of 3" (8cm) CDs on eBay a couple months ago, although what I originally found was a complete set of the Namco series. When I received my package, the seller had included three discs from the Nintendo series as a bonus, and I was thrilled! I had to know more about this other series of CDs.

It seems the Nintendo series pre-dated the Namco collection, and there were more titles. For those unfamiliar with Game Sound Museum, it was a collection of music and sound effects from various Famicom games on 3" CDs. The discs were sold in a manner similar to trading cards in the U.S. Each retail box contained a single disc along with a piece of candy. It was not discernible which title was inside the box until it was opened.

The Namco series had 10 "regular" titles, 4 "Secret" discs and a "Special Secret" disc. The selection of regular titles was listed on the box, but the lineup of Secret and Special titles was not revealed. For the earlier Nintendo series, there had been 15 regular titles, and again 5 Secret titles including the Special Secret disc. There was also what might be called an Exclusive Special Secret title, available only with an issue of Nintendo Dream magazine.

This "Exclusive Special Secret" CD is what I originally bought. Sellers on eBay are putting outrageous Buy It Now prices on these discs, and I have to admit they are pretty rare. They originally sold for 300 yen each (including the candy), which is currently just under $3.50 in American dollars. There is at least one import website selling them for $7 each, but again there's no way of knowing which one you will get. The eBay prices range from $29 up to $99, which if you only want one or two might be worth it, but putting together a complete set that way might require a small bank loan.

Now for the actual content... you have to remember when buying these that the music and sound effects are from the FAMICOM version of the games. With many of the titles being arcade classics, there may be some disappointment for the uninitiated if they're expecting the original arcade sound. However, in cases like Super Mario Bros. 3, which has always been only a Famicom/NES game, the classic sound you remember is there in its full glory. There are few others in the Nintendo series that only appeared on the Famicom or Disk System, but almost all of the titles in the Namco series were arcade games.

All in all, these are great collectibles for fans of the games represented, or just game music in general. One final warning, though... some of the games have little or no music (at least in the Namco series), so most of the tracks for certain games are simply gameplay sound effects.

The bottom line? Avoid paying extortionate "Buy It Now" prices if at all possible. The only exception might be Super Mario Bros. 3, because it was NOT sold in the boxes as the others in the Nintendo series... it was ONLY available with Vol. 112 of Nintendo Dream. I paid a relatively reasonable price for mine, but if you want a really COMPLETE set, you might have to pay a premium for this "rarest of the rare" title.Read full review...

Legend Of Zelda Orcarina of Time Sound Track

~~~Legend Of Zelda Orcarina of Time Sound Track~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~CD~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

5 out of 5

This is a beautiful sound track. Hard to say anything bad about it since it has every single bit of music or noise that was used in the game. There are a few tracks that are about 2 second long, but those are the sound effects such as opening a treasure chest. The real reason I got this CD are the songs from Kakariko Village, Gerudo Valley and the Ocarina songs.

A sound track that is true to its game series of origin: A masterpieceRead full review...

The Legend of Zelda soundtrack works GREAT!!!

Works GREAT!

Verified purchase:  Yes | Condition: pre-owned | Sold by: throwing_star