One last(?) #HotJamsOfGaming for the road.
After playing Radirgy 2, I've been thinking about the Stage 1 themes in the Radirgy games and how they've shifted in a way that kind of tells a story.
ukiha shopping mall - the original Radirgy 1 stage 1 theme. A classic for a reason. That distinctive opening riff gets sampled again and again because it's such a standin for the "Radirgy" sound. The upbeat, shibuya-kei sound of the whole song really defines the game - especially because the later stage tracks start to get darker and abandon the upbeat sound of the early stages for a more aggressive hardcore techno or drum and bass sound.
Radirgy Noa's first stage theme, Psychopath, continues the pattern. That opening section is directly referential to Radirgy 1's sound and of course it samples the very opening moment of the original stage 1 theme before moving on into something original. It's still ultimately an optimistic, upbeat sound.
Radirgy de Gojaru's one of those little-known soundtracks I just love. I can listen to this forever. It's not a stage-based game, it's more of an infinite survival tower defence game, but it progresses through songs as you play and this is the first one you hear so it's close enough. It's still upbeat and energetic, but definitely with a distinctive sound compared to the first two games.
Radirgy Swag, meanwhile, is maybe the first game to step away from the distinctive stage 1 sound of the past few games. It's still got a driving, faster BPM but there's a lightly melancholic sound to that melody; this is a song that starts you off with something other than the simple optimism of the past few games.
...and that sets you up for Radirgy 2, where things really start to change. The opening track, portable tragedy, has exactly the mood you expect a song with that title to have. Again, it's upbeat, but it's decidedly a melancholic track instead of a friendly, optimistic "let's go!" sort of mood that the first three games had. That classic rave piano actually works really well to supplement that beat. This is more like what a stage 4 track in Radirgy 1/Noa would be like - the point at which everything has gone south and the game gets sadder/hardcore. Which sets it up for the mood flip again when you hit stage 5 -
strike dat. I love this track. It's got a driving, upbeat sound with optimism to it that makes it sound like the first stage track from the first few Radirgy games, complete with that core synth melody. It's the inversion of mood working the exact opposite way it does in the first few games. It's not "just" a Radirgy 1/Noa late-game track though; with things like that very organic horn sound, it's moving in new directions with a sound unlike anything the previous games had. The way this song made me feel the first time I heard it in-game... it's so good.
...and then, of course, it hits you with stage 5-2. See, Radirgy 2 has a midboss in stages 3 through 5, and after the midboss the game switches over to a B version of the theme that plays through the rest of the stage. For Radirgy 2... it's a sudden swerve back to melancholy with the gut punch of a title "you can't save her." A return to the sound from the stage 1 theme, and a title that's either a warning or a challenge - depending on just how well you think you've done at getting yourself onto the true ending route.
I love these games. I love these games' music.