Square's Final Fantasy Anthology included a music CD in addition to a pair of classic RPGs. The inclusion of this CD was touted by Square as a way of making up for not having Final Fantasy 4 as part of the package. When the CD's track list was announced, some people were disappointed when they found out that the songs that everyone voted for on Square's poll weren't the ones chosen for the CD. However, to the CD's credit, many of the songs on it were the ones that suffered the most through emulation on the PlayStation versions of FFV and VI; Square was possibly making up for having a glitchy version in the game by having a perfect version of the song on the soundtrack CD.

The CD contains a portion of the music present in Final Fantasy V and VI. The music on the CD is Orginal Video game music, taken directly from the Super NES games. There are 22 tracks on the disc; 9 from FFV, 12 from FFVI, and The Prelude, which is in both games. Most tracks last 2 to 4 minutes, and the chorus usually repeats 2 or 3 times before the song fades out. The music on the Final Fantasy Anthology CD includes songs that are exciting, emotional, creepy, addictive, pleasant, and even some that are funny. Although many of the most exhilirating songs from FFV and VI aren't included, the soundtrack CD is still an enjoyable listening experience. Its inclusion with Final Fantasy Anthology makes the bundle an even better deal. Note that the names for these songs might not match up with names you are familiar with (example, track 9 "To My Beloved Friend" is well-known as "Dear Friends").

Reviewed by: Patrick Gann