Falcom, I would guess, is best known for two things: awesome music, and the Ys series. I, and many like me, have taken the time to become familiar with many Falcom games and soundtracks. They are a unique developer, to be sure, and their emphasis on high musical standards has helped their games succeed. But even a company like Falcom has to have a "bottom of the barrel" somewhere. And when you scrape the bottom of Falcom's barrel, one of the things you'll find is "Music From Dinosaur."

First of all, let's start with the sound quality used. What you get here is a strange port of the FM synth...something's wrong with it. It's not clean. It was so problematic that Falcom would later release the "FM Oscillator Version" of this soundtrack, using the exact same synth, but with a cleaner tone. Of the three versions of this soundtrack made (and why bother making three versions of a bad soundtrack?), this one is clearly the worst.

But even with better synth, it wouldn't help much to save what are some of the most generic, uninspired composition ever to come from the one and only Sound Team JDK. It's not all terrible, and there are a few songs that might sound good on an arranged album. But when you combine the mediocre compositions with this awful sound source, the result is disastrous.

I don't care if you're a VGM collector or not, if you're a rabid Falcom fan or not. Do not, under any circumstances, attempt to obtain this album. If you really want to experience the music, get the "FM Oscillator" reprint. Or, better yet, the totally rehauled "Dinosaur Resurrection OST" might be a good choice. But this version? It's utter garbage. Stay away.

Reviewed by: Patrick Gann