Nobuo Uematsu is, with little argument, on the top of everyones list as the greatest composer of music for RPG's. He should be, he has had over a dozen games to perfect his craft on. What everyone's number two guy has done may be slightly more impressive. Although his resume isn't as long or distiguished as that of Uematsu's, Yasunori Mitsuda has made a deffinate impact on the world of game music. His single greatest work may be the score he created for 1999's Chrono Cross.

There can't be many better ways to kick off a soundtrack than the amazing "Time's Scar." Composed with a beautiful opening of a woodwind and guitar, it then transforms and adds a violin-like instrument and percussion to become an incredible high energy piece. Now, "Time's Scar" may be the signature piece of the soundtrack, but it deffinately isn't the most beautiful. That falls to "Dreams Bordering the Shore of Another World." The calm and soothing sounds make it a piece that can be listened to over and over again. That relaxed sound plays a large part in the Chrono Cross soundtrack. The game itsself takes place on islands and sailing between those islands. All of the overworld music is designed to portray this atmosphere and does it well. The "Voyage" pieces and "Time's Grasslands" use a slight Carribean beat. The town themes such as Aruni, Termina, and Mabure take a slightly different approach but reach the same relaxing ends. Instead of using the Carribean sound they use guitar and woodwinds. There is more to the Chrono Cross soundtrack than just relaxing beats though.

As is common to RPG soundtracks, there has to be battle and victory themes. If there is a weakness to the soundtrack, it can be found in these pieces. "Brink of Death" is a good background piece, and a decent fight song. However, by itsself it borders on annoying. The victory pieces suffer from just a little bad writing. While the fanfare is good, the transition to the main part of the piece seems a little forced. "Summer's Cry" is a slightly tweaked copy of the victory fanfare of Chrono Trigger, which suffered from the same problem. This is just knitpicking on what are still good pieces, but these things can seem a little off to a trained ear or anyone that listens to a lot of gaming music.

There are several good pieces that round out the rest of the soundtrack. The general sneaking around type music such as "Snake Bone Room," and of course the sleeping and death music are present. But, there are several songs that stick out from the pack because their sound is much different than the other pieces on the soundtrack. Whether it is the pounding percussion and powerful strings of "Dreamwatch of Time," the beautiful music box sound of "Dream Fragments," or the beautiful voice work of Noriko Mitose in "Unstolen Jewel," each part adds something wonderful to the whole. The most unique of these pieces is "Magical Dreamers: The Wind, the Stars, and The Sea." The rock guitar and bass sound that accompanies a gypsy style background is both interesting and excellent. A perfect end to a wonderful soundtrack.

With all of these songs, Yasunori Mitsuda put together a great soundtrack that goes with one of the greatest games of all time. No, there are no sweeping symphonic suites or pounding sythesized beats. What he created is one of the most enjoyable, and relaxing soundtracks out there. Even though it has a few rough edges, the Chrono Cross soundtrack can be rated up there with the best of them.

Overall Score: 9
Best Piece: Time's Scar

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