Pokémon Black & Pokémon White: Super Music Collection GAME FREAK

Whether it was the scenery, the storyline, or the creatures themselves, Pokémon had become a sweet treat for video gamers, but one that was growing stale by using the same recipe. Pokémon Black/White was, at last, the return to form the series had needed. As reflected in its massive sales and rare perfect 40/40 score from Famitsu, there was a freshness, an energy running through the games that hadn’t been there in years, in large part due to its 150+ new Pokémon—which were the only available Pokémon in the game (until defeating the Elite Four), making it feel like foreign (but not too foreign) territory.

The music felt fresh and exciting too. Shota Kageyama—who previously had only done work as an arranger on HeartGold/SoulSilver—was the new big man on campus. “Accumula Town”, “An Unwavering Heart”, and “Farewell” are his best work here.

As usual, Go Ichinose shows his strength both as a composer and an arranger. “The Dreamyard” is a mystical, bright, and arty track; “Nacrene City” is a sweet jazz piece with an opening melody similar to his earlier song “Violet City”; and the yearning, hopeful “Village Bridge” is awesome.

Longtime composer Junichi Masuda’s battle tracks are represented by Go Ichinose and are his best since Gold/Silver. The ominous “Battle! (Elite Four)” and tempo-shifting “Battle! (Legendary Pokémon)” are stellar enough, but “Battle! (Gym Leader)” is the best song on the entire soundtrack here, exploding in a fury of orchestral hits before descending into its pulsating, sizzling bass line and stomping drums.

Hitomi Sato returns to provide her trademark optimistic, happy melodies. Among her best this time around are “Professor Juniper”, “Route 2”, “Bianca’s Theme”, Bicycle”, “Driftveil City”, “Cold Storage”, “Tubeline Bridge”, the “Poké Transfer” songs, and “Lacunosa Town”. And even Minako Adachi makes a brief appearance with some sound effects and the super-cool “Musical: ‘Stardom’”.

Just as the games breathed new life into the series, the music is fresh and fantastic as well. A casual fan may find it a bit difficult to sit through the 4-disc, 4+ hour runtime and might feel better off buying their own individual favorite tracks. But as there are so many good ones to choose from, you’re probably better off just buying the whole thing anyway. A classic soundtrack to the best DS Pokémon games.

Yet again, another perfect pokemon soundtrack! All of the music in this game excites me! I'm glad Gamefreak is putting these on iTunes.

I've been waiting to hear some unova music on my iPhone for a while now. And I finally have the chance. Thanks Guys. keep up the good work