| The original Star Ocean was released back in 1996 on the Super Famicom. It was tri-Ace's first game, thus they had to prove themselves to both Enix and the consumers. As you can imagine, there wasn't a big fuss about Star Ocean when it came out, unlike later titles. Not to mention, the game industry didn't see merchandise as much of a cash cow back then. Nowadays a company will try to squeeze as much money out of a game and its popularity as they possibly can. However, Star Ocean was graced with a handful of products that are very worth your hard-earned cash, some from that era and others coming years later when publishers realized there was still love for this 16-bit classic. This page has all of the products that I know of, which at this point should be 99.9% complete, but if you are aware of an item that's missing, don't hesitate to contact me. Just take into consideration that the remake Star Ocean: First Departure is a separate release, deserving its own page. |
Date of Release: July 19, 1996 Yen Price: 8,500 |
| Personal Opinion on Product - Star Ocean is my least favorite in the Star Ocean series, but considering that it's still among my favorite games ever, that's not so bad, hehe. I got it complete for about 55 dollars, and this was before emulation of the game was possible. Between the ROM, patch, and the remake, demand for the game has gone down slightly since, so a copy could be obtained at an even lower price. Anyone who loves Star Ocean and tri-Ace should absolutely have this game. And if you think the remake replaces the need for it, keep in mind that the game was significantly changed. From the battles to the aesthetics, you'll get an entirely different experience (even more so if you factor in the lousy localization), and while I respect TOSE's work, I wouldn't say it's better than the original. Nothing beats experiencing the game exactly as tri-Ace intended it. |
Date of Release: August 8, 1996 Length: 128 Pages Size: A5 Yen Price: 980 ISBN: 4-87025-903-6 |
| Personal Opinion on Product - For all the praise I bestow upon Japanese goods, guide books are one area in which America had the leading edge. While some early Japanese guides may have been slightly more thorough in information compared to their Western counterparts, they fell so very far behind in terms of presentation. When you look at the stuff Nintendo Power was cranking out in the early '90s for Zelda, Mario, and more general subjects, they blew the Japanese efforts out of the water. Once the 32/64-bit generation rolled around, the tables turned, but the Star Ocean official guide book is just barely old enough that it still has the tiny, slim size and scruffy, no-frills pages of earlier books. With that said, you, nonetheless, can get some nice use out of the guide, but exactly how much is questionable. You get explanations of all the basics, which certainly was needed for such an unusual, innovative game, a bare-bones walkthrough that's more of a list of towns than anything else as it barely mentions the dungeons, and your obligatory lists of skills, abilities, moves, spells, items, and monsters. Those who want a detailed walkthrough will want to look elsewhere, and it's even more disappointing that the lists aren't complete as the guide pretends as if Perisie and Tinek aren't even in the game. I get the idea of holding back on some secrets, but come on. It does have a nifty foldout world map, though, which has an index of every subject on the opposite side, so you can look up anything in a flash. My favorite detail probably sounds a bit silly - it's just a drawing of Darth Widow, created by MEIMU, the character designer, but I've never seen it anywhere else. Makes me wonder what other art may be out there in some obscure product or perhaps completely lost to time. |
Date of Release: October 5, 1996 Length: 132 Pages Size: A5 Yen Price: 880 ISBN: 4-06-329268-1 |
| Personal Opinion on Product - Compared to the official guide, Haoh Magazine's Star Ocean guide book takes two steps forward and one back. For every way it's superior, there is another way in which it's worse. Even though it appears significantly thicker, it has roughly the same number of pages, and its girth can be attributed to the fact that it uses even lower quality ink and paper than Enix's guide (and 30 pages of data lists are monochrome). However, what it does with that ink and paper is much more worthwhile. There's plenty of cool MEIMU art to be found, as seen in the samples, and this guide actually acknowledges the existence of the entire cast. Best of all, the scenario section is a legitimate walkthrough, with coverage of both towns and dungeons. It's a bit sparse in detail, though, and the maps are so tiny and dark that they're nigh unusable. And one thing that really irks me is that the walkthrough is written in the order of areas, rather than the order of events. They're the same in most cases, but later in the game there is backtracking to do new things in old areas. In this guide, those later dungeons are featured side-by-side with the first ones and before other towns and dungeons that you'll get to long before those. Ultimately, it feels like one big hodgepodge, and I imagine it's annoying if you're trying to avoid spoilers of any kind regarding events you've yet to reach. All in all, I'd be hesitant to call it a good guide, but I'll reluctantly concede it as being the better choice, if only for it's more complete information. |
Date of Release: March 1997 Length: 286 Pages ISBN: 4-87025-958-3 |
| NOTE: Game Book? Don't ask; I don't know what a game book is either. Making an (un-)educated guess based on this one scan, I'd say it's a novel based on the events of the game with a few illustrations here and there. |
8 Stereo Arranged Background Music Medleys 15 Mono Voice Clip Tracks Composed by: Motoi Sakuraba Arranged by: Motoi Sakuraba (track 1, 3, 4 & 5), Yoshiharu Gotanda (track 2, 6, & 8) and Kazushi Satoh (track 7) Date of Release: November 1, 1996 Published by: Sony Records Yen Price: 3,000 Reference Number: SRCL 3686~7 Disc 1 "Arrange Version" Length: 52:42 Track List and Lengths: 1. New Generation~Opening Theme~ - 5:19 2. Poem~Towns Theme~ - 7:45 3. Worlds~Fields Theme~ - 6:11 4. Through the mills~Battles Theme~ - 9:17 5. Death Trap~Dungeons Theme~ - 6:09 6. Kingdom~Castles Theme~ - 6:27 7. As time goes by~Events Theme~ - 6:02 8. Mother Ocean~Ending Theme~ - 5:32 Disc 2 "Voice Collection" Length: 44:16 Track List and Lengths: 1. Narration - 1:33 2. Captain - 0:48 3. Science Officer - 0:31 4. Computer - 0:43 5. Ratix=Farrence - 3:41 6. Milly=Kiliet - 2:47 7. Dorn=Marto - 1:14 8. Ronixis=J=Kenny - 4:30 9. Iria=Silvestoli - 3:42 10. Cius=Warren - 5:33 11. Joshua=Jerand - 4:12 12. Tinek=Arukena - 3:26 13. Marvel=Frozen - 2:22 14. Ashlay=Barnbelt - 2:50 15. Perisie - 5:00 |
| Personal Opinion on Product - Yep, I bit the bullet. I bought what could arguably be called the holy grail of tri-Ace collecting. The Star Ocean Perfect Sound Collection is one of the most sought after, rare, and expensive tri-Ace products (other than the limited edition sets that have a high MSRP to begin with), and I could have put it off for years if not for fear that the price would only go up and up. After much searching and some help from a middleman, I got my very own copy, which cost about $90 after all the shipping and fees and such. You may be thinking "Nearly $100 for a game soundtrack?! Was it really worth it?" You bet your butt it was. Many people dislike medleys, but these flow in and out of each other so beautifully that you'd swear these songs were designed to go together. Most of the tunes don't stray too far from the original compositions, but considering there were no plans for an OST back then, it's understandable. No problem, though; this is no Fantasy MegaMix, just great songs made even better by being arranged in their original style. For obvious reasons, Sakuraba's arrangements are the strongest. "New Generation" is perhaps my favorite track on the CD - an impressive feat considering I was never a huge fan of the intro music within the game itself. However, it's arranged so delicately and exquisitely that one can't help but be emersed in its mysterious melody. Another favorite is "Through the mills". It's not unusual for fans to praise Sakuraba's battle music, but this arrangement is truly among his best. Strong, fierce, addictive, rockin' - everything you could want from a battle theme. Don't get me wrong, though; this album is worthwhile for more than the Sakuraba tracks. Satoh puts forth an arrangement that tricked me at first. It starts very low and soft - too low perhaps- and just when I turned up the volume... BOOM. "As time goes by" turns into a huge, heroic epic of a song, thrusting itself forward like an army giving its all. Gotanda's tunes are slightly on the weak side, but hey, the man can't be brilliant at everything, can he? Just the fact that he had a hand in the music alone makes me giddy. Gotanda arranging the Star Ocean theme... can there possibly be a better combination? It should also be pointed out that there is a second disc with all the voice clips from the game. It's a cool novelty, but it seems to be thrown in as an afterthought. You'll likely never give it more than one listen (if that), and I'm sure I'm not alone in thinking they should have given us an OST instead. You'll definitely be buying this album for the music, and these three arrangers join together to create one of the best albums (of video game music or otherwise) that I have ever heard. I probably wouldn't rank it as my favorite tri-Ace soundtrack, but make no mistake, this is sheer musical bliss. |
52 Newly Mixed and Recorded Tracks 12 SFC Original Version Bonus Tracks Composed by: Motoi Sakuraba Date of Release: March 24, 2004 Yen Price: 3,150 Published by: Team Entertainment Reference Number: KDSD 00028,29 Disc 1 Length: 54:57 Track List and Lengths: 1. Tense Atomosphere - 2:35 2. Ambition - 2:16 3. Innocence - 1:48 4. Next Step - 0:27 5. One Challenge - 2:03 6. Secretly - 1:15 7. Dancin' Sword - 1:29 8. Sunny Place - 1:33 9. Full of Sorrow - 2:11 10. Calm Time - 2:12 11. What Should Be - 1:45 12. Encourage - 1:59 13. Stream of Wind - 2:08 14. Face to Face - 1:25 15. Labo of Tas - 2:11 16. Flowing - 1:03 17. Dim - 1:42 18. Tactics - 2:00 19. Purge Thyself - 1:40 20. Solemnity - 1:47 21. First Experience - 1:42 22. Space Peace - 0:31 23. Relief - 1:34 24. High Tension - 1:07 25. Past Days - 2:17 26. Take a Fancy - 1:03 27. Ancient Ruin - 2:45 28. An Ideal - 1:24 29. Separation - 1:49 30. Refinement - 1:58 31. True Figure - 1:54 32. Federation - 1:12 Disc 2 Length: 49:54 Track List and Lengths: 1. Far to Get - 2:20 2. Immediately Before - 1:00 3. Before Battle - 1:37 4. Fall - 0:39 5. Purpose - 1:55 6. For Achieve - 2:19 7. Reunion - 1:25 8. New World - 1:47 9. New Human Race - 2:10 10. Dream and Reality - 1:36 11. Both Sides' Case - 1:40 12. Demand - 1:31 13. Crevice - 2:10 14. Only Warrior - 1:22 15. Calm Disrupted - 1:56 16. Flashed - 0:12 17. Sweet Time - 2:02 18. Good - 0:10 19. The Strong - 1:39 20. All for One - 1:46 Bonus Track - SFC Original Version Best Selection 21. Depatures - 1:05 22. New Age - 2:14 23. Tense Atomosphere - 1:38 24. Dancin' Sword - 2:15 25. New World - 1:04 26. Calm Time - 1:51 27. One Challenge - 1:38 28. Innocence - 1:29 29. Dim - 1:08 30. Demand - 1:05 31. An Ideal - 1:09 32. For Achieve - 1:47 |
| Personal Opinion on Product - Hell must've frozen over because after nearly eight years, Star Ocean got an OST. The first thing you'll notice when you pop one of the discs into your CD player is that it's NOT the original music from the Super Famicom game. Sakuraba and Team Entertainment re-recorded the tracks in a more modern synth. The result is a quality good enough to be a PlayStation soundtrack, if not perhaps better. The compositions remain exactly the same, though, so it's still considered an OST. As an extra treat, 12 bonus tracks of the original music are included, just in case you're really craving that nostalgia fix. If you're like me, though, you've already had your fair share of the music in game, so the new recordings are a welcome and refreshing change. As for the compositions themselves, not much needs to be said - it's classic Sakuraba in perfect form at the height of his older mid-90s style. You'll hear the Star Ocean theme (AKA "Star Ocean FOREVER") a whole heck of a lot, but every version is a little different. Most of the music has a mysterious, open feel to it, matching perfectly with the unofficial Star Ocean subtitle "Fantastic Space Odyssey". A few of my favorite songs are "Purge Thyself", "Encourage", "Tense Atomosphere", and "Both Sides' Case". The Star Ocean Soundtrack isn't nearly as fabulous as the Perfect Sound Collection, but if you find that price too prohibitive, this album is a cheap and wonderful alternative. Even if you do have the Perfect Sound Collection, this is still an excellent addition to any game music collection. |
Published by: Gangan Comics Artist: Ataru Kajiba Length: 192 Pages Date of Release: January 22, 1999 All Black and White Pages Yen Price: 390 ISBN: 4-87025-426-3 |
| Personal Opinion on Product - I can't really explain the existence of Star Ocean: And Then to the Far Reaches of Time as it came out years after the game yet long before the remake was a twinkle in anybody's eye, but this short but sweet retelling of the original game is certainly welcome. Kajiba provides some very nice artwork, and the plot closely follows the actual story from the game. Due to the fact that Ratix, Milly, Iria, and Ronixis are the only characters you must use in the game, the manga tells the story as if they're the only characters involved. Some events have been changed and added to make the story flow a bit better. For example, the four characters don't get split up like in the game. The plot moves along a lot faster too, out of necessity, of course, given that it all has to be crammed into one volume. There's also some bonus content with the other characters. There's a short story with Ratix and Ashlay under the cover, a story with Tinek and Cius at the very end, and a few pictures at the beginning. Overall, the manga is well worth the money and enjoyable even without knowledge of Japanese. |
Length: 125 Pages Sixteen Color Pages Date of Release: January 17, 1997 Size: 6 x 8 Inches Yen Price: 580 ISBN: 4-87025-933-8 |
| Personal Opinion on Product - After owning the Star Ocean: And Then to the Far Reaches of Time manga for quite some time, acquiring this one (the only other official manga based on the first game) offered a nice change of pace. Rather than focusing on just the four main characters and the game's plot, this 4-koma features every character in the game and dozens of made-up goofy situations that could have taken place all throughout the game. I also found it very nice to see a little bit of color art (I could do without the nasty looking cover, though). All and all, this is just your typical 4-koma manga that would be lost in a sea of other Star Ocean 4-koma comics if not for the fact that it's based on the first game rather than the sequel. Despite that, I'm ecstatic to own this book as it's very likely the oldest official tri-Ace manga ever produced, and it can be difficult to locate. Now if only I could understand why the comic always portrays Tinek as absolutely insane, haha. |
| NOTE: I've only seen this once ever in a Japan Yahoo auction. It appears to be a sort of mini guide book created to promote the game, with sections featuring info on system and story, a partial walkthrough, and an interview with employees at tri-Ace. Everyone I've spoken to seems to think it must have been an insert in a Japanese magazine. Unfortunately, the info I have on it ends there. I just couldn't bring myself to fork out over 20 bucks for a worn out, tiny booklet from a magazine. I'd love to track down a complete, mint copy of the magazine issue, so if anyone knows more info about it (hopefully WHICH magazine it's from and the issue number), please contact me. |