In 1995, at the tail end of the Mega Drive’s lifespan, composer Norio “NON” Hanzawa (Gunstar Heroes) was tasked by acclaimed developer Treasure to score their hugely ambitious new shooter, Alien Soldier. He then duly created one of the most technically impressive, challenging and experimental game scores of the entire 16-bit era.

In line with Alien Soldier’s frantic gameplay, Hanzawa’s score is often intense, perplexing and occasionally overwhelming, but it is also punctuated with some surprisingly minimal and inventive synth passages, which at times feel oddly reminiscent of Vangelis’s Blade Runner. However, Hanzawa’s work on Alien Soldier is distinctively his own, harnessing the inherent noise and strange tones of Mega Drive’s FM sound chip to create a score filled with otherworldly sounds, disorientating layers and a sense of complexity seldom heard in game music at the time.

Alien Soldier is presented as a remastered double 180g LP, with audio sourced from the original Japanese console and pressed at 45RPM. It is packaging in a heavyweight single pocket sleeve, with an accompanying foldout poster of the original cover artwork and an obi strip. In addition, early orders will also receive a set of three matt laminated postcards featuring key characters from the game (direct orders only, while stocks last). Available in the following editions:


2 x 180g Opaque Grey Variant

Track List

A1. With Treasure
A2. Sidelimits
A3. Flashback
A4. Alien Soldier
A5. Slap-Up
A6. X-Ages
A7. Runner AD2025
B1. From Objector
B2. Soltype
B3. Blacksheep
B4. !!!...Shade…
B5. Epsilons-Ally
C1. Silent
C2. Lurk!!!
C3. Perfect-Thing
C4. 3-Prayers
C5. 7th Force
D1. Alone’Z’
D2. Galaxy Desert
D3. Oblivious Past
D4. Soldiers Song
D5. Over!!!