Cheese Cake for the soul

Another night, another session of retail therapy on iTunes. I'd already spent more than budgeted, but when I saw this I threw any financial consciousness out of the window and into the rain where it can die or be found some other time (when I realize I'm practically broke).

Anybody else feel their inner child screaming?

It's Pokemon and classical music. Combined. That's like combining cheese and cake. Nobody dares try it at first, but when they do, it just makes perfect sense. 

To get to the point, this album is brilliant. It's not simply a transposed 8-bit soundtrack; every theme is rearranged and given so much character. Skotein took something that already was already perfect (for the technology in the 90's) and made it even more amazing. Every track is well thought out and professionally recorded, making it worth every single damn penny.

But the real value is in the nostalgia.

I just realized that Professor oak looks damn scary

I remember when I was greeted by the above screen for the first time. I bought my first Gameboy when I was still only in kindergarten, at a game store in Plaza Masalam (Shah Alam section 9). It was cumbersome, had no backlight, colourless, and ate up batteries really fast. In retrospect, that thing was awful. But to the 5-year-old me, that thing was a god send. For the first time, I didn't need my PS1 and a TV the play games; I could play whenever and wherever I damn well wanted to. It was liberation. 

As with other young kids, I was addicted to Pokemon. I had already been introduced to the concept of virtual pets through Tamagotchi, but Pokemon was something else entirely. There was the concept of leveling up and evolving, the concept of adventure and exploration, and the notion of needing of collection every one of those 150 (151 if you count mew) damn little buggers. Basically, it was like living a different life in a fascinating world full of creatures that you could collect and battle (which doesn't hurt the pokemon, contrary to what everyone at PETA believes) that you could escape to just by flicking the on switch. 

That game was practically childhood. I would imagine I had pet pikachus and bulbasaurs that ran freely and playfully around the house, and pet sandslashes and scythers that I trained into Pokewarriors. I would imagine that I was the ultimate pokemon trainer - the champion of Kanto and beyond. Even by listening to the music, snippets from the past come back in mind. Like when my mum's purse was snatched in front of Plaza Masalam, or the time where I was challanged to a Tamiya battle and NO ONE SHOWED UP. 

Thank you, Skotein, for making this album and bringing back all the sweet memories. Reminiscing is great for the soul :')