Pix’s Origin Adventures: Ultima 3 Perfect Solution and Soundtrack EP

Pix has published two separate articles concerning the Japanese release of Ultima 3. The first is a scan of the cover of the Perfect Solution Technique guide (final revision) for the NES version of the game, boasting a predictably over-the-top illustration that doesn’t exactly scream “Exodus“. He hasn’t posted any scanned images of the inside of the manual, but a PDF of the entire thing is evidently available for download.

The second (and most recent) posting is probably the more interesting one, however:

This is an EP published by Canyon in 1987 featuring a couple of tracks from the NES version of the game These have been rearranged to the point of being barely recognisable and have added vocals sung by Noriko Hidaka who I gather went on to become reasonably famous on Japanese TV.

I have to say it was worth tracking down a copy of this just for the photoshopped cover art. As for the music, Knife Of The Eye played in Ultima 3 when Lord British levels up your character and Magnet Of The Heart when exploring his castle. Both of these also featured on an Ultima Mix CD which had another 9 tracks from the game but without vocals.

He has posted links to MP3 versions of the two tracks mentioned: Knife of the Eye and Magnet of the Heart. Head on over to his place to grab them!

2 Responses

  1. Sslaxx says:

    Downloaded the Ultima Mix soundtrack a while back. It’s… interesting.

  2. Sanctimonia says:

    Considering this was my first Ultima experience, I was pretty stoked when I discovered the album on some video game music bittorrent site. Wish it was FLAC, but at least it’s a free codec (OGG Vorbis):

    http://eightvirtues.com/sanctimonia/music/Kyoufu%20no%20Exodus/

    I know the music from Ultima Exodus on the NES isn’t canonical, however several of the tracks rank among my favorite video game compositions of all time, without prejudice (2, 4, 5 and 9 in the NSF file). The Kyoufu no Exodus versions are hit and miss, but at least they’re old and authentic.

    Thanks, Pix.