Released in arcades by Sega in 1988, Gain Ground is really a game that you either get or you don't. It's an overhead action game, much like Commando or Ikari Warriors, but the levels are only a single screen long. You get to control a swath of warriors from all points in history, but for every warrior you collect, you must get them all to the exit, or beat every enemy in the level. You can't always just go blazing in, guns akimbo; you really have to think about how you're going to tackle the level. In this way, it becomes alot like a strategy game. The music is composed by "Tarnya", and the game has been ported to the Master System, Genesis (and is available in this form on the Wii virtual console), PC Engine CD, and was remade as part of the Sega Ages label for the PS2, but that never made it over here sadly (as it's one of the best games in the Sega Ages line, complete with extra levels).
This track is the first level theme, Origin ~Awaken~, and is appropriately named for a first level, don't you think? The level is dark ages/barbarian themed, and while I'm not sure the music entirely captures the theme of the level, it does capture of the mood of the game overall. It has been redone many times, obviously, and was even treated to a rock version in the first volume of SEGAROCK. Although this is still the version I prefer, the Sega Ages version is a rather nice rock/synth track. The Genesis version is pretty much indistiguishable from the Arcade version, so you really can't go wrong there, but the Master System and PC CD versions are trash as far as I'm concerned. They actually tried to make it sound more like it fit in with the theme of the level in the PC CD version though. Lot of good it did them.
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