Awesome Music / La-Mulana

MSX tunes for the modern era.

Music to be killed by ancient deathtraps to.

La-Mulana

Before we begin, the remake's entire soundtrack can be listened to and purchased on NIGORO's Bandcamp account here. As of June 2021, the original 2005 game's soundtrack can also be listened to and purchased on their Bandcamp account here. Another great version of the soundtrack is the "arranged" MIDI soundtrack.^note The MIDI songs played through a Roland SC88 sound board Sadly, the site that contained the songs is gone, but it is preserved through the Wayback Machine.

• The short intro riff of that plays right when you first enter the ruins—and never again, unless you start over or use the La Mulana Jukebox—sets the tone of the exploration perfectly and leads into the excellent "Fearless Challenger" (8-bit, MIDI, remake).
• "Giant's Rage" (8-bit, MIDI, remake) is considered by many players to be amazingly epic. It's definitely one of the most epic sounding boss themes, with an excellent instrumentation, and fits its boss fight to a T.
• "In The Bottom" (8-bit, MIDI, remake) is also very good.
• "Giant's Cry" (8-bit, MIDI, remake) is a bit of a Tear Jerker track that plays in the Graveyard of the Giants, the icy catacombs that host the long-deceased corpses of various giants.
• "Sky Tower" (original, MIDI, remake), the track for the huge, eerie, and surprisingly-technologically-advanced Tower of the Goddess.
• "Ancient Machine" (original, MIDI, remake), a fast-paced and chaotic track used for the Unexpected Shmup Boss Palenque.
• Even though it's only a short loop, Requiem (original, remake). It plays in the boss room when you have met the requirements to fight the boss. It's the soundtrack's way of asking, "Are you ready?"
• "Wise Men" is a mysterious melody used when you try to visit one of the Four Philosophers without the Ocarina. In the remake version this song is expanded and called "Wise men who halts" (sic), which gradually builds towards a Dark Reprise of the opening theme as one of the Four Philosophers reveals some of the mysteries of the ruins to you.
• "Awaking" (Original, MIDI, "Awakening" in the remake) is an absolutely epic Dark Reprise of the main theme that plays while trekking through the Very Definitely Final Dungeon, slowly building in intensity as you come closer to the final battle.
• In the original version of the game, "Escape!!!" is simply a short loop that plays as Lemeza escapes the ruins via cutscene. In the remake, it's been expanded into a much longer track, befitting the fact that you now have to make the escape yourself, with death and the loss of the treasure of La-Mulana awaiting you should you fail to escape within five minutes.
• After 30-plus hours of exploring the ruins and then finally putting the Mother to rest and escaping the ruins, "Run toward the sun" (original, remake) gives you that feeling of long-awaited catharsis as you watch Lemeza run off into the sunset with the La-Mulana treasure in hand...at least until his father swipes it.
• Welcome to the Hell Temple! "Treasure Sealed Off" (original, remake) is there to help aid your descent into madness and insanity as you fail the various puzzles again and again and again. The remake gives "THE BOSS" a proper theme.
• New to the remake is "Endless Challenger", the song that replaces the soundtrack in the Boss Rush time trial modes. Its frenetic pace is fitting for a speedrun. The time trial setup screen gets you in the mood with "Rest, No Rest".

La-Mulana 2

Fitting with its predecessor, La-Mulana 2 has plenty of awesome tunes of its own.

• Kicking off the first parts of the game, we have the jazzy "Miss Explorer", taking elements of the first game's "Mister Explorer" and mixing it into an entirely new song. Fitting for the (alleged) daughter of the last game's protagonist.
• "Previous Adventure", the theme for the now-mostly-collapsed ruins of La-Mulana, is a beautiful, if somewhat melancholy remix of several of the past game's area themes.
• "In Yggdrasil", the theme for the Roots of Yggdrasil. This song kicks in upon entering Eg-Lana proper for the first time, sending the soundtrack straight into hype territory. Doubly so when it plays immediately after Lumisa's Big Damn Heroes moment.
• "Dragon of Embraces", the boss theme for Fafnir, pulls no punches and is intensely dramatic for the first (and therefore easiest) Guardian fight.
• "Sword of Asgard", the theme of the Divine Fortress, is an oddly calming tune punctuated with the sounds of slicing blades and clashing swords.
• "Shake the Prophecy", the theme of Annwfn. Flutes, trumpets, bowed strings, and electric guitars combine with kecak chanting for a track that can only be described as majestic.
• "Dance of Midgard", the theme of the Immortal Battlefield, is one of the most powerful ear worms in the game, if not the entire series. Odds are you'll be humming along with it as you get lost in the largest area of the game.
• "Rave to the End", the theme of the Dark Star Lord's Mausoleum, is another strong contender for the funkiest theme in the game.
• Similarly funky is "Insane Sun", the boss theme of the Dark Star Lord, Aten-Ra.
• "From Niburu", the boss theme for Anu, is far and away the most otherworldly track in the series. Fitting, as Anu is a literal space alien.
• "Flaming Fist", the boss theme for Surtr, is a powerful theme with heavy guitar riffs and bombastic trumpets fitting for the great fire giant.
• "Death Gene", the theme of the Hall of Malice after you've revealed its true form. The song can only be described as intense, indicating that you're in for a particularly tough Boss Rush. Fittingly, it also uses a section "Death Game", an area of the first game with a similar boss rush. The original music for the Hall of Malice is extremely impressive too, for different reasons. It gives off a very mysterious aura, as if in some sort of twisted museum, being very relaxing while somehow inherently threatening, too.
• "Reproduction of Power", the boss theme of Echidna, is a chaotic and furiously fast rock theme featuring snippets of "Interstice of the Dimension", the theme of Echidna's sister Tiamat from the first game.
• "Forbidden Truth", the theme of Heaven's Labyrinth, is truly exceptional. It's a difficult to reach area, relatively sequestered off from the rest of the game, and the music really hammers home the unusual uniqueness of the area. It's an incredibly fast paced theme that sounds akin to a mashup of the original's Song of Curry, with several melodies and themes from the back-side counterpart of the area, Hall of Malice.
• "Last Guardian", the boss theme of Hel, the last guardian in the game. The pianos and strings create a lovely melody that is as hauntingly beautiful as Hel herself.
• "Tearless Challenger", the theme of the final area of the game. In another one of the series' many Book Ends, it's a remix of the first game's "Fearless Challenger" as well as "Treasure Sealed Off", the theme of Hell Temple.