Sakai:
I can barely remember anything from when we were working.
Iwadare:
Me neither, I don’t remember anything. (Laughs)
Sakurai:
True, when there are so many takes, it’s hard to remember which one becomes the final version.
Sakai:
File management is a nightmare as well. It’s like, did I really make this many?
Iwadare:
Do you keep your old files?
Sakai:
I do, just in case. I keep all of them.
Iwadare:
I myself think I’ll never use them, so I delete them all. I don’t keep any rejects.
Sakurai:
I don’t keep everything. If I did that, I’d have to keep everything from the entire team, not just audio. That said, it is interesting to listen to the first take of a song, isn’t it?
Iwadare:
Before this interview, I listened to all the songs again. We made all kinds, but listening to them as a whole piece, there is a sense of unity. We really did stick to the Kirby Air Riders concept.
Sakurai:
The melodies form the flesh and bones of the game, but even with the variety of melodies, the game is a unified whole. It’s not a matter of which came first.
Iwadare:
That there were so many different versions might even be a factor in that sense of unity.
Sakurai:
That way the songs are memorable to the players.
Iwadare:
Yeah, again, I’m really glad. It was such an interesting project.
Sakurai:
That we’re able to have this discussion at all shows that we’re all very glad. We wouldn’t be here if the project ended with everything thinking, “I’m so over this!”. (Laughs)
Iwadare:
That’s a very good point. (Laughs)
Sakai:
Right when I was thinking that I might never get to work with Sakurai-san again, this offer came through. I really am so glad we could work together like this.
Iwadare:
It’s fine, we’ll have plenty more chances.
Sakurai:
Well, we’d be singing a different tune depending on whether the final product was received well or not. And it was received surprisingly well this time. Some people are playing for worryingly long periods, others have cried over the composition of the music. So of course I think this was an interesting project. I’m quite touched. (Laughs)