Gradius V marks Hitoshi Sakimoto's triumphant return to the shooters genre. Throughout the soundtrack the composer pays tribute to the classic themes of the Konami sidescrollers, upon which the design of Quest shoot-em-up Magical Chase was based. Sakimoto told Cocoebiz regarding the soundtrack, "[I] love Gradius and played it a lot. I was heavily influenced by music from the series. It was a great honor to work on a title like this, also somewhat intimidating. For Gradius V, I didn't really think too much about the previous music in the series. I was given specific stylistic requests from Konami, so while keeping those in mind I tried to work in my own personal composition method." Comparing the boss music from Life Force to the composer's arrangement for the Playstation 2 title, the remixed track retains the essence of the original, while updating the theme for a new generation console. The soundtrack is a blast for old school enthusiasts and Sakimoto fans alike.