ReMix:River City Ransom "River City Robot" 3:34

By posu yan

Arranging the music of one song...

"River City High ~Confrontation!!~"

Primary Game: River City Ransom (Technos , 1989, NES), music by Kazuo Sawa

Posted 2002-01-30, evaluated by djpretzel


Only have time for one post tonight, but it's a ReMix of a game that holds a special place in the hearts of 8-bitters worldwide - the one, the only, River City Ransom. Mixing RPG elements with the Double Dragon beat 'em up formula, and throwing in ample helpings of cheese, Technos created a unique and unforgettable 8-bit masterpiece that everyone should play at least once in their lifetime. po uses his minimalist hip-hop mentality here to throw some funkage down on the OST, with a nice meaty beat, a synth bass that refrains from filtering out till 2'34", and his trademark simple-but-good style. I would have actually dug some soloing mojo here - improvisational and not in the original, granted, but it would have added that one more element that would have pushed things a bit further. As it stands though, a straightforward genre interpretation of the original, and a good groove to boot. Dig.

djpretzel

Discussion

Latest 13 comments/reviews; view the complete thread or post your own.
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Level 99
on 2010-12-27 17:05:04

If this were bitcrushed just a little more, I would have been super-happy. Would have been more robotic sounding and changed it from sounding coincidentally kinda like a robot to deliberately definitely like a robot. Still, I'm liking the stiff semi-funk with the slow build, like the robots are out on the streets in the wrong part of town looking for a good time. Not familiar too much with the source but on its own merits, this doesn't age as bad as others because of the intended sound.

Could have had a bit more development and attention to the "robot sound" (really, I was secretly hoping for a ripoff of Daft Punk's ROBOT ROCK), but I still kinda liked it. Guilty pleasure, you could say.

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Vilecat
on 2010-12-27 17:03:39

I always liked the bass of this song, makes my head bob each time. Lead synth is nice too. Drums are a bit dry though, they could use some WD-40.

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Bahamut
on 2009-09-28 00:59:34

Samples are terrible all around. It sounds a bit empty too, but part of that might be the samples. The main thrust of the mix could've started much earlier - it took more than 1:15 for something to develop. It also doesn't seem to really go places either, just maintaining the same steady and unchanging progress through the song. Overall this is kinda bleh to me.

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justinj212
on 2009-01-15 02:41:46

does kind of take a minute to get going, but I absolutely love the funky bass line. good job.

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Palpable
on 2008-12-12 11:17:08

I've only heard po's more recent stuff, so it's kind of cool to be able to compare this blast from the past to songs posted only a month ago. He's obviously come a long way. :P This is a little too simple but it does have a hypnotic repetitiveness to it that distills the essence of the source. Would have been awesome to hear some vocals or a lead over that.

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42
on 2008-12-09 22:20:34

The intro is a little to slow to build up; it takes 1:16 before it really "gets going". Even then, the main melody is pretty overshadowed by the everything else, which is fairly repetitive.

It does have a nice urban/techno beat and has potential, but in the end, it wasn't fully exercised.

Where's the rap?

Yeah, it's basically like a vocal-less rap song, which is weird.

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DragonAvenger
on 2007-12-15 09:18:23

Where's the rap? This track really could have used a central focus point.

Man, it's been so long since I played, and sucked at, RCR. Brings back memories.

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OA
on 2007-01-02 15:22:12

A little too empty to be effective, in my opinion. The source was there, but the best parts were left out. SOmeone mentioned rapping over this, and I totally see it, because not only would it fit well, it would provide the main interest this song needs.

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Mustin
on 2006-12-16 19:32:53

So funky.

So, so funky.

Great groove on this. And historically, this is what it all comes back to for po. So many of his tracks feature a snippit of this groove in some form or another. Sort of like Totaka's Song to Nintendo games, this track seems to have influenced po's work dramatically.

That said, this is probably the weakest of his arrangements in that it's barely there, but I love it. I think if po were to do this now, there'd be madcat soloing over the thing, which would rock, because that's how the original was - a melody with a bunch of soloing.

Either way, this piece is a great benchmark in po's repertoire. Definitely worth checking out.

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Super Metal Mario
on 2005-05-05 19:19:44

I never got to play this game but the musics good and i wish i could have had a chance to play it but oh well.

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fetusboy
on 2004-06-09 11:15:03

This is a great song for a rap...(not River City Rap though). I like it alot, but the melody is covered very minimalistically. There was alot more of a melody in the original track. This just covers a tenth of the main melody.

Although, the beat is killer, the patches are excellent, the bass will kick your arse, but it just needs alot more to it. If there's a version of this instrumental without any rap lyrics overtop, this will be a highly recomended song.

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Rayza
on 2003-10-08 23:12:44

Got a nice little groove on there.. Its a small, contained sounding song. Very repetitive, maybe too much so. It doesn't go anywhere, just keeps things simple. This might have been nicer with a new melody line going on or something else to distract us from its repetitiveness..

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orkybash
on 2002-05-22 18:11:15

River City Ransom 'River City Robot'

Personally, I've never played RCR, so I never really got why the music was requested so often. Now I understand why, if po's rendition is any indication. Kinda minimalistic, but artfully so. po definitely fills a jazz/hip hop niche here, which is good cause it's a style not many remixers take on. Coulda done without the several repetitive measures of drums and bass, but overall this works well. Recommended.

Sources Arranged (1 Song)


Primary Game:
River City Ransom (Technos , 1989, NES)
Music by Kazuo Sawa
Songs:
"River City High ~Confrontation!!~"

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File Information


Name:
River_City_Ransom_River_City_Robot_OC_ReMix.mp3
Size:
3,508,617 bytes
MD5:
a994529a94759c3ea509626c2ba41afc
Bitrate:
128Kbps
Duration:
3:34

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