ReMix: Thunder Force IV 'Bio Tech'
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- Game: Thunder Force IV (Techno Soft, 1992, GEN)
- ReMixer(s): The Coop
- Composer(s): Naosuke Arai, Omen, Toshiharu Yamanishi
- Song(s): 'Metal Squad'
- Posted: 2002-11-13, evaluated by the judges
Our first submission from the Thunder Force series comes in the form of an 80's-ish ReMix from newcomer The Coop. Judges were mostly positive about this straightforward, retro, perhaps slightly Pet Shop Boys-esque arrangement which does have a good nostalgic feel to it and has the build-and-layer approach of much shoot 'em up (or as the kids say these days, "shmup") tunage. The overall quality of the samples, unilateral application of room reverb, and general "risk-taking" are all legitimate issues that the Judges were quite correct in criticizing, so don't expect sonic perfection. The Coop has definitely progressed from earlier works, however, and with a little spit-and-polish on the samples / mixing end, should continue to do so. A good first mix of a previously unmixed series - my fav. bits feature some nice pitch-bend work on the lead, which adds a lot and raises it the needed notch up. Fun.
Discussion: Latest 12 comments/reviews; view the Very 80's feeling, in a sort of nostalgic way. I was raring to go
fight some baddies after this one, or something. I'm going to copy
OA in saying that overall this feels very "narrow" in terms of
sound. Not sure if that's the right wording, but it felt
constricted a bit. Overall it's not a make or break deal, so it's
ignored fairly easily.
Nice to hear the Coop's beginnings on the site.
- DragonAvenger on October 27, 2009
Nice to hear the Coop's beginnings on the site.
- DragonAvenger on October 27, 2009
A pretty driving song, it seems a lot of the EQ is somewhat narrow,
but overall it's an enjoyable listen. I like the lead synth and the
saws at the beginning, but the drums seem a little too lo-fi for my
personal taste.
The transitions were really nice and the fills were unique and interesting. Overall I think this could benefit greatly from better samples, but the rest is pretty solid.
- OA on January 2, 2007
The transitions were really nice and the fills were unique and interesting. Overall I think this could benefit greatly from better samples, but the rest is pretty solid.
- OA on January 2, 2007
I liked this mix. Contrary to most of the other reviewers, I
absolutely love the 80's sound to this piece; I can't really
comment on the quality of the arrangement with respect to the
source material though, as I've never heard the source tune before.
It's definitely not for serious listening, but it's a solid
addition to my online gaming playlist.
- Yoshi3gg on December 17, 2006
- Yoshi3gg on December 17, 2006
Maybe it's just the younger crowd having a problem with this one. I
didn't find it too eighties, and I think the coop did a great job.
I'm a guitar fanatic tho, and would have loved to hear what the
tune sounded like with real guitar. The Genesis didn't have the
sound capability to support it, but with the original they tried to
make it sound like guitar. This tune came off the "Bio-Tech" stage.
The tunnels you go through look kinda like they're breathing, and
you meet like three "mini bosses" At the end of the stage you fight
the big bug in a bubble who has the giant tentacles that you have
to kill before can hurt him. ...Message to Coop... if you've never
played TF3...find the music to "Orn Core" stage. THat one could be
worth mixing. Or the G-Octopus boss music.. Thanx
- Maxx on July 5, 2003
- Maxx on July 5, 2003
*Runs to switch on some Flock of Seagulls* Boy this reminds me of
when I was a wee lad. I absolutely adore this song. The pseudo-80's
new wave sound works great with this tune. I'm very impressed. My
venture into the 80's sound ended with mixed results on a remix of
the Bale castle theme from [i]Legend of Dragoon[/i]. Though
repetitive, the song stayed fresh just out of the sheer fact that
it's totally different from what we're used to hearing. You can
listen to this and imagine that hard shooter stage that you
couldn't pass. Brought back memories of [i]1943[/i] and
[i]Legendary Wings[/i] for me. I just can't get over the sound.
Perhaps New Order meets Depeche Mode, with a pinch of A Flock of
Seagulls. Throw in action-packed aircraft annihilation, and you've
got a good remix. Comes highly recommended to anyone with an open
mind or a love for the new wave sound.
- Straziante on December 1, 2002
- Straziante on December 1, 2002
Well, I sent this to Streets of Rage bum a while ago, but I figured
I'd put it up here too... just in case someone else got a little
confused. Just a touch of TF IV history :wink:
[i]Thunder Force IV[/i] was released in Japan by Technosoft in 1992. By that time, their American branch was dead and gone (it was that branch of theirs that brought out [i]Thunder Force II[/i], [i]Thunder Force III[/i] and [i]Herzog Zwei[/i] to The States). So, Sega bought the rights to it and brought the game to The States as [i]Lightening Force[/i]. Why they didn't go with "Lightning" I don't know (sounds cooler), but they called it "Lightening". I prefer the Japanese name myself anyways :wink:
And thanks for the feedback thus far guys :D .
- The Coop on November 16, 2002
[i]Thunder Force IV[/i] was released in Japan by Technosoft in 1992. By that time, their American branch was dead and gone (it was that branch of theirs that brought out [i]Thunder Force II[/i], [i]Thunder Force III[/i] and [i]Herzog Zwei[/i] to The States). So, Sega bought the rights to it and brought the game to The States as [i]Lightening Force[/i]. Why they didn't go with "Lightning" I don't know (sounds cooler), but they called it "Lightening". I prefer the Japanese name myself anyways :wink:
And thanks for the feedback thus far guys :D .
- The Coop on November 16, 2002
Finally! it's about time someone did a mix of the greatest shooter
series on the ol' Genesis. The game had awesome music even with the
limited soundchip of the Genesis.
I can barely remember the MiamiVice tune (too busy watching KnightRiders and A-Teams hehehe). But if you're comparing to old themes, the instruments remind of Airwolf (show about old black superchopper). Overall, i liked the theme, it's goes through many phases so it doesn't get stale (which was nice since there was only 3 different instruments used i think....) Very upbeat, and not too repetitive.
Ok, here's the downside, I played/own ThunderForce4 and i don't remember this tune at all, someone's gonna have to refresh my memory. AND, it was called Lightning Force not TF4 (must've been Japan release).
- Streets of Rage bum on November 13, 2002
I can barely remember the MiamiVice tune (too busy watching KnightRiders and A-Teams hehehe). But if you're comparing to old themes, the instruments remind of Airwolf (show about old black superchopper). Overall, i liked the theme, it's goes through many phases so it doesn't get stale (which was nice since there was only 3 different instruments used i think....) Very upbeat, and not too repetitive.
Ok, here's the downside, I played/own ThunderForce4 and i don't remember this tune at all, someone's gonna have to refresh my memory. AND, it was called Lightning Force not TF4 (must've been Japan release).
- Streets of Rage bum on November 13, 2002
The 80's Miami Vice/Axel Foley stuff seems to be bothering people.
I loved it. While it would work better if it was actually in a game
I was playing, I do love the sound of this. I like what you've
done, Coop. I'm a fan of the 80's and the soundtracks to 80's cop
films, and this brought all of that back.
- Meiguoren on November 13, 2002
- Meiguoren on November 13, 2002
I like this one. Much better than a heavy-metal arrangement, which
would have been typical for this Thunder Force 4 song.
- GeckoYamori on November 13, 2002
- GeckoYamori on November 13, 2002
Maybe it's that this isn't exactly my genre of music...except that
I'm mostly open to a lot of genres and look past that when I review
a song. I couldn't really find a lot about this piece that I liked.
I can tell it was put together well enough; that The Coop put good
time into making it. Its quality isn't poor, but it sounds a little
too hit-80's-Miami-Vice for me. It also seemed like there were too
many (for lack of a better word) sharper sounds in there, and not
enough to balance it out. Again that might just be my taste of
music. But keep remixing, The Coop. I'll look forward to hearing
more.
- Emjay on November 13, 2002
- Emjay on November 13, 2002
Thunder Force 4 'Bio Tech'
Stick this in a game where I'm really involved and just having lots of fun (and basically not pay attention to the music,) and it'd be great. As for listening music for when I'm on the computer doing what not and whatever, or just playing tunes on the stereo? Nah. The only thing that does impress me about this peice is the drums, but other then that it sounds like it has no atmosphere to me. Sounds like it was produced and recorded back in the 80's (I never liked generic 80's music that didn't experiment beyond the raw samples of keyboard synths.) It sounds like a well put together peice of music, but it's just not 'out there' enough for me. Nor is it my genre. Sorry for this reviews depressing tone, just can't find much that I like. Maybe somebody else will like it, eh? The Coop?
- Ginnsu on November 13, 2002
Stick this in a game where I'm really involved and just having lots of fun (and basically not pay attention to the music,) and it'd be great. As for listening music for when I'm on the computer doing what not and whatever, or just playing tunes on the stereo? Nah. The only thing that does impress me about this peice is the drums, but other then that it sounds like it has no atmosphere to me. Sounds like it was produced and recorded back in the 80's (I never liked generic 80's music that didn't experiment beyond the raw samples of keyboard synths.) It sounds like a well put together peice of music, but it's just not 'out there' enough for me. Nor is it my genre. Sorry for this reviews depressing tone, just can't find much that I like. Maybe somebody else will like it, eh? The Coop?
- Ginnsu on November 13, 2002
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