ReMix: Star Control II 'Through the Angles of Space'

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Game: Star Control II (Accolade, 1992, DOS)
ReMixer(s): Mark Vera
Composer(s): Aaron J. Grier, Dan Nicholson, Erol Otus, Kevin Palivec, Marc Brown, Riku Nuottajärvi, Tommy V. Dunbar
Song(s): 'Mystic Shadows'
Posted: 2004-06-06, evaluated by djpretzel

With a dramatic timpani run followed by crystalline cross-panned piano arpeggios, Mark Vera's latest submission from his series of Star Control 2 ReMixes is similarly well-produced and vast in its scope, echoing the exploratory expanses from the game. This is sort of orchestral rock/ballad, sans guitar, mixed with some electronic elements - laserblast synth chirps, shimmering FM bell textures, and some background work mixed in with strings, aforementioned orchestral percussion, flute, and piano, all fueled forward by a classic stadium acoustic rock kit. A flute solo becomes more prominent towards the end, and I dig the alternating legato and staccato articulations on it. The only "weakness" I'd percieve here I might apply to Mark's other mixes, which is that while not repetitive per se, their second half is sometimes too similar to their first, i.e. the repetition is not from measure to measure or section to section, but at the midpoint more could be done to delineate the last half from the first. Other than that quibble, this is again some sweeping, dramatic stuff, with excellent production values and a very wide open atmosphere. Jouni seems particularly adept at layered, intricate percussion, and the way he's added synth fx on top of an acoustic rock kit and paid attention to fills and breaks on both is killer. This piece could easily be grafted on to the space-faring anime of your choice, when the band of protagonists enter an unexplored territory or face a large armada of enemies, etc. (does anyone else miss Gundam SEED?) - yet more professional arrangement from Mr. Vera. I'd love to see him extend his talents to console games and other series, but I'm cool with his amazing work with SC2 nonetheless.

― djpretzel

Discussion: Latest 15 comments/reviews; view the complete thread or post your own.

This is a highly evocative piece from the game (the moment you first hear it is pretty awesome, it certainly was for me). This version updates and extends it quite well. It starts out really chill, but gets some boombast added with the timpani drums, and grows later on. I think I liked the beautiful, very ambient-sounding intro the best, and didn't fully appreciate the direction it took. It's good nonetheless. The flute and string embellishments are beautiful, and the way the theme is varied and explored is satisfying. Also, I like the way the bass drops for a long time. There's a spacey feel there.
--Eino

- evktalo on December 8, 2010

Great ear-catching beginning, it really has a huge spacey sound. If i ever had a huge personal revelation in my life, I would want to have this song playing for extra emphasis and dramatic impact. "What? Overdraft notice? Nooooooo!!!!!"
The production on this is super-quality, everything is clear and has great presence to it. The melody is very apparent but is pretty ambient, so the track tends to slide into BGM territory, but it is very image-rich.
If you like ambient, this is about as good as it gets. :-)

- OA on February 7, 2008

One of my favorite mixes on the site. I agree with the above post. So well-structured. Don't really like the direction at 2:27, but that's the only part "bad" about this song.

- Audity on May 16, 2007

I really like this. It's so [i]ethereal[/i]; I could listen to it for hours.

- waywardoctagon on June 14, 2006

Never took the time to comment on how sweet this mix was. This was very chill and I always enjoy listening to it. Great work per the usual, Jouni. Looking forward to more!

- Liontamer on September 23, 2004

A yehat remix would be so awesome.

- CapnHulk on September 7, 2004

LightCecil wrote: On the subject of more energetic pieces, I'd love to hear Yehat and Pkunk themes done. I wonder if those are in judges queue somewhere...

Thanks for the comments guys :)
Atleast from me there is no Pkunk and Yehat in the queue (yet). Yehat I haven't even done, and the Pkunk I made I don't like myself (although the few who have heard it says it's good).
There should be other sc2 remixes in the queue, we'll see if they get posted. I'll be putting Syreen remix into the queue soon..

- Mark Vera on June 27, 2004

It's about time this got onto ORC!
As with the Druuge song, you have to really plug this into the game ( http://sc2.sourceforge.net ) To appreciate how truly good a remix it is.

- Nobbynob Littlun on June 25, 2004

God, everytime I see a new mix for Starcontrol II come up here something in my heart just leaps. Every mix is more recognition for one of the best games and best soundtracks of all time in my opinion.
In particular, I've always loved the Quasispace music (I always thought it was pretty though repetitive, much like my bizarre fascination with the fairy music from QFG1) and I think this remix is absolutely stunning in all measures. Everything about it just conveys that vast emptiness that is Quasispace and still keeps that enigmatic beauty.
Ah, such joy.

- Zarla on June 9, 2004

I love this rendition. As the Hyperspace remix was for a really hyper song already, this is a subdued remix, for a subdued theme. I used to really like how peaceful the music sounded after the other, more energetic songs.
10/10, excellent job!
On the subject of more energetic pieces, I'd love to hear Yehat and Pkunk themes done. I wonder if those are in judges queue somewhere...

- LightCecil on June 8, 2004

wow this peice is totally awsome well done man!

- Genoism on June 8, 2004

Wow, after the first remix of the Hyperspace theme by Vera (Electro Blast), this quasi-space rendition is quite a surprise. Electro Blast seemed to simply be a high-energy remix, whereas this is an entire shift of style, going beyond what was done before.
In the game, this theme would drive me nuts in the game after 2 minutes (I'd always have to consult the hand-drawn map my brother and I drew to plot where each wormhole led to in-game, a time-consuming process in which I'd hear this song repeated over and over and over), but the much improved quality and layering of instruments here make it eminently listenable, over and over again. I liked Electro Blast a lot, didn't much like Property of the Crimson Corporation (loved the druuge though, BOOM!), but this is definitely the king of SC2 remixes so far. Excellent adaptation, way to take a creative synth arrangement and turn it into a damn fine song.

- Pander on June 7, 2004

I remember very little music in Star Control, which was an amazingly huge 12 meg cartridge for the Genesis (can you even believe it???? 12 megs!!! TWELVE!!!!) and later a 3DO game (a computer game before all of this). Only the 3DO version had much music, so that's where I'm assuming this is from. Anyway I enjoy this. Hard to find anything really to say about it other than the fact that I enjoy it. Good release for OCR.
edit: Ooooo Star Control [b]2[/b]! No wonder. :)

- Joe Redifer on June 7, 2004

Hmm around 1:02 it sounds like a different song I heard a while back. A techno song I found on MP3.com I beleive. This does sound nice though.

- Zelnick on June 7, 2004

It was pretty good, nothing incredible. Kind of minimalist; I was waiting for it to build up and pick up tempo or something, but it's still quite nicely done. The way it fades out is nice, too.

- Oruroku on June 6, 2004