ReMix: Metroid Prime 3: Corruption 'Yellow Valkyrie'

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Metroid Prime 3: Corruption

If for some likely inexcusable reason you don't know Shariq Ansari, he's the excellent fellow who brought OCR our first Metroid Prime mix, our first Wii mix, recently returned to the judges panel, had a formidable stint as forum Super Moderator, and basically represents an army of contributions to the site and game music at large. Today's his 24th birthday, which is amazing to me since it seems like he's been with us for so long, and been sending in amazing mixes for just as long, but there it is. DarkeSword's ReMixed Metroid Prime and Metroid Prime 2, so like the game itself, this mix (his 20th!) brings an amazing trilogy to a close. The ReMixer/Judge/Birthday Boy writes:

"I was a little disappointed with the soundtrack for the final chapter of the Metroid Prime saga. There was a very apparent inclination towards a more cinematic, orchestral sound that I felt took away from the feel of the game; the cool electronic music of the first two Prime games was always one of the main draws for me. Nevertheless, Metroid Prime 3's soundtrack was very good, and I felt the need to pay tribute to it, as I have done for the previous games in the series. Think of this as completing the trilogy."

Speaking of the trilogy, embarassing as it is, I still need to go back and finish... the first game. Yes, I know: lame. However, running this site and developing it and also trying to create my own mixes definitely has an impact on my gaming, and right now I'm still plowing through Super Mario Galaxy, which most of you beat with 120 stars hours after it was released. Think of it this way: I get to enjoy these great games for WAY longer than you due to my limited time and, admittedly in some cases, lack of mad skillz. But I digress: Shariq's been doing all his work to date, this piece included, on very dated machines (we're talking AMD K6 2, here), which is certainly impressive, but I was glad to hear he was looking to upgrade with some birthday fundage. Frankly, it's scary: if this is what he can do with a computer that's slower than PCs I have in my basement gathering dust, I can't wait to hear what Dual-Core Ansari sounds like. Not that increased CPU power is a guarantor of compositional or production improvement, but it should at least improve workflow.

This is a slick piece that plays with time but sounds mostly 6/8ish to me, featuring introductory piano and harpsichord-ish timbres but later segueing into more synthetic textures, as drums come in and a monoglide synth lead covers most of the melody. There's something of a Celtic vibe, at first just due to the time signature, but later at 2'31" there's an almost Last of the Mohicans breakdown that rocks. Gated synths also play a big role, and the anchor on the whole thing is the rising and falling bass, that sounds like a modified upright-style sample. Choral bits and bells end things in true Ansari style, and on the whole - even if Shariq wasn't as keen on the third title's soundtrack - this ReMix is every bit as good as his first arrangements from the series. The blending of ambient, electronic, orchestral, and Celtic elements works amazingly well, and the piece should please both fans of the mixer and fans of the series. Awesome work, and here's wishing a Happy Birthday to the ever-improving, consistently impressive, and genuinely affable DarkeSword.

― djpretzel

Discussion: Latest 15 comments/reviews; view the complete thread or post your own.
Great time sig change.
The layering here is what really gets me every time, each effect on its own doesn't sound too impressive, but together everything sounds absolutely beautiful. The arrangement is really good too.
Out of all three prime mixes, I'd have to say this one was your best. You really show your love for the original song here.
Also nice bass writing. It's very catchy.

- urdailywater on February 24, 2013
I've always thought Shariq's Prime mixes were always slightly better than his other ones (probably just because I'm a sucker for the source tunes :tomatoface:) and this one continues that trend. It all sounds kind of MIDI-ish in terms of sample quality and lack of really intricate effects, but that's honestly not a problem with me here. The choir sample and the lead synth definitely sound like something you'd hear from a Metroid Prime game, and I like the synth choices throughout the song in general.
One of DS's better remixes, imo :-)

- Emunator on December 3, 2009
what I liked about the Prime trilogy, was that each game's soundtrack had its own style. Prime had the more electronic-techno style, Echoes had more of a darker element, along with what seemed to be more focused on bass then Prime. Corruption was much lighter, and well rounded, and (like DS said) more like classical music than electronic like the previous games. The music from all 3 games was amazing, but Corruption seemed to shy away from what made Prime and Echoes unique. 'Yellow Valkyrie' was a nice throwback to that style.

- DarthLink on October 22, 2009
The most notable part of this mix is that great lead synth and the piano interplay, it really sells the mix. I wish the percussion was little drier in some spots so it'd have a little more impact on me, but it's still very well done. Nice flow and transitions, and I really like the semi-gated synth.
None of the synths themselves sound exceptionally high fi, but they are all layered so expertly, that they sound full and they all fit.
Nice mix, good job. :-)

- OA on March 21, 2009
There's a lot to like here all throughout, but it's always the harpsichord-ish intro/exit that makes me sit up in my chair. The precise staccatos make for a great contrast with the rest of the song's graceful flow.

- Nobbynob Littlun on March 2, 2009
A very cool, very fluid and dynamic mix. Well done.

- Lucentas on December 6, 2008
I feel that 'perfection' is a word that would understate this mix.
If your three prime mixes are looked at as one, the first two make up one third (33%)each and this third of the series contains the 34th %.

Also I love how in each of the mixes the title theme is in the middle of all of 'um.
Also that change from 3/4 to 4/4 with the drums in the middle makes me cry every time.

- Chiwalker on March 24, 2008
This song does a great job of having that Metroid flow to it, for those of us who are well familiar with the series (unfortunately, most Metroid players seem to have missed out on playing through at least one of the games in the Prime trilogy [Hunters DOES NOT count as part of the triliogy]). I especially enjoyed how you mixed that ending track; the original sounded kind of bland with the bells and repetitive notes, but its been remixed it to excellency. It has that assertive but calm techo sci-fi feel to it, much like the music from Torvus Bog in Metroid 2, but much more rich, deep, and a bit more powerful. Great job.

- M_Master on January 24, 2008
I love it when a mix comes together. As a big fan of metroid remixes I can say this is great, but l still enjoy ones with a build up and rush of power more.

- Pinchy on January 18, 2008
What a beautiful piece of music....I love the use of the sinusoidal synth that was such a staple of the first 2 Metroid Prime soundtracks. Well done : )

- Dr. Rod on January 8, 2008
Wonderful arrangement. Although there's a great deal of things happening at the same time, the mix never seems to be overloaded with ideas. It just all blends together very well.
Good stuff.

- Martin Penwald on January 6, 2008
You all probably won't know me as I really don't post a lot. Sure I listen to all the music but I don't do a lot of the other stuff. I felt that this mix was one of the best I've heard thus far, and just thought I should say that I appreciate all it takes to actually make a mix, because I've tried myself and just got even more confused. Great job, I'll listen to this one over and over.

- furymaster on December 27, 2007
I have always been a fan of Darkesword's mixes and this piece just reaffirms that fact. I will agree with his own assessment that MP3 just didn't hold true with the way MP1 and MP2 were composed with a more electronic feel to it this is how it should sound. Man another quality mix for sure.

- Demonicmaster on December 26, 2007
[img]http://darkesword.com/emotes/055.gif[/img]
Man, every time I see this, it scares me to death!! AHHHHH!
Nice song, Darke...
I especially like when it picks up at 2:22... And that piano is very pretty.
Everything sits well in this song, nice blends dude.

- Monobrow on December 24, 2007
<@DarkeSword> eon make sure you leave a review or smth
<Eon_Blue> k
I'm working through Metroid Prime 3, and enjoying the hell out of it - though I think I agree with DS, the soundtrack isn't as 'aggressive' as the previous two. While it still sounds decent with the game, it almost works better standing alone than it does working with the mechanic/organic feel of the game - the last two soundtracks blended that theme almost perfectly.
I much enjoyed the blending of the three games during the song - I can clearly pick up the whistling effect and the piano arpeggios of the first and second Prime games, along with the main Corruption theme around around 2:35 - while still bouncing around that awesome chord progression established 40 seconds into the track.
WOULD LISTEN AGAIN A++++++++

- Eon_Blue on December 24, 2007