ReMix: Sonic the Hedgehog 3 'Snowboardin' Sonic'
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- Game: Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (Sega, 1994, GEN)
- ReMixer(s): Willrock
- Composer(s): Bobby Brooks, Brad Buxer, Darryl Ross, Doug Grigsby III, Geoff Grace, Jun Senoue, Scirocco, Tatsuyuki Maeda, Tomonori Sawada
- Song(s): 'IceCap Zone'
- Posted: 2009-08-05, evaluated by the judges
No sooner do I mention 'IceCap' in the preceding writeup than slam, bam, thank you mam... it's a new Sonic 3 mix of same. As Rozovian's F-Zero GX mix was a follow-up to his own first mix, so too is this Willrock's successor to his excellent Link's Awakening debut. Nice to see the "new guys" getting some regular action going on! Mr. Harby writes:
"This was the first mix I made using newly discovered production techniques. I subbed it, it was rejected, and I have subbed it again having made adjustments to my remix. Special thanks goes to the people that helped me at the WIP Board, and the judges for the feedback I received when it was originally rejected, without which, this piece would not be as good."
"Newly discovered production techniques" sounds a little unnecessarily vague, like "Ancient Chinese Secret!" or "Special Sauce," but the important thing is that Will's getting better, and you can hear it. This has 80's written all over it, from the synth bass to the flagrantly synthetic rock kit drums, but the synths are definitely timeless; Willrock's tightened up his sound, and the soloing here is made all the better by excellent patches that modulate in all the right ways. Like you want... like you need. The arrangement was a little pedestrian up until 0'38", where Will breaks off of the all-too-familiar melodic riff and segues seamlessly into solo territory. It's a very additive arrangement style, taking the original and filling in the gaps between recitations of the chorus, so the key is how it all meshes together, and in this case the answer is "quite well." Mr. Butterfield writes:
"Rather sparse stuff, and the same basic synths are used from start to finish, but the synthy textures are nice and the effects keep things interesting. Writing is good, loving the solos and synth interaction. Mixing could be a bit more balanced, because I'd like to hear that bass more, but it's alright here."
Shariq adds:
"Yeah, I can dig this. Love the sequencing and sounds. Great texture, really rockin' synth stuff. Solos are awesome."
I appreciate the overall aesthetic here as being dated, but I'd still like to see Will experiment with more modern drum samples and programming; a more aggressive snare and edgier sounds overall would have made this more contemporary without losing anything in the process. Or, if it's gonna stay firmly planted in the 80's, I'd suggest some more elaborate fills (toms ftw) to spice things up a bit; see 'Mia Fey' for a good example. Regardless, and especially with regards to synth/lead work, this is a good mix that takes a straightforward arrangement and executes it with excellence; Willrock doesrock, and I'm looking forward to seeing where he goes next.
Discussion: Latest 15 comments/reviews; view the It's absolutely awesome. Even more kudos that you made it so well since by now people get pretty weary of Ice Cap mixes.
- YellowYoshi1 on October 5, 2009
Hollidayrain;576396 wrote: The ONLY things I'm not completely feelin' about this piece are the kick and snare. They just don't work for me (neither the samples nor the patterns).
That being said, EVERYTHING ELSE ABOUT THIS IS SIICKKKK!!!!!!!
Concur'd'ed'd'ed'd!
- richter on September 10, 2009
GeckoYamori;578053 wrote: It's got a distinct euro/demoscene style to it.
This.
Much like most other reviewers, I agree that the drums are the weak point, while the arrangement and solos are good.
- Martin Penwald on August 25, 2009
I agree that the drums are the weak point here, there's no velocity shifts at all.
The good news is that the synths sound pretty good. There's a few clarity issues, but things are clear enough to hear what's going on.
Good stuff, I enjoyed it. :-)
- OA on August 15, 2009
- ProtoDome on August 14, 2009
I could tell what type of remix this was going to be as soon as I saw the title.
Still have yet to download it so maybe I shouldn't have even posted this.
- Tmansdc on August 13, 2009
superjoe30;576849 wrote: hey, willrock's ice cap remix finally got posted!
I have it in my library from when he first posted it in the wip forum
<3
Halc, you've obviously not heard BGC's "eastern ice field" or DigiE's "breaking the ice".
Eastern Ice Field may be a more complex production, and the the style is certainly unique, but all the great synth soloing/interpretation in this mix (i have to mention that 1:44-2:33 is absolutely fantastic) warrants more listens on my playlist.
I'm not gonna try to argue with Breaking the Ice (true, I hadn't heard this one) - either way, leave me alone. I can praise this as much as I want, and I think it's a great ice cap mix that holds its ground among any other great ice cap mix.
- halc on August 12, 2009
Keep an eye out for some of my later mixes ;)
Also Keep the reviews coming guys :P
- Willrock on August 12, 2009
All that said, your interpretation of the song was fantastic, and kept the (admittedly common) source tune interesting. It has a good sense of workmanship, even if the instrumentation could've been improved some. But you know what? This was a fun song, and I like it quite a bit. Congrats on a successful, unique submission on a well-worn source tune. :D
- Triad Orion on August 11, 2009
- GeckoYamori on August 10, 2009
- Lightning13 on August 8, 2009
- SnB on August 8, 2009
I have it in my library from when he first posted it in the wip forum
<3
Halc, you've obviously not heard BGC's "eastern ice field" or DigiE's "breaking the ice".
- superjoe30 on August 7, 2009
Firstly, the instrumentation is a bit of a mixed bag. The drums are adequate, nothing too special. Some of the synths are pretty bland, while others work pretty well. Even though I've heard a lot of these synth presets over and over again, the arrangement more than makes up for it.
The arrangement is really really nice, and a lot of the harmonies add a nice touch to it. It has SO much that the original piece didn't have, and yet retains the same feel of the original.
Overall, good job. If I was on the judges panel, I would consider this barely passable, mainly because of the production quality. But hey, arrangement is where this piece really succeeds!
- MattInc on August 6, 2009
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