ReMix: Mega Man 9 'Origami Robots'

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Mega Man 9: Back in BlueMega Man 9

I'm proud to announce the immediate availability of our 27th arrangement album, Mega Man 9: Back in Blue!!

It's been a long time coming, and since then the blue bomber has had time for a tenth outing, but this tribute to his next-gen resurrection and return to form packs is chock full o' awesome, varied arrangements. Director k-wix (Dustin Kulwicki) writes:

"The goal of the Back in Blue project was to remix the Mega Man 9 soundtrack in a variety of styles and pay tribute to one of the greatest platforming series of all time. Mega Man 9 carries on the classic legacy of the original blue bomber, and does so in true retro fashion. Published by Capcom in 2008, Mega Man 9 featured familiar 8-bit visuals and audio similar to that of the Nintendo Entertainment System. It was a true throwback to the earliest entries in the franchise and proved that retro games still had a spot in modern video games.

Started way back in 2009, the project has seen a generous amount of setbacks and fell into many, many "ruts." Capcom was successfully able to produce another entry into the series before the project was even released, Mega Man 10. That being said, as project director, the artists and fans kept up this project every single step of the way, and it is my greatest pleasure to deliver this project to you guys. I am proud with not only the completion of the project, but the quality of the artists that shines through in every single track.

Thanks to the artists for all your hard work. Seriously, thanks. We want to say thanks to Capcom and Inti Creates for creating Mega Man 9."

There was definitely a long period of time when the outlook for BIB wasn't too sunny, but thankfully Dustin persevered and saw things through to completion. Congratulations to him and to all the ReMixers & visual artists who made this album what it is; I was initially expecting a thoroughly electronica album, but from Sixto's patented rock to Sir Jordanius' funky/smooth jazz vocal to Corran's flute-led, minimalist instrumental I gotta say: WOW. Don't get me wrong, there's still kicking electronica tracks - like this one - but there are also some interesting and well-executed curveballs that give the album a lot of heart & soul. Kudos for keeping the door open to different styles & approaches!

Director k-wix opens up the album, and our mixflood, with one of his own excellent contributions to Back in Blue, and it's immediately clear how far he's come in the eight years since we first posted anything by him. I'm glad he gets to show off a bit, because he's definitely put the work in - both on this album and on his production skills - and this catchy dance/electronica arrangement singlehandedly illustrates those advances. Dustin writes:

'We're the Robots' was one of my favorite tracks from Mega Man 9, so I really wanted to take a stab at it early on. Initially I was going for a fairly straightforward electronic trancey remix. But somewhere down the line it was just feeling a bit too traditional. No flavor really. After some debating, i tried adding in some unorthodox drum-patterns and tweaking the lead to be a bit more unique. As a result i think the 2nd half of the song shines. Had a blast making this one."

Good call; the calliope-style lead carries the melody and makes sense with the layer of ethnic percussion Dustin added in, which fleshes out the track and gives the ear a couple different points of interest to track. After listening a few times, I like the ending more - a bit sudden, but I like how the little chromatic synth motif holds on just a bit longer and keeps truckin' into the fade all on its own. k-wix kicks off Mega Man 9: Back in Blue in style, and there's more where this came from - congrats to Dustin & the Back in Blue team for making it happen!

― djpretzel

Discussion: Latest 10 comments/reviews; view the complete thread or post your own.
Ever since I first heard the MM9 soundtrack, We're The Robots has been a favorite on mine. This take on the source is nice, and does do justice to it. A very enjoyable listen, one worth the wait it took for the album, and subsequently this mixpost, to be released.

- Mirby on December 24, 2011
Whoa, whoa, whoa......electronica pan flute!? That is so awesome! The intro is a great attention getter. The percussion sounded top-notch, with a sweet rhythm and the whole arrangement was terrific in my view. Without a doubt one of the stars in the album and while I would have liked the ending to have taken a little more time to fade out, I have no real complaints here. Nice job.

- Crulex on December 8, 2011
This mix is intriguing for a trance mix. I do wish it was louder overall in the beginning. That lead synth also seems a little on the loud side later on. The overall build of the song is pretty nice though.

- Bahamut on December 7, 2011
This is long overdue, but welcome back to the site k-wix! I knew you had wanted to make it on the site at some point, but hearing your works on Back In Blue marked where you upped your game IMO.
So the arrangement might end up splitting some people; a lot of it is based on the chord structure for the source material, but it is fleshed out considerably by some very strong synth soloing, some unorthodox dual panflute work and some very tasteful hand percussion additions to accompany the beat. The few elements with the source melody (2:00) managed to give it some strong sense of identity, and even since then these additions marked around k-wix's signature style managed to really give the track a huge chunk of life. Nice writing work!
I however do seem to be in the same frame of mind as OA in that the leads could've had that little bit more work done in regards to prevent the sound from going stale; it's noted particularly with the unmodulated and unfiltered synth as well as the sharpness of the panflute. I understand you went out of your way to invest on some new samples over the years, though it may help to get to work with filters and see what you can do with them to really give them some edge.
All in all, welcome back to the site! And with this kind of writing work we hope you'll be able to keep at it as a musician, whether it between any more future submissions, Cave Story 3D or any other projects down the line. Nice going :)

- Rexy on December 7, 2011
Soooooooooooo thought I had posted my thoughts on this song when this came out... as it was at the time, I had not been looking that forward to the Mega Man 9 album. Now that I've listened to it in its entirety, this is definitely one of the stand-out tracks, one that always makes me get up and dance. k-wix really took this to the next level, and it... its really inspiring. Fantastic song, amazing album, and... well, yeah. Go grab some origami robots and dance!

- HitoriJaNai on December 6, 2011
The synthy pan flutes are a really nice lead sound combined with really pumping drums and a heavily modulated bassline, but what really sets the track into 'amazing' territory is the prominent hand percussion.
My only complaint is that I feel the lead synth could use more modulation, and vibrato, as it feels pretty static, and maybe a touch more prominent delay. Nice builds and breaks, and a lot of good aspects to this track overall.

- OA on December 5, 2011
This song helps me get through the drive to work in the mornings during frogger-style traffic. Definitely a highlight of the album. This song goes through some really cool instrument switchups and always has that feeling of moving towards a battle both varied and menacing. The production is pretty damn good, too, though I feel that some sections tend to get a little stagnant without a solid melody (i really wish that flute made more of an appearance, like emu mentioned).

- Level 99 on December 2, 2011
Only one post after this whole month? :\ This is a much more traditional trance track but I really do like the little elements that help make this unique. That synth flute lead has a very retro sound to it but it's well-utilized melodically. It's definitely a standout element in this track and probably the main reason I come back to it every so often. Pretty cool :-)

- Emunator on October 13, 2011
Great first post. I've been looking forward to this album! This was one of my favorite songs from the OST, so I'm glad to see it got such a nice mix here. Nice job k-wix!

- SuperiorX on September 7, 2011
What did you think? Post your opinion of this ReMix.

- djpretzel on September 7, 2011