ReMix: Super Dodge Ball 'Go Balls Deep!'
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- Game: Super Dodge Ball (CSG Imagesoft, 1989, NES)
- ReMixer(s): Sixto Sounds
- Composer(s): Kazuo Sawa
- Song(s): 'Versus Play'
- Posted: 2011-10-10, evaluated by djpretzel
- Album: Featured on Super Dodge Ball: Around the World
Juan! C'mon now, this is a FAMILY establishment! We'll just claim that by "Go Balls Deep," Sixto is poetically referring to being so damn enthusiastic about playing dodgeball and/or ReMixing SDB that you become metaphorically covered in DODGE balls. Of the platonic, sporting, completely innocuous variety. I guess we should just be thankful they aren't Schweddy; Co-director Walan writes:
"Sixto Sounds was originally slated to arrange "Versus Play" for the album, but due to technical difficulties, this track was thought to be lost forever. WillRock and Level 99 joined the project later and came through with their arrangement of the theme, but Sixto rose from the ashes and rebuilt this version later, submitting it in the 11th hour to be included as part of the album. Sixto delivers on all fronts, bringing us a hard-nosed, smashed-mouth track that's filled to the brim with synths and the near-virtuosic levels of guitar work that have become Juan's staple."
So yeah, this is the same source that WillRock & Stevo covered, and it's rock+synths, but it's surprising how different the two tracks are. It's worth mentioning here that several of the source tunes on the SDB soundtrack are ineligible for posting as ReMixes because they're not original VGM - Team Japan is mostly comprised of 'Sakura Sakura,' Team Russia uses 'Katyusha,' and Team England bears more than a striking resemblance to some well-known Beatles songs. This comes up a lot in VGM, and sometimes we can work around it, but we definitely shoot for music that was written FOR games, or debuted/popularized by games, as opposed to simply used in games. Right then; of his resuscitated, rebuilt track, Juan explains:
"This remix for the remix project Super Dodge Ball: Around the World almost never saw completion. I was close to finishing it when my recording hard drive died, causing me to lose all my samples and project files. Luckily, I found my original MIDI file and was able to finally finish this at the last minute. Low-tuned guitars, low-tuned bass and low-tuned drums! Don't blow out your speakers."
Sixto's take on the theme is a bit more metal, heavier, and less synthy than Will's, I suppose making it "angrier" as a result, but the dramatic sense of epic challenge inherent in the source is still there. I love the SID-style synths and chop-ups at the end, production is thick & aggressive, and of course the soloing is classic Sixto. Does a single Super Dodge Ball album have room for two mixes of the same source, in more or less the same genre? For me, the answer's a resounding yes: regardless of it being an accident, these two tracks are superb interpretations of the same source that have more than enough differences, but share a common ground of being badass, well-executed, rockin' cuts.
Discussion: Latest 12 comments/reviews; view the Pretty solid stuff, different synth usage than Juan's normal stuff. Guitar playing is also good, and the production is always stellar. It's like Sixto's music is always insta-<3 .
- Bahamut on December 6, 2011
- Crulex on December 2, 2011
I'm often used to hearing Sixto take things in a straightforward approach but still put his own spin on things, and yet he seemed to have taken the track apart into subsections and re-ordered them while still maintaining a sense of structure. So basically, he kept true to the source, but the pieces are placed in that much of a different order it can still be considered interpretive :P
Going beyond the source shake-up, the solo work at 2:41 plays well to his improvisation strength, not to mention the ending with the gate work and synth fade out still managed to add so much to the scope, giving more to the illusion that even if the game is over there's still more to do for the most passionate amongst us.
So yes, you didn't disappoint, and I'm glad you managed to keep on the project after all!
- Rexy on November 30, 2011
- Monobrow on November 6, 2011
I can't tell because my ears appear to have melted.
- Dark Vagabond on October 12, 2011
Mirby;813248 wrote: Yeah, but your album doesn't come with a facemelting warning like HvV did. XD
No need. Just look at the artist list: it's implied. :-P
- KyleJCrb on October 11, 2011
KyleJCrb;813052 wrote: I have to admit, when I heard Juan had a hard drive crash and was dropping out of the project, I was extremely disappointed. The song was literally almost done, but not quite there yet, so I had high hopes. Luckily Juan came back and redid it at the last minute, easily surpassing the required facemelting quota for the album (I directed it; OF COURSE it had a facemelting quota!) and making me very happy. Thanks, Sixto. :-)
Yeah, but your album doesn't come with a facemelting warning like HvV did. XD
Also, great track Sixto.
- Mirby on October 11, 2011
- Csyzr on October 10, 2011
- KyleJCrb on October 10, 2011
