ReMix:After Burner "On Wings of Steel" 4:07

By Juan Medrano

Arranging the music of one song...

"Final Take Off"

Primary Game: After Burner (Sega , 1988, SMS), music by Hiroshi Kawaguchi

Posted 2016-08-10, evaluated by djpretzel


That's right, today we're hitting you with not one but TWO ReMixes from Sixto Sounds (Juan P. Medrano), making this (we've done the math) a TWELVETO SOUNDS experience, as he follows up his FF9 prog rock/metal album cut with our FIRST EVAR arrangement of the original After Burner!!

"A chiprock cover from Sega's After Burner! After Burner was one of the first games I ever played on my very first console, the Sega Master System. And while it wasn't as fun to play as games like Double Dragon or Wonder Boy, the game did have great music that I still enjoy listening to to this day. So I figured I'd rock it up a little bit AND I also sort of brought it over to the NES using chipsounds. Some might consider that sacrilege, but whatever! I do what I want!"

Blasphemeee, blaspheyouuuu... I grew up as an SMS fanboy and After Burner was one of my jams, and I'm totally okay with NES chipsounds being used, so there. While I preferred Space Harrier aesthetically & musically, both arcade ports chewed up a good chunk of my early childhood, and I recall memorizing patterns and flying in circle-eights across brightly colored landscapes while listening to fantastic tunes... I also remember playing both games in the arcade, of course, including the cockpit version of After Burner and the control stick version of Space Harrier, which paved the way for the over-the-top craziness of that beautiful, beautiful Galaxy Force II machine :) But I digress... this one's personal, for me, and Juan's chipped it up, up, & away with shimmering synthpeggios and vibratofabulous leads. It's not just one or two chip textures here or there; this mix defnitely delivers a balanced, hearty blend of chip & rock, with plenty of both on lead AND accompaniment. Larry writes:

"The production's a little cramped/muddy; it's something to watch for in your pieces employing chip sounds, but nowhere near a level that would hold it back. That said, love the energy you bring to the table, as always! "Final Take Off" is an absolutely legenedary VGM theme, so we NEEDED to have it represented here. To have it done by Juan and bringing the power like this is just the icing on the cake. After Burner! FINALLY! :-D"

Only took sixteen years :) Glad to see an iconic Sega arcade game finally get a meaty, heavy-hitting tribute, and Juan's chip chops are catching up to his guitar noodlin' prowess, making for a powerful one-two punch - great stuff!

djpretzel

Discussion

Latest 6 comments/reviews; view the complete thread or post your own.
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lemnlime
on 2016-08-25 09:57:35

This remix is incredible. Reminds me of some of the best of the old Sega Sound Team arranges. Chiptunes and rock go together like PBJ, each perfectly complementing the other, and you've easily proved that here. Very well done, Sixto. This is going straight to my fave remix playlist :-P

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orlouge82
on 2016-08-12 09:07:17

Man, I have such good memories of playing the After Burner arcade game as a kid (I always blew through my missiles way too fast). Not familiar with this specific source material, but this remix captures the spirit of the game so well. Been listening to it on repeat since I downloaded it yesterday.

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KyleJCrb
on 2016-08-11 19:45:07

Just to add real quick: After Burner got an unlicensed port to the NES thanks to our friends at Atari Tengen (which was updated by none other than Sunsoft for a later Famicom release) so I'd call the 2A03 usage in this song kosher. Not that it wouldn't be if that port didn't exist, but there is at least a precedent.

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KyleJCrb
on 2016-08-10 20:11:53

My favorite remixer finally covers my favorite game soundtrack. Yeah, I'm all in on this one.

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Txai
on 2016-08-10 15:49:42

Glad Sixto didn't use Master System chipsounds. It wouldn't yield better results since the SMS sound palette is less varied.

He put the NES sounds to good use though. The leads are rich with proper echo, vibrato and pitch bends. So, major bonus points!

avatar
Liontamer
on 2016-08-10 10:19:58

What did you think? Post your opinion of this ReMix.

Sources Arranged (1 Song)


Primary Game:
After Burner (Sega , 1988, SMS)
Music by Hiroshi Kawaguchi
Songs:
"Final Take Off"

Tags (6)


Genre:
Rock
Mood:
Energetic
Instrumentation:
Chiptune,Electric Guitar
Additional:
Arrangement > Extended Soloing
Time > 4/4 Time Signature

File Information


Name:
After_Burner_On_Wings_of_Steel_OC_ReMix.mp3
Size:
7,501,768 bytes
MD5:
e5512f776320cf29ae2be42e35183392
Bitrate:
239Kbps
Duration:
4:07

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