Liontamer   Judges ⚖️

Basically a sound palette change, though I liked the tone of things. Basically could be a MIDI rip for all I know. The claps sounded very barebones and exposed, but at least there was some attention given towards making this sound spookier. Needs more melodic interpretation as well as overall dynamics and variation over time; right now, everything's pretty by the numbers and the core beat plodded over time. Fun, but just a cover and an underdeveloped arrangement, I'm afraid, Str1ctur3. But keep adapting things and seeing how you can add more of your own personality and ideas into the picture for these sound upgrade renditions and you may just walk into a more interpretive arrangement over time. NO

Artist: Str1ctur3 Made in FL Studio Games & Sources Croc Legend of the Gobbos

Not a bad sound upgrade (albeit with pretty exposed string samples), but boy doesn't this sound lossy and muddy; not sure what happened here to degrade how this sounds, and it's at the DAW level or something with the encoding settings. Melodically, Str1ctur3, there's not much going on with interpretation, and at 1:57 the track basically looped with no further ideas, development, or variations. Again, not a bad sound upgrade aside from the mixing being poor, but definitely very underdeveloped (and the track unceremoniously cut off). A decent starting point, but a very limited approach together with poor mixing that undermined the positive improvement in the sample quality compared to the original track. NO

Artist: Str1ctur3 Made using FL Studio Games & Sources This is a new arrangement of Field of Motavia from Phantasy Star IV: End of the Millenium

Artist: NyxTheShield This remix is heavily inspired by "T-Square - Truth" sound and "vibe", but without taking any elements directly from it. I always wanted to make a jazz fusion DKC cover and I felt this was the perfect opportunity to do so while paying homage to my inspirations. I hope you enjoy it! Games & Sources DKC2 - Stickerbush Symphony by David Wise

Artist Name: Cyril the Wolf I'm back on my Mega Man lyrical nonsense. After experiencing some intense burnout following Covid 19 and the release of two albums in 2019 this took probably 18 months to work on and release. As always - the lyrics tell the story of the game but trying to pull back the shiny cartoon veneer to add even more pathos. In this case I was able to enlist my sister EsperPhoenix to help me finish this after several vocalists gave up on me (understandably) due to the timeline in which this took to complete. Overall it's helped me rediscover aspects of sound design, mixing, production and performing that I probably would not have overcome. Even submitting here the song has been on my YouTube for almost 3 years... The story is very plain in the lyrics (and very anime) - young kid (Vent) gets drafted into a war. Prarie (the rebel commander... sort of it's actually slightly more complicated but deal with it) is asking why this kind of awfulness happens over and over again, and Vent is asking himself if he's even worthy to be any kind of champion when he has tragedy from long ago. There's a couple interesting things about this that get me every time I listen - and one of them at 3:14 is purely accidental... apparently when you sing with a sibling you can create some extra overtones that sound like a phantom 3rd vocalist. Every time I heard it I looked through the entire list of recorded tracks and could never find this third higher harmony that randomly appears there and throughout the rest of the tune. Just adding more Mega Man vocalizations to this archive, hope y'all don't mind/ Lyrics: Prarie: Can we have more time? To prepare for the storm? It feels like a lie To imply hope anymore.. And I feel rain washing away all of my fear But a chill strikes as the dark draws near (Refrain) Is it wrong I put hope in you? Though I see suffering I'm sick of those who profit from pain Vent: The chill of the rain The grey the distorts my view But I still see stains The fights that we've all been through Every drop stings a memory I can't forget Those that died remind me it's not over yet Refrain (Both) Is it wrong you put hope in me? Though I see suffering I'm sick of those who profit from pain Both: So it's come to this Another war in sight The lives we all miss Push us toward the light And the demons feed from our rage an d all our fears But They wither when the rain slows and skies are clear (Refrain) (both) Is it wrong I/you put hope in you/me? Though I see suffering I'm sick of those who profit from pain Games & Sources Mega Man ZX - Misty Rain (Area I - Imprisonment Area) Ippo Yamada

What's here's in a vacuum is cool; if this theme were made for a mid-80s NES game, this would fit right in. There's nothing inherently wrong with a demake, but there's also not much intepretation going on beyond the adaptation to this soundset, so it unfortunately falls outside of the kind of arrangements we're looking for at OCR. Even at 1:00 when you get a fuller sound, it was like the track stopped and started over (rather than connected sections flowing together). Would love to hear a melodically interpretive rendition of this as an 8-bit theme if you were game, but a cool creative exercise regardless, Moonset! NO

Artist: Moonset Music As I was working on a chiptune cover of "Grandpa's Theme" from Stardew Valley, I couldn't decide which effects sounded better. In the end, I decided "well, why not both?!" With that, this cover was born, combining the simple, low-effect version with a more complicated one and finishing off with a modulated coda, since I was going to be fancy! This whole arrangement is intended to evoke classic NES-era soundtracks. Games & Sources Source: Stardew Valley Song: Grandpa's Theme Composer: Eric Barone (ConcernedApe)

Artist: DaveWithAKeyboard I wanted to create an explosive, epic arrangement of the song, slowly building up throughout the track, until all the instruments are included by the end. I was inspired by the final boss tracks from the Sonic series from Sonic 06 onward, with their epic remixes of the game's main theme. Games & Sources This is an epic rock-orchestral remix of "I'm With You", the final boss from Sonic Frontiers, composed by Tomboy Ohtani. I also included bits of "I'm Here" from Sonic Frontiers, "His World" from Sonic 06, and "Green Hill Zone" from Sonic 1 in the middle section during the guitar riff. Here is the YouTube source link:

An enjoyable listen, but this sounds like a minor audio upgrade of the original music, so it's nowhere near distinct enough from the Lena Raine version for us to post this. We typically don't post traditional remixes where the original audio is sampled, and that's what this sounds like. You need your own sound palette made from the ground up that also sonically stands apart enough from the tone and feel of the original music. NO

Artist: Metris Regarding creative approach, I wanted the track to have an identity that felt unique from the original track; this was achieved by expanding upon the structure of the original (with a clear beginning and end), as well as with the differing chords and more ethereal sound design. Some of the ambiences I had used come from Aturax Audio (who allows for his work to be used as long as he is credited). https://www.youtube.com/@AturaxAudio Games & Sources The track that I have remixed is titled First Steps. It is the second track from the OST of Celeste (the game it appears in), and was originally composed by Lena Raine.

Artist Name: MkVaff Looking back, it's surprising how little Metroid music I've covered in the past. It really is one of my favorite series of all time, and I've been playing it since the very first game on NES. The only full Metroid remix that I completed before now was in the winter of 2000, and it was posted on OCR on Christmas day of that year. I think the fact that I've gravitated towards more upbeat dance music - especially in recent years - made the Metroid soundtracks a little more challenging for me to cover. As soon as I started envisioning some slower, darker remixes, much more of the music from the Metroid series suddenly made a lot more sense for me to consider delving into creatively. While listening to some classic SNES soundtracks as inspiration for a few new remixes I was considering, the Lower Brinstar theme from Super Metroid sounded like it would fit in perfectly with the slower, more moody feel I had in mind for some of my newer work. The track has remained one of my favorites from the entire Metroid series through all these years, and there were a few iconic parts of the song I had an enjoyable time working into this interpretation of the classic theme. Hope you enjoy! Games & Sources Super Metroid Composed by Kenji Yamamoto and Minako Hamano

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Totally get it, and I was close to doing that myself. :-D

At 2:19-long, everything's gotta be clicking on all cylinders, IMO, with nary an issue to be found. The piano sample is decent in tone but too exposed (e.g. :15, :18-:25) as having stiff-sounding timing, which may be a limitation of the keyboard being used, I dunno. I liked the underlying piano chords as well. Something about the keys here doesn't sound as humanized as it should though. The core beats starting at :13 shouldn't be so plodding and unvaried. The beats hit at the same intensity every time, no variations, so that sampled beat feels plodding and stapled on top. Love that brush/shaker-style sound used right from the start, which had a nice organic feel; the looping of that sample didn't stand out as much, and it adds to the texture well. Bassline also sounds good. Other than that, I dig the arrangement approach, the general approach to the textures, and the sprinkling in of SFX. Maybe the others will be on board; I'd argue that if this were a 3-4 minute arrangement with further development and/or variations, some of these other issues are able to be more comparmentalized; but at not even 2 1/2 minutes, there shouldn't be any loose screws. Maybe I'm making the perfect the enemy of the good. Let's see what the others say, Alex; if this doesn't make it as is, the arrangement side sounds fine to me. NO (resubmit)

Remixer: LXE Name: Alexis Gelinas Email: Website: instagram.com/lexadex_yo 38753 -- * Game: Super Metroid * Remix Title: Vermilion * Song Title: Lower Brinstar * Notes: This is a lofi hip hop arrangement for piano, bass guitar, and drumset, reharmonized for a more laid back feel.

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Great original writing additions; the brass was solid. Loved the drop in the middle, which surprised me, then the rebuild was awesome, followed by the crazy guitar synth for the finish!

Always dug the energy of this one. Love the way Greg totally transformed this theme. Nice 16th-note runs! :-D

Still as chill as when we posted it. Solid stuff from NoTuX that's more about subtle textural changes once the mood's established. :-)

Awesome intro. Needed stronger brass, but that was about the only weak link that stuck way out. Loads of strong dynamics here, led by Pascal's axe!

I'm more about the writing than the sound design, which was why I was a dissent here. I did dig the electric guitar doubling going on, and I like that this doesn't take itself too seriously. Would have loved for the timing to be tighter, but that's part of the charm.

Solid trance enhancement! Good job continuing to introduce new rhythmic ideas midway through to keep things fresh. UNTZ UNTZ!

Cool vibe. You can tell that MkVaff's sound/sample tech was so much more advanced than most folks in the community way back when. Feels robotic and schump-y! Inherently hard to maintain interest for 5 1/2 minutes, yet MkVaff succeeded!