Jivemaster

Sounds good. A bit soft in volume, but there's a lot of work in here. Makes me want to finish my Lunar 2 remix. YES. -Jive

It's a lower end remix in terms of creativity and things happening, but it's done ok, and there's nothing in it which really makes it bad. I just wish the author did a bit more that's all. Hopefully he can give us something a little more interesting next time. I say YES. -Jive

Just the original with drums over the top. Nuff said. NO. -Jive

Magneto in X-Men: COTA is a total whore on occasion. That proved for many frustrating battles!! -Jive

I like the music box thing at the start. It's really cute. However, like everybody has said here, it's too long. Halve it and it'd be fine. When the drums come in, they're a tiny bit weak. They need more body. At 3:03 I heard some weird note stuff going on, that ruined it a bit. Don't get me wrong, I like the overall sound of the song, it's a good idea, but the notes need to be cleaned up in a few areas. Do that and it's fine. No. -Jive

Well I can't comment on the comparison of the remix to the original, because I've never heard the original. I'm taking the perspective that this is the first time I've ever heard the song, in any form. Overall I think it sounded quite nice. Very light, lots of reverb, nice drums which don't try to distract you from everything else and happy little instruments dancing around the place. A little repetitive I suppose (probably due to the original material), and I think Bro knew this and kept the mix short which was a good move. A lot different to Leeb's other stuff, but it still fits in there. I wouldn't say it's his best mix musically, but it definitely has it's place, especially in the technical field. -Jive

I've never really been happy with the way I recorded this mix - in fact, I now regret having released it in its current state. Obviously this song was done at the start of my shit recording stage which finished around "Particle Brain". Not enough time went into its production and the overall mixing of the track is hideous. It would have been much better if more care were taken during the recording and mastering stages. I was pleased with the musical outcome of the mix though, and I'd really like to re-do it, but currently it's not a priority for me. Maybe in the future when I have some spare time. -Jive

Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 'River of Time AmIEviL' Honestly, AmI's work is quite good but I wish he'd actually create some fancy titles for his mixes rather than just "Some Game 'AmIEviL'". Well, I suppose this does sort of have a proper title, so I'll let him off this time . Nice soft instruments and percussion, soothing rain sounds and yeah. Calm kind of forest music, sort of like that stuff you get on those nature CDs from that National Geographic shoppy place (not that I've ever been inside one).

Street Fighter II 'Hey, Mr. Honda' Yo, HOI!! Somehow I just can't see Honda fighting to this music, but it sounds pretty cool nonetheless. Minimal Japanese stuff here combined with minor synth beeps and leads. You'll notice as you listen to it that it's pretty clever - a lot of different changes are here which occur over the main melody. Very different McVaffe stuff. Actually, I picture this as more of a Gemini track. Can get a little boring during the second listen.

GoldenEye 007 'Facility (Hacker Mix)' Computer hacking sounds at the start. Nice. Strings come in. Sweet. James Bond tune played on xylophone. Corny, but cool. Fat bass. Me like. Crispy drums. You know I like those. Then the hacking sounds come in again. I wouldn't have done that again as the original intro looses it's uniqueness. Anyway, enough of these short five word sentences, lets get into it. I hear a bit of clipping in this being introduced from the drums, which sort of ruins the mix a bit. I like the minimal sound Peeps has kept, it makes it a lot more... spyish. Hey I know it's not a word but I don't care. Bite me . I would class the mix in the lower end of the Peeples pile, I think compared to his earlier offerings he just didn't try as hard here.

Mega Man 3 'Gemini Salsa' Salsa. You don't hear much of that around here I must admit. Judging from the overall feel of the song, McVaffe has done an exceptional job in getting together the Mexican / Spanish / whatever vibe. A bit samish the whole way through - I know I'm probably being silly, I mean there is variation, but I think there should have been more. McVaffe's classic piano work shines through here once more (he likes his pianos... hmmm Jive, how long did it take you to work that out?!?). Good percussion. Cha, cha, cha.

Mega Man 2 'Evil Horde Heat Man' How come all these Mega Man 2 mixes I'm reviewing are based on in game sound samples?!? I must say that this one from Evil Horde is one of the better ones I've heard using this technique because he also adds in some extra stuff as well to make it original. My first complaint (oh shut up ) is the explosion sound that is used periodically - its volume should be lower. Another thing - my head had trouble working out all the different things playing in here because all the lead lines are in the centre on top of one another - maybe some panning here Evil? Other than that it's pretty groovy. I liked the radio effects on the drums which occurred sometimes.

Mega Man 2 'Bubble Man (Electron Mix)' Organ does the main tune as fake guitars, bass etc come in and out playing different parts. More panning should have been done here, but it's still quite acceptable. The drums have a short delay on them which sounds sort of cool, and there's just enough variety to keep you interested. Some of the highs are a little sharp, but it's still ok for the most part. Ok song, but could have been better in the creativity department.

Donkey Kong Country 'Ambient Gemini' As the title suggests, this song is quite ambient. Delayed synthy flute starts this off. We've got a tomish kick in the right ear, some little hats in the centre, two sets of synth strings to the left, delayed piano and a couple of other lead synths. The delay in this track is panned to the opposite ear, so you hear the copy on the other side and it makes for quite a good atmosphere. You'll also notice a few ambient sounds here and there. I really don't like the kick in the right ear though - it really feels off balance. Everything else is quite well done, with a generous amount of reverb on some of the instruments and some good mixing of each individual track. Nice stuff.

Final Fantasy VI 'Gau's Lament' The intro of this reminded me of those church piano songs they play when everyone's walking in (ok, I won't talk about that anymore). Mostly a straight piano solo affair here, but we've got strings and flutes which come in near the second half. Not too long like most of McVaffe's piano arrangements, and the quality is as good as always. If you're a sucker for this stuff then you'll get sucked in. Good work by the big M.C.V.A.F.F.E.

Super Mario 64 'Liquid Mario' Jade Gemini aka McVaffe aka Michael Vaffeas gives as a taste of Mario 64 with a side ambience. "A very cute little mix" is what I thought the first time a heard the song. The song starts of with some pretty cool tribal beats spread across the stereo spectrum (though I would have perhaps placed a few more instruments in the left side as it's a little unbalanced). It is then followed by a piano playing the main melody and a tb synth or two. I do detect some semi-nasty distortion in some places, especially during the parts with more bass. Maybe Mike could have panned the hats to the left to dodge the kick drum - this may have also solved the stereo unbalance issue as well. This mix is ok, but I must confess that it isn't one of McVaffe's greatest efforts. It gets a little boring a times.

Castlevania: The Adventure 'Tempest Mix' Ok, sliced thunderstorm ambiance starts this mix off. Quite clever actually - it acts as the beat at the start until it's phased out (but comes back later on). Cool. Ring mod drums make an appearance (which reminds me of BT's stuff for some reason), with a few synths in either ear to keep you going throughout the song, and lots of rapid changing of sounds to keep it sounding new. McVaffe must have had a lot of fun doing this one I think, I can see him right now at his synths turning all his little knobs with an evil grin . This is definitely a quarter-pounder with extra cheese.

Deflektor 'Laser Dance' Mr. Dodgers exposes us to a very happy blippy but cool mix from the game Deflektor. Ok panning here, quite a large amount of bass, and a good choice of instruments. Quite a few changes here too, although I probably would have preferred a few others to mix the song up a little more. It's a good listen, it's got fairly good mixing and the overall sound quality is pretty good. Synth orientated. I can't really think of anything else to say. Good work Chuck!

Final Fantasy VI 'Back to Towne (Arranged)' McVaffe is back in piano arrangement mode again I see, with a FF3 mix done completely in piano, with a touch of strings and flute. Now, I'm going to try and not be biased again as usual, since I'm not really into this kind of thing, so I had better watch myself. Personally, I think this is one of McVaffe's better piano exclusive pieces, and I really like the quality of the sound that's displayed here. I must admit, the work done here is great as I believe those into the music would really be in for a treat. BTW, I’ve always wondered this, is it pronounced M.C. Vaffe or McVaffe as in McDonalds?

Diablo 'Wet Grass Inspired' AmIEviL's take on Diablo. Great panning of the acoustic (it's really wide - do I detect a touch of chorus?). A variety of percussion makes up the beat, and some strings and organ are used to bring a little more melody into the song. Sort of samish the whole way, but doesn't really get boring surprisingly (at least the first time anyway). I liked it for the couple of times I heard it, but I think AmI was holding back a bit here. Fits into the Diablo mood well.

7th Guest 'AmIEviL' Minimal arranged string sorta-spooky stuff. The first thing I thought was that it was a little strange having the kick in one ear and the snare in the other, but it does seem to work. The drum beat is like a slowish marching band type rhythm. I think it sounds pretty good, but it really drags at bit, so you've got to be a little patient. Oh, and obviously AmIEvil did this (nudge, nudge - the title), so I don't need to tell you that.

Super Mario Bros. 'Dancehall Ragga' McVaffe with another Mario Bros. tune. This time, the classic Mario song is done here. Very minimal, quite wide with not too many instruments and a variety of classic little SFX thrown in near the end. Now I did like this, but it's nowhere near as good as some other McV mixes, and he doesn't do much with the tune here. I was hoping for a little more.

EarthBound 'Sound Stone (C Major)' Spekkosaurus with a piano exclusive rendition of EarthBound. Quite realistic sounding, but the bad thing about this is the nasty high-end crackle which appears after the choir sound enters. It sort of ruins it in some way. Still, I really like the effort and bravery that went into this, but it's just a little long and some parts didn't keep my interest for long enough (especially when the bass plays on it's own).

Castlevania 'Wicked Orchestra' One of my favourite Peeple's pieces. The mix starts out using fairly stern strings and hits to build the mood, then a cool drum loop enters the fray which is assisted by some tambourine and extra hats on occasion, and although not really that original, really works and adds real pace to the song. Lotsa reverb here, ok panning, and a good choice of sounds. Would have been great if Peeps could have gotten some slightly more realistic strings, as it would have made the mix sound quite professional (somebody get this guy an expensive synth dammit!!). The aforementioned drums are a little loud and while I don't hear any real distortion, it's awfully close to breaking (just lucky the drums are in the centre mainly on their own). Nice work, and the alternating of different strings to play the same melody adds a little more interest.

Castlevania 'Vampire Killer (Deadcorpse)' Children of the Monkey Machine delivers a mix of distorted synths, drums (with nice panning BTW), with a touch of oddity. At some times minimal, other times it's all over the place (in a good way). I like a lot of the stuff in this mix - it plays on a lot of variation of the main tune which is great. Everything seems to be in the centre more than anything, which at times can muffle out certain parts (especially when the distortion synths come in every now and then). Thing only thing I didn't really like where the synth strings playing the main melody at the start - I think a slightly different sound would have been a little better as the one is a little thick. Overall a good job from Cotster.