OceansAndrew

This mix needs to go back in the oven because it is clearly not done. The piano at the beginning seems somewhat off, but the real issue I have with it is that it just goes on and on as elements slowly filter in. Having a drawn out intro like this is fine, but please make it more exciting than a 2 chord progression. When the flute finally comes in it is a nice copy of the in-game flute sample, but a few parts are piercing. The guitar that comes in later is pretty ugly sounding, sometimes out-of-tune, but just tonally unappealing. The drum breakdown is decent, though it's still the 2 chord progression, and the dirty guitar sounds slightly better, if not terribly thin. I just can't get into this mix on any level.

I never really played the tomb raider games except for a demo at a kiosk, and I don't remember any music at all, and I thought the game was pretty bad too. I guess under normal circumstances that'd have me skip over this one, but TODAY IS NOT THAT DAY!!! Great ambiance, and a solid groove, the winds sound great, if a bit piercing on these cheapo phones. I'm digging the wide sound you have going down, with a lot of texture on the left side. The beat is pretty subdued but still lends forward motion, and things are generally filled out well. The arrangement is pretty short, but I think it is more of a really nice expansion rather than a re-imagining (this is all conjecture, I have no idea what the original sounds like), so it being concise is fine.

Great rhythm on the left-side synth, it immediately caught my attention. The lead melody is catchy too, and the chunky rhythm guitars that come in have power but leave plenty of space for the track to breathe. The beats are nice and the piece has a funky and effortless-sounding cool to it. The breakdown with the pan flute or whitever was great, and then back to the rock. The production seems a little muddy in a few spots, maybe a bit heavy on the low-mids, but it's still clear enough to hear the different parts, and the song is both varied and groovin'. A really nice collab, good work guys.

Way too low fi for me to seriously get into, I even recognize some of the $15 Casio keyboard samples. The lack of melody makes it uninteresting to me as well. It's not OMG BAD, but it just feels like no care was put into it either. Didn't like it; sorry.

This would be so great is that bass didn't go out of tune every few notes. The arrangement itself is great, with some nice comping and some groovin' bongos. Even the synthsax is pretty nice, and the brass works too. The drumkit is pretty mechanical as well, so the only time this mix really shines for me is the breakdown sections. I think if this one was looked at again and had a few adjustments made it'd be a winner, but the bass intonation kills it.

It took awhile to get through that super extended intro, and so I can see what people mean by getting bored. Once it picks up it's better, but the high end synth sounds pasted onto the soundscape, rather than living in it, and the choir sample is pretty weak. Pretty decent textures, and the source is a nice melody, but the production issues and overly-extended intro make it sound more like a decent work in progress rather than a polished, finished work. The breakdown was pretty cool with the super-compressed drums, and then back to the same chord-chord-chord legato progression. Not really my style; sorry dude.

The bass in this is super hard to hear, and the beat repeats far too much. I actually got kind of sick from it. I can't recommend this one, check out some of Jivemaster's other tracks; he's a talented guy, and I think his other mixes worked a lot better.

Another buried gem! Gem get!~~ Killer groove on this one, with some great funky organ and some fantastic piano comping. The syncopation on this is really strong, and gives it a really interesting feel. Very polished and well-thought-out. The modulation to minor for the solo section was excellent, and the solo in the section itself was inspired. The attention to detail paid on this track is great, from the revving engine at the beginning to mod shifts on the synths. Cool percussion rounds it out. The snare sound is a bit unexpected, but it fits perfectly and helps open my mind to snare sounds. I'm surprised there aren't more Double Dragon mixes as the soundtrack is so good. I remember back around 1990 or so I would listen to the title screen music of the Double Dragon theme on my gameboy with headphones while I waited for the bus. It was one of my first moments of leaving a game sit just to hear the music; along with the boat theme of the original Final Fantasy. Great work; excellent mix +1, nostalgia +1

Completely awe-inspiring interpretation. It is completely dynamic and exciting throughout, and the subtle (at at times not-so-subtle) tempo changes really give it a sense of life. Balance is wonderful, and the textures are varied for each section. Completely captivating from start to finish. There's not much else for me to say besides stellar work. This is the best spade I've heard in a long time.

Great variation on this, it progresses really well and stay interesting throughout. The sounds used all fit together well, though I do agree with Palpable on the piercing quality of the harpsichord (which is still a really cool sound, it works well, it's just a little hard on me), and the thinness of the oboe. Nothing worth sweating, really. The beats are fantastic, and the gated synths are perfect. Speaking of gated synths, I was kindof hoping for some during the oboe breakdown to keep the rhythm intact a bit more. I totally understand dropping the beats, but rhythmically it sortof stopped a bit too much. Great chance to catch your breath before starting up again. I've always been a fan of your style, and this one takes all of the good and mixes it with a very nice arrangement. Great work dude.

Nice mood set here, and great use of rubato and crescendos. The solo violin sample wasn't so hot, but everything else was relatively solid. The understated percussion added some nice texture to the mix, and the bass part was suitably interesting. Nice groove overall, and the variation and expansion is excellent. The flute sample was pretty good, but i've gotten very picky about modulation in synth woodwinds. The sample is very nice, but some additional dynamics would have been great. Overall a beautiful piece with some great elements. Recommended.

Loading times suck. Installing a game onto a console is silly if you still need the disk to play the game. Cartridges are like a million dollars if you had one that was going to hold all the info of a media disk. I don't see any way to win this at all.

Thought the arrangement is very simple, it's presented in such a way that it really gets into your head. Very barren and morose. The sounds were well chosen, and though i'd have preferred the flute to have a little more life to it, it works well. The transitions were smooth, and the different sections had enough variety to keep me interested. The melody is very haunting, and I can only imagine the level of emotion in the game itself during this scene. Nice work, very classy.

This reminds me quite a bit of Michael Kamen's better work as far as arrangement. Excellent string beds and very emotive woodwinds, and a very relaxing yet mysterious atmosphere draw attention to it. Though the original track was heavy on the atmosphere and light on the melody, this emphasizes both in a way that makes it far superior to the already good original. Samples are used very well and the transitions are pretty nice. Very good work.

Great ear-catching beginning, it really has a huge spacey sound. If i ever had a huge personal revelation in my life, I would want to have this song playing for extra emphasis and dramatic impact. "What? Overdraft notice? Nooooooo!!!!!" The production on this is super-quality, everything is clear and has great presence to it. The melody is very apparent but is pretty ambient, so the track tends to slide into BGM territory, but it is very image-rich. If you like ambient, this is about as good as it gets.

Damn that kick starts out dry. A little jarring, but once there is some ambiance surrounding it, it sounds great. The arrangement is pretty basic, and doesn't really stray from the original at all. That's fine, but I'd have preferred something a bit more interpretive; The original mix brings to mind all kinds of steampunk-style automations, and going on that theme could be all kinds of misshapen phrases and melodies bolted onto the original. As is, it's decent but more of a sound upgrade than a proper ReMix.

I love the source; I love McVaffe, but this one seems to be somewhat inferior to a lot of his other tracks. Things are decently enough produced, but there are some samples that even though processed, sound really cheap, like the lead "guitar". I guess I was hoping for something more ambient than this, with a stronger mood. There is some good panning on the track, but the sound field doesn't feel very deep. It's still a good track, but it seems like it wasn't quite complete, or perhaps one of his earlier works.

Pretty cool how this one tells the story, with the learning sequence at the beginning. There were some weird production issues with the initial learning sequence, but once the song itself starts the sound was pristine. I'll assume it was intentionally that raw and hiss-tacular. As for the song itself, it is pretty coverish but very enjoyable. Ailsean is a fantastic guitarist and pulls of pinch harmonics without even trying throughout the song, and the bass is totally groovin. The groove based volumes it speaks are very colorful. >_>

RAMA IS A DINOSAUR AMONG MEN! EVEN A COOL ONE LIKE A VELOCIRAPTOR! The entries I've heard thus far have been generally pretty good; congrats to all the winners. Hell, congrats to everyone, especially Rama. Gold stars for the lot of you.

Sample-wise a mixed bag, as is the execution; the harpsichord was nice, as was the bassoon, and the usage of both was smartly done, but the recorder was a bit too lacking in velocity variety, as were the pizzicato strings. The sustained strings were pretty nice, however. The arrangement was really fun and playful, but a bit mechanical in several spots. It was especially apparent in the sections that were heavy with the pizzicato. With such a short length, it feels more like a promising WIP than a finished work, but it's fun and contains a lot of variation despite it's brevity.

The delay really makes this one interesting. Some of the lower pizzicato at the beginning didn't really sound like it matched up properly, but a somewhat minor detail as the rest of the track is excellently atmospheric. There almost might be a bit too much reverb and delay on this one, but it's minimal. There are so many subtle polyrhythms derived from the gated synths and the subsequent delays that even though the structure is simple, it has a very rich complexity to it. I'm not too familiar with the original, but this could easily be played at disco clubs just about anywhere and no one would know what it was a ninja gaiden remix unless they recognized the source. Nice work, this one is cool.

I do think this would have hugely benefited from a room sound. As is, it sounds completely dampened, as if a quartet was playing in a tiny practice room with overly-enthusiastic amounts of insulation. Arrangement is good, and the only thing that bothers me is the way the samples are so exposed. It really makes the flaws very apparent, and it jars me out of listening every few notes.

Clever name. The synths used were pretty fat and mixing overall was decent; though i'd prefer the percussion to have a bit more bite, specifically the kick. The hats were a little too robotic for me as well. Arrangement was pretty basic, without a ton of expansion, but there are sufficient breakdowns and instrumentation to give this one it's own identity. I did enjoy the mix but would have preferred a bit more arrangement.

Beat-wise this is super repetitive and boring,but there is some nice melodic work going on, and the texture shifts keep it from getting too monotonous, though by the end it is definitely running on fumes idea-wise(get it? motorcycle reference ). I recognize a bunch of vocal samples from back in the ol' dance party days, and I guess it gives the track some "authenticity", but the fact that they are used exactly the same way as several other tracks i've heard just seems to me like cut and pasting. Production is unremarkable but serviceable. Overall decent but too long for the material there.

Not quite feeling this one, There are some pretty distinct jungle elements here, but I am having a hard time finding the source. Like super hard. It's decent enough, but doesn't really get my attention in any way. Gonna have to give this one the thumbs down.