THANK YOU SO MUCH SLYGEN
THAT IS DEFINITELY THE SONG, WITHOUT QUESTION
But, it's also not exactly the version I remember. As Nick R said, it seems the song progressed through several versions. I'm not sure what version I heard back in the day, but it was not EXACTLY that one.
Though, that is without question the same song. And it was definitely made by Musically Inspired. Whether the version I heard was a "work in progress" and the one you linked was the "finished product," or vice-versa, I have no idea; nor do I have any way we can identify this, barring contacting Inspired himself.
I took the time to send him an e-mail, so if he happens to shed some light on the situation, I will pass it along.
But nonetheless, that download was more than I could have hoped for.
Brings back such memories...
Also, with reference to Nick R's post, if anyone is able to better explain the difference between the OCRemix and the VGMix sites, I'd greatly appreciate it. I know I can't be crazy in thinking that a wealth of remixes I loved back in the 2000-2003ish era disappeared, since Nick R is alluding to the same sort of idea.
I have no idea what the "VGMix" was. I just remember coming to www.ocremix.org, searching for games I liked (Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasies, Secret of Mana, ETC) and finding a lot of great remixes I loved. Now I'll search those same titles on ocremix and find SIGNIFICANTLY less hits, and I'm wondering where it all went... or if it still exists!
Does this mean that VGMix and ocremix were linked at some point? I only ever recall typing www.ocremix.org in my browser when searching for vidgame music.
To further clarify (or perhaps confuse), I did not recognize a single song in the list of songs in that site. And I listened to all the removed Chrono Trigger, C.Cross, Final Fantasy, and Secret of Mana ones on that list.