MindWanderer

I knew about all the ones on OCR and DoD (DoD quality is unimpressive, IMHO), and I still consider the representation of these games to be poor. On the other hand, 3 albums out of the games I listed is great news! I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the GRMRB's--I expected them to be a lot worse since they hadn't gone through any peer review process. Too bad they don't contain any Dr. Wily/Dr. Cossack/Dark Man/Mr. X/etc. themes, but hopefully the "Wily Castle Remix Gauntlet" will include some of those, as well as some of the Game Boy Wily themes. I also forgot to mention Mega Man: The Wily Wars! Just about every soundtrack in there is a hidden gem. Also Final Fantasy: Mystic Quest (yes, I know, 3 on DoD and 2 here) could stand some more attention, and I'm amazed there's nothing for Chip & Dale's Rescue Rangers, which had a excellent if somewhat childish soundtrack.

After some scathing reviews in WIP, I've come to the conclusion that I have neither the tools nor the ear nor the talent to do this myself. Therefore the best I can do is post a list of what might have been and hope someone else agrees that these are worth doing. First, the games that have stellar soundtracks all around and have had no more than a couple of their tracks covered: Tetris Battle Gaiden (SNES) Blaster Master (NES) Bionic Commando (NES) Wild Arms (PS1) Mega Man 4, 5, 6 (NES) Mega Man 1, 2 (GB) Legend of Mana (PS1) Lufia 2 (SNES) (Yes, I know an unofficial album is slowly in progress) Also, a few specific tracks to games with otherwise unremarkable soundtracks: Little Nemo, the Dream Master (NES): Nightmare Land Space Quest (PC): Tavern "Blues Brothers" music, maybe the main theme Skate or Die (NES): Downhill Jam Marble Madness (NES): Cosmic Zone (was going to do a mashup with these last two) And finally, two games that have only one theme but with multiple (minor) variants... by probably no coincidence, both designed by the same man: A Boy and His Blob (NES) Pitfall II (Atari 2600)

Hm. Well, I'm disappointed, but thank you for your time and honesty. The odd thing is, I'm using Fluid R3, which is widely considered to be one of the best free soundfonts available, and I've tried a few. If this one isn't good enough, then none of them are, and without a paid program I'm wasting my time. Better to know now, though.

Yeah, Dark Man has been on my to-do list, too, but my list is long and my skills are short. There hasn't been enough love for any of the Mega Man games from 4 to 6, IMO.

Odd. It ran when saved but not directly in the browser. I tried "converting" it to the same thing it already is, and that seems to have worked. One of the two source tunes has the same issue, and I can't seem to fix it the same way. Until I get my registration info for TinDeck, you'll just have to "Save As" to listen to the Queen's Stage. Sorry about that.

54 downloads and no feedback? Well, I'll mark this as finished then, hopefully that will prompt someone to say something, good or bad.

Since there haven't been any additional comments and I'm going to be away from my computer for a week, I'd like a mod to take a listen some time before I come back.

You have rockin' guitar skills, but I'm not crazy about the arrangement. Some of the transitions are awkward: FF1->6 works great, but 6->7 and 7->8 are abrupt and almost off-key, and of course the end is abrupt. Also, the part at 3:15 is kind of dissonant. If you were thinking about subbing this to OCR, the main impediment is going to be originality. This is pretty much a straight cover of the four songs; OCR mixes need to have some interpretation.

I like that it's a different approach from what's been done with the theme before, but it is quite repetitive and homogeneous, and the sound samples are kind of poor. I'd try looking for some new sounds, then switching them up as the song progresses. I'm sure you know, but the ending needs some work, too.

I like where this is going. I haven't heard the source since '98 or so, and it's a great choice; this version is true to the source while being significantly original. It's a little repetitious, though that's typical of the genre. And I hope you had something else in mind for the end!

It does certainly sound like it's using default system MIDI sounds. There are much better, free options out there. The source material isn't easy to hear except at 0:35-0:53 and 1:03-1:13. And that's barely half the song at present! It's going in a good direction, but it's hard to evaluate at its current length.

It's almost half over before the melody comes in. I'd need the source tune to form an opinion about the rest of it.

More minor edits to the percussion, but mostly marking this as finished since it landed on page 2 without further comments. Feedback is still strongly appreciated.

Sorry, fixed.

Tetris Battle Gaiden, sometimes translated Tetris Butou Gaiden: A game no one's ever heard of, but had great music (and is one of the best competitive puzzle games of all time, IMO). Source material: The Battle Queen (could probably figure out a better title if I read Japanese) Queen's Stage Remix (as-yet untitled): Queen's Theme Remixed And if I suck too much (which is probable), I hope I will at least inspire some of the better remixers out there to take a stab at the same game. It really has a lot of catchy tunes.

I agree with DjMystix--it sounds great, but it is very repetitious. It's even more repetitious in places than the source material, since you edited the "chorus" to sound more like the "verses." And the part after the break sounds just like the very beginning. Also, the first three seconds of bass threaten to give me a headache. Definitely a lot of potential, though.

Minor update uploaded. (Since we're on page 2: ...But the Trains Always Ran On Time) Drums switched to a low, resonant tom; Rosegarden doesn't support multiple true percussion tracks, as near as I can tell, even though I'd prefer a true acoustic bass drum with some reverb. The rapid celesta sections have had the volume modulated a bit. Note that if you're going for realism, the celesta is a keyboard instrument, so the "style" in the video doesn't really apply. I have mixed feelings about humanizing the hi-hat. It's the "train" noise, so having that regular, chugging beat is a big part of the point. I'd love to hear another perspective on this.

I was working on something else while waiting for feedback, so no new version yet anyway. I'll work on the rapid celesta. I switched to the timpani because you mentioned that the kick I was using wasn't resounding and bassy enough, but I'll see what I can do with it going back to a regular kick drum. As for the middle where the transition to Wily is, what I wanted to avoid, since this is a mashup, was the two themes sounding tacked together. That's why this is the most repetitious part of the song, instrumentation-wise.

My one complaint would be that the first and second halves are at pretty different volumes. As someone who listens to OCR in the car on crappy speakers a lot, if I turn up the volume enough to hear the first part well, it'll blast my eardrums in the second.

The first few seconds of bass now seem overdone. Otherwise, still sounds great!

It is very good, though it's very similar to things that have been done before, by semiprofessional bands no less: Metroid Metal (a.k.a. Stemage here on OCR), and the Minibosses. I do like the synth interludes, but you're playing with the big boys here.

I'm new too, but that doesn't mean I'm without opinions! Pros: You do have some creativity going on here, it's no longer just a cover. Switching up the pace works reasonably well. And the original solo at around 2:50 is actually quite good. Cons: There's still some dissonance at times, and the samples still sound pretty bad. I know it's supposed to be pure synth sounds and not "real" instruments, but that's a handicap to be working with. It's also a handicap that you've chosen a song that's been done to death--not just by some of the best composers at OCR but by Konami itself. My advice is to find yourself some new samples (I like Fluid R3, a free soundfont) and, as Nutritious said, work on something else before coming back to this. It's going in a good direction, but I think you could use some practice before you can take this one all the way.

Oh, this sounds awfully familiar. Not just the source material, but the mix itself. I can't find it right now--the only remix I can find is the soft one from the official MIDI collection--but when I get to my home computer, which may take me a while, I'll see if I can dig it up. Assuming I'm hallucinating, I do have some constructive criticism: I doubt it would pass review here based just on the fact that it's pretty much a straight cover, hardly any arrangement. It's also just as repetitive as the source material. If you want to see it on OCR, get jiggy with it and turn it into a real song. That being said, it is a good adaptation, and I'd like to see how far you can take it.

Battle of the Holy by Minotaur Project--would that make it Battle of the Holy Cow? Sorry, I know that wasn't helpful! I promise I'll give it a listen later.

Ah, that's why I didn't recognize it. You took a few of the series of rapid notes and compressed them into one long note. When a song is basically only 7 notes long, it makes a big difference!