MindWanderer

Gario's got this dead on, and like him, I can only listen to this for so long, so there may be other issues I'm not picking up on. Tweak that guitar and we'll talk. NO

Finally finished the game. Unfortunately, the ending was really a whole lot of nothing. It looked cool and all, but the challenge was negligible and story really isn't the game's strong point. If I ever do play this game again, it will be in Hard Mode with the DLC. But I probably won't do even that--you can't "re-explore" a world you've already explored, or "re-solve" a puzzle, and those were the best parts. I have no interest in repeating the grindy bits needed to upgrade armor, or the pointless fetch quests that reward you with pocket change or an item you can find lying around anywhere, or worst of all the stealth and escort quests (which were all part of main quests).

Yes, but they haven't said how many games would be included. Right now they're promising only three: Super Mario 3, Dr. Mario (NES), and Balloon Fight(!). It's also still only $20/year (now a firm price), and they're putting off its launch until next year at least. Maybe they'll use that time to build out the VC library. Including just those three games is just a quirky, oddball decision. Perhaps they're using those as a sort of demo for a higher-cost Netflix-like service? In other news, Hori has released a diagram of their, perhaps appropriately, somewhat Lovecrafitian Splatoon voice chat headset. It includes a splitter so you can listen to chat and game audio at the same time, and of course it also needs a dongle if you want to connect it to a newer iPhone. No idea how it would work when your Switch is docked; perhaps they just assume you'll use your normal phone speaker/microphone in that situation. I suppose future headsets could simply include dual Bluetooth antennas? One to connect to the phone and one to the Switch? Not sure if the Switch firmware would support that option.

I definitely hear the Robert Miles influence here, but, perhaps due to Injury's vocals, I would have pegged this as an Aversa couple tribute instead. Which is good, too! I really enjoyed the arrangement and the style. It's a perfect adaptation of the source, one of those remixes that I think people will start recognizing for itself rather than for what it's based on. However, there are some production issues that I feel could use some tweaking. The strings in 1:43-2:12 are in conflict with the backing instruments and are getting muffled, not carrying the lead, especially conflicting with some of the arps in places. Same goes for the synth lead in 2:56-3:09, to a lesser extent, and the one at 4:21-4:34, to a greater extent. It would be nice if you could make a little more room for the vocals at 3:35 and 3:51, too. The piano is occasionally in some conflict as well, but Miles struggled with the same issue, and I think you actually did a better job than him in many ways. The piano solo in 2:26-2:40 seems strange and random to me. I don't get the impression that it's being matched well by the backing synths. There's a clap at 0:45 that sounds very staticy. It seems intentional but sounds like severe distortion. The ending is a little abrupt. There's not much of a build-up to a climax, and Injury's intonation doesn't suggest finality. That 808 is a little too pounding for my tastes. There's nothing objectively wrong with it that I can tell, but it's threatening to give me a headache now that I've been listening to it for a while now. All in all, though, all my crits are on the minor side. The EQ is my biggest overall concern, and the thumping 808 is the biggest thing that's affecting my enjoyment of the piece, but neither is a dealbreaker. I'd love to see those aspects tweaked, but overall I think this is very successful and I'll be happy to add it to my own library. YES

Those strings are definitely a detractor, and the brass LT commented on is pretty grating as well. I don't think the brass is especially inhuman, like most articulation issues are, but it does sound like it's being played badly; many of the velocity changes seem to be random or accidental rather than intentionally emotive. The female vocal sample didn't bother me, it's very Star Trek: TOS, but the male ones did. So did some of the flutes (4:43-4:53). That said, the arrangement is delightful, great use of the two sources with some original writing that fits in perfectly. Lots of arrangements of these sources get old fast, but this is engaging throughout. The orchestration is brilliantly conceived and executed. I wouldn't mind at all if this got sent back for some improvement in the performances of those instruments--Rebecca's definitely done better before--but I don't think it's quite enough to keep this from being posted. YES (borderline)

Gario's absolutely right about the repetition being a dealbreaker; 78 seconds being repeated out of 226 is over a third, far too much. Repetition isn't my only concern, though, and I think even without that I'd have a tough time giving this one my thumbs up. There's a substantial lack of bass throughout, prompting me to break out my bass-heavy headphones to hear what bass was there, and even then the soundscape came across as heavily loaded in the mid to mid-high range. There are some cluttered sections, as well: the saw lead in 0:18-0:36 conflicts with the funky synths and gets muffled, and the tables are turned in 0:41-0:45 and 0:50-1:08, where the funky synths are being drowned out. 1:18-1:36 has the same problem, but with different leads; there's a lot of detail that gets lost there. Then in the conclusion, the flute lead in 3:16-3:30 is too quiet, and 3:26-3:39 is excessively busy in general. The mix is overall on the quiet side. Despite there not being a ton of headroom, I had to turn up my volume much louder than I normally have to for music. The dynamic contrast is fairly constrained, though, so that's just an observation and not necessarily something that requires correction. I'm not a fan of that ending, either. There's no lead-up to it, it just ends. So yeah, while this would definitely be a much stronger submission with the repetition issue dealt with, I don't think that's the only issue that needs to be addressed. The structure is pretty good and there are some solid ideas, but this would really benefit from some more work in the EQ department. NO

I've been mulling this one over for quite some time now. I think the source connection is technically enough to meet our standards, but it does so at the cost of being static and repetitive. There's a nice break in the center, but most of it is mellow riffs over that rainstick and the flute-like source notes. It's a good concept to start off with, but the original ideas that are present here aren't enough to make an entire remix out of. To extend the metaphor, a crutch isn't just a support, but can also hold you back. To get this to work, I think you'll have to go further afield and get more adventurous with how you adapt the source material. NO

I can't do much here except echo everything Gario and LT said. "Minimal and skeletal" exactly describes my own #1 concern. This feels like an early WIP where some of the instruments simply haven't been added in yet. I think this source can be fleshed out into a full ReMix, but it'll take quite a bit more work on top of what you have here. NO

The plot is based on Castlevania III, so the spellcasting woman should be Sypha Belmades.

Clearly you have never played any games that had to be loaded from cassette tape.

Unfortunately, Gario's right. This is some great work coming from Trism, and he's clearly come a long way in the time I've known him on the forums here, but that repetitiveness is a real killer. That last section in particular is nearly a minute and a half of basically the same thing, and it's something we heard plenty of back at 2:03-2:57. I also caught what sounded like unintentional dissonance with the backing arp at around 5:17. I feel like this is really close--the general idea is great, production is on point, and with the exceptions of those subtle off-kilter arps, there's nothing in here that's bad in isolation. Come back to this and insert some new ideas at 2:13 or at least 2:36, and again no later than about 4:53, in place of the repeated sections there. There's a good amount of source representation here, so you can afford to give some of it up in favor of original writing if you liked--a synth solo is what comes to my mind--or just riff on what you have in a different way. NO (resubmit)

Gario hits a number of excellent criticisms, and I'll add a few more of my own. The overall soundscape feels quite empty, mainly due to the lack of bass. The bass guitar is extremely quiet and used sparingly, to the point I didn't even notice there was one for quite some time, and the same is true for the kick drum. The melodic treatment is very conservative, mostly just rehashing the source. There are a few original moments, mainly the intro and conclusion, but not many. Since the accompaniment is indistinct, there's little to make this a unique, distinct arrangement And again, because the accompaniment doesn't stand out, the bulk of the arrangement sounds very same-y. The whole range from 0:28-2:45 is very similar sonically, and would benefit from some variety to keep the listener interested. Bringing up the accompaniment may be enough to fix that, but you can consider adding breakdowns, solos, etc. to break things up a little. NO

I'm not quite as happy about this as my colleagues are, but it's still a massive improvement. It still drones on within a fairly limited soundscape for the bulk of its length, and there are still some balance issues (the organ is nearly inaudible in most places, for instance). But the glaring production issues have been dealt with, and the lead work is just as entertaining as it was the first time around. I'm okay giving this a YES

Yeah, many of those games rely on players dying once to various obstacles, remembering where they are and what their patterns are, and anticipating their movements the next time they get there. Castlevania is the classic example, since Simon moves slowly, attacks slowly, is super vulnerable on stairs, and can't alter his momentum in mid-air at all. Mega Man 1 isn't the worst of them, with several notable exceptions (Yellow Devil). Battletoads is virtually nothing but memorization.

*Raises hand* The second one was much, much easier than the first. I never did beat the first game, although I did get to the end, because a friend of mine showed me how he did it: use Jump & Slash on the third-to-last boss, die, repeat the whole last world to bring Jump & Slash to the second-to-last boss, repeat. I never played the third, but apparently the two different localizations are vastly different in difficulty, with one being the easiest of the three games and the other being on par with the first one.

Seemed source-light to me, so here's my timestamps: 0:00-0:16 (source intro, heavily transformed but recognizable) 0:36-0:54 (chord progression only, I'm not counting this) 0:55-1:52 (straightforward) 2:18-2:43 (reminiscent of the source, but both meter and notes are changed substantially, so I'm not counting this either) 2:44-3:02 (chord progression only, again not counting this) 3:03-3:46 (straightforward, but nearly identical to the first 2/3 of 0:55-1:52 until the end) Total: 116/231 seconds = 50.2% Cutting it awfully close there, and it's worth noting that nearly half of that source usage (1:33-1:52 and 3:03-3:38) is repetition. And on top of that, these sections are exactly the ones that Gario, correctly, had concerns about regarding the production. I'll add that I wasn't a fan of the production in 2:18-2:31 (machine-gun drums burying the melody) or 2:31-2:41 (generally just mushy) either. There's a lot here that works, and I like the approach much more than I thought I would. But I personally feel that the production and arrangement are each borderline at best, and combined, that's enough to send this back. I'd be okay with the arrangement if there was more usage of the source that wasn't just a repetition of other sections, and the instrumentation really does need to be separated more. NO (resubmit)

Straightforward stuff here, but it works. I'm more than a little tired of the Invincibility theme being tossed into the middle of Mario Kart arrangements, but other than that, the arrangement is conservative but effective. The differences in performance and timbre between the first and second half made up for the repetition that was there, and the ending was clever. Great stuff! YES

Oh yeah, those pizzicato strings are super dry and sterile. The other tenor strings in the intro are dry, too; less so, but still problematically. Nearly two minutes of intro is an awful lot, but you do use it as a bookend, and there's a brief piano section in the middle, so it at least doesn't seem like two songs stuck together. But it's such a dramatic contrast between the sections that it's really jarring when the Eurobeat kicks in. I think this would be better as two songs, but I don't think it's a dealbreaker as-is. The dynamic contrast is really strong, and I can't set my volume to a point where I can hear the intro and conclusion well without it being painfully loud during the middle. You have about 5 dB of headroom in those sections, so bringing up the volume there would be much appreciated. It's actually pretty impressive how clear the sounds are during the Eurobeat section despite being smashed up against the limiter virtually the whole time, though the bass does get swallowed during the busiest sections. I have very mixed feelings about this. The middle section is pretty solid, and the piano work is very nice but the dryness of those strings is a severe drawback, and the quietness of the intro and conclusion is a problem for my listening comfort. I'll mull this over, listen a few more times, and put down a vote later. Update: All right, I'm back. I can live with the dry violins, but not the difference in volume between sections. That should be a simple enough fix, though. I'd recommend both making the piano/strings section louder and the Eurobeat section quieter. They don't have to be the same overall volume, but they need to be at least in the same comfort range. YES-Conditional (on adjusting volume)

Yeah, this is pretty solid stuff. The breakdown was really helpful, so thanks for that. Some of those source uses are subtle enough that I'm not sure I'd give them credit, but there's plenty to spare to hit 50%. If I were to really nitpick, I'd say that the sidechaining is a little over the top, on the verge of being a little distracting, and that the horns from 1:43-1:59 sound fake and are somewhat buried. That's all I got, though. Nice work, as usual. YES

Gario has this spot-on, I think. I have a few crits to add to his, though. The sanctuary section takes quite a bit of time to build up. The loop that starts at 1:14 in particular seems extraneous, adding nothing to the existing textures, and then the one at 1:43 is subtractive rather than additive, other than the riser. Adding some engaging percussion, particularly if you add it halfway through each loop instead of at the start, would help hold the listeners' interest. The castle section is a little less authentic synthwave and a little more chiptunes with reverb, so there's an aesthetic clash with the first half. I'd have another look at that pulse lead and maybe choose something else. Otherwise, I love the concept, and I actually really like the idea of using Sanctuary as the build-up to Castle, but that build-up has to follow through in terms of balance and energy. Other than the pulse wave, the lead and bass synths are great, and I'd love to see a revision of this on the front page. NO (resubmit)

I mostly agree with Gario: it's a great concept, a clever arrangement, and an excellent performance. My one big gripe would be with the lengthy breaks at 0:41-0:47, 2:17-2:21, and 2:48-2:51, and the abrupt transition at 4:02, which break up the arrangement into distinct sections. However, each section is based on the same melody, and there's a thematic progression in addition to the consistent instrumentation. It's definitely more like a mini-suite than a single song, but we've passed arrangements like that before. Otherwise, this is fun and different, a good addition to the album as well as our front page. YES

So three features that really should have been there all along and don't really encourage anyone who's finished the game to come back to it. One monster rush mode, which personally I find boring. And Hard Mode... (shrug). Might be OK for people who really want to play the whole game again, or who played through haphazardly the first time, but it also sounds like the low-rank enemies (the red bokoblins and moblins and the green lizalfos) are simply omitted from the game. If anything, if I'd already bought the season pass or was committed to doing so, I'd flatly put down the game I'm playing right now and come back with the expansion for the "full" experience. But most likely I just won't buy it. Maybe if it goes on sale in a couple of years (unlikely but possible, Nintendo does do it occasionally).

Not much for me to add except a rubber stamp. I thought the piano sound and performance were perfectly adequate, and the arrangement is beautifully emotive. Started off quite conservative but expanded the source in some lovely and engaging ways. Well worth a post. YES

I came out of this strongly feeling both Gario's and LT's crits of this. That opening was quite thin and weak, the piano was both mixed too far back behind the noodly bass. Additionally, the slap bass that starts at 0:05 sounds really low-fi and generic, very much out of place in this mix in terms of both sound design and environmental space, and really just kind of unpleasant to boot. The overall arrangement is pretty cool, and I have no complaints about the guitar-led sections, but the production and synth instrumentation do indeed need some work. NO (resubmit)

Yep, pretty much standard Tripp fare, which is nothing to scoff at. Overall arrangement is pretty conservative, which stands out with such a short source, but the thorough instrumentation more than makes up for it. I don't have anything else to add that Gario and LT didn't. A solid addition to Rebecca's portfolio. YES