orkybash

One thing Ailsean pointed out in his VGmix comments for this song was that, during the reprisal of Glenn's Theme, the countermelody is actually Melodies of Life. just thought I'd point out that apparently little-known factoid.

This remix embodies Mustin, and I say that because it's creative in the extreme. I garuntee that on your first listen you will be going, "I loved Atma Weapon! WTF did he do to it???" But give it time to grow on you, and you'll realize that it's probably in the top FF remixes on this site.

Heh... thanks for the dedication! On to the remix... DJP said a while ago that he thinks this is the first time this genre has really been done on this site, and I have to agree with him. And not only does it try something new, it executes it well. A must-download, if I say so myself.

I'm not trying to defend my opinion as much as I am trying to keep from being misunderstood.

I listened to it once and loved it as a concept piece. But I doubt I'd listen to it again. Neat song, but it's way too out there for me to be able to enjoy over and over.

Please see my original post, I *did* say I enjoyed it, but that didn't stop me from criticising some aspects of it.

The transition I was specifically talking about was between the slower intro and the main part of the song. Hope that clears it up.

This is quite possibly my favorite remix on this site. You ought to be ashamed of yourself for reading this if you haven't hit download yet.

Longest Journey 'Beginnings' This is simply beautiful. Samples are good, and there's really no dead spots in the arrangement. I noticed some discordance, but it's used to good effect here, adds interest, and doesn't seem at all accidental (as was the case when I've criticized that aspect in other mixes). Me likes.

I really don't see why there's a problem with tv/movie remixes if they're featured in games, too. I mean, it *is* a game, right? Are we now discriminating against games that were made from movies?

Super Metroid 'Dimstar' High quality Brinstar mix from Beatdrop. Lot's of wacky effects (no, I don't mean DSP by that, though that too is present and well-used), including a Magus-like laugh sound, make this really enjoyable to listen to and bring out the mood of the original probably better than the original did. There is one element, though, that I didn't like: ironically, the beatdrop. That one sample really killed the mix for me, not to mention made my ears almost bleed. It's still an enjoyable mix, but I think it would be a lot more so if a less intense bass drum were used.

Chrono Trigger 'Millennial Mountain (Delightful Disco Mix)' Well, to tell you the truth, I think disco should have gone with the 70's never to return. Regardless, this mix does display the sort of quality we've all come to expect from NoppZ, and is a fun listen regardless of your opinion of a certain genre of music. This is also another good example of his ability to put multiple songs together (in this case, three) - listen up if you want to do something like this, since NoppZ always gets it right. So unless you're even more anti-disco than I am, go for it!

M&M's Minis Madness 'virt's Madness' Well, it's nice to hear some of Virt's stuff get more attention. Overall I like this arrangement, as well as the effect the small room reverb gives - props to Mustin for not concert-halling the hell out of this. However, although I'm loath to criticize anything that Mustin does, I do have some comments here. The voice sample in the middle needs to be more audible, and I would have liked to hear a bit more power out of the brass. There, I'm done. No, I'm not gonna criticize the length - it's short, but it's well developed. Do yourself a favor and grab this song.

Xenogears 'Theme of a Sailor' It's Xenogears and it's Pancake Chef, what's not to like? While this is a pretty simple arrangement, it's very, very cool. Plus, a fretless bass combined with the classic piano-n-strings is something you don't hear every day. On the downside it's a tad short, but I don't think there's much you could do with this without ruining it's simplicity, so I won't mark off for that. Recommended.

Alex Kidd in Miracle World 'No One Can Do It Better' You sure the title here isn't your elitist side trying to express it's self, djp? j/k, of course. This is actually some different stuff from Pretzel in that I haven't heard him cover a track in quite this style yet... then again, I don't think even I have listened to all 50+ of his mixes, so I might be missing something. . This is much smoother and happier than his usual technofunk style and, while it's definitely a breath of fresh air, I'm not sure I like it as much. It's a high quality track, though, and that IS just me. So I'd give it a listen and decide for yourself whether or not it's your thing.

Final Fantasy IX 'Safety in Numbers' Well, it's not fair if I review my own remix, right? Right. But anyway, I originally didn't want to submit this because I wasn't that satisfied with it, though it did end up on RPGamer. But apparently, someone thought it was good enough to submit it here for me, so when djp PMed me asking about it, I took it as a vote of confidence and "seconded" the submission. I also asked that he rename it, since the original name, "Not Alone," was too derivative of the original track title. No, I don't know what "Safety in Numbers" means either, but I'm sure Pretzel had his reasons for naming it thus.

Mega Man 2 'Project X2 - Metal Man' If you're familiar with the other songs in Project X2, then you should know what to expect: a combination of live guitars and wicked synths, with great DSP and a near-perfect arrangement. That also means, unfortunately, that it's too damn short, so I'd just download it and enjoy what's there. Then, of course, collect them all!

Xenogears 'Transient Sands ~ Dazil' What can I say? I love the original, and I love Matt Pollard's version. Great blend of rock and Indian instruments. And the whispering at the end really gives the song a new dimension (what's he SAYING, anyway? ) Another worthy download from mp!

Xenogears 'Awakening (Latin Radio Edit)' OK, now, I don't want any bitrate complaints on this one! All jokes aside, though, I really enjoyed this both for it's arrangement quality and it's creative take on the original song. I would complain here about it being underdeveloped, but that's not the case as Matt Pollard found the heart to release an extended mix of this. I don't know where you can find it (maybe vgmix.com has it?) but if you can track it down, go for it. If not, this one's still good.

EarthBound 'Rings of Saturn Valley' Though not technically the best out there, nor the best arrangement on the site, this is a very quirky and fun remix that I would definitely recommend, at least for one listen. I tell ya, if you can't get your hands on some LSD, listening to this is the next best thing! Not that *I'd* ever know, but...

Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 'St. Vital's Fresh Limestone Cutz' Very entertaining & creative mix of the Goron theme. Coulda done with a better guitar sample and with out the "scratch-scratch-scratch-scratch-KICKIT!" interludes (though as a staple of the genre I suppose they *do* belong there). Get this if you're sick of Gerudo Valley and the Overworld and want to hear something else from Zelda! (aren't we all? )

Radical Dreamers 'Far Promise ~ Drama' One of the better songs to come out of the Radical Dreamers flood, IMHO. Makes good use of the music box sound that was present in the original. Like many of the remixes in the flood, this one could have been developed a tad more, but I don't think that's a problem given that most of these were made in about 30 minutes. A worthy download, even if you've heard all the others and are sick of the Far Promise theme.

Mega Man 4 'Cossack Hot Steppin' Not my favorite from Pollard, but it's an enjoyable mix nonetheless. The lead synth is surprisingly good - it's amazing what a little well-applied tremolo can do to a sound. The arrangement is a tad underdeveloped, but that's about the only bad thing I can say about this. So though I wouldn't call this mix an absolutely-must-download-or-else-you-will-die-by-way-of-rabid-fish-bites, but it's still an enjoyable listen.

Mega Man X3 'House Hornet' Imagine this: you and your friends are playing a friendly game of D&D, when the party comes across a nest of giant bees. You, as the DM, set the tone of the encounter by looping the song throughout the entire, veeeerrryyy long encounter. Well, at least that's what I did, and you know what? None of the players ever got tired of the song! That alone should be a testament to it's greatness. And if all of that went over your head, this shouldn't: Very highly recommended. (and folks, in the 130+ reviews I've typed up, that's the first time that "very" has snuck in there.)

Lufia II 'Of Sinistrals and Men' As I've stated before, I'm a sucker for orchestral/techno combos, even though they can be hard to pull off. This particular remix does it very well. Aside from an intro that comes of as being pretty overblown and a fade-out ending, every element here has it's place and is executed well. Recommended.