Rexy   Judges ⚖️

Of all the tracks I heard in the trailer, THIS was the one I was looking forward to the most. I have very fond memories of the GB Donkey Kong - one of the most played games on the system for me, so I'm very happy someone covered the score eventually! After a nicely manipulated intro fusing both the DK jingle and the 9-5 arpeggio, it goes straight into a straightforward adaptation of the 9-8 stage though a lot of the additions on the guitar later on and the call-and-response between the guitar harmonics and strings add in a lot of melodic character. The solo section following it and the choir preceeding it managed to similarly give it some clever touches in regards to the melody, so while the structure may seem safer in comparison to other BGC tracks there's still a considerable amount of substance that really lift it up. Even under the production bonnet it managed to hold its own. I believe the key element that should be given credit is the synth guitar work; even though they are a considerable pet peeve with me in the community in general, the amount of expression done towards it gives it a well balanced touch. Excellent. I do however have one goddamn nitpick with this - it's too short!! That may be nostalgia with the source more than anything, but I was kind of hoping for it to not just end after a second rendition of the theme. It's still a very sweet track overall, and I feel greatful that you handled something that A) is undercovered, and that I have somewhat of a nostalgic attachment to, so thank you BGC

Oh my God, you included the "Brandon's Beard" incident Chernabogue, you are a genius - we will live up to that trailer!

Lol, THIS source tune. I tried arranging this before; that was one experience though I wanted to forget. xD But I do remember Jago from the VGMix days, and I'm glad that he finally made his appearance on the OCR front page after his growth. In comparison to the other BadAss samples I've noted so far, the writing here feels somewhat more playful to me - and by that I mean Starfox Assault type playfulness - mostly due to the writing work between the brass and strings and the nice call-and-answer response sections being placed here. For the most part this remains fairly faithful to the source, though while retaining the sections of the source it still manages to add its own charm with the sweet accompaniment work being driven in. The slowdown section at 2:15 managed to add that more triumphant side while still being able to manipulate the melody, and that with all the details in there really shows off the track's strengths. I'm going to have to be on the same sample articulation boat as Larry though; while we do have these lovely samples, there doesn't seem to be much attention being paid to the humanisation for these, and I'm noting sections of the brass and woodwinds in particular having constant velocities for fast moving notes. It's something that's difficult to comprehend if you're not a performer of these kinds of instruments yourself (and I don't think many of us are in that regard), but by paying attention to the details like the attack/decay/sustain filters, it can help to try and bring that realism forward. Otherwise, this is a very solid arrangement of a limited source, and one that's definitely worthy of a splash on OCR as well as a placement on BadAss! Welcome to the clan, Jago

Well, "Laughing Octopus" is definitely one ridiculous source tune to make ANYTHING out of since most of it is pulsating bass and sound effects. But the Dual Dragons made it work with a more riff-driven dose of rock and giving it a similar melodic punch over those riffs. I can't deny their presentation style (especially those guitar/synth tones) and way of arrangement for such a limited source; for the most part it managed to hit a huge sweet spot by this execution. There's something that DOES needs being stressed over though - string realisation. While the transitions to them were good, they somehow felt really mechanical with the constant velocities/attacks to them, so maybe some ways of changing them up could've helped add some life to them; after all, they're mostly staccato notes being used here, so not a right lot should've been attended to for something like that. Hence we got one of the more unusual tracks to come forth from BadAss; it wasn't meant to work, but somehow it DID, and under the hands of two skillful brothers. I'm going to keep looking out for you

Ever since the PRC days, I've trusted that Nutritious would work really well with more obscure material. So I'm glad to hear he regularly checks out the Requests forums and works on material from there; good to see it making its presence on BadAss as well! The sudden genre shifting here similarly worked a treat; to see him break out of his comfort zone and try something unusual is something that worked ridiculously well here. I can see how he might've wanted to make the electric guitars more subtle, but for what it is it managed to blend well in the orchestra just fine as it is. I however don't seem to be too much of a fan of the over-reverbed drums though; it's still got the energy from the programming, even if the writing feels a little auto-pilot, so maybe to try and give them less of a wet presence might've made them form a much clearer presence in the mix. All in all, a return to form and a big risk to boot that may pay off as a more obscure gem amongst the tracks - nice going

Woo, new OCR project! And of course, someone just HAD to pick Sephiroth somewhere didn't they? But it's PrototypeRaptor, and I've been quite a fan of his since he handled Kirby 64's Miracle Matter a few years back. This take on "One Winged Angel" might get some purists puzzled over the house direction for what can be essentially seen as an 'untouchable' piece of music, but in its own right it managed to really take apart the source and the pieces were used as a solid foundation for Raptor's signature developing elecronic style. The gate work with the robo-voice at around 2:35 was neat, the drums felt really active throughout (if sometimes a little bit on auto-pilot), the synths have been really manipulated with to give the interest the track had, and some of the tempo shifts down were also freakin' neat; a more experimental take on the source, but with the effort put in I believe it adapted quite well to Joker's noted vision. So I'm glad to see him back in business! I'll take a look at the album properly later this week, but it's a solid taster for what's to come

You're dejecting us British? >:[ We made that showcase really important, you American bastards! jk, congrats OCR on your 12th birthday! Let's see what the future brings eh

With no source to compare to, the least I can do is just figure things out by the structure of the track. So from what I'm sensing, the early intro with the lo-fi synths and the flange work was pretty neat, and similar flange work going in throughout managed to give the track some life. A repetitive nature for the most part, though there were some shakeups in some of the more organic instrument; however, even then it wasn't quite for the better due to sometimes these instruments being in entirely different keys than the synth bass and arpeggio work, which to me came off pretty sloppy. The synth quality is pretty good though considering its time, and I thought the echoed piano - while a little thin-sounding now - was also a cool addition. It's not a bad production side for 2002 at least. That aside, the heavy clashing of the accompaniment isn't really doing it for me; it's almost akin to some of Beatdrop's early work where he similarly got keys mixed up between instruments, and for a firm production setting considering the age it feels to me like a disappointment. I will however keep looking through Nines's library to see if something was pushed more fluently in regards to notation; I sense good potential.

With a repetitive source like Heaven's Tower, I can understand the difficulty in working with it. But hearing the panpipe part being alluded to within the wind instrumentation in this setting it, as well as hearing the bell parts being alluded to in some of the pitched percussion as well, they managed to set the foundations for building up this symphonic vision behind the track. It's almost similar to GrayLightning's earlier material in that regard with some of these more unconventional transition ideas, which to me isn't at all a bad thing. For the most part it was very well realised, and even the strings and flute parts - often tricky enough to humanise - both have been realised well enough. There were one or two parts though that the strings still had their mechanical nature to them, particularly in some of the builds throughout the track, but thankfully the texture work throughout really managed to give this a very solid lift. This more unconventional structure might split some listeners, but I felt that for its purpose it managed to get the job done. Hopefully we'll get to see more of Souliarc in the near future if something like THIS ended up being his first submission

In a day like this, metal remixes for Castlevania don't seem to grow old. Considering the nature of the source material, I was originally kind of disappointed at the beginning that the tempo of the track was brought down, but given the nature of some of the melody work of the original it can slide. The arrangement starts off fairly simple with some nice interesting drum work to accompany this tense buildup we got there, though things really start shaking up with the acoustic section that comes in that adds in more depth towards this limited source material, similarly with the blues-metal section that comes somewhat after, carrying strong variations through to the end of the track. Production-wise, the instruments came out clear and were appropriately panned. I sensed a little bit of noise on the recorded acoustic guitars though, which I am assuming comes with the difficulty of using a microphone for those kinds of instruments, though they've been handled fairly well for themselves and made the acoustic solo sections of the track still stand strong. So, not quite what I was expecting in regards to the source but I still managed to dig this all the same. Going by the name, I am seriously hoping you'd continue to melt our faces off with future submissions and take these arrangements to the next level

I remember loving the preview in the trailer when it came out, and when the track made its showcase properly, it still remained epically strong. Seriously, how the hell did Stevo end up with a lot of the BEST songs from the NiGHTS score? So arrangement-wise, it starts pretty safe towards the source material, down to the solos (liking the glide work being done to that synth btw), though by the time the glockenspiel comes in at 1:30 the track starts to show a lot of Stevo's colors in regards to improvisation. Excellent. The production itself similarly feels slick; a little off-time at times with the rhythm guitar timing though, but a lot of the pros with the details easily outweight it. It even surprised me that those falsetto vocals were even him; of all the times I heard his voice through OverClocked After Dark, I wouldn't have assumed that he'd push his voice up THERE for some reason o_O All in all we have this firm arrangement that reflects on the joyous atmosphere of the source material and shows Stevo's nature as a performer. IMO it's one of the best tracks from Lucid Dreaming; you should be proud of taking the reigns on this one!

DarkCecil's tracks kinda tore me a bit when I first came across them years ago; when he has ideas, he brings them out well, though there were a few tracks where he kind of had his more awkward moments IMO. Sadly, this is one of those tracks for me; it's understandable for the choice of samples to show their age, but I thought the trumpet part at the beginning was cool either way. But going past that, the track itself seems to be envisioned as nothing more than a medley, made somehow unclear by a ridiculous amount of release/reverb covering instruments across the entire track. To me it doesn't quite feel like the norm for even 2002, which ends up putting the track at a weak standing point. So I'm going to have to say though that due to it really showing its age on both the arrangement and production sides, this one didn't really do it for me. I'm sorry man :\

STOP RIGHT THERE, CRIMINAL SCUM! >:] If you guys don't stop with these silly Internet memes, then it's likely that Darke would wipe the slate clean of them and we'd be back to having more aimless civil conversation. Be glad no one's jailed for that yet >_>

If not in 11 hours, then I might as well quote this from IRC convo last night:- Someone probably needs to get the salt and pepper ready...

Okay, so it's been 5 days since it started out. After working out the math with the links in the thread, here's what I've witnessed so far: Total User Reviews: 117 (-5850 HP) OA Reviews: 4 (+200 HP) HP REMAINING: 15350/21000 This is a good start; keep up the effort, all

So I guess for the next round of picks, there's a burning question that should be considered for all teams - which person out of the three is sane enough to remix for Round 9, taking place between Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve? o_O

TO, I love you for covering "Ice Path" - that's one of my favorite tracks from Gold/Silver The source tune managed to fit well with your darker style, something I've come to see that adapted well to the Doom source material back in the day. The echo/ambience work is very fitting (with a lot of due attention being paid towards the piano in the middle of the track), those little expansions done with the synth manipulation and bass pulsing, fitting instrumentation to capture a claustrophobic and cold atmosphere; the pieces all really came together to provide a very worthwhile contribution to MissingNo. There's really not that much to fault here other than that lazy fadeout, but you know what I'm like with those things anyway. Either way, between this and "Clairvoyant Eulogy" your treatment for the Pokemon series - while somewhat unconventional - has been a thrill to witness. Should you hope to rep it again in the future, I'm all ears

I remember being somewhat torn over the track. Credit where credit is due - the scratching/vinyl emulation work is pretty cool, and the instrument manipulation throughout is pretty neat. So in terms of the lo-fi vision you've managed to pull through. However, I'm not really a fan of the over-claustrophobic accompaniment writing, or the high-mid-deprived string equalisation. I can understand the artistic vision here, but to me it just sounds unconvincing and somewhat thin to pull off. Similarly, the brass to me doesn't have that convincing tone to it; the sustain on it is good so parts of the humanisation is in place, but there's got to be some more done to it than that, particularly with any attack/decay work. I may have to say I was a little disappointed with the track in regards to this writing process, but it's still a good thing that you managed to cover something as undercovered as Saga 2. I'm still with the faith that you'll keep on experimenting with these production techniques and seeing what more could be done, so I'll be still watching out for you.

Hearing this track as well as Dr Manhattan's contributions to the series have done some good things to exposure for Sunset Riders within the community in the past year, and I feel glad to hear that approach for lesser-known territory. So the arrangement may be kind of straight forward with the placement of the melodies in a more contemporary setting that might be expected from pop tracks a few years ago, but for the most part it works well. Considering that chunks of the Mountain source were in 15/4 timing, you did well to adapt it to the straight 4/4 setting. What managed to drop my jaw even more were the convincing synth guitars; I'm no fan of synth guitars at all as they're often too difficult to emulate just right, but the programming done with them really gave the track a surprising lift in regards to the production processes. However I'm going to have to be with the sentiment expressed about the awkward fake brass at the end; not the most convincing sample out there, but it was manipulated fine enough to still maintain that human feeling. For next time I may suggest layering the brass with other samples and see how it comes out; it should be able to give it a more layered approach. All in all, a great track coming from you - so great up to the point that (as stated in another thread) it introduced a friend of mine to OC Remix as a whole! Let's hope you keep up the effort on future works, and maybe even continue to shine spotlights on lesser-appreciated VGM

Given that the original was already kind of creepy and room-like, it might be an expectation to look towards it when seeing the words "gothic lounge" in the mix description. When hearing the mix though I managed to sense something a little more frantic and exotic in nature - definitely not a bad thing given the gentle articulations going across the track. I got to say I love the syncopated piano writing at 1:05 and later on at 3:08; tends to give it more of a latin jazz kind of feel to the already lounge-like soundscape. And even with the choice of instruments it manages to fit appropriately with the nature of the source while still maintaining that laid back touch that we often expect with DarkeSword's modern-day writing style. Solid work all around, and let's see you keep up the pushing for volume 2

For all the C64 coverage I often see around here, it's rare that I see someone taking it in a more symphonic direction - fits the title really appropriately. The dynamic work is very solid - when it gets quiet it really shows its subtleties just fine, and with some articulations in place it starts to show life; I give a huge amount of credit to the string work here, very convincing work going on with those. I've also been meaning to invest in the WIVI sounds for some time, and while the woodwind work has shown itself to fit very appropriately for the track, I kind of feel torn about the brass with the near-constant attack for them. Thankfully they've been handled well within the setting; a more straightforward setting (2 riffs and an ending) than I might expect for more recent mixes but still shining well on VGM otherwise undercovered. I might look into the sample bank once my wallet fills up again, though things might change as the future moves in. Nonetheless, definitely a more different light in the field of C64 coverage, and I'm hoping you'll get to contribute to the site again in the future

Taking into consideration that the original was already kind of minimalist in structure (albeit with more distorted synths), it may have fitted firm enough to something quite minimalist. And while I must admit it's not quite as busy as Mattias's other works, there's definitely a lot given to the backing elements like the piano intro, wobble bass and appropriate ambience work throughout. The arrangement generally feels quite straightforward for the most part, though given the nature of the source it does well enough in working with what's available and adding that twist to it. I'm not sure about you but for some reason when playing it through the Youtube preview I sensed this sudden dryness past 2:10 that could be mistaken as elements of clipping; not sure if that may be a distractant or not, but the cut-offs here at that point give that slight uneasy conclusion. If it's not clipping, then I might as well have to say to watch for your gates at times to try and prevent that illusion. But hey, you're Mattias and I can always trust you to refine details like that. All in all, definitely a more different piece from Mattias, and I hope you keep representing more undercovered games in future remixing endeavours

It's not a bad feel if we're going for something more laid back (something I personally may not quite expect from the Top Gear series, so credit where credit is due). Pleasantly worked out in regards to writing (if not simplistic), and I thought the echoed piano, while a little crudely done, was actually a clever touch to the instrument spacing. Yet, the track to me kind of feels very straightforward in structure, not to mention sounding somewhat dated in the sound selection, most notably looking towards the saxophone sample here. Thus to me it feels somewhat dated in comparison to some of the other 2002 tracks, so in spite of some good ideas it just came off as a bit bland, sorry :\

Arrangement-wise, the melody may feel straight forward but the chords have been given some change from the original versions of the anthem (all three of them o_O). The little ambient breakdown at 2:12 managed to add in some increased scope as well; helped try and shift things around a little bit. I do have to be with the same sentiment that aside from being drawn towards a groove or the efforts with the source material there's not a lot else going on production-wise. But whether it's a good thing or bad thing or not remains to be seen - it remains accessible for those unfamiliar with the game, can be seen as nostalgic for those that have played the game, and is a pretty decent newcomer mix unleashed here. Juha, I hope you'll take everything you've learnt from the process and keep making tracks in the future; by what I've seen of you here, I am sensing a good amount of potential. So keep at it