Defend

Wow, so refreshing to hear Green Hill done in such a pleasing way. I would have preferred it without the upbeat sections at all, that's just me, but it's full of beautiful moments anyway. It also sounds very legit, like it's not battling with the "videogamey" vibe at all to produce something that is simply really nice to hear. I just love the piano and strings... and coupled with how genuine it sounds as non-game music, this would now have to be my favourite GHZ mix.

Holy crap, this one's good.

Well these suggestions are all real words, so a little off topic I suppose. "Massive damage" Well the meaning is obvious but it's just the way we use it to pretty much refer to "The damage that matters." "Rush" Again almost the same as its normal meaning, but a gamer will know that it isn't just referring to saving time. Eg, Akuma's play style, or "rush the boss" meaning to ignore most of the level, etc. "Farm" and "grind" are other obvious ones. Also "spam". An Eve Online player will understand that they are not, in fact, emailing the warp button to hundreds of people. I've never heard "NES hard" but have heard "Nintendo hard" quite a bit.

On one hand I have to say very, very nice. On the other hand, is everything in tune? I like the mixing it up in the melody but often I got that "Wait, is this a key change?" feeling when the bells chimed in. Later with the flute as well, from 2;28. Might just be me. The harp. First note of every bar is just distractingly strong in my opinion. From 0:00 to 0:12. I guess it's deliberate but I'm not sure what you're trying to say with it. I think that if that note was just as soft as those that follow it would be sweetly soft and a much nicer intro. Personally I think the flute chorus (is this the chorus?, don't know) at 1:44 should be postponed. Firstly because for me, that's the best part of the tune and I would enjoy more build up to it (I like the returns to it later though). Secondly, because the stuff from 1:29 to 1:44 is just begging for another run through with some slight addition, in my opinion. It's more this reason than the first. This part finishes and it's a bit surprising. Don't know what to suggest about the minute of flute solo afterwards. It is a bit like waiting for the song to continue. One more thing. Would you consider replacing the ending with something basically just like the intro, perhaps fading out? Just a suggestion, I'm not the expert nor the owner. Overall though, really nice. I really like the soft but moving feel it has. The source deserved to be in a better Sonic game (though by this point in time it was pretty much over for decent Sonic games).

Loving the intro

Ecco DC has the best looking 2D sections I've seen in a game, and still no one has done anything serious with that. I don't think it's dead, but it depends on the audience you consider. It would be very, very hard to get mainstreamers to take a 2D platty seriously. I don't consider the existence of rehashed 2D platformers only on handhelds to really be all that "alive". I want to see a real, playable, interesting and surprising platformer on a full console, stretching every limit that could viably work in a 2D platformer. I think it can be done, but only because of, basically, Sonic and NiGHTS. They have 2D gameplay that isn't just about the next obstacle, and that's the kind of gameplay that needs to be considered, imo. If that's not making sense, think of Rez. Similar idea of it being about the play.

Beautiful, I love the slow buildup. The main synth instrument used doesn't excite me too much, I'd prefer something softer and that's what I like about the rest of the tune. Sweet and soft and leaves you hanging for more.

I'm not a fan of the original tune. In fact this is possibly my least enjoyed zone in any 2D Sonic, so for me the first minute of this sounds way too much like the something I don't like. The rapping saves it imo, just because I don't want to hear more of that tune. Having said that, the vocals are okay but don't excite me majorly, and in all other ways it feels too much like the original for me - as if little was changed.

Nowhere did I say that either. I wrote about people being unable discuss their favourites. I am crystal clear on the thread's topic - people can't make "favourite <anything>" threads. Exactly. And if people want to talk about their favourite bad guy? Or their favourite remix on OCR? You asked if I'm serious? I understand the potential for flamewars, and banning all combustible material does work. Of course it does, its the easiest solution out there. Just outlaw any conversation in any such subject. Brilliant. Its like this topic belongs in PPR - keeping the peace by disallowing positive expression. Flamewars annoy me too, but it boggles my mind to think that the solution thought up was to ban all the topics that might have a bit more emotion in them. Just keep it numb, yeah? Robust discussion is too much to handle so just do away with it entirely. No more favourites threads. I can't believe that's the way everyone sees it.

I'm surprised that its been two years and no-one has brought up a problem with this rule. Its a remix site where people aren't allowed to discuss their favourite remixes. In fact, people aren't allowed to discuss their favourite anything. ... Is this the best solution you guys could come up with? Some users behave badly to others... so you ban all such discussion, for everyone. Wtf.

All I've used when it comes to playlists are things like Winamp and good old Notepad, and its just too slow. Does anyone know of an application that has at least these two features: - Can show playlists at one time, so I can go through my library files, just dragging and dropping to any playlist I want without having to re-open anything. - Can search my library (or a specified area of it) for all songs in a given playlist that are no longer in the location specified, and update those locations in the playlist. Cheers

My only complaint about it is that it is quite a crawl to grow, while the fee to play is more expensive than I've seen elsewhere. Asks so much time to get into it, while costing a pretty penny for each month of that time. Lots of good things about it though, I love the graphics and the sound, and the one server only business. I didn't try battle as much as I wanted, but I could see myself wanting the option to have more manual controls. I'd enjoy being able to control a little speedy thing flying so close to a big ship that their guns can't aim for it.

Well at least those teasers will be out eventually then. So I suppose bugging Krispy is out of the question. When you do release them, how will we know? And yeah, if I'd known about the project at all before today, I would have been listening to that teaser site heaps.

I thought I had heard Krispy, but couldn't see his name anywhere. So I'm gonna say it again.. I want the teaser site's background tracks tooooo...

Its great how mixed up alot of it is. Perhaps I'm saying that because Knuckleduster is where I'm up to, and people are saying that's one of the more mixed tracks (great btw). Nevertheless, all the tracks I've heard are sounding like they've had alot of thought put into them so they really stand out as new music. I'm sad that of the 16 teaser tracks, only 14 are available.. I really wanted to hear that Sir Nuts one. Excellent work anyway guys. Edit - 2 tracks later - And God bless you for some original Icecap... and purely piano.. so good and deliberating.. thank you so much.

I'm always of the opinion that for a site whose existence simply must denote an understanding of how great remixed videogame tunes can feel to veteran players, OCR often gets more anal than makes sense. A site whose listeners are inspired by reliving and recreating these tunes, yet technicalities, while not the only factor, seem to always be the deciding factor in judging new arrangements. Or in short, this tune sounds so light and fun and it bugs me to think that some technicalities about what this isn't got picked on and as a result I almost never heard this. And yeah I too love the crowd heh, fantastic. =D Its like simple, easy mass happiness when I hear that. Anyway, not bitching for a solution, just bitching 'cos I was reminded. I really enjoy how this mix makes me feel. I agree that it does stale out later on, but it doesn't make it a bad, just more plain than it was teasing us with. All its doing wrong is not matching the hype it created to start with. Imo. I thank Vig (and those judges who adopted a similar perspective) for keeping OCR in check.

I'm glad to see the front page displaying the site news instead of it being buried inside a write-up many will not see. I'm also glad to know that write-ups will be more to the point. This forum does have to be added to the Community menu heh, as Hetcenus pointed out. And I agree that the reduction of the General Discussion items is a bit of a shame. However even the oldest ReViews item displayed is only 2 days old, so reducing the number of reviews listed would be pushing how effective that section is. =\ I can't think of an obvious happy solution. I did like having lots of GenDis items there.

Always meant to bring this up, and the recent remix write-up ('The Koan of Drums') is a good example to go from. My question is, why is the website news written in the middle of write ups? You load OCR, and the main page never says anything to do with the site's recent events. But if you load a new remix write-up, all that unrelated news is right there. Not just on the same page.. in the same article. Is there a reason for that? Doesn't it seem a tad.. unorganised? At least this particular remix IS djp's, so he can't be blamed for cluttering up the article on someone's work. But clutter is a good way to put it.. I see that write-up and I automatically start jumping paragraphs looking for where the related info begins. In this case, that's 5 of them. Five paragraphs that will always be off topic. In a year someone will click on that remix and will still have to see all that. Frustrating to me anyway. Main page, news, not in write-ups. Please? Other comments: The tabs for download, reviews, etc are nice. Now that 'reviews' gets a whole tab/page, it would be nice to see more than 3 lines of the last reply appear on that page. Is the 'chiptunes' tab going to have the relating chiptune, or will it always just be a plug for ChipAmp? The write-up page definitely feels more messy than it used to. Its probably only those "Ads by Google" in the same text-space as the article that are making me notice so much. But it definitely feels more "Which part do I read" now. Sorry for all the nitpicking, I'm like that. Good work maintaining such a site in the first place.

So there's a few of us that found OCR because of this mix. Basically, this is a beautiful thing. This is the remix that made me realise they're not all dinky and sampley. Before hearing this, every mix I'd heard was.. quaint. All I wanted was a nice Icecap mix, and there were a few, but then I found this. Imagine being someone who didn't know remixes came this good, and who just wanted another dinky Icecap. Then imagine hearing this start playing. I was gobsmacked. "There are real remixes out there... ". McVaffe took the tune I loved, the level I loved, and made it into this beautiful thing. That's what I like the most.. this pays respect to something I loved. McVaffe didn't hype up Icecap, he admired it and looked after it. By creating such a quality mix, McVaffe's piece, more than any other, says "This is what Icecap is". The downside is that its years later and still nothing has touched this. I'd love to hear a take by The Wingless. McVaffe found the best mood to extract from Icecap, and did so with great care. Soft, but cool and pumpin'.. how do you beat it?

The controversy stems largely from the fact that OCR's existence is not a result of OCR's purpose. The site's mission is pointing in the direction of mainstream - who else is it trying to prove itself to? While many of the people who carry out that mission are here because of a musical enjoyment that is very much not mainstream. Icecap isn't a popular pick because of its production potential. As for the mix, it doesn't strike me either way. The problem is, I can't judge this objectively. I know its trying to be an Earthbound mix and that the remixer is expressing something in that context. I also know that I don't hear anything in it that sounds like its been done badly, so I imagine that this must be pretty cool to those that understand and enjoyed the original tune. I am happy to see that it was accepted. I can understand OCR trying to keep the standards of production that it does, but I think its important to tell the difference between deliberate low level production, and low level skill. Rejecting something regardless of its merit to those that understand it, and regardless of the skill the remixer exercised in creating it, and simply because of the angle he or she took in producing it... is stifling. It would be limiting creativity. If that is in line with the site's mission, then fair enough.

Amazing piece.. The vocals are the icing for me.. "Doooctor Robot-nik nooooooooooo.....".. So good... Shhteve put it well:

Really nice, I love the feel. The electric piano at 1:01 brought tears to my eye, that's what I wanted to hear. I do have a respectful complaint, though might also be personal bias for the kind of feel I want from jazz. To me, it feels like it doesn't flow enough. Not at all. Though a better way to put it is to say that it doesn't coax. The recording/fuzz issue is there, and the fact that it is so barely noticeable is what makes it hurt. The acoustics you have going with the sax are just stand-out excellent (in my unqualified opinion), it makes me want to listen to the instrument going around me.. I'm listening in it. (And you did that with a PC microphone?) I love the space its played in, I thank you for it. However its because I am able to take it in so easily that I feel the fuzz when it pops up - and that's okay with that mike - but its also because I am able to take it in so easily that I complain about the lack of coaxing. I close my eyes at that start and feel that excellent space in which the sax is played.. but it breaks. The sax doesn't softly lure.. it plays and stops. It gets better later on too, but I'm already hurt heh. However, I do love this piece. I really have to go out and find more jazz clubs.. You guys have taken the level I enjoyed the least in Sonic 3, because of the music I enjoyed the least in Sonic 3, and made it a non-coaxing heart breaking joy to listen to. I guess I'm hearing what this could have been to me, and venting about that. So despite my rant, this gets a proud place in the growing collection of Sonic jazz mixes that get played when other people are around hehe. I wouldn't have complained if it wasn't this nice.

I've had this song for months now, but I think it deserves a comment here now simply for the fact that this song contains such a beautiful intro. Cool yet so soft, it draws you in so carefully. I just find it strange that it still sounds absolutely perfect, it still gives me that feeling of exactly what it is being. I can't think of any other song that does that, I think "carefully" was the keyword there. The intro doesn't ask anything of you, and gets it so right that many months later I find myself wondering how a song exists that still makes me feel like it did the first time I heard it. I never really thought people could do that.

Really nice... I completely agree about the sharp timbre near the end, but its all very nice to listen too.. sweet piece.