Saunders

Final Fantasy VII 'Galvanized Boss' Wow. I like the way this one starts up for sure. The synth ditty it does right after the intro is neato-keen too. Not noticing much variance in the drums, seems to be a pretty steady loop, nothing too bad with that though. The victory theme rendition is pretty ass. I didn't like that bit at all. Overall, it's some pretty cool techno.

Donkey Kong Country 'Jungle Stomp' First my comments from the judge forum: That's basically all I have to say. It's well done, especially the drums, but the trumpet is pretty ass. And any/all animal sounds really seem unneeded to me. Not one of my favorites by far, but it has a place here.

Hmm. The intro seems to be taking it's sweet time. There we go. Although this doesn't really sound like the song has gotten started yet either. There's not really a whole lot going on. Drums and bass line. I find the mix itself to be.. well.. boring. It's not bad otherwise, but if there was a little more going on then it would be a lot better I think. Also the ending is kinda bleh. Vote: No

Agh! What on earth is this? It's too loud for me. I've got my volume down at 13% now just to hear it without making my ears bleed. Hmm. Although I must say, it doesn't actually sound that bad. The drums are sorta repetitive, but not boring really. And the synth work is good, although the mix doesn't seem like it's really going anywhere. I don't know how to describe it really. The intro is really awful, I didn't like it all. When the staccato lead comes in it's much better. One major suggestion I have for this is to drop down the volume a chunk. I was able to comfortable listen to it at 50% of my Winamp volume, and most stuff I listen to at 100% Arg, I really don't know what to say about this. I like it, but I don't like it at the same time. And I don't think it's quality is horrible... I'm gonna have to go with my gut and say no. Maybe fix up the volume thing and it would be great. Vote: No

Are those violins at the beginning? Cus I don't like them. The piano sounds good, although nothing remarkable or different from the original. The drums right at 0:50 are boring. With the way the bass and the piano is going, it should have been a little more exciti- WHOA! Ew, that organ is gross man. I don't like that at all. Aww, then the violins come back. Then they go away. Hmm, then we basically have a shampoo song: Lather, rinse, repeat. Okay, my suggestions: Do something about the violins. I don't know what, but something. The organ, it just sounds sickly. A better sample should clear that up just fine. Do something exciting with those drums at 0:50 too. "Bam-piff, bam-piff, bam-piff" for close to half a minute is grating. Sorry Suzu, I know you've been working on this for a while, but I'm gonna say no here. Vote: No

Hmm, at first I thought this was gonna be kinda crappy. And although it's not gonna be up there as one of my favourites, I don't see anything really wrong with it. Nothing to hold it back as far as I'm concerned. Withholding vote until I hear "Children" by Robert Miles.

Uhm wow, you know what? I just have to say this, it's unrelated, but when I "downloaded" this it went really fast, like 2mb/sec and I was really surprised. It wasn't until re-reading this topic just now that I realized that it's being hosted on my own computer. I'm such a 'tard sometimes.

Hmm, the those initial synths are quite annoying. The synth that comes in, doing the lead I guess, is alright. I really think those annoying synths could be taken out and the mix would sound a bunch better, especially when the drums come in.. except uh, the drums need to be uh.. in time.. to the song. They sound pretty bad. Vote: No.

Well, I've always been a fan of the Magitek Factory theme, even though I barely played FF6 (yeah yeah, so shoot me) and although I'm not the biggest industrial fan, I find that this mix doesn't journey too far in a direction that I dislike. Hard metallic sounding percussion, very reminiscent of a factory, is a driving force behind this mix. The bit at 1:50 is interesting as well, less hard and factory like, but still has it's own type of cool. "Kefka: trumpet, General Leo: drums." By 3:00 it's gone back to the very factory like industrial stuff, and this part is a little less of what I like. One of the things that will really make a mix unliked by me is static. And the percussion here is very loud and staticcy (that a word?) sounding, but it doesn't last long so I don't find it unbearable.

Okay, it starts off sounding like it's gonna be okay.. but uh, that trumpet sample almost kills it. The animal effects don't really seem needed either.. maybe that's just me though. Other than the trumpet though, I think this mix is pretty cool actually. Vote: Yes

Hmm, no replies. Did I do bad? If anyone's waiting for me to vote, I'd just like to note that I'm holding off on voting here. Basically because it's from a friend of mine, and I've liked the mix for a long time so I don't know how objective I could be (some people have told me that they didn't like the mix, I couldn't see what they were talking about) so I'm not gonna vote on this unless I'm needed to do a tiebreaking vote I guess. *awaiting replies*

MSN Conversation: Saunders: and.. actually, did you ever try submitting it to OCR? Dejin: Naw, I dont have the time to wait for it to do that. But you can submit it for me if you want Saunders: hmm.. well i suppose i could do that, i'm on the judges panel Dejin: really?? Dejin: hmm... Saunders: yup So here's his mix, if you need the name and password for the address, it's at the top of the forum. Also, he showed some interest in becoming a judge. Dave, if you have any interest in getting another judge in here we can discuss that further, but for now it's unimportant.

Wow. Now this is pretty cool as far as I'm concerned. The only real gripe I have is the trumpet. Oh, and I'm not so hot about the harsher industrial stuff, but that's personal taste. I think it's well done and industrial enthusiasts will enjoy this. Vote: Yes

Hmm. I dunno. I mean, I just don't know. I personally don't like it, and it doesn't seem very good honestly, but I can't pinpoint why exactly. I think it's the synth in the foreground that really ruins it for me anyway. Gonna have to say No on this one, sorry. Vote: No

The drums sound too echoey and background. The sound panned right annoys me. It's really deep and just.. ugh... Is that a duck? I could swear I heard a duck in the background.. No.. okay, it must just be me. Sorry. I must say at about half way through the mix I kinda start to enjoy it, but arg! I don't know... I'm gonna have to go with my gut here and choose no. Sorry Mr. Flores. Vote: No.

I agree with Malcos about putting some reverb or at least doing something extra on those staccato parts (if I'm thinking of the same stuff), they're fairly plain. I think this is pretty good, I know that I would listen to it again. Vote: Yes

Heard it before. Loved it. Vote: Yes.

Secret of Mana 'Wandering the Wild Forest' Ah yes, I really liked this one when it came to us judges. I think I'll post my basic comments from the judging thread first: 1:20. That flute is a little loud/piercing at times. Although points for it sounding like the original flute from the game. 1:52. The guitar sound was icky. I personally didn't like it. I was happy when it stopped. 2:25. Then it comes back. 3:16. I like this part. That guitar is hella better than the previous bits. So as you can see, I wasn't fond of the sound of the guitar at first, it.. I dunno.. just the tone or something. It seemed sort of sickly and whiny. When it came back it was less whiny, but still sounded ugh. But when it comes in with some harsher/metallic goodness, it's all better!

Brave Fencer Musashi 'Diet Thirstquencher' *Listening while reviewing* Mmmm, technoey goodness. I believe Beatdrop sent me this a couple months ago to listen to. Not a whole lot to say, although I'll agree with Pretzel, it doesn't sound like Beatdrop's stuff. I think it's less harsh than his stuff is usually. I dunno. Conclusion: Can't say there's a lot of new, exciting stuff going on here. It's not bad, but it's just regular everyday techno to me. I think I might have liked it more if the bass were a little deeper on the drums. It seemed overall pretty soft. My opinions.

Lufia & The Fortress of Doom 'The Final Reunion' I really liked the way this mix starts up, soft drawn out strings are something I really enjoy. But then the drums started up, and kinda messed it up. At that point it became a little less cool to me, although by no means horrible.

Neat. NES style intro. Can't wait until the real instruments kick in. *waits* Hmm.. this uh.. this is still part of the intro right? What? It's not? Damn. Actually, it's not as bad as I'm making it out. It sounds rather good. Just.. it sounds like a Gameboy. And I don't mean a GBA, I mean a GB. Remember? Gray plastic, green screen? Yeah. Anyways, this mix isn't that long, and I think that's a good thing. It doesn't really sound bad (which surprised me considering it sounds like a GB), and considering with it's length it doesn't drone on too long. Instead of being annoying and bad, I think it gives more of a nostalgic feeling. Vote: Yes.

I've heard this before. I think I got this one from VGMix. Can't remember if I liked it or not, so I'll listen to it now. *listens* 1:20. That flute is a little loud/piercing at times. Although you get points for it sounding like the original flute from the game. 1:52. The guitar sound was icky. I personally didn't like it. I was happy when it stopped. 2:25. Then it comes back. 3:16. I like this part. That guitar is hella better than the previous bits. Overall, I liked this mix. The guitar parts I didn't like were totally personal preference, so I can't allow that to hold this mix back. Vote: Yes.

Sounds kinda creepy at first. But the sounds also sounded really bad quality. And now there's this constant sound that keeps hitting and panning across my ears. It's annoying me. If it weren't for that, this would be really good so far (aside from the intro, which I didn't really like at all). The drum loop that kicks in at 1:12 is good, although I believe I've heard it a lot before. 1:26. The piano that comes in doesn't sound very real, but that's not a problem. It actually sounds quite good. In fact, now that the strange panning sound is gone, the mix sounds really goo- Oh. It's come back (2:00). Although it sounds quieter now, so it's not as bad. When I can hear it without the piano though (2:55) is when I found I didn't like it at all. 3:21. Uhm. What? I don't really like the way this is going so far. Okay, drums are back (3:43) that's better. Although the constant background "bow-bow-bow"ing is annoying. Thankfully by 3:55 it all goes away and back to normal. Then ending is a little.. meh. It's a bit of a let down, but not horrible. Overall I must say that this mix is good. Really good. Only 3 gripes in this mix. 1. The intro has crappy samples. But I assume those are like in game samples. 2. There's a sample that I didn't really like, but it isn't overly horrible. 3. That intermission bit at 3:21. Really didn't like that. But some might. But to me, that's not enough to hold it back. Vote: Yes.

Ooh Puzzle Bobble. Hmm, sounds okay at first. Although some things sound like their timing is off. 0:33 is a perfect example. It's a fun mix, though the timing thing really kills it for me. Sorry, but I'm gonna have to go no. Vote: No.

Okay, I don't like the wind. It's too.. there. Like it's going out of it's way to get noticed. I think if someone's going to put wind into a song, it should be more quiet and subtle. Not fond of the initial lead thing, music box sample or whatever. Not horrible, though a little piercing. The drums here sound like some pre-made drum loop from a keyboard or electric organ. "Hit rhumba, and start groovin!" The sample that starts at ~1:14 is uh.. strange. Doesn't seem to fit. 1:48. Good. The piano sounds good. The horn is nice also. The wind is still annoying. But otherwise I like this part a lot. 2:37. Also very good. The drums are very minimal at first, but then that snare comes in again . The bass line here was good. It really helped the song along. When the drums go out again at 3:48 I like it. 4:07. I like this part as well. Absence of drums in this mix is good it seems. And absence of that darned whoosh sample. Well. I think that this song could definitely be OC quality, if the bits above are fixed up. Although this is my opinion, but I think it's fairly valid (or maybe I'm just an asshole who doesn't like you?). Vote: No.