OCR02069 - *YES* Castlevania 'Castlemania 2010'

[Palpable]

Title: Castlemania 2010

Game: Castlevania

Themes: Stage 3, King DeDeDe's theme

Remixer: chthonic

Userid: 3842

I had never really played a Castlevania game aside from a short experience with one of the GBA titles, but thanks to the Wii's Virtual Console, I was introduced to the very first title in the series and I was not disappointed. Aside from the solid gameplay and fairly impressive graphics, what most caught my attention was the fantastic chip soundtrack. After playing the game for about 30 minutes I turned the power off and made it my goal to obtain the OST and start my next solo remix. A month or so later, here it is. Try not to take it too seriously, but remember that I did put a large amount of effort into the production and arrangement. Hope you all love it, and it's good to be back.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

, King Dedede's Theme

[OceansAndrew]

At first glance, that's a really weird combination of source songs, with a super cartoony track mixed with a more gothic one, but they were combined pretty seamlessly; I never would have expected it, but it worked well enough.

I admit not being super impressed for the first few seconds, but once the variation came in, it was pretty good, with a strong beat, and I thought the soundscape was pretty good, but it seemed like there weren't a ton of risks being taken, as far as arrangement. There were some cool alterations, and some good additional rhythms and such. I never felt like the song was treading water, but I never felt that there was a "omfg wow" moment, which more lo-fi stuff generally needs to do.

The transition into the triplet feel beat was also a little choppy, and I think with a harder-hitting transition, would have felt a lot stronger.

Overall it might seem like I'm hating on the track, but that's not quite right. I think it passes the bar, but I feel like you are capable of producing something more exciting. Maybe I am just being selfish, because this track does work.

yes

[DragonAvenger]

There isn't much I can add to what OA said. How you combined the two tracks is really commendable, since you did such a good job sewing the two tracks together. If I hadn't listened to the sources beforehand I would have not been able to tell you there were two different tracks in here, let alone from two different games/styles. Similarly, the balance between all the parts is good; nothing feels like it's out of place or overbearing. Thirdly, the track has some decent energy, although it doesn't do anything drastic to really grab my attention. I kind of wish there'd been some more risks taken in that regard, but it's still got meat on it as it is.

I was a little bugged that it feels as though the same synth is used almost throughout for the main melody. I think it could have helped the track to have more variation on that front. Also, I agree with Andrew that the switch into the triplets was a big rough. It's nice when it settles in, but the actual transition needs some work.

It's not the most wow-inducing track, but it's a solid arrangement of two very different sources, which is commendable. YES

[Palpable]

Feeling the groove bias pulling me in the direction of irrational YES... must fight....

Nah, this is great stuff, rationally! Lots of fun little details thrown in, glued together with some massive compression. I really liked the weird transition to 6/8, didn't sound awkward to me, or maybe I mean that it sounded fine in the context of this song. Maybe could have used one more change-up of lead for variety, but I thought this was excellent.

YESsSsSs

[anosou]

Pretty fun take on the sources. Production was blazing hot, I think you could've pulled back the bass a bit and lowered the overall compression but it's not enough to bring the entire track down imo. Not a ton of variation when it comes to melodies early on but it picks up. The melodic lines sadly gets a bit drowned by the distorted drums and ridiculously heavy bass. I personally liked the transition to 6/8 but was not a big fan of the heavy low-pass filtering.

Overall this is a bit rough around the edges but the arrangement is creative, the sounds are a good blend of simple chiptune textures and modern sounds and there's a lot to like. The production is not all it could've been but I think the whole package is good enough to pass.

YES