OCR01299 - Commander Keen IV "Tuatara Swamp Jam"

[djpretzel]

What did you think? Post your opinion of this ReMix.

[analoq]

if you're interested, check out bobby prince's "performance" of the original.

cheers.

[Carboman]

just listened to the song, and wanted to give an actual review.

I played all the commander keens, and 4 being my and my siblings favorite (we grew up playing these games, we were like 4 when we got commander keen on a demo disc) it brought back many memories, much like the other KK4 remix.

good quality, but slightly repetitive. you could have thrown in a little more variation. the minor to major switch about midway through the song is very nice.

greatly enjoyed.

7.5/10

[Debotron-6K]

it's dope

[jordex]

i remember this from the wip forums, and now its up

its great, alot like his other swamp song

[Fieari]

I loved Commander Keen growing up. 4 wasn't my favorite (still love the first one, for sheer nostalgia if nothing else) but it's been so long I wondered if I'd recognize the source material. Low and behold, I do remember it, and perfectly. This is a great adaptation of it. I can remember my frustration trying to get through some of the trickier parts of this level distinctly... of course, I was still in elementary school at the time.

Very funky. Very off-kilter, in a good way. Love the instrument choices. Sounds just like it should, I think. Captures the mood of the original perfectly. Wonderful! And good work.

[Chris McGee]

Excellent, I've been waiting for this to be posted. Great job working with an original I never thought could be remixed. Funky instruments and percussion. afk.

[seanstar]

That is one of the strangest mixes I've heard on OCR in a good while. Nice work! I'm just glad that I finally have a Mac HW/SW combination sufficient to get back into the old DOS games I came to love on my dad's 486. Keen 4 was always my favorite of the series (I think it was all the drugged-up flora and fauna) and 'man sieht sich galaxie' got me back into the games for the first time in a decade. It's great to see another mix that really lives up to the feel of that game!

[Joseph Collins]

This arrangement makes my stomach churn for some reason. And gives me a headache. Not to mention that it's boring, uninspired, and just drags on. . . Oi. It's my opinion that he did succeed in making "Eat Your Veggies"(AKA "the Well of Wishes/Dopefish song") from Commander Keen IV: The Secret of the Oracle sound all swampy. . .but is that a good thing?

Firstly, it's just not varied enough from the original to be truly unique. As I said twice before, this is definately more of an arrangement than a remix.

The beginning is rather boring and unmotivated. It's basically the normal beginning, but deeper, and more ambient than the original, with a bubbly sort of instrument thrown in for the Hell of it. And then it just kind of drones on like this, adding drums, removing drums, adding and removing basslines, etc. etc. While I realize the original song was little more than thirty seconds of music, I'm positive Mazedude could have done something more with this piece of music, if he'd really wanted to. Overall, though. . .I'm not impressed. And this track makes me phyiscally ill, to boot.

I'm not deducting points for the music making me ill. That's just wrong. However, I'm still going to have to give it a 3.1 out of 10. Sorry, Mazedude. You fail to impress me.

[Less Ashamed Of Self]

MAZEDUDE D'AISKI!

Man I love a good disjunct sound. I don't know if when I played this game I was forced to use PC speakers or if I just wasn't listening but this is a great little tune that you can tell is close to the original.

Very enjoyable... there's nothing I love more than a nice disjunct/detuned na-na-na-na-boo-boo melody used well. My new song of the month.

Rock.

[Liontamer]

This arrangement makes my stomach churn for some reason. And gives me a headache. Not to mention that it's boring, uninspired, and just drags on. . . Oi. It's my opinion that he did succeed in making "Eat Your Veggies"(AKA "the Well of Wishes/Dopefish song") from Commander Keen IV: The Secret of the Oracle sound all swampy. . .but is that a good thing?

Firstly, it's just not varied enough from the original to be truly unique. As I said twice before, this is definately more of an arrangement than a remix.

The beginning is rather boring and unmotivated. It's basically the normal beginning, but deeper, and more ambient than the original, with a bubbly sort of instrument thrown in for the Hell of it. And then it just kind of drones on like this, adding drums, removing drums, adding and removing basslines, etc. etc. While I realize the original song was little more than thirty seconds of music, I'm positive Mazedude could have done something more with this piece of music, if he'd really wanted to. Overall, though. . .I'm not impressed. And this track makes me phyiscally ill, to boot.

I'm not deducting points for the music making me ill. That's just wrong. However, I'm still going to have to give it a 3.1 out of 10. Sorry, Mazedude. You fail to impress me.

HAHAHAHAHA! I have to admit, that's one of the most interesting reviews I've ever read for a remix. "This made me physically ill." Yeesh.

[RazorVayne]

Heck Yes!!! What OCR needed was another Commander Keen 4 ReMix!!

[Ichitootah]

Not bad, but really, this music doesn't have

1. Beauty

2. Coolness (yes, opinions)

All it has is swampy-stuff. Which is actually pretty good, but it could have been something... more.

6/10

[ella guro]

As big a fan as I am of Mazedude and Commander Keen, I was a pretty dissapointed by this. The arrangement is more conservative than usual, but it's still a very good application of the "eat your veggies" tune into the genre. My big problem is this completely lacks polish - it sounds a lot like Mazedude's older mixes that I presume were done completely in Impulse Tracker with no mastering.

Now I understand that not everyone has the time to commit to remixing, but the result here is still very dissapointing for someone who is used to stuff (like his cyborg blobby or street fighter mix) with a much more refined sound. Maybe it's just me, but the whole "tracker sound" wears down my ears a lot more than it used to.

[Navi]

Why do I like this mix? Let me count the ways. Could it possibly be the trippy, somewhat dissonant qualities of the mix, with a bubbling, liquidy feel that is somewhat reminiscant of the dollar store rods with the little thing inside that moved up and down when you twisted it, making a whoooooooooooooooooo sound. I dunno what they are called, but this reminds me of one of those thingies. It has an almost mocking quality, daring the listener not to like it, daring the listener to get turned off by its quirky, strange and squishy sound. The nah nah nah nah boo boo part only adds to the mocking feel. We hear hints of steel drums in the background, and other elements that give this song a bit of a caribbean taste, which adds to the swampy feel, i guess. Parts of this mix remind me of the soundtrack to Legend of Legaia.

Heh. Not the best of reviews, but i will admit that I like this mix, for all of its crazy ass mood.

Also:

As I said twice before, this is definately more of an arrangement than a remix.

The word "ReMix" was chosen but is not necessarily appropriate, as the tracks here are more arrangements than remixes (think of this as the difference between a "remix" and a "ReMix," mmmkay?). Besides, "OverClocked Arrangements" would have sounded gimp.

[Nannette82]

Could it possibly be the trippy, somewhat dissonant qualities of the mix, with a bubbling, liquidy feel that is somewhat reminiscant of the dollar store rods with the little thing inside that moved up and down when you twisted it, making a whoooooooooooooooooo sound.

That's why I liked it. Weird, but awesome!

[OceansAndrew]

Distinctly not my style, but I do appreciate the care in which this track was assembled. It seems like Mazedude went out of his way to make it sound crazy, but with all the counterpoint and harmonies, it's clear he knows exactly what he is doing.

Quirky and creative, but a really high barrier of entry.

[Marmiduke]

There's no doubt. It sounds slightly insane. And I love that.

However, it does draw your attention from the music to the novelty, which is a shame because there are some pretty cool little additions and harmonious bits tucked away in the crevices between the big, strange, almost dissonant stuff.

It's not the most likable of melodies, let's face it. I don't know how I'd go listening to it on loop. But that's definately not to say I didn't enjoy it. It's Mazedude, of course I enjoyed it.

[Sir_Downunder]

This mix is definitely off-kilter, and a little nuts to boot.

And yet, it strangely works in the Mazedude fashion. Like OA said, it's almost like Mazedude went out of his way to make this sound crazy. Not the most likable melody, but definitely enjoyably enough to warrant a listen.

Another quirky and insane mix from the 'dude.

[ella guro]

It's funny, I didn't even know I wrote a review of this back then, let alone a negative one. I actually like this quite a bit now. It's not mazedude's best, but it is a nostalgia trip for me. And even when mazedude doesn't blow your mind, he does subtle things with layering and expanding the sound to make it an interesting piece of music to listen to.

This is very tracker-ish and cartoony sounding, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. It certainly seems intentional, not due to lack of effort.

[BLAHMASTER]

na-na na-na boo-boo

I like the stereo aspects here.  I'd probably like this song a lot less without them, although they aren't overstated or anything.  Fun listen!

[timaeus222]

On 1/17/2005 at 2:51 AM, Joseph Collins said:

Not to mention that it's boring, uninspired, and just drags on. . .

Yeah, of course; it's a *tuatara* swamp jam - one of the slowest jams you'll ever have. (no innuendo intended.)