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OCRA-0004 - Kirby's Adventure: Rise of the Star


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Been watching this project fromt the very begining. Kirby's Adventure has been my favorite NES game for a long long time now, and I always loved the music. I heard some of the WIP's and I know for a fact this is gonna be good stuff.

So Thanks and good job in advanced guys!

Now time to get to work on a Kirby Superstar Project :wink:

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Really nice work, I hope I can one day join such a major project, I know I could learn alot from other mixers. and I just wanted to point something (or rather someone) out.

Since chthonic made his Super Mario Mix (Fleetin' Extacsy)(can't even spell it right :? , I think)..

He's one of my fav. mixers, the way he brings his songs are really funky, it demands such attention from you. Alot of variation. Love it all man. Again with his mix on this album, all the elements are there.

Just do what you do best chthonic :wink:

Ofcourse the other remixers did a tremendous job. Its really nice to see such a big project as this one being forged from dust, to real pieces of musical art.

Congratulations guys,

And keep dem mixes comin'!!

Greets from,

LooPKiD :D

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Whew, after finally clearing Dragon Warrior 3 (huzzah), I managed to settle down and listen to the project this evening. Outside from Rainbow Resort and the ending theme I barely know much of the score, so for that I can't really comment on the tracks' links to the original material at this moment in time. Nonetheless, congrats on finishing up with the project, and it's good to see this creampuff starship making its way onto the OCR site.

So now, I leave you with my light commentary.

Drops of Dreamriver

KirbyMixer's work at VGMix are of a simplistic attire and with a lot of focus on empty percussion, and for an opening his style is just perfect to establish the moods we have here. ^_^ I actually dig a lot of the simplistic tendancies taken to this, doing well to add to a very reflective attire and a lot of reflective atmosphere as time managed to settle in. Some of these areas have worked especially some of the quieter ones, although in some of the brasher ones I feel there could have been some lower-end sounds to better fit the dynamic spectrum. I think what I think turned the track well enough was the darker moods that came in at around 3:40; I think they have done well to add to a more chaotic attire to better reflect the opening portion of the game's stated storyline. I was hoping for the triangle to have a touch more reverb though as well as some further humanisation upon some of the scaled xylophone movements near the 5 minute mark, but there's nothing wrong with what's established already. Very sweet opener.

Free Breezin'

Oh man, I absolutely love Darangen's work and this mix is of no exception. I understand the age that has passed by since much of his more stellar work but this is still just as cheery and upbeat to fit the dynamic "wind" effect that we're looking for. The overall performance executed on this track is excellent, and that has been shown with a lot of attention taken towards a lot of energy shown throughout to be able to fit much of his stylistic choices here. The intro was a bit straight-in, but it's still cool enough to emphasise its more dynamic point that has been showcased throughout the track. I was hoping for some way to show some further space upon the backing guitars to allow the lead to be able to shine through and some further tendancies taken through to drum levelling, but even with those lightly ageing aspects this is still pretty firm to take in. Welcome aboard to the project clan, Boyd-sama. ^_~

Cosmic Transformations

The track's first "single", as someone stated further back. The SFX based intro and some of the drum techniques remind me of some of the techniques used in the opening for Braving the Flames for some reason, but have still worked well to create a well rounded establishment to be able to fit the feel for the travelling aspects of the mix. Much of the synth-based samples used in this were used affectively and I dig a lot of the textures used in this to create a very upbeat and dynamic establishment here. I was hoping for some additional processing to the flute sample although much of the volume establishments were very affective; I also appreciate some of the ambience granted towards some of the other elements like the pitched percussion (glockenspiel) used in some of the middle areas. The moods also meander from one stage to another; not sure if everyone may dig it but I do and it has managed to portray its point just perfectly. Good stuff from Adhesive Boy back there ;)

Creampuff Starship

I often dig a lot of analoq's work for his groove-based establishments, and it's here he's gone for a mix which have been shown with a lot emphasis to a chillout-based atmosphere a la sonik special. The use of synth dependance and having that crossed over with some funky pitched percussion has been able to reflect upon the idea of a star hovering in space, so that can be shown to be of a very peaceful choice to the overall atmospheric choice the mix was looking for. His production work is often solid, so there's barely much I can be able to find wrong in the case of the mix here especially with much of the more climatic choices near the end. If anything a touch more reverb upon some of the pitched percussion won't hurt, but outside from there this isn't too bad.

Kirby...tacular

In my honest opinion this is the best track title I've seen established. ;) It's here that I appreciate the moods to gradually swift to a darker attire given the key and some of the tenser groove-based aspects that have managed to come around, especially with what has been established. I can't tell if this has matched Rellik's standards or not given that I haven't heard any new material from him since his FF6 mix Dancing Mad, but much of his stylistic approaches are still there to approach the general feel that that aspect of the track was looking for. However, the main downside I see with this is that it's too short! I know, it's a bit of a hindrance on something enjoyable to listen to, but it would have been nice to hear it broaden up on that field a little bit. That said, this is still some interesting work from Rellik here.

The Ballad of Sir Kibbles

So what's the difference between the moods for Swift Hunter and Dream Hunter anyway? Still, it's interesting to see that there's an incorporation of Rainbow Resort on board here from Suzamebachi. I appreciate a lot of the broadening out from the theme here as well as a lot of stylistic solo attributes to be able to reflect the spiritual essences as shown on that portion of the field. Crossing over live instrumentation with synths has been able to fit much of the ballad-like tendancies taken to the title as well as reflecting on some of the more dreamy aspects on some of the mix as shown on the strings. Speaking of which, some of the texturing seemed to feel a little bit on the mechanical side so it might have helped to bring up the release time somewhat to make them feel smoother into leading into one part to another. But that's still alright for what it was, and I appreciate much of what came around.

Starbound

Heck yes, chthonic is one of those people that practically everyone I know has fallen in love with in terms of musical emphasis. While the thoughts taken towards stylistic choices and overall processing may feel a bit down-graded in comparison to some of his OCR works, the feel is still pretty interesting and moody enough to fit the warrior-like aspects of the theme. I actually started smiling at the referencing to the Green Greens theme from Kirby's Dream Land, so that has done well to link closer to various other aspects of the mix. I was hoping for a wider range of dynamics established on the drums to match with their rather stellar and amazing arrangement to fit with the other instruments, but this is still pretty cool stuff.

Generalised Vegetal

Oh man, I never thought I'd see Trenthian do something as emotive as this especially after seeing works like Sector 7 Hath Wrought The Angel. The more dynamic orchestration and synth blending has been able to add to the reflective atmosphere as shown for the idea of a general, as were the marching drums that soon managed to creep in and helping to provide a gradually more dynamic atmosphere, especially by 1:47. In terms of feel this has been able to captivate one of those near-perfect feels that have done well to round off the feel. I was hoping for some broader drum arrangement here as well as some further subtleties taken to the ending, but this is still pretty good stuff taken on that heel. I dig that.

Aviator Soul

And it's about time we got hear some material from Darkesword himself. :) I had a strange thought that Great Ace would be one of the harder ones to cover especially since it's difficult for people to figure out the right feel through those two words alone, but the overall climatic feel that was established here has still been able to work well enough to match his intensions. Having attempted to write orchestration myself I understand how hard it is to do something like this, so it's here that I have thought that the feel was a little bit on the mellow side in terms of developing dynamics, but I still feel that a lot of this has been able to develop as the link into the next of his own tracks. I could also picture GrayLightning saying something like "more reverb on the strings", but what we have here is pretty solid material in spite of that.

Final Flight

Now this is what I better know Darkesword for - electronica. The overall darker moods have done well to fit much of the climatic point-of-no-return tendancies taken to it, as showcased by the title, and much of the feel taken towards the overall "finalities" taken to it have been able to fit much of the atmosphere around it. The piano solo in the middle was also cool enough to lightly add a "breather" aspect to better fit the setting, and much of the synths chosen that have gone around it have been able to link towards much of his more stylistic approaches here. There's one thing that's still shown to be a light quirk to me here and that's the quietness of the drums. I was hoping for them to be a bit louder to match the energy as shown by the rest of the instrumentation, but this is still very good stuff witnessed here.

Dreams of Valor

I remember this from PRC 2-9, and it's good to see Bladiator, Hemophiliac and GrayLighning working hard on the same track, so that has left me to be familiarised with this way in advance. The overall mood has been able to add to the hero-like nature, and the lighter tendancies have also worked well to add to the "happy ending" feel that the track was looking for. I feel that as soon as the track reaches its halfway mark - more specifically around 1:50 - that the emotive grab really manages to hit the audience that way, and I appreciate a lot of what managed to come through on there. In terms of feel and emotion, this mix is almost perfect on that angle. If anything I have a few qualms upon some of the brass programming; I was hoping for the attack to be a bit stronger, but other than that this is a great and peaceful way to be able to round off the project. Kudos to all three of you.

---

Overall I really enjoyed the project. I personally could have said that I'd enjoy it a lot more if I actually played the game (which I will eventually do), but this is still pretty firm stuff as established here. Having understood how long it took for the project to get created I can understand that some of the arrangers have done some better material in their time, but they have still been able to work out in creating a refreshing and very unique structure to aid in making a solid addition towards the OCR project collection. Shariq has been able to establish a good range of arrangers to help create a short but sweet album that has done well to serve its purpose and put itself forward just as much as the other two judge oriented projects on the site (Relics of the Chozo, Kong in Concert), so that can be saying a fair amount.

Bottom line: Waiting patiently and with high anticipation certainly pays off. Well done :D

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I always thought that the Superstar theme was the same as the Hero of Lore theme. I have to dig up the old Kirby cart to see.

Getting confusing now...

The titles never had themes originally. They were just titles that appeared on the start-up screen, which described kirby's progress through the game. The idea of this project was to give a different theme to each title ^^

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This project was amazing. And who ever did the cover art fo rthe cd...its even more spectacular....eceppt the text under the title drove me a little nuts, it was somehwat crooked but not really...lol. A great nostalgic trip for me. ahhhh... the good ol' days.

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You have some top-notch production value and an album that is cohesive in tone and style, so major props to you there. The arrangements themselves, however, felt a bit uninspired. "Tinkley" comes to mind as the best way to describe the concepts behind most of them, which, I might add, are sometimes so derivitive of their source material that they would not pass the OCR guidelines laid out by the judges who made them so, roffle roffle.

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Nice work, I can't say I love it, but some of the songs were pretty cool.

Adhesive Boy: Gotta love atonal but cohesive stuff.

Analoq: We want the funk, give up the funk.

Chtonic: Madness!

Trenthian: I wish orchestral were always this funk.

Darkie(aviator soul): Though this kind of orchestral is always welcome.

Darkie(Final Flight):ZOMG BOOM SHICK! is this top gear or what?

Anyways, great work shariq, you could come up with a pretty good and organized project in a decent time frame. Too bad I couldn't help you this time with a song but I think you did a very good job with the song I was going to remix anyways ^_^. Hope to see you managing more projects in the future Mr Ansari!

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Nice work, I can't say I love it, but some of the songs were pretty cool.

Adhesive Boy: Gotta love atonal but cohesive stuff.

Analoq: We want the funk, give up the funk.

Chtonic: Madness!

Trenthian: I wish orchestral were always this funk.

Darkie(aviator soul): Though this kind of orchestral is always welcome.

Darkie(Final Flight):ZOMG BOOM SHICK! is this top gear or what?

Anyways, great work shariq, you could come up with a pretty good and organized project in a decent time frame. Too bad I couldn't help you this time with a song but I think you did a very good job with the song I was going to remix anyways ^_^. Hope to see you managing more projects in the future Mr Ansari!

Is "madness" good?

-chth

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Wow. I've been listening to these tracks off and on for the past few days, and I love 'em. My hat's off to everyone who contributed to the project, especially darkesword for organizing the project and for his great write-up on the game itself. I haven't played KA in over a decade, so this was a near-fatal attack of nostalgic glee.

I gotta link these to my sister... Kirby's Adventure was one of the two console games she ever loved. Thanks again, and I can't wait to see the contributors' next mixes. :)

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I love every single one of these! My favorite is Free Breezin'. Love the guitar in that one. Anyways I have always loved Kirby music and made fun of for the fact that I like it. Infact, I like most VG music I hear. People don't realize that many of the lil' melodies played on their favorite game is a lot harder to play than some of their favorite songs. I went on a lil rant there, sorry, but how can I not rant? These are so GOOD!

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