Liontamer Posted June 2, 2023 Share Posted June 2, 2023 ReMixer & real name: Eino Keskitalo e-mail: Names of games arranged: Castle of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse (Master System) Name of Arrangement: Bitter Sweets Names of individual songs arranged: Dessert Factory Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8EOrkDm1xdc MP3 link: Another old compo tune of mine that I've finally finished to submission state. This one debuted in People's Remixing Competition round 210 - over 10 years ago! How amazing is it that PRC is still going? I've thrown in some jazz samples since then and like to think I've channeled some early spirit of the Finnish ambient/jazz classic Rinneradio into the tune ... Castle of Illusion for Master System (or Game Gear) is a pretty cool game. It's not a downgraded version of the Mega Drive original, but a well thought-out 8-bit reimagining, ending up a very polished and playable platformer. Great animation - and great music. The 8-bit version has some bespoke tunes, though this one is not one of them, appearing also in the 16-bit version. I had all sorts of thoughts of extending this one with additional source tunes and whatnot, until I finally decided it was actually already ok, just needing a little bit of polish. So it's short but hopefully sweet. While I was balancing the mix I got some nice feedback from Sega-fan djp on the forums, nice! I worked most of that in, for example I turned down an arp figure in the mix quite a bit, which in my mind had a big impact on the whole. Funny how that works. I got some more nice feedback on the Workshop channel in Discord, but I decided it's now time to let this go or I'll keep working on it for another 10 years.. Thanks to Pleiade who helped with mixing for the compo version back in the day; also shout out to Dj Mokram, another Castle of Illusion fan! Perhaps we will collab on some Castle of Illusion stuff one day. cheers --Eino Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MindWanderer Posted June 6, 2023 Share Posted June 6, 2023 What a unique sound palette. Sax and a bunch of synths I can't say I've ever heard before. Can't say I'm a big fan of the muffled orch hit synth (which gets overused at the end), and I'm not sold that it all goes together cohesively, but there isn't anything objectively wrong with it, either. Definitely uses the source material, and production is of course clean, as we expect from Eino. An easy YES Eino Keskitalo 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liontamer Posted June 6, 2023 Author Share Posted June 6, 2023 Cool vibe with fun sound design choices; I initially thought some additional elements earlier on wouldn't have been a bad idea, but the texture's actually filled in very nicely once you pay attention to and appreciate each individual part. Super clean stuff. Later you have the nice rhythmic change at 1:45, which was a nice idea to keep things moving, and you filled in the textures even more to altogether bring more intensity ahead of the crescendo-ing beats at 2:06. The arrangement certainly stands on its own, yet since it's from a Mickey Mouse game and I've heard the source, it somehow still feels kind of quaint. LOVE that another Master System game is getting some coverage; awesome choice, Eino! YES Eino Keskitalo 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prophetik music Posted June 15, 2023 Share Posted June 15, 2023 oh, that fat overtony bass and snappy snare are a great vibe right off the bat. really eclectic combination of synths right away. the not-sax and arp leads do a great job of keeping the melodic material front and center without ever really focusing on it, which is a neat trick. there's a lot of blurbs and bloops going on that keep your ear moving. there's a bit of a reset at 1:37, and then there's some funky beat work at 1:47 under a second reimagining of the melodic material. some more intense drum work and a glitchy fade, and it's done quick. this is a great one! there's a ton of clever ideas taking the original's unique elements and recreating them in new ways. and it sounds super clean despite the variety of stuff going on. excellent work. YES Eino Keskitalo 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chimpazilla Posted June 15, 2023 Share Posted June 15, 2023 This sound palette and production hold up really well for a ten+ year old mix! I really love the sounds, creativity and energy of this mix. Short but sweet; I wish there was a breakdown and other full section after that, maybe introducing some new material, but what's here is getting the job done just fine. YES (Funny aside, Eino has another track on the panel just now, and initially he sent in this song but labeled wrongly as the Spirit Tracks mix he was trying to submit. I spent a little too much time trying to hear the Spirit Tracks main overworld theme in THIS arrangement, until I realized he made a mistake! It all makes sense now.) Eino Keskitalo 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts