Time Marks of the medley:
Stage 1 - 0:00
Stage 2 - 1:36
Stage 3 - 2:43
Stage 4 - 4:10
Title - 5:01
Thanks so much for your comments, guys. You have truly provided a fair assessment of this remix.
Yes, the samples aren't amazing. In fact I didn't pay a cent for any of them. Such is the life of a tracker.
Yes, drums are my specialty, and they are the backbone of this remix. The only thing closest to a live instrument in this remix is my snare drum, which I recorded from my own drumkit, and you can notice texture changes in it if you listen closely.
Saying that I was improving on Kazunaka's work instead of remixing it? Sounds good to me. Why mess with greatness? Stage 2 was the biggest style change IMO. The rest is straightforward rock with a splash of techno.
I will agree that the last two are the best ones in the set, but hey, I like them the most out of the five. My general theme was to start off nicely in Stage 1 with a basic song, get funky in Stage 2, relax a bit through the beginning of Stage 3, then build up intensity at the end of Stage 3 into Stage 4, so by the time the Title theme hits you're in full headbanging mode. The Title theme is the greatness of Double Dragon in a nutshell, so it gets the most grandeur.
What's in the future? I never run out of song ideas (I have eight candidates in mind right now), but I'm afraid that my method of delivery, Impulse Tracker, is finally showing its age. Plus it seems that all I do is Rock, Rock, Rock. I've stretched it for all it's worth. What I WANT to do is form a band, much like the other VG music bands around. I want better drums, better cymbals, better recording equipment. I want to learn to play the guitar and piano, and be better at the drums. All kinds of things that are beyond the reach of this poor college student.
So, basically, I'm afraid that I'm not good enough to compete with the rest of the talent on this site. Over these six years that I have made remixes, I have made them primarily for myself, because I liked the music so much that I wanted to make it better. After that, I wanted to show people that VG music is more than some lines of code in a chip. OC Remix has done that on a much larger scale, and I am happy to be able to contribute to it. But talent-wise ... I don't know any more. Am I good enough? Should I keep going?