ReMix:Life Force "Pharoah Land" 2:47

By The Wingless

Arranging the music of one song...

"Thunderbolt (2st.BGM)"

Primary Game: Life Force (Konami , 1988, NES), music by Atsushi Fujio, Hidenori Maezawa, Miki Higashino, Satoe Terashima, Shinya Sakamoto

Posted 2002-03-28, evaluated by the judges panel


This is "The Wingless" j.a. burnett's first submission, of a game that sorely needed some ReMix lovin', Konami's popular shooter Lifeforce. I fondly remember entering the 30 lives up, up, down, down, yadda, yadda, yadda code that Konami loved so much and plowing my way through this game just to see what at the time were failry impressive graphics and of course listen to the tunes. For some reason, I always loved this game a lot more than Gradius, I think because it was similar to Contra in certain aspects of look and feel, and I really dug Contra quite a bit. Konami have thus far failed to capitalize on some of its greatest franchies in the 128-bit, 3d, next-gen arena - hopefully that'll change at some point. In the meantime, check out j.a.'s mix - while at times it's a little over-arranged, there are brilliant passages, the construction is on the whole strong, and there's definitely a lot of energy here. Both the opening, and more impressively and dramatically the closing, begin with nice, soft echoed piano bits, but the bulk of the mix is hybridized orchestral / techno, which Konami's music seems to lend itself to quite well. Judges' comments included compliments on the mix of electro and classical, but concerns over the string patch used, some of notework in the more chromatic passages, and perhaps too little reverb used. Also, the break at 1'42" through most of us for a loop and seemed a little unnecessarry. However, I should note my personal feeling that the source material here is actually pretty difficult to cover in its multiple transition passages and unexpected key changes. I'd say j.a. did an admirable job, given that, and recommend fans of techno / classical hybrids and 2d shoot'em up tunes alike to give 'er a listen.

djpretzel

Discussion

Latest 15 comments/reviews; view the complete thread or post your own.
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Liontamer
on 2016-10-07 10:36:35

Those string articulations... :-D Well, what can ya do? When you hear of the phenomena of ReMixers wanting their first mix pulled, it's understandable, but I like that it's here so that other aspiring artists realize that God-tier artists start off as beginners just like everyone else. Wing's more than made up for this one.

Love the source tune though, and hope others try it down the line here.

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Drachefly
on 2011-06-29 16:08:09

I like how busy this feels. For me, even the pauses work, in a peculiar way. It's a bit like playing a game of red light green light. Gotcha! The unexpectedly long sustain at 2:25 works the same way.

I don't get the problems people have with the ending. Explosion, then echoes of the opening. Oh well.

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Emunator
on 2009-12-03 16:45:09

I dunno, I'm not as averse to this one as a lot of other reviewers have been. I still think The Wingless at his worst is still pretty decent, and it shows here. The arrangement's repetitive but passable and the samples, likewise, aren't great but they don't sound particularly offensive. I would have liked to see some other instruments aside from just the strings thrown in, but it's not a bad mix, I don't think.

Still, it's undeniable how much he's improved since then... his later mixes are really stellar and completely blow this debut effort out of the water.

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42
on 2009-12-03 16:03:47

I normally love Wingless's work, but bleh... this just withers down to nothingness when compared to his other work. In hindsight this has a lot to live up to and falls short. Even with a name cool like Pharaoh Land (anyone else notice that "Pharaoh" is misspelled?), it doesn't live up to it.

Considering this is Wingless's first submission, that would explain a lot, but I wouldn't recommend this.

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Bahamut
on 2009-09-11 10:57:12

Yikes...Wingless, you've done better! The transition at around 1:43 is WTF. But oh well, I guess everyone has said what really needed to be said...it sounds more like a WIP than a finished mix.

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Rozovian
on 2008-12-10 07:44:14

The Wingless has made loads of great tracks. This is one of the less than awesome, more than good ones. Something about how the strings first come in reminded me of 80's music, might be something in the strings' sound.

It's an interesting blend of electronica and sampled stuff, certainly worth being on people's playlists. It's not the finest, but it's Wingless. A little long and repetitive, but there's much to enjoy in it.

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DragonAvenger
on 2008-09-22 20:21:44

For the first 3 seconds or so I swore that this was a "Land Unknown" mix from FF5. The theme is exact for that time.

This is pretty crazy. There's almost too much going on at once here. The stops are ubrupt, but been covered by Wingless, so while not alright, understandable.

Overall, there's a ton of potential in this, and it would be cool if Wingless redid this someday.

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OA
on 2006-12-28 15:17:24

Nice and full strings. I agree with everyone (including Wingless) about the fact that the stopping is totally messing with the song's flow.

The strings are a little dry and grainy, but at least the attack is strong. I think upgrading the samples would have helped a good deal.

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Master Spram
on 2005-06-11 14:23:19
Yeah, funny story.

Actually, I was pissed (yeah, I'll admit it) that this was the first song people had to equate with me, rather than Aphrodite Oceanus.

Dont worry, I dont look up the name of the people who make songs that I dont like and your first song will always be Aphrodite Oceanus to me! :nicework:

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jordex
on 2004-10-11 21:17:39

This mix was very poorly done and from such a great artist! But it was his first mix posted so I guess it's alright

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Carboman
on 2004-10-11 20:59:57

Sweet! very nice job. could use a bit of flow... very segmented, but all the different segments are very powerful and awesome.

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Ebonyks
on 2002-09-30 23:13:06

I really like this remix. I'm a big fan of expermental stuff, and this hit the nail on the head pretty well. Great job :)

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skawttieboy
on 2002-06-26 17:00:48

dude, for experimental, this rocks! I love this mix, it's awesome...Life Force is one of my favorite musical games...every track on it is AMAZING! I love it! I hope to be seeing more and more mixes from this game! :)

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The wingless
on 2002-06-09 22:59:54

Yeah, funny story.

This was an experimental version, and I had submitted it thinking with all the confidence my little brain could muster that it was the version where there were no breaks... well, nothing so extreme and pointless. But evidently, it wasn't. I petitioned to have this mix removed, especially since it had been two, maybe three months, and this was the first song of mine to get posted. Actually, I was pissed (yeah, I'll admit it) that this was the first song people had to equate with me, rather than Aphrodite Oceanus. But ah well, c'est la vie. With every song you make, you climb one more rung up that bitch-ass ladder.

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orkybash
on 2002-05-24 23:05:27

Life Force 'Pharoah Land'

What can I say? I'm a sucker for mixing techno and orchestral instruments, and this got the mixture right. Well, almost right. The drums are way to quiet for my taste - would add a lot to to the mix if they were mixed louder, IMHO. Also, the two breaks of silence are REALLY unnecessary. Dropouts are cool when done right, but these just serve to interrupt the slow in the mix and don't add anything at all. And WTF was up with that ending? Just sounded like it came out of nowhere - there's seriously no clues that this song is winding down unless you happen to be looking at WinAmp's seek bar. But I've criticized the mix enough - this really *is* very enjoyable, and well worth a download.

Sources Arranged (1 Song)


Primary Game:
Life Force (Konami , 1988, NES)
Music by Atsushi Fujio,Hidenori Maezawa,Miki Higashino,Satoe Terashima,Shinya Sakamoto
Songs:
"Thunderbolt (2st.BGM)"

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File Information


Name:
Life_Force_Pharoah_Land_OC_ReMix.mp3
Size:
3,429,916 bytes
MD5:
09dd499c384f848a03cb4cf205f9ff5d
Bitrate:
160Kbps
Duration:
2:47

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