ReMix:Mega Man 2 "Cranium Castle" 3:11

The first ever submission from Gecko Yamori. And yes, for the record I DO remember Gex; might provide a remix from one of its games down the line

Onto this one though, it's basically a straightforward adaptation of the source complete with extended non-melodic sections and additional drums/pads. A lot of Gecko's works back in the day managed to play safe, so that frame of mind could be excused; though when the only real involvement given towards the synths were the same repetitive filtering patterns given towards the synth bass and some minor effects work applied to the lead synths, you can tell it's already somewhat uninspired in regards to processing.

But what seems to be the biggest problem to me is that most of the song was based around buildup and hard to establish a full blown groove or anything. So for me, it felt kind of minimal in nature in comparison to even some of Gecko's later contributions for the site.

So, for a first submission he did fine. However, I have known that he has really upped his game as a musician since, and especially in the field of coverage for this source, it came out through the years feeling significantly uninspired even in comparison to the site's other early adaptations for the track. But it's alright if you've come here for something that's practically considered a no-brainer entry.

This is a pretty cookiecutter arrangement of Wily Stage 1 .

Nice, I definitely love the acid sound, that is what sells me on the track.

I've had this one for a while, so being familiar I can hopefully make a few more in depth comments.

The source is obviously good, hence why there are so many tracks of this theme. That both improves and hurts this particular mix. It helps because the familiarity with the original (and it's awesomeness) automatically raise this one up a few notches. It hurts the mix because this certainly isn't the best mix out there, and I would put it somewhat lower on the list of OCR MM2 dungeon mixes.

However, the opening with the the low fuzzy bass starts a good groove, and when the drums come in you know that the track is going to be a fast paced techno. The theme first comes in, and the dropout is sudden but a good contrast. Sound quality isn't great, but it doesn't necesarily bother me that much.

The melody stays pretty close to the source, and the techno feel is pretty standard. The bass, when present, does the same thing throughout the track. I think that's what bothers me the most. Something different would have been welcome.

Overall, worth a listen, and the source will always remain awesome, but there are better mixes out there of the same theme.

repetative, but the source is good, so I can let it slide.

Väldigt bra. Den började grovt, mörk synth tillsammans med en bra takt som hängde på senare. Sen när den andra synthen kom med i bilden blev den helt plötskigt helt mycket bättre. Det var först vid 1:47 som resten av rhytmen kom, och sen efter det började melodin dra igång på allvar. Sen började även strängarna i bakgrunden dra igång, vilket gjorde den till en väldigt bra techno-låt, den hade allt det nödvändiga, plus lite mer.

Snyggt gjort Gecko.

Very good. It began with a dark synth that got hooked up by some beats later. But when the other synth got into the picture, it suddenly got alot better. It was first at 1:47 when the mix started to get serious as the rest of the equipment got out on the scene. The strings in the back was very nice, which together with everything else made it a great techno-track. It got the necessary stuff, plus a little more.

Well done Gecko.

*sigh* Again?

But yeah, the beat, technoey mixness to it, is just perfect. double synths..... nice....

9.5/10

Väldigt bra. Den började grovt, mörk synth tillsammans med en bra takt som hängde på senare. Sen när den andra synthen kom med i bilden blev den helt plötskigt helt mycket bättre. Det var först vid 1:47 som resten av rhytmen kom, och sen efter det började melodin dra igång på allvar. Sen började även strängarna i bakgrunden dra igång, vilket gjorde den till en väldigt bra techno-låt, den hade allt det nödvändiga, plus lite mer.

Snyggt gjort Gecko.

Very good. It began with a dark synth that got hooked up by some beats later. But when the other synth got into the picture, it suddenly got alot better. It was first at 1:47 when the mix started to get serious as the rest of the equipment got out on the scene. The strings in the back was very nice, which together with everything else made it a great techno-track. It got the necessary stuff, plus a little more.

Well done Gecko.

I could have a party with this one

The techno mood is fun to listen to, though i wish it could a bit more...extensive. Great remix nonetheless.

Decent remix. The part where the melody comes in is nice, and so is the buildup thereafter. I wasn't really too thrilled with it until about 2:15- this short section was really good, but the drums should have stayed in for a little while. The momentum just drops out when the drums keep disappearing. The sound choices are good. I just felt like the drum breaks and what not sounded kind of arbitrary and predictable. Remixer gets the award for coolest name though.

I use the step sequencer, I think.

Anyway, though I like GY's stuff in general, I was kind of disappointed in this. Samples were a bit low quality, and the song was generally empty and repetitive. I always prefer either compact, masterful audio, or layers upon layers of sound coming at you (Mega Man 2003 is like that).

Listening to this one again, it sounds a bit better than I remembered it. Finished sometime during late 2001, I was still learning Fruity Loops. It was done entirely with built-in FL presets in the Step Sequencer, which was a living hell using

You got some good things to expect from this remix

Mega Man 2 'Cranium Castle'

This is a well put together techno song- sounds are high-quality, nothing sounds that out of place - but somehow I can't shake the feeling that I've heard it all before. I guess this isn't a bad song, it just doesn't strike me as a terribly original formula at all.