ReMix:Final Fantasy Adventure "Begin the End of the Beginning" 3:58

By Big Giant Circles

electronic synth resubmission

Arranging the music of 2 songs...

"Fight 2", "Mana's Mission"

Primary Game: Final Fantasy Adventure (Square , 1991, GB), music by Kenji Ito

Posted 2004-09-19, evaluated by the judges panel

Yes, there WILL be more Kong in Concert posted in the future, regardless of whether most visitors have alreaedy become intimately acquainted with it in its entirety, as many mixers involved submitted their pieces. I'll endeavour to mix things up with some non-Kong stuffs, though, so we don't all go bananas. That was my one intentionally awful pun for 2004, so I'll see you all again in 2005 for more of the same. Newcomer "Big Giant Circles," whose pseudonym conjures images of Audi, the Olympics, and (haven't had dinner yet) the twin semi-beef patties on a Big Mac, sends in this very solid Final Fantasy Adventure techno construction. The only FFA mix to date before BGC's was Ziwtra's Willed Assault mix, quite worth checking out if you haven't, and BGC's mix actually reminds me of it, and Ziwtra's style in general - relatively intricate, layered, sequenced techno that stays interesting and has more structure than a typical groove-oriented track. Jim actually revised this track after submitting it once and receiving some constructive criticism from the judges panel. While he did work on the arrangement, he explains some of the rationale involved for NOT changing the piano solo at 2'20" too dramatically in his resubmission:

"The final villian you fight in this game used to be an ally of the main character. I keep envisioning in my mind a fiery duel between the two, going back and forth between the two sides as to who will be victorious. As the fight transitions, I picture the cinematography slowing down, and cutting out all sound, as a brief flashback runs through the hero's mind (hence the muffled, far-away effect i gave to the piano) and then fades as he is yanked back into full awareness of the raging battle. Kind of "the lull before the storm". (So dramatic, I know, lol) "

It works for me - I'd rather see people take risks and have them turn out average than put together average tracks that are totally predictable, and I think this risk adds some style to the arrangement and makes its segmentation more conspicuous. Larry Oji writes:

"The intro got condensed so it didn't meander around so much, some nice ambience and subtle support additions were apparent throughout the track, and the beatwork was thickened up yet scaled back noticeably. A very nice revision that takes care of many of the issues. I would have preferred the segue into the piano at 2:19 to start crisp and gradually move into the more muffled/far-away sound, which I thought would have fit more comfortably with the imagery Circles elaborated on in his note to DS, but I didn't mind the sound of the piano since Jim had a good reason to make it that way."

I can see some legitimacy to certain comments from the judges that repetition is a bit of an issue, and that portions of the mix become overly cluttered, but there's really a good deal of arrangement going on, afforementioned risks are taken, and, considering the limited instrumentation afforded the Gameboy, BGC's done a good job in that arena, building out the percussion and intro/outro quite adeptly. Good to see some GB coverage happenin' with so much love thrown the consoles' way, and to see an initial sub that's the (measured and refined) result of a resubmission. Good, enjoyable, catchy stuff - look forward to seeing what else the mixer has in store in the future.

― djpretzel

Discussion

Latest 15 comments/reviews; view the complete thread or post your own.
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The_Mighty_KELP
on 2010-03-06 22:25:30

BGC is one of my favorite artists, and so many of his remixes are REALLY good, so it was hard to pick my favorite of all. But I think this remix edges out "In Your Prime" for my #1 favorite BGC mix. FFA was pretty much the first action RPG I ever played, and like the fifth game I ever played, too, and after all these years, I STILL have the original cartridge and give it a quick play-through every six months or so. The musical score is sooooooo overlooked, it's not even funny - so imagine my jaw drop when I found that there were this many stellar remixes from two stellar artists all on the same website! The source tune for this remix is simply amazing, but this remix... oh, geez, this remix... it's better than the original. It captures all the emotion and amplifies it exponentially, and the sheer engineering of the song is amazing. It's just awesome.

Major kudos to BGC for this epic song, and I shall hope for the day that he and Ziwtra get back together and finish their project, because it is worth finishing. Well, to me, anyway. =]

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Smarty
on 2009-11-26 10:49:20

man i love all this guy's remixes!

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OA
on 2009-10-19 12:29:15

Nice intro build up, and then a totally Ziwtra style bass. I love it. :-)

Great leads, and some excellent drum patterns, this is a really kickin mix, some great progression, and a lot of attention to detail. Added to an amazing source track, and it's a total winner.

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avaris
on 2007-02-25 23:40:41

Getting back in the mood for FFA for some reason I decided to revisit this remix. This seriously sounds like it came from the movie Blood Sport especially with those panning drums in the intro. Lots of variation and also this plays on alot of the themes from the game. The mix def keeps a good pace and feel the entire time. The build ups and breakdowns and thoughtfully done. Def good stuff.

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Bummer
on 2005-10-31 13:22:52
on another note... maybe next summer (when i have time for music)... FFA remix project?? : D

yh

I'm all for it :)

By then, hopefully I'll have mastered a couple of the techniques my mix showes I could improve upon ;)

Seriously, though. This game has one of the best soundtracks I've ever heard. And I'm not talking about Sword of Mana. I'm talking about the original FFA. It definitely should warrent a "project".

Yes! I would donate $50 to OCR if it hosted an FFA remix project! I'd suggest staying true to the order of tracks in Let Thoughts Ride on Knowledge because it already has nice transitions, but you'd have to add in the missing songs like the second overworld music.

Oh and Transdecimal is right, Julius actually does help boy through the Marsh Cave, much like how Megatron helped the Maximals into his citadel so he could take command over Cybertron once again.

Nice parallel with Transformers, but I thought that that man in da cave was actually good, then at wendel he´s in town, says hallo, and when he comes to help again, he got backired outside by Julius. Or something like it.

And YES I´m also for a project of this game. It has some real cool music, I just cleared it 5 minutes ago so I know. I may not need to donate 50 bucks, maybe 10 since there are like 15 tracks in total I think.

Finally to the remix. Loved it.

I liked the beginning, very touching and calm with that marimba sounding instrument. FFA is a little mysterious, and then it all builds up to go over into a techno...No, trance,...Aww come on Xelebes, what are ya gonna call it. I just says techno-inspired piano arrangement, it fits fer me.

Ah, yes, the piano, very beautiful, I liked it very mucho, and for the overall feel to the remix, I liked it too. Maybe not that battle between that betrayed friend and Manahero mood that I expected, but I guess this goes for that too.

To sum it all up, it was awesome. For all those that got time to read through all this, DOWNLOAD IT!

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benevolensaurus
on 2004-12-29 17:08:50

I really liked the source material used for this one... and this remix takes it even further. It doesn't necessarily change it a whole lot (which in this case might have been a bad thing for the mix), but it is quite a bit more epic and nice and cool and stuff. I likes it. I likes it a lot.

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big giant circles
on 2004-10-20 23:53:57
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Stones Jackson
on 2004-10-20 16:38:34
on another note... maybe next summer (when i have time for music)... FFA remix project?? : D

yh

I'm all for it :)

By then, hopefully I'll have mastered a couple of the techniques my mix showes I could improve upon ;)

Seriously, though. This game has one of the best soundtracks I've ever heard. And I'm not talking about Sword of Mana. I'm talking about the original FFA. It definitely should warrent a "project".

Yes! I would donate $50 to OCR if it hosted an FFA remix project! I'd suggest staying true to the order of tracks in Let Thoughts Ride on Knowledge because it already has nice transitions, but you'd have to add in the missing songs like the second overworld music.

Oh and Transdecimal is right, Julius actually does help boy through the Marsh Cave, much like how Megatron helped the Maximals into his citadel so he could take command over Cybertron once again.

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big giant circles
on 2004-10-08 01:19:35
on another note... maybe next summer (when i have time for music)... FFA remix project?? : D

yh

I'm all for it :)

By then, hopefully I'll have mastered a couple of the techniques my mix showes I could improve upon ;)

Seriously, though. This game has one of the best soundtracks I've ever heard. And I'm not talking about Sword of Mana. I'm talking about the original FFA. It definitely should warrent a "project".

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ziwtra
on 2004-10-07 15:04:17

very nice... lots of nostalgic FFA themes in this one : ) I really like what you've done with the bassline.

on another note... maybe next summer (when i have time for music)... FFA remix project?? : D

yh

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Transdecimal
on 2004-10-02 13:46:07
The first quote in the remix comments says that the main character and the final villian were once allies, but they weren't. Julius (the final villian) was an ally of Dark Lord since the beginning of the game, and Dark Lord keeps the main character as a slave to fight monsters for his own amusement.

Also, FFA had 3 battle themes, Fight 1, Fight 2, and the Final Battle. This remix is of Mission of Mana, and Fight 2. But since the final showdown is 3 consecutive battles each with different music, I can't complain.

you know, you're right. it's just been so long since i'd played it, i couldn't remember exactly. i did at least think that julius did help the main char. at some point, though, right?

also, since this is fight 2 music, which plays during the 1st round of (well, technically 2nd) the last boss, you are beginning (IMO) the the end of the game at that point, thus the title was dubbed :)

also, how did you find out the titles of the music?

no, I dont think he ever did. he was just a gemma night that was in league with dark lord. what happened to dark lord? I know that you kill him in the remake (sword of mana), but I cant recall how he dies (if he does) in the original. bah, it doesn't matter. great remix, from one of the first games I ever played :D

Actually, Julius *did* help the hero at one point near the start of the game - he disguised himself as a guy and helped you fight your way through the Marsh Cave (he shot fireballs). He did this because he needed to find out if the girl who Kett kidnapped was the one carrying the Pendant of Mana.

He then proceeded to kidnap her himself after you both reach the town of Wendel.

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Fray
on 2004-09-25 13:44:29

Oh I really really dig this. I do think the compression is on the heavy side; way more than I would have used, but it doesn't really hurt the piece much. It has a really nostalgic feel for me for some reason, perhaps because it reminds me of some of my favorite older OC Remixes.

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Oruroku
on 2004-09-24 21:41:56

Pretty good; it seems kind of simple in an awkward way, even when it picks up fully.

I'm glad it was built up in the beginning and that the final beat wasn't slammed on us right away. Techno is always better when it's built up.

I liked the original song's melody, and this is no different. For some reason, I also really like the way it kind of distorts itself around 2:45...Minor, minor thing, but very neat. All in all, tight remix.

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Coucou
on 2004-09-24 09:39:54

IMO:

the beginning sounds like a recent version of Tubular Bells.

The "vibraslap"/"quijida" perc is fun, but a bit repetitive.

Good synth sounds and interessing bass line.

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big giant circles
on 2004-09-24 08:22:51

piano book, lol, that is truly awesome :D

back in the day i picked out most of the songs on piano and used to practice them quite frequently. they're all nuts to play--very fast and lots of movement going on, so it used to help me condition my fingers.

i'd love to hear a final battle mix. i don't know if i could do one that would give it proper justice, though. it'd be quite difficult with FL, methinks.

you know, i didn't even know they made a sword of mana remake until the other day. quite different than the original. it was actually kind of weird hearing the "new" soundtrack. cool stuff, though. i'd like to play it.

Sources Arranged (2 Songs)


Primary Game:
Final Fantasy Adventure (Square , 1991, GB)
Music by Kenji Ito
Songs:
"Fight 2"
"Mana's Mission"

Tags (3)


Genre:
Mood:
Instrumentation:
Electronic,Synth
Additional:
Origin > Resubmission

File Information


Name:
Final_Fantasy_Adventure_Begin_the_End_of_the_Beginning_OC_ReMix.mp3
Size:
4,861,989 bytes
MD5:
ab7576b8a52120ca18cb4039c1625e4f
Bitrate:
160Kbps
Duration:
3:58

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