ReMix:Ghosts'n Goblins "Ghosts'n Condoms" 2:55

By Mazedude

Arranging the music of one song...

"Stage Introduction Map"

Primary Game: Ghosts'n Goblins (Capcom , 1986, NES), music by Ayako Mori

Posted 2009-12-21, evaluated by djpretzel


Mazedude writes:

"G'day fellas. In case you haven't heard yet, the Bad Dudes just released another free EP, entitled "Jingle All the Way." But, it's not a Christmas EP. Nope. You can read up for yourself, and check out all the tracks, here: http://baddudesmusic.com/jingle.html. This was one of those games I had as a kid, played often enough, but never got very far cause I kept dying. Wasn't until later on with save states that I could finally get farther than the first few stages. But, that didn't stop me from enjoying the music, and I recall hearing this map screen jingle countless times. For the Bad Dudes EP, where the concept was to take a tiny jingle and rework it into a full piece, this felt like the perfect choice for me. You can hear the theme mingled through the intro, the bass line, the leads, the slowed down chord progression later on... just about everything if you listen close enough."

I'd like to point out that, in addition to not being an xmas album, this is also happily not a sub-par holiday film starring Arnie & (cough) Sinbad. So that's good. Some of you may recall the rather awesome job Israfel did converting the oh-so-brief Pac-Man stage intro music into an avant-garde arrangement masterpiece, illustrating that very brief themes can be extended, expanded, and extrapolatimifiedicated into more rounded, complete pieces of music. It's a difficult task, no doubt; it also blurs the VGM-arrangement line, since sometimes these jingles are so brief that they have reduced uniqueness to a specific game and are more like ringtones - permutations of fanfares and riffs that aren't iconic to specific games. I definitely think there's a risk of an album like this coming off more as using VGM arrangement as an excuse to get folks to listen to what are essentially originals, that just happen to share some notes with one-off riffs... But c'mon: These are the Bad Dudes... This dude in particular is both bad AND maze... You really gonna question that? Chris explains the title:

"Well, it's a play on words, it almost rhymes with the game title, the groove I established has a sorta sexy feel to it, and I have some female gasps mingled into the music, and it's just a bizarre mental picture"

All 3-4 seconds of the source is clearly evident in Maze's mix, and while there's not enough of a melodic hook to make it something you'd catch yourself humming in the shower, Chris did indeed take a short intro jingle and make a sexy, groove-oriented jam out of it. The source in this question does have enough meat on its bones to facilitate arrangement, although I could see this becoming very problematic had it been any shorter. Good stuff in the funky, quirky Mazedude tradition - check it out, then check out Jingle All the Way.

djpretzel

Discussion

Latest 13 comments/reviews; view the complete thread or post your own.
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Crulex
on 2012-04-25 12:08:58

The title gave me a good laugh and a mental image I would care not to share. This ReMix is funky as hell and it just comes off as weird and crazy, which is pretty cool. I can get a haunting vibe out of it near the end. The moans weren't as good as they could have been, but they were out of the way enough to add to the song, rather than take away from it, so great job. Nice stuff.

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Rexy
on 2011-12-09 10:23:34

Haha, Ghosts n' Goblins. Having heard how notoriously difficult it is - and even seeing an episode of GameCenter CX based ENTIRELY around that game - I can see how it could be a perfect fit for a jingle remix. :razz:

So this tiny 3-second jingle ended up being manipulated in terms of progression mostly within the pads, though it ended up showing added clarity at 0:40 for those needing more familiarity. Clearly a lot had been done with it; little samples in more obscured sections, brought down to half-speed in calmer sections, and even part of a classy synth solo at 1:25. In terms of feel it kind of feels similar to Shael Riley's "Wanka Factory" covering the exact same game; you got the make-out-like nature of it, the occasional orgasm (lol) and some strong chord work that amplify some what of a charismatic feeling to it - feels wrong, but in the end feels so right!

I've grown to be a good fan of Mazedude's work over the years and I often expect him to really work with the sources he has. Though, I can't help but think that some of the sounds feel somewhat dulled in texture for some reason; not saying that they put me off or anything, but it's just a strange observation after the amount of material I've heard from him already; I'd probably put it down more to adapting to the feel of the mix.

In any case, it's classy, well-arranged, sounds sexy (eh, what else can be described?) and is a very worthy arrangement for the Bad Dudes' EP. Keep up these remixes Mazedude :D

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Darklink42
on 2010-12-10 00:36:41

This sounds so much like it should be a tune in Earthbound.

At first I thought I wasn't going to like the heavy beats but they kind of grew on me as the song went on. A good bass line is always a major hook for me though, and you really nailed it on this one. I kept laughing at the funky sounds as each one popped in and then segued to the next one. Great job on turning the short tune into something super creative and interesting.

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justinj212
on 2010-12-08 13:02:13

I love the keyboard that comes in around 1:30, and the interesting samples that pop up once or twice in the mix (once early on and once again at 2:40, were they from GG?), but what really ties this whole mix together for me is the excellent bass. It is super funky and persists through most of the track, and it takes the whole thing to another level. Was grooving with the bass the whole time 8)

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WillRock
on 2010-12-05 17:10:41

Have to say I agree with DA here - There is a lot of rather cool and weird stuff going on that seems to both be a pro and a con of this remix.

Mazedude for me has always been "that experimental guy". You know, the guy that goes and does something a little out of the norm, whether its unusal sound choices, unusual compositional choices, or effects... he seems to utilize all these things here, and while some of it works and sounds really cool, some of it doesn't quite work for me.

However great production and a great funky groove are pluses :D

Regardless of if I agree with his stylistic choices or not, I can't deny that its an excellent piece work in terms of experimentation, much like his other 10 million remixes posted on ocr :P

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Martin Penwald
on 2010-01-17 14:51:45

Incredibly funky from the very first second on. Great bassline. Haunting feeling. This is Mazedude at his best. Love it.

What's the sample used at 0:44 and 2:38?

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MechaFone
on 2009-12-26 16:13:43

Like dragonavenger said, this remix does wobble quite a bit. I like it, though! It's an appropriate affect. The song itself does have a freaky monster vibe, and I'm pretty sure that's what mazedude was going for. Kudos on this one, I enjoyed it.

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Bahamut
on 2009-12-24 01:29:25

A Mazedude mix, definitely something I look forward to!

This mix goes along with his more recently quirky songs in stylistic approach. I can't really say much except that he does it again with a quirky haunting bumbling song and pulls it off successfully.

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Hale-Bopp
on 2009-12-22 21:25:05

I dig this. It has a fresh, freaky and funky groove to it. Fun stuff!

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DragonAvenger
on 2009-12-22 21:10:02

This one's funky, and it's kind of cool, but I have to say, it's got some strange stuff going on. Overall the entire track almost wobbles for lack of better word. I think I might be drunk in a carnival fun house. I'm not entirely sure if this is a good thing or not yet, I'll have to digest another few listens.

It's creative, weird, and cool, but I don't know if I like it or not.

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OA
on 2009-12-22 10:13:15

cool concept for the bad dudes- there is some cool stuff here, and I really like the second half. Actually, most of the good stuff in this track has nothing to do with the source notes, but that's just a testament to Dr, 'dude's skill.

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Emunator
on 2009-12-21 23:42:39

Hehehehe... nice title :-P

Right off the bat, I was really captivated by the excellent bass work. This feels like classic Mazedude, nice mellow groove with a lot of subtle, nuanced instrumental qualities. Really cool mangling on some of the synths, as well!

Despite me not being familiar with more than 2 themes off the EP, I could tell that there was a lot of creativity involved and this seems like a perfect way of showcasing that. I'd never have guessed that it was such a short source tune unless you'd told me... I guess that is the premise of the album, huh? :-P

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djpretzel
on 2009-12-21 23:16:37

What did you think? Post your opinion of this ReMix.

Sources Arranged (1 Song)


Primary Game:
Ghosts'n Goblins (Capcom , 1986, NES)
Music by Ayako Mori
Songs:
"Stage Introduction Map"

Tags (4)


Genre:
Mood:
Funky,Sexy
Instrumentation:
Electronic,Synth
Additional:

File Information


Name:
Ghosts'n_Goblins_Ghosts'n_Condoms_OC_ReMix.mp3
Size:
5,023,605 bytes
MD5:
5617dc1069e7bcfc2f5099a973117c7a
Bitrate:
225Kbps
Duration:
2:55

 

Featured on album...

Jingle All The Way


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Published 2009-12-16
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