ReMix:Contra Force "Power Trip" 4:55

By Nick Perrin

Arranging the music of one song...

"Mission 2 - The U.S.S. Unkmy Battleship"

Primary Game: Contra Force (Konami , 1992, NES), music by Jun Chuma, Jun Funahashi, Kenichi Matsubara, Tomoya Tomita, Yasuhiko Manno

Posted 2010-11-30, evaluated by the judges panel


Wait a sec... another great debut ReMix from another new artist, and again from an unmixed Contra game? Stranger things have happened, and I'm certainly not complaining; Nick writes:

"Upon discovering the Contra Force games in my search for more and more 8-bit music (and Contra titles), I knew there should be some solid tunes afoot. Even though the game was technically not part of the series at first kind of like Mario 2, the music still kicks butt. I've remade the first level tune but this submission is the 2nd level, the shipyard. Upon hearing these tunes they instantly became 8-bit favorites and just begged to be remade, MAINLY because no one has ever touched this game's music before. In fact, there are still so many 8-bit games out there with great music that because of their lack of market popularity are painfully un-remixed to this day, and it's basically a VGM lover's duty to bring this stuff back. So, please enjoy the track - I hope to capture the feel of the original rather than change it completely, while also expanding upon it."

Mr. Perrin, we salute you! He's dead right, too - there's tons of great 8-bit music still out there just waiting to be mixed, and for that matter plenty of 16-bit tunage as well. I like the SMB2/Doki-Doki Panic analogy, since that game had wonderful music that reached a lot of ears due to localization and makeshift conversion into the Mario universe. Contra Force has a similar story, and I'm glad Nick took the time to shine the spotlight on its music, as he's really done a great job putting together a rock/metal arrangement that's got plenty of fills, effects, solos, you name it... it's electric + electrifying. Vinnie writes:

"Damn, I love what you did with this. On the surface, it comes across as a slower, slinkier version on the original, funky even, but there's all sorts of excellent details to this, like the harmonic riffing on the end of some phrases, and the string stabs. I found myself air drumming to some of those great drum breaks."

The devil's in the details, and this devil sounds great - lots of little touches, stutters, slight phasing here and there... the guitars are meaty, sure, but every other part, from the bass to the synths, totally keeps pace and matches the intensity. It's a thing of beauty, built solid from the ground up, and like dannyshock's jazz Contra III ReMix it comes out of left field and slaps you in the face with awesome. As a sidenote, this is also the first mix to bear our new official album art and a few additional tweaks we've made to our ID3 tagging; we plan to eventually update every existing mix and release an updated torrent, but you've gotta start somewhere, and we're starting here. Speaking of starting, hopefully this is the first of a long line of mixes from both dannyshock and Nick, because both of them have given us a one-two jazz/rock combo punch that's made 2010 a great year for Contra VGM on OCR. Great stuff!

djpretzel

Discussion

Latest 15 comments/reviews; view the complete thread or post your own.
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timaeus222
on 2014-02-03 00:00:35
What makes this track so good? So many great elements. :D

The twang at 0:40...

The harder drive at 2:00...

Sort of a funk rock deal. ^__^

It has some great harmonies, modal shifts, and interesting rhythm. Every time it returns to a previously approached section, it brings something significantly new to the plate. =)

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TillyFun
on 2014-02-02 19:46:49

What makes this track so good? So many great elements. :D

The twang at 0:40...

The harder drive at 2:00...

Sort of a funk rock deal. ^__^

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Liontamer
on 2013-02-13 09:52:37

Still loving this one. :-)

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Crulex
on 2012-09-25 09:38:38

Good god, I love the bass and percussion of this ReMix. It was very nice to hear Contra Force getting some respect and love in the way, and you totally brought justice to this song, especially when you kicked it into high gear about halfway through. Badass stuff, man.

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Amphibious
on 2011-12-24 16:34:01

I really love this remix, listen to it in my car sometimes. There's some really good use of panning throughout, especially with the 2 guitars later on in the song when it speeds up. Some awesome synth work as well! The song structure stays pretty faithful to the original, but the sections just flow together too well in this style so it works.

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Mak Eightman
on 2011-01-22 15:22:34

Great game, great remix, AWESOME work! Loud and clear!

Especially love guitars at 0:42!

But maybe something wrong with my ears, cause all of guitars sounds fake. AWESOME! But fake. Probably I just can't believe that real guitar can sounds like in this mix)

Amazing synth sound at 2:56 and 4:28!!

Great work and great mix!

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42
on 2010-12-28 23:19:41

Awwwwww, Yeeeaaaah......

Now this is the stuff.

I'm really digging the bass here; I'm getting a very Bond-esque vibe from it all and it also reminds me of something else I heard of recently. Also, the orchestral elements just feel really distinctive like how everything else was specifically crafted to highlight them, and that's really cool. Like djp said, there's a lot of little things going on in this mix and it really makes it a delight to listen to.

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Martin Penwald
on 2010-12-17 13:54:04

Very interesting remix. The intro reminds me of the music found in early PS1 games; Loaded in particular comes to mind (probably because of the bass guitar). Strings coming into the mix after a few seconds give it a movie-score-ish feeling, which is even stronger around 2:40.

Nice use of fx/bubbling around 0:50. Sweet guitar around 1:00. Nice change of pace at the 2 minute mark, awesome guitar afterwards. Some very powerful stuff around 2:50, followed by a delicious 80's hair metal synth. More awesome synth action around 3:50. Nice ending.

Yeah, this remix offers a lot. Nice work, man.

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8bit_Philharmonic
on 2010-12-11 16:25:28
Look forward to more obscure 8-bit source tracks covered!

I am currently planning three tracks for 3 other, different games, none of which have been covered on OCR yet - and all 3 in a different genre each (none of which will be rock/metal like this one). The one commonality they share is that they're all NES games...

Thanks again for the comments everyone!

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Transmogrificational Tune
on 2010-12-11 01:41:58

Very well done! Good beat throughout and a solid ender

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OA
on 2010-12-09 11:52:36

This is so good, I love how it all is really solid but sounds effortless; very confident and mature playing, and a sophisticated and varied arrangement. Love those panned guitar arpeggios around 3:14, and the whole feeling throughout is that Nick could shred the daylights out of this track, but just chooses not to. Powerful restraint, and a lot of talent.

Fantastic Track, strongly recommended. I absolutely cannot wait to hear what he's got coming up next. :-)

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justinj212
on 2010-12-08 13:50:27

Wow, the guitars in this mix are really solid, as are the drums. However, it's little things like the synths and orchestral samples behind the guitars that make this mix really work. The fullness granted by the orchestral and synth sounds is key, and takes this mix to a whole new level. Some very interesting samples also put a unique spin on the mix (the bubbling sound was unexpected!). Bottom line is this mix rocks so hard that I have a hard time believing this is a debut mix, and I'm really looking forward to your next track!

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Mirby
on 2010-12-04 12:43:08

Hey Nick, fantastic work here! Wasn't expecting such a hard-rockin' track. ^.^

Look forward to more obscure 8-bit source tracks covered!

StarTropics... come on StarTropics...

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Bahamut
on 2010-12-04 00:30:36
Have not heard the source, but man is this effin sweet. Great stuff dude!

Pretty much what BP said, and I'm not talking about the crappy oil giant speaking here.

There's a really nice laid back rocking groove to this. This may be understated, but I like how the synths add some dimension to the song, providing a nice contrast to the guitars.

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Vandril
on 2010-12-02 20:08:30

This track is astoundingly good. Haven't heard the source, haven't played the game, but this track is just excellent. Keep up the good work.

Sources Arranged (1 Song)


Primary Game:
Contra Force (Konami , 1992, NES)
Music by Jun Chuma,Jun Funahashi,Kenichi Matsubara,Tomoya Tomita,Yasuhiko Manno
Songs:
"Mission 2 - The U.S.S. Unkmy Battleship"

Tags (5)


Genre:
Metal,Rock
Mood:
Aggressive
Instrumentation:
Electric Guitar,Synth
Additional:

File Information


Name:
Contra_Force_Power_Trip_OC_ReMix.mp3
Size:
7,173,986 bytes
MD5:
8d5c186f7f57840bc5bbdc1f3bd804ab
Bitrate:
192Kbps
Duration:
4:55

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