ReMix:The Guardian Legend "Miria's Ascent" 4:55

In the first six years that OCR existed, we saw ELEVEN ReMixes of The Guardian Legend. Then... silence. Nothing since 2006! Here to remedy that decade-long draught is Platonist (Jonas Loman), who takes TGL into a quirky, experimental/electronic dimension with plenty of chiptune components:

"Oh, dear, this one has been in the works since before my "Thinking Cap" remix. The oldest file I could find in my folders is from July 2011. Boy, has it changed though. It's gone through 4 revisions by now, but I'm finally decently happy with what it is/has become... I love this game, it's one of those forgotten classics that just blew me away as a kid. A combination of top-down explorer and space shooter? Why not? Sign me up! :) This is my - fairly exaggerated - take on the password/end stage theme, after everything has been blown to smithereens, as Miria leaves Naju to fight the final boss."

Larry "Liontamer" Oji had the following to say:

"The Guardian Legend is a vastly overlooked soundtrack that nonetheless has some great ReMixes by artists like The Wingless, Beatdrop, Shnabubula, zykO, and Russell Cox, so I'm glad Jonas has joined the lineup, tackling a theme not represented on the site, no less.

Besides having a catchy melody, the source's countermelody lends itself well to a good groove, so I like that Platonist retained it, chose to open with it at :16, and focused on that in the build to the melody at 1:04. By the way, what are those sound effects starting at :49? Reminds me of Super Mario World and Yoshi. :-)

Though I would have liked even more dynamic contrast with the groove here, there's good use of dynamic contrast via the dropoffs (e.g. :30, 1:02, 1:50) and buildups (e.g. :49, 1:20), and I dug the tempo changes at 2:48 & 3:18 to prevent the track from coasting too much in one gear.

Jonas made good, constant use of textural changes, including some more involved synth work from 3:35-4:35 to differentiate the energy of the last minute. I would have loved to have heard the specier textures of 4:35's close earlier in the piece, because it sounded pretty cool, but it's a good way to leave 'em wanting more. I hope another decade doesn't go by before the community's next Guardian Legend ReMix!"

Indeed; it's interesting to look back at some of the games like TGL & Bubble Bobble which were pretty popular in the earlier days of fan VGM arrangements but have since waned a bit. Jonas had fun with this mix, which has a lot of quirky & interesting textures - and arrangement ideas that utilize them. For me, things really kick in @ 2'15" with that rising, intense riff... very cool. I also dig introing the piece with just a drum groove, and the confidence of the sparser transitions & tempo modulations. Those pitch-modulated weeeooooo... cross-panned synth FX are fun, too :) Great, very particular work from Platonist, who hopefully rekindles some interest in TGL's music with this intricate, playful, & enjoyably complex ReMix!