ReMix:Sonic Mania "Killer Studiopolis Chops" 3:17

Years after the late PirateCrab -- a UK treasure in the scene gone too soon -- debuted the game on OCR, fellow UK arranger WillRock tackles Tee Lopes' modern classic score to Sonic Mania! After hesitating to send it on over, it's a prime time to showcase WillRock's amazing chiptune-plus twist on "Studiopolis Zone Act 2"! Inspired by the leadoff segment he initially created for an arrangement made in tandem, Will decided to expand it into a fully funky concept:

"This is a remix I've been intending to submit to OCR, but I've sat on it for about... 4 years. Better late than never though, right?

So, this was actually born from a remixing group called Relay Bros, who make multi-artist remixes where each person is in charge of a small section of the remix, then it's all slot together like a jigsaw puzzle. I did the first part of Relay Bros' Sonic Mania remix, which was of "Studiopolis Act 2" (a remix that featured original composer Tee Lopes!). You can listen to the Relay version here: https://youtu.be/2P2BVYc2NuA.

I quite liked what I'd started, so I elected to finish the remix and released it on SoundCloud. I was listening to quite a bit of Dirty Loops and T-Square at the time and ended up quite happy with what came out. Hopefully, you'll like it as well!"

Many familiar faces in the Relay Bros tradeoff track, including group founder Toni Leys, RoBKTA, Jredd, and Stemage, plus Tee himself, so check that out! Speaking of great arrangements of this theme, reminder to check out J Damashii's version of Act 1. Meanwhile, this sounds like WillRock taking Tee Lopes' theme, which feels like a Sonic CD track, and then applying a Sonic 3/S&K Genesis grade-up makeover.

When I interviewed WillRock & DaMonz at our Discord about their game soundtrack for the newly released Battle Shapers, Will had mentioned Tee's kind words on feeling that Will's got the talent be out there more as a pro musician, so here's hoping Will has the audacity to go after more VGM composer and film gigs, since the skills side of things isn't in question.

This ReMix demonstates that WillRock can handle anything needing high-octane energy with throwback sounds; the comping-style synth work from 1:50-2:19 is super tasty. Hell, anything WillRock does with FM synths is A-OK with me, but the whole thing is a chippy, funky love letter to several inspirations coalescing into a powerful package. Your boy's undoubtably got the killer studio(polis) chops! :-D