Arcade Remixes And The Six Million Dollar Cabinet

Anonymous Coward writes "Some guy has mucked about with the background music of old arcade games. Also, this site proves that some arcade games are built to last." Hey, I know that arcade games are built to last; I'm a VAPS member! :)

I'm not terribly impressed (review of tunes)

DISCLAIMER: For an idea of what I like: Jungle (Dieselboy, RAM Trilogy, right up to LTJ Bukem), Goa/Psy (Astral Projection, Hallucinogen), Hiphop (Herbaliser, DJ Shadow, DJ Krush), Minimal (_rohformat [rohformat.de]), Rock/Alt/Metal (Radiohead, Incubus, Esthero), Triphop (Massive Attack, Lamb). I'm finnicky about mixing quality as well.

OK, I've had time to check out everything on that site. End result: you get some nostalgia, and a lot of iffy music.

Basically it's a lot of videogame related tunes that fall into all sorts of traps.

• MIDI-fied (I prefer the bleeps, thanks)
• Drumloop repetition ("I'll add the Amen to this track, and just loop it! That'll make it cool!")
• Drumloop repetition phobia ("I can never have the same drum sequence or loop twice" aka schizo drums)
• Samples you've only heard 497 times before
• Where's the Treble?
• Where's the Bass?
• I Must Use Every Effect Known to Man

You basically find:

• MIDI-fied tunes
• The old song sampled with a "New and Improved!" beat over top of it
• A smattering of samples from the game layed down over an attempt at a song

That being said, there are some songs that are pretty decent, some novel ideas, and some that if nothing else make me think of making a longer version.

• Doom E1M1 remix - Yeah, I like the original FM sounds too, but this has a great idea going. The drums could use a bit of work, and the whole could be more massive, but it's a really great take.
• Dune Arrakis (Wormsign remix) - I've never heard the original, but I like this. The strings are not overpowering (SEE? SEE HOW GREAT THIS MELODY IS!?), the beat and samples all sound like they fit, and the song is actually going somewhere with a consistent them. Slightly better mixing would've made this a total winner.
• Ghosts 'n' Goblins Instant remix - The bass is slightly out of tune, the treble's gone missing, and the bass/909hihat is hardly original. But what counts is that for once, this complements the original tune, and sounds like it fits as opposed to being a beat laid overtop.
• Gradius Medley remix - Sticking true to original form, but very clean and crisp. I want more ;)
• Marioland Millenium remix - YES. This is very much worth having. The original tune basically untouched in sequencing, but it gets nice and chewed up by filters playing around here and there, and the drums are good.
• Megaman II Flashman Flashfire remix - This has an amateurish sound to it, I think because the samples aren't all quite together (eg: drums sound like they're not from the same set, etc.). But the sequencing and melodies are very well done. This is a great portrayal of the original.
• Metroid AmIEvil Bluebase remix - Short, reverbed piano.. why do I like this? There's some background ambiance that gives this the haunting feel the tune has. Also this is really inspiring me to go out and redo it ;)
• Zelda64 Ocarina Boogie remix - YES. Don't ask questions, just go get it.
• Paperboy Dead Guys remix - Good idea of what it wants to be, the drums and that distorted bassline-ish lead sound are good to carry you along while you can listen to the little piano ditty. Ambiance in here too.

Now I know I left out an awful lot. There are tunes that are close, but no cigar. These were just the few that had that special something to them (to me anyway). You might also note that none of these tunes are by DJ Pretzel.. sorry man, but your sound is not quite there. The Mario Jazz thing is close, and pretty unique, but I prefer my jazz on the real thing, not sequenced...

Well.. hope someone puts these opinions to good use anyway...

the MiniBosses!

http://www.minibosses.com/ [minibosses.com]

These guys kick major booty. Check out such greats as Contra, Castlevania, Metroid, and more! All up in Mp3 for your listening pleasure.

I saw this over at ArsTechnica [arstechnica.com] a while ago. Once again, they kick ass. And they even play shows..!
/nutt

illegal mp3 warning!

Don't bother looking for those songs on Napster; I've already replaced them with cuckoo sounds...

You know you're getting old when...

On the way to a restaurant with your "peer group" you utter the immortal words:

"Wizard needs food badly"

... and everybody just stares at you like you're checking the propane level with a with a lighter.

If this can help the new generations better appreciate my 80s-centric humour, I'm for it.

Not only arcade games...

... but also old classic PC games such as Xenon 2 have had their tunes remixed. It was incredibly difficult to work out where I had heard the MegaBlast tune before since you don't normally associate computer game music with a dance track in the middle of a club...

Half of me says this phenomenon is remixers getting desperate for new material - the other half says anything to keep the memories alive.