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Arcade Remixes And The Six Million Dollar Cabinet

Posted by emmett on from the dig-dug dept.

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! :)

18 of 79 comments (clear)

  1. I'm not terribly impressed (review of tunes) by Spiff28 · · Score: 4
    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), 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...

  2. Yep by Spiff28 · · Score: 2
    Those are some really cool trains. You'll note the music actually corresponds to a terminal (It was either that or it corresponded to stopping/starting, I can't remember which).

    The best part was when someone was blocking the doors, and the voice would say "Please move away from the doors, you are delaying the departure of this train." For some reason people would alwyas feel like they'd just been singled out, and everyone would inch in closer to the middle of the train. Hilarious ;)

  3. the MiniBosses! by nutty · · Score: 3


    http://www.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 a while ago. Once again, they kick ass. And they even play shows..!
    /nutt

  4. is it just me... by cetan · · Score: 2

    or does the guy throwing the game off the roof look a lot like Castro?!

    --
    In Soviet Russia...michael would be rotting in Siberia!
  5. don't forget the originals! by tuffy · · Score: 2

    Zophar's has a whole slew of original NES .nsf files that contain the original songs and nosefart does a fine job of playing them. Try playing the original and then the remix to compare. Really neat stuff.

    --

    Ita erat quando hic adveni.

  6. Perfect NES emu? Try LoopyNES. by yerricde · · Score: 2

    Most NES freeware developers on the Internet use LoopyNES, available at Zophar.net. It's for DOS, but it'll probably run in DOSEmu. It offers nearly perfect emulation of the NES CPU and PPU (helluva lot better than Testicle) with only two problems I've found: 1. no wave logging, and 2. a bug in the sample playback code (yes, the NES had a compressed sample channel) that sometimes loops or drops samples. (NESten is the best Windows-based emu currently.)
    <O
    ( \

    --
    Will I retire or break 10K?
  7. Tetris remixes. by yerricde · · Score: 2

    On Napster, you can find Tetris remixes up the proverbial ass.
    <O
    ( \

    --
    Will I retire or break 10K?
  8. illegal mp3 warning! by Floyd+Tante · · Score: 4


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

    --
    -- Floyd
  9. Does it run on linux? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2


    Has anyone checked Linux's reliablity when being dropped down two stories? I'm especially looking for comparisons to BSD.

    I've heard that OpenBSD won't even let you throw it off a building.

  10. damn, FINALLY. by mcc · · Score: 2

    I've been wondering for YEARS when someone was going to get around to sampling Mega Man.. that stuff is just BEGGING to be integrated into some new techno.. -_- Most of that early nintendo/super nintendo stuff is just without compare in newer games [Zelda 64 was just sad.. especially the music in the big field in the center.], and it's amazing how little of it has been mined by the DJ/techno community.. seemed like nintendo games was the one thing as of yet untouched.

    of course now the downside is, whenever i get around to learning how to make music, i can't sample MegaMan and be totally original. Ah well.. whatever.

    I have some deeper, very relevant comment on the tip of my mind that i can't quite summon into being because it is 1:16 AM. Too bad. Goodnight.

    (P.S. If anyone knows where i can get hold, legally or otherwise, of a recording of the song from the video game "Earthbound" that they played when you were fighting the atomic spherical robot things on the way to the final battle, could you let me know where i could get it? :) THAT was a good song. And if i do ever actually get around to learning any musical instruments, i want to try to make a version of it with slap bass done on an actual guitar.. -_-)

    --
    Irritable, left-wing and possibly humorous bumper stickers and t-shirts
  11. It still happens, out of the blue... by TheDullBlade · · Score: 2

    I'll start hearing the Dragon Warrior music, and it won't go away. (or Mega Man, or Final Fantasy, or any of a couple dozen video games that I can pick out from the outlines of the main character sprites burned into my retina)

    I love those old songs, but I never want to hear anything like them again!

    It only takes a mention of one of those old games to get me humming its theme music for a week, if I hear new ones I'll eventually have a complete set of rotating video game music in my head. That would be a fate worse than death, worse even than getting a Muzak ear implant.

    --
    /.
  12. Re:You know you're getting old when... by alexhmit01 · · Score: 2

    And I thought that I was the only one who does that...

    I do it routinely up at school and nobody realizes what I'm saying.

    Sigh... still looking to buy an old Gauntlet arcade machine...

    Wizard shot the potion...

    Elf needs food badly...

  13. You know you're getting old when... by Frymaster · · Score: 3
    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.

    --

    2 1337 4 u!

  14. This is nothing new ... remember MK? by SuperDuG · · Score: 2

    Anyone who has played mortal combat, Street Fighter, Double Dragon, or Super Mario Brothers, should know that they've made movies themed to these games and the soundtracks are all remixed. Also does anyone remember how mortal combat became one of the largest dance songs around?

    --
    Ignore the "p2p is theft" trolls, they're just uninformed
  15. Check out the REAL stuff! by Shaheen · · Score: 2

    I'm a collector of video game music. I have music of everything from the original Zelda game music to the newest Parasite Eve and Chrono Cross soundtracks.

    There is some great stuff, and you can get hooked on the music for days. I strongly suggest that anynoe who's interested in finding out more about video game soundtracks purchase the Chrono Cross Soundtrack ($35 for 3 discs and a poster of the chick in the game - sweet :) or even Chrono Trigger ($30 for 2 discs). Also, look to Soundtrack Central for reviews and track listings.

    --
    You should never take life too seriously - You'll never get out of it alive.
  16. It *has* been done commercially by Spiff28 · · Score: 2
    Although I bet 99% of you haven't heard this stuff.

    Aphex Twin - Bouncing Becephaluas (sp?) Ball, has a sample or two from Defender in it.

    Jungle music takes old videogame samples kinda frequently actually. The only things I can think of off the top of my head (aside from 3 bajillion ragga-jungle tunes) are D-Type by Capone (aka Dillinja, it's got some R-Type samples/inspiration), Frogger by Ryme Tyme. There's also some dubplate I've heard mixed by Usual Suspects that has a nice little videogame ditty that I can't place, combined with tight drums. Who'd ever you thought you could make a videogame tune so damn massive.

    Chrono Trigger fans could also check out The Education by Vinyl Matt, but I can't remember if it was put out on Tokyo Dawn Records, Theralite, or Mo'Playaz.

    Anyway, just thought I'd say that other people do this too. And it's DAMN fine listening most of the time ;)

  17. OK, a correction. by mcc · · Score: 2

    Whoops, sorry, did i say most? Damn.

    > I'm sorry, but the constat beep, beep, beep in Nintendo games is annoying as hell. Give me a modern game anyday.

    Yes, of course 90% of everything is crap. The point of my post, which probably didn't get into the post because i'm only barely awake, is that early nintendo and most of SNES had this feel to it which is simply absent these days in video game music, and that some of it was simply amazing. Not all; some. And most of what makes it good, or at least unique, had to do with reasons directly related to the fact the composers were very limited by the format of the music.

    > But you're probably one of those people who complains that super mario bros. had the best gameplay of all time. Sad.

    Not really, but i am one of those people who can listen to [to give the most "well-known" example] aphex twin and not hear a single one of the notes because i'm listening to the sonic envelopes. Also perhaps sad.

    I'm not being nostalgic for Super Mario Brothers 1, i'm being nostalgic for the Roland 303 and crappy vinyl records. 8-bit 11 khz sound can produce some truly amazing feels in the right hands, just because you are forced into applying a certain mode to everything, forced into giving everything a certain stylistic tone that makes it ideal for sampling.

    Just because of the limitations of the format, the creators of that music were forced to take wierd sonic shortcuts, do strange things with pure waveforms, produce wierd noises that you just don't _find_ unless you're programming a bad sound api or echoing patterns of numbers to /dev/audio; create music with anything with even slightly higher-level abstractions and those sounds just don't come about. [not to say that everyone who attempted to create low level sound wound up creating something other than crap.] _This_ is why i would want to sample NES music; because it has a feel to it unlike the feel of anything else. What's the music in video games these days like? Just the same old thing that a synthesizer you can buy in a store does, sometimes just recorded music. Why sample that, why not just sample a non-game CD?
    The point of sampling something is because it brings some element to your music which you cannot produce on your own. Current videogame music is just _music_, normal music, and contains no elements that cannot be found elsewhere. Old-ass nintendo music _does_ have elements, feels, that cannot be found elseware, and thus it would make sense to sample them, to assimilate that feel..

    I think my post took it as a given the listener had both listened carefully to nintendo music and had thought a lot about sampling. Those really are dumb assumptions. Sorry.

    [why I love (and understand why most of you hate) minimal techno]

    SLEEP NOW!!! NOW!!!!

    --
    Irritable, left-wing and possibly humorous bumper stickers and t-shirts
  18. Not only arcade games... by mav[LAG] · · Score: 3
    ... 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.

    --
    --- Hot Shot City is particularly good.