Raiden 2: Stage 1 (MnP18)

Votes (9)

Jul 02, 2014 _Jonathan!
  1. Against the Odds
    Argle
  2. Heavy Artillery
    Necrox
  3. Flying Armor
    Xsquader
All tracks were great and I had to listen to each of them several times to get my top 3. I found that my top 2 were very close and every other remix was a strong candidate for the final spot. Below are the notes that I made when making my decision:

Necrox: Good production, liked the counter melodies. Drum part at 1:55 was really cool.
Trism: Interesting interpretation and good implementation. I would have scored it higher but that snare was very, very (very!) wearing and the competition was stiff.
Argle: Pretty faithful to the original and well implemented. I liked how the intro was very closed feeling and opened up when the main section began. The drop in energy in the middle was very effective for making a contrast between the two halves.
Gercr: Use of the brass tones worked really well, almost giving it a soundtracky type feel. Overall very good but points for improvement would be the drums and ensuring that the instruments don't merge together in a way that sounds like a sustain pedal is being held. Did you use the tracks from the midi? It could be those delayed tracks that are coming together to cause the mud.
Xsquader: The mood and feel were well captured. Seems to suffer from the same problem as Gercr however - the delay in the tracks really muddies up the sound. Despite this I felt that it was good enough overall to win a third place
Blaine: Really liked the intro, verses could have done with a bit more energy though
Jul 02, 2014 Xsquader
  1. Lone Wolf
    _Jonathan!
  2. Heavy Artillery
    Necrox
  3. Aviator Simulator
    Blaine
I am glad someone else thought guitar would be good there. It worked out much better than my usage in my opinion. Good job _Jonathan. Necrox's is very clear and clean. I like the sound of the final product here. It really stands out. Blaine's also stands out and is very crisp and clear. Overall I would say this version is also very nice. It was a hard choice for me for 2nd and 3rd.
Jul 02, 2014 hoboka
  1. Against the Odds
    Argle
  2. Lone Wolf
    _Jonathan!
  3. Operation Raiden Warriors
    gercr
So awesome to see an under-represented game at OCR getting some huge attention here - faith in humanity restored!

Argle - That square-ish lead thing is awesome I want it!! And the E-guitar was epic too. Also it sticks close to the source very well so it fits the MnP guidelines perfectly.

_Johnathan! - Nice guitar work; good to break the mould of what everyone else is doing too! But I enjoyed Argle's take just a bit more.

gercr - Bit of a wall of sound thing going on and production is passable - but it works surprisingly well for me anyway. Love the brass and piano - I think it's the way you combined the sounds, it just has that awesome retro feel.

Blaine - Awesome 80's feel - its a bit lacking in the energy department, probably due to the low-fi of the drums. Still a mellow feel isn't a bad thing - gives me the good vibes :)

Xsquader - Pretty cool, I was stuck between you and Blaine - completely subjective at this point. This is some nice chip-tunie/rock workage nevertheless.

Trism - If it weren't for the 3 guys I picked, you'd probably be the next contender. So consider yourself 4th place in my books Trism haha. 4 out of 7 isn't bad!!
Lots of energy in the drums and some really kick ass percussion - the other instruments didn't click as much with me. Personally, I think you're more of a trance/breakbeat guy than a wub wub man. Wubbing is hard to master so kudos for trying!

Necrox - Pretty awesome cover mix here. The instruments are pretty cool, but I felt the lead was a bit weak compared to the rest of the sounds. The drums and bass were kick ass though!

Thanks again to everyone who participated!!
Jul 03, 2014 GrapplingHook
  1. Against the Odds
    Argle
  2. Lone Wolf
    _Jonathan!
  3. God of Thunder (and Bass)
    Trism
I already loved the source (and the arranged version heard in the PS1 port), but MAN I am hooked on Argle's take. Especially the synth used around the 45 second mark and the particular way it bends. Out of the freakin' park, winner by a mile, going into my playlist. Fantastic job!

Jonathan's version makes the fairly intuitive leap to rock and does it pretty well. The backing choir fits better than I'd expect it to, and the tone of the lead guitar feels right. Original work in the latter half is quite nice as well.

Trism's drums are really good at driving this track forward. The "lead" is a lot more subdued, but I'm pretty sure that was on purpose.
Jul 03, 2014 Argle
  1. Lone Wolf
    _Jonathan!
  2. God of Thunder (and Bass)
    Trism
  3. Heavy Artillery
    Necrox
Jonathan - this was my top pick cuz I liked that it was a different genre. Sounds like you had fun making it, and it was fun to listen to. The guitar timing is loose in places and the production is kinda wimpy.

Trism - good production. Is it just me or does the wobbling bass seem kinda out of sync?

Necrox - like the little drum fills. Watch out for the MASSIVELY overpowering low end. Yikes.
Jul 03, 2014 Necrox
  1. Against the Odds
    Argle
  2. Lone Wolf
    _Jonathan!
  3. God of Thunder (and Bass)
    Trism
No comment
Jul 03, 2014 gercr
  1. Heavy Artillery
    Necrox
  2. Lone Wolf
    _Jonathan!
  3. Against the Odds
    Argle

They were all great songs, hard to choose, so I decided based on what songs I enjoyed most
Jul 03, 2014 Trism
  1. Lone Wolf
    _Jonathan!
  2. Against the Odds
    Argle
  3. Aviator Simulator
    Blaine
Argle - I liked the different leads used, especially the guitar solo-esque one. Cymbals were a bit on the quiet side though.

gercr - Nice energetic drums, the seemingly random sections of hi-hat usage were a little distracting at times though. The instrumentation itself was a bit lacklustre.

Xsquader - I'm not sure of one of the sounds you used had a delay on it or if something else went wrong but something sounded way out of sync to me here. A shame as the sounds used were pretty cool and went well with the source.

Blaine - A different approach than everyone else which worked really well right up to 1:12 when the synth came in and was a bit too loud compared to everything else. The drum arrangement was cool but the samples didn't have much punch to them.

_Jonathan! - Oh Jonathan you sexy biatch :) This source was crying out for a metal mix and you delivered with gusto. I could have used a little more crunch on the rhythm and a bit of reverb on the lead (and maybe the bass could have been brought forward a little more) but regardless this is AWESOME.





Jul 04, 2014 bundeslang
  1. Heavy Artillery
    Necrox
  2. Against the Odds
    Argle
  3. Flying Armor
    Xsquader
Necrox - Much energy in the song, coal mix, which is a bit too long.
Argle - Awesome bassline.
Xsquader - Nice sampling and variation of styles.
Blaine - The main lead is sweet. I liked the last part.
Trism - I like the style, the kick is a bit too dominant.
Jonathan - Awesome guitar, but it misses something else.
Gercr - The part around 0:30 (mainly continuing to the rest of the song) is weird, sounds like two songs are playing through each other.