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International Karate '99 (remastered) - arranged by FerraraReview by LaLa, 04/02/2003 I have reviewed this already (around Aug. 2, 2000). The remastering brings more crispiness and better overall sound quality to this cover (duh! , but musically, I still have the same opinion about it. Not quite good enough to be very good, but it gets my recommendation. |
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Starforce Fighter - arranged by MakkeReview by LaLa, 04/02/2003 Here's what I wrote about it before: another obscure SID, this time by Wally Beben. But here, Makke's cover enhances the SID a lot without adding anything annoying to it. What can I say - I like it! There are some technoish sounds in it, some ambient sonic landscapes, and they work together well. |
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Bubble Bobble (sadness mix) - arranged by DjLizard offlineReview by LaLa, 04/02/2003 Annoyingly high-pitched bells are starting out this cover, but it quickly recovers from it. It's a pretty unique take on this tune, discovering it from a completely new angle, which I think is a plus. But I think it's not developed quite to the potential it demonstrates. |
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Archon - arranged by Plough offlineReview by LaLa, 04/02/2003 Let me put it this way: this is not what I hear when I listen to the SID. That doesn't mean this cover is bad, in fact, I quite like its wobbly bass line, although overall, it's a bit on the simple side. |
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Exploding Fist - arranged by OJ OscillationReview by LaLa, 04/02/2003 I dunno. I think, Reyn Ouwehand created the ultimate cover of this tune (or a portion of it) in hisAsian Legendstrack on his Nexus album. This one tries a similar approach with guitars, pianos, strings, etc., but the overall result is not that great. It also gets a bit boring as it goes on, as nothing changes in the cover. |
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Why Me - arranged by OedipusReview by LaLa, 04/02/2003 Covering an obscure tune by DRAX. Well, obscure to me: the first time I heard this SID was today when I searched for it in HVSC before listening to this cover… I think a saxophone would've worked better for the lead, as this tune has that jazzy feel to it, too. Otherwise, it's as average as the original SID. |
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Ice Age - arranged by Oedipus offlineReview by LaLa, 04/02/2003 Cover of a SID I am not familiar with (read: have not heard it before HVSC came along). So, not much I can say about this one. It definitely sounds better than the previous ones by Oedipus, but again, I am not blown away by it. |
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Eliminator (edit) - arranged by OedipusReview by LaLa, 04/02/2003 Ouch. That was my first reaction to this cover. Now that I listened to it 2-3 times, my reaction is stillouch, but with less pain. Using esentially the same instrumentation as for the above 2 covers by Oedipus, what worked for Ark Pandora doesn't work for Eliminator. Also, Oedipus, have you ever heard of a technique called pitch bending? And why on Earth did you castrate this tune to a length of about 3:30? (Although I have to admit: Jeroen's original SID does tend to get a bit boring and monotonous toward the end.) Choices that I do not like. Still, it's a nice effort and has its moments (esp. when those funky short chords kick in here and there), and I'm glad somebody had the guts to make a cover of it. I just wish it was done better. |
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Warhawk - arranged by QReview by LaLa, 04/02/2003 We've all heard Warhawk covers before. In fact, BIT2 has an excellent Warhawk cover on it. This one is not as good as that one, but it's pretty good. It has a lot more spacey-ambient feel to it, due to the lots of reverb and echo in it, plus the carefully selectedmellowinstruments. I think it's a very nice cover, although I wouldn't select it as the soundtrack to that shoot-em-up C64 game. |
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Comic Bakery (rearranged) - arranged by David FilskovReview by LaLa, 04/02/2003 Starts out okay - but then it just remains okay. I expected more from David who gave us such great remixes before. Oh, no, there are even leftover arpeggios here and there! Starting at 1:11 I like thatwhiningsound in the left channel. But this is the only highlight in this tune, the rest is just average stuff. Too bad, because I had high expectations for David. |
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Unsound Minds (feat. S.A.M.) - arranged by TaximReview by LaLa, 04/02/2003 Starts out with the untouched original SID, then SAM, the C64's speech synthetizer announces that now comes the same thing withreal cool sounds- and BOOM! I am bombarded by this techno-cover of AMJ's tune. Like with Cyberworld, it was a good choice for this SID. |
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Last Ninja 2 (Central Park) - arranged by Christian LeuenbergReview by LaLa, 04/02/2003 I have heard better LN2 covers. This one sounds weak (the instrument selection is at times rather questionable) and unpolished. Sometimes it sounds like it was put together in just a few minutes. |
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Times of Lore - arranged by ScorpionReview by LaLa, 04/02/2003 No, no, no, no, no! Another misfired attempt. Unlike Commando, though, it actually comes close to what I would make of this tune: harp for the background, a sharp brass-like lead, and later expand the tune with some choir. Also, nice fadeout at the end! What's bad here is the inclusion of that bass. That was a big no-no! Another big no-no: the lead doesn't change from the brass-like instrument to a more dull one, like in the SID… Gosh, people, you really know how to push my buttons, forcing me to do this myself! 😉 |
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Last Ninja '96 medley - arranged by Scorpion offlineReview by LaLa, 04/02/2003 Retroin the sense that it has samples from the original SID in it, but it sounds good. |
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Giana Sisters - arranged by KnibaL offlineReview by LaLa, 04/02/2003 Umm, it's an interesting attempt at covering some of the tunes of the game, but as a whole, it just doesn't work for me. We can hear big bells, good drums, and all kinds of other instruments in this MP3, but it has no soul. Plus, Hülsbeck already showed us how these tunes should be covered. |
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Platoon - arranged by Dan Tootill offlineReview by LaLa, 04/02/2003 A much underrated tune by Jonathan Dunn. I'm glad somebody had the guts to cover it. This cover sounds a little dull to me, again, like if it's really a module, not a pure synth MP3. Not bad, not bad, but it closely approaches that average crowd I talked about before. |
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Bruce Lee - arranged by PloughReview by LaLa, 04/02/2003 On the plus side, it is a cover of a rarely remixed tune. It is also not bad if we don't listen to that synth-choirbassline. I kinda expected something more, like an expanded version of the theme, but alas, I didn't get it. Too bad - this was very promising. |
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Bubble Bobble (Hillbilly Rodeo mix) - arranged by DJ PretzelReview by LaLa, 04/02/2003 I like remixes that stay true to the spirit of the original SIDs! This hilariously funny cover does just that, and sounds like a track off the old The Hillbillies TV series, complete withyahoo!shouts and bleating sheep. If you want a good laugh, download this MP3! |
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Monty on the Run hi-score - arranged by Mark A. KnightReview by LaLa, 04/02/2003 Very pleasing, very nicely done - but I am darn sure I've heard it somewhere before. Hmm, Chris, isn't this your MIDI conversion? … The MP3 ID saysarr. from midifile. Arranged? This is *it*! Nicely selected instruments, though. |
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Thrust - arranged by BozReview by LaLa, 04/02/2003 So-so, but has its good moments. |
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Sanxion - arranged by PeppyReview by LaLa, 04/02/2003 Similar to his Parallax cover, the violin here also puts a new, so far unheard view on this tune. Overall, this remix is far from being good - except for the violin (or cello, or whatever). |
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Bruce Lee - arranged by Morten B. Nielsen offlineReview by LaLa, 04/02/2003 This cover must be a MOD/XM, not apureMP3. Because it sounds like one, and it is not very good, either. Gets good points for nice effort from me, though. |
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Katakis medley 2000 - arranged by g2sonicsReview by LaLa, 04/02/2003 Jaw-dropping start! Really good! Unfortunately, the rest of the tune is a little thin on the lead, although the other parts of it (drum, bass, choir, etc.) remain good. Great switch at around 7:15, I quite like it. All in all, a pretty solid 10+ min. mix, not something that blows your head off, but coherent, even a little on the ambient side of the dance genre. |
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Nemesis the Warlock - arranged by o2Review by LaLa, 04/02/2003 O2's cover reminds me a lot of that Synergy album titledAudionform which Hubbard liked to draw inspiration so much. The lead line in the first few minutes of the tune is somewhat soft. Some surprising synthetic voice in the middle makes for a nice break. What I am really missing both in this and SoedeSoft's remix is the awe-inspiring buildup, similar to what is so prevalent in most early Vangelis tunes, where a simple melody line is first introduced, then it is repeated over and over again, each time adding new layers to the music. O2 did a better job in this department, but I am missing that climactic last repetition. Somehow, it just doesn't have that punchto it all the way thru. (Which, IMHO, is also missing from the original SID, which might be the reason I don't quite like it.) All in all, I prefer O2's cover over SoedeSoft's, although both are well done. |
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Last Ninja 1+2 (Jungle Ressurection) - arranged by Bart KlepkaReview by LaLa, 04/02/2003 Matches the mood of the original, even with the added dance/jungle/house/ whatever rhythm. Retains the best sounds from the original and uses them as regular samples - smartly done. |
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Last Ninja 2 (Streets) - arranged by Bart KlepkaReview by LaLa, 04/02/2003 Ugly analog base drum taints this otherwise crappy tune. Too bad - it could've been less bad. With that base drum it's downright ugly. |
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Last Ninja 2 (Into the Ninja Hood) - arranged by Bart KlepkaReview by LaLa, 04/02/2003 Not a bad remix at all, but nothing outstanding. It is a pretty smart remix in the sense that the whole thing fits the mood of the original LN2 tune it remixes. |
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Extirpator (Sanxion) - arranged by PGReview by LaLa, 04/02/2003 It's an okay remix, but I like Chris Abbott's version better. |
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Lightforce - arranged by ParadroidReview by LaLa, 04/02/2003 Pretty faithful to the original, but we've heard Lightforce covers like this before… It's fairly good, though. |
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Monty on the Run Highscore - arranged by Purple ThirdEYEReview by LaLa, 04/02/2003 It's trying to make a pop love-song out of the hi-score tune. I fully expected a singer coming up instead of the lead instrument.😉 (We have to write some lyrics to this song, folks! A little cheesy, but it drew a smile from me. It gets boring in the middle (I think it's missing a melody line from Monty), then - it switches to Commando hi-score! Ha-ha - great pun!!! |
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