Atlantan-based chiptune artist RushJet1 has completely remade Mega Man 2's soundtrack with the power of the VRC6, Konami's super slick NES sound chip. With three additional channels, the chip brings out some seriously rich audio. For example, this is the original Heat Man theme, while this is the VRC6 remake.
The above video is a complete gameplay run of Mega Man 2 using the new soundtrack, but you can listen to or purchase it from Bandcamp as well. If you love Mega Man or chiptune music, it's worth checking out. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.
Thanks to Tony Ponce for the tip!
... did RushJet1 actually take something I said to-heart? Where's the vibrato-spam? Where are the jarringly-extravagant remixes that sound almost nothing like they should? Did he actually just do... a straight-up enhancement project instead of radically remixing things? Did he resist the urge to cram so much vibrato into each song that it phases into the center of your skull?? Holy fruits!
ReplyDeleteNow, don't get me wrong. I like remixes and I really like vibrato. One of my favorite musicians, Tim Follin, was a grandmaster of the C64/NES vibrato and I loved all of this soundtracks. Heck, even I use a bit of vibrato in my own 2A03 arrangements. But RushJet1... tends to go way overboard in every single project he does in 2A03 or VRC6-style. At least, he did in the past. With this project, though? Not so much. Sure, there's a little vibrato here and there, but it's subtle, and it's well-utilized instead of being shoehorned into every single song in the soundtrack.
As for the arrangements? Sometimes it's good to go big and go grand. I've listened to plenty of OC ReMixes that sound almost nothing like the original songs. Some of them sound great, some don't. I've also heard plenty of VRC6 or 2A03 arrangements and remixes of various tunes. Again, I also work on them myself. A lot of them are mediocre, but to my ears, RushJet1's previous efforts were... offensive. He tried to hard to push the boundaries and abused the sound channels in horrible ways. His arrangements were usually sped up or slowed down and completely ruined the original feeling of the songs. Which this project though, he kept it simple. Not "simple" as in "very basic"... but "simple" as in "he stuck pretty close to the base songs". And it worked magnificently! The arrangements aren't over-the-top and don't try to be bombastic, high-energy, epic scores that knock you out of your chair with each note. They're only as intense as they need to be and keep the atmosphere of the originals while adding to them.
I have to be honest... This is the best thing I have ever heard come from RushJet1. I was expecting it to be yet another vibrato-fest VRC6 "super-remix" album... but no! It's a straight-up arrangement soundtrack. And by-god, I actually like it-- no! I dare say... I love it! ... I really, really do.
You've completely turned me around, RushJet1. Big kudos to you on this one! I don't know if this soundtrack was done the way it was specifically because of the unfavorable things I've said in the past (which would be pretty cool, if you did), but either way, very nice soundtrack!
I agree - I appreciate RushJet1's work this time around, even if the re-arranged, added melodies sound -nothing- like a Capcom tune. Then again, I suppose it's himself as an artist, but it'd have been better if it had either stuck to the source material OR matched MM composition.
DeleteEither way, it's a great execution of a "What If," and I'll be listening to it for a while!
This is fantastic, for me it gives a second life to the tunes !
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