ReMix:Adventure Island "Higgins Goes to Miami" 3:22

By Jake Kaufman

Arranging the music of one song...

"Remote Forest"

Primary Game: Adventure Island (Hudson Soft , 1986, NES), music by June Chikuma

Posted 2001-12-03, evaluated by djpretzel


If you like it hot, virt brings the heat with his energetic Latin rendition of the first stage theme from NES cult classic Adventure Island. Bookended with just a hint of chiptune, the keys, vibes, brass, and hand percussion all come together for a sophisticated soiree under the brights lights of Miami. The original guitar writing at :30 intricately interplays with the dance-inducing percussion and bass, before handing the soloing off to the trumpet at :58, then vibes getting super vibey indeed at 1:45. Just when the percussion might have started overstaying its welcome, it mostly pulls back to just handdrums to make way for the bassline to do most of the interaction with the vibes, and the band revs up for the strong last hurrah at 2:33. Fluid timing, spicy rhythms, and fun energy throughout. That's some tasty salsa!

Liontamer

Discussion

Latest 3 comments/reviews; view the complete thread or post your own.
avatar
CJthemusicdude
on 2024-03-25 16:04:11

You'd never guess this came out more than 20 years ago, it's really snazzy and cool! It feels like it would fit in right at home in a Mario or Donkey kong game!

avatar
Dyluck
on 2023-11-30 17:32:34

This ReMix came back from the dead on 11/29/23, hence the lack of reviews.

Having not really been someone with a lot of Latin music in his diet, I don't feel like I can quite get between the cracks of this salsa number in terms of instrumentation and setup, other than to say that June Chikuma did a lot of the initial work and Jake Kaufman realized it with a soundset beyond the 2A03. These days, a ReMix like this would be considered quite conservative. But for what it is, when it was, the production values on this ReMix are very high indeed. The trumpets have that brassy ring. The vibes chime sweetly without drowning in reverb. The tune's repetitive, maybe a little so, but the solos and instrumentation break up its monotony very well and it barely seems like all the different iterations go by before we're ramping up to the end. I particularly like that chiptune integration at the end – while finishing with a death jingle can be rather trite (assuming it is that as I've not played the game), it's done very tastefully indeed.

Here is a master at work.

avatar
Liontamer
on 2014-10-06 23:57:01

What did you think? Post your opinion of this ReMix.

Sources Arranged (1 Song)


Primary Game:
Adventure Island (Hudson Soft , 1986, NES)
Music by June Chikuma
Songs:
"Remote Forest"

Tags (4)


Genre:
Latin
Mood:
Jazzy
Instrumentation:
Brass
Additional:
Time > 4/4 Time Signature

File Information


Name:
Adventure_Island_Higgins_Goes_to_Miami_OC_ReMix.mp3
Size:
3,321,561 bytes
MD5:
a6762908a7909f4a7812c5fa44b93c11
Bitrate:
128Kbps
Duration:
3:22

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