ReMix:Yu-Gi-Oh! Dark Duel Stories "Duel in the Desert!" 3:11

This contribution to Legacy: Game Boy 25th Anniversary from timaeus222 has a Middle Eastern vibe to it, something we don't hear enough of, and deftly blends regional percussion and pitched instrumentation with an uptempo EDM backbone:

"Middle-Eastern remix coming your way! This remix was heavily influenced by a lot of the Yu-Gi-Oh! I watched as a kid. To this day, I still like the classic anime, and much more than the later ones. They just don't compare to the storyline genius of the classics, i.e. Bakura stored a portion of his soul into a Millennium Puzzle piece he stole back in the intro-to-Marik episode (WAY long ago, Marik being the second main villain in a line of five), and he actually referenced that action and made use of it as the main plot twist in the final season, acting as the final main villain! Now there's something you just don't see anymore.

At first, I just thought about doing the Level 1 Duel source, but that just couldn't work out in my mind without the Shadi theme! After about 28 hours total of remix work, this bad boy was born. Big thanks to Chimpazilla for supplying the awesome drum samples and the Omnisphere Turkish Dulcimer samples! Oh yeah, and one more interesting thing: Every single non-percussive instrument aside from the dulcimer and zourna was either zircon's Cinematic Synthetic Drums library or Zebra -- and a large portion of the instruments that were from Zebra were made from scratch just for this remix (bass, flute, sitar, wind, some of the leads, etc.)!

Hope you find it a unique approach!"

Certainly an enjoyable approach, I'll say that much - totally independent of the arrangement, I'd say this is timaeus's best SOUNDING mix to date, with a really lush & full soundscape that's filled with detail, but never cluttered. Color me impressed; Palpable wasn't necessarily blown away by compositional innovation, but he had similar thoughts on the production:

"Nothing earth-shattering in the way these sources are handled - this is kind of an archetypal OC ReMix approach. A more modern style, strong focus on the melodies. There's absolutely nothing wrong with a remix taking this approach, especially when the production is this strong and the mood so well-crafted. Truong-Son never overlooks the little details, and it's self-evident how much time he put into getting the sounds right. Easy to like, and will probably be loved by those who are familiar with the original sources."

I think it's not only a fine approach to arrangement, it can also be quite difficult to do it well; even if the overall methodology is common or intuitive, connecting the dots right still takes skill. Things really came together here, and I feel like it's one of those serendipitous moments where, with a little assistance, the artist had access to the PERFECT arsenal of sounds & samples to realize the vision in question. Really strong stuff from timaeus222 - don't let a lack of familiarity with the game hinder your interest, as it's probably his best mix yet and a standout addition to Legacy!!