Posted 2015-12-06, evaluated by djpretzel


December 6th marks the birthday of Satoru Iwata, a gigantic figure in the world of video games whose loss was felt throughout the community & around the world on July 11th of this year...

A group of artists on our forums have put together a six-track tribute EP, arranging music from many of the games Iwata-san worked on & contributed to with Nintendo & HAL; we hope you enjoy Heart of a Gamer: A Tribute to Satoru Iwata, our community's tribute to a man whose life work was making the world a better & brighter place through video games.

Album director The Damned (Gerry Wheatley) writes:

"Being president of Nintendo wasn't enough to stop Iwata from helping out. He would work alongside the staff, programming and coding along with them. He wasn't just another name in the credits. He was truly part of the team."

Obviously OCR focuses on composers, but video games are an omnibus format which take many disciplines - and usually many indviduals - to realize. It's rare that you see such passion for a gaming executive - developers, designers, composers, sure, but presidents & CEOs are usually either in the crosshairs for something gone awry OR happily taking a backstage role and staying out of the limelight as much as possible. Satoru Iwata was an exception, and you could tell it was BECAUSE of how much he loved what he was doing; that type of authenticity can't be faked, and it shouldn't be hidden. We've got two mixes off the EP for you, starting with an epic SSB symphonic rock arrangement from Sbeast; Larry Oji writes:

"When The Damned offered up two different potential track orders for this Iwata tribute EP, I really liked going for an energetic opening and opted to run with Sbeast. Both the Melee and Brawl themes are modern classics, so there's never a bad time to break them out. This one's a solid rock piece with bread-and-butter orchestral parts that, while not the most realistic-sounding, are quality enough to add good textural meat and accents to the guitar work. For me, the main strength of Scott's execution is the seemingly effortless and constant dynamic contrast employed: at any given time, the guitar is on its own, then it's doubled or joined by another instrument; several different orchestral instruments arrive and depart; the percussion combinations and rhythms change up. In the big picture, the core energy level stays pretty consistent, yet when you focus on the smaller details, it's very clear the piece never stays in a fixed place. With further production polish & attention to detail with his sampled parts, we could really hear Scott hit true (S)beast mode down the line, so I'm excited not just by his current work, but by his potential."

Well said; high-energy, high-octane way to kick things off. Thanks to Sbeast, director The Damned, and all who contributed to Heart of a Gamer for putting together a small but poignant musical tribute!

djpretzel

Discussion

Latest 11 comments/reviews; view the complete thread or post your own.
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Crulex
on 2018-04-25 02:27:09

Wow, nice! This is the kind of rock that I would expect from something like Smash Bros, which makes having it used in the EVO hype video fitting and well-deserved. The percussion was amazingly hard-hitting, and the whole mix just sounded as clean as could be. Very cool track from a pretty sweet album.

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Sbeast
on 2016-07-18 09:17:59

I'm happy to announce my arrangement was used during EVO 2016 for a Super Smash Bros. Melee hype video!

I don't know how big the crowd was, but looks over a thousand. :)

Check it out here:

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jnWake
on 2015-12-27 18:24:05

Nice rock remix. I like how the drums aren't stuck to a typical beat and instead switch between different rhytms in the different riffs of the song. However, I feel the drum sequencing is very mechanical (very notice-able in the section where the drums play like orchestral percussion). The bass also felt mechanical in the 2:00 section. Regarding the arrangement, I like the idea of symphonic rock, suits the sources well. I did feel you were lacking some instruments playing higher notes though, since it felt that everything was in the middle.

Overall, this is a rather nice rock remix. I'm disappointed you didn't use the "Character Select" theme from Smash 64 though haha.

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nitrozsz
on 2015-12-14 01:14:01

It would be almost expected for these Smash Bros. tracks to be rearranged as rock tracks. But this remix pulls off the rock arrangement very well. It doesn’t feel like the artist was trying too hard to be as “hardcore” as possible. Just subtle enough to be respectable to the original source material.

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Uffe von Lauterbach
on 2015-12-11 00:39:16

It's always great to hear a Smash remix. Pretty nice!

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Necrox
on 2015-12-06 18:36:07

Everything sounds great, especially the drums. Nice slap bass too. it's a solid mix, but I don't really have a lot to say about it. Maybe I've done too many reviews today.

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Black_Doom
on 2015-12-06 12:17:31

I'm big fan of a more folk-oriented treatment of the source from HoH (be sure to check it out), but this track is a nice companion for it. It's much more energetic and guitar-driven, and this is definitely my favourite track from Sbeast so far. Nice sing to open the album as well :)

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timaeus222
on 2015-12-05 23:20:37

I personally think this is one of Sbeast's more impressive ReMixes. I find myself almost as into it, if not just as much, as Sbeast might have been while he was working on this. A great way to start out the album---energetic but not overly aggressive.

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The Damned
on 2015-12-05 23:17:33

As far as I am concerned, this was Iwata's daily work theme. Get up early, rock that shower, power that breakfast. Drive that car to work (or limo, I ain't judging), open that office door, command that desk. End song.

Tell me it doesn't work.

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Coaltergeist
on 2015-12-05 23:09:06

Glad this album came to light so quickly! Great mix, btw; the tension in the beginning lead into the overall high-energy piece very well. While the guitar performance is really good, I think the orchestral pieces match it very well, and the entire piece comes together nicely. Great job!

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Liontamer
on 2015-12-05 02:07:15

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

Sources Arranged (2 Songs, 2 Games)


Primary Game:
Super Smash Bros. Melee (Nintendo , 2001, GCN)
Music by Akito Nakatsuka,David Wise,Grant Kirkhope,Hajime Hirasawa,Hideki Kanazashi,Hirokazu Ando,Hirokazu Tanaka,Jun Ishikawa,Junichi Masuda,Kazumi Totaka,Keiichi Suzuki,Koji Kondo,Naoto Ishida,Shogo Sakai,Tadashi Ikegami,Takuto Kitsuta,Taro Bando,Yuka Tsujiyoko,Yukio Kaneoka,Yumiko Kanki
Songs:
"Menu 1"
Additional Game:
Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Nintendo , 2008, WII)
Music by Kenta Nagata,Akito Nakatsuka,David Wise,Eveline Novakovic,Go Ichinose,Grant Kirkhope,Hajime Hirasawa,Hajime Wakai,Hideaki Kobayashi,Hideki Naganuma,Hidenori Shoji,Hirokazu Ando,Hirokazu Tanaka,Hitomi Sato,Jun Ishikawa,Jun Senoue,Junichi Masuda,Kazumi Totaka,Keigo Ozaki,Keiichi Suzuki,Kenichi Tokoi,Kenji Yamamoto (I)
Songs:
"Super Smash Bros. Brawl Main Theme"

Tags (5)


Genre:
Mood:
Instrumentation:
Bells,Electric Guitar,Orchestral,Piano
Additional:
Time > 4/4 Time Signature

File Information


Name:
Super_Smash_Bros_Melee_Choose_Your_Character_OC_ReMix.mp3
Size:
5,169,957 bytes
MD5:
420fc83ff846bf7a8857911b80aacad8
Bitrate:
234Kbps
Duration:
2:53

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