ReMix:Super Mario World "Castle Creep" 3:57

Happy Mar10 Day! A big group of us had a fun time in our Discord server yesterday with the live watch-along of the final Super Mario Bros. Movie trailer. The hype is real, so we have to celebrate with BIG KOOPA N-R-G (TM) courtesy of bLiNd (Jordan Aguirre) and his huge house ReMix of Super Mario World's sub-castle theme! The spores of this piece germinated due to an OCR classic, according to bLiNd:

"I couldn't get enough of zircon's "Monstrous Turtles" when it came out and always wanted to remix the theme myself. This track came out in a purely inspired moment and turned out to be a fine bass house remix of the castle theme. I originally wanted to include this in my upcoming album SNESterYears but unfortunately, the source tune isn't available to cover. No loss, however, because I am sending it to OC ReMix.

Thanks for the feedback. I didn't realize initially when I submitted, that this was my sketch track for SNESterYears (meaning, I never finished it). The feedback was a wake-up call that I should listen more closely to what I submit, LOL.

This arrangement has an actual variation at the 2nd drop and a little bit of trimming afterward. Hopefully, that fixes the issues. (Also dropped more of the vocal loops/bits from the 2nd drop to not be too repetitive.) Let me know if this does the trick. Hope you enjoy!"

This isn't even the first subsequent ReMix to be directly inspired by zircon's concept, so it's awesome to see Andy's enduring take spawning new versions. The initially submitted version of this track had gratuitous repetition, but once we heard Jordan's revised version, we said "Let'sa go!" Judge MindWanderer was quick to note the inspiration from zircon (co-creator of Super Audio Cart, BTW!) while praising this arrangement for paving its own road (or was that Koopa's Road?):

"This wears the influence from Monstrous Turtles! on its sleeve, for sure, but does stand out as a unique take. The voice samples and EDM blips add a unique texture."

Fellow judge Joe Zieja summed up the panel's prevailing positives during the initial judges decision:

"Ahaaaa this groove is great, and the interpretation is fun as hell. I love the style, and as always your production is phenomenal. What a great take on this source."

I agree that it's always interesting to hear "Sub Castle BGM" arrangements in our scene, with so many different ways to keep the atmosphere dark yet really dig into unique sound design choices. bLiNd's production genuinely adds that extra oomph that allows his tracks to favorably stand out even among a crowded yet talented field. For me, the synths, beats, and voice clips combine in a strong way for a busy beat-driven piece of business that's energetic while still retaining some spooky SMW vibes.

The Super Mario Bros. Movie is nearly upon us (April 5th sooooon!), so we can't wait to showcase several more wonderful Mario franchise arrangements throughout April for our dedicated Mario month, a first-of-its-kind effort on OCR. bLiNd's bumpin' foray into the castle will have to suffice until then! :-)