ReMix:Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest "Prismatic" 3:38

Nice to have DKC's David Wise over here stateside for the Game On Expo this past weekend in Arizona! Over here on the east coast, I'm too far away to get out there, but fellow OC ReMixer Mega Ran was over there in his stomping grounds as well. It's wonderful to have childhood VGM heroes like D. Wise and Grant Kirkhope getting their flowers, celebrating the fact that they've composed music that's uplifted us game music fans. It's time for another great tribute from Mental, who brings us his fourth featured ReMix, this time adapting some synthwave stylings to DKC2's "Kannon's Klaim"! Mental shared what was on their mind:

"I'm submitting another one of my arrangements! I used the metal tops from the source material. I made sure it's subtle and is audible at the start and during the second part of the main theme around 2:38. I hope it doesn't clash with copyright issues. The spoken vocals originate from commercially available sample packs.

"Mining Melancholy" already had a retro vibe to begin with, so synthwave felt appropriate for me. Personally, the signature sound of the original track has always been the insane percussion and the heavy synths, so I preserved the top metals and kept the whole piece synthy. To give it a bit of the organic feeling, I added some vocals, little arpeggio effects, and an electric guitar to fill in between the melody. It's a very simplistic remix, but I hope it's still enjoyable."

Nothing wrong in this context from hitting some commercial sample packs. (There's even a DKC3 GBA song that borrowed QUITE a bit from sources like that!) Mental opened things up with an extended intro with simplified progression until the arranged melody arrived at 1:08. Nice meat to the beats, and good energy and drive with their composition. It's a fun take where the melody's actually not leaned on, but the writing from the source is still present. Synthwave's got plenty of retro-sounding elements, so it's no surprise that judge MindWanderer found some sonic similarities with a classic act:

"Very nice. Gives me strong Enigma vibes, which I loved the hell out of back in the '90s. Soundscape is a touch bass-light, but otherwise is rich and full. [...] Great choice to slow down the melody in different ways while keeping the beat the same. Overall this sounds great!"

Besides the "Mining Melancholy" melody being effectively interpreted, I'd hate to not point out the brief but nice rhythmic change for the chorus at 2:09, more smart arranging in action. Judge Emunator was impressed by Mental's continued showcasing of their musical range, with this piece being a different animal compared to the other EDM and cinematic ReMixes we've previously featured:

"Once again, Ly surprises and impresses with their ability to arrange in nearly any genre. The approach here is more understated, but the source is always close at hand, and there's plenty of sonic expansion over the original. The tone of the spoken word vocals fits really nicely, though the words themselves feel non-sequitur and cheesy, though I can't argue against the fact that cheesy *is* genre appropriate for synthwave. No reason I can think of not to push this through!"

If we can't be cheesy with your synthwave spoken word segments, what are we doing? :-D Arrangement-wise, it can feel like the seesaw's tilted toward the production side because the emphasis isn't on the source melody being loud, proud, and upfront, but there's nothing saying that's the way you have to treat a melody; it's totally fine and cool that it's not prominent the whole way. Great sound design with a lush result! And given that you never know what tack they'll take creatively, we'd be mental if we were anything other than excited for Mental's next ReMix, whatever form it may take. :-)