ReMix:Super Mario 64 "The Slow Pull of the Space Docks" 3:49

We're keeping things short and sweet for an exciting line-up of three pieces today! Mel Decision's third OC ReMix -- and her first solo feature here, congrats! -- also took three tries to get through those pesky judges. Her perseverance is rewarded with a trip to the front page, and VGM fans are rewarded with Decision's slowed down, spacey, very NON-aquatic piano transformation of Super Mario 64's "Dire, Dire Docks"! Prompted to arrange a theme as a space-appropriate track, Mel went all galaxy brain on us:

"I created this piece as part of a challenge to "write an arrangement of any video game song, but make it space-related." I immediately knew that I wanted to do a take on "Dire, Dire Docks". There's a thin line between deep sea and space, and I wanted to see how much I could break it. I relied on layering lots of soft pianos and synths, and drenched the whole piece in reverb. I wanted to give the feeling of drifting through space, staring out through the window of a space station into the black as ships dock or zoom by. Kind of peaceful and a little mysterious, with a touch of awe that comes from getting lost in the majesty of space.

Since I last submitted this mix, I switched up some of the instrumentation, added in some sound candy to the background, added the original's B section, made some minor melodic and harmonic adjustments, toned down the reverb, and cut at least a minute of repetitive content out. Thanks for considering!"

Mel's concept was solid right out of the gate, so the primary objective in her quest to spruce this up was fleshing out and varying up the presentation further, aspects that feel more critical especially when a piece is slowly-paced. After comparing Mel's second version with her third, judge Chimpazilla helped rocket this to the front page with a YES:

"There has been quite a bit added to the piece in terms of instruments, textures, padding and sfx. This is a huge improvement. It still feels very sparse but now it sounds purposeful and with enough going on in the soundscape to retain the listener's interest. This arrangement isn't going to be everyone's cup of tea, but this resubmission gets the job done."

If you need a VGM arrangement to retain the exact same presentation as the original song and activate the exact same nostalgia you had for the original music, that's definitely not what we typically do around here, so make sure you're in the right headspace; just because Mel took us to space doesn't mean you get to have your head in the clouds. ;-P Open-minded judge Emunator praised Decision's mood-setting, sound design, and successful iterative process over her multiple versions to add those final clutch bits of sophistication:

"Just going by memory, I recall the original submissions always showing promise but falling short on execution and dynamics. Immediately, we're met with captivating ambiance and ear candy that lays a brilliant foundation for the slow burn, ambient piano arrangement that follows. The piano sequencing still feels lethargic to an extent, but there's a lot more going on fills the space between the slowly unfolding melodies. The strings at the end also feel like a new addition, and are truly gorgeous. This is a much-needed changeup to cap off the arrangement, but doesn't feel entirely detached from what came before it. Emotion bleeds out of the writing there. All in all, the additions were just what this piece needed to push it over the edge, and I'm happy to say that the final result is worth the effort."

Mel's murky atmosphere, slower tempo, melodic changes, spacier tone, and new instrumentation are rock solid. If you didn't know any better, you could easily assume this was an original piece from a space game score. Fans of Mass Effect and FTL will hopefully enjoy this trip amongst the stars as well. Let's go, Mel! :-)