Video Game Music Remix Podcast - GameJams: The Best of Season 1 (2010)

Episode Transcript

Portal - "Device Has Been Modified" Remix by The Victims of Science. Video by The Cybercat

This is a very special episode of GameJams because we’re going to showcase the very best of the first season, which ran from July of last year until last December, so for those who missed out on the first fifteen episodes of the podcast, you’re about to see the cream of the crop! so for those who missed out on the first fifteen episodes of GameJams, we’re going to bring you up to speed with some of the highlights. But be sure to watch all of our past episodes for more video game music remix goodness!

To kick the show off, we had what I feel was the best remix from Episode 6, “The Device Has Been Modified (Version 2)” by the Victims of Science, which is a reworking of the music from the awesome game Portal! Really, the reason why this was chosen as the best song from Episode 6 is because of the deadly combination of intoxicating beats and great voice work from the lovely GLaDOs, and the kickass music video that was graciously provided by thecybercat, whose work you can find on youtube! But now, we’re moving on to the best remix of episode 3, Insurrection, which is from the game Halo and was made by Krispy! An epic theme from an epic series, Halo pretty much defined what the first person genre takes for granted nowadays, and this remix I captures what people should have felt when they played this game for the first time and blasted their way through hordes of aliens as the famous mantank himself, Master Chief! But enough jibba-jabba, this is Insurrection, from Halo.

Halo: Combat Evolved - "Insurrection" Remix by Krispy

Chrono Trigger - "When All Hope Has Faded" Remix by Zircon, Tyler Heath

That was Insurrection, and When All Hope Has Faded, a remix that was skillfully created by the minds of both Tyler Heath, who composed the orchestral section, and Zircon, renowned techno artist and remixer of electronica! This is a selection from a special episode near the beginning of Season One when I actually had the chance to sit down with Zircon, a remixer from OCRemix.org, and have what turned out to be my first interview! If you’d like to learn more about the genius behind the heavy beats, you can find the full interview on cheshirecatstudios.com! Now, that was a remix from that classic RPG on the SNES that needs no introduction, Chrono Trigger! The whole game was just an epic quest that had you jumping to all sorts of different time periods where you meet a strange host of different characters, such as a frog knight, a robot, and a cavewoman! The music from Chrono Trigger is amongst the best on the Super Nintendo, and this remix encapsulates an epicness that the original tunes carried! The orchestral portion, and the techno, really compliments each other, and it’s really cool to see somewhat clashing musical styles work so well together! But now, we have a more rockin’ remix that was a highlight from our Halloween Special, “Theme of Laura (Reprise) Remix”, skillfully created by SasukeShika, and adapted from the best of the Silent Hill series, Silent Hill 2! Now everybody knows the story: James Sunderland gets a letter from his deceased wife that tells him to go to their old getaway destination, Silent Hill, which begins a horrifying journey of self-discovery that takes our hero to the very edge of sanity while trying to solve the puzzle of his foggy past. Oh, not to mention that he runs into the mascot of the twisted series, Pyramid Head. This was a milestone game for survival horror, and it shows that games can have huge mind-fucks in their stories like other forms of media. This particular remix is possibly, in my opinion, one of the most memorable rock songs from the first season of GameJams, and the almost primal feel of the music is what really makes it shine! But now, here’s Theme of Laura (Reprise) Remix!

Silent Hill 2 - "Laura’s Reprise" Remix by SasukeShika

Metal Gear Solid - "Metal Gear May Cry" Remix by Jared Hudson. Video by LaughingMan

That was a remix of the immortal theme from Metal Gear Solid titled “Metal Gear May Cry” by Jared Hudson. This remix incorporates gothic elements from the series Devil May Cry, and evolves into a powerful theme that would make Harry Gregson-Williams proud. The video version you watched was created by founder of Cheshire Cat Studios.com and guest host of GameJams Episode 8, portraying a triumphantly sorrowful music video of one of the most emotional moments of the entire Metal Gear Solid franchise: the fall of Big Boss from Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater. But speaking of the art of war, our next remix comes from the land of Team Fortress 2, a kickass first person shooter made by the quirky personalities at Valve! For those who aren’t familiar with the game, you get to take control of nine different classes, each with their own unique functions that help your teammates in all sorts of different ways! For example, there is the Scout, who can run super fast and can quickly steal the intelligence in the Capture the Flag map 2Fort, the Pyro, a freak of nature who can light enemies on fire, and the Sniper, a bad mother from Australia with a really rotten mood and an itchy trigger finger! The next remix is based off of his theme song, “Number One,” and it was created by the skilled Mastgrr. Incidentally, I came across this tune on Youtube, of all places, but I instantly fell in love with it because of the highly energetic horns, the primal rhythm, and the use of Aboriginal instruments like the didgeridoo, which was very clever and creative on the musician’s part because it’s a really subtle but awesome way to honor the Sniper! So with that said, here’s Number One, by Mastgrr!

Team Fortress 2 - "Number One" Remix by Mastgrr

Super Street Fighter IV - "Time to Oil Up" Remix by Zircon, Pixietricks (Jillian Aversa)

We’re going international tonight, folks! Not only was that Number One by Mastgrr, but what came after was Time To Oil Up, a remix from Super Street Fighter 4 that was made by the dynamic duo, Zircon and Pixietricks! Now, Super Street Fighter 4 is the updated edition of Street Fighter 4, which may not have been the first transition to 3d for the franchise, but should be widely considered as such since the first TRUE 3D entries in the Street Fighter series were abominations and should never have been made…. Cough Street Fighter EX cough. Anyway, Super Street Fighter 4 introduced possibly the weirdest character ever conceived by Capcom, Hakan, a red Turkish oil wrestler who makes it his mission to find the best virgin olive oil to sell to international markets. Hell, sign me up, I’d do business with him! But this track was selected as the best from episode 10 because not only is it addictive to listen to, but the fantastic techno magic from Zircon is surpassed on the awesome-meter by his use of Turkish instruments, and the hypnotic voice of Pixietricks, so I knew that when I heard this for the first time back in the summer of 2010 that it would be amongst the best of Season One!

But now, we’re going to end our international triple-header with a remix from Ninja Gaiden, “Basilisk Run,” which was crafted by none other than Vurez, who seems to carry a South American flare with him in many of his remixes! I know, you would think that South American music wouldn’t mesh very well with something concerning ninjas, but man am I wrong! With a game as ball-bustingly difficult as Ninja Gaiden on the NES, where birds are actually one of your biggest worries, you would imagine that something a little more oriental would fit in a remix, but Vurez’s use of pan flutes, classic, or flamenco, guitar, and even what sounds like some desperado horns in the distance really makes “Basilisk Run” one of the most distinct songs that Season One of GameJams had to offer! This is from the very first episode, too, so we knew to share a very eclectic playlist with you from the very getgo!. So let’s wrap up our international festival with Basilisk Run, by Vurez!

Ninja Gaiden (NES) - "Basilisk Run" Remix by Vurez

Final Fantasy VII - "Acoustic Fireworks" Remix by EgM

Doesn’t that remix want to make you go on a great date with somebody special? No, I don’t mean where you get the dirty on, I mean the romantic stuff that people have seemed to forget! But that incredibly romantic dream was Acoustic Fireworks, a remix from Final Fantasy 7 that was created by EgM, and it is strangely another really good song from Episode Four. Strange that we already had a selection from that one and didn’t give episode five any love, but oh well. Acoustic Fireworks blows a lot of our more romantic, guitar-driven songs out of the water in Season One, simply because it just provides a simple, sweet atmosphere that really captures the dating scene in Final Fantasy 7… unless you chose to date Barrett instead of Aerith or Tifa… If you’ve seen the movie “Let’s Go To Prison,” then you might get some disturbing mental thoughts… and I just totally killed the mood for you guys, SO we’re going to move on to our next track of the evening that is a highlight from episode 9, Starman (don’t lose yourself), a remix that was created by AkumajoBelmont, and is derived from an extremely obscure game called DarXide for the Sega 32X… that’s why you haven’t heard of it. This is an extremely rare space shooter game that’s sold up to $1000 in the independent markets (thanks Wikipedia!), so unfortunately I never had a chance to actually play this game, but what I can say is that the space theme allows for this remixer to do some really cool things with this particular track: it works really well with the source material because it not only has a very spacey feel to it, but you can also trace a little bit of Daft Punk in there with the vocals. I am a HUGE fan of Daft Punk, and I love them to death, and I am proud to say that I can say the same about this track! Skillfully done, AkumajoBelmont! So with that said, here’s Starman (don’t lose yourself)!

DarXide - "Starman (Don’t Lose Yourself)" Remix by AkumajoBelmont

Woooo! Don’t you want to grab some glow sticks and rave to that? Hell yes you do! That was the very groovy Starman (don’t lose yourself) by AkumajoBelmont, and now we’re unfortunately closing in on the last song of the night in our Best of Season One special! But before we get to that, we have some obligatory special service announcements! Listen up kids, this stuff’s important! This has been a very special episode of GameJams, the official CheshireCatStudios video game remix podcast where you request the songs and have them played! We’re also a proud feature on ThatFellowInTheCoat and Blistered Thumbs, and if you want to listen to us on the go, you have two options: you can find the audio downloads to our episodes on the CheshireCatStudios GameJams pages, or you can find the video downloads on iTunes so you can watch us on the go! But as this episode closes, and we finally move on to another season, I can’t help but get a little nostalgic and sentimental because you guys are really what pushed me to keep going and making these episodes every 2 weeks! Seriously, without your support, your requests, and your push to make this series better and better, this podcast would have been a crappy, festering mess buried somewhere in the internet. So with that said, I would like to give a very special thanks to the entire CheshireCatStudios Crew for putting GameJams through quality control and making this the best podcast that it can be! I would also like to thank Estefan aka ThatFellow and Joe Vargas aka Angry Joe for hosting me on their sites! Thank you for giving me a chance, guys! So now, what do we have to close us out? Ah yeah, the best remix from Episode 2, “Midnight Sneakin’!” This is a great tune that was created by HappyBivouac, and was remixed from Jet Set Radio, a Dreamcast game whose sequel, Jet Set Radio Future, I played with my brother on the original Xbox! I remember fondly spending entire afternoons spray painting all of Japan while listening to some eccentric if fun beats! If any game series should spell underrated, it’s the Jet Set Radio series! But as for the song… seriously… I just have a blast listening to this remix and it’s something that I can’t praise enough! From the first moment I heard those soundwaves give my ears an audio orgasm, I knew that this was one of the best songs featured in Season one, hands down! It has it all – voice clips from the game, a very jazzy bass, a fun melody that you can sink your teeth into, and a surefire sign that the remixer had a lot of fun making this song! So without further ado, to close our Best of Season One episode, here’s Midnight Sneakin’ by Happy Bivouac, and see you guys next time on GameJams!

Jet Set Radio - "Midnight Sneakin’" Remix by HappyBivouac