ReMix: New Super Mario Bros. 'Mushroom Maddness'

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So I visited an old high school buddy a couple months back, and he had both a DS and a 360, and it was my first exposure to both systems. Fight Night 3 looked beautiful in HD, but it was New Super Mario Bros. that got me hooked in less than a minute. That turned out to be one of the most expensive visits in my life, as I ended up buying both systems in the months that followed. I dig my 360, esp. because I've been playing some of the older Xbox games I never got a chance to play (most of which are available for very reasonable prices), but I've also been rockin' out with the DS. Elite Beat Agents is more addictive than crack cocaine, and is the only context in which I can enjoy Sk8er Boi without feeling like I should be subjected to death by chainsaw. I've also been slowly plowing through the original Yoshi's Island, and get in the occasional Brain Age and Electroplankton sessions whenever possible. I was one of the many who were skeptical about the DS's two screens, but some of these games make absolutely brilliant use of both the real estate and the touch sensitivity. Hopefully some of you are enjoying the DS or are receiving one this morning from Santa, but regardless, you can enjoy newcomer Jredd's New SMB ReMix, our first DS mix on the site and consequently our first from the game as well. New SMB has a great score that hearkens back to the original Kondo score from SMB while adding new material in the same vein. The ReMixer writes:

"As soon as I got Super Mario DS I grooved on the music. A delightful mix of old and new school just like the game itself. The arrangement I am sending you guys hopefully will give off that same impression. More than anything I just really had fun with it. I don't know if this is up to par with your high standards but I hope at the very least you'll enjoy it. It's a mix of the first level, underground, and the invincible theme, and a few original parts."

This is one of those mixes where the arrangement IS the production; the two are inextricably linked, as effects and processing play an integral role to the overall sound, beyond their normal application. zyko covered this one well:

"yumm, this is very scrumptious

it possesses so many different textures to it; i love that! you are gritty and grimy for a stretch, then you drop into a very spacey urban groove. very mario and very not... all at once: you've effectively done what vg arranging is all about

i'm not gonna disagree on the production issues zircon is having with it. at times, it gets too muddy because you have so much shit goin on that individual parts get mushed up together. then there's how it opens up into the spacious section around 1.35

still, the arrangement and work here is far too sophisticated and entertaining to overlook. this really is great."

It's a fun mix; while I'd agree that the production is rather sophisticated (and very cool to experience with a good pair of headphones), the arrangement is more of a lark, and seems more focused on grooving out to each of the melodies represented than digging in deep melodically or harmonically. So be it, though: Jredd got da skills to make such an approach work just dandy, and does so here. Mario's soundtrack legacy was maintained and added to with Nintendo's New SMB, and his corresponding ReMix legacy now assimilates a new platform with Mushroom Maddness. I've still got some presents to wrap, but hopefully today's ReMixes have made your holidays a little brighter. Best of luck to all those expecting the modern day equivalent of official Red Ryder carbine action two-hundred shot range model air rifles, and to all a good night.

― djpretzel