Board 8 > [VGMC] Day 3! feat. Solitary Spaces, Luxurious Races, and Mammalian Faces

(+) Yeah! (+)

Welcome to Video Game Music Contest 19, an annual celebration of the best of the best video game music according to the voters!

Important Links:
Bracket: https://www.bracketmaker.com/tlist.cfm?tid=479594
Contest info sheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1HqEzmlfEUsm6BWJbBxDm6ZUnQQ_2d1ezDlVBN2sYepY
Contest discussion thread: https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/8-gamefaqs-contests/80981071
Main bracket playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLT3m7iohpL0zm7Svx4DXDy1XjUejSBazd
Last years spreadsheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1HBxgL9woiCMFKNOPuN_qdxmzjStJXSpC3Ocalfsavdk
VGMC total stats sheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1K1XdLWiUKB2kX99qYBgnRbLU_sCz4dvZSByKKJHCT6o
VGMC info site (thank you p0!!): https://p0p0p0p.github.io/
Discord: https://discord.gg/7FVXqWj

Rules:
- Listen to both songs in a given match, at least through the loop time provided (to make sure you don't skip before you've heard the whole thing!)
- Please consider the loop point listed when judging the song; if a video loops one minute 5 times, don't treat it as if it's a repetitive 5 minute song
- If it's a match between your favorite song ever and a song you despise, still LISTEN TO BOTH! Votes can and will be disqualified if there is suspicion songs are not being listened to, and you may be discounted for the rest of the contest for repeat offenses.
- No alt accounts, no rallying or begging, etc., etc.... You only get one vote! Swapping votes is alright, just make clear that you've already made a vote and are swapping.
- Make clear what your voting options are! Please keep votes separate from any comments, and use the titles given in the topic post.
- Voting in all matches is not mandatory, feel free to skip matches you do not wish to vote in.
- Vote based on the links provided, and not other sources of audio. Links are specifically chosen for best quality and the like.
- Don't discuss vote tallies in this thread, or in other threads, as they may influence votes. Likewise, please refrain from looking at the running tally before voting.

Voting Period:
- Today's matches will last 24 hours from the time of posting, or 24 hours from 11pm Eastern, whichever is the later time.
- Please note this may mean that two topics will be active at the same time!
- If you anticipate being unable to vote in a given day, please send an absentee vote to @banshiryuu, or post your absentee vote in the discussion thread!

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Match 1

Spyro the Dragon - Lofty Castle (potato)
Composer: Stewart Copeland
Loop Point: 1:37
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m0li7__EXY4

Shinju no Yakata - Loneliness of the Caged Bird
Composer: Yoh Ohyama
Loop Point: 5:40
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4DSmcq68bW0

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Match 2

Marble Madness - Intermediate Race (Stage3)
Composer: Hal Canon, Brad Fuller
Loop Point: 1:53
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VMdgZ3MKEKs

Genshin Impact - Jade Chimes
Composer: Yuxi Wang
Loop Point: 2:03
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7L7kpRaOWjk

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Match 3

Ecco the Dolphin (Sega CD) - Title Screen (Aqua Vistas)
Composer: Spencer Nilsen
Loop Point: 4:33
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tCiLK-9pgJs

Mad Rat Dead - MAD RAT, DIE
Composer: Masaya Oya (Camellia)
Loop Point: 2:25
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZ3zTzglIlc

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Easy vote form:
Lofty Castle (potato) / Loneliness of the Caged Bird
Intermediate Race (Stage3) / Jade Chimes
Title Screen (Aqua Vistas) / MAD RAT, DIE

Shinju no Yakata - Loneliness of the Caged Bird
Genshin Impact - Jade Chimes
Ecco the Dolphin (Sega CD) - Title Screen (Aqua Vistas)

Loneliness of the Caged Bird
Intermediate Race (Stage3)
Title Screen (Aqua Vistas)

Lofty Castle (potato)
Jade Chimes
Title Screen (Aqua Vistas)

Loneliness of the Caged Bird
Jade Chimes
MAD RAT, DIE

Lofty Castle is really neat and interesting and cool. Unfortunate it had this as its opponent, making for by far the easiest match of the day. The quirky 90s prog deserved better here.
Oh dear... This one is simply too harsh either way you put it. Jade Chimes was a (frankly) unexpected but worthy rep. A very pleasant surprise it was the one to get momentum of the options az provided. And then Marble Madness is just a game that it is frankly shocking it has taken this long to see a VGMC appearance given both its legacy and calibre. Both are fantastic tbh, but... if I had to say, it's Jade Chimes I feel is just a little too peak.
The heck is this hit job on Ecco???? Maybe it was a deliberate attempt to live up to MRD - MRD's title, but I don't see it being even slightly weak. Honestly I'd consider both of these well primed for a retirement from this division given current VGMC if they weren't both against each other here. Very undeserved.

Lofty Castle (Spyro the Dragon)
Intermediate Race (Marble Madness)
MAD RAT, DIE (Mad Rat Dead)

Lofty Castle I listed in my top 50 favorite pieces of music a couple years ago. A 10/10 for me at the time, I think my tastes are in a different place somewhat right now, but my respect hasnt diminished at allthis is still on par with most of my more recent favorites. Still easily my favorite track from a series whos atmosphere is something that always grabs me back into it, much more than most other popular 3d platformers of the era. Evoking a somehow triumphant and grand feeling chord progression through such intentionally dissonant intervals is so fucking cool feeling. Similar appeal to why I like Zan-zan-zawa-veia so much, though not quite that level of tonally otherworldly, something very cool is here.

I like the very vibrant woodwind flourish

I like the false chimes. I like the rite of spring and this is, that. Basically. But FM! And I like FM among the most of all possible sounds..

I like the true chimes

Match 3 is very hard, I knew this going in was going to be one of the hardest choices. Both tracks hit my tastes at such disparate ends of it. I think though, that this is not nearly one of my favorite tracks from Ecco so its easy for me to just go with MRD here compared to if this was something in ecco I obsess over more. But I have nothing but good things to say about every song on this soundtrack, so it does hurt to have to vote against it as early as R1. I love my new age and shiny 90s synths, and Spencer Nilsen music always is some of the best at making dreamy realms with that to me.

This is one of my favorite camellia songs, and I do love camellia! I think what makes it stand out to me is a certain type of tonal adventurousness that just fits into what I like on that front. Its also very spacious in a certain way, which knowing the environment this takes place actually kinda makes sense. It FEELS organic, like you are inside of your own brain and so microscopic that what was once a distance smaller than you could perceive is now as far away as the moon. Every sound is warping in and out between different ways of perceiving it,,,,like the source of a hallucination (context) that you are confronting. I like most of the music to this later part of this game, and it all suits the strange environment it plays. But I think this one captures what I see in it best.

Loneliness of the Caged Bird
Jade Chimes
Title Screen (Aqua Vistas)

Loneliness of the Caged Bird
Intermediate Race (Stage3)
MAD RAT, DIE

wtf Camellia has a real name?

Loneliness of the Caged Bird
Jade Chimes
MAD RAT, DIE

Lofty Castle (potato)
Jade Chimes
MAD RAT, DIE

Loneliness of the Caged Bird
Jade Chimes
Title Screen (Aqua Vistas)

Caged Bird [A] > Jade Chimes [B] > Aqua Vistas [C] > Intermediate Race [C] > Lofty Castle [C] > MAD RAT DIE [C]

Caged Bird is excellent. Easily the best thing here today. Second match is wild. I liked Intermediate Race better when doing my bracket, but Jade Chimes sounds a lot better to me now. Aqua Vistas ain't the best Ecco track but it's solid, and Mad Rat just has too much going on. Solid day despite the gaps.

Loneliness of the Caged Bird
Intermediate Race (Stage3)
MAD RAT, DIE

Intermediate race giving me heavy Stravinsky vibes here

Lofty Castle (potato)
Intermediate Race (Stage3)
Title Screen (Aqua Vistas)

Loneliness of the Caged Bird
Intermediate Race (Stage3)
MAD RAT, DIE

Lofty Castle
Intermediate Race
Title Screen (Aqua Vistas)

Lofty Castle (Spyro the Dragon)
Intermediate Race (Marble Madness)
MAD RAT, DIE (Mad Rat Dead)

match 3 ... making me choose between two of my favs

Loneliness of the Caged Bird
Jade Chimes
MAD RAT, DIE

Loneliness of the Caged Bird
Jade Chimes
MAD RAT, DIE

Lofty Castle (potato)
Intermediate Race (Stage3)
Title Screen (Aqua Vistas)

No context (Burma Shave)

VOTES:
Loneliness of the Caged Bird
Jade Chimes
Title Screen (Aqua Vistas)

May do write-ups later if have time.

Lofty Castle (potato)
Jade Chimes
Title Screen (Aqua Vistas)

Lofty
Race
Screen

Lofty Castle (potato)
Jade Chimes
Title Screen (Aqua Vistas)

Loneliness of the Caged Bird
Jade Chimes
Title Screen (Aqua Vistas)

Loneliness of the Caged Bird
Jade Chimes
Title Screen (Aqua Vistas)

Loneliness of the Caged Bird
Intermediate Race (Stage3)
Title Screen (Aqua Vistas)

All very good, very different songs today. Made for tough decisions all around.

Loneliness of the Caged Bird
Jade Chimes
Title Screen (Aqua Vistas)

Only one song here I care if it wins its match. Buncha tracks today that are enjoyable but don't really grab your attention. (And then there's MAD RAT DIE.)

Asturias
Chimes
Title

i like when yoh ohyama does the yoh ohyama things

Loneliness of the Caged Bird
Jade Chimes
Title Screen (Aqua Vistas)

Jade Chimes > Loneliness of the Caged Bird > Aqua Vistas >> MAD RAT, DIE > Lofty Castle (potato) > Intermediate Race (Stage3)

Caged Bird
Jade Chimes
Mad Rat, Die

Rat [A+] [5/30] > Caged Bird [B+] > Jade Chimes [C+] > Title Screen [C+] > Intermediate Race [C] > Lofty Castle [D+]

Sigh, I'm off schedule already (should have posted last night).

Lofty Castle (potato)
Intermediate Race (Stage3)
Title Screen (Aqua Vistas)

Loneliness of the Caged Bird surprised me by changing after the 2:30 point and I was getting into it by the end.

Lofty Castle (potato)
Intermediate Race (Stage3)
Title Screen (Aqua Vistas)

Lofty Castle (potato)
Jade Chimes
MAD RAT, DIE

Good day today! Everything is quite enjoyable. But I'm not expecting my beloved nom to win today, which will hurt if that happens....

Lofty Castle (potato) (9.2) / Loneliness of the Caged Bird (8.7)
Intermediate Race (Stage3) (7.0) / Jade Chimes (8.0)
Title Screen (Aqua Vistas) (7.3) / MAD RAT, DIE (9.65)

Loneliness of the Caged Bird
Jade Chimes
MAD RAT, DIE

Lofty Castle (potato)
Jade Chimes
Title Screen (Aqua Vistas)

Loneliness of the Caged Bird
Jade Chimes
Title Screen (Aqua Vistas)

Loneliness of the Caged Bird >= Title Screen (Aqua Vistas) > Jade Chimes > Lofty Castle (potato) > MAD RAT, DIE > Intermediate Race (Stage3)

Loneliness of the Caged Bird
Jade Chimes
Title Screen (Aqua Vistas)

Title Screen (Aqua Vistas) > Loneliness of the Caged Bird > Jade Chimes > MAD RAT, DIE > Lofty Castle (potato) >>>>> Intermediate Race (Stage3)

Lofty Castle (potato) - 6.5
doesn't do a ton, and what it does I don't particularly care for

Loneliness of the Caged Bird - 7.25
not my thing but I respect it enough

Intermediate Race (Stage3) - 4
what the fuck

Jade Chimes - 7
oh yeah the Supra song, not particularly impressed but it's fine

Title Screen (Aqua Vistas) - 8.5
what the fuck Ecco was on SEGA CD? and its soundtrack is this beautiful?????

MAD RAT, DIE - 7
I can count the number of Camellia songs I want to revisit on one hand

Loneliness of the Caged Bird
Jade Chimes
Title Screen (Aqua Vistas)

jesus, didn't think i'd have such a hard decision today but intermediate race and jade chimes are both CRAZY awesome. gonna have to go for jade chimes bcos i love the ambience of it but the alternate panned parts on intermediate race REALLY get me
i think i'm a bit too mean to ecco cd soundtracks. they're fucking stunning but i compare them to the genesis ones which i prefer and i. really shouldn't. this is gorgeous

Loneliness of the Caged Bird
Jade Chimes
MAD RAT, DIE

This is a rare day where I have very clear preferences, but on some level I hope all the other songs win.

Loneliness of the Caged Bird
Jade Chimes
MAD RAT, DIE

caged bird
marble
mad raat die

Loneliness of the Caged Bird
Intermediate Race (Stage3)
MAD RAT, DIE

Lofty Castle is like the most 'fucking around in a MIDI sequencing program in the 90's' shit I've ever heard 5/10

Loneliness of the Caged Bird is good for what it is 7.5/10

Marble Madness music sure does exist, bracket A sure is avant garde as fuck 6.5/10

Jade Chimes is pleasant but boring 6/10

Ecco thing is pleasant but boring 5.5/10

Mad Rat Die sure is a lot of song, I didn't really like it as much as I thought I would 7/10

god I have nothing interesting to say what the hell am I doing

Lofty Castle (potato)
Intermediate Race (Stage3)
Title Screen (Aqua Vistas)

Loneliness of the Caged Bird
Intermediate Race (Stage3)
MAD RAT, DIE

Lofty Castle
Intermediate Race (Stage3)
Title Screen (Aqua Vistas)

Loneliness of the Caged Bird
Jade Chimes
Title Screen (Aqua Vistas)

Lofty Castle (potato)
Intermediate Race (Stage3)
Title Screen (Aqua Vistas)

Surprisingly hard match 2. As youd expect, the bells are the highlight of Jade Chimes, which with its minimal instrumentation highlights the depth of the bells tones. However that same minimalism leaves me wanting more from it, like a stronger melody. I could say the opposite about Intermediate Race: that slam at 0:15 is way too strong and gets repeated way too much. But what I really like about this song is how much the FM fills it out, often unpredictably: the sections from 0:29-0:40 and 0:56-1:10 have a lot of good, nostalgic sounds that interact in fun ways.

title

Shinju no Yakata - Loneliness of the Caged Bird
Genshin Impact - Jade Chimes
Mad Rat Dead - MAD RAT, DIE

Loneliness of the Caged Bird
Jade Chimes
Title Screen (Aqua Vistas)