Board 8 > [VGMC] Day 27! feat. Solar Soldiers, Scottish Strangers, and Szero Suit Samus

(+) 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 10pm 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

Nine Sols - Nine Sols
Composer: Hunter Wang, Natsuko
Loop Point: 5:00
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jo_-vr1FwJ0

Pokmon X/Y - Battle! (Champion)
Composer: Junichi Masuda arr. Shota Kageyama
Loop Point: 1:39
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIhzepyJSSw

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Match 2

GROOVE COASTER - Spring to mind
Composer: Shohei Tsuchiya
Loop Point: 1:34
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cIfn7lJTXaA

SaGa Emerald Beyond - Auld Lang Syne
Composer: Kenji Ito arr. Koji Yamaoka
Loop Point: 8:35
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ohYQU1RpgN0

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Match 3

Super Smash Bros. Melee - Brinstar Depths
Composer: Hirokazu Tanaka arr. Shogo Sakai
Loop Point: 2:14
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ZaBXXXoqU4

Stella Glow - Hikari no Metamorphosis
Composer: Yusuke Shirato
Loop Point: 4:40
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w2rXlxTVmkQ

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Easy vote form:
Nine Sols / Battle! (Champion)
Spring to mind / Auld Lang Syne
Brinstar Depths / Hikari no Metamorphosis

Nine Sols - Nine Sols
SaGa Emerald Beyond - Auld Lang Syne
Stella Glow - Hikari no Metamorphosis

Reminder yesterday's match is still up for the next two hours!!

Nine Sols
Auld Lang Syne
Brinstar Depths

Nine Sols is a game that I tried to get into and could not get into - I liked the art style and the world but the combat just didn't feel good to me and I absolutely hate the Souls suite of mechanics that people keep putting into games. I lost all my money at one point and decided that was a good time to uninstall. I would have liked to hear this song in an alternate universe where I actually beat the game. Kinda hits diminishing returns when it gets into the screamo part but oh well 7.5/10

A lot of Pokemon fight music always sounds kind of jank to me and this is no exception 4/10

Spring to mind is weird, at least, but doesn't really do anything for me 5/10

Auld Lang Syne? Surely it's not called that because... oh, well then, ok 7/10

Every time I hear Melee's soundtrack I'm sort of blown away by how well it's aged and Brinstar Depths is one of my favorite arrangements - Kraid's lair is such a cool piece to begin with but damn, that shift up in key hits different. I don't think it could possibly be better 9.5/10

I already forgot what this other thing is, whatever, idk, I wasn't going to vote for it 3/10

Battle! (Champion)
Auld Lang Syne
Hikari no Metamorphosis

Nine Sols
Auld Lang Syne
Brinstar Depths

Nine Sols (Nine Sols)
Spring to mind (GROOVE COASTER)
Brinstar Depths (Super Smash Bros. Melee)

this is like if you combined 2003 alt rock with the one heavens burn red song i supported that one year. 3:47-4 is actually kinda insanely my thing wow.

the oddly indie feeling idiosyncracies of gamefreak never really ending after the 90s the way they did most companies to make something that gets popular honestly are a big part of what makes pokemon special to me. i feel like these musically odd choices are like drakengard chapter 13 tier in terms of surprising mixture & context and no one else would have done them. but it is meaningful

spring to mind is pretty unbelievably my style. while it comes from a very unexpected place, I'd have loved it just as much if it were from somewhere more expected like an osamu sato thing or something. but as isonly adds to how much groove coaster is confidently my favorite rhythm games. How much the aura of the room changes when you put this on, and are struggling to comprehend anything tangible in the dark fog it drowns everything in. It's a very unique feeling that little else has ever provided to an arcade except completely insane stuff like frums or 1bpm I guess, but that's kinda the opposite direction in terms of intensity. this is more lost in abandoned industrial mechanized cave that has been thrown into the corrupted void and trying to find solid ground as the whole world is being deleted under your feet and i love it more than anyone can imagine. how is this from a rhythm game? well, the experience it gives is ridiculously unique. In game there's actually more layers that show up and get highlighted as you successfully hit notes to make this somewhat more tonal actually. but I love this version as is too.

that very last chord made me jump up:=_very cool chord. that turns off the tv

knowing more about ROMplers & specifically that this is basically just a really good MIDI playing back on roland sound canvas has made me appreciate this a lot more than i even already did. even with stuff like cryptovolans passenger in my consciousness. It's impressive if you know that of course, but the echoy trippy sounds it fills the world with also just suit this gross squishy alien oozing living flesh wall world very well. it captures Metroid some of the best of any of the smash remixes to me.

some surprisingly disco fusion string moments in here

Nine Sols
Auld Lang Syne
Hikari no Metamorphosis

Nine Sols
Auld Lang Syne
Hikari no Metamorphosis

ah yes
1, 2, 3, 4, 1995, 6, 7, 8, 9, 13

Battle! (Champion)
Auld Lang Syne
Brinstar Depths

tough call on the 2nd match

nine sols
spring to mind
hikari no metamorphosis

Nine Sols - Nine Sols
SaGa Emerald Beyond - Auld Lang Syne
Stella Glow - Hikari no Metamorphosis

Second match was shockingly close, but Nine Sols is really the queen of the day. What a beautiful song.

Nine Sols
Auld Lang Syne
Hikari no Metamorphosis

Battle! (Champion)
Auld Lang Syne
Hikari no Metamorphosis

Battle! (Champion)
Auld Lang Syne
Brinstar Depths

Nine Sols
Auld Lang Syne
Brinstar Depths

Nine Sols
Spring to mind
Brinstar Depths

Battle
Lang
Depths

Battle! (Champion)
Auld Lang Syne
Brinstar Depths

Nine Sols - Nine Sols: I'm surprised I gave this a whole 7/10 last time. It's good, but I guess I'm feeling it less this time. 6.5/10

Pokmon X/Y - Battle! (Champion): Pretty solid champion theme as usual from Pokemon. 7/10

GROOVE COASTER - Spring to mind: This sure was one hell of a noise concoction. Maybe it works well in context, but to me, it just sounds like wild animals in a cave section of the zoo making noises with a barely coherent rhythm in the background. Yeah, this isn't for me. 2.5/10

SaGa Emerald Beyond - Auld Lang Syne: Really nice, upbeat take on a classic New Year song. The song does repeat itself for a very long time before finally having much more variation 1 minute before the end, however. It needed to be much shorter imo. Otherwise, this was pretty good. 7.3/10

Super Smash Bros. Melee - Brinstar Depths: I do like how the atmospheric sounds combine well with the music. With that being said, I think nostalgia holds this one up for me more than anything else. I also personally prefer Brinstar (without the Depths) from the same game way more. 7.3/10

Stella Glow - Hikari no Metamorphosis: More anime vocal songs I'm not a fan of. It's not bad, but it's not for me. I'm in an especially irritable mood atm so that probably contributes to my finding this even less enjoyable than it would be otherwise. 5/10

Brinstar (7.3/10) >= Auld Lang Syne (7.3/10) > Battle! (Champion (7/10) > Nine Sols (6.5/10) >> Hikari no Metamorphosis (5/10) >>>>> Spring to mind (2.5/10)

VOTES:
Battle! (Champion)
Auld Lang Syne
Brinstar Depths

ns
als
hnm

Battle! (Champion)
Spring to mind
Brinstar Depths

Nine Sols
Auld Lang Syne
Hikari no Metamorphosis

Nine Sols
Spring to mind
Brinstar Depths

Battle! (Champion)
Auld Lang Syne
Brinstar Depths

Nine Sols
Spring to mind
Brinstar Depths

I wish Last Man Standing was here, but this is fine too I guess.

Spring to mind is great. So unnerving. It really pushes the boundaries of music in a way I appreciate.

Nine Sols
Auld Lang Syne
Brinstar Depths

Brinstar Depths > Nine Sols > Auld Lang Syne > Hikari no Metamorphosis >>> Spring to mind >> Battle! (Champion)

Nine Sols
-
Hikari no Metamorphosis

Match 3 can go either way.

Battle! (Champion)
Auld Lang Syne
Hikari no Metamorphosis

Battle! (Champion)
Auld Lang Syne
Hikari no Metamorphosis

Battle! (Champion)
Auld Lang Syne
Brinstar Depths

Auld Lang Syne [B] > Champion [C] > Brinstar Depths [C] > Hikari no Metamorphosis [D] > Spring to mind [D] > Nine Sols [D]

Hate whatever Nine Sols is going for. That scream at 2:40 gives me secondhand embarrassment. Champion is fine, nothing special.

Spring to mind has some neat sounds, but doesn't really work as a song. Auld Lang Syne is a vibe. It's way too long, but the melody is so chill and the vocalist is so chill and there are weird noises spliced in and I feel like I can just chill out to it for 8+ minutes.

One of the weaker iterations of Kraid. This one doesn't sound all that great to me. Zero Mission is my favorite version. It's still better than the oversung mediocrity its up against.

Nine Sols
Auld Lang Syne
True Seiki's Metamorphosis

Nine Sols > Battle! (Champion) > True Seiki's Metamorphosis > Brinstar Depths > Auld Lang Syne >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Spring to mind

Nine Sols - 8.5
yeah this rules, found it from the Supra contest and was shocked at how good it was

Battle! (Champion) - 8.5
I don't like much Pokmon music, but this is an exception. Shota Kageyama is easily my favorite composer on the series from all I've heard. just goes on a *little* too long like there's a little before the loop that should've been cut to make the song the best it could be I think

Spring to mind - 0
this isn't music

Auld Lang Syne - 7.25
neat song but oh my GOD why is it so long this should've been literally half the length at max

Brinstar Depths - 7.5
never been the biggest fan of this composition in general, it's neat and all but I don't get the overwhelming love for it

True Seiki's Metamorphosis - 8
I like guitar, sue me

-
Spring to mind
Brinstar Depths

Nine Sols
Spring to mind
Brinstar Depths

Battle! (Champion)
Auld Lang Syne
Brinstar Depths

oh right i should share the lyrics I made for Hikari no Metamorphosis during the reverse ranking:

Can't you trust?
Trust, and I know it'll work (You must awaken!)
The true holy light dwells in your breast
Lost, I tell myself to overcome my fear
We've both been waiting in the space between our eyes

I yearn to touch -- yet fear I might pop --
The heartrending (ephemeral) dream
In which we depict now the significance of tomorrow

Let love change you
If, stripped of weakness, we can see the truth
Let love change you
And darkness won't stop you anymore
So fragile, fragile, fragile the wills of man
And yet how, strong, strong the hope of man
I hear, now, the primordial melody

Didn't you learn?
If you did, I know you'll make it (You must catch up!)
That is the pulse of courage; seek the Glow
Freed of timidity, I invite you in
So through our clasped hands, we give birth to a ring of destiny

Accept our wavering hearts
Oh gentle (violent) dream
We'll surely fly further tomorrow

We cast our voices to eternity
And weave our wishes with faith, that they might hold fast
We cast our voices to eternity
To grant a blessing of passion
So faster, faster, faster come here
But just stronger, stronger alone isn't right
I know, now, the path to the Stella Glow / True Holy Glow

I yearn to touch -- yet fear I might pop --
The heartrending (ephemeral) dream
In which we depict now the significance of tomorrow

Let love change you
If, stripped of weakness, we can see the truth
Let love change you
And darkness won't stop you anymore
So fragile, fragile, fragile the wills of man
And yet how, strong, strong the hope of man
I hear, now, the primordial melody
We cast our voices to eternity
And weave our wishes with faith, that they might hold fast
We cast our voices to eternity
To grant a blessing of passion
So faster, faster, faster come here
But just stronger, stronger alone isn't right
I know, now, the path to the Stella Glow / True Holy Glow

Champion
Auld
Brinstar

Battle! (Champion)
Auld Lang Syne
Hikari no Metamorphosis

Smash remixes having NES sounds in them is usually a pet peeve of mine. But not only does Brinstar Depths make them fit with the creepy alien atmosphere, it throws a twist: at 0:58, the NES sounds fade into the very un-NES sounding echoey bubble sounds. Then it throws another twist as that fades into the even creepier NES item room theme. It works so well, I prefer that first half of the song to the more upbeat second half.

Snubbing 34N, 12E I can understand, even if going from 9 to 12 is less of a jump than 9 to 13. But snubbing The End of 1996 H.K.? When you couldve gone straight from 1995 to 1996? SMH.

-
SaGa Emerald Beyond - Auld Lang Syne
Super Smash Bros. Melee - Brinstar Depths

Nine Sols
Auld Lang Syne
Brinstar Depths

Nine Sols
Auld Lang Syne
Brinstar Depths

Battle! (Champion)
Spring to mind
Brinstar Depths

Nine Sols
Auld Lang Syne
Brinstar Depths

Nine Sols
Auld Lang Syne
Brinstar Depths

Nine Sols
Auld Lang Syne
Brinstar Depths

Nine Sols
Auld Lang Syne
Brinstar Depths

Battle! (Champion)
Auld Lang Syne
Hikari no Metamorphosis

Battle! (Champion)
Auld Lang Syne
Brinstar Depths

Don't know what to feel about this one. There's a lot of good individual pieces, but they don't really fit in a way I like. The novelty of hearing a song sung in a language I've never heard in song before is pretty neat though. I don't know why I can't connect to this, really.

I like the crystal sounds and the driving beat, but this song is one of those pokemon songs where others do similar things but better.

Seeing people put this in dead last place and I thought it would be some unbearable shit, but no the weird little sounds in the hollow cave vibes are pretty cool. I feel like I've intruded on something lurking in the evil cave. I wish the song didn't end so suddenly though, it kinda felt like a big escalating build up and then cranked to a halt.

Fun mix of mechanical sounds and EDM and the vocals are pretty great too. Sarah lainn never misses. There's a wonderful balance between all these separate pieces that work together perfectly.

God, I love how absolutely nasty this one is. Starting off creepy and slow warble, it just sounds and feels so cold. Like genuinely, the perfect evolution of the NES track. The pivot to the jingle before it swings back into the Kraid melody but more powerful and intense, but you know, still chilling. I love the decision to have a stage theme be cold and dark and mysterious, even when it adds to the tempo, this song always stands out among the pack.

Anime girl music. Uh. Man I'm sorry to this song. I definitely don't hate it. In fact I have it saved in one of my playlists, I'm almost positive, but it's a tough act to follow, that I'm just like "yeah this is cool"

[9.5] Brinstar Depths
[8.5] Auld Lang Syne
[7.5] Hikari no Metamorphosis
[7.5] Spring to mind
[6.5] Battle! (Champion)
[6] Nine Sols

Battle! (Champion)
Auld Lang Syne
Brinstar Depths

yardy know the thursday drill (i may actually do this tonight tho we'll see!!)

From Haste_2:

Battle! (Champion)
Spring to mind
Brinstar Depths