Board 8 > [BOST] Day 27: Sonic R v Super Paper Mario, Kirby 3DX v Theresa, LaTale v RE2

(+) Yeah! (+)

Greetings, and welcome to the Best OST Contest 5! In this contest, you and fellow video game soundtrack lovers will come together to once and for all answer the question "What is the best video game soundtrack? (For now.)"

Links:
Contest Bracket and Info - https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1sD964sXfa3trbXrr14mFKeEIA14cGM2RtHmW9TqGBmw
Discussion Thread - https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/8-gamefaqs-contests/77915805

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VOTING RULES

- Each match will be between the songs representing each game, not the game as a whole. Please remember to listen and vote with this in mind! Any votes referring to a game name rather than a song name will not be counted. You have been warned!
- Listen to both songs!! If one is your literal favorite song in the world and the other is something you hate with a passion, listen to them both!!
- No alts, no rallying, no begging for something to get more votes, etc., etc., you know the drill.
- If you change your mind and would like to swap your vote, you may do so. As soon as it is 24 hours since the match topic was started, you may not change your vote and new votes will not be counted.
- If you would like to vote in advance for matches you know you will miss, please let me know in the discussion topic.

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Main Bracket: Winners Round 2

Sonic R - Back in Time (Instrumental)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNNYzQiOeuM" data-time="

Super Paper Mario - Pit of 100 Trials

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTWqC4iexXg" data-time="

Main Bracket: Losers Round 1

Kirby: Triple Deluxe - Mysterious Trap

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XEngzD8-stU" data-time="

Theresa - Vaquita 2017

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96mEJlAFkC4" data-time="

Snubs Bracket Match

LaTale - Bard Story

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UE8w4HXfG_s" data-time="

Resident Evil 2 - Secure Place

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6-YG_AIp_o" data-time="

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Vote Form:
Back in Time (Instrumental) / Pit of 100 Trials
Mysterious Trap / Vaquita 2017
Bard Story / Secure Place

Back in Time (Instrumental)
Mysterious Trap
Bard Story

Super Paper Mario - Pit of 100 Trials
Kirby: Triple Deluxe - Mysterious Trap (close call)
LaTale - Bard Story
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Super Paper Mario - Pit of 100 Trials
Kirby: Triple Deluxe - Mysterious Trap
LaTale - Bard Story
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Back in Time (Instrumental)
Mysterious Trap
Secure Place
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Back in Time (Instrumental)
Vaquita 2017
Secure Place

never though id say lots of good songs today, my favorite is the resident evil one lol. back in time is actually kinda even with it i like both a loooooooot. yeah good day!

Having Sonic, Mario, and Kirby in one day here feels weird for a basic video game player who's somewhat new to B8 lol.

Back in Time (Instrumental)
While I prefer the vocal version of the song by far, and it kinda really feels like it's missing them here, it's still really a pleasant melody and ends up just being more memorable to me than the Pit. Both are pretty good though.

Mysterious Trap
Theresa definitely just aint my kind of music, and well, it's against my nom, so this didn't end up being very hard for me. There are a couple pleasing parts in the Theresa song though, I will say, but Mysterious Trap just keeps a perfect sound and theme overall and is just super unique and catchy.

Bard Story
Both really nice, somewhat reflective and serene pieces, but the two do it in totally different ways.
Honestly pretty great snubs match overall. I just felt like Secure Place didn't change it up enough, totally fine feeling-wise but not something really you can listen to for all that long on it's own, whereas Bard Story feels like a really complete piece.

Pit of 100 Trials
Mysterious Trap
Bard Story
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Pit of 100 Trials
Vaquita 2017
Bard Story

Pit of 100 Trials reminds me of some of the crazier Pokmon R/S/E music, and Back in Time doesn't do anything for me. Easy match.

Second match is pretty close, these are both around a 7/10 for me.

Nice flute.
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Pit of 100 Trials
Vaquita 2017
Bard Story

second and snubs match particularly close. trying the early votinng thing so i dont miss another daysSK;DF9>n!239
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Back in Time (Instrumental)
Mysterious Trap
Bard Story
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Back in Time (Instrumental)
Mysterious Trap
Bard Story

i like everything today, in some cases more than i feel i should because i just *really* like elements that outweigh issues i'd otherwise have probably. maybe it's because i'm fresh off an overload of really bizarre music from the ultrafight kyanta dev
. who knows

Back in Time (Instrumental)
Mysterious Trap
Bard Story
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Back in Time (Instrumental)
Mysterious Trap
Bard Story

Back in Time (Instrumental)
Mysterious Trap
Bard Story

pit of trials
vaquita
bard story.

bard story easily my favorite today.
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Back in Time (Instrumental)
Mysterious Trap
Bard Story

Pit still gives me nightmares

Eroge song title in Kirby game

Anime
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Back in Time (Instrumental)
Mysterious Trap
Bard Story

Snubs were really close.
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Sonic R - Back in Time (Instrumental): 4. Feels empty without the vocals.
vs.
Super Paper Mario - Pit of 100 Trials: 8. This song is love. The notes envelop me in synthy Arabian goodness. Great song!

and

Kirby: Triple Deluxe - Mysterious Trap: 7.5. This is great too!
vs.
Theresa - Vaquita 2017: 5.5. I wanted to like this more than I did.

and

LaTale - Bard Story: 7.5. This was one of the first sets I supported; if I recall, I liked every song. This is a wonderful little folksy ditty.
vs.
Resident Evil 2 - Secure Place: 6.5. Two sets I supported against each other waaahh. This is sad/evil ambience and I really like it but sadly I like it less than the LaTale song. I hope it does well!

Votes:
Pit of 100 Trials
Mysterious Trap
Bard Story

Pit of 100 Trials
Mysterious Trap
Secure Place

Mysterious Trap is very cool. I like Theresa a lot more than one might think but I definitely cannot vote for it here. RIP. (I'd probably have voted it over either song from match 1 though, tbh)
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Pit of 100 Trials
Mysterious Trap
Bard Story

Back in time makes me think of like, Mario Kart 64 + Super Monkey Ball. Probably because of the piano (MK64) combined with some of the high wild synths (Monkey Ball). That said, the piano kind of comes off as feeling a tad bit out of place compared to the rest and, to be honest some sections of this song feel a little plain (like the longer stretches of :27). Maybe I'm letting the (instrumental) tag completely flood my mind, but I do kind of get the impression that, well, this song was not meant to just be instrumental, and that it's built with one more element in mind (albeit, one that I would most likely not enjoy) that is now missing. Eh. I might just be overthinking here like the song IS kinda alright & pretty cool, I get the impression it's like the last race in the game, something astronomical-rainbow-road-esque, but I'd certainly be hard pressed to vote against Pit of 100 Trials, It's one of my favorite songs of my SPM Nom. It's got that surreal-cartoony vibe that SPM does so well flowing through it, mixing a number of ideas together with a calm atmosphere but also an industrialish beat. Comes out sounding really neat to me and certainly not something I mind listening through something as long & tedious that the actual pit of 100 trials can be in the game.

Gosh Theresa matches are so hard for me. I love the weird, randomish digital tones going throughout Vaquita, though it does maybe come across as a tad too "empty / slow" in some ways for what I want I guess. I really like the atmospheric background synth that kicks in at :47. On the other hand Mysterious Trap is certainly Mysterious & interesting on it's own -- It uses more of a "realish" instrumentation with a number of typical orchestral woodwind sounds I don't care so much about as the cool weird digital sounds of Vaquita, though it's also got a number of less-standard, not-so-casual string sounds like the sitar and/or that oriental Asian instrument I don't know the name of. The song seems to subtlely move off key in a way that seems pretty cool too, and I really love the extended section starting at :49 (hey cool that's close to the time I mentioned for Vaquita) -- those strong ascending notes. The way that bit concludes at :56 feels less great to me, but it moves on to another good bit. Really the main starting bits of this song are pretty great too, there's plenty to enjoy. Aaah, like I said this match is frustratingly close, but I think with Mysterious Trap, the combination of the complex atmosphere :22 brings, along with the strong notes at :49 just manage to push it over what Vaquita appeals to me with right now.

I'm not a fan of the high screechy flute of Bard Story, and the general realistic rural instrumentation of it either. Secure Place isn't much better in that regard but it IS better. It's largely a piano in a minor key but it's the type I can enjoy -- dangerous tension abound (even though this is called secure?) rather than general sadness. Also I guess I enjoy lower bass tones than higher ones I've probably established this by now. Problem is Secure Place doesn't really go anywhere. My preference towards it's general instrumentation & theme isn't enough to counterbalance that, the Bard Story Tune itself is pretty neat.
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Super Paper Mario - Pit of 100 Trials
Theresa - Vaquita 2017
Resident Evil 2 - Secure Place

Not much time to vote today since I'm out of the house and will be driving probably until today's match is over. Don't have long to write much but just know that today was difficult for me voting wise.

I love both SPM and Sonic R but ultimately had to pick one. I picked SPM because it's close to my heart and the Pit of 100 Trials is a fresh jam.

Theresa is a rising fave ost for me and this song was no exception. Great stuff as always. Can't comment on too much (very short on time) but today's pick from that OST was incredibly good!

Secure Place secured a place for my vote too. Resident Evil songs typically pack a punch and I love them

Anyways it is time for driving so I must leave this bost post. Sorry I didn't have much to say-- just busy!

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Pit of 100 Trials
Mysterious Trap
Bard Story

Sonic R - Back in Time (Instrumental)
Kirby: Triple Deluxe - Mysterious Trap
LaTale - Bard Story

MATCH 1

Not really sure what I can say about Back in Time that isn't just a re-hashing of what I said about Supersonic Racing. This game's music has a very distinctive style to me and I generally like it, so naturally, I like this song as well for pretty much the same reasons.

Pit of 100 Trials feels like standard background music to me. Pretty average song in my opinion.

MATCH 2

Mysterious Trap also feels like average background music for video games. Doesn't have a lot of the whimsical melodic lines that makes Kirby music feel like Kirby for me (and I guess moreover, the things I like about Kirby music). Sky Tower from Return to Dreamland, which showed up in the game's first round for BOST, would be a good example of that. Patched Plains, too, from Planet Robobot, just to give another example. I think one of the melodic lines in this song can fit that "theme" for lack of a better word, but it sounds much better when played on the flute at 0:31 than anywhere else.

Don't really find Vaquita 2017 to be very remarkable, if at all.

MATCH 3

Bard Story is really nice! It sounds like "nature" and I like songs like that. I like the instrumentation here.

Secure Place is actually pretty nice as well. Reminds me of the fact that I don't normally listen to music like this from video games, but stuff like this is quite good. Dark, mysterious piano is definitely something that can be up my alley. Bard Story's more my kind of music in this case, though.

Bard Story > Back in Time (Instrumental) > Secure Place > Mysterious Trap > Pit of 100 Trials > Vaquita 2017

Sorry for the negative writeups again! This day was pretty meh for me in terms of the songs that were up, so unfortunately, I didn't have a whole lot of positive things to say :(

Sonic R - Back in Time (Instrumental)
Theresa - Vaquita 2017
Resident Evil 2 - Secure Place

I'm voting against two favorites today which speaks to the lofty quality of today's crop. SPM v Sonic R seems diabolically engineered to put me as far at odds with Pacific as possible--one of us is gonna be crying tonight.

Secure

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