Board 8 > [VGMC] Day 47! feat. Dragonflies vs Bees, Science vs Nature, and Land vs Water

(+) 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

Klonoa: Door to Phantomile - Baladiums Drive
Composer: Kohta Takahashi
Loop Point: 1:14
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Glx8Hy4MjAs

DoDonPachi Blissful Death Re:Incarnation - Taido (Kenichiro Fukui Remix)
Composer: Manabu Namiki arr. Kenichiro Fukui
Loop Point: 5:07
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5gsRX70Jlw

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Match 2

Goddess of Victory: NIKKE - Recursion
Composer: crayvxn
Loop Point: 2:48
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1izkgmfboM

Last Ninja 2: Back with a Vengeance (C64) - Central Park
Composer: Matt Gray
Loop Point: 5:12
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CoGFV_xxR64

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Match 3

The Hokkaido Serial Murder Case: The Okhotsk Disappearance ~Memories in Ice, Tearful Figurine~ - Tokyo
Composer: Toshiyuki Ueno arr. Satoshi Kadokura
Loop Point: 3:50
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yrAokKQNT4Q

Waterworld (SNES) - Mission Theme 02
Composer: Dean Evans
Loop Point: 3:30
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9IoDxdaJNKQ

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Easy vote form:
Baladiums Drive / Taido (Kenichiro Fukui Remix)
Recursion / Central Park
Tokyo / Mission Theme 02

DoDonPachi Blissful Death Re:Incarnation - Taido (Kenichiro Fukui Remix)
Goddess of Victory: NIKKE - Recursion
Waterworld (SNES) - Mission Theme 02

Taido (Kenichiro Fukui Remix)
Recursion
Mission Theme 02

Klonoa: Door to Phantomile - Baladiums Drive receives rank 7 of 15. I was shocked when a Cities Skylines track got in, and then sad when I saw the match. I don't think I even voted for it because Baladium's Drive is *the* Klonoa piece for me. I know there are some folks of different musical persuasions who really like Klonoa, but it usually doesn't click. This song does. It's got such a groove to it from the drums, which the instrumentation layers over top of especially during the flute-and-guitar section that really wants to tell you how much this song is in 3/4. 7.7/10

DoDonPachi Blissful Death Re:Incarnation - Taido (Kenichiro Fukui Remix) receives rank T-7 of 16. For the first two minutes, this song feels like it belongs in a racing game rather than a shmup. That entire opening is in service of what comes after, where the driving pulse comes hammering down, with a bridge a little later for respite before going right back to the heavy-handed 4/4 beat that screams "you are being pursued by an unstoppable machine; prepare to die!" Also 7.7/10

Goddess of Victory: NIKKE - Recursion receives rank 10 of 17. I'm sad about Break the Rules losing. Recursion sounds like a random DJ Deku track and I would completely believe you if you said this was from Sora or Acceleration of Suguri. 7.1/10

Last Ninja 2: Back with a Vengeance (C64) - Central Park receives rank 1 of 18. I'm glad there's one C64 rep in the contest and that it made it out of round 1. I'd say it has a decent chance to win a second match, too. Matt Gray's magnum opus deserves some love. I don't know if it's actually my favorite song so far, but it's getting a 8.6/10

The Hokkaido Serial Murder Case: blahblahblahblah - Tokyo receives rank 11 of 19. I've heard this song an inordinate number of times in the last six months thanks to the supra contest and it's...fine? It's a solid, if unspectacular track that I think overperformed substantially by making the finals of the other contest. I don't wish it ill, because it's still got a nice groove, but I wouldn't be sad if it went away for the rest of 2025. 7.2/10

Waterworld (SNES) - Mission Theme 02 receives rank 17 of 20. Chill song, but it's no Diving. Maybe that's not a fair comparison, but for as smooth as Mission 2 is, it doesn't really excite me, either. 6.1/10

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Taido?
Ninja
Tokyo

Taido (Kenichiro Fukui Remix) (DDP DOJ Re:Incar)
Recursion (Goddess of Victory: NIKKE)
Mission Theme 02 (Waterworld (SNES))

Taido (Kenichiro Fukui Remix)
Central Park
Mission Theme 02

Taido (Kenichiro Fukui Remix)
Central Park
Mission Theme 02

Baladiums Drive
Central Park
Tokyo

Taido (Kenichiro Fukui Remix)
Recursion
Tokyo

azuarc posted...

Recursion sounds like a random DJ Deku track and I would completely believe you if you said this was from Sora or Acceleration of Suguri.

production definitely goes in a different direction, sounding a lot more aggressive in general (even nowadays he still just sounds... way more '00s than this) and he'd basically never make anything with a sub-3m loop (i mean he rarely goes to the trouble of looping anything all lol) but honestly still valid lol

taido
recursion
tokyo

Taido (Kenichiro Fukui Remix)
Recursion
Tokyo

Baladium's Drive
Central Park
Mission Theme 02

Taido (Kenichiro Fukui Remix)
Recursion
Mission Theme 02

Baladium's Drive
Recursion
Tokyo

Drive
Park
Mission

taido
park
water

I like how taido sounds like Manabu Namiki and Kenichiro Fukui

Taido (Kenichiro Fukui Remix)
Recursion
Mission Theme 02

Taido (Kenichiro Fukui Remix)
Recursion
Tokyo

Baladiums Drive
Central Park
Tokyo

Taido
Recursion
Tokyo

Taido (Kenichiro Fukui Remix)
Recursion
Mission Theme 02

Recursion > Taido (Kenichiro Fukui Remix) > Baladium's Drive > Mission Theme 02 > Tokyo >>> Central Park

Taido (Kenichiro Fukui Remix)
Recursion
Mission Theme 02

Match 2 is close.

Taido (Kenichiro Fukui Remix)
Recursion
Tokyo

Taido (Kenichiro Fukui Remix)
Central Park
Tokyo

Taido (Kenichiro Fukui Remix)
Recursion
Tokyo

I prefer the original Taido over this version in general, but the piano solo near the end is so classy... The third match is close. The first one is more emotionally impactful, but the second one "sounds" a little better. Ultimately I chose Tokyo because the other doesn't satisfy me development-wise. I would vote Diving over these two without hesitation, though.

Baladiums Drive
Central Park
Mission Theme 02

Taido (Kenichiro Fukui Remix)
Central Park
Mission Theme 02

Taido (Kenichiro Fukui Extend Remix)
Central Park
Mission Theme 2

Mission Theme 2 > Tokyo > Taido (Kenichiro Fukui Extend Remix) > Central Park >= Baladium's Drive >= Recursion

Baladium's Drive - 7.5
it's neat

Taido (Kenichiro Fukui Extend Remix) - 7.75
really cool vibe but I feel like a decent chunk of this is just repeating what came before it without really changing anything, which is unfortunate

Recursion - 7.5
see above but less cool

Central Park - 7.5
pretty neat I like it

Tokyo - 8.25
great song but I swear those drums never change

Mission Theme 2 - 8.5
immaculate vibe

Taido (Kenichiro Fukui Remix)
Central Park
Mission Theme 02

Baladiums Drive
Central Park
Mission Theme 02

I've heard Baladium's Drive a lot of times, but every time feels like a new experience. This really is one of those songs that delight me but I never fully remember.

I like Central Park better today despite it ranking lower. This will be studied by scientists in days to come.

The Supracord song (but not the one that is Precipice or Shiva (Glacier Remix) Despite being a whole numerical point below Mission Theme 02 (8 opposed to 9) I won't be broken up so much if it wins. ok maybe a little. Waterworld OST kicks ass.

Baladiums Drive
Recursion
Mission Theme 02

Its hard for me to ignore how much Tokyo sounds like a remake of an NES song. The repetitive drumbeat is a poor imitation of the multilayered chiptune it replaced, which is exacerbated by the extension of a 1 minute song into almost 4. However, its mainly the first half that suffers from this: the guitar that comes in at 1:55 has enough force to make the drumbeat feel like an appropriate complement to it, and the 2:52 synth just sounds cool as it winds down the loop.

The Sphinx>Ultimate Frisbee>the Ozarks>sirloin steak>Dyson Spheres>a Tangelo>Roosevelt, Kennedy, and Eisenhower>soda-lime glass>Singapore>Mark Pocan

Taido (Kenichiro Fukui Remix)
Central Park
Mission Theme 02

DoDonPachi Blissful Death Re:Incarnation - Taido (Kenichiro Fukui Remix)
Last Ninja 2: Back with a Vengeance (C64) - Central Park
Waterworld (SNES) - Mission Theme 02

Bedlem Bride, which is what i somehow misread Baladium's Drive as
Central Park
tohkyoh

Nikke sent to the slaughter O_o. (canonically accurate?)

Taido (Kenichiro Fukui Remix)
Central Park
Mission Theme 02

Taido grew on me a lot, but this Klonoa song is my favorite Ive heard from this game thus far.

Mission Theme 2 kinda peak.

Mission 2 > Baladium >> Tokyo > Recursion = Taido > Central Park

VOTES:
Baladiums Drive
Recursion
Mission Theme 02

Baladiums Drive
Central Park
Tokyo

Taido (Kenichiro Fukui Remix)
Central Park
Mission Theme 02

Baladiums Drive
Central Park
Mission Theme 02

Central Park [S] > Mission [B] > Tokyo [[C] > Recursion [C] > Baldium [C] > Taido [C]

Taido (Kenichiro Fukui Remix)
Recursion
Mission Theme 02

Taido (Kenichiro Fukui Remix)
Recursion
Tokyo

DoDonPachi Blissful Death Re:Incarnation - Taido (Kenichiro Fukui Remix)
Last Ninja 2: Back with a Vengeance (C64) - Central Park
The Hokkaido Serial Murder Case: The Okhotsk Disappearance ~Memories in Ice, Tearful Figurine~ - Tokyo

Taido (Kenichiro Fukui Remix)
Recursion
Mission Theme 02

match 1 fucked up this is a post-retirement tier match; match 3 also very good

From Hbthebattle:

Baladiums Drive
Central Park
Tokyo

From Paratroopa1:

Taido
Central Park
Tokyo

Taido (Kenichiro Fukui Remix)
Recursion
Mission Theme 02

Taido (Kenichiro Fukui Remix)
Recursion
Tokyo

Baladiums Drive
Recursion
Tokyo

Man, I thought I was listening to Umineko when I put on Recusion for a second there.

Klonoa: Door to Phantomile - Baladiums Drive
Goddess of Victory: NIKKE - Recursion
The Hokkaido Serial Murder Case: The Okhotsk Disappearance ~Memories in Ice, Tearful Figurine~ - Tokyo

Taido (Kenichiro Fukui Remix)
Recursion
Tokyo