Preliminary Match #5

Listen to all four songs and select the one you like best.

Shatterhand - Area A (01)
Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin - Chaotic Playground
Lufia and the Fortress of Doom - The Final Battle
Twisted Metal: Small Brawl - Playground Peril

Area A (01): Get the Flash Player to play this audio file:
Chaotic Play Ground: Get the Flash Player to play this audio file:
The Final Battle: Get the Flash Player to play this audio file:
Playground Peril: Get the Flash Player to play this audio file:

"Area A (01)" is nice chiptune work. It's catchy, has a great melody, but does lose my interest over time.

"Chaotic Playground" definitely has that evil carnival sound, but I don't really enjoy this piece from the soundtrack much. It fits the style of the game, but I find it uninspiring to be honest.

"The Final Battle" is really nice. I haven't heard much Lufia stuff, but this one is definitely engaging. The melody is great, the beats are nice, and there is that sense of determination.

"Playground Peril" was something I wasn't expecting. The rock focus is a plus and it has some nice riffs in it, but I wasn't taken in by the melody too much. Out of the bunch, it's my second favorite though.

"The Final Battle" gets my vote.

These are all uninteresting.

I vote for "Area A (01)" just because it's from an 8-bit game and cannot be blamed as much for its mediocre sound.

Shatterhand - Area A (01)
Terrific chiptune that wrings a complex and involving melody out of its technology. Almost reaches the hallowed level of the classic MM NES tunes.

Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin - Chaotic Playground
A decent sort of faux-romantic quirk--I almost want to say "Transylvanian circus." While the sound is nailed, the execution leaves a little to be desired.

Lufia and the Fortress of Doom - The Final Battle
Ah, the little tune that held up the BSC for two days by itself. I've always had a soft spot for Lufia music, though Lufia II is indisputably the best of the series. This song unfortunately pales in comparison to the arrangement that appeared in Lufia II which sported better synth, a faster pace, and added depth.

Twisted Metal: Small Brawl - Playground Peril
I saw this game at the Salvation Army the other day, but someone had already stolen the game out of its case, leaving only the empty husk behind. While I can't argue with the technical execution, this isn't really my thing.

Shatterhand impressed me the most, though the positions might have been reversed if the Lufia II version of "Final Battle/Last Duel" had been here.

1: Shatterhand
2: Lufia
3: Castlevania
4: Twisted Metal

I really want to like Playground Peril more, but it stops kind of short of being good. Shatterhand is just way more interesting. I think I'd like to hear the rest of this one. That or Lufia here will do fine for me.

I don't mind Shatterhand moving on, as it's a very good NES track. But Chaotic Playground was something that just blew me away as soon as I heard it in the game. I don't know what it is exactly about that track, but it really does it for me.

The other two are pretty terrible, so I'm glad this will be the last time to hear them (I should hope anyway).

- Playground peril was too loud for me.
- The final battle was not interesting enough.
- Chaotic playground left me neutral.
- Area A's rhythm and sound was quite good. If it was orchestrated with better samples I'd certainly choose this one.

Area A wins.

I'm not familiar with Small Brawl's soundtrack, so I was surprised to hear that "Playground Peril" is an arrangement of the "Los Angeles: Quake Zone Rumble" song from Twisted Metal 2 (and also Jet Moto). I feel it's well executed too. That gets my vote.

Area A - chipper that is pretty good in its category, whether it is enough to win this matchup though is questionable.

Chaotic Playground is interesting in the fact that I did not think it was Castlevania upon hearing it. It does not fall close to the best of the series.

Lufia's Final Battle captured my attention on first listen. Love the melodic lines even with its outdated sound.

Playground Peril is my second favorite of this group.

Final Battle, bad matchup.

EDIT: Guess Area A will win

"Area A (01)" is indeed a very technically accomplished (chip) tune. The enthusiastic, upbeat melody and clever developments make this one an absolute keeper!

"Chaotic Play Ground" is much better than the other Castlevania tune in the contest, IMO. Less superficially gothic in approach and having a much more endearing (and, quite honestly, more spooky) tone, the Castlevania-quirk factor is what gets me here. Perfect music for a haunted playground!

I have really heard much Lufia music before, but I've heard it's pretty good. "The Final Battle" is pretty standard fare as far as RPG final battle tracks go, though. Nothing notable, but it maintains an admirable level of battle-esque intensity.

More playground music?! -__- "Playground Peril" fits its title wonderfully, with heavy elements playing some rather uplifting melodic passages (the first one in particular). Nice, but it won't be getting my support.

"Area A (01)" - 8/10
"Chaotic Play Ground" - 8/10
"The Final Battle" - 6.5/10
"Playground Peril" - 7.5/10

Tough one!

Interesting mix here: Really good chip tune; quite atmospheric Castlevaina; rpg fiinal battle and hard rock. Area A wins here I think, the final battle did not grab me melodically and playground peril did not grab me at all, chaotic playground was a contender but there was just something rather underwhelming about it, maybe it's just in comparing it to other Castlevania tracks?

"Area A (01)" is the only song here that actually managed to grab me. I didn't care much for "Chaotic Playground" when I played Portrait of Ruin, and I still don't. It's not a bad song, but there's just something about it that doesn't do anything for me.

Area A (01): And the cheapest chiptune gets a cheap victory ! A pretty enthusiastic, refreshing tune.

Chaotic Play Ground: This song has brightly done its job in-game, making the player as frustrated as possible. It perfectly fits the confusing level it covers, but has nothing too special when it comes to the harmonic aspect.

The Final Battle: I couldn't have guessed this was a theme for a Final Battle, it could better suit a random encounter or something. That's too passive, I will have completely forgotten about the tune within 10-15 minutes.

Playground Peril: About decent. The introduction was pretty unpleasant, I disliked using distortion guitar as a fat,cheesy trance synth, but the chorus was enjoyable enough. Not enough to get my vote, though.

Area A - I'm a sucker for Chiptunes, and this one's definitely a keeper. This is the first song I hadn't heard before the prelims started that I decided to keep.

Chaotic Playground - Another solid entry from Portrait of Ruin. I'm giving the slight edge to Area A, though.

The Final Battle - There's a much better, faster version of this song in Lufia 2. This one's not doing anything for me - it's too slow and plodding to really catch my interest. Sounds more like a mysterious forest theme than a final battle.

Playground Peril - I agree that the beginning is kinda painful and the rest doesn't do a whole lot more for me either.

VOTE: Area A (01).

He he, Area A shall be the tenth and last one from my list to enter the contest, and it really deserves the recognition. Its competitors aren´t the cream of the crop though.

Area A - Pretty killer melody on this one; I dig it.

Chaotic Playground - Couldn't get into it at all, sorry. :-(

The Last Duel - My nom, but yeah I totally spaced about the superior version from Lufia 2 -_-

Playground Peril - some nice harmonic surprises but nothing that really sets it apart.

Area A (01) - All right, this is the blatant exception to my chiptune-hating ways. I really like the melody it puts out, probably due to the accentuation and no part of the song offends me in particular. It kicks things off right away with a very nice hook.

Chaotic Play Ground - mmm Chaotic Play Ground. Wasn't one of my favourites to collect souls to, but I do like the simultaneously capricious and mysterious mood it sets. Much like I found several other DS Castlevania tracks to be, a solid offering.

The Final Battle - If I recall correctly, this isn't actually the final battle theme but the music that plays when you explore the last area in the opening sequence of Lufia as Maxim, Selan and friends. It's all right, but I really do prefer the real boss battle music that does play when you get into a battle.

Playground Peril - Metal, but I really don't like how the melody is in a major key.

I'm becoming a lot more critical of chiptunes as of late, particularly in SotW; they haven't been very good. Area A is fast, I guess. Chaotic Play Ground is proof once more that Yamane can compose great music which ...zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

The Final Battle is a final battle theme? Seriously? The nominator should have lied and called it "cut scene music", "nothing music", ANYTHING that's unimportant because right now this track is embarrassing itself.

I hear cues from Field of Screams from TM2 in Playground Peril, though they might be from some main theme that I am unfamiliar with. Nowhere near as cool though, but cool enough to get the point.