Preliminary Match #16

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

Mystical Ninja starring Goemon - I am Impact!
Ragnarok Online II - Clap & Walk
Phantasy Star II - Rise or Fall
Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance - Vow
Soul Edge - The Edge of Soul

I am Impact!: Get the Flash Player to play this audio file:
Clap & Walk: Get the Flash Player to play this audio file:
Rise or Fall: Get the Flash Player to play this audio file:
Vow: Get the Flash Player to play this audio file:
The Edge of Soul: Get the Flash Player to play this audio file:

Bah, why does one of my favorite battle themes of all time go up against one of my favorite VGM vocal songs of all time (Edge of Soul)? Add Clap and Walk, which is kinda badass on its' own and I might have a tough choice if I hadn't nominated Rise and Fall. But ONE of those 3 must win!

Mystical Ninja starring Goemon - I am Impact!
Faux Tom Jones meets poor sound quality and bad singing. No thank you.

Ragnarok Online II - Clap & Walk
One of the better songs from Kanno's RO2. It's got nice drive, a terrific melody, and a superb interlude. What more could one want?

Phantasy Star II - Rise or Fall
Much better than the last PSII track in the contest, this piece has some real drive to it and a good melody. Reminds me of (and may in fact be a version of) one of my favorite songs from the PSI remake.

Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance - Vow
I've never really felt compelled to seek out more Fire Emblem music; what I've heard so far tends to be serviceable but uninspired and kind of dull. This one's no different; it's militarism without much of a soul.

Soul Edge - The Edge of Soul
It's better than "I am impact." And the violin is a nice touch. But other than that? No thanks.

1: Ragnarok Online II
2: Phantasy Star II
3: Fire Emblem
4: Soul Edge
5: I Am Impact

I'm sorry for all those other great songs but my nom Clap and Walk has to win this time. The melody of it is just too eternal. People would say they've heard the melody somewhere before.

I am Impact! - Singing + Midi instruments just doesn't do it for me. If there are vocals, it wouldnt be much to ask for improved sounds.

Clap and Walk - Beautiful and full of life. An excellent track.

Rise or Fall - Pretty driving track, but the melody was a bit on autopilot, especially for the verses. The bass was doing all of the work.

Vow - Very good stuff, It has a powerful sound and a good Progression, though texturally it is a bit repetitive .

The Edge of Soul - Excellent violin performance and the song itself is great, but man, those lyrics.

It's somewhat close between walk and clap and edge of soul, but i gotta go with walk and clap.

Whoever nominated I Am Impact!, I love you to death, but this song is going to die a swift death. Doesn't make it any less fucking awesome.

Clap & Walk is a very pretty and peppy piece, and one that I'll definitely be downloading for later. Now that I think about it, this'd make some bitchin' driving music.

Phantasy Star has always had a really unique musical sound, but the thing about it is that it's one that I can't ever listen to for more than a minute or two at a time. It's too sharp, too grating. This is one of the better PS tracks I've heard, though.

Instrumentally, this song is VERY Fire Emblem, which is both good and bad. If this weren't up against Clap & Walk I might've voted for it.

Someone has some explaining to do for The Edge of Soul. This is JPop trying to imitate High School Musical's lyrical ability. GROSS.

"Clap & Walk" is indeed pretty good but katchum's needy whining convinced me to vote for "Vow" instead.

"Oh, oh! This track has to win! Else mother will be so disappointed..."

Hey, this is weird! This is the first time I've had lyrics pop up in my WMP when I open a song! Cool~ "I am Impact!" reminds me so much of "Oo-edo Soldier Tonosaman" it hurts...and there's a bit of Ape Escape in there, too. That's, like, the most awesome combination known to man. The vocals are awesome, and the appearance of the lyrics made me want to sing along...I love this one! (note to self: organise a "Oo-edo Solider Tonosaman" campaign next BSC)

Ah yes, "Clap & Walk". It's on the middle of the ladder for me in terms of ROII music. Sure it's melodious, festive and infectious, but it borders on repetitiveness sometimes for me, and the developments often seem rather predictable...but as it stands, it's still a very fun listen that I'm glad to see in the contest. (I'm still kicking myself that I didn't nominate "Prontera Field"...)

"Rise or Fall" is sugary sweet, like the other Phantasy Star track, so that's worth a brownie point or two. But this track is much less interesting. It's fun for the first 30 seconds, but it failed to sustain my interest. Nice, but average.

"Vow" is very serious, isn't it? It's actually pretty solid for a Fire Emblem tune (I've never been a huge fan of the series' music), as the militaristic elements surprisingly don't bore me to death. But still, it's not particularly noteworthy.

I loved the start to "The Edge of Soul", and then the vocals kicked in...and I still managed to extract some love! I think I'd much prefer an instrumental of this though, as even though the vocals are solid funny, they detract from the overall intensity, methinks. The Asian elements in this are done so well though, so that's commendable.

"I am Impact!" - 8.5/10
"Clap & Walk" - 7.5/10
"Rise or Fall" - 6/10
"Vow" - 7/10
"The Edge of Soul" - 7.5/10

Edit: "I am Impact!" is losing. What is this shit.

For some odd reason, any composer who touches the Fire Emblem series creates a habit of composing very memorable (not necessarily catchy, but memorable) and very brief little tunes, particularly for recruitment themes. But if one of those tracks had to be in BSC, I think I would have preferred With Us!.

Still, I enjoy Vow, so I'm contemplating what track I want to select.

I also could have sworn that I already posted in this thread, but the post isn't here. I really hope I didn't end up posting in the wrong thread, somehow.

I am Impact! does one thing right and that is to not take itself so seriously. I'm getting pretty sick of game music that sounds like it wants to be Art. More than that it also does a pretty solid job of mixing a sort of Enka (I think? Is this a cover of anything?) and game music into something quite original and engaging, and I would vote for it if it wasn't for Clap & Walk, one of my favorite tracks from one of my favorite OSTs from one of my favorite composers. I love it.

I am Impact! - A nice and campy joke song that I actually really like listening to for once. However, I am not in favour of this kind of song entering and hoping to win, as that is far too ambitious. Sure, it's groovy and midi, but it's best to kill it before it fully blooms.

Clap and Walk - Full of nice and constant tambourine, with a melody perfect for adventuring and swaying heads from side to side. I like how tambourine mixes well with the acoustic and strings and doesn't drone or grate my ears, like it easily could if it were executed in a less desirable fashion.

Rise or Fall - Ow, my ears ! Too chiptune. A little catchy with the rhythm throughout, but chiptunes kill me.

Vow - Standard military fare which I usually am not particularly excited about. I can listen to it but, the cookie-cutter percussive rhythm common to this kind of song, as well as some kind of generic trumpet melody usually turn me off.

The Edge of Soul - A very strange mix of asian instrumentation, guitars and vocals. The vocals are a definite "no" with me this time.

I am Impact was just so weird in the beginning, but it turned into an alright track afterwards and somewhat addicting.

Clap and Walk is very enjoyable. Never played RO, but there seems to be a few good tracks inherent in it.

Rise or Fall is definitely irritating, but not bad at all in terms of the music.

Vow's sense of urgency and importance blasts me in the face. This is a good thing.

The Edge of Soul is great except for the vocals. This unfortunately knocks it off from winning my vote.

Either Clap and Walk or Vow.

Clap and Walk (what Summonmaster said )

I am impact was unusual and was a good bit of fun; Clap and Walk... not entirely sure what the fuss is about, very forgetable in my opinion; Rise or Fall has a strong tune and has good ol' chip tune charm; Vow was a bit boring to be honest, there was really not enough development; Edge of soul started off well but the vocals are irritating, they really were not necessary.

I'll go with I am impact, it's querky and different.

Clap & Walk is reptitive but endearing. Actually, that can probably describe a lot of my favorites.

...Geez. I was JUST about to vote and the poll closed on me. Wouldn't matter anyway as I was gonna pick Clap & Walk.

I haven't listened to much of the soundtrack from Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance, though I have heard the four tracks that were later used in Brawl. Vow is extremely repetitive and doesn't do much for me. Whoever nominated that should have picked Crimea Attacks or Victory Is Near instead, as those two are vastly superior, but eh, what can you do.

Maybe I just like Yoshito Hirano's compositions more but I can't say that for sure yet.