Just in time for Christmas, N00neImp0rtant (reported on earlier today) has released a third remix especially for his subscribers. If you are familiar with his first remix “Sonic Blast” then his latest addition will not surprise you in the slightest. Although it doesn’t have an official name “My Christmas Present to my Subscribers” should really be changed to “Sonic Blast 2: The Sequel”.

In much the same style as the original, SB2 offers a mix of 2-3 sonic tracks at a time, mashed together to create what can only be described as a unique medley. The juxtaposition of each sonic track makes for an odd piece that, like its predecessor, flows coherently at times and flops at others, including an ear wrenching 10 seconds of Death Egg mixed with something else (any idea? 6:50). As a whole, I do think this track improved upon SB1, but drum/tempo issues presented previously continue to plague the interesting remix. If you know your sonic music, you’ll find yourself trying to recognise the origins of each track before being hurled into the next mash.

Let us know in the comments below what you think and take care these Christmas Holidays!

Sonic Blast suffers from the same problem that faces most mash-up creators, finding drum tracks from 2 seperate tunes that match. While a tempo to tempo match can easily be fixed with a little Audacity, to connect two sets of drums is much more difficult. First great example is Speed Highway mixed with the End Credits from Sonic 3D Blast (4:14). while the tunes tempo seems to match, the mismatch of the drums makes it alot harder to imagine the resulting mashbeing one coherent song, and instead both tracks stick out like sore thumbs on a builder with bad hand-eye co-ordination.

While it may seem like i’m trying to beat the track up, many songs meld increadibly well. Both Emerald Hill and Hill Top with Carnival Night Zone (at 4:22) sound superb, while others just plain hurt the ears, Sky Sanctuary and Spagonia Day (8:20). NOI has also been found guilty of trying to do too much. At some points combining three sets of tracks together creates a warzone, with all 3 competing for your attention.

Since Sonic Blast, only one other sonic remix has been released by NOI. Having evaded the ears of most sonic fans I present to you “Sonic CD Japan Extended Theme“. Its name is fairly self explanatory, a remix of the Japanese Theme song to Sonic CD, “Toot Toot Sonic Warrior”. The remix is extremelly simplistic, with minor changes that help freshen up an already funky tune.

The simplistic changes, like the inclusion of loops to the ends of each chorus, the extention of the outro with a pitch change as well as the inclusion of a “genesis style” completes the track that many had considered to be only a “half track”. To get extremelly picky, the genesis outro is almost undetectably out of timing, and probably should have been integrated a little earlier in the piece instead of smacking you in the face all of a sudden at the end. Regardless, its a “must-have” for your mp3 player.

If NOI is able to produce remixes of this quality, there is no telling what could come next. Stay Tuned!

Spanning a fairly large range of games, his remixes rely on the simplistic sounds of just a lead, bass and acoustic guitars. Drums are synthesized and unless you’re picky or have experience with drums you wont notice the repetitive nature of each symbol crash.

As of now, Carbo has 2 sonic remixes, which can be downloaded alongside his other remixes here. The first one titled ‘Jackpot Fever’ is a fairly short Casino Night remix, fleshed out with rock.  His second sonic track is no less rock-filled and is titled ‘Let Me Run Again“. This Sweet Dreams remix will be recognised by many as the ending track to Sonic The Hedgehog 2, and is one of only a few quality remixes of the tune made famous outside of the sonic fan base though a band called “Dreams come True”.

Now to critique. The focus of these tracks are obviously the guitar, and here Carbo is right at home. Each track features something a little different with the guitar, but each time it’ll leave you wanting more. Sadly, many of his tracks end around the 1-2 minute mark, so while each track feels epic and fresh, many leave the listener with a lingering feeling of disappointment as each track comes to a close faster than the last. In regards to the arrangements, the music is well written, but suffers from synthetic drum syndrome (or SDS). The repetition of the synthetic drums used can really get to you after a few playbacks and can grow on your nerve if listened on repeat. Drum volume level also need tweaking, with the nice example of Sweet Dreams remix to back me up.

This is not to say that any of Carbo’s remixes are “bad”. Quite the opposite really, as I’m not normally one to suggest a remixer’s other “non-sonic” remixes. For the first time, I consider Carbo an exception. Whether you want a classic Mario tune (The Mushroom Kingdom Skate Park) or something from the Yoshi era (Winter of Whistlers) everyone will find a song that they recognise and will leave with a song they love.