The Beauty of a Smash Remix

I love video game music. When a soundtrack in a game is good, it makes the experience much better. Smash has incredible music, but nothing gets better than the remixes.

Smash Brothers is a game to celebrate games. Not just though its characters or stages, but also by its soundtrack. There have been hundreds of tracks throughout the series, whether being remixes or ripped straight from the original game. Smash music, specifically the remixes, has always been very special to me, and to a ton of other people as well. I’ve played Smash my entire life, and to say I love it would be an understatement, and the music has always been a part of that. The soundtracks of these games always, no pun intended, struck a chord with me. They always felt really special, and without a good soundtrack, I think the enjoyment of Smash could fall apart. But what makes the soundtrack so special? There’s tons of tracks, all of them good, but the amount of them can’t be the answer. Obviously it sounds good, but there has to be some other component to it. And there is: how they make the remixes. Specifically, how they make them sound compared to the original. Recently, I’ve started to notice patterns with remixes in Smash: they always sound different from then original-sometimes even unrecognizable as a remix of the original-but it still keeps the intent of the original.

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Table of Contents

            -How The Remixes Stay Faithful

        -How Character’s Impact The Remixes

       -The Music Team’s Series Bias

        -Conclusion

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How The Remixes Stay Faithful

Let’s look at my favorite example of this and the one track that got me thinking of making this blog: Stickerbush Symphony. The Brawl Stickerbush Symphony remix is already my favorite video game track of all time, so obviously we’re taking about it first. Before I move on, to make my explanation easier I ask that you listen to both the original and the remix real quick. Here are the links:

Stickerbush Symphony (original)

Stickerbush Symphony (Brawl)

When you listen to the original Stickerbush, how did you feel? You most likely felt very calm, collected, and relaxed. The slow beat mixed with the soft and comforting melody makes it stand out so well. It’s important to note that Stickerbush works best during actual gameplay. In DKC2, the levels where this track would play on, the bramble stages, are some of the hardest levels in the whole game. Having this calm and relaxing tune puts the player into this zen state of focus, which helps the player make it through the level.

Now how did you feel when you listened to the Smash remix? Did it sound different from the original? You’re answer will most likely be yes. The Smash remix is a lot faster, has more instruments, and even has a different melody at some parts. But tell me: were you not also relaxed as well? It’s crazy how they managed to drastically transform Stickerbush yet still made it so the player would feel calm and relaxed, just like the original. It also even has a similar affect during gameplay! Let’s say you’re in a tense, last stock situation, with your hands glued to your controller and every action having the potential to mess you up. Stickerbush’s relaxing melody puts the player into a zen state, allowing them to keep focus despite the situation. They also made the track significantly faster to better fit Smash in general.

But what causes this? Why does the remix have a similar if not identical affect on the player that the original had while still being its own thing? Well, I think it has to do with the pacing and instruments. See, the Brawl remix is much faster paced than the original, which could make it sound less relaxing. To counter this, they used instruments that were very light on the ears and went along perfectly with the melody. They were able to add more to make the remix sound different enough to be its own thing, yet still kept the intent of the original: to be a calm and relaxing tune to calm you down in tense situations.

Point is: the remix successfully replicates the same effect the original had and still fits into Smash, which is very impressive. It accomplished everything that the original did, all while sounding so, so different from it. And that’s why I love it so much, IMO Stickerbush Symphony is the greatest example of this. If you want other examples, you can ask me in the comments.

Now let’s look at another example of a Smash remix: but this time it accomplishes something different. We will be looking at Gangplank Galleon. This has actually gotten two remixes in Smash, so here are the links to the original and the remixes.

Gangplank Galleon (original)

Gangplank Galleon (Brawl)

Gangplank Galleon (Ultimate)

Let’s start by comparing the original to the Brawl remix. The remix sounds very similar to the original, just with new instruments. There is a reason why they didn’t go crazy like with the Ultimate remix, but we’ll get to that soon. Now, compare the Ultimate remix to the original. It sounds very different, doesn’t it? The beginning bit sounds pretty similar, just more upbeat and faster paced, but then it starts to get crazy. It’s the same melody for the most part but everything else is so different. The pace is ridiculously fast, there are bits of vocals and even a rap part, and there’s a heavy usage of intense trumpets. If you didn’t know of the original Gangplank Galleon already and then heard the remix, you would’ve never imagined the original would be so different.

Despite being so different, the Ultimate remix captures the exact intent of the original. What made Gangplank Galleon so iconic was how it subverted expectations. The start is this joyful tune, which doesn’t really fit well for the theme of a villain. Then as it goes on, it slowly transitions into a different melody, going from upbeat and joyous to fast, dramatic, and frantic. Despite everything about it that’s different, it captures everything iconic about the original. Now, why didn’t the Brawl remix go as crazy as the Ultimate one did? Well, this leads us to my next part.

How Characters Impact The Remixes

The reason why the Ultimate remix went more crazy than the Brawl remix is obviously because of K. Rool himself. K. Rool in Ultimate is already a big deal, with how long the character has been MIA and all. The music team knew that the music to represent K. Rool had to be something special. That’s why the Ultimate remix sounds so different, the music team wanted K. Rool’s long awaited inclusion to feel all the more special. Gangplank Galleon is most commonly associated with K. Rool, so of course they had to remix that. They knew they had to top the Brawl remix. K. Rool’s inclusion as a new fighter had a big impact on what the music team remixed for Ultimate, and also how it sounded. Like I said earlier, K. Rool was not only a long awaited character but also a character that hadn’t been in a game in over a decade. They could’ve just did what the Brawl remix did, but they chose not to because of how special K. Rool’s inclusion is.

They did the same with Mega Man in Smash 4.

Mega Man 2 Medley (which was just Wily Stage 1) is a could’ve been just a neat remix of Wily Stage 1 but they also went all out, also sounding very different from the original but still being very faithful to the original. Mega Man was in a similar situation as K. Rool was, he hadn’t been in a game for a long time (not as long as K. Rool), so his inclusion in Smash meant a lot to Smash fans and Mega Man fans. Not just because he was in the game, but because of the special care put into him, which is reflected by not just Mega Man 2 Medley, but by all the Mega Man remixes. Speaking of Mega Man, I’d actually like to point out a little flaw in the music team while we’re on the topic of Smash music.

The Music Team’s Series Bias

There is undeniably bias in the music team. Series like Mega Man and Castlevania get tons of remixes, but series like Xenoblade Chronicles and Sonic the Hedgehog (both series with great soundtracks) only get ONE remix. There are lots of missed opportunities, so many tracks that could get remixes just don’t. Sometimes it’s because the companies with the rights to the 3rd party reps don’t cooperate, but even a 1st party IP like Xenoblade doesn’t get what it deserves in of remixes. Look at Street Fighter, there’s over 20 tracks so obviously Capcom isn’t being uncooperative, yet there are FOUR remixes. And those remixes are all incredible!

My point is: there is tons of missed opportunity for remixes because, for whatever reason, the music team is biased against and for certain series. With how much care and effort is put into a Smash remix, it saddens me that some series don’t get the music they deserve. I wanted to highlight how the music team has bias in order to show how unfair it is when the remixes they make are so good.

Conclusion

A Smash remix is a beautiful thing. A Smash remix can represent a character or even part of a whole series! The way they craft the remixes to perfectly capture the intention of the originals is honestly astounding. Smash has always been my favorite series, not just in games but in all forms of media like TV or movies, and the music has always been a big part of that. Smash music is honestly incredible, and it saddens me how some series are treated when it comes to their remixes. Music in Smash can be anything: happy, depressing, intense, atmospheric, relaxing, energetic, slow paced, fast paced, and so on. It’s amazing how well Smash music works, and I cannot wait for whatever future remixes we’ll get in the future.

This has been Cheez, gotta skidaddle :wave: