Doujn CD Review - Megalomania

01 Opening / Rockman2
02 Title / Rockman2
03 CutMan / Rockman
04 IceMan / Rockman
05 FireMan / Rockman
06 MetalMan / Rockman2
07 BubbleMan / Rockman2
08 WoodMan / Rockman2
09 ClashMan / Rockman2
10 FlashMan / Rockman2
11 QuickMan / Rockman2
12 Dr.Wily #1 / Rockman2
13 Title / Rockman3
14 SparkMan / Rockman3
15 GetWeapon / Rockman3
16 SnakeMan / Rockman3
17 PharaohMan / Rockman4

Circle: Dangerous Mezashi Cat

VGMDB Entry

I’m really split on this one. On one hand, Mega Man music is tremendously overdone in both Western and Japanese remix circles. Furthermore, they tend to focus entirely on the first three entries. Yeah, everyone likes those more than the later entries, but regardless of their quality/popularity, they still had some excellent music. Megalomania, by Dangerous Mezashi Cat, continues the trend of neglecting these, by focusing on rock remixes on the first games.

Even those are a bit mixed. The music in the first Mega Man was never particularly good, but that doesn’t stop the chintzy, boring renditions here. Mega Man 2 fares quite a bit better, with a decent if typical arrangement of the opening theme. The stage themes are mixed, with Metal Man, Bubble Man, Wood Man, Flash Man and Dr. Wily’s Fortress use live guitars, while Quick Man and Crash Man use synth. I was never really a huge fan of these outside of Bubble Man and Dr. Wily’s theme, although the arrangements are fairly decent. I still can’t believe they omitted Air Man, though.

By far the best track is the rendition of the Mega Man 3 opening theme. It was only a short ditty originally, but it’s been expanded into a full ballad over four minutes in length, and sounds pretty amazing. The “Get Weapon” theme isn’t nearly as rearranged, but is still decent. The Spark Man theme is okay, while the Snake Man one is a bit more interesting. The only representation from the later games is Pharaoh Man from Mega Man 4, and it’s a bit of a lousy arrangement anyway.

So if you haven’t grown tired of the same old Mega Man songs, this is a pretty good album. Although their website lists this album in their discography, Dangerous Mezashi Cat no longer distributes Megalomania. It apparently disappeared around the time that Capcom released their own Rockman 1-6 Rock Arrange Album set. It might be coincidental, or it might be one of the few cases where a company actually blocked a doujin album. I'd honestly say that Capcom's official set is a bit better - the quality is more consistent, the song selection is better (the boss and title medleys are great), and the arrangements are slightly superior.

Samples:

Fileplanet

<img src="http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/doujinmusic/megalomania.jpg"><br /><br />01 Opening / Rockman2 <br />02 Title / Rockman2 <br />03 CutMan / Rockman <br />04 IceMan / Rockman <br />05 FireMan / Rockman <br />06 MetalMan / Rockman2 <br />07 BubbleMan / Rockman2 <br />08 WoodMan / Rockman2 <br />09 ClashMan / Rockman2 <br />10 FlashMan / Rockman2 <br />11 QuickMan / Rockman2 <br />12 Dr.Wily #1 / Rockman2 <br />13 Title / Rockman3 <br />14 SparkMan / Rockman3 <br />15 GetWeapon / Rockman3 <br />16 SnakeMan / Rockman3 <br />17 PharaohMan / Rockman4 <br /><br />Circle: <a href="http://www.komatsuna-ya.com/~nekonomikan/dmc/">Dangerous Mezashi Cat</a><br /><br /><a href="http://vgmdb.net/album/4933">VGMDB Entry</a><br /><br />I’m really split on this one. On one hand, Mega Man music is tremendously overdone in both Western and Japanese remix circles. Furthermore, they tend to focus entirely on the first three entries. Yeah, everyone likes those more than the later entries, but regardless of their quality/popularity, they still had some excellent music. Megalomania, by Dangerous Mezashi Cat, continues the trend of neglecting these, by focusing on rock remixes on the first games.<br /><span class="fullpost"><br />Even those are a bit mixed. The music in the first Mega Man was never particularly good, but that doesn’t stop the chintzy, boring renditions here. Mega Man 2 fares quite a bit better, with a decent if typical arrangement of the opening theme. The stage themes are mixed, with Metal Man, Bubble Man, Wood Man, Flash Man and Dr. Wily’s Fortress use live guitars, while Quick Man and Crash Man use synth. I was never really a huge fan of these outside of Bubble Man and Dr. Wily’s theme, although the arrangements are fairly decent. I still can’t believe they omitted Air Man, though.<br /><br />By far the best track is the rendition of the Mega Man 3 opening theme. It was only a short ditty originally, but it’s been expanded into a full ballad over four minutes in length, and sounds pretty amazing. The “Get Weapon” theme isn’t nearly as rearranged, but is still decent. The Spark Man theme is okay, while the Snake Man one is a bit more interesting. The only representation from the later games is Pharaoh Man from Mega Man 4, and it’s a bit of a lousy arrangement anyway.<br /><br />So if you haven’t grown tired of the same old Mega Man songs, this is a pretty good album. Although their website lists this album in their discography, Dangerous Mezashi Cat no longer distributes Megalomania. It apparently disappeared around the time that Capcom released their own <a href="http://vgmdb.net/album/5138">Rockman 1-6 Rock Arrange Album</a> set. It might be coincidental, or it might be one of the few cases where a company actually blocked a doujin album. I'd honestly say that Capcom's official set is a bit better - the quality is more consistent, the song selection is better (the boss and title medleys are great), and the arrangements are slightly superior.<br /><br />Samples:<br /><br /><a href="http://www.fileplanet.com/hosteddl.aspx?/hst/d/i/discoalu/hg101_megalomania.zip">Fileplanet</a><p><br /></span>

Doujin CD Review - Ages

01 Turbo Outrun - Rush A Difficulty
02 Power Drift - Like the Wind
03 Lunar: Silver Star Story - Tsubasa
04 Space Harrier 2 - Harrier Saga
05 Magic Knight Rayearth - Taflon by the Sea
06 Yumimi Mix - Achichicchi
07 Fantasy Zone - Prome
08 Super Shinobi - Medley
09 Galaxy Force 2 - Alone Fighter
10 Eternal Arcadia Legend - Last Battle
11 Lunar: Silver Star Story - Wind's Nocturne


Circle: Woodsoft

VGMDB Entry

I love me some Sega, and I'm absolutely sure the guys at Woodsoft do too. This album begins with the classic "SAY-GAH!" chant, and the "logo on dark background" seems heavily inspired by the Segagaga packaging, which was also a huge (self-addressed) love letter to the company. Despite its intentions, though, the album as a whole is unfortunately disappointing. The selection digs from a lot of Sega's more obscure games, which isn't always bad. Every fan nowadays knows Outrun or After Burner, but Turbo Outrun and Power Drift are considerably more obscure and it's great to see a Skies of Arcadia track make it out here too. Still, you can't help but feel they're cheating by including two songs from Lunar: Silver Star Story, which originated on Sega platforms but soon went elsewhere, and aren't even Sega games. (Magic Knight Rayearth, on the other hand, was at least published by Sega, but it's hardly a classic or even a distinctive tune, you know? Some of soundtrack of that game was just taken from the anime anyway.) And then they went super obscure with Yumimi Mix, a Mega CD title from Game Arts.

Beyond the song selection, though, the real trouble lies with the cheesy synth that permeates nearly every song. The Lunar songs sound the same as their original counterpart except with worse instrumentation and vocals, so what's the point? The Space Harrier II theme sounds dull and neutered, and it's mind boggling how they could take the awesome Last Battle theme from Skies of Arcadia and make it sound so terrible, completely ruining the drama and intensity of the original track. Prome from Fantasy Zone was one of the more obnoxious songs from that game, and the arrangement here is just as bad.

At least the synth doesn't ruin every song. The Power Drift tune is catchy if uneventful, and while there are better tunes from Turbo Outrun than Rush a Difficulty, it's still an alright rendition. The only really standout track is the five minute Super Shinobi (Revenge of Shinobi) medley, combining the first level song with the Chinatown theme and ending song, My Lover. The tempo is heightened a bit for great effect and the instrumentation here is far better than the rest, especially the guitar that breaks in parts of the song. But there's nothing else on the CD remotely to that level, so it's really hard to recommend as a whole.

Download samples

<img src="http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/doujinmusic/ages.jpg"><br /><br />01 Turbo Outrun - Rush A Difficulty <br />02 Power Drift - Like the Wind <br />03 Lunar: Silver Star Story - Tsubasa <br />04 Space Harrier 2 - Harrier Saga <br />05 Magic Knight Rayearth - Taflon by the Sea <br />06 Yumimi Mix - Achichicchi <br />07 Fantasy Zone - Prome <br />08 Super Shinobi - Medley <br />09 Galaxy Force 2 - Alone Fighter <br />10 Eternal Arcadia Legend - Last Battle <br />11 Lunar: Silver Star Story - Wind's Nocturne<br /><br /><br />Circle: <a href="http://www2.odn.ne.jp/puchi/">Woodsoft</a><br /><br /><a href="http://vgmdb.net/album/4929">VGMDB Entry</a><br /><br />I love me some Sega, and I'm absolutely sure the guys at Woodsoft do too. This album begins with the classic "SAY-GAH!" chant, and the "logo on dark background" seems heavily inspired by the Segagaga packaging, which was also a huge (self-addressed) love letter to the company. Despite its intentions, though, the album as a whole is unfortunately disappointing. The selection digs from a lot of Sega's more obscure games, which isn't always bad. Every fan nowadays knows Outrun or After Burner, but Turbo Outrun and Power Drift are considerably more obscure and it's great to see a Skies of Arcadia track make it out here too. Still, you can't help but feel they're cheating by including two songs from Lunar: Silver Star Story, which originated on Sega platforms but soon went elsewhere, and aren't even Sega games. (Magic Knight Rayearth, on the other hand, was at least published by Sega, but it's hardly a classic or even a distinctive tune, you know? Some of soundtrack of that game was just taken from the anime anyway.) And then they went super obscure with Yumimi Mix, a Mega CD title from Game Arts.<br /><span class="fullpost"><br />Beyond the song selection, though, the real trouble lies with the cheesy synth that permeates nearly every song. The Lunar songs sound the same as their original counterpart except with worse instrumentation and vocals, so what's the point? The Space Harrier II theme sounds dull and neutered, and it's mind boggling how they could take the awesome Last Battle theme from Skies of Arcadia and make it sound so terrible, completely ruining the drama and intensity of the original track. Prome from Fantasy Zone was one of the more obnoxious songs from that game, and the arrangement here is just as bad.<br /><br />At least the synth doesn't ruin every song. The Power Drift tune is catchy if uneventful, and while there are better tunes from Turbo Outrun than Rush a Difficulty, it's still an alright rendition. The only really standout track is the five minute Super Shinobi (Revenge of Shinobi) medley, combining the first level song with the Chinatown theme and ending song, My Lover. The tempo is heightened a bit for great effect and the instrumentation here is far better than the rest, especially the guitar that breaks in parts of the song. But there's nothing else on the CD remotely to that level, so it's really hard to recommend as a whole.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.fileplanet.com/hosteddl.aspx?/hst/d/i/discoalu/hg101_ages.zip">Download samples</a><p><br /><br /></span>

Doujin CD Review - History of Yougakudan 2 - Akyu's Untouched Score vol.2

01 Wondrous Romance ~ Mystic Square
02 Dream Express
03 Magic Formation ~ Magic Square
04 Dimension of Reverie
05 Spiritual Heaven
06 Romantic Children
07 Plastic Mind
08 Maple Wise
09 Forbidden Magic
10 Crimson Maiden ~ Crimson Dead!!
11 Treacherous Maiden ~ Judas Kiss
12 The Last Judgement
13 Doll of Misery
14 World's End
15 Legendary Illusion ~ Infinite Being
16 Alice in Wonderland
17 The Grimoire of Alice
18 Shinto Shrine
19 Endless
20 Eternal Paradise
21 Mystic Dream
22 Soul's Resting Place
23 Peaceful Romancer

Circle: Team Shangai Alice

VGMDB Link

Touhou Wiki Link

This CD reminds me of the Japanese countryside. I stumbled upon it randomly when I was in a Toranoana and heard the music playing from a stereo. Judging from the PC98 FM synth, I assumed it was from Etrian Odyssey or something similar, but I grabbed all three CDs, since they were pretty cheap. I later found out they were from the early Touhou shooters, which were, of course, for the old Japanese PCs. I listened to all of them during my train rides to the cities outside Tokyo, which is why I picture the long, empty, and particularly wet expanses of mountains and rice fields.


It’s a strange soundtrack for such a backdrop, I admit, but it feels personally important. There’s something lonely and poignant about PC98 synth, which is why it serves as such an excellent backdrop for the dungeon crawlers like Brandish and Dinosaur, which is probably why I was drawn to it, being alone and socially isolated in a foreign country.

Touhou games are shooters and so the music is much faster paced than the moodier Falcom stuff, louder with stronger beat, and much cheerier - it's not too far off from Yuzo Koshiro's work on Sorcerian. The melody in all of the songs are quite strong, feeling almost like they were designed to be played in a rock band, and there’s a main motif repeated throughout many of them. You know how the Genesis FM synth pulled out some rocking heavy metal-style music with MUSHA and Lightening Force? This sounds similar, but the PC98 is less gritty overall, so it’s a bit easier to listen to if you’re one of those people prejudiced against Genesis music.

The lack of variation in style and synth does mean that it tends to blend together, especially across all three albums, but that doesn’t meant they aren’t excellent. My favorite album is Vol. 2, for the game Mystic Square, just because there isn’t a boring song in the whole bunch – even the title screen song is awesome. Some of the later songs are a bit more slow paced and sound like something out of an RPG, but their quality is just as high.

I later played the game on an emulator and realized why Touhou games hadn’t really picked up in popularity until it hit Windows – the PC98 was pretty bad about animating sprites and they feel really cheap, and even a bit boring. I’d almost recommend the music without the game, because that way you can imagine something more exciting. In my case, it just makes me wistful for Tokyo.

Download samples

<img src="http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/doujinmusic/akyu2a.jpg"><br /><br />01 Wondrous Romance ~ Mystic Square <br />02 Dream Express <br />03 Magic Formation ~ Magic Square <br />04 Dimension of Reverie <br />05 Spiritual Heaven <br />06 Romantic Children <br />07 Plastic Mind <br />08 Maple Wise <br />09 Forbidden Magic <br />10 Crimson Maiden ~ Crimson Dead!! <br />11 Treacherous Maiden ~ Judas Kiss <br />12 The Last Judgement <br />13 Doll of Misery <br />14 World's End <br />15 Legendary Illusion ~ Infinite Being <br />16 Alice in Wonderland<br />17 The Grimoire of Alice <br />18 Shinto Shrine <br />19 Endless <br />20 Eternal Paradise <br />21 Mystic Dream <br />22 Soul's Resting Place <br />23 Peaceful Romancer <br /><br />Circle: <a href="http://www16.big.or.jp/~zun/">Team Shangai Alice</a><br /><br /><a href="http://vgmdb.net/album/5810">VGMDB Link</a><br /><br /><a href="http://touhou.wikia.com/wiki/Akyu%27s_Untouched_Score_vol.2">Touhou Wiki Link</a><br /><br />This CD reminds me of the Japanese countryside. I stumbled upon it randomly when I was in a Toranoana and heard the music playing from a stereo. Judging from the PC98 FM synth, I assumed it was from Etrian Odyssey or something similar, but I grabbed all three CDs, since they were pretty cheap. I later found out they were from the early Touhou shooters, which were, of course, for the old Japanese PCs. I listened to all of them during my train rides to the cities outside Tokyo, which is why I picture the long, empty, and particularly wet expanses of mountains and rice fields. <br /><br /><center><img src="http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/doujinmusic/countryside.jpg"></center><br />It’s a strange soundtrack for such a backdrop, I admit, but it feels personally important. There’s something lonely and poignant about PC98 synth, which is why it serves as such an excellent backdrop for the dungeon crawlers like Brandish and Dinosaur, which is probably why I was drawn to it, being alone and socially isolated in a foreign country. <br /><span class="fullpost"><br />Touhou games are shooters and so the music is much faster paced than the moodier Falcom stuff, louder with stronger beat, and much cheerier - it's not too far off from Yuzo Koshiro's work on Sorcerian. The melody in all of the songs are quite strong, feeling almost like they were designed to be played in a rock band, and there’s a main motif repeated throughout many of them. You know how the Genesis FM synth pulled out some rocking heavy metal-style music with MUSHA and Lightening Force? This sounds similar, but the PC98 is less gritty overall, so it’s a bit easier to listen to if you’re one of those people prejudiced against Genesis music.<br /><br />The lack of variation in style and synth does mean that it tends to blend together, especially across all three albums, but that doesn’t meant they aren’t excellent. My favorite album is Vol. 2, for the game Mystic Square, just because there isn’t a boring song in the whole bunch – even the title screen song is awesome. Some of the later songs are a bit more slow paced and sound like something out of an RPG, but their quality is just as high. <br /><br />I later played the game on an emulator and realized why Touhou games hadn’t really picked up in popularity until it hit Windows – the PC98 was pretty bad about animating sprites and they feel really cheap, and even a bit boring. I’d almost recommend the music without the game, because that way you can imagine something more exciting. In my case, it just makes me wistful for Tokyo.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.fileplanet.com/hosteddl.aspx?/hst/d/i/discoalu/hg101_akyu2.zip">Download samples</a><p><br /></span>

Doujin CD Review - Jam Jam Junction “N”

Tracklist

01 Rage Racer (Rage Racer)
02 DRAGON SABER (Earth Mushrooms)
03 Genpei Toumaden
04 Mappy
05 Tower of Druaga
06 BURNING FORCE (Bay Yard)
07 Youkai Douchuuki
08 Wonder Momo

Circle: Magical Trick Society

VGMDB Entry

I’ve always gotten the feeling that Namco got much more love over in Japan than it did over here. I mean, Pac-Man, Dig Dug and Galaga were popular the world over, but no one outside of Japan really cared about Yokai Dochuuki, Tower of Druaga, or Wonder Momo, which is probably why they didn’t bother to localize Namco X Capcom. Anyway, this effort is mostly aimed towards these games and those who love them.

The only “recent” game covered is Rage Rager. I was always under the impression that Ridge Racer and its brethren just featured generic if likable techno, and this remix hasn’t changed that. The “Genma Tou Den Medley” (known as Geiji and the Heike Clans over here) uses live Japanese instruments and sounds remarkably professional, much better than the blippy arcade version. About halfway through it breaks into a Samurai Shodown-style rock arrangement, which makes this one of the better tracks on the disc. The Mappy theme is given a jazzy, upbeat arrangement, which I guess would mean more if I even know what the Mappy theme sounded like. The Tower of Druaga theme sounds cartoony and a bit dopey, and just reminds me what a frustrating mess that game is.

Burning Force is a game Americans MIGHT vaguely recognize, because its Genesis port was released in America. The rendition here is done with a heavy Latin flavor, a sharp contrast to the rock version found in Namco X Capcom. The Wonder Momo medley alternates between the two themes – the chirpy, irritating pre-transformation theme, with far too high pitched vocals against chiptune music, before it goes “HENSHIN!” into a rock rendition of the transformed theme, with deeper, more pleasant vocals. There's also one Dragon Saber song, which is pretty decent - Magical Trick Society loved its predecessor Dragon Spirit so much that they devoted a whole album to it.

I can’t say I’m the biggest fans of a lot of these themes, but their arrangements are almost always unique and interesting, so the CD as a whole isn’t too bad.

Download samples

<img src="http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/doujinmusic/jamjamjunction.jpg"><br /><br /><b>Tracklist</b><br /><br />01 Rage Racer (Rage Racer)<br />02 DRAGON SABER (Earth Mushrooms) <br />03 Genpei Toumaden <br />04 Mappy <br />05 Tower of Druaga <br />06 BURNING FORCE (Bay Yard) <br />07 Youkai Douchuuki <br />08 Wonder Momo<br /><br />Circle: <a href="http://www.magicaltrick.com/">Magical Trick Society</a><br /><br /><a href="http://vgmdb.net/album/9711">VGMDB Entry</a><br /><br />I’ve always gotten the feeling that Namco got much more love over in Japan than it did over here. I mean, Pac-Man, Dig Dug and Galaga were popular the world over, but no one outside of Japan really cared about Yokai Dochuuki, Tower of Druaga, or Wonder Momo, which is probably why they didn’t bother to localize Namco X Capcom. Anyway, this effort is mostly aimed towards these games and those who love them. <br /><br /><span class="fullpost">The only “recent” game covered is Rage Rager. I was always under the impression that Ridge Racer and its brethren just featured generic if likable techno, and this remix hasn’t changed that. The “Genma Tou Den Medley” (known as Geiji and the Heike Clans over here) uses live Japanese instruments and sounds remarkably professional, much better than the blippy arcade version. About halfway through it breaks into a Samurai Shodown-style rock arrangement, which makes this one of the better tracks on the disc. The Mappy theme is given a jazzy, upbeat arrangement, which I guess would mean more if I even know what the Mappy theme sounded like. The Tower of Druaga theme sounds cartoony and a bit dopey, and just reminds me what a frustrating mess that game is.<br /><br />Burning Force is a game Americans MIGHT vaguely recognize, because its Genesis port was released in America. The rendition here is done with a heavy Latin flavor, a sharp contrast to the rock version found in Namco X Capcom. The Wonder Momo medley alternates between the two themes – the chirpy, irritating pre-transformation theme, with far too high pitched vocals against chiptune music, before it goes “HENSHIN!” into a rock rendition of the transformed theme, with deeper, more pleasant vocals. There's also one Dragon Saber song, which is pretty decent - Magical Trick Society loved its predecessor Dragon Spirit so much that they devoted a whole album to it. <br /><br />I can’t say I’m the biggest fans of a lot of these themes, but their arrangements are almost always unique and interesting, so the CD as a whole isn’t too bad.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.fileplanet.com/hosteddl.aspx?/hst/d/i/discoalu/hg101_jamjam.zip">Download samples</a><p></span>

Doujin CD Review - Detana!! K-STYLE - School Mizugi de Daiabare!

01 There in The Sea - Twinbee Yahhoo
02 Mirage - Lighting Legend
03 Wisdom of Living - Lighting Legend
04 Main Theme - The Goonies
05 GTR Attack !! - Contra Hard Corps
06 Ruins of Bacaros - Metamorphic Force
07 Lucky Zone - Gradius 3 SFC
08 End Demo - Labyrinth Runner
09 Tears of Dracula - Castlevania Dawn of Sorrow
10 Riddle - Castlevania
11 Theme of Simon - Castlevania 4
12 Wiched Child - Castlevania 4
13 One Night in Neo Kobe City - Snatcher
14 Memoire - Space Manbow

Circle: Woodsoft

VGMDB Entry

Konami music is always a good source for arranged music, even if the topic is pretty broad. As such, there’s a huge variety of songs, spanning older stuff to obscure releases, along with a few newer songs. The opening track, “Umi no Kanata e”, is the third stage theme from Twinbee Yahho!, and while the expanded intro is decent, the instrumentation is lacking the energy that made the original version so fun. The next two tracks are taken from the awful PSOne 3D fighter Lightning Legend – the opening vocal theme isn’t bad for anime-style J-Pop, but the arrangement barely changes anything, and the second song isn’t all that interesting either. Next is an arrangement of The Goonies theme – that’s right, Cyndi Lauper’s “Goonies R Good Enough” – done on a piano. It’s so altered that it’s hard to pick out the main melody, but it’s still surprisingly well done.

“GTR Attack!!” Contra Hard Corps theme is well done, but I never really liked the original music that much to begin with. “Ruins of Bacaros” is from the arcade fighter Metamorphic Force which featured a rock soundtrack. The synth guitars used here aren’t much different than the actual game, but it’s cool representation of an excellent song from an obscure game. Labyrinth Runner (AKA Trick Trap) is even more obscure, although the song is actually quite dull, and seems to exist just to show Woodsoft's knowledge of old, unknown Konami arcade games. The Castlevania remixes are mixed – the “Theme of Simon” rendition is a bit too close the official arrangement on the Dracula Battle album, and “Riddle” is plain unremarkable, but “Wicked Child” features a live guitar with 80s style synth that almost makes it sounds like an Ys song. It also features a never-arranged song from Dawn of Sorrow, “Dracula’s Tears”. It was probably the best song in the game and while this arrangement doesn’t do much other than improving the rather fuzzy instrumentation of the original and expanded it a bit, it still sounds pretty good – it wouldn’t sound out of place on a PC Engine game. The shamisens in the original song never fit, anyway. The version of “One Night in Neo Kobe City”, the opening credits song from the CD versions of Snatcher, is a bit more laid back and snazzier, with a particularly nice live sax. “Memoire”, the end theme from the MSX shooter Space Manbow, isn’t bad, but it’s hardly a standout amongst classic Konami canon.

Overall, it’s a decent album, even if it’s not entirely consistent.

Download samples

<img src="http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/doujinmusic/kstyle.jpg"><br /><br />01 There in The Sea - Twinbee Yahhoo<br />02 Mirage - Lighting Legend<br />03 Wisdom of Living - Lighting Legend <br />04 Main Theme - The Goonies<br />05 GTR Attack !! - Contra Hard Corps<br />06 Ruins of Bacaros - Metamorphic Force <br />07 Lucky Zone - Gradius 3 SFC <br />08 End Demo - Labyrinth Runner <br />09 Tears of Dracula - Castlevania Dawn of Sorrow<br />10 Riddle - Castlevania <br />11 Theme of Simon - Castlevania 4<br />12 Wiched Child - Castlevania 4 <br />13 One Night in Neo Kobe City - Snatcher<br />14 Memoire - Space Manbow<br /><br />Circle: <a href="http://www2.odn.ne.jp/puchi/">Woodsoft</a><br /><br /><a href="http://vgmdb.net/album/5320">VGMDB Entry</a><br /><br />Konami music is always a good source for arranged music, even if the topic is pretty broad. As such, there’s a huge variety of songs, spanning older stuff to obscure releases, along with a few newer songs. The opening track, “Umi no Kanata e”, is the third stage theme from Twinbee Yahho!, and while the expanded intro is decent, the instrumentation is lacking the energy that made the original version so fun. The next two tracks are taken from the awful PSOne 3D fighter Lightning Legend – the opening vocal theme isn’t bad for anime-style J-Pop, but the arrangement barely changes anything, and the second song isn’t all that interesting either. Next is an arrangement of The Goonies theme – that’s right, Cyndi Lauper’s “Goonies R Good Enough” – done on a piano. It’s so altered that it’s hard to pick out the main melody, but it’s still surprisingly well done. <br /><br /><span class="fullpost">“GTR Attack!!” Contra Hard Corps theme is well done, but I never really liked the original music that much to begin with. “Ruins of Bacaros” is from the arcade fighter Metamorphic Force which featured a rock soundtrack. The synth guitars used here aren’t much different than the actual game, but it’s cool representation of an excellent song from an obscure game. Labyrinth Runner (AKA Trick Trap) is even more obscure, although the song is actually quite dull, and seems to exist just to show Woodsoft's knowledge of old, unknown Konami arcade games. The Castlevania remixes are mixed – the “Theme of Simon” rendition is a bit too close the official arrangement on the Dracula Battle album, and “Riddle” is plain unremarkable, but “Wicked Child” features a live guitar with 80s style synth that almost makes it sounds like an Ys song. It also features a never-arranged song from Dawn of Sorrow, “Dracula’s Tears”. It was probably the best song in the game and while this arrangement doesn’t do much other than improving the rather fuzzy instrumentation of the original and expanded it a bit, it still sounds pretty good – it wouldn’t sound out of place on a PC Engine game. The shamisens in the original song never fit, anyway. The version of “One Night in Neo Kobe City”, the opening credits song from the CD versions of Snatcher, is a bit more laid back and snazzier, with a particularly nice live sax. “Memoire”, the end theme from the MSX shooter Space Manbow, isn’t bad, but it’s hardly a standout amongst classic Konami canon.<br /><br />Overall, it’s a decent album, even if it’s not entirely consistent. <br /><br /><a href="http://www.fileplanet.com/hosteddl.aspx?/hst/d/i/discoalu/hg101_kstyle.zip">Download samples</a><p><br /></span>

Doujin CD Review - Cave Love

01 far east blowin' - Dodonpachi Daioujou - East Asia (Stage 1)
02 母を訪ねてBomber!Bomber! - Pink Sweets ~ Ibara Sorekara - Verde di circostanza (Stage 2)
03 土曜の夜はミスター・サイボーグ兵士 - Dangun Feveron - Hello Mr. Cyborg Soldiers - Stage 2)
04 むしむしうにゃーの大冒険 - Mushihime-sama - Shinju Heading into the Forest (Stage 1) / Levy Sense (Boss)
05 空ノ帝 - ESP Galuda - Huge Battleship Elinies (Stage 3)
06 サイドストームあらし - Storm of Progear - Boss
07 Show Time under Leaden Skies - Ibara - Show Time (Stage 1)
08 デスレーベル95-97-02 - Donpachi / Dodonpachi / Dodonpachi Daioujou (Boss)
09 夜叉桜 - Guwange (Stage 1 / Select)
10 大型連結戦車物語　～嘘だと言ってよ、イーニィ - Suburb - Armored Green (Stage 2)
11 DDP-198x Powered by"2203" - Dodonpachi (Stage 1 & 4)
12 ウェッハといっしょ - ESP Galuda II - Aerial - Sadness Bathes in Dust (Stage 4)
13 ESP RAGING [myu314 remix] - ESP Rade - Raging Decide (Boss) / Snow Illusion (Ending)
14 Just a couple of more... - Dodonpachi (Stage 1 & 4) / Dodonpachi Daioujou - East Asia (Stage 1)

Video Game Music Database entry

Circle: Cool & Create

Even if you aren’t a fan of Cave’s ridiculously overwhelming style of shooter madness, you have to admit their soundtracks are almost consistently excellent. (We’ll forgive Muchi Muchi Pork and that blasted theme song of theirs.) Cave Love features songs from their catalog, ranging far as back as Donpachi (1995) up to Pink Sweets (2006). The style mostly focuses on fast paced dance-style arrangements, although there are a few exceptions, and a handful of vocal tracks.

The opening track is a drastic rearrangement of the first level theme from Dodonpachi Daioujou. I always thought the music style of that game was pretty weird – it felt way too laid back, especially compared to the rocking guitars of its immediate predecessor Dodopachi. Here, it plays around with the main melody quite a bit, even adding some vocals about a minute in. It’s pretty drastic, but a decent song. The second track takes one of the tracks from the already ridiculously upbeat Pink Sweets soundtrack and makes it even more hyper, along with some vocal samples (“BOMBAA!) that are remarkably catchy. The fifth track is one of the stage themes from ESPGaluda, although I think I prefer the techno-rave sound of the OST version a bit more. There's also a medley of boss themes from the Donpachi games, which is honestly a bit too sugar-infused for my taste.

The fourth track takes the first level theme of Mushime-sama, slows down the intro and adds a peaceful vocal theme, before speeding up the pace a bit - apparently this is a remix of the boss theme, though I can't really pick it out. Like the first track, it’s a pretty big departure but it’s still excellent. The final track is a surprisingly haunting medley of the first stage themes from Dodonpachi and Dodonpachi Daioujou - the fiddles and flutes make it sound like something Mitsuda would do, which is obviously a huge step from the original rocking original - and while the melodies are only barely noticeable, it's still a great song and a fantastic way to close out the CD.

One of the most interesting remixes is “Show Time Under Leaden Skies”, the first level theme of Ibara, here done in the synth and style of Battle Garegga, its spiritual predecessor. “DDP-198x Powered by 2203” is the first level theme from Dodonpachi, here done with a computer FM synth I can’t quite place – maybe it’s X68000? About a minute in, a live guitar breaks in and the theme just gets all kind of awesome, expanding on what was already an excellent song. I love it when more recent tracks are played with older sound hardware, and both of these totally rock in that regard.

Not all of the tracks are great. The boss theme from Progear is nice and tense, but it’s certainly not enough to fully support a four minute arrangement and it grows tiresome here after the halfway mark, even with the added dance beats. The naff male vocals in the Guwange song kinda ruin what could've been, though.

Overall, it’s a pretty decent collection, and at 14 tracks, is fairly long for a doujin CD, making a good value.

For all reviews going forward, I'm going to upload MP3 sets with a handful of tracks from the CD, as well as their OST versions for comparison.

Samples for Cave Love:

Megaupload
Fileplanet

Additionally, here are samples for Happy Trigger from last week, as well as a truncated medley on Youtube:

Youtube
Megaupload
Fileplanet


<a href="http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/doujinmusic/cavelove.jpg"><img border="0" src="http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/doujinmusic/cavelovea.jpg"></a><p><br /><br />01 far east blowin' - Dodonpachi Daioujou - East Asia (Stage 1)<br />02 母を訪ねてBomber!Bomber! - Pink Sweets ~ Ibara Sorekara - Verde di circostanza (Stage 2)<br />03 土曜の夜はミスター・サイボーグ兵士 - Dangun Feveron - Hello Mr. Cyborg Soldiers - Stage 2)<br />04 むしむしうにゃーの大冒険 - Mushihime-sama - Shinju Heading into the Forest (Stage 1) / Levy Sense (Boss)<br />05 空ノ帝 - ESP Galuda - Huge Battleship Elinies (Stage 3)<br />06 サイドストームあらし - Storm of Progear - Boss<br />07 Show Time under Leaden Skies - Ibara - Show Time (Stage 1)<br />08 デスレーベル95-97-02 - Donpachi / Dodonpachi / Dodonpachi Daioujou (Boss)<br />09 夜叉桜 - Guwange (Stage 1 / Select)<br />10 大型連結戦車物語　～嘘だと言ってよ、イーニィ - Suburb - Armored Green (Stage 2)<br />11 DDP-198x Powered by"2203" - Dodonpachi (Stage 1 & 4)<br />12 ウェッハといっしょ - ESP Galuda II - Aerial - Sadness Bathes in Dust (Stage 4)<br />13 ESP RAGING [myu314 remix] - ESP Rade - Raging Decide (Boss) / Snow Illusion (Ending)<br />14 Just a couple of more... - Dodonpachi (Stage 1 & 4) / Dodonpachi Daioujou - East Asia (Stage 1)<br /><br /><a href="http://vgmdb.net/album/4274">Video Game Music Database entry</a><br /><br />Circle: <a href="http://cool-create.cc/">Cool & Create</a><br /><br />Even if you aren’t a fan of Cave’s ridiculously overwhelming style of shooter madness, you have to admit their soundtracks are almost consistently excellent. (We’ll forgive Muchi Muchi Pork and that <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3O6yeN1PUg&feature=related">blasted theme song</a> of theirs.) Cave Love features songs from their catalog, ranging far as back as Donpachi (1995) up to Pink Sweets (2006). The style mostly focuses on fast paced dance-style arrangements, although there are a few exceptions, and a handful of vocal tracks.<br /><span class="fullpost"><br />The opening track is a drastic rearrangement of the first level theme from Dodonpachi Daioujou. I always thought the music style of that game was pretty weird – it felt way too laid back, especially compared to the rocking guitars of its immediate predecessor Dodopachi. Here, it plays around with the main melody quite a bit, even adding some vocals about a minute in. It’s pretty drastic, but a decent song. The second track takes one of the tracks from the already ridiculously upbeat Pink Sweets soundtrack and makes it even more hyper, along with some vocal samples (“BOMBAA!) that are remarkably catchy. The fifth track is one of the stage themes from ESPGaluda, although I think I prefer the techno-rave sound of the OST version a bit more. There's also a medley of boss themes from the Donpachi games, which is honestly a bit too sugar-infused for my taste.<br /><br />The fourth track takes the first level theme of Mushime-sama, slows down the intro and adds a peaceful vocal theme, before speeding up the pace a bit - apparently this is a remix of the boss theme, though I can't really pick it out. Like the first track, it’s a pretty big departure but it’s still excellent. The final track is a surprisingly haunting medley of the first stage themes from Dodonpachi and Dodonpachi Daioujou - the fiddles and flutes make it sound like something Mitsuda would do, which is obviously a huge step from the original rocking original - and while the melodies are only barely noticeable, it's still a great song and a fantastic way to close out the CD.<br /><br />One of the most interesting remixes is “Show Time Under Leaden Skies”, the first level theme of Ibara, here done in the synth and style of Battle Garegga, its spiritual predecessor. “DDP-198x Powered by 2203” is the first level theme from Dodonpachi, here done with a computer FM synth I can’t quite place – maybe it’s X68000? About a minute in, a live guitar breaks in and the theme just gets all kind of awesome, expanding on what was already an excellent song. I love it when more recent tracks are played with older sound hardware, and both of these totally rock in that regard.<br /><br />Not all of the tracks are great. The boss theme from Progear is nice and tense, but it’s certainly not enough to fully support a four minute arrangement and it grows tiresome here after the halfway mark, even with the added dance beats. The naff male vocals in the Guwange song kinda ruin what could've been, though.<br /><br />Overall, it’s a pretty decent collection, and at 14 tracks, is fairly long for a doujin CD, making a good value.<br /><br />For all reviews going forward, I'm going to upload MP3 sets with a handful of tracks from the CD, as well as their OST versions for comparison.<br /><br />Samples for Cave Love:<br /><br /><a href="http://www.megaupload.com/?d=6KWHNZIB">Megaupload</a><br /><a href="http://www.fileplanet.com/hosteddl.aspx?/hst/d/i/discoalu/hg101_cavelove.zip">Fileplanet</a><br /><br />Additionally, here are samples for Happy Trigger from last week, as well as a truncated medley on Youtube:<br /><br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xs-RLj41axo">Youtube</a><br /><a href="http://www.megaupload.com/?d=CEQ8NHXE">Megaupload</a><br /><a href="http://www.fileplanet.com/hosteddl.aspx?/hst/d/i/discoalu/hg101_happytrigger.zip">Fileplanet</a><br /><br /></span>

Doujin CD Review - Happy Trigger

01 Burning Halloween Town - DEATH SMILES (Stage 1-A, ED)
02 Burning Heat - Gradius II (Stage 1)
03 Playback HECTOR`87 - HECTOR '87 (Main Theme)
04 Shinju Heading to the Forest - Mushihimesama (Stage 1)
05 PENETRATION - RAYFORCE (Stage 1)
06 Underworld Cherry Blossoms - Guwange (Stage 3)
07 Adam - G-DARIUS (BIG BOSS)
08 Infinity Orbit - STRIKERS 1945 II (Coal Mine Stage)
09 TWIN BEE - Twinbee (PowerUp Theme)
10 Thunderbolt - LIFE FORCE (Stage 2)
11 RAGING DEICIDE - ESP RA DE (Boss Battle)
12 Rising Sun - STRIKERS 1945 (Japan Stage)
13 FZ BOSS (Guiter Machine-gun MIX) - Fantasy Zone (BOSS)


Circle: Dangerous Mezashi Cat


VGMDB entry

I think this is one of the best doujin albums I’ve bought. It’s a collection of music from various shooters, and it’s almost consistently excellent.

The first track is the opening stage theme from Death Smiles, “Burning Halloween Town”. The arranger must’ve noticed some resemblance between the violins that open the song and the Metal Gear Solid theme, because the similarity is really played up here. The piano and guitar riffs in the expanded section are also pretty well improvised, and a similar style approach is taken towards the opening theme of Mushihime-sama, the fourth track on the disc. The renditions of “Burning Heat” (from Gradius II, scientifically proven to be one of the best themes in shooter-dom) and “Thunderbolt” (from Life Force/Salamander, also a classic tune) aren’t quite as dramatic, going for a more total synthy flavor, but both are still quite good. The remix of “Penetration” from Rayforce/Galactic Attack isn’t much different from its OST, but I like the instrumentation here a bit more – I always found the synth in a lot of Zuntata-composed games to be a bit hollow. Another Zuntata song is represented with “ADAM”, the hyper-dramatic opening/final boss theme from G-Darius, and manages to keep its bombastic tone while turning up the tempo a tiny bit.

The third track is one of the weirdest – a hyper dance remix of the main theme of Starship Hector – a catchy little ditty – with some heavily synth tampered vocals. I’m not even sure what language it’s sung on, but it’s still hypnotically catchy. One of the big surprises is “Infinity Orbit”, from Strikers 1945. I’ve played most of Psikyo’s games and the music usually just went in one ear and out the other, but this is a pretty memorable song.

“Raging Decide” is the boss theme from ESP Ra De, and while it’s a good, dance-y remix, the core song is a bit too short to justify its four minute length. “Rising Sun”, the ending theme from Strikers 1945, feels out of place since it’s so laid back, as does the Guwange stage theme, even though they’re otherwise fairly decent, Japanese-style songs. “FZ BOSS (Guitar Machine-gun)” is the Fantasy Zone boss theme, “Ya-Da-Yo”, done with two guitars. It sounds really good, even though it sounds a bit hollow without any percussion…which, to be fair, was also absent from the original version.

The only real stinker on here is the “TWIN BEE” song, which takes an abrasive trance song and sprinkles in bits of the main themes. Otherwise, it’s a standout album. Highly recommended.

Samples:

Youtube

Megaupload
Fileplanet


<img src="http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/doujinmusic/happytrigger.jpg"><br /><br /><br /><br />01 Burning Halloween Town - DEATH SMILES (Stage 1-A, ED)<br />02 Burning Heat - Gradius II (Stage 1)<br />03 Playback HECTOR`87 - HECTOR '87 (Main Theme)<br />04 Shinju Heading to the Forest - Mushihimesama (Stage 1)<br />05 PENETRATION - RAYFORCE (Stage 1)<br />06 Underworld Cherry Blossoms - Guwange (Stage 3) <br />07 Adam - G-DARIUS (BIG BOSS)<br />08 Infinity Orbit - STRIKERS 1945 II (Coal Mine Stage) <br />09 TWIN BEE - Twinbee (PowerUp Theme)<br />10 Thunderbolt - LIFE FORCE (Stage 2) <br />11 RAGING DEICIDE - ESP RA DE (Boss Battle)<br />12 Rising Sun - STRIKERS 1945 (Japan Stage)<br />13 FZ BOSS (Guiter Machine-gun MIX) - Fantasy Zone (BOSS)<br /><br /><br />Circle: <a href="http://www.komatsuna-ya.com/~nekonomikan/dmc/">Dangerous Mezashi Cat</a><br /><br /><br /><a href="http://vgmdb.net/album/9895">VGMDB entry</a><br /><br />I think this is one of the best doujin albums I’ve bought. It’s a collection of music from various shooters, and it’s almost consistently excellent.<br /><br />The first track is the opening stage theme from Death Smiles, “Burning Halloween Town”. The arranger must’ve noticed some resemblance between the violins that open the song and the Metal Gear Solid theme, because the similarity is really played up here. The piano and guitar riffs in the expanded section are also pretty well improvised, and a similar style approach is taken towards the opening theme of Mushihime-sama, the fourth track on the disc. The renditions of “Burning Heat” (from Gradius II, scientifically proven to be one of the best themes in shooter-dom) and “Thunderbolt” (from Life Force/Salamander, also a classic tune) aren’t quite as dramatic, going for a more total synthy flavor, but both are still quite good. The remix of “Penetration” from Rayforce/Galactic Attack isn’t much different from its OST, but I like the instrumentation here a bit more – I always found the synth in a lot of Zuntata-composed games to be a bit hollow. Another Zuntata song is represented with “ADAM”, the hyper-dramatic opening/final boss theme from G-Darius, and manages to keep its bombastic tone while turning up the tempo a tiny bit.<br /><br /><span class="fullpost">The third track is one of the weirdest – a hyper dance remix of the main theme of Starship Hector – a catchy little ditty – with some heavily synth tampered vocals. I’m not even sure what language it’s sung on, but it’s still hypnotically catchy. One of the big surprises is “Infinity Orbit”, from Strikers 1945. I’ve played most of Psikyo’s games and the music usually just went in one ear and out the other, but this is a pretty memorable song.<br /><br />“Raging Decide” is the boss theme from ESP Ra De, and while it’s a good, dance-y remix, the core song is a bit too short to justify its four minute length. “Rising Sun”, the ending theme from Strikers 1945, feels out of place since it’s so laid back, as does the Guwange stage theme, even though they’re otherwise fairly decent, Japanese-style songs. “FZ BOSS (Guitar Machine-gun)” is the Fantasy Zone boss theme, “Ya-Da-Yo”, done with two guitars. It sounds really good, even though it sounds a bit hollow without any percussion…which, to be fair, was also absent from the original version.<br /><br />The only real stinker on here is the “TWIN BEE” song, which takes an abrasive trance song and sprinkles in bits of the main themes. Otherwise, it’s a standout album. Highly recommended.<br /><br />Samples:<br /><br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xs-RLj41axo">Youtube</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.megaupload.com/?d=CEQ8NHXE">Megaupload</a><br /><a href="http://www.fileplanet.com/hosteddl.aspx?/hst/d/i/discoalu/hg101_happytrigger.zip">Fileplanet</a><br /><br /></span>

Intro to the Japanese Doujin Music Scene

It's always fun comparing the fan communities of different cultures. Both Western and Japanese fans have a fairly high creative output, producing web sites, comics, video games, and, of course, music. Which brings us to today's topic - doujin music CDs.

The biggest difference between Western and Japanese fan communities is that the latter can actually sell their goods. America in general is a much more litigious society, but they're willing to turn a blind eye to fan creations as long as the material in question isn't for profit. On the other hand, the Japanese have a whole economy driven by copyright infringement. This mostly results in huge amounts of porn featuring popular characters, as well as unofficial video game spinoffs (see Duo Princess, an action game featuring the characters of Square's Threads of Fate, or Elepaper Action, a beat-em-up starring the girls from Read or Die.) Naturally, this applies to remixed music CDs, too. OCRemix releases its arrangements for free, because they have to, but that doesn't apply to Japanese remix circles. (There have been exceptions with Western groups selling albums, like Project Majestic Mix and its Final Fantasy arrangements, or OneUp Studios releases of some Yasunori Mitsuda and Sega tribute albums awhile back, but they actually went through the proper legal channels to license the tracks.)

Much of the actual content is similar, of course. If you wade through all of the various doujin circles, you'll be overwhelmed by Mega Man, Chrono Trigger, and countless arrangements of Final Fantasy battle themes. It is a good way to find new and interesting stuff outside of the video game music mainstream (yes, such a thing exists!), which is largely what makes the doujin video game music scene so appealing. You'll find that a lot of them have huge appreciation for Romancing SaGa, a series all but disdained outside the country, along with tributes to companies like Sega, Cave or Falcom, or themed albums based on various genres like fighters or shooters. There are also an ABSURD amout of Touhou CDs - it's quite boggling how popular the series is. (I haven't heard much of the arranged music, but the OSTs are quite good.)



Doujin albums are also a lot cheaper than official music CDs, often wavering between 1000-1500 yen, as opposed to the 2500-3000 yen usually commanded in record stores for official CDs. Furthermore, the days of extensive officially sanctioned arranged music CDs of the 90s are long gone, with only an occasional one trickling out, so not only do doujin CDs fill a niche, but they do it quite cheaply too. (There was apparently a case where a Mega Man rock CD called Megalomania was pulled around the time that Capcom was releasing their own similarly styled albums, but I don't know the details or what became of it. I actually do own the album, though, and will probably review it in the future.)



The problem is, finding these CDs for Westerners is often quite difficult. Most regular albums can be found at Amazon.jp, but doujin albums aren't even sold at regular record stores, instead inhabiting conventions like Comiket or anime good stores like Toranoana, who refuse to ship overseas to dirty, ignorant foreigners. So, much like all doujin goods, anyone outside of Japan usually just resorts to pirating them. Occasionally you can find them at places like http://www.paletweb.com/, http://www.himeyashop.com/, or http://www.otaku.com/, and eBay can occasionally yield them too, especially from the seller champ_des_pins. But their selection is spotty and shipping can be killer at some of them. A CD that should be $10 quickly jumps up to $25 when markup and shipping is accounted for.

Now that we've got some background, please look forward to some doujin music CD reviews in the future! Places like http://www.vgmdb.net/ occasionally have tracklists and such, but I've never really found any place that reviewed them, so I'm hoping to fill in the gap, at least a little bit.
It's always fun comparing the fan communities of different cultures. Both Western and Japanese fans have a fairly high creative output, producing web sites, comics, video games, and, of course, music. Which brings us to today's topic - doujin music CDs.<br /><br />The biggest difference between Western and Japanese fan communities is that the latter can actually sell their goods. America in general is a much more litigious society, but they're willing to turn a blind eye to fan creations as long as the material in question isn't for profit. On the other hand, the Japanese have a whole economy driven by copyright infringement. This mostly results in huge amounts of porn featuring popular characters, as well as unofficial video game spinoffs (see Duo Princess, an action game featuring the characters of Square's Threads of Fate, or Elepaper Action, a beat-em-up starring the girls from Read or Die.) Naturally, this applies to remixed music CDs, too. OCRemix releases its arrangements for free, because they have to, but that doesn't apply to Japanese remix circles. (There have been exceptions with Western groups selling albums, like Project Majestic Mix and its Final Fantasy arrangements, or OneUp Studios releases of some Yasunori Mitsuda and Sega tribute albums awhile back, but they actually went through the proper legal channels to license the tracks.)<br /><br />Much of the actual content is similar, of course. If you wade through all of the various doujin circles, you'll be overwhelmed by Mega Man, Chrono Trigger, and countless arrangements of Final Fantasy battle themes. It is a good way to find new and interesting stuff outside of the video game music mainstream (yes, such a thing exists!), which is largely what makes the doujin video game music scene so appealing. You'll find that a lot of them have huge appreciation for Romancing SaGa, a series all but disdained outside the country, along with tributes to companies like Sega, Cave or Falcom, or themed albums based on various genres like fighters or shooters. There are also an ABSURD amout of Touhou CDs - it's quite boggling how popular the series is. (I haven't heard much of the arranged music, but the OSTs are quite good.)<br /><br /><center><img src="http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/doujinmusic/cavelove.jpg" /></center><br /><br />Doujin albums are also a lot cheaper than official music CDs, often wavering between 1000-1500 yen, as opposed to the 2500-3000 yen usually commanded in record stores for official CDs. Furthermore, the days of extensive officially sanctioned arranged music CDs of the 90s are long gone, with only an occasional one trickling out, so not only do doujin CDs fill a niche, but they do it quite cheaply too. (There was apparently a case where a Mega Man rock CD called Megalomania was pulled around the time that Capcom was releasing their own similarly styled albums, but I don't know the details or what became of it. I actually do own the album, though, and will probably review it in the future.)<br /><br /><center><img src="http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/doujinmusic/megaloamania.jpg" /></center><br /><br />The problem is, finding these CDs for Westerners is often quite difficult. Most regular albums can be found at Amazon.jp, but doujin albums aren't even sold at regular record stores, instead inhabiting conventions like Comiket or anime good stores like Toranoana, who refuse to ship overseas to dirty, ignorant foreigners. So, much like all doujin goods, anyone outside of Japan usually just resorts to pirating them. Occasionally you can find them at places like <a href="http://www.paletweb.com/">http://www.paletweb.com/</a>, <a href="http://www.himeyashop.com/">http://www.himeyashop.com/</a>, or <a href="http://www.otaku.com/">http://www.otaku.com/</a>, and eBay can occasionally yield them too, especially from the seller champ_des_pins. But their selection is spotty and shipping can be killer at some of them. A CD that should be $10 quickly jumps up to $25 when markup and shipping is accounted for.<br /><br />Now that we've got some background, please look forward to some doujin music CD reviews in the future! Places like <a href="http://www.vgmdb.net/">http://www.vgmdb.net/</a> occasionally have tracklists and such, but I've never really found any place that reviewed them, so I'm hoping to fill in the gap, at least a little bit.