♫JUNGLE (Contra 1st Stage BGM) SNES Arrangement - NintendoComplete
191This is my arrangement of the first stage theme from Konami's Contra for native SNES playback. I have arranged it for native playback on SNES hardware, and the audio was recorded directly from a launch-model SNES console.
I've covered this one before, but it was one of my earliest serious attempts at doing an arrangement of this sort. I was proud of it when I wrote it, but I've learned a lot since then in how to write for the SPC700, and in listening to it again, I thought to myself, I can do a better job than that. I feel it ended up much better sounding this time. Hopefully you agree if you've heard my first one (I'm replacing the original with this in my playlist, but if you'd like to hear it for comparison's sake, here it is: https://youtu.be/i0uCTyHD_s8 )!
The instruments are much higher quality, and I didn't rip any samples from SNES games to use here. I custom made these for this track from other sources, so I was able to get the sample rates fairly high... at least, speaking in terms relative to what can be done with the SNES APU. This mix is also much faster than the first one I did - the tempo is now a bit faster than that of the game's original track.
I was also really happy about how clear and strong I was able to get those upper notes - the brass really stretches the toward the ceiling with its pitch in certain spots, and it does it without nasty distortion or ugly sample loop clipping artifacts!
This arrangement is based on the remix that was featured in Contra 4 on the DS if you played on hard mode. It's loud, it's full of guitars and orchestra hits, and it sounds like pure action. I had a really good time arranging it. :)
If you would like to see my playthrough of Contra, you can find my video of the NES version here: https://youtu.be/vzyRNjHGGpo
This is the Japanese Famicom version: https://youtu.be/mRlYoADmBxI
And here is Contra 4: https://youtu.be/qFIOvNl7G24
If you're looking for more arrangements like this (including other Contra tracks!), the playlist can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL3gSj_kh1fHueSujqQR8xQQ84DWIjrU4F
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