Music Tournament of DOOM 2017- Round 1, Topic 16

[Cmdr_King]

The last for this round at last!


DDR SuperNova- Xepher vs Ace Combat Zero: The Belkan War- Zero
Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze- Mountain Mania vs Final Fantasy XIII- Blinded by Light
Final Fantasy VI- Dancing Mad (4th Segment) vs Deemo- Evolution Era
Ori and the Blind Forets- Completing the Circle vs Undertale - Another Medium

Crusader No Remorse- Main Menu vs Sid Meier's Civilization IV - Baba Yetu
Jazz Jackrabbit 2- Dark Groove vs Bravely Default- That Person’s Name Is
Transistor- The Spine vs Drakengard 3- The Final Song
StarCraft 2- Terran Theme vs Xenogears- Small Two of Pieces

[Dark Holy Elf]

Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze- Mountain Mania vs Final Fantasy XIII- Blinded by Light: The rocket barrel theme is the only track from DKC which I would even consider voting for here; Blinded by Light is simply one of my favourite regular battle themes of all time. It's a crying shame it gets sidelined so often for other battle tracks, because I'd never get tired of it.
Ori and the Blind Forets- Completing the Circle vs Undertale - Another Medium : Mm, I don't really remember the Ori track from in-game well, but it's quite good, especially once it gets going in the second half. But I still have to go with Another Medium; as the Undertale soundtrack so often does, it communicates the feel of Hotland so well, both the melancholy of Alphys and the approaching journey's end and the technological feel of the place.

[SnowFire]

Well time for the non-pool entries to get slaughtered, since the pool winners are the equivalent of round 3 entrants.

CK, was the nom for Crusader: No Remorse or Crusader: No Regret?  The title says "No Remorse" but the linked track is for "No Regret".  I think this is the No Remorse track if it turns out the link is wrong:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kLIB94Ikb2U&list=PLkog_NvP2P1Ivwh8ofQeytRDJ5akEKagC
(hey, reading old copies of PC Gamer for games I never played even then has paid off...)

DDR SuperNova- Xepher vs NieR Automata- A Beautiful Song
Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze- Mountain Mania vs Final Fantasy XIII- Blinded by Light

Final Fantasy VI- Dancing Mad (4th Segment) vs Deemo- Evolution Era
I think I prefer the SNES synth over the GBA synth.  Still, this is tricky, I've heard what Uematsu was "intending" in fuller versions of Dancing Mad which makes the prog rock side even more obvious, and I'd vote those versions over Evolution Era.  How much do I feel like punishing for worse synth today...  eh, abstain.

Ori and the Blind Forest- Completing the Circle vs Undertale - Another Medium
Elf, Completing the Circle also plays in a penultimateish dungeon...  it's Sorrow Pass, the last part of the game before the final dungeon.  Very fitting for an end-of-the-journey type piece.
Anyway, own nom bias for how a pool champ can lose, but Another Medium is certainly good.

Crusader No Remorse- Main Menu vs Sid Meier's Civilization IV - Baba Yetu
I'm not sure it really matters which Crusader track it was, but they're both catchy and neat despite losing!
Jazz Jackrabbit 2- Dark Groove vs Bravely Default- That Person’s Name Is
I like Dark Groove too.  PC Gaming time in Pool 16 I see.

Transistor- The Spine vs Drakengard 3- The Final Song
Still a fan of Transistor's music!
StarCraft 2- Terran Theme vs Xenogears- Small Two of Pieces
The Terran themes are really great, really fitting, and hold up over playing repeated Quick Matches in multiplayer, but feels a little cheaty to have the whole soundtrack...?  And I'm not sure any one of the themes individually can win here, although some come really close.  Really fits the theme they came up with for the Terrans.

[VySaika]

DDR SuperNova- Xepher vs NieR Automata- A Beautiful Song
Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze- Mountain Mania vs Final Fantasy XIII- Blinded by Light
Final Fantasy VI- Dancing Mad (4th Segment) vs Deemo- Evolution Era
Ori and the Blind Forets- Completing the Circle vs Undertale - Another Medium

Crusader No Remorse- Main Menu vs Sid Meier's Civilization IV - Baba Yetu
Jazz Jackrabbit 2- Dark Groove vs Bravely Default- That Person’s Name Is
Transistor- The Spine vs Drakengard 3- The Final Song
StarCraft 2- Terran Theme vs Xenogears- Small Two of Pieces

[NotMiki]

DDR SuperNova- Xepher vs Ace Combat Zero: The Belkan War- Zero
Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze- Mountain Mania vs Final Fantasy XIII- Blinded by Light
Final Fantasy VI- Dancing Mad (4th Segment) vs Deemo- Evolution Era
Ori and the Blind Forets- Completing the Circle vs Undertale - Another Medium

Crusader No Remorse- Main Menu vs Sid Meier's Civilization IV - Baba Yetu
Jazz Jackrabbit 2- Dark Groove vs Bravely Default- That Person’s Name Is
Transistor- The Spine vs Drakengard 3- The Final Song - what a matchup.
StarCraft 2- Terran Theme vs Xenogears- Small Two of Pieces - also unexpectedly close

[DragonKnight Zero]

As I nommed Crusader menu theme, I suppose I'll respond to Snowfire's question.  It was for both as I assumed that both used the same track.  Even after listening to both links, well they don't sound that different.  If only choosing one, go with Crusader No Regret, partly because sound quality is supposedly better for the sequel and mostly because it's less work for CK (no need to change links this way).

I think it's going to get stomped by its competition this round though.

DDR SuperNova- Xepher vs Ace Combat Zero: The Belkan War- Zero   Really close, giving it to Balken War for variety reasons
Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze- Mountain Mania vs Final Fantasy XIII- Blinded by Light  Neutral on both, chosen by coinflip
Final Fantasy VI- Dancing Mad (4th Segment) vs Deemo- Evolution Era  Both are awesome in their own ways.  Close enough for a coinflip but a track from a lesser known game tips it for me.
Ori and the Blind Forest- Completing the Circle vs Undertale - Another Medium  About equal likability for me.  Undertale has more representation; that ends up as the deciding factor.

Crusader No Regret- Main Menu vs Sid Meier's Civilization IV - Baba Yetu  Wow; No Regret has an awesome menu theme, a great piece of game music.  Babu Yetu surpasses mere game music though.  I think it's the better piece, voting for Main Menu because it's a piece that I've gotten emotional over (even if the emotion was more about finding it on the wild, wild, internet way back when).
Jazz Jackrabbit 2- Dark Groove vs Bravely Default- That Person’s Name Is  Both are good, familiarity decides things for me.
Transistor- The Spine vs Drakengard 3- The Final Song  A case where epic buildup works for me  The Spine is a genre that doesn't quite appeal to me though it seems good enough on its own merits.
StarCraft 2- Terran Theme vs Xenogears- Small Two of Pieces   Small of Two Pieces is a piece I've gotten emotional over and I would have nommed it except someone else nommed it first.  Works for me.

Favorite "new" piece (This is the last time, trust me): Babu Yetu  I'm counting it as new if my first time hearing it was in the buy-in pools.

[OblivionKnight]

DDR SuperNova- Xepher vs NieR Automata- A Beautiful Song - It IS beautiful
Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze- Mountain Mania vs Final Fantasy XIII- Blinded by Light - FF13 music has never impressed me much, and I do actively like the DKC music here.
Final Fantasy VI- Dancing Mad (4th Segment) vs Deemo- Evolution Era - Wow, the GBA synth...I forgot how bad it was here.  The Deemo song is really good.  I love Dancing Mad, but...mmm...I feel Deemo today
Ori and the Blind Forets- Completing the Circle vs Undertale - Another Medium - Again, this Undertale song underwhelms me

Crusader No Remorse- Main Menu vs Sid Meier's Civilization IV - Baba Yetu - Battle of the intro/main themes.  Huh.  Like them both...feeling Civ 4 today
Jazz Jackrabbit 2- Dark Groove vs Bravely Default- That Person’s Name Is - Bravely Default's music sometimes feels...off, to me.  This is one of those times
Transistor- The Spine vs Drakengard 3- The Final Song - Mmm...different songs here.  Feeling Transistor once again.
StarCraft 2- Terran Theme vs Xenogears- Small Two of Pieces - ...goddamnit.  Well, voting for the underdog, but these two songs clear the rest of the field to me, in general.

[Technetium43]

DDR SuperNova- Xepher vs NieR Automata- A Beautiful Song: I'm a little lukewarm on A Beautiful Song, and the other song was much better than I expected, so I'll toss my vote to it.
Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze- Mountain Mania vs Final Fantasy XIII- Blinded by Light: DKC song wasn't particularly bad, but Blinded by Light is just really good.
Final Fantasy VI- Dancing Mad (4th Segment) vs Deemo- Evolution Era: Good Dissonance + Jams = An easy vote.
Ori and the Blind Forets- Completing the Circle vs Undertale - Another Medium: Ori music is cute and I like the instrumentation, but I do really like Another Medium. EXTREMELY close though.

Crusader No Remorse- Main Menu vs Sid Meier's Civilization IV - Baba Yetu: Much less close than the above, though that's more to do with Baba Yetu being absolutely incredible than any fault of the other song.
Jazz Jackrabbit 2- Dark Groove vs Bravely Default- That Person’s Name Is: No real opinion here, just straight up a better song.
Transistor- The Spine vs Drakengard 3- The Final Song: Uuuuggggh. I don't want to vote against my favorite Transistor song, but The Final Song is just that good.
StarCraft 2- Terran Theme vs Xenogears- Small Two of Pieces: Not what I expected to vote here at all, but I could easily listen to the whole 30 minutes of the Terran Theme, while Small Two of Pieces is nice, but I definitely can't say that about it.

EDIT:

DDR SuperNova- Xepher vs Ace Combat Zero: The Belkan War- Zero: Ah, and unfortunately for Xepher we have a much better track now. Zero was incredible.

[NotMiki]

DDR SuperNova- Xepher vs NieR Automata- A Beautiful Song: I'm a little lukewarm on A Beautiful Song, and the other song was much better than I expected, so I'll toss my vote to it.

I think having the sound effects on Xepher helps.  It is REALLY exciting to play - one of the very best DDR has to offer in that regard.  And unlike some of the other tough songs you don't resent how hard it is because it sounds too damn cool.

[Random Consonant]

DDR SuperNova- Xepher vs Ace Combat Zero: The Belkan War- Zero - Not really feeling the DDR track
Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze- Mountain Mania vs Final Fantasy XIII- Blinded by Light - yep
Final Fantasy VI- Dancing Mad (4th Segment) vs Deemo- Evolution Era - Dancing Mad 4 is still pretty ok though.
Ori and the Blind Forets- Completing the Circle vs Undertale - Another Medium

Crusader No Remorse- Main Menu vs Sid Meier's Civilization IV - Baba Yetu - Yep.
Jazz Jackrabbit 2- Dark Groove vs Bravely Default- That Person’s Name Is - Yep.
Transistor- The Spine vs Drakengard 3- The Final Song - Different tiers of good here.
StarCraft 2- Terran Theme vs Xenogears- Small Two of Pieces - well whatever else may be true of SC2 at least the Terran music continues to be good stuff.  That it all seems to be in one bundle is a little eyebrow-raising but I'd probably take any of them over the XG track.

[Fudozukushi]

EDIT: Vote for Zero added.

Erm, if Zero apparently won Buy-In List 1, why is Beautiful Song here?

DDR SuperNova- Xepher vs Ace Combat Zero: The Belkan War- Zero
Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze- Mountain Mania vs Final Fantasy XIII- Blinded by Light
Final Fantasy VI- Dancing Mad (4th Segment) vs Deemo- Evolution Era
Ori and the Blind Forets- Completing the Circle vs Undertale - Another Medium

Crusader No Remorse- Main Menu vs Sid Meier's Civilization IV - Baba Yetu
Jazz Jackrabbit 2- Dark Groove vs Bravely Default- That Person’s Name Is
Transistor- The Spine vs Drakengard 3- The Final Song
StarCraft 2- Terran Theme vs Xenogears- Small Two of Pieces

[Cmdr_King]

I'm not sure!  It's been corrected though.  Meaning:

If you've already voted, you'll need to add in
DDR SuperNova- Xepher vs Ace Combat Zero: The Belkan War- Zero

[Niu]

DDR SuperNova- Xepher vs Ace Combat Zero: The Belkan War- Zero
Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze- Mountain Mania vs Final Fantasy XIII- Blinded by Light
Final Fantasy VI- Dancing Mad (4th Segment) vs Deemo- Evolution Era
Ori and the Blind Forets- Completing the Circle vs Undertale - Another Medium

Crusader No Remorse- Main Menu vs Sid Meier's Civilization IV - Baba Yetu
Jazz Jackrabbit 2- Dark Groove vs Bravely Default- That Person’s Name Is
Transistor- The Spine vs Drakengard 3- The Final Song
StarCraft 2- Terran Theme vs Xenogears- Small Two of Pieces

[Twilkitri]

DDR SuperNova- Xepher  vs  Ace Combat Zero: The Belkan War- Zero
Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze- Mountain Mania  vs  Final Fantasy XIII- Blinded by Light
Final Fantasy VI- Dancing Mad (4th Segment)  vs  Deemo- Evolution Era
Ori and the Blind Forets- Completing the Circle  vs  Undertale - Another Medium

Crusader No Remorse- Main Menu  vs  Sid Meier's Civilization IV - Baba Yetu
Jazz Jackrabbit 2- Dark Groove  vs  Bravely Default- That Person’s Name Is
Transistor- The Spine  vs  Drakengard 3- The Final Song
StarCraft 2- Terran Theme  vs  Xenogears- Small Two of Pieces

[Sierra]

DDR SuperNova- Xepher vs Ace Combat Zero: The Belkan War- Zero: Tough draw, cool DDR song.
Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze- Mountain Mania vs Final Fantasy XIII- Blinded by Light: Not a fan of Blinded by Light, but DKC music is not remotely my style.
Final Fantasy VI- Dancing Mad (4th Segment) vs Deemo- Evolution Era: Don't really dig the synth in this mix, but still, 1:40 when Kefka's theme intrudes.
Ori and the Blind Forest- Completing the Circle vs Undertale - Another Medium: Not the Undertale track I wanted to make it out of the list pool, but it'll do.

Crusader No Remorse- Main Menu vs Sid Meier's Civilization IV - Baba Yetu: I dig the goofy 90's synth guitar, but it's just outclassed here.
Jazz Jackrabbit 2- Dark Groove vs Bravely Default- That Person’s Name Is: Like BD boss themes a lot (that bit at 2:19 is pure Yngwie), but feel like throwing an underdog vote. It's a nice groove.
Transistor- The Spine vs Drakengard 3- The Final Song: Pretty easy, I like Transistor's style but not wowed by this one.
StarCraft 2- Terran Theme vs Xenogears- Small Two of Pieces: That's a bit many themes to digest at once. Some of it's pretty cool background music, but XG vocal tracks are a lot more than background music.

[Hunter Sopko]

 DDR SuperNova- Xepher  vs  Ace Combat Zero: The Belkan War- Zero
 Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze- Mountain Mania  vs  Final Fantasy XIII- Blinded by Light
 Final Fantasy VI- Dancing Mad (4th Segment)  vs  Deemo- Evolution Era
 Ori and the Blind Forets- Completing the Circle  vs  Undertale - Another Medium

 Crusader No Remorse- Main Menu  vs  Sid Meier's Civilization IV - Baba Yetu
 Jazz Jackrabbit 2- Dark Groove  vs  Bravely Default- That Person’s Name Is
 Transistor- The Spine  vs  Drakengard 3- The Final Song - Damnit, the Transistor song is REALLY GOOD.
 StarCraft 2- Terran Theme  vs  Xenogears- Small Two of Pieces

[Talaysen]

DDR SuperNova- Xepher vs Ace Combat Zero: The Belkan War- Zero
Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze- Mountain Mania vs Final Fantasy XIII- Blinded by Light
Final Fantasy VI- Dancing Mad (4th Segment) vs Deemo- Evolution Era
Ori and the Blind Forets- Completing the Circle vs Undertale - Another Medium

Crusader No Remorse- Main Menu vs Sid Meier's Civilization IV - Baba Yetu
Jazz Jackrabbit 2- Dark Groove vs Bravely Default- That Person’s Name Is
Transistor- The Spine vs Drakengard 3- The Final Song
StarCraft 2- Terran Theme vs Xenogears- Small Two of Pieces

[Cmdr_King]

DDR SuperNova- Xepher- i vs Ace Combat Zero: The Belkan War- Zero - iiiiiiii
Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze- Mountain Mania- iii vs Final Fantasy XIII- Blinded by Light - iiiiiiiiii
Final Fantasy VI- Dancing Mad (4th Segment)- ii vs Deemo- Evolution Era - iiiiiiiiii
Ori and the Blind Forets- Completing the Circle- iiiii vs Undertale - Another Medium - iiiiiiii

Crusader No Remorse- Main Menu- i vs Sid Meier's Civilization IV - Baba Yetu - iiiiiiiiiii
Jazz Jackrabbit 2- Dark Groove- iiii vs Bravely Default- That Person’s Name Is - iiiiiiii
Transistor- The Spine- ii vs Drakengard 3- The Final Song - iiiiiiiiiii
StarCraft 2- Terran Theme- iii vs Xenogears- Small Two of Pieces - iiiiiiiiii