When it comes to the game music arrangement scene, people often remix what they know. For every reinterpretation of an obscure game’s music, you’re bound to find fifty Mega Man 2 or Chrono Trigger remixes. With their 32nd album release, OverClocked Remix is looking to tip the scale in favor of games a bit off the beaten path.

Unsung Heroes shines the spotlight on fifteen often ignored games including Secret of Evermore, Bahamut Lagoon, Breath of Fire II, and Legacy of the Wizard. Level 99 (one of the album’s assistant directors) notes on the album’s official site that each source tune holds a special meaning to the musician involved, making it a rather personal remix album.

Be sure to check out the trailer below and head on over to the official site to download the free album. With a theme like this, you might just find a new soundtrack or two to check out along the way. (more…)

How would you like to be part of an elite club with only 1,000 members? I’m talking about the official “People Who Own a Limited Edition Physical Copy of the New Bad Dudes Metroid Album” club. It’s very exclusive, but we can make it happen (we know a guy).

Club benefits include having a copy of Metroid Arrange 25th Anniversary Album by the Bad Dudes (including a bonus track not available in the digital version), the ability to feast your eyeballs on a glorious, double-sided poster and four panel comic, and the satisfaction of knowing that you’re now just a bit better than everyone else out there.

All you have to do is follow the instructions below and let us know what your favorite Metroid powerup is in the comments of this post. Do you like tearing through enemies with the screw attack? Or maybe you prefer turning enemies into platforms with the ice beam. Space jump over to the comments section and let us know!

Contest Rules:

1. Leave a comment below and tell us your favorite powerup from the Metroid series
2. Limit one entry per person
3. All entries must be made by legal U.S. residents
4. Entries must be accepted by 5:00pm PST on Friday, December 30th. We will then randomly select one winner

If you thought we were done paying tribute to the 25th anniversary of Metroid, well… then you haven’t met the Bad Dudes. They don’t play by our rules. They don’t celebrate when we celebrate. But they do make music that will save the galaxy.

I’m talking about the same dudes that brought you the fantastic CHRONOTORIOUS album and fought the OverClocked ReMix community in musical combat. We are talking about some seriously bad dudes here. Dudes so bad they were commissioned by Samus herself to make the Metroid Arrange 25th Anniversary Album (if their totally rad trailer below is to be believed).

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A good video game boss theme is a lot like a good video game boss: it will punch you in the face in the best possible way. These are the themes of the baddest of the bad. Their baditude knows no bounds.

But even bad guys deserve their dues. That’s exactly why OverClocked ReMix is paying tribute to these vicious villains with a totally badass remix album appropriately titled BadAss Boss Battle Themes. But not just any style of music would do. These had to be the most dark, gritty, downright evil mixes forged into mp3 (and FLAC) files.

What does that translate to? Well, mostly heavy metal. But there’s also some really mean electronica and even an epic orchestral Mega Man 3 arrangement. You may think you’ve heard your share of “One Winged Angel” remixes already, but you’ve probably never heard one that channels the hard hitting beats and abrasive synths of early Justice tracks like PrototypeRaptor’s mix does.

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Continuing the deluge of 25th anniversary game albums of 2011 comes a tribute to The Legend of Zelda. No, not the symphonic concert series CD packaged with Skyward Sword. This one is far more eclectic (not to mention free).

25YEARLEGEND reinterprets memorable tunes from all across the franchise including some of Link’s less covered, portable adventures like Link’s Awakening and Oracle of Seasons. It’s a loving tribute to the music of a series that inspired each of the indie (and not so indie) game composers involved. Disasterpeace (Fez), Laura Shigihara (Plants vs. Zombies), C418 (Minecraft), Souleye (VVVVVV), and Big Giant Circles (Mass Effect 2) are just a few of the talented contributing artists.

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2011 will be forever known as the year every game ever had its 25th anniversary. To celebrate the incredibly dense history of Castlevania (which I’m pretty sure consists of 1.2 hojillion games), a group of talented fans have put together a remix album to celebrate the occasion.

Vampire Variations reinvents the soundtrack of the NES classic while taking a few additional elements from throughout the series. Listen to only half the album and you’ll get the wrong ending! Divided into two distinct musical acts, the album covers everything from “Rock and Orchestral to Jazz and Electronic”.

But don’t worry. Unlike Dracula’s castle, you won’t have to do anything fancy to unlock the inverted second act of this album. Just grab a whip and adventure into the album’s official site. Of course, if you’re too scared to walk in blind (and who can blame you?), you can prepare yourself with the teaser trailer below.

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Just in time for the 25th anniversary of the Kunio-kun series, OverClocked ReMix has just released an arrange album of Super Dodge Ball (the first of many Kunio sports games). Of course, this timing is probably more coincidence as the album has been in the works (to varying degrees) for a whopping seven years.

The aim of Super Dodge Ball: Around the World was to take Kazuo Sawa’s original score and reinterpret in a variety of ethnic styles. With an interesting hybrid of world music combined with, rock, trance, and symphonic music, I think it’s safe to say they succeeded. They even got MegaRan to perform on the obligatory rap song.

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Video game music is a staple around the WingDamage offices. Especially considering our very own Main Finger is known to remix it from time to time. We’re also pretty big Mega Man fans, as evidenced by the fact that two of our regulars also write for The Mega Man Network.

If you are like us in this regard, then good news! OverClocked ReMix just released a brand new Mega Man 9 themed album, Mega Man 9: Back in Blue. It contains 18 tracks of remixed goodness from the likes of Sixto Sounds, bLiNd, Joshua Morse and our very own Jesse “Main Finger” Gregory.

It was a long time in the making, and lot of blood, sweat and robo-tears went into its creation. So much so that a sequel game came out before this album was able to. So the only question left is, what are you waiting for? Go download it now!

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While Nintendo has been awfully quiet about the 25th anniversary of Metroid in favor of pushing Zelda, fans have been putting together their own tribute. Metroid fan site Shinesparkers.net enlisted the help of artists from the OverClocked ReMix community as well as other musicians from around the net to put together a two disc album of music covering the entire Metroid series.

Harmony of a Hunter concentrates pure Metroid fandom into a two and a half hour musical celebration. 24 different artists including Zircon, Stemage (of Metroid Metal), Mazedude and many others contributed to the album covering a variety of styles. You’ll hear music from the game that started it all right up to Other M.

There’s talk of a very limited physical release, but for now space jump over to the official site and download the album and all its artwork for free. It’s guaranteed to increase your life’s completion rating.

Source: Shinesparkers Download the Album: Harmony of a Hunter

Taking the road less traveled when it comes to Metroid art, designer Chris Furniss recently put together a rather adorable collection of pieces in a series he calls “31 Days of Zero Suit Samus.” Each piece depicts Samus (and occasionally other Nintendo characters) in a variety of silly situations. The project was a collaborative effort between Chris and Ross Rosenberg who provided ideas for each image.

The series will soon be collected into a book, but in the meantime you can order a 5″x7″ print of any piece in the series for $10 on Etsy. Chris also mentions the prints are done in-house, signed, and include extra goodies like stickers and buttons.

With 31 pieces to choose from, what’s your favorite? As a fan of Samus’ ship design, I couldn’t help but order this one.

Source: Wasabi Sunshine Buy a Print: Etsy