Phronemophobia's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[MMX5_Zero Viral Maverick (V. 2)]

Well, the flexing pays off. While the bulk of this effectively ups the sound quality of the original, what you've added not only blends in beautifully, but it also helps alleviate some of the repetitiveness one normally wouldn't notice while playing the game.

I initially thought your score of 8 was far too low, but after hearing the other entrees, eggsngaming did an amazing job and Dex's Chill Virus is almost just as good. All three of you deserve high praise.

HoboKa responds:

Those scores don't really represent the actual score. I think I still lost? Can't recall. Haven't factored in Voting Bonuses etc. The back-end is too annoying to go back and edit them. A sort of sore-point with Compoverse/ThaSauce.

[Space Foot 2 OST | Final Battle (2010)]

Overall, it represents the usual high-quality music I expect from any original piece by Bertn, but at 5:48, it starts off sounding like battle music in Shining Force 2, then becomes increasingly dramatic. I fear that if I ever played this game, it wouldn't be anywhere near as amazing as how I'm imagining it through this OST.

Bertn1991 responds:

Thank you! You're too very kind. I haven't played the Shining Force series, but I know of it. Come to think of it, I have the first two games. Why haven't I played them!? Anywhom, whatever you're imagining is better than the Space Foot series.

[[Undertale] Another Singing Medium]

He's definitely still "game dev'ing." Fox is working on Deltarune. The first chapter of it was provided for free and the game's music is just as amazing as Undertale's. Check it out if you have the time or just listen to the soundtrack.

Normally, I'd want to hear more deviation in a VG remix simply because it better highlights a musician's style, but a MnP submission is intentionally meant to remain as faithful to the original as possible without turning it into a 1:1, right? Can't really fault it for that, then. I did have to play this side-by-side with the original to give myself a better idea of what was altered. There are a few noticeable changes, but much of it was too subtle for me to pick up on without the comparison. This is good. Certainly the best of the three entries so far. I'm feelin' pretty confident about your victory on this one, Alex.

HoboKa responds:

Yeah, that's the intent of MnP. Meh, I'll probably hand the win to 2nd best since I host the damn compo. I would normally submit as a BONUS, but eh, less participation these days.

Thanks for the feedback and in-depth response. I'll look into Deltarune. :D

[Magician Lord_NeoGeoJam_Spoopy Demon Castle]

A traditional coin muncher of a game. People complained about its difficulty, but that was the point of many arcade titles. Magician Lord still looks good, plays well, and offers up a more impressive soundtrack than even that of other Neo Geo games of its time. A shame that the sequel was never completed.

What you have is a tune from 1990 sounding like it belongs in a cheesy eighties horror flick. I fucking love that! I prefer the music for stage two, but I can't find a quality version of it, so I imagine recreating it would be more of a hassle than it's worth. Stage four is by no means a bad choice though and I have an even greater appreciation for it thanks to your remix.

Excellent job, Alex.

HoboKa responds:

Man, your reviews always make my week/month/day. There's always something to learn from them! I'll defo wait for a sale too, because I suck at most Arcade games. Hopefully they put in an infinite Coin/Continue option in this rendition of Magician Lord for the Switch. Though I'm a pretty mean hand at the Contra games. Oh, and I'm soso at Metal Slug.

I considered Stage 2 as well, but eh. Stage 4 seemed to fit the spooky bad ass vibe a bit more for me. Maybe I'm wrong.

Thanks for comments!

[Decadent Dandy (2019)]

That was magnificent, Sir Bunn of Squirrel Country! Truly an exquisite piece of music.

Please forgive me for my shabby appearance. Had I known you were going to grace us with yet another awe-inspiring performance on the Audio Portal, I would have brought my second monocle to the computer.

Bertn1991 responds:

Yes, we're all about that #MonocleLife in Squirrel Country (-@_a)

[No Place To Be [Single]]

Not my sort of jam, but a quality piece of music nonetheless. Baffles me as to how few fans you have on this site right now.

Babasmas responds:

Never been super active here ngl, so i started from scratch last year.

Thanks for the comment :)

[Symphony of the Frogs (2009)]

Initially, I thought nothing of frogs. It sounds like the sort of spiritual-ish type of music I'd hear while exploring an in-game church or as I'm nearing a final boss claiming to have become a god. After a while though, I recalled Chrono Trigger and hearing the music at Manolia Cathedral, which is right before Frog arrives to help. If that's what you were trying to subtly reference with this song and its title, then you are an especially clever musician, BeRtn-66Y.

Bertn1991 responds:

Any comparison to Chrono Trigger is praise too high for ol' Bubnt19 ^.^'

Mostly unrelated, but as a youngster I was replaying Chrono Cross and I named all my party members "Chazz," after my brother. With 40 playable characters it quickly got confusing.

[BGM - Rastapuss (2019)]

You know when you're enjoying a good Noir, but that one thought continuously nags at you throughout the whole thing? It's the one thought we all share in those moments: "The music ain't bad, but where the heck is the electric guitar?" Well, we can finally thank one courageous, dislimbered Plok for stepping in and putting our minds at ease. Thank you, Brebnutnbutnet919919!

Bertn1991 responds:

Electric guitars, you know, like they had in the old west according western movie soundtracks.

Also, you're welcome, Pronnematodephobert ^____^

[Akiko's Mission (2019)]

There's not much to go on, so I'm left to speculate. Cosmo arrived in Videoland in desperate need of help. As luck would have it, Cosmo came across Akiko who seemed more than capable of handling the job. After a few nights of travel, Akiko found herself at the entrance of Saladaria where she quickly made her way past the gatekeeper who was sleeping at his post. While exploring the city, Akiko found herself sidetracked by the sights and sounds of a small, yet joyous techno music festival taking place at the far end of Saladaria's central park. This potential "gaiden" is evidenced by the last minute of the piece and may hint at what to expect from the fourth song in this series. Only time (or rather Bertn) will tell if my speculation holds true. Until then, thank you for sharing this lovely piece with us and the audio portal. <3

Bertn1991 responds:

Oh the joy this brings! What an adorable adventure. I declare it canon. All of it ^.^

[Exodus (2019)]

The song feels kinda Western, except out in space.

"Not much happens here at Vastitas Gulch. Just a small, quiet town in the middle of a large, quiet basin. Most stop on by to restock while making their way to see Olympus Mons while others drop on by to get a taste of our Mars-famous spaghetti. Just humble folk trying to get by on a planet without water... or oxygen. Don't ask us how we manage to boil the pasta. We don't rightly know ourselves."

Bertn1991 responds:

Another glorious review. 5.1/5

Water would boil at such a low temperature on Mars that cooking pasta would be impossible... or so we thought. Them Vastitas boys found a way dad-gummit.