Arponax's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Distorted Sands {NGMC 2025}]

Yeah that transition needed a little bit of foreshadowing XD but it is a very brave transition imma keep it at that. The guitar tone feels very out of place too (real guitar would be much better ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) )

Tho this song feels pretty race-y and i smell a little surf rock inspiration in there :D

ImmyShack responds:

Indeed transition bad, i couldnt make it any betta man

'twas a real guitar!! I jus threw in distortion!!!!

[Thank You | Newgrounds | JAMUARY2024 31 Final |]

How did i not get ping on this XD this is perfect.

[Chrome Frost (ft. 3manon)]

Oh boy im gonna sound like the weirdest guy out here XD

From technical standpoint, this is perfect the mixing, mastering, sound design and faithfullness to the genre is awesome.

And for me personally thats the biggest flaw...i just am not that impressed by clean, loud mix or these kinds of bass sound designs.

It all just sounds the same to me, it feels like i just heard a song that i heard 1000 times before and the most creative and unique thing here is the part at 0:22-1:59 where the formula concept is...and even then it still feels like it was there almost from the beginning of colour bass or dubstep.

I guess the calm parts were 3manon's work. Both of you did your parts awesomely.

The sheer devastating quality of mixing and sound design magic from Quintivium and awesome atmos work from 3manon makes up for absolutely killing entry in this round.

I just hope there was more of both of your personalities in them choruses.

Please take this as purely personal preference :D

3manonMusic responds:

So we basically made the song too good lol
All jokes aside though, I get how this track can feel as just a "sound design show-off" rather than a big focus on coherency. Sometimes a track just doesn't have that raw, unrefined edge to it

[-Frostbite-]

Imma be honest i personally cant imagine this being a racing theme...maybe its a style or type of games i never really had experience with or i dunno.

For the quality of instruments as other people mentioned low quality, tho i dont think that is a problem cause you can actually make anything work...for example having some "cheaper" orchestra being completely post processed is absolutely awesome thing for making creative variations in your music. (for example, why not run them flutes through some hard distortion or why not making your brass delayed and reverb-y as hell or just having fun with random effect like choruses or flangers).

So for me its not about bad or good instruments but rather how we make them work in our music.

imo this aint a bad song, i love the chiptune part of it and im sure with more experience the overall compositional quality will only go up.

Creeperforce24 responds:

No need to lie, I know my samples suck. The quality of my instruments sucks, and I don’t how tf I got this far on Newgrounds… but perhaps it’s like what @Overscore said.

“People don’t follow you for your music, they follow you because your a good friend…”

I find that both wholesome and depressing on my end

[Chocnoon x Carboluka - LAS AVENTURAS FLIPANTES DE JOAQUIN ALEJANDRO EL DRAGON AZUL (DCLXIX)]

Carbo being a master in making weird sounding leads work :D

i dont have that many hardcore songs listened to tho this feels alright...it is flow-y is has that speed to it even tho i personally dont feel like for racing themes pure BPM speed is enough to actually convey the feeling and pacing of a race game, but this is purely personal preference and if i were to ignore this it was bonkers racing to it. One thing that would make it maybe more enjoyable in some arcade-ish racing games is having the distorted bass more prevalent and have that pumping be just a little more powerful, but i guess thats just nitpick.

Aside from all that its a cool track...both of you nice job.

[one80 & radon - Arctic Overdrive [NGMC 2025 Round 1]]

Im not sure i would be able to say anything that wasnt said already so ill just say that this is a very hectic and crazy journey definitely fitting into some sort of AG racing games or just something that has alot of speed to it ya know (cough...Redout2...cough).

The mixing is perfect from my point of view, sound design is sharp and precise.

Great job, i hope well will meet on 2nd round.

MU53 responds:

Hopefully so

[Arctique Fire]

I have a simple love/hate relationship with this song :D i absolutely can imagine it in something like NFS or similar game.

You have chosen incredibly unique and specific approach. The arctic theme is not in the composition itself but ofc them lyrics are there which for me personally is enough.

Mixing and the beat are simply nice.

And oh boy i love those vocals XD really cool work guys really cool.

CasualBreather responds:

Thank you a lot Arpie! :3

[Charlmot & PiAHC - Tundra Showdown]

I really like the approach taken on this track.

tho to me personally the first half actually feels like it fits both race and the theme almost perfectly, this kind of rhythmically rich music is very nice to listen to when driving and drifting or having some high speed exchanges, the second half is very intense compared to the first half i am not a big fan of that style choice tho surprisingly i enjoyed it quite alot.

Overall this is a very decent entry and i simply have to appreciate the eclectic approach.

[DJ Jini VS. DJ Immy - ~Crystal Frostroad~ {NGMC 2025}]

I already told you that this track is fitting, this style/genre is like it was made for racing games, it is smooth and flows nicely so drifting and racing at incredible speeds feels great with it.

As for your doubts as to if it fits the arctic theme, to me it comes from those playful melodies and overall composition rather than some snowy or "christmas-y" FXs used. (i already said this point multiple times on other tracks i should stop XD)

All if this is there and thats why i enjoyed it very...very much.

Also hi Andy you guys did a great job on this...the mastering and mixing is awesome as always.

[Polar Drift (with X3ll3n) [NGMC 2025]]

Racing is a very wide theme and arctic feels like it can be approached from many sides. I feel like this piece is just fitting into a racing game or atleast to be listened to while playing some...arctic feel for me is in those goofy/playful melodies which are definitely there, so overall im just enjoying a great piece of electronic dance moosic.

Snikio responds:

thank you very much!!😆
for me personally, a clear reverb piano sound subtly layered in the drop was the key to the arctic feel