Rookie and Popple (Popple Battle Theme) - DK64 (Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga) Soundfont Arrangement

What if the song "Rookie and Popple" (that plays in Popple Boss fights) from Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga played in Donkey Kong 64? It might sound something like this!

Why arrange this song?
I wanted to make another arrangement of Mario & Luigi music, and this theme is another fun one from the soundtrack. While working on this project, I found out some interesting things about the original piece that in some ways made it easier to convert, but harder in others! It would work for boss fights in DK64 Randomizer.

How does this work?
Songs in DK64 are in a format called MIDI, and I use a program (FL Studio) to compose music in this format. When converting music, choosing songs form other games on the N64 era seems the easiest as they also used MIDI. However, converting these songs from their games to DK64 is not just a simple swap; songs must be arranged for that game's soundfont, a selection of instruments created for that specific game. Since a game's soundfont can contain different instruments, many elements from the original are not the same when being played through the soundfont from Donkey Kong 64. Thus, alterations during the conversion/arranging process are made in order for the final song to sound more similar to the original. Of course, music can be arranged by ear as well, especially if there is no MIDI to convert! Once I'm finished making the music, I use a few other programs to insert the song into the DK64 Randomizer ROM and I record what plays in-game, which is what you hear in this video!

This arrangement created for the DK64 Randomizer, check it out here: https://dk64randomizer.com.
Note: the song plays at a lower volume in game.

Thanks for listening!

Credits
Original Song Composer: Yoko Shimomura
Song converted by SirEnobMort
Dancing DK animation cutout from the DK Rap by SirEnobMort
Diddy Idle animation edited by Merry255: https://www.deviantart.com/merry255/g...

#DonkeyKong64 #MarioandLuigiSuperstarSaga #VideoGameMusic