Скачать или смотреть Normal Battle [8-bit GameBoy] | Pokémon Colosseum

It might surprise you to learn that this was the most difficult song to arrange in the entire Colosseum soundtrack. This spawn of the devil that has the gal to call itself "normal" is anything but.

Actually, the problem with arranging this song is particular is precisely how... normal it is. With that I mean is that it's the stereotypical Orre battle song—a simple, constant bassline, together with a strong, multi-layered melody, and an accompanying high arpeggio that's pervasive throughout the entire song.

That all combined spells disaster on the GameBoy. This song really suffers from 4-channel syndrome more than any other I tried to arrange. It really needs 5 or more channels to fully replicate all the independent layers of the original. Take one out, and the song sounds empty. I managed to work around similar issues on other Colosseum songs, especially because they have very dynamic basslines which help in filling out the song (that was the case with Semifinal and Cipher Peon battles).

I tried so many different angles to make the original composition work, but eventually I just had to throw in the towel and admit defeat. What worked out in the end was a frankly Frankenstein-esque mashup of the original composition (pretty much the entirety of the Intro and Part 3 is original), alongside lowering the arpeggio 2 octaves and make it a pseudo-accompaniment line to fill in that range on Parts 1 and 2, and then "steal" the bassline from two arrangements I found online (one for Part 1 and the other for Part 2).

And by the end, I ended up with this frankly funky-ass arrangement that's way more dynamic than the original... and I kinda dig it now?! It would have been great if I could tweak it myself (that would likely have solved the problem), but considering my limitations... this is the best I could do. And I'm satisfied with it, and that's all that matters in the end.

Thanks to everyone involved in the pokecrystal disassembly project for making this possible.
Links: https://tritehexagon.carrd.co/#chiptunes