Day 15! Only 10 more days until Obligatory Ice Level Day, and the big marathon’s on Friday! I’m happy about this, so today I’m posting about a stage from my favorite game of all time. It’s “Danger – Icy Conditions Ahead” from Yoshi’s Island!

I love Yoshi and I love Yoshi’s Island! Clearly I couldn’t pass up this stage. Right from the get-go, this game tells you there are slippery floors and that fire attacks will melt the ice. It even gives you a red watermelon (which gives you the aforementioned fire attacks) just so you can try it out. This level also has many Bumpties. What’s a Bumpty? It’s a cute little dot-eyed penguin that, if touched, sends you bouncing back as if they were made of rubber. You also have to hop across ski lifts ridden by snowmen in fezzes, and even navigate huge stacks of ice blocks.

However, about halfway through the stage you see the real appeal of this ice level. After a quick change in a booth, Yoshi dons a pair of skis and takes to the slopes! There are many treacherous jumps though, and one wrong move can cause you to trip over a rock, snowball down a hill, and wind up in a bottomless pit. The downhill ride starts off in a cold, snowy area, but after a bit you’re treated to a lovely view of the clouds, the sunrise, and a flock of Goonie birds flying in the distance. Just uh… just watch out for the undead Skeleton Goonies that try to drop missiles on you along the way.

Yeah, I had a lot of fun making today’s wallpaper. Like it too? Then get the full version here!

And here we have some music! Now, Yoshi’s Island doesn’t have specific ice music. However, the song Yoshi’s Athletic (aka “Obstacle Course,” aka “Hop! Hop! Donut Lifts!”) was remade in Super Smash Brothers Brawl. And in Brawl, Yoshi’s stage cycles through the seasons, and Yoshi’s Athletic changes when it hits wintertime. So here’s Yoshi’s Athletic (Winter), from Super Smash Brothers Brawl!

And here we have a bonus remix! To continue the Donkey Kong theme from yesterday: Christmas Cave is a remix of Ice Cave Chant, the “Slipslide Ride” level music from Donkey Kong Country, by deim0s. It has some nice bell and piano sounds to it, and of course it’s a great choice of source material.

Also, I wanted to give a huge THANK YOU to everyone who’s promoting the marathon and the soundtrack! I know I don’t respond much on the forums, but trust me, you have my undying gratitude. Give yourselves a hand!

And now it’s time for some REAL SNOW. And some more Nintendo! And primates! That’s right, today’s ice level is Snow Barrel Blast, from Donkey Kong Country!

Snow Barrel Blast delivers what it promises. It has snow. It has barrels. It has blasting. What more could you want? Donkey Kong Country introduced barrels that, if entered, could launch a character like a cannon. The game had quite a few areas where several of these barrels  hung over bottomless pits; the idea being that you had to blast from one to the other in order to get across. This stage had quite a few of the standard enemies around these barrels. Vultures called Neckys and wasps called Zingers were common. There was even the slippery ice floor! But the big feature here was the snow. The blizzard doesn’t start off until partway through the stage, and even then it begins as a light snow in the background. As you progress, the snowfall gets closer and more intense, until the screen is covered in a huge snowstorm. The storm can be disorienting at first, and new players might find it difficult to launch from barrel to barrel under these circumstances.  With enough practice, this stage can be easily conquered.

And today’s wallpaper! If you like snow, barrels, and/or blasting, this is the wallpaper for you. The full version’s here!

Haha! MUSIC! Northern Hemispheres is the song it plays during Snow Barrel Blast. It has that lonely, cold atmosphere to it, which is perfect for traveling through a blizzard.

HahaHA! REMIX! Chekan Winter is a remix of Northern Hemispheres, by Prophecy. It’s a pretty liberal interpretation of the song but it’s cool and trance-y. It’s actually part of an album called Kong in Concert, which remixed every track in Donkey Kong Country. It’s one of the earliest OC Remix albums and it’s still great!

Day 13 and things are heating up!… or cooling down… or something? Anyway I’m still in a Nintendo mood, so today’s level is Fichina, from Star Fox 64!

Now you might be saying “Fichina? There’s no such planet in Star Fox 64!” Well due to a translation error, the American version of SF64 labels the planet “Fortuna.” Fortuna is actually a completely different world, so the mistranslation has caused a bit of confusion. Later Star Fox games have corrected the error.

Anyway, Fichina is one of the coldest planets in the Lylat system. In SF64, the Star Fox team was sent there to investigate some odd occurrences, but found little more than an abandoned base. They were about to leave when suddenly, enemy ships started flying out of the base and attacking. As it turned out, the evil Andross’ army was using Fichina as a hideout. What’s more, Fox and his crew ran into the Star Wolf team, a group of ruthless mercenaries. Star Wolf  engaged them in a dogfight (HEY PUN), wherein each member of their team chased down specific members of the Star Fox team. After a brutal battle, Wolf’s team was defeated, but not for long…

I went with a different look for this wallpaper. Regardless I think it turned out okay! Get the full version here!

And now we’ve got some music! Fichina as it appears in Star Fox 64! And Fichina in Star Fox Assault! And Fichina in Star Fox Command!

And our remix! Frappe Cafe Vibe is another great remix of Frappe Snowland from Mario Kart 64, by none other than Joshua Morse! It’s a pretty old remix, but you can still hear that calm, smooth sound he’s known for.

Day 12 and we’re one day closer to the Pokémon marathon! That puts me in a Nintendo mood. And that’s why today’s ice level is The Summit, from Super Smash Brothers Brawl!

The Summit is based on the game Ice Climber, and serves as the Ice Climbers’ home turf. The battle starts off at the top of an icy mountain, based on the mountains from the old game. At this point things are relatively normal; the tiny ice platforms can be broken, but that’s not so weird. After a while, the top breaks off and careens down the mountainside at high speeds. Any fighter crazy enough to jump off will have a tough time getting back on, as the chipped mountaintop is continually sliding away. Finally, it lands into a freezing sea. The new glacier will float for a while while one of the polar bears from Ice Climber inexplicably finds itself on top of it. Those unfortunate enough to land in the water will meet almost certain doom, as the fish from Balloon Fight will swallow them whole. On the plus side, the vegetables from Ice Climber occasionally appear, and you can pick them up to get some health!

And our wallpaper for today! Samus doesn’t get why DeDeDe’s so scared, though… Oh well, just grab the full version here!

You know we have music! Ice Climber title theme, with some of the stage/win music thrown in for good measure. And since the Ice Climbers were in Super Smash Brothers Melee, here’s Icicle Mountain, the SSBM version of some of the game’s music! And here’s The Summit, the Smash Brothers Brawl version of the songs! The events in The Summit stage are meant to sync up with this song, actually. Play it for yourself and see!

And a rather fitting bonus remix! Snow Cone Heaven is a remix of a few Ice Climber songs, by Mazedude! It’s simple, it’s fun, and it’s definitely a great ice level mix.

Now don’t forget to promote the marathon in any way you can! Post about it in your blogs, tweet it, tip off gaming sites, mention it in forums you frequent… do anything you can! Let’s make this a dynamic end to a year of great entertainment and even better charity work!

Day 11, and only a week until The Speed Gamers’ Pokémon marathon! I’m hyped! And that’s why today’s ice level is Snowpoint City, from Pokémon Diamond and Pearl!

Snowpoint City lies in the northernmost point of the Sinnoh region, and getting there is no easy task. After venturing through Mr. Coronet, Pokémon trainers have to brave the harsh snowstorms of Route 216 and 217. The constant storms mean that all battles taking place on these route have the “hail” weather condition, which pelts all non-Ice-type Pokémon and damages them every turn. Skiers and other adventuresome folks don’t seem to mind, and will battle you at the drop of  a hat. What’s more, trainers hiking through these routes are up to their eyeballs in snow, making their movement difficult. Fortunately things lighten up once you get closer to the city. Lake Acuity is nearby, and around there you can catch Ice-type Pokémon such as Snorunt, Delibird, Sneasel, and Snover. Within Lake Acuity is Uxie, the mysterious Pokémon of Knowledge.

Snowpoint’s gym leader is Candice, and as you might expect she specializes in the Ice-type. Her gym is covered in ice, and trainers must slide across it in order to destroy the giant snowballs blocking their way. Candice’s main Pokémon is Abomasnow. She knows Swagger, Avalanche, Wood Hammer, and Grasswhistle, and can be a little tough to beat if you don’t have any Fire-, Poison-, or Fighting-type attacks on-hand.

And today’s wallpaper! It has a Delibird as you can see. The full version is here!

What’s that? You want MORE? Well Nina Matsumoto’s struck again with this incredible wallpaper of Sniper Wolf, the expert sniper from Metal Gear Solid! Yes, MGS counts because after all, the whole game takes place in a snowy climate. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: You definitely need to pick up Nina’s new manga Yokaiden volume 1 and volume 2 TODAY! Like Japanese monsters? Like hilarious dialogue? Like bizarre characters? Yokaiden has it all. “But I don’t read manga!” That is NO EXCUSE, SOLDIER. This is a comic everyone can enjoy, so get it!

And yep, we got us some music! Route 216 is the snappy, catchy tune it plays on the way to Snowpoint City. And here’s the Sniper Wolf battle music from Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes. The original MGS didn’t have specific battle music, but Twin Snakes fixed that right up.

And oh yeah, we got remixes! Party in the Snowland is a remix of Frappe Snowland from Mario Kart 64, by DarkeSword! This is an oldie, but a goodie. It’s quick and energetic, and it can really get you in the Obligatory Ice Level mood. And wasn’t there some super-wonderful Route 216 remix out there? Hmm…

Well I decided to make a free album similar to Anatotitan’s OILD Soundtrack however the difference here will be all of the music will be original and I will show you a little bit of the process I go through. I’m hoping this will inspire some people to try their hand at it.

Now when I said all the music will be original, this means it will all be written and played by me. No loops, no samples. I’m not saying those things are bad I actually quite enjoy remixes, but I just won’t be doing them.

To start this off let me introduce you to “Going Nowhere”, I hope you all enjoy.

More after the jump

Here we are with Day 10 and a rather cute little ice level. It’s Rainbow Resort, from Kirby’s Adventure!

It may not have a very “icy” name, but Rainbow Resort is a pretty cold place. Not only is it an arctic land, but Kirby sees it right in the middle of the night. The world map even has an aurora borealis visible in the sky! In reality, Rainbow Resort sort of breaks the “ice level” trope; instead of running through different climates and immediately being hit with a frozen land, Kirby’s Adventure eases you into the icy climate by introducing ice stages near the end of the previous stage. The area is just crawling with snowman enemies called Chillys and dangerous penguins called Pengys. You even get to see the standard ice cave. Unfortunately you don’t get to see too much of the ice and snow before Kirby makes it to a tower full of mini-bosses. After the mini-boss rush, Kirby scaled a frozen mountain by climbing up a series of icy platforms. After that, Kirby was able to reach the stars and the Fountain of Dreams. There he fought King DeDeDe, but the self-proclaimed king of Dream Land might not be as threatening as he seems…

Whooooh! It’s today’s wallpaper of the intro to Rainbow Resort! Go here for the full version!

Whooooh music! Here’s the Rainbow Resort music from Kirby’s Adventure. And here’s Frozen Fantasy from Kirby Canvas Curse, which is actally a remix of Rainbow Resort!

And whooooh remixes! I Want You Inside Me has a risque title, but it’s a great remix of Rainbow Resort, by halc!

Day 9 and doin’ fine! Today’s level is actually a track. It’s Frappe Snowland, from Mario Kart 64!

Super Mario Kart had Vanilla Lake, so Mario Kart 64 brought us Frappe Snowland! This frosty track was the second course in the Flower Cup. Unlike Vanilla Lake, the track here isn’t particularly slippery, though driving in the actual snow will slow you down quite a bit. You’d better watch out for those snowmen in fezes, too. There are also giant snow sculptures of Mario and Yoshi, but these are purely for decoration… unless you really want to go out of your way to slam into them. There’s also a rather insane glitch you can pull here. If you drive to the right and completely avoid the track, Lakitu will pick you up and place you right in front of the finish line, but the game will count it as having completed a lap. Do this until you get to the last lap, drive through the finish line, and boom! The game thinks you beat Frappe Snowland in about 22 seconds!

Vroom! It’s today’s wallpaper! Race over here for the full version!

Oh but there’s more in store! Nina Matsumoto strikes again, this time with an AWESOME wallpaper of Contra’s Snowfield! You know, if you’re into fancy-shmancy wallpapers that actually look good. She’s been learning a lot about old games lately, so she’s recently learned of the glory that is the Spread weapon. Remember, you can get her new manga Yokaiden volume 1 and volume 2 at Amazon today! For those of you just tuning in, Yokaiden is the story of a young boy named Hamachi and his adventures in the Yokai (traditional Japanese monsters) realm. The characters are hilarious and entertaining, so it’s a must-have comic! Even if you don’t like manga, you’ll love Yokaiden. Trust me.

Oh and we got music too! Vanilla Lake is the ice track from Super Mario Kart! Frappe Snowland is of course from Mario Kart 64. Sherbet Land is from Mario Kart: Double Dash!! And DK Summit is from Mario Kart Wii!

And that wonderful bonus remix! Holiday Snowland is a swingin’ lounge remix of Frappe Snowland, by Tweek! Oh, but don’t worry, Frappe Snowland fans; there’s more great music to be had! So stick around for the rest of the OILD celebration!

Around where I’m from, it doesn’t snow every winter. But it does get bitterly, horribly cold. You know, like being dunked in ice water. That’s why Day 8 of the OILD celebration features Cold Water, from Ecco the Dolphin!

When Ecco’s pod is pulled right out of the ocean and into the sky, he sets off to looking for answers. An orca told him that while nobody knows what happened to his family, an old whale known as Big Blue may know what to do. However, Big Blue isn’t easy to find, and Ecco had to journey past the shark-infested Open Ocean to get to him. After outswimming dozens of hungry sharks, Ecco had to swim through the Ice Zone. The Ice Zone had almost no places to breathe, and Ecco even had to slide across the ice’s surface just to move forward. Beyond that was Hard Water, named after the hundreds of ice blocks that threatened to crush any creature crazy enough to swim through there. After all of that hardship, Ecco ends up in Cold Water, home of Big Blue. Fortunately Cold Water isn’t nearly as deadly as Hard Water, but unfortunately Big Blue had no idea where Ecco’s pod went. He simply tells him to ask a being known as the “Asterite,” as it’s older than the ocean itself…

Distant songs are heard. They sing of the full size version here.

And we gots us some music too! Ice Zone is the music it plays during these cold Ecco levels. Calm, but doesn’t have a very distinctive melody. Most of the music in Ecco was more like New Age ambiance than anything. Still, I like it.

And an unrelated bonus remix! Frosty Delight, by DjChako, is based on Frost Man’s theme from Mega Man 8. I’ve had this remix for quite some time, and after you hear it I think you’ll know why.

And now it’s Day 7 of the OILD celebration! It’s been a fun week, hasn’t it? And there’s still more fun to be had! Especially on today’s level. It’s Viaduct, from Team Fortress 2!

One of the newest ice levels to be featured in this year’s OILD, this version of the map is also known as koth_viaduct. “KOTH” refers to “King of the Hill,” and this is the first new official TF2 map to feature King of the Hill-style gameplay. The goal is simple; capture the single control point, and hold it for a total of three minutes. As with all TF2 matches, this quickly escalates into two teams of lunatics violently destroying each other.

Unlike most ice levels, the snowy theme really doesn’t affect gameplay. There are no slippery ice patches or evil snowmen. Instead the snow theme is purely aesthetic, but I have to say this may be the best looking official TF2 map out there. The snow-covered evergreens in the distance, the way the sunlight reflects off the snow on the roofs, the distant mountains, the gentle flurry… it’d almost be soothing if it wasn’t for the maniacs constantly shooting, stabbing, and exploding each other. As the first official KOTH map, this is also the home of the infamous “overtime” glitch; if the game goes into overtime and the two teams are still running all over the point, the announcer will yell “OVERTIME!” repeatedly, sometimes interrupting herself. This leads to a pretty amusing bout of “Overtime….OVERTI–overtime…OVERTIME! ooovertiiiime” until the match ends. It was so popular that even after they patched it, Valve allowed for the glitch to be “turned on” by a server if the server’s owner so chose.

Speaking of which, Valve is another developer that’s very nice to its fans. Not only do they listen to the community’s suggestions for future content, but they’re very supportive of the modding community. They don’t slap people with lawsuits for fanwork; in fact, buying their games gives you access to all sorts of tools for animating their models and making your own maps. They want you to have your own fun with their games, and I love that about them. If you’re looking for some awesome holiday cards, why not get some Team Fortress 2 cards, or even Left 4 Dead or Left 4 Dead 2 cards?

Hooray for today’s wallpaper! The full version is here, so GET GOING!

Viaduct doesn’t have it’s own unique music, but there’s still music to be had! Sno, Yell Oh! is from Sno, the ice level in Skullmonkeys. I figured it’s appropriately goofy for a post about the funniest game in the world.

And the bonus remix! Flurry of the Frozen Fury is a remix of Blizzard Man’s stage from Mega Man 6, by Vurez. It’s not goofy, but still really great.

And of course our other bonus remix and final track on the official Obligatory Ice Level soundtrack, Select Start’s Route 216, from Pokémon Diamond and Pearl! I was so glad when Select Start said they’d take on this song. Route 216 is snowy, from Pokémon, and full of catchy music, so I knew it’d be great for this event. They did such a wonderful job on it, too! Just like the tracks by Joshua Morse and Posu Yan, Select Start’s songs turned out even better than I anticipated. They all deserve a round of applause, don’t they? And speaking of Select Start, tomorrow I’ll be posting some awesome news about them! You won’t want to miss it, so be sure to check back!