If you know the "Metal Slug" series of games, you're probably familiar with "Hold You Still" - it's that cool secret track you get for beating the first Metal Slug with two players. Among the Metal Slug OSTs tracks this is a real classic. So if you know Metal Slug, this might be a real treat for you - but even if you don't care for Metal Slug, I think it's still pretty awesome. So: while looking for the vocal version (another exclusive thing on some CD release) I found this really awesome cover/arragement whatever, which I feel really, really gets the original track. Okay let's give us something to listen to first:

The original (for comparison): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pR49_o1hV0c
The Vocal Version (if you're curious): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jgIgUkkBZPk
The really awesome cover (that got way to few views imo): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iusULbKlrSc

Okay, so why is it great and inspirational to me? Firstly I'm going to admit that this kind of stuff is going to be very much tainted by nostalgia for me and if you're not into VGM you might find some of it overly bombastic or sentimental. But the other thing I find admirable about this is that it really gets the original. The cover might seem surprisingly liberal with it's source material but that's part of it's strength. VGM was often limited by it's technicalities (just think of the gameboy or Master System) and specifically constructed to get the right sound out of it's hardware. A lot of "covers" I see are basically rehashes of the original - they take the original instrument data and just send it to new software instruments without too much consideration for the hows and whys of it. This is especially noticable with chiptunes, but not just them. Also beyond that, this is not really what covers are supposed to be (to me at least): they should be more of a reinterpretation than a copy-paste job. Otherwise you're not really adding something. (Which is why my "Rumbling HWY" cover isn't all that great by the way. It was done more for technical practice of ZynAddSubFX than anything and just ended up sounding good enough that I decided to share it.)

This track on the other hand feels true to the original not by strictly adhering to it's specifics but it's musical idea - or at least the cover artists interpretation of that musical idea. You could of course have your own, maybe you think "Hold You Still" is supposed to be more of a calm and simple track. Regardless I really like concept and execution here. And for me personally this is a perfect example of what I like to see out of covers and remakes as well as what I want to achieve with them myself. If not musically or thematically (again, you may not be into this kind of stuff), than at least conceptionally.

Yeah, I think that counts as inspirational.