While I don't disagree, I would offer that it sounds far more like an Eastern Oil Desert...more Arab/Persian in sound, whereas the Hill Top and EH 2P sound decidedly more Western/American.
A real instersting peice is the Sky Chase's demo sounds like it could be used for a winter type zone as well. Which in an interview with Brenda Ross was scrapped.
Apologies if this is rude to ask, but is a lossless rip possible/available? (FLAC or APE or... whatever?)
I totally agree. There's something very 'winter-y' about it...it sounds like the whole level could be glacial (it evokes that distinctive echoey silence that you get during the winter, especially at night)...you've got to wonder when it was composed. It's clear they always wanted a sky type level to bridge MPZ and WFZ...but whether or not that came after the Winter Zone concept (and after they approached Masa to start writing the music) would be interesting to know...
It does sound like a Winter theme. Maybe WFZ and SCZ shared the same music at some point, and the Winter Zone took that theme? Wild guessing obviously.
Just a note: I'm thinking as far as OSV goes on retro. I think the Sonic 1 + 2 Soundtrack is too proccessed for that purpose and used later model 2s for it's sound which isn't a bad thing though and is missing peices that are obivousily not composed by Masa himself. People at the time had model 1 PreVA7 models at the release of the first game. For OSV project I would look at the more raw sound of an early nonTMSS recorded on professional hardware to stay consistent with this time period. It's funny because on the 10th Anniversary album they used a model 1 and alot of the noise was lefted in but everything was hard limited to 90% of the total possible range. The OSV project, a more raw sound is better for those wanting to build emulators. In only the lastest version of Fusion you can emulate the model 2's PSG, by changing a value in the configuration file. Code (Text): PSGNoiseBoost=1 Some people might actually prefar it either way.
Don't forget Aquatic Ruin/Neo Green Hill! That song is 100% Western with out a DOUBT. I've been saying this for years, but have never gotten a response, listen to the beginning of both of these: While there is 0% proof that this this belonged to "Dust Hill Zone/Desert Zone" you cannot deny the Western/Mexican sounds. While the level itself is still representative of an ancient ruin....see Mayans. One thing for sure is that this style was intentional. I completely forgot about this one. It makes all the sense in the world. The conclusion that I draw from the game as a whole is that they have levels A through Z and Songs 1 through whatever. In the end, certain levels got scrapped, but all the songs, with the exception of #10) stayed. In the beta, some music was misplaced/replaced (Oil Ocean has Casino Night 2P). I haven't played the beta in awhile but I was positive that the song that ended up in OOZ final had a slightly different sounding (due to instrumentation) beta version that was accessible from the sound test but not used in a level at the time. Lucky for the team that certain songs were fitting for multiple environments!
I would to like to note that the Spring Yard Zone demo in Mono in Sonic 1 sounds more like the Mega Drive version in Stereo in volume, as far as wearing headphones proves. Pay attention to the strings they jump out more in demo in mixed mono.
I don't agree with the notion that the "Unused Song" demo having an ending proves the song was never meant for Hidden Palace Zone. After all, the only version of it that we have in the game does loop, and it plays in Hidden Palace Zone—I can't think of any reason for that to be a mistake, either. Maybe the original idea was to have a cutscene, yes, but evidently, by the time the track became unused, it was meant to loop. I do think it would make an awful lot of sense if the 2P songs were meant for dropped levels all along, though. After all, Nakamura had almost the entire soundtrack done quite quickly as we can see from the Wai beta. I wouldn't really be surprised if they decided it would be a waste not to use all of the songs they had and the "Unused Song" was the only one they couldn't fit anywhere. Besides, I still want to know what the hell is up with the track order. It runs the way it does in-game up until Metropolis Zone, followed by the 2P tracks with Death Egg Zone in the middle for no reason, and finally Sky Chase and Wing Fortress. wut?
Aquatic Ruin's music always stood out as another possibility, though it definitely skews more towards a Mayan/South American influence. That said, it could equally work as a Native American/Apache pastiche...the whole look of DHZ always felt like it was striving to be the 'old west' in feel, and AR's music definitely evokes "Cowboys and Indians" as much as Mayan Ruins (gotta love pastiche songwriting!) I've always felt Hill Top's music was a distinct possibility because Hill Top as a level seemed like something the Team probably devised later in the process - perhaps after they realized Dust Hill Zone wasn't going to work. The simplicity of the level and the reuse of many of EHZs elements always made it look like a later addition to the zone line-up. It's definitely not as inspired as any of the other stages in the game. I've always wondered if the indoor/outdoors level map, coupled with the pits of fire were things brought over from the original DHZ concept...maybe those firepits were originally going to be quicksand...but I digress! If Masa was given a rough idea of the Desert/Cacti level, HTZ's music is very much what I'd envision he'd come up with. If I have doubts about Aquatic Ruin's music being intended for DHZ its only because AR definitely feels far better conceptualized and implemented as a level...its music (a South American pastiche) definitely fits the imagery (deep forests/Mayan ruins) but you never know...!
Hill Top Zone was one of the first levels in the game. It's in the Nick Arcade prototype. I think it also shows up in some early concept art. EDIT: Also, I know it was suggested in that old Craig Stitt interview that the developers would stick whatever music was finished into levels as placeholders, but I think it's worth noting that in the Wai prototype, the only level to use different music than in the final version is Oil Ocean Zone... which also has its final music available in the sound test. Do you think it's possible that they told Nakamura to make music for a "desert level" and he just interpreted it wrong and came up with the Eastern-sounding song?
^That's an interesting thought...though unless the concept art and pitch for DHZ was quite a bit different than the mock up shot, I feel like Oil Ocean is deliberately Persian/Eastern oil field...unless that was the original concept? Hill Top's music seems in many ways the most interchangeable...which makes me think it might have been volleyed as a theme for Dust Hill. As a zone, HTZ's not particularly distinctive, except being a bizarroworld version of EHZ. (Perhaps HTZ was an early concept that came about during the time they were tossing around the idea of time travel...?) Case in point: I could definitely see Sky Chase's music used for HTZ (the pacing of those descending gondolas fits the music) not to mention, HTZ - despite the firepits - has a very cool, almost winter-y vibe. These are the kinds of questions we should ask Masa if and when we ever get the chance to interview him further about composing the score...I'd imagine if he saw the concept art again (or even early zone mockups) he might be able to recall what level inspired each piece of music.
I can definitely see new hacks being made with 16-bit versions of the demo music. So, new versions of Sonic 1 Prototype remake, Sonic 2 delta or Sonic 2- Long version, anyone?
What are the chances of an English language release of the soundtrack? I want it but don't want to drop the cash if there could be an English version.
You could always download the songs, which have already been put up on Megaupload, the link is a few pages back. I don't really see there being an English version, though. I don't know why, but I just feel that they probably won't release it anywhere other than Japan.
Best chance you have is an iTunes release like Sonic Colors' OST had last year, I'd say. A physical release in English territories is incredibly unlikely. This particular OST likely attracts even more of a niche market than the average OST for a new Sonic game would, and those aren't published abroad (unfortunately).
Yeah, Sega and Sonic Team very rarely intend to release soundtracks over here, considering they're such a niche market in their home country as is. I still remember when Jun Senoue was like "Aw yeah, we totally plan on doing an American release for the Black Knight soundtrack!" :v: The last legitimate English soundtrack release aside from Colors was allllll the way back in 2004, for Sonic Heroes.
Which I still have just because, hey, domestic Sonic soundtrack. Found it in a local (now defunct) anime shop; must've been shortly after the CD came out. I was surprised to see it out in the open as I had to special-order the SA2 Official Sountrack way back when in Barnes & Noble. Was also surprised when the owner told me she'd get shipments of it in and they'd get bought up immediately. I thought, "Really? Sonic of all things?" ...Huh. Just like my sister when I mentioned Generations' 11 GB. Actually, take a look at the tracklist for the Heroes Official Soundtrack (U.S.) sometime. Then look at the 20th Anniversary Heroes CD. :v:
