Early fans who owned Sonic CD (US), did you ever find it odd that the past tracks were different?

my introduction to Sonic CD, was when my neighbor gave me their OEM Copy of the PC version as a kid. That said, no, to me the tracks didn't really seem overly different to my child ears

 

British, but I had the PC version and what stuck out to me most was the the difference in audio quality between the past variant tracks and the rest of the music. I didn't have any idea how to put it to words when I was five years old, but it was obvious to me how much more muffled they sounded. Additionally, we didn't have access to the game for long and I don't think I ever made it past Collision Chaos. The Collision Chaos PC/US music never got wedged in my mind like Palmtree Panic did either.

But don't take my word for anything. Child me was a fucking idiot. I had no idea that Angel Island Act 2 was a remix/re-arrangement of Act 1 until Smash Brawl where it transitions from Act 1 to Act 2.

 

The only thing I noticed was that I liked those past tracks more, while not liking the rest of the soundtrack, except for one or two exceptions.

But I never questioned why the style was different—I just thought that’s what they were going for.

It wasn’t until I learned about it around 2001 that I finally realized why.

 

Nope, didnt find it weird at all. In the usa version, individual time zones can sound entirely different. All 4 time zones of stardust speedway sound completely different. The past tracks just felt like more of the same sort of difference.

 

Absolutely, although I thought that they were better than the regular music, especially Stardust Speedway. I couldn't wait to get into the past in that level. But I played the PC version first so I missed out on the US soundtrack in its intended format.

 

Also got the PC version back in the day, and didn't think it was odd. It actually seemed fitting to me that the past tracks were more basic in their instrumentation, as the past levels are more in tune with nature and have less technology.

 

I also had the PC version first. I did actually notice it, the compositions just sounded so much bouncier and more video-gamey. I thought that the lower quality was intentional, like it was supposed to sound like an old record (especially with those weird vocals in Stardust Speedway). I also had Sonic and Knuckles Collection, and I was pretty confused about the bits of music there, I found it hard to believe that it was actually somehow related to Sonic CD. Funnily enough, I didn't think any of the different music in SKC was out of place at all. When I later emulated (and eventually got the cart of) the Genesis release, I thought the different tracks there stood out like a sore thumb.

 

Funny story, I played the MD version of Sonic 3 first and me and my friends still found the MJ tracks out of place, while the S&KC/proto tracks always felt a better fit for the game and its music style.*

I think the only reason people would feel the opposite is familiarity and nostalgia. They're so used to the MJ tracks in S3 that they feel natural and their alternatives feel out of place.

* The exception is the IceCap proto track; it sounds too cheery for that zone IMO.

 

Yes, I remember noticing, especially in rounds that really tonally contrast like Collision Chaos and Metallic Madness. Once I got a copy of Sonic the Screensaver (came with Sonic and Knuckles Collection), which had the entire JP OST in its files, my confusion only deepened. Then I found Sonic fansites and found out the truth, lol.

 

I didn't like any of the MJ tracks in Sonic 3 even on the first go around. They sounded very out of place compared to the other Sonic music in games. The only one I liked was Ice Cap Zone, and that wasn't *really* an MJ song. I disliked the MJ songs in the same way I disliked Mortal Kombat 3's soundtrack a few years later. That "YEAH GO" sample era of music kinda sucked. When Sonic & Knuckles came out, I *much* preferred the S&K version of the miniboss song, so I don't think it's nostalgia really. I honestly think it's taste, because I played Sonic 3 before Sonic & Knuckles released.

 

Stardust Speedway was the one that stuck out the most to me. I did end up hearing the Japanese versions in Sonic Screensaver but that was also a bonus on the Sonic and Knuckles collection disk which also had the changed Sonic 3 music. I probably just assumed it was a thing where the computer didn't have blast processing or something.

 

Honestly, I always felt the opposite about this one track. I'm gonna describe my feelings in the best way that I can. To me, the "punchiness" of the S3 midboss theme always gave me a greater sense of urgency than the SK version. The SK version was never quite as energetic to me.

 

My experience was the opposite of most...

I heard the JP Sonic CD OST first, but not through playing the game, but because of all the tracks that were included in Sonic Screensaver as a bonus with the S&K Collection for PC!

I listened to every song and tried to figure out where they would fit, having 0 context for what the game was actually like at that point. I was quite surprised when I got a PC copy of CD a few months later and most of the tracks were not the ones I had heard, but a few were!

For example, in my head, Metallic Madness Past sounded like an End Game boss theme, but I was surprised when it did show up as the past stage track. Wacky Workbench Bad Future was missing from the game for me entirely, and I was disappointed by that, as I presumed it would be a different (but earlier) late game boss theme.

Eventually I read online and learned the truth. I did end up enjoying much of the US OST (even prefering parts of it), but I definitely wanted to try out the game with the JP OST... but that didn't happen for a few years until I could emulate it.

 

absolutely LMAO, straight up from when I was a kid playing the PC port.

but I found it even more strange that some of the songs didn't match the "vibe" at all. Collision Chaos I think is the biggest offender where the song is so gloomy for what is supposed to be a neon pinball level.

I have absolutely no recollection of how I found out about the JP/EU soundtrack though...

 

I had the Sega CD version. I didn't notice anything weird about them. If any stood out to me, I always attributed the difference to the fact that I was in the past (e.g. Wacky Workbench, which sounds like a disco).

What was truly stunning to me was when I got internet access in 1996 and started downloading (very, very slowly) a couple samples from a website (I remember what it looked like, but don't know the name) of present music from these Japanese soundtrack and realizing just how different the songs were. And funny enough, I didn't quite catch on that what I was hearing was very close to the past tracks I was already accustomed to.

 

These two posts:

These were my experience, almost exactly.

I'll recount the specifics of my experience just for giggles:

I didn't have a console at the time, just a Windows XP machine and a Game Boy Advance.

I my brother got a Sonic PC game bundle at Toys R US which included Sega Smash Pack 2, Sonic & Knuckles Collection (with Sonic the Screensaver), Sonic R, and Sonic CD. The other games worked fine, but Sonic CD didn't work on my Windows XP computer because it was the version that ran on an early version of Direct X which prettymuch only ran on Windows 95/98 computers. Maybe there was a way to make it work? I probably tried compatability modes, but had no luck.

So I'd listen to the Sonic the Screensaver tracks included on the Sonic & Knuckles Collection disk, including Sonic CD.

Eventually, my grandma got a hand-me-down Windows 95 computer, and I tried Sonic CD on it, and it worked! I played through Sonic CD in 1 sitting at her place, wondering why the music was "creepy" and why I didn't hear any of the tracks I heard in the Sonic the Screensaver files.

However, given the fact that I was used to the Proto Sonic 3 tracks on PC and was taken aback by the different music on my friend's Genesis copy of the game, the concept of 1 game having multiple soundtracks was something I already had a frame of reference for.

 

The only thing I found odd is that the past tracks could not be played in a CD player alongside the rest of the soundtrack. Apart from that, I never gave it much thought.

 

Grew up on the PC version, and it hit me immediately. My first impression of Collision Chaos's music was that it was weird and kinda scary, but was really cool in the past. When I played the JP version through emulation around 2004ish, it dawned on me that I already somewhat knew the melodies thanks to the Past tracks. It only made the USA OST seem all the more tacked-on.

That said, I now quite like the USA OST and even like CC's music. I wish it was used on a different game designed around it (whether that game was Sonic or not).