Which version are you referring to? I've always been partial to the prototype versions myself, even when they where only known as the "crappy pc replacements"
Having grown up with the PC version of S3K, my opinion, call it popular/unpopular/whatever, is that I prefer the proto/PC tracks. The unpopular opinion here will be how much I actually dislike the Genesis Sonic 3 soundtrack. Having played tons of Sonic & Knuckles Collection back in the day, the first time I plugged in a Sonic 3 ROM, I thought the mini-boss music and the final three zones' themes were either something hackers put in just for fun or some sort of DRM that made the music, let's just say, inferior, to deter pirates. To this day I think Ice Cap/Hard Times is great, but clearly isn't video game music and doesn't suit the game at all (not to mention that, recently, it dawned on me how repetitive the Act 1 version was) ; Launch Base is OK ; I don't like the mini-boss music all that much, and Carnival Night might be one of the worst things I've ever heard. Add to this the legal limbo these tracks caused.
The good futures in Sonic CD are the best reward ever for collecting everything. The idea of a whole zone having a graphical makeover and a whole new soundtrack is exactly my kind of reward. Feels like a victory lap in the best way, especially as the good futures are my favourite remixes of the stage themes usually. I much prefer it to Super Sonic. Playing in god mode is just not interesting to me whatsoever (though extra stages like Doomsday Zone that are actually catered for him are cool)
Then I totally agree. The first version of Sonic 3 I played was the Megadrive version but even back then I was shocked at how...bad CNZ and LBZ sounded. Then I discovered S3 Complete and fell in love with the PC tracks haha. I never had another S3 playtrough with the MJ tracks since, and that was more than a decade ago :p I don't know how much of an popular opinion this is tho. It definitively was back in the days, but ever since the prototype released I've been seeing a lot of love for these tracks, and I couldn't be happier about it. I even get to be a smug prick and and say I loved them before it was cool
I think the prototype track is a better song, but the MJ track is more appropriate for the zone. Unlike Spring Yard and Casino Night, Carnival Night isn't a "neutral" attraction/entertainment area, but rather an Eggman construction similar to Unleashed's Eggmanland (It's either that, or something built by the Echidna civilization, which seems unlikely). So it makes sense for the music to be a bit menacing and offbeat.
I agree. Carnival Night's original theme makes it seem like Sonic & Tails are there to have fun, not get through Eggman's death trap circus. So the creepy clown music makes more sense.
This -- so much so that I kinda resent that the third acts tend to be so short. You have to go out of your way to experience the good futures in the non-boss acts, and I love that they are sometimes MORE dangerous than the bad futures (Wacky Workbench immediately comes to mind), making up for the lack of badniks with more spike balls and harsher geometry, and also badniks in the Bad Future would sometimes be broken and non-funcitonal, making them EASIER than the any other version of the stage -- but at what cost? Speaking of level changes, I'm sure this is unpopular, but there was a time when I found Metallic Madness Act 2 to be the most brilliant Sonic CD stage simply because I couldn't complete the stage in the Past. There was a spring that didn't quite take me to the platform, which was totally my fault, but I was sure it was intentional from the level designers' part, because I was like "oh shit. now I'm gonna have to get back to the present". I wish the game had more of that.
I just got done going through Sonic 3, heard all the new songs blind. Your take is valid but the replacements are just a big no from me homie.
Not being a contrarian, I swear, but... I really do just like Forces a lot. It's polished, it might be overly simple and easy to some but it has a very pick up and play quality that I really enjoy. I think having short levels that are easier to try to get a good time on individually is pretty fun. I also really like the avatar a lot and I think their implementation of the wisps is the best one in the series. The only real qualm I have with the actual game is just.. classic sonic in general, which is not an unpopular opinion at all, but other than him I just really like the style of gameplay the game has. Reminds me of secret rings a bit (Which I also like way more than I should.) Also the Proto/origins ice cap song is at least as good at the original and fits the vibe the level is supposed to go for way more
Hey welcome to the club, I dig Forces a lot too. For me it's simply because I don't enjoy the boost gameplay that much in general, so a bad boost game and a good boost game are pretty much the same to me: an ok enough experience. I really like the soundtrack too, it's quite underrated.
The Sonic 3D Blast Genesis soundtrack is a little annoying, and I would much rather hear the Saturn tracks.
a man of culture I see. Mecha Sonic is still my favorite of all robot Sonic designs and I'm still vexed that it hasn't appeared since.
When building a customized Sonic 3 Complete, I would only leave Ice Cap unchanged and change everything else to the PC version tracks (as we didn't know the whole story of those songs at the time)
I despise the term "Meta era" because it is a completely arbitrary name that in no way reflects the time its used for, but is still wildly accepted because of a bunch of disgruntled millennial needed a buzzword to draw a line in the sand to separate their Sonic from the current one and I just don't caaaare lol. This was definitely the point when I realized that the loudest and popular opinions in the Sonic fanbase aren't really worth anything and I'm just better off ignoring them.
Sonic Spinball's Options/Credits music is fantastic. It is not broken and it does not need to be fixed. Every attempt I've heard to "fix" it has ruined the main melody, completely ruining the feeling of the track.
