Yep. I had a friend sent ask her on twitter a few months ago. Seems like MJ/Brad Buxer/Cirocco Jones wrote the original theme for the level, but it was removed (but why keep other stuff he and his team did in the game, like Carnival Night? :/) I'm going to assume that Hydrocity Zone was also re-written, but Takaoka said she didn't work on that one. She said none of the 3 bonus stage themes were hers, so the one she wrote went unused (unless it was used for another part of the game?) As for Maeda, yeah I think he was probably the one responsible behind the songs you mentioned.
Cool. Of course, I'm assuming Takaoka is responsible for both acts (with Masaru Setsumaru most likely doing the arrangement for Act 2), right? Also, good to know that she did NOT do Hydrocity Zone. Do you think she might've done the File Select music or any of the Competition levels or was that all she did? I wrote down a list of all the S3&K tracks complete with their actual composers and the only ones that don't have their composer credited so far are: - File Select - Hydrocity (actually I have Buxer and Jones credited there but since it might be the same case as for Marble Garden, well...) - Mushroom Hill (I have Sachio Ogawa there, but only basing on the credits that IH91 wrote in his YT video description, so it's not actually confirmed) - Lava Reef - Act 1 Boss (S&K) - Azure Lake - Chrome Gadget - Desert Palace - Endless Mine (though that one might be Jun Senoue's, because it sounds so close to Escape from the City. And I'm not talking about the Classic arrangement from Generations.) Although one thing's for sure, Masayuki Nagao did the arrangement for Hydrocity Zone Act 2 and Lava Reef Zone Act 2, so at least there's that.
Pretty sure she only did one of the acts, with the other one being remixed by either Setsumaru or Nagao, yeah. And no, she only mentioned she did a "bonus stage theme" and "Marble Garden". She said none of the bonus stage themes in S3 nor S&K were hers (I had her take a listen to them via YouTube), so unless the song was re-used in another part of the game, it's not in the final game.
Don't forget that "bonus stage" could mean "special stage" or even potentially one of the competition stages - it may not have been unused.
If she only did those two tracks, then the "bonus stage" track might've ended up as one the Competition stages (excluding Balloon Park and Endless Mine, which I'm pretty sure are done by Jun Senoue).
This is quite the research you are doing guys, I thank you for that. I'm a bit confused now as to who-wrote-what. May I suggest to someone if a complete list of all the songs of Sonic 3K could be posted here, in a single post, with for each track who is the writer (and a mention if its confirmed, supposed, or plausible)? That could be really appreciated for all of us
There you go. Sonic 3 & Knuckles music: by Michael Jackson Brad Buxer Bobby Brooks Darryl Ross Geoff Grace Doug Grigsby III Cirocco Jones (Scirocco) Howard Drossin Sega Sound Team: Tokuhiko Uwabo (Bo) - Sound Director Sachio Ogawa - Composer & Arranger Yoshiaki Kashima (Milpo) - Composer & Arranger (Special Stage only) Masaru Setsumaru - Arranger Tatsuyuki Maeda - Composer & Arranger Tomonori Sawada - Composer & Arranger Masayuki Nagao - Arranger Jun Senoue - Composer & Arranger Cube Corp. Miyoko Takaoka - Composer & Arranger Masanori Hikichi - Composer & Arranger Angel Island Zone Act 1 -------- Tomonori Sawada Angel Island Zone Act 2 -------- Tomonori Sawada Hydrocity Zone Act 1 ----------- SEGA (Masanori Hikichi?) Hydrocity Zone Act 2 ----------- SEGA (Masanori Hikichi?) & Masayuki Nagao Marble Garden Zone Act 1 ----- Miyoko Takaoka Marble Garden Zone Act 2 ----- Miyoko Takaoka Carnival Night Zone Act 1 ------ Michael Jackson, Brad Buxer Carnival Night Zone Act 2 ------ Michael Jackson, Brad Buxer Icecap Zone Act 1 --------------- Michael Jackson, Brad Buxer Icecap Zone Act 2 --------------- Michael Jackson, Brad Buxer Launch Base Zone Act 1 -------- Michael Jackson, Brad Buxer Launch Base Zone Act 2 -------- Michael Jackson, Brad Buxer Mushroom Hill Zone Act 1 ------- SEGA (Sachio Ogawa?) Mushroom Hill Zone Act 2 ------- SEGA (Sachio Ogawa?) Flying Battery Zone Act 1 ------- Tatsuyuki Maeda (Volcano Valley Zone from Sonic 3D) Flying Battery Zone Act 2 ------- Tatsuyuki Maeda (Volcano Valley Zone from Sonic 3D) Sandopolis Zone Act 1 ----------- Tatsuyuki Maeda (Gene Gadget Zone from Sonic 3D) Sandopolis Zone Act 2 ----------- Tatsuyuki Maeda (Gene Gadget Zone from Sonic 3D) Lava Reef Zone Act 1 ------------ SEGA (Tomonori Sawada?) Lava Reef Zone Act 2 ------------ SEGA (Tomonori Sawada?) & Masayuki Nagao Sky Sanctuary Zone ------------- Tomonori Sawada Death Egg Zone Act 1 ------------ Tatsuyuki Maeda (Rusty Ruin Zone from Sonic 3D) Death Egg Zone Act 2 ------------ Tatsuyuki Maeda (Rusty Ruin Zone from Sonic 3D) The Doomsday Zone ------------- Tatsuyuki Maeda (Diamond Dust Zone from Sonic 3D) Act 1 Boss (S3) ------------------- Michael Jackson, Brad Buxer Act 1 Boss (SK) ------------------- SEGA (Tomonori Sawada?) Act 2 Boss ------------------------- Tatsuyuki Maeda (Panic Puppet Zone Act 2 from Sonic 3D) & Masayuki Nagao Final Boss -------------------------- Tatsuyuki Maeda (Boss Battle 1 from Sonic 3D) Special Stage: Blue Spheres ----- Yoshiaki Kashima (Milpo) Bonus Stage: Glowball Machine -- Jun Senoue (Twinkle Park Act 2 from Sonic Adventure) Bonus Stage: Slot Machine ------- Jun Senoue (Special Stage from Sonic 3D) Bonus Stage: Gumball Machine -- Jun Senoue (Special Stage from Sonic 3D) Knuckles' Theme (S3) ------------ Michael Jackson, Brad Buxer Knuckles' Theme (SK) ------------ Howard Drossin & Masaru Setsumaru Azure Lake Zone ------------------ SEGA Balloon Park Zone ---------------- Jun Senoue (Special Stage from Sonic 3D) Chrome Gadget Zone ------------ SEGA Desert Palace Zone -------------- SEGA Endless Mine Zone --------------- Jun Senoue (City Escape from Sonic Adventure 2) Title Screen (S3) ----------------- Tomonori Sawada Title Screen (SK) ----------------- Howard Drossin & Masaru Setsumaru Staff Roll (S3) -------------------- Michael Jackson, Brad Buxer Staff Roll (SK) -------------------- Masaru Setsumaru Staff Roll (S3K) ------------------- Masaru Setsumaru Game Over ------------------------ Jun Senoue Continue? -------------------------- Jun Senoue Act Clear --------------------------- Jun Senoue 1-Up (S3) -------------------------- Jun Senoue & Masaru Setsumaru 1-Up (SK) -------------------------- Howard Drossin & Masaru Setsumaru Invincibility (S3) ------------------ Tomonori Sawada & Masayuki Nagao Invincibility (SK) ------------------ Howard Drossin & Masaru Setsumaru Competition ----------------------- Michael Jackson, Brad Buxer Data Select Screen --------------- SEGA (Tomonori Sawada?) & Masaru Setsumaru Drowning -------------------------- Yukifumi Makino Chaos Emerald ------------------- Yukifumi Makino All Clear (S3) --------------------- Tomonori Sawada & Masaru Setsumaru All Clear (SK) --------------------- Howard Drossin & Masaru Setsumaru I've been comparing the Sonic 3&K, Sonic 3D Blast and Sonic Adventure soundtracks and noticed many similarities between many tracks, hence I got the credits for Jun Senoue and Tatsuyuki Maeda. Everything else comes from either SEGA Retro or some other Sonic forums which I can't remember right now.
Thank you very much Pete. There is indeed a lot of speculation, so many question marks everywhere. I can understand how legally it could be such a nightmare to know who did what.
What does Michael Jackson have to do with Ice Cap, if we already know it's a Brad Buxer/the Jetzons original? Jun Senoue remixed Balloon Park twice in Generations, that's more proof than a vague similarity to another song. Shouldn't Drowning and Chaos Emerald also be credited to Masato Nakamura?
Keep in mind that all of MJ's guys credited in S3K worked under him. It may have originally been a Jetzons composition, but because MJ was his boss, it's possible he still would've needed permission from MJ to include it. Besides that, MJ might have had something to do with the Act 2 re-arrangement.
Not like the Chaos Emerald jingle is that special. It's basically the "CHARGE!" horn with a slightly increasing pitch. At least, that's how I always heard it.
100% possible, as I didn't send her any other tracks than the bonus stage ones. She might know what tracks other CUBE members worked on (Masanori Hikichi?), but sending her the entire soundtrack to listen to seemed like too much.
Nah, just send her the SEGA ones from my list (Hydrocity, Mushroom Hill, Lava Reef, Azure Lake, Chrome Gadget, Desert Palace, Data Select and Act 1 Boss from S&K). Who knows, maybe her other track IS in one of the Competition stages after all, and maybe it was Hikichi who composed the Hydrocity Zone... I guess we'll just have to wait and see.
Okay, so I've been listening to the uncredited tracks from my list and I have a theory. I think that Tomonori Sawada might have done the File Select, Lava Reef and the Act 1 Boss from S&K. I've compared them to Angel Island, Sky Sanctuary and the Sonic 3 theme and I've noticed that they share some similarities, like how they use the same instruments and the same pitch. Also, I think Sachio Ogawa may have been responsible for Mushroom Hill after all.
That's what I thought. Yeah, I know it's a total guesswork, but who knows, maybe this will actually get somewhere.
Yeah, it's a shame SEGA is mute about the whole game because of the legal issues, but legal issues regarding copyright can't hang around forever right? Which leaves us hope that perhaps someday in the future, more will be revealed.
Keep in mind that the actual music was programmed in the game by a few sound engineers, the composers likely just provide demos of the songs like Masato Nakamura did for Sonic 2. So any similarities in the instrumentation are probably due to the same sound engineer working on the songs. One thing I'm almost 100% certain of is that the Sonic 3 Final Boss and Doomsday Zone were written by the same person.
