[Covarr]

FollOw, on 02 August 2014 - 09:11 AM, said:

Once Taxman re-released it on the retro engine and my opinion completely changed.

Y'know, you're not the first person I've heard say that. Even I hold a similar view, liking it more now than I used to. I think I might know why: Widescreen.

Y'see, one thing that Sonic CD is notorious for is dick level design, things that are all but unavoidable unless you memorize levels. By increasing the visible area ahead of Sonic, these traps feel a lot less cheap, because we actually have enough time to react to them. The wider camera might seem like a cosmetic difference, and in Sonic 1 and 2 it pretty much is, but it really goes a long way toward fixing what doesn't work in Sonic CD.

[Kiddo Cabbusses]

Covarr, on 02 August 2014 - 12:27 PM, said:

Y'know, you're not the first person I've heard say that. Even I hold a similar view, liking it more now than I used to. I think I might know why: Widescreen.

Y'see, one thing that Sonic CD is notorious for is dick level design, things that are all but unavoidable unless you memorize levels. By increasing the visible area ahead of Sonic, these traps feel a lot less cheap, because we actually have enough time to react to them. The wider camera might seem like a cosmetic difference, and in Sonic 1 and 2 it pretty much is, but it really goes a long way toward fixing what doesn't work in Sonic CD.

I'm not sure, but I was also under a belief that Taxman's engine fixed a lot of the odd engine issues Sonic CD has compared to Sonic 2/3.. The original Sonic CD has a lot of the kind of automated-speed-sequence quirks people more commonly associate with being a problem with 3D Sonics, as well as a lot of things that have pre-set outcomes that in later 2D Sonics have more variable momentum/physics based outcomes.

I assume this is likely because the old code was added on top of Yuji Naka's Sonic 1 code by Oshima or whomever did the programming.

This post has been edited by Kiddo Cabbusses: 02 August 2014 - 02:24 PM

[Friend of Sonic]

This is a great video! Good job

[Sodaholic]

Watching your videos, you're a lot better at Sonic games than I am. I usually just play them as straight platformers, but you take some serious advantage of the physics.

Is a Sonic 3/K/3K video planned at some point?

[Josh]

Kiddo Cabbusses, on 02 August 2014 - 02:23 PM, said:

Covarr, on 02 August 2014 - 12:27 PM, said:

Y'know, you're not the first person I've heard say that. Even I hold a similar view, liking it more now than I used to. I think I might know why: Widescreen.

Y'see, one thing that Sonic CD is notorious for is dick level design, things that are all but unavoidable unless you memorize levels. By increasing the visible area ahead of Sonic, these traps feel a lot less cheap, because we actually have enough time to react to them. The wider camera might seem like a cosmetic difference, and in Sonic 1 and 2 it pretty much is, but it really goes a long way toward fixing what doesn't work in Sonic CD.

I'm not sure, but I was also under a belief that Taxman's engine fixed a lot of the odd engine issues Sonic CD has compared to Sonic 2/3.. The original Sonic CD has a lot of the kind of automated-speed-sequence quirks people more commonly associate with being a problem with 3D Sonics, as well as a lot of things that have pre-set outcomes that in later 2D Sonics have more variable momentum/physics based outcomes.

I assume this is likely because the old code was added on top of Yuji Naka's Sonic 1 code by Oshima or whomever did the programming.

Well, the Taxman version also doesn't do that screen-forward when you accelerate thing that only Sonic CD does. But I think you're right on about the odd engine bugs. Like I said in the video, when the engine's programmer is on the other side of the world, it's bound to be a little off.

Friend of Sonic, on 02 August 2014 - 11:59 PM, said:

This is a great video! Good job

Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it.

Sodaholic, on 03 August 2014 - 05:29 PM, said:

Is a Sonic 3/K/3K video planned at some point?

Look closely at 11:45 and you may find a clue.

[XCubed]

I enjoyed this immensely! I love the music choice option, way to go! The JP/EU version is the "real" music to me. I never had Sonic CD and the 510 ISO was my first time playing it, so I started out with the JP music. Later listening to the US music, I was thoughly confused. Some of it is good, but most of it sounded like crap and didn't bring the proper ambiance to the levels. Also, much of the music was not relatable, nor melodic even within the same zone. If I had grown up with the US music, I would have had my mind blown....and still would have preferred the JP music, which makes more connected sense. I also would have had a baby, knowing that there were 3 other versions of what was the PAST music for each zone. In other words I would have felt levels of abandonment. Fortunately I got a late start to playing Sonic CD and had access to the proper music since the beginning.

The US music only gave us Sonic Boom...and for that, I am thankful.

[serpx]

XCubed, on 05 August 2014 - 09:13 PM, said:

I enjoyed this immensely! I love the music choice option, way to go! The JP/EU version is the "real" music to me. I never had Sonic CD and the 510 ISO was my first time playing it, so I started out with the JP music. Later listening to the US music, I was thoughly confused. Some of it is good, but most of it sounded like crap and didn't bring the proper ambiance to the levels. Also, much of the music was not relatable, nor melodic even within the same zone. If I had grown up with the US music, I would have had my mind blown....and still would have preferred the JP music, which makes more connected sense. I also would have had a baby, knowing that there were 3 other versions of what was the PAST music for each zone. In other words I would have felt levels of abandonment. Fortunately I got a late start to playing Sonic CD and had access to the proper music since the beginning.

The US music only gave us Sonic Boom...and for that, I am thankful.

It's so interesting having started from the US version -- the music definitely was moody/ambient. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

When I first heard the Japanese/UK version, I was like, "Whaat is this," but after many years of hearing it, I've come to enjoy the JP slightly more. It evokes more emotions from me, it definitely has more to it. Glad we have two awesome soundtracks from that game.

Yes, Sonic CD really does turn things upside down on how to proceed through a Sonic level. I thought that was good, kept things different. Wacky Workbench definitely can go to hell, but it's an evil I've came to minorly enjoy.

[Josh]

When I first heard the Japanese tracks, it was separate from the game, and my initial reaction was that they didn't work at all. Then I tried playing the game with them, and that's when they really came together.

Today, I actually have my Sonic CD ISO set up to play a mix of US and Japanese tracks. It's admittedly quite a bit heavier on the US side, but I really do love both soundtracks. Playing the Taxman remaster, I tend to switch between them constantly.

[Sodaholic]

I too grew up on the US soundtrack, yet prefer the JP one. Not only is it what the game was designed for, but it sounds so much more lively and more like actual music than a background movie score, is more diverse, and is far more consistent (can anyone say "past tracks"?).

That's not to say that I dislike the US soundtrack, there actually are quite a few tracks in it that I think are nice to listen to. It's just that it isn't as appropriate for the game, and was clearly rushed, to the detriment of some tracks' quality. Metallic Madness present and both Quartz Quadrent futures sound like indistinct droning and are hardly worth listening to. The Sonic Boom album version of the US SCD soundtrack is far better, since the songs were extended and arranged far nicer than what ended up in the game, likely because he had more than 4 weeks to work on it (and had a basis with which to start with). I think I like Sonic Boom just a little bit more than Toot Toot Sonic Warrior (and maybe the US act clear jingle), but I definitely prefer the rest of the JP soundtrack hands down.

I think it's a bit dishonest to say that one is most likely going to prefer what they grew up on. It depends entirely on one's tastes. I'm sure that those tastes can be influenced by what you heard first, but people can and usually do listen to far more music outside of just this one game, and may find themselves liking more electronic genres of music in general as opposed to the ambient Hollywood-ish stuff.

This post has been edited by Sodaholic: 06 August 2014 - 12:01 AM

[Felik]

I feel like JP soundtrack is much more diverse and daring. US OST whilst not bad has this "1995 PC game" vibe to it which is not a good thing.
I mean if I never heard either of these soundtrack and listened to them today I would say that US OST was clearly made in the early days of electronic music but I would not be able to tell if JP OST is over two decades old or just stylized to sound like retro electronic music.

This post has been edited by Felik: 06 August 2014 - 07:05 AM

[Skyler]

The first one I heard was JP, but it was on the Sonic Screensaver which had low-quality audio tracks. I first played it with the US soundtrack, but I've grown accustomed to both since playing with the JP soundtrack as well.

This post has been edited by Skyler: 06 August 2014 - 02:56 PM

[Nova]

I grew up with the US soundtrack but the issue was, I had the terrible PC port and it soiled my enjoyment of the game. Ever since playing it properly through (several dozen times actually) thanks to the remake, I prefer literally every track on the JP side. It's just more 'Sonic'.

[LordOfSquad]

Skyler, on 06 August 2014 - 02:56 PM, said:

The first one I heard was JP, but it was on the Sonic Screensaver which had low-quality audio tracks. I first played it with the US soundtrack, but I've grown accustomed to both since playing with the JP soundtrack as well.

I guess I'm in the same boat as you, never thought about it that way. More recently I would use an ISO with my favourites from each soundtrack like a few others here have mentioned, but in the 2011 version I use the US soundtrack when I play as Sonic and the JP soundtrack for Tails.

[Josh]

I assume this is gonna be an unpopular opinion, since I've never heard it before and this is one of the tracks in the US that people tend to hate on.

But I actually definitely prefer Metallic Madness present US to the Japanese version. Especially when it's cleaned up in the Taxman version.

Don't get me wrong, the Japanese version is so full of energy and I love the rap sampling. It's a great track. But Metallic Madness as a stage is so slow and foreboding and dangerous. I never felt like the JP version was appropriate for such a slow-paced stage. It's one of those cases where I feel the atmospheric qualities of the US soundtrack edge out the catchiness of the JP one.

Either way, my favorite track in the game is Stardust Speedway present. Both versions. xD

[Covarr]

MmmMMmM, Stardust Speedway Bad Future JP. Wonderful song.

I hate both boss themes in the US version, but other than that I kinda like both OSTs equally. Still, it'd be nice to configure the Taxman version to use different songs per stage. That'd make that port near perfect. I do prefer the US past songs though