QQ Past has a rather similar keyboard sample arrangement as to the the album mix of “your love” by The Prodigy, my favourite song on that album... And yeah I agree with your final statement, so much - basically why I’m trying not to look things up as much when playing games lol.
Yeah Collision Chaos Past also has that ravey vibe at around 4:33 - love it. Funnily enough I didn't hear those past tunes until I bought a Mega CD second hand, around a decade later when I was at uni, was pretty surprised to hear those past tunes.
It’s because they’re on the data track as PCM audio @High Fidelity. Kinda glad but not that they didn’t change those for the US release though, the overall style in the US OST would sound odd in bit crushed samples seeing as the whole idea was to sound like contemporary music... that said the JP past tracks in the US game sound disorienting.
Yeah I’m certainly more of a fan of the JP soundtrack (grunge isn’t really my thing aside from early era Feeder and some post-grunge acts like Shinedown) but the US one has its gems too. Collision Chaos Bad Future comes to mind here, sounds “desperate” and “hopeless” which seriously suits the level palette in the game. ^^
Sonic 2 It isn't my fave Mega Drive Sonic title, but it is my fave music. Sonic 1 is a very close second and would be number one (because Green Hill Zone>Emerald Hill Zone any day) but Sonic 2 has a few more songs and a few of those are just insanely good. Sonic CD (JPN) is also really good. Sonic 3 & Knuckles is good. Sonic 3D Blast also has some great music! Hell, even Sonic Mania is great! The original compositions are top-tier. If it had more originals, it'd be right up there with the best. Maybe even the best. Tee Lopes, man. He's just great. I haven't played too much 3D Sonic so I dunno where to start with those. I also dig the Sonic Spinball tunes because they have that mid-'90s Genesis feel. Not great music but pretty nostalgic for me.
I've been listening to the Sonic the Hedgehog Boom! album, and holy crap it makes me love the North American Sonic CD soundtrack even more. Its version of PalmTree Panic is pure ear candy:
Indeed! Too many people forget about the 8-bit games. As for the original question, it's hard to pinpoint a whole best soundtrack for me, it's more like a song from this and a song from that, ranging from the aforementioned Sunset Park 3, to Blue Sphere, to many other ones. And while, of course, the nostalgia can be a factor in all of this, it's undeniable that some of those songs just are that good.
Most people bash S&K Collection's MIDI soundtrack, but you can easily make that music sound great in the modern day. All you really need is a virtual synthesizer and a good soundfont. It's better than half the stuff you can find on VGMusic or KHinsider.
I love most of the soundtracks, but JP/EU CD, 06, and Unleashed (those nighttime themes y'all...) are what I first think of the it comes to favourites. Sonic CD has such a nice aesthetic to it, and the JP soundtrack really just added to it; my favourites would have to be Quartz Quadrant Present, Tidal Tempest Present/Past, and Stardust Speedway as a whole. Sonic Unleashed's holds sooooo much variety that it's hard to pick favourites out of, but Spagonia Night, Shamar Night, Jungle Joyride Day, and Dragon Road Night all come to mind. Sonic '06 has a lot of my favourite tracks in this series ever; so if I had to think of favourites, I'd say Flame Core (The Cavern), Aquatic Base, Kingdom Valley, and Wave Ocean. The only one I can say I dislike is some of the Town Mission themes, especially Town Mission 3, but those are ones I can ignore.
I'm glad I'm not the only one who likes the North American "Sonic CD" soundtrack. I know most folks prefer the Japanese/European one, and that's fine. I just think Spencer Nilsen's music helped create a really amazing atmosphere in that game. Plus, "Sonic Boom" is a really good song in terms of harmonic composition, but I wish the lyrics were better.
There's so much really good Sonic soundtracks out there. I particularly love Sonic CD the most, mostly the JP for it's new jack & swing elements, but also some of the ambience on the US one. I'm only not fond of the US one because I feel as if the tracks don't always suit the levels, but that doesn't mean they don't sound good. Stardust Speedway Bad Future (US) is so stunning, and immediately gives me the vibe of an intergalactic race. The US rendition of Wacky Workbench Bad Future is sooooo well produced (that fucking guitar!). The soundtrack alone just sounds so 90s and has a lot of comforting elements, all while sounding very fresh. Some of the tracks don't even sound like they were made in 1993. Tidal Tempest Zone in particular is a favourite of mine. It suits the vibe of the level so well and sounds spectacular. Also, I love how the Past rendition builds on the 9 second intro of the Present track that's not present in the game (no pun intended). And don't get me started on the instrumentation of Quartz Quadrant! So beautiful and perfectly composed, the drums, the bridge, everything. Then there's Sonic '06. There's so many different tracks here and there. From the rock sounds on Radical Train, Flame Core (Volcano), and Wave Ocean (The Inlet) that really keep you going on the move, to the ambient sound of Flame Core (The Cavern) that's so comforting and peaceful that really gives you the sense of mystery and adventure. You also have Kingdom Valley with its orchestral elements, and the sense of urgency on Crisis City. The upbeat funk on the Soleanna New City track is so much fun to listen to, and I love Silver's Tropical Jungle track too. I also really love Unleashed's music, and the Adventure titles have got some great tracks too. Unleashed has such beautiful orchestral and percussive tracks. The night themes however are some of my favourites; Dragon Road Night, Shamar Night, Spagonia Night are all favourites. The jazz and funk on Skyscraper Scamper Day is so fun and upbeat too. And I looooove Savannah Citadel Day. I could go on and on. Sonic Adventure has some really good rock tracks too; I love Sky Deck a lot, as well as Red Mountain, which is one of my favourites. I also love the jazz and funk on Rouge's tracks in SA2, they suited her so well. The ambience and rap instrumentals on Knuckles' tracks are some of my favourites too; Aquatic Mine and Death Chamber are beautiful. I could also talk about how Sweet Mountain's funky instrumentation makes it my favourite on Colours, but I think I've talked enough. EDIT: I literally just realised I already talked in this lmfao. But yeah I liked going in depth more anyways.
I love the Sonic CD soundtrack, but I've always though it sounded kind of out-of-place in a 16-bit side scrolling game.
My favourite soundtrack is still Sonic 3, although the original CD and Chaotix soundtracks are up there with it.
This rotates for me quite often. I always find myself listening to the repertoire of a single song quite often (Stardust Speedway, City Escape, and yeah Green Hill, etc.). Hearing all versions just does something for me, like a story of growth and progression on a similar theme. I guess I’m just a sucker on a caption of a theme. I guess I’m so obsessed that when I hear certain songs on the radio, some sounds like what an “Act 2” version should be, so I often imagine what an “Act 1” would sound like in my head. To this day I will admit that hearing Mirage Saloon act 1 (regular version) for the first time was quite the unexpected surprise.
For me, it depends on the mood. I love SA2 Soundtrack and Heroes one, best tunes in 3D era if You ask me. Then we have S3&K in 2D games, that has excellent tracks. But I also really like Sonic Advance 2 & 3 soundtracks for some reason, I mean - Sunset Hill, Route 99, SA2 boss music - I love hearing them.
The main hook for me is variety. Adventure and Unleashed have such a variety of instrumentation and moods to all of their stage themes. And then you listen to Forces and every Modern Sonic all sounds basically identical. Between that and the extremely lacking remixes for Colors Ultimate, is Ohanti losing his touch or is this limited musical expression a byproduct of the games becoming budget releases?
I didn't think the Forces ost was bad beyond "Fist Bump" and the handful of tracks for Classic Sonic. That actually means it was better than I had anticipated though, as Sonic Rush is the most recent unique soundtrack I enjoyed, with Adventure 2 being the last before that.
The Classic tracks weren't even bad in terms of composition. They just suffered from poor instrumentation.