The low volume distortion bug, which was present on Genesis consoles that used the original YM2612 chip. Later consoles that used the YM3438 chip don't have the bug, because the YM3438 fixed it. Basically (and I do really mean basically), Yamaha and Sega accidentally screwed up when it came to the way quiet sounds are handled internally by the YM2612, so the Sega Genesis has this strange buzzing/static distortion that crunches down any quiet sound output and makes them last way longer than they should. Any time a game fades out its volume, you can hear the low volume distortion. Some early Genesis games had to write the music with this glitch in mind, which in turn made those game's music volume not sound right on consoles that fixed the bug. Sonic Origins uses Sonic 3 music recorded off a real console with the low volume distortion bug, which can be heard very faintly on some songs. The spring sound effect lasts way longer than it should, for one. You need some good headphones to pick up on it, though.
To add on to this, here's a comparison video. Skip to around 12:50 to hear a particularly dramatic example. Also, I think I've brought this up before, but it's worth repeating: The sound effects seem like they're mixed a little bit louder compared to the music in Origins, making it more obvious; and, a lot of the time the end of long sounds (like the spring) would get overridden by other sound effects or the music in the original, because of the limited number of sound channels available and the way the sound driver works.
That’s incredible. I keep learning new things here. I never knew nor heard about this before. Both sound good in their own way!
Oh THAT. Well I'll be dipped, I didn't even realize there was a name for it. I figured it was just a thing that happened due to the modern archaic technology of the time and couldn't be helped. Never thought much else of it. Like XCubed said, they both shine in their own right!
