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Sega of America originally wanted to use its own music for Sonic 2

Discussion in 'General Sonic Discussion' started by Gryson, Mar 8, 2021.

  1. cartridgeculture

    cartridgeculture

    Wiki Editor Member
    Interesting. I haven’t listened to the US soundtrack enough to even notice it was in Q-Sound. Looks like it was one of the main selling points in promotional material too.

    [​IMG]

    Edit: This thread at Sega-16 speculates it was a way to justify Sega of America’s significant investment into the state-of-the-art Sega Multimedia Studio. They’re probably right.
     
    Last edited: Mar 13, 2021
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  2. RDNexus

    RDNexus

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    Most, if not all, JP SonicCD OST feels catchy and appealing to me. More Sonic-like.
    For the US OST, seems to me SoA tried HARD at dramatizing the feel of the levels.
     
  3. Compared to the rest of the Sonic soundtrack (1, 2, 3 and K), both Sonic CD soundtracks suck TBH. None of them are nearly as memorable.

    That being said, I'm a little more at home with the US soundtrack because that's the one I grew up with, but that doesn't mean I think it's any good.

    I guess that being restricted by the limitations of an FM sound chip really forced composers to come up with richer melodies. Once there were no hardware restrictions anymore, it was like voices and instrumentation could make up for mediocre melodies. BTW, I don't like any of the soundtracks from Adventure onwards either.
     
  4. Azookara

    Azookara

    yup Member
    Not liking the CD JP or Adventure osts sounds like a sad life to lead, mate.
     
  5. I don't hate then either, I just find them highly forgettable, unlike the rest of the classic soundtrack.
     
  6. Azookara

    Azookara

    yup Member
    Couldn't be me; I think both of those OSTs are the best in the series. Different strokes, I guess.

    I know by definition they did technically own Sonic (it is Sega after all), but seeing a Sega of America ad bragging that they 'invented' Sonic followed by them calling Amy "Princess Sally" is... lmao. What a mess.

    That seems like the most logical conclusion to me. It could've been left to just Ecco and Comix Zone, but Sonic is obviously the company mascot, so they were more than willing to kick the original team to the curb and use their western talent for it.

    Honestly I wouldn't be too surprised if this decision was made partly in spite over Sonic Team telling the western S2 composer guy to buzz off, considering the heat these two gave off at each other.
     
  7. Dek Rollins

    Dek Rollins

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    Those are anything but forgettable. The US Sonic CD soundtrack has plenty of forgettableness, but the original CD soundtrack and SA1's are great and quite memorable. They may not be as good as 1 and 2, but they're still memorable.
     
  8. Black Squirrel

    Black Squirrel

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    That might have been me - I posted something similar once.

    Sega had a deal with QSound Labs - the technology was first used in the CD version of Ecco but it turned up in a few places. It may have been a factor in deciding to redo the music.

    But again Sega of America's job was to localise and publish, and perhaps the Japanese music didn't go down well in focus groups. You'd have to ask one of the SoA producers at the time - very few of these decisions make a whole lot of sense in 2021 eyes, but I can almost guarantee there'll have been some logic behind it. You don't spend hundreds or thousands on a new soundtrack just to annoy Japan.

    Or maybe Sega got a bit worried about sampling. Or maybe they felt they could straight up make a better soundtrack, which given that there's a good chunk of people who prefer the US score... might not be a completely crazy concept.
     
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  9. I'll never get over how bad the US Sonic CD soundtrack is.

    I remember being drunk round a friends at university, telling him about Sonic CD and how amazing it is, basically drunkenly hyping it up to ridiculous levels. He like me, was a big electronic music head.

    Not being too familiar with Sonic games he said 'oh I've got that I think on Gamecube' I was excited at the prospect of sharing the experience of incredible rave beats and beers with my friend.

    He then proceeds to put it on and the utter shock, horror and disgust as the unholy din that is the US soundtrack emanated from the TV, was almost too much to bear.

    nnnneeeeeeeeeeer di di di do do doooooo (the horrifically wonky synth horn of Palmtree Panic plays)

    'Erm sorry this is the wrong one mate, honestly, the Japanese version is amazing trust me' I said in an embarrassed panic.

    'Haha sure, sure' he said sarcastically as he rips out the disc and puts on Monkey Ball 2.

    -100 cool points that night
     
    Last edited: Mar 13, 2021
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  10. The Joebro64

    The Joebro64

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    The Sonic CD US soundtrack slaps and anyone who says otherwise is lying. ;)
     
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  11. I will say that the album version from US soundtrack is much better than the in-game version.
     
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  12. ashthedragon

    ashthedragon

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    It also happens with spanish AOSTH theme song, who is a version of Widget's italian theme!


     
  13. Antheraea

    Antheraea

    Bug Hunter Member
    I think the US OST is fine, but...doesn't fit the game at all. it's a better listening album than it is playing album.

    Like, why on earth does neon-pink, pinball flipper-and-bumper Collision Chaos sound so melancholy??
     
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  14. Blastfrog

    Blastfrog

    See ya starside. Member
    63 levels in Sonic CD? There's 70. Did they leave out the good futures in act 3? Whoever wrote the copy for that ad didn't do their math right.
     
  15. Yash

    Yash

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    Feel the same way about the Sonic 3D Blast soundtracks tbh. The Genesis soundtrack is better video game/Sonic music, while the Saturn soundtrack is (IMO) better music, but doesn't quite fit as well.

    Reading closely, they say there's a past, present and future version of each stage. 21 x 3 = 63. That's how they got that number, even though it's wrong.

    Past/Present/Good Future/Bad Future for Acts, err, "Rounds" 1 and 2 in the seven main zones, plus Good and Bad Futures of Round 3, and seven (eight) special stages gives you 78 levels. Top that, Mario!

    (always felt like a silly way of measuring the game's content)
     
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  16. CaseyAH_

    CaseyAH_

    human incarnation of Palmtree Panic 'P' Mix Member
    Collision Chaos US is one of the few US songs I think is roughly as good as its JP counterpart, but I do agree that it doesn't fit the stage its part of in the slightest. Actually, it kinda reminds me of Super Metroid music in a weird way.
     
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  17. Pengi

    Pengi

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    It's the other way around, in Sonic CD terminology. There are 7 Rounds, each with 3 Zones.

    In the UK I recall magazines and catalogues using "over 70 levels" as a big selling point, without giving the full context. Very misleading.
     
  18. Frostav

    Frostav

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    Honestly it felt like they wanted to reboot the series with Unleashed, given how much of a hard break it is, how it actively ignores a huge portion of the cast, and in fact makes a completely new planet that doesn't seem to have any of the older levels, either 3D or 2D on it. GUN doesn't exist, the ARK isn't mentioned anywhere, all the missing characters aren't even mentioned off-hand, etc.

    Then they got cold feet and walked that back by the time of Forces.
     
  19. Ted909

    Ted909

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    I've always thought the standout of the US OST is the special stage theme - it's about as fast-paced as the original, but a lot more understated and low-key. Doesn't exactly fit the stages for what they are though, yeah.
     
  20. Ravenfreak

    Ravenfreak

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    There's only a handful of tracks I enjoyed from the US Sonic CD soundtrack, whereas there's only a few tracks off the Japanese soundtrack I just don't like. Anyways back to Sonic 2, I'm really glad SoA didn't do the music for Sonic 2, because while Sonic Spinball didn't sound too terrible (aside from the godawful options music and boss theme) it certainly has the weakest soundtrack out of the 16 bit Sonic games. Could you imagine if Sonic 2 used the GEMS sound driver?