Sonic Unleashed vs. Sonic Colors Extra Round - Final Thoughts

[Celestia]

I seem to recall that it was made pretty clear that Sonic and Tails went to the park before it was opened to the public. I can't remember if it was mentioned in the game itself, in the manual, or something else.

 

But still, it makes sense. I mean, the instant Sonic found out Eggman was doing something suspicious, of course he'd go to check it out, and I highly doubt Eggman could have kept something as big as the Interstellar Amusement Park a secret.

[Tani Coyote]

It's possible he was practicing, but Eggman did some live announcements on the PA system, such as reporting cars being broken into. Granted it was his own so maybe he was the only human present... who knows really! Eggman's safety standards aren't that high and I can't see him as caring anything for the people visiting, solely for the mind control device or any possible laundering the park would offer for his operations should that plan fail.

[Chaos Incarnate]

Unleashed wins as far as art style goes by far. Colors is nice and creative and all, but visiting environments similar to real world locations is just.... Breath taking, to say the least. Also, as other users have been saying, you really feel like you're playing a game based on Pixar. Honestly, Unleashed was the first game that didn't feel as awkward as fuck when sonic interacted with humans. Instead of Sonic being redesigned to fit in with humans, it was the other way around.

[Soniman]

Lawl, like I said, were doing music this round, art design was last round.

[Chaos Incarnate]

Lawl, like I said, were doing music this round, art design was last round.

Sorry, I didn't read the previous few pages. Anyway, as far as music goes, Unleashed wins once again. I do get a kick out of the Music in Colors, but I appreciate that whatever level you played reflected the continent you traveled to in Unleashed, such as the heavy use of violins in spagonia, an oriental theme for dragon road and Chun nan, along with Adabat coming off as tropical. I also can't stop gushing over the orchestral music in the cutscenes. Rekindled light, to the surface, and Always continue to put me in a good mood.

[Nix]

Ok, well... Sonic Unleashed's soundtrack is ok-ish I guess?  I don't remember a whole lot of it except the Day Hub theme for Empire City, which is awesome.  

 

Oh and the Night stages' battle theme(s).  Because they play that shitty song nearly every shitty battle, and it's annoying as hell.  The music helps set the mood for the level, and that mood is constantly interrupted by some shitty battle theme that plays for damn near every battle in the game.  The battle theme is just pointless, it ruins the mood, and you're probably going to remember that song well before any other Night stage theme because you're going to hear it constantly.

 

Now, I fucking love Sonic Colors' soundtrack.  

 

 

Each level has a "main theme" so to speak, used in Act 1.  However, each level has about another two variations of that theme that gets used in the other Acts, and they all sound fantastic.  I don't think there's a single song I don't like in Sonic Colors, but there sure as hell are a lot of songs that I personally love.  All of Planet Wisp's Acts, all of Aquarium Park, Act 3 of Tropical Resort, Act 1 of Starlight Carnival, Act 3 of Asteroid Coaster, and Act 1 of Terminal Velocity are some of my favorite tracks Act wise.  The 8-bit remixes in Game Land are pretty damn awesome too.  That said, the Wisps' themes do get in the way of the actual songs sometimes, however I don't find them nearly as intrusive as the battle theme from Unleashed.

 

But there's more isn't there?  Why yes there is.  I'm going to echo elementofchaos here, because the map themes in Sonic Colors are absolutely beautiful.

 

 

Seriously, just sit in the Act Select screens and just listen to these themes every once in awhile.  They're just fantastic.

 

While not as memorable as the rest of the songs in the game, the background music during the cutscenes had a very distinct "Saturday morning cartoon" type of vibe going for most of them, which my inner child appreciated greatly.  It's the perfect kind of music for the tone Sonic Colors carried in its cutscenes: laid back, lighthearted, and carefree.

 

Also, Sonic Colors had some pretty awesome vocal themes.  Incredibly cheesy vocal themes to be sure, but I love them to bits just like I do my cheesy Saturday morning cartoon themes.

Edited March 3, 2013 by Nix

[Celestia]

Oh yeah, I remember listening to the cutscene music once out of curiosity, since I tend not to notice that sort of thing while playing the game. They're certainly very charming, but like the hub area themes you're unlikely to really notice/pay attention to them. The theme that plays during cutscene before the first boss is really good--I especially love the little bit of triumphant music that plays when Sonic appears and announces his presence to Eggman and the 'bots.

 

 

(kinda' wish I could have found a video of just the music but yeah)

Edited March 3, 2013 by elementofchaos

[KHCast]

The night music in unleashed is probably for me, the best part of the soundtrack(aside from RR day). Very relaxing and cool. And saxophone.

[Tani Coyote]

Heavily partial towards Unleashed's soundtrack. Lots of variety and lots of orchestral pieces.

 

I like my Aquarium Park, Tropical Resort and Egg Nega Wisp (both phases), but Unleashed had Windmill Isle, Rooftop Run, Jungle Joyride, Arid Sands, and Perfect Dark Gaia.

[Kiah]

Round 2: Music:

 

This was a much easier decision to make this time around! Both soundtracks from Sonic Unleashed and Sonic Colors are both very diverse and fantastic, orchestrated parts included! My vote goes to Sonic Colors, mainly because of this piece right here:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eODArFqHbf0

 

Planet Wisp Act 1. This has to be one of the most beautiful tracks that I have ever heard in my entire life. I remember the first time I heard it I felt like crying because it was so beautiful. I was totally mesmerized by it, totally amazed with the piano and bass together. I had listened to it over and over again for hours that night as I couldn't stop listening to it. I also enjoyed the Act 2 and Act 3 remixes of Planet Wisp as well as it is defintely the level in Sonic Colors that has my favorite music.

 

I liked how Sonic Colors provided 3 different versions of each track during gameplay, along with a introductory track for each level's menu/Act Select map, giving you more variations of each original track to enjoy. Even the Game Land music sounds good in its 8-bit glory, mimicking the sounds of each of the game's main levels. So in the end there is 4 different versions of each track, 5 if you include the Act Select music. Cutscene music is great too.

 

There isn't a track in Sonic Colors that I don't like. I can sit down and listen to this whole soundtrack with no problem or the need to skip a track. Tropical Resort and Sweet Mountain I find to be very catchy tracks, while Aquarium Park and Planet Wisp I find to be very peaceful and soothing pieces, Starlight Carnival sounds very festive like a party is going on, and Asteroid Coaster and Terminal Velocity never fail to get my adrenaline going. Especially Terminal Velocity:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8QXHW8CYeFU

 

Now if I was able to spilt my decision up bewteen vocal and non-vocal tracks, Sonic Unleashed's vocal tracks would defintely win out for me, as I didn't like the vocal tracks in Sonic Colors as much, being cheesy and all. "Endless Possibilities" is a fun song. "Dear My Friend" just happens to be my favorite vocal song because of the meaning behind the song. I find it very soothing and sad, yet beautiful and touching. I thought the song was rich in meaning in regards to friendship, which was a theme present throughout the game with Sonic and Chip.

 

In the end, I find both soundtracks to be amazing, and as beautiful and diverse as Sonic Unleashed's soundtrack is, it just doesn't stick out to me in my mind as well as Sonic Colors does. Sonic Colors just stands out to me much more and I find it much more memorable-and fun too.

[Dizcrybe]

Sonic Colors is an easy win this time around. Unleashed had some good tracks (and one AMAZING track), and the rest were all right, but it's not a soundtrack I'd really go back and listen to.

 

 

With Colors, on the other hand, almost every stage theme is an absolute joy to listen to.

 

I've said before that Colors was among my top 3 favorite soundtracks, sharing the honor with SA1 and S3&K, and I think the reason why is that it reminds me of SA1 at times. SA1 tended to have awesome tracks in which certain sections were just glorious. For example:

 

 

The guitar solo at 0:56 just stands out to me, and has always been my favorite art of the song.

 

 

This phenomena (am I using that right?) is present in Colors' OST as well. Take a listen of this:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HFHDwnD0jc8

 

1:17 is just... brilliant. The soulfulness and emotion of the guitar, supported by the background instruments, makes this one of my favorite tracks in the game, if not the franchise. MMM. SO GOOD. And then that part that follows it? Awesome.

 

And then there's Tropical Resort, which does an excellent job of setting up the tone of the game.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sSB2i7OpLTs

 

Listen to this, it just sounds like Fatboy Slim's "Soul Surfing" Sonic. Especially 1:19. It fits him perfectly.

 

Aquarium Park I don't find myself listening to as much, but it's still a great track.

 

Starlight Carnival Act 1 used to be my least favorite track in the game when I first heard it (though I still thought it was good), but it's really grown on me since then, thanks in no small part to the drum work.

 

Sweet Mountain is awesome as well. I realized this when I was watching a trailer before the game came out. What makes the track, though, and undoubtedly the horns. To take out the horns in Sweet Mountain would be akin to removing a man's soul. Also, I'm pretty sure they're sampled from somewhere. 

 

Planet Wisp is great; all three acts. Act 3, like SC Act 1, had to grow on me a bit, though, but now that it has, I love it. Though Act 2 is probably my favorite version. Shame what Gens did to it ​BUT THAT'S NOT WHY WE'RE HERE.

 

And finally, Asteroid Coaster. This Senoue-esque piece is always good for rocking out to. Also, it has another epic guitar solo. Act 2 I not only find awesome but interesting; am I the only one that hears the "hey hey hey" vocal from Stardust Speedway JP being used in there?

 

The boss theme is all right, but orchestral pieces rarely grab me.

 

 

TL;DR: Unleashed's soundtrack is good, great even, but Colors' is just phenomenal.

Edited March 3, 2013 by thapoint09 (temp)

[KHCast]

Temp you forgot terminal velocity!

[Jack / Joker]

Heh, Colors' soundtrack doesn't just win over Unleashed's, it fucking annihilates it. Sonic Unleashed was very good at getting music to fit the location, but it's really not a soundtrack I'd just listen to without getting bored. It's surprisingly weak for a Sonic game's soundtrack (which doesn't make it even slightly bad, bare in mind), with a bunch of dud soundtracks that I can't remember mixed in with the occasionally awesome track that sacrifices fitting the level well.

 

Sonic Colors' soundtrack is easily the best since Heroes or even SA1, the tracks not only fit the levels or cutscenes they're from, they get stuck in your head and you go back to listen to them. The music is powerful, cutscene music is extremely cinematic and even beautiful, and it features the best rendition of Dr. Eggman's theme. The stage music is so vibrant, soulful and amazingly composed that it makes the likes of Sonic '06 or Sonic Unleashed's soundtracks seem so empty and lifeless.

 

Unleashed's soundtrack may fit the situations better, but Colors' soundtrack is just of an infinitely much higher quality.

[Sega DogTagz]

This one is even harder for me to choose than the last one. I feel like Unleashed brings more to the table, but the better half of its efforts gets overwritten by that mind numbing battle theme. You barely get the chance to appreciate the astounding atmospheric pieces of the Werehog stages due to the constant intermissions of blasting the beat-em-up tune. While the Day stage music is almost equally as fantastic (Rooftop Run, Dragon Road and Jungle Joyride are instant classics), on its own it can't hold up to the entirety of Sonic Colors.

 

So the question looms... hold the battle themes against the Unleashed OST, or consider them for what they are and go from there...

Perfect Dark Gaia BGM vs Nega Wisp BGM?...... Damn.

 

Aquariam Park vs. Empire City? ..... Wow.

 

Rooftop Run vs. Terminal Velocity?.... Holy Crap.

 

 

and then I remembered this little gem.

 

 

C'mon seriously. Don't tell me that didn't put a smile on your face.

 

Its almost a shame you don't hear it more often.

 

That's what put Unleashed over the edge for me. The games vibe just hits the nail dead center. It knows what it wants to be and it accomplishes its goal with flying colors (lol I used colors). Its an all inclusive journey around the world. A whirlwind tour that samples the best of what each continent has to offer up. You can feel these places through their music. You can close your eyes and envision that you are there. That OST did its job spectacularly.

 

I've got no love loss for Colors though. Its got several of my personal fav's hidden away in that gold mine.

[Diogenes]

In a series that's got great music in general, Unleashed and Colors both stand out as being some of Sonic's best. You really can't go wrong with either game's soundtrack.

Overall, though, I think I have to go with Colors. Unleashed's music is good on its own and a great fit for its settings, but it just doesn't "wow" me enough. Colors, though, manages a mix of excitement, wonder, and playfulness that I think feels closer to "Sonic" than most of Unleashed's soundtrack.

I'd gladly trade Reach for the Stars for Endless Possibilities, tho'...

[Dizcrybe]

Temp you forgot terminal velocity!

 

No I didn't. It's the track underneath Mt. Red.

[Kuzu]

Imma have to give it to Colors, it's soundtrack just stands out so much more to me as I probably know every stage theme by heart despite only playing the game once or twice after beating it, and all of them are just fucking awesome. It honestly what I think a Sonic soundtrack should consist of, vibrant and audible theme tunes.

 

Unleashed is good in it's own right, but I felt because the music matches so well with the atmosphere, it just tends to blend in that you hardly notice it as you're blazing through the levels, especially in the night stages where all you'll probably be listening to is the Night Battle theme. I mean it has a few standout tracks, but nothing on Colors if I'm honest.

 

Tho, I will say I vastly prefer Endless Possibilities over Reach for the Stars.

[Gabz Girl]

Sonic Colours and Sonic Unleashed both have amazing soundtracks, but I too have to go with Sonic Colours in this case. Unleashed has an immense variety of music that suits every day time, night time and Town stage. Then there's the EPIC FAIL music that you hear when you get an E rank, that's classic.

But there are two problems; the annoying as hell Night Battle music that always interrupts the brilliant night time music and as Ragna said, the day time stage music tends to blend in because you're concentrating on boosting through the stage on numerous occasions.

 

Sonic Colours not only has three different versions of the same song in each stage, main hub music AND 8 bit versions of every stage, but the music is also very Sonic-y and suits the tone of the game perfectly. The Wisps tunes do get in the way sometimes, but luckily they don't overstay their welcome (unlike Night Battle music). And Egg Nega Wisp Phase 2...holy crap it's amazing. I like Perfect Dark Gaia, but this is EPIC!

 

 

Sonic Colours all the way! It's music I can listen to all day every day, it's super catchy and always very recogniseable. =D The only thing that Unleashed has over Colours? A better main theme.

Edited March 3, 2013 by Gabz Girl

[Burnt Ash]

I love both Unleashed and Colors's soundtrack, but I vastly prefer Sonic Unleashed's music, again due to preference than an overall quality thing. While Colors's songs are definitely upbeat and give an energetic feeling to the level, I love the mood set by Unleashed's music. Jungle Joyride Night is an excellent example of this. It is one of the last night levels (?) and it creates a sense of foreboding, as Sonic and Chip's adventure comes to an end, which is accomplished through an excellent use of the saxophone, marred only (same case for all night stages), by the battle music, playing far too frequently. The day time tracks are very energetic, moreso than Colors (for me, personally), and a brilliant example of this is Cool Edge Day, utilizing the guitar to create a fast paced music piece. So yeah, while I like Colors (Aquarium Park and Tropical Resort are personal favorites), I find myself preferring Unleashed's soundtrack more.

[Vertekins]

I adore both games soundtracks. Both games contain my absolute favourite songs in the franchise specifically Planet Wisp Act 1 and Cool Edge Night.

 

It's a tough one but I suppose Unleashed wins. I love the three variations that Colours has with one single stage theme. It is very evocative of Sonic CD's JP/EU soundtrack which oozes with creative brilliance but certain songs such as Asteroid Coaster and Starlight Carnival just don't captivate me at all and the cutscene music isn't exceptional.

 

A big pull of Unleashed's soundtrack is the sheer amount of varied instruments the songs use. For example, Adabat's hub uses the Gamelan, a wonderfully Asian-sounding instrument with a lot of cultural heritage attached to it, suits Adabat to a tee;

 

 

Unleashed's main theme apart from Endless Possibility is a tune that was played by the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra and it's grand-sounding feel is befitting of a world adventure, which happens to be the songs title actually.

 

 

Colours has it's title screen theme which is also played by a Philharmonic Orchestra (Wasn't it the Amsterdam one?) which is epic but doesn't quite... befit the game the way Unleashed's main theme does IMO. Splendid piece of music though.

 

 

Overall, Unleashed's strong cultural flavor to it's songs is, as I elaborated before regarding the settings, epitomizes the game's premise. Which makes it so memorable and powerful. But then Colours' level themes are fantastic for a different reason and suit the general feel of the franchise. Unleashed only wins because it had more of an impact on me.

[Carbo]

You'll have to chalk me up to one of the few people in the universe who actually didn't like Sonic Unleashed's soundtrack.

The reason for that is the very same reasons I didn't dig the art style. It's too generalized, and it's a cheap sell. Everything that you expect to exist in a setting like that exists, and it rarely throws you for a loop. Egyptian setting? Let's throw the same flute loop played in a minor scale just like literally every other Egyptian music out there. Sonic Adventure 2 handled the musical tropes far more responsibly and you'd visit similar locales like those in Unleashed.

Does that mean it's badly composed? Well.. no. But it didn't -wow- me in the least. I never get the urge to listen to any of the tracks on their own. I hate having to refer to Sonic 06 as a good point, but if you'd contrast Wave Ocean to Windmill Isle, each game's individual opening stage, the former immediately kicks off the level with a fast-paced beat and memorable keys and guitar right at the beginning of the stage, and it continues throughout. Windmill Isle though? It's build-up takes it's sweet time and the subtle melodies drown out far too quickly midst the action. For a game as fast and action-packed as Unleashed, the soundtrack was often a bit too peppy and, I don't know, naive for lack of a better word to give the impression that it's some magnificent return to form.

Speaking of drowning out, that's something else Unleashed fucked up musically. The fact that you're boosting 50% of the time means that the music gets thrown through a high pass filter making it indistinguishable and ugly just for the sake of giving you the sense of "speed", which is frankly, fucking awful for a game as renown for it's music as Sonic when they should have gone ways to implement a dynamic soundtrack system similar to what Platinum Games did with Metal Gear Rising as of recent. I can forgive the high pass filter in Colors though because of the way the game is designed you barely get to boost prolonged periods.

Oh right, and all those "memorable" night time tracks? I can't remember a single one of them. All I remember is the same. Goddamn. Fucking. Jazz loop.

On a composition and production level I can appreciate Colors far more for again having to stick to some of it's own creative guns and generally crafting an overall memorable production, each track of which manages to stick out on it's own accounts. The first level immediately kicks things off from the moment you press play on the title screen. The electronic work reaches some great new highs but it balances itself out with some of the more tranquil tunes like Planet Wisp. The theme for Terminal Velocity also conveys a great level of urgency right prior to the final boss which does the whole "orchestral reprise of the main theme" more responsibly than Unleashed, even though I'm not a personal fan of that kind of music work.

So yeah, my vote for Colors.

[Amomynous]

*Redacted*

I just don't know anymore...

Edited March 10, 2013 by Mysterics

[Emmett L. Brown]

Huh.

 

You know what? After staring at this page for five minutes I have to admit defeat. I can't choose between them. I think they're both fantastic soundtracks, and I honestly can't think of anything one surpasses the other with. Sonic Colors is the game I prefer to play any day of the week, but if you ask me to choose one soundtrack over the other I'm at a loss.

[Carbo]

One thing I don't understand is, why did Unleashed look technically prettier than Generations on consoles? They were running at the same resolution, roughly the same framerate (bar Adabat and Eggmanland chuggery), so what happened? Why did there have to be such immense compromises in the lighting system?

Wii didn't have programmable shaders.

Also, as far as I know Unleashed's native resolution runs at sub-720p while Colors can only go to 480p.

[Amomynous]

One thing I don't understand is, why did Unleashed look technically prettier than Generations on consoles? They were running at the same resolution, roughly the same framerate (bar Adabat and Eggmanland chuggery), so what happened? Why did there have to be such immense compromises in the lighting system?

Most likely Sonic Unleashed lighting was a part for the problem with Adabat and Eggmanland, ideally it should have been fixed some other way, though, unless PS3 and xbox360s themselves arn't capable, which is unlikely, there's a way to get the lighting processed fast enough.

 

The greater reason is that Generations is a rushjob, thankfully it didn't effect the gameplay though.

Edited March 3, 2013 by Mysterics