Orchestrated Music in the Sonic Games

[slam422]

Alright; I'm not sure if someone made a topic about this yet or not, so if someone did then you guys can go ahead and lock this one.

Now, I'm sure that all of you are aware that the recent game, Sonic Unleashed, had a lot of orchestrated music in it for many of the cutscenes & hub worlds. The game even had (in my opinion) an amazing orchestrated menu theme (preformed by the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra). Personally, I enjoyed these wonderful pieces, and am glad that Sega included them in this game.

Now, what I would like to ask is: what is it that you all thought of the orchestrated music, and would you like to see such music return in future Sonic titles?

Personally, I'd absolutely love to see more tracks like those appear in future Sonic games. I wouldn't be upset if they didn't, however, as Sega really seems to know how to make awesome music; regardless of genre!

Discuss...

[Super Peytonky]

I loved the orchestral pieces on Unleashed. Hearing more orchestral music or remakes of older songs from the series would be grand. I would certianly like to hear more of that in future Sonic games. Orchestrated Green Hill Zone would be awesome, I heard one on youtube once and thought it needed to be on a new game.

[R@fÆL]

More orchestrated music would be nice.

[EuroMIX]

Considering that the music for Solaris Phase 2 was one of the best parts of Sonic 2006, so much so that I began making a

I'm inclined to agree that Orchestrated music has it's place in Sonic games. The intro and world music for Sonic Unleashed was also a lovely addition which worked really well and I would have no objections against having more music like this in future games.

I actually love music and it's use in various types of media, video and computer games included. Orchestrated music in games like Kingdom Hearts helps make a great game even better and I can happily start Kingdom Hearts II and sit and listen to Dearly Beloved and Passion - KINGDOM Orchestra Instrumental Version playing while still having a good time.

Orchestrated remixes of older songs are also really welcome in my book and I love some of work by fans such as Kanjika's Breathtaking Vision, The Secluded Stronghold and Stranger To Closure, you have no idea all the strange things I have fantasised about while listening to those pieces, for example Breathtaking Vision takes me on a rollercoaster ride through the Earth's stratosphere past clouds and into the brilliant blue before we fall back gracefully to the Earth's surface. I love it when music can invoke such amazing feelings and much of the music in Sonic games is no exception.

So yes more orchestral pieces = good in my opinion.

[Kagura_Nitrogat]

Well considering they stick in my head first time played and not because it's rammed down my throat *cough* His World *cough* I would certainly love to hear more orchestral music, maybe even some Orchestrated Reincarnations of previous songs.

[batson]

I prefer the rock music of previous 3D Sonic games, and Yuji Naka has said that that kind of music is what he always wished that the Sonic games could have back during the 16-bit era. Which makes sense, considering the Sonic series is supposed to have an aura of "coolness" and "attitude", something that kind of music gives the feeling of. Orchestrated music on the other hand, really doesnt...

Furthermore, there are already so MANY video games with orchestrated music these days, so it's really nothing special anymore. The rock music of previous Sonic 3D titles on the other hand is something you dont hear that much in video games, particularly not in platform games, so that was one feature of the games that made Sonic stand out from the crowd.

[BlueFlare]

Sure. It'd be nice to have more orchestrated music in future Sonic games. Sonic Unleashed had some really good pieces. I'd like to hear more of that orchestral stuff and less rock style songs, please.

[JezMM]

Let's keep a mixture, but Orchestrated music definately has it's place.

"The World Adventure" was a fantastic "travelling the world" vibe theme, but I would not want to hear music like that in-level. They also kinda overused it in cut-scenes.

The opening movie theme however... the first half? That would make AWESOME epic final level music there. I love orchestral music that mixes in modern or techno elements like that to make it more exciting (see also "Escape From The Dragon" from the first Shrek movie's soundtrack).

I think it's a real shame that "Super Sonic Vs. Dark Gaia" had synthesised orchestra samples in it. That would have been amazing if they had commissioned Tokyo Pharmollic Orchestra for that as well.

But yeah, orchestra has always had a place in Sonic for some of the more exciting, but not quite attitude-filled moments. Several bosses in Adventure used it (though admittidly they were way too synthesised for my liking). Heroes and Shadow had Metal Madness and The Last Way (though both of these also had some techno elements which is nice). And of course Sonic 2006 had plenty (and while obviously not a real orchestra, sounded much better than the orchestra samples used on the synthesised tracks in Unleashed...)

+1 vote for orchestral Green Hill Zone though. The VideoGames Live version is simply amazing, I was very dissapointed that the Angel Island remix (while awesome) was the only redone song for Sonic on SSBB...

[eXtaticus]

You guys are going to hate me for saying this, but I really HATED the orchestrated peices. Ever since that poor excuse for a theme tune, His World, appeared in Sonic '06, I have regretted listning to every Sonic soundtrack thereafter. I can't say that I'm not biased against orchestral stuff - after all, the first game I ever played was Sonic Adventure, and the first song that I remember hearing was Azure Blue World on Emerald Coast (which, co-incidentally, is also thep song that inspired me to play guitar) - but I do have a slight soft spot for horns (Crank The Heat Up on Final Egg is PURE PWNAGE)...

And now, even the once-great Jun Senoue has poisoned his style with the orchestral evil! What the hell am I meant to do know?!?!?

[Crank The Heat Up:

[Azure Blue World: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Z3MzUZ5isQ&fmt=18]

[Scarlet2106]

Liked it in '06, hated it in Unleashed.

Basically, as long is it doesn't devolve into 'OMG ORCHESTRAL IS SOOO AWSUM LETZ PUT IT EVERYWHERE', I'm fine.

Well, that and as long as the music itself is good.

[Patticus]

Sonic doesn't really need heavily orchestrated music, nor does it need the kind of rawk we've had for a while now. What's wrong with music reminiscent of (but not trying to just copy) the chipper tunes of the old days? Chemical Plant Zone way back when had a catchy little melody goin on, but, knowing Sonic Team, if it was remade today it'd be heavy metal or some shit like that.

Whatever music they go with in future titles, I hope they make it fairly simple, catchy, and not heavy on the rock/metal/orchestration.

[Gatestormer]

Sonic doesn't really need heavily orchestrated music, nor does it need the kind of rawk we've had for a while now. What's wrong with music reminiscent of (but not trying to just copy) the chipper tunes of the old days? Chemical Plant Zone way back when had a catchy little melody goin on, but, knowing Sonic Team, if it was remade today it'd be heavy metal or some shit like that.

Whatever music they go with in future titles, I hope they make it fairly simple, catchy, and not heavy on the rock/metal/orchestration.

But if Chemical Plant Zone had been made in a time where instrument music soundtracks were possible, I'm certain it would've been filled with the electric guitars, drums and etc etc that have been around since Sonic Adventure. As has been said before, the series was always intended to have rock music, it's just that it wasn't possible to have real music tracks for Sonic 1,2,3K so we got the 16-bit tracks we all know and love. Even Sonic CD proves that the series was intended for rock music from the beginning,

and

back that up that.

[Semi-colon e]

Orchestrated music is okay, but it's pretty boring and it's in loads of videogames. I like the rock too, but I'd rather see more techno based tunes - Aquatic Base and White Acropolis, and even Crisis City had great music.

Or even rock/techno combinations, they work pretty well from what I've seen. Basically, I'm all for diversity.

[Reading]

I loved the orchestrated music in Sonic 2006; 2006's soundtrack is, actually, my favorite in the entire series. Unleashed, not so much, but it did have those few I thought were spectacular as well. I would fully support more orchestral music in the future, simply because I like the way it sounds. It has a more dramatic and emotional feel.

Considering that the music for Solaris Phase 2 was one of the best parts of Sonic 2006, so much so that I began making a

I also love that song. My favorite final boss theme of any game, ever.

You guys are going to hate me for saying this, but I really HATED the orchestrated peices. Ever since that poor excuse for a theme tune, His World, appeared in Sonic '06, I have regretted listning to every Sonic soundtrack thereafter. I can't say that I'm not biased against orchestral stuff - after all, the first game I ever played was Sonic Adventure, and the first song that I remember hearing was Azure Blue World on Emerald Coast...

I like the Emerald Coast songs, too. They still deserve credit as far as my opinion goes, just not quite as much as orchestral music. Though, His World is my favorite Sonic theme song, as well as the only one I really like.

I am in favor of mixed styles as well. That's why I like songs like His World and Crisis City.

[Legendary Emerald]

Liked it in '06, hated it in Unleashed.

Basically, as long is it doesn't devolve into 'OMG ORCHESTRAL IS SOOO AWSUM LETZ PUT IT EVERYWHERE', I'm fine.

Well, that and as long as the music itself is good.

This. I don't think I could have said it any better myself.

[Phos]

I prefer the kind of music that Sonic Adventure had. The orchestral stuff doesn't fit in my opinion. Sonic (when it was good) always had a surreal side to it, and that's emphasized by the synths.

[RhikoruFa-La-La-La-♪]

I'd have to agree a bit with some/most of the replies in here. No orchestral spamming, 06 got it dead-on, personally. Unleashed fit, but 06 was just awesome.

Still, perhaps make orchestral music ONLY for ancient temples and bosses, and leave the rest as good rock-techno-strings mixes (well, like 06) and I think I'd be fine.

Basically, bosses =

Edited July 9, 2009 by Roffles

[Blacklightning]

Orchestral can be nice according to the context, but I wouldn't want the games oversaturated with a single musical genre. The brilliance of SA2's (and to a lesser extent, SA1's) soundtrack was that it managed complete genre changes to fit the mood, giving a little something for everyone yet still managing a subtle sense of immersion.

Sonic Unleashed had most of its soundtrack orchestrated, and while there's still a few good tracks in there, it all eventually got old as the game progressed. Much the same happened with Heroes as far as the rock spectrum goes, though I guess that's what happens when you hire Crush 40 to do the entire soundtrack. Either way, a little balance is better on the whole.

[Gabz Girl]

Strange. I guess I'm the only one that didn't think it sounded right in Sonic 06. Yes the Solaris Phase 2 music is kickass, but orchestral music wasn't used much in the game anyway, it didn't do much for me. And His World was horribly overused.

The World Adventure is absolutely incredible though. It was so epic, even though half of it sounded like it was ripped off from SMG. XP I would really like to see a return to orchestral music for Sonic games, but only for the opening (like Unleashed), and maybe the final boss too. Otherwise, use rock and whatever else! :3

[slam422]

Okay, from reading all of the posts so far; I can tell that my original comment when starting this topic was misunderstood. When I was asking about if anyone would like to see more orchestrated tracks in the Sonic series, I didn't mean if you would like to see it become the main musical style for the games. I like the rock tracks; Crush 40 being one of my favorite musical groups to date, and I also understand that the orchestra could never hope to capture the sensation of speed that the levels bring to the table. I was just wondering if anyone like me would like to see that style of music return in future Sonic games for certain parts of those games.

Sorry for the misconception: I should have worded my original statement better...

[Phos]

Eh, I'm so tired of the orchestral boss music, I find it really pretentious, an example of the franchise talking itself too seriously. I'd prefer something more like

and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7jW48fWipE.

[JezMM]

I kinda like the thing they have going at the moment where the first half of the final boss tends to have orchestrated serious "generic" boss music, and then the second half brings in the rock elements for the "it's ass-kicking time" moment.

They kinda reversed that in Sonic Adventure and subverted it in Adventure 2 mind you (where the penultimate boss just had damn surreal music - but my god did it work beautifully).

EDIT: I still say something like 0:36 to 2:30 from this would make awesome stage music for an exciting stage for a climax point (perhaps time limited) in the story.

Edited July 10, 2009 by JezMM

[Leon K Fox]

I loved the orchestrated music in Sonic Unleashed, especially the final boss battle theme.

[eXtaticus]

Sonic doesn't really need heavily orchestrated music, nor does it need the kind of rawk we've had for a while now. What's wrong with music reminiscent of (but not trying to just copy) the chipper tunes of the old days? Chemical Plant Zone way back when had a catchy little melody goin on, but, knowing Sonic Team, if it was remade today it'd be heavy metal or some shit like that.

Whatever music they go with in future titles, I hope they make it fairly simple, catchy, and not heavy on the rock/metal/orchestration.

A long, LONG time ago, I suggested that Chiptunes were used in the new Sonic titles. They laughed, and called me insane.

You want good, funky, original, catchy and cool music in the new Sonic games? Your best bet is the Custom Soundtracks option on the Xbox 360, using this tune:

http://randomizer.se/tunes/modules/Random_...resso_(2ch).mp3

And this one...

http://randomizer.se/tunes/modules/Random_...rd_Monarchy.mp3

More tunes like those, mixed in with a little more of the controversial Sonic Adventure-style rock, would make THE PERFECT Sonic soundtrack. Teh UlTiM8 YumYumz.

Edited July 15, 2009 by Extaticus