Sonic Forces Vocal Theme - "Fist Bump"

[StaticMania]

Fan-fic = bad...

 

That's the common thought. Even though it's bad.

[Kuzu]

Yea, the melody isn't really memorable. I remember hearing the instrumental and simply thinking this is "alright", but the lyrics just compound that the whole song is simply unremarkable. It's literally the most generic rock song in existence, which is baffling for a series that has produced so many memorable themes for over a decade now. I don't know how you drop the ball so hard on what's been one of the series` most consistently amazing points.

[StaticMania]

It was bound to happen sooner or later...

 

It is later rather than sooner...

[Patron]

Fist Bump was alright, although it felt like something's off. Comparing it to my favorite version of the theme, I think it's the vocals following the instrumental to a tee. They lost a lot of "oomph" with this decision. Usually both components can play more off each other: You already have a very strong singer and at the climax of the song the instruments can kick it up a notch raising the bar. But if both are essentially the same this can't happen and therefore it flatlines in parts where you'd expect it to go grander.

[PKGaming]

The vocals are the only thing I dislike. I think it could be better if they added more echoes or harmonics. As it is now, it really just sounds like a guy singing to an already made song rather than the vocals and instrumentals working together. But hey, what do I know? I don't know crap about music.

[FReaK]

when the world is falling apart, millions of people probably dead and the hope of everyone only relying on a small group of animals...they bring a song about fist bumping. hilarious.

[PC the Hedgehog]

Yeah, I think I'll take the instrumental version over this. Sorry, that dude's vocals are just really subpar.

Bring on the Crush 40 remix, I say.

[Chris Knopps]

Uhhhhh...

That's a fan cover right...?

I mean...

They're just featuring something a fan did, right...?

...

(Starts listening to Live and Learn)

Okay, feeling good now.

[Marcello]

7 hours ago, Johnny Boy said:

That's funny because some fan made vocals (Emi Jones comes to mind), are actually better than this.

7 hours ago, Dejimon11 said:

Yeah her rendition is really good

 

 

That's supposed to be better or at least good? 

[JaidynReiman]

With how amazing Sonic game music has been in the past, I was looking forward to seeing a return of good vocal tracks. I've loved Sonic game's vocal tracks in almost every game, even when others hated them.

 

I'm... not feeling this song at all. I just don't like it. I listened to it once and I was like "What?" I don't WANT to listen to it again, and I NEVER have that issue with Sonic vocal main themes. Even the name "Fist Bump" threw me off. The instrumental is good, but nothing else about this I'm liking at all. And that sucks. Maybe it'll catch on if I re-listen to it, but I just... don't know.

 

The only past Sonic tracks I've really disliked have been the slow songs, some of which others have enjoyed quite a bit (Live Life, Dear My Friend). We Can and Sonic Heroes are some that I like less than others, but I do enjoy them on occasion.

[Baconjack]

The lukewarm reception to this song highlights one thing-

It is literally impossible to please the Sonic fan community.

For me, personally - I like this song. The instrumental is the strongest part - but I don't believe the song is finished at this stage, which is why it sounds rough around the edges, particularly the lyrics. I'm sure that the lyrics situation will improve. But I don't like is that fans are bashing the song because Johnny Gioeli isn't doing vocals.

To be fair, Crush 40 has made some great songs (Open Your Heart and Knight of the Wind are two of these), but they are not the gods of Sonic music as so many fans have made them out to be. Like any band, Crush 40 have had their duds - their renditions of All Hail Shadow and His World are ones I can think of off the top of my head. 

I remember the fans bashed Endless Possibilities when it first came out because it wasn't Crush 40. But now, it sits towards the top of my favourite Sonic songs, and quite a few others.

The only thing I don't like about the song is the name Fist Bump. It really has nothing to do with the song, at least what we've heard of it so far.

[BlueFlare]

As someone who never cared for the vocal tracks, like Crush 40 stuff, I'm not really into the music of Forces. Not only the vocal tracks but the music in general so far, it's surprisingly bad considering how good the music usually is in Sonic games. But yeah, it's apples and oranges after all.

[Ratcicle King]

Welp after listening to it a couple more of times, it is kinda growing on me. My main problem is the singer himself, his voice kinda doesn't match the song or the lyrics IMO. Plus the song itself is already crowded enough without vocals which can really make the vocal clash with the instrumental, heck,  at the beginning it straight up sounds like a mash up.

 

2 hours ago, Sir Laptop said:

The lukewarm reception to this song highlights one thing-

It is literally impossible to please the Sonic fan community.

You do know the Sonic Fan Community isn't a hive mind entity right? Everyone has different opinions on every subject when it comes to basically anything, there's no ''everyone hates this'' or ''everyone loves this''

[Ayliffe]

3 hours ago, Sir Laptop said:

It is literally impossible to please the Sonic fan community.

you sure 'bout that mate

[Sonikko]

4 hours ago, Sir Laptop said:

The lukewarm reception to this song highlights one thing-

It is literally impossible to please the Sonic fan community.

I swear, if I read this one more time I'm gonna snap.

It is not our fault Sonic games are not being handled well. Each entry of the franchise (since going 3D) has been an average game at best.

Not being broken games like 2006 doesn't make them great games.

This vocal track sucks, Hoobastank was possibly the worst choice possible.

The vocals are out of place with the instrumental, the guy is pitchy, maybe on purpose, going for a punkish sound that doesn't do justice to the cheesy rock instrumental, the tempo in the chorus is all over the place, and don't get me started on the lyrics.

[Chris Knopps]

3 hours ago, Sir Laptop said:

It is literally impossible to please the Sonic fan community.

That line... Second only to "It aged badly"...

Throughout the history of this franchise the music has always, ALWAYS been the highlight of most, if not every title, and here we have THAT beginning to fail in Forces.

Now, granted you could give the composer an excuse of having a lack of experience writing vocals, IF the main composer IS writing them, but still.

The lines surpass any previous title by far in cheesiness, and even so, that COULD be forgiven if the music accompanying the singer, and the singer himself, was any good and/or matched up properly.

But none of that is going on with this track, and I can't tell if I'm hearing the music or his voice blaring more. Everything's off.

[Sonikko]

If there was one good thing about this game was this theme, but these vocals killed it. 

The Avatar songs aren't bad, but they don't really fit a game, everytime I see an Avatar gameplay I feel like I'm watching some sort of fan amv or a "Character does stuff while I play unfitting music" kind of meme. Seriously, why is this game so all over the place?

Everytime a new Sonic game comes out and maybe it's not a great game, I can fall back on the soundtrack at least, because those have been consistently good. Forces sucks on that front too, it's baffling.

[Baconjack]

3 hours ago, Ayliffe said:

you sure 'bout that mate

I'm not referring to specific games, but I'm just pointing out that a large minority of Sonic fans are extremely pessimistic and just don't know what they want, because they bash every Sonic game for every little thing that they can find, which annoys me greatly. It's been like this since Unleashed started development - and it's getting rather old now. I'm not solely pointing the finger at these forums - but on other places throughout the internet. I've read plenty of "first impressions" reviews of Forces as it was seen at E3, and the majority of them, save NintendoLife, were quite positive. Meanwhile, from a sizeable portion of our community, the E3 demo of Forces was met with hisses and derision. When IGN, which have gone on record as saying "Sonic was never good" is more positive about Forces than some members of our own community are, then we've got a problem on our hands. 

It's July. If Forces is meant to come out in the holiday season of 2017 (probably in December), it is unlikely that they have completed the song, like most of the other Sonic Forces music, and I suspect Sega will improve the song before the games come out. Remember, the YouTube video says that it is a "sample" and it is unlikely they have finished the song. 

[Chris Knopps]

2 minutes ago, Sonikko said:

If there was one good thing about this game was this theme, but these vocals killed it. 

The Avatar songs aren't bad, but they don't really fit a game, everytime I see an Avatar gameplay I feel like I'm watching some sort of fan amv or a "Character does stuff while I play unfitting music" kind of meme. Seriously, why is this game so all over the place?

Everytime a new Sonic game comes out and maybe it's not a great game, I can fall back on the soundtrack at least, because those have been consistently good. Forces sucks on that front too, it's baffling.

The vocal music in this game is trying to do EXACTLY what Sonic 4 did.

Sonic 4 went for a Genesis trilogy sound and failed.

Forces is going for a CD/R hybrid and is failing.

Somebody PLEASE give the men/women working on the Forces soundtrack some coffee or a 5 hour shot or something.

You'd think the folks arranging all this was a few feet away from deaths door, the music sounds like it was put together by folks that are totally exhausted and just throwing things around for the heck of it and seeing what sounds at least slightly... Fun... I guess?

[Sonikko]

Just now, Sir Laptop said:

I'm not referring to specific games, but I'm just pointing out that a large minority of Sonic fans are extremely ungrateful and just don't know what they want, because they bash every Sonic game for every little thing that they can find, which annoys me greatly. 

First, they complain about the gameplay in Forces, the graphics, the custom hero option, Classic coming back, Green Hill returning, and now, they bash the main theme of the game because Crush 40 doesn't sing it, which includes a handful of people on this thread.

It's July. If Forces is meant to come out in the holiday season of 2017 (probably in December), it is unlikely that they have completed the song, like most of the other Sonic Forces music, and I suspect Sega will improve the song before the games come out. Remember, the YouTube video says that it is a "sample" and it is unlikely they have finished the song.

 

I know exactly what I want, and I've expressed those thoughts in great detail over time.

To be fair, all of the people unhappy with the game on here have gone in great detail, to explain what is wrong with it, with the franchise and what we think would be a better way to handle things.

If there's anyone who, in my eyes, has no idea what a Sonic game should be, and has no quality standards, it's the people who keep saying that Sonic fans can't be pleased. 

Because Forces is all but a good Sonic game.

[Chris Knopps]

6 minutes ago, Sir Laptop said:

I'm not referring to specific games, but I'm just pointing out that a large minority of Sonic fans are extremely ungrateful and just don't know what they want, because they bash every Sonic game for every little thing that they can find, which annoys me greatly. 

First, they complain about the gameplay in Forces, the graphics, the custom hero option, Classic coming back, Green Hill returning, and now, they bash the main theme of the game because Crush 40 doesn't sing it, which includes a handful of people on this thread.

It's July. If Forces is meant to come out in the holiday season of 2017 (probably in December), it is unlikely that they have completed the song, like most of the other Sonic Forces music, and I suspect Sega will improve the song before the games come out. Remember, the YouTube video says that it is a "sample" and it is unlikely they have finished the song.

So in other words you're harping at this very community from its members to moderators alike for voicing complaints toward all these things by and large regarding Forces?

That's baiting almost everyone at these forums, ALMOST mind you...

Grievances which have VERY valid and reasonable explanations as well.

[Sonikko]

Man I don't really understand what being ungrateful means. 

Sonic Team is not giving me food, water, they're selling me a damn product which is average at best and costs 60 bucks.

What should I be grateful for, a new meh game in a franchise I love? A new not-great iteration of my favourite game series?

Sonic has great potential, these medicore games do nothing but get me pissed off.

I'm not grateful, I don't owe them anything. 

I'm really happy Mania is a thing, because for once a game is hitting all the right buttons, and I, the ungreateful unpleasable fan as you say, have bought the game twice already.

I'm pissed at Sonic Team because they won't allow a great 3D Sonic game to exist, and it surely can. Just not like this.

 

EDIT:

There's a reason press is shitting on Forces, while Mania is in the spotlight and NOBODY is saying bad things about that Sonic game.

Guess what, it's being handled by people who really know what works and what doesn't, and maybe they have to work within limitations and restrictions by SEGA and Sonic Team. I'm going for a wild guess, but I think the remixed levels are Sonic Team meddling with the Mania team, and not their decision. And EVEN THEN they're handling it in a much better way Forces could ever do.

 

[Bobnik]

54 minutes ago, Sonikko said:

Each entry of the franchise (since going 3D) has been an average game at best.

Sorry, this is just as bad as "Sonic was never good".

 

Also, of course it's impossible to please everyone in the Sonic fandom, or any other fandom to begin with. Fanbase isn't a hivemind, many people have different opinions. Some like Mania because of what it does, some don't because they think it's a "glorified fan-game with rehashed stages". Some like Forces because they like the gameplay styles. Some hate it because of questionable design choices. It's nothing new, this franchise has gone through that most of its lifespan. It's okay, opinions are okay. Complaining about complainers and people criticizing what they see won't do anything good, it only creates more toxicity towards each other (as already seen here by some people).

The only thing that is really shitty is stating opinions as something factual (exampleis at the top of the post). Don't do dat. 

 

Also expecting a great game is pretty much shooting yourself in the foot, especially with this franchise.

ALSO also, this has gone off-topic.

Quote

Now, granted you could give the composer an excuse of having a lack of experience writing vocals, IF the main composer IS writing them, but still.

Doug himself wrote the lyrics.

[Sonikko]

13 minutes ago, Bobnik said:

Sorry, this is just as bad as "Sonic was never good".

No, it's not. Each game since going 3D has been a worse iteration of what came previously. Adventure 1 was some kind of translation of the classic gameplay in 3D, and it kind of worked. It wasn't the best, maybe because of hardware or time limitations, but it was a good starting point.

Adventure 2 stripped almost all the classic elements away and laid the foundation for the modern games, very linear and straightforward level design is one of the new staples in the series.

Each game from Heroes to 2006 ruined the formula further, and I don't think there's any objection to that.

Unleashed was trying something a little different than the later "Adventure" games, but the boost formula turned out to be stale after a couple of iterations because it's not deep and there's not much anyone can do about it. There are very little ways to improve on what they have, and what they have isn't great by any means. It makes up for a functional game but not a great one.

What we have now barely resembles the source material anymore, the only Sonic-y elements that are left are now automated and might aswell not be there. The boost formula is not radically different or trying to go in a different direction, it's just a stripped down version of what we started with, a more shallow and less thought out iteration of Sonic gameplay.

It requires very little interaction, and it's more of a memorization feat than anything.

And this is without going in detail.

So this being said, which games are above average? Adventure 1? I'd argue that since 1/6th of the game is good, the rest is garbage.

Adventure 2 is even worse in that regard. Heroes is below average. Shadow the Hedgehog is garbage. 2006?

Unleashed? Half the game is average, half is garbage. Colours? It's the most unSonicy game I've ever seen. An average platformer at best with very bad and slippery controls, it's doing nothing worth of note.

Generations? Generations is ok, if you don't mind some of the lame classic levels and some bad modern stage like Planet Wisp. 

Lost World?

Boom?

13 minutes ago, Bobnik said:

Also expecting a great game is pretty much shooting yourself in the foot, especially with this franchise.

Speaking of lowered or non-existent standards.

I repeat, these people are selling us a product, a 60€/$ game. They're not our friends, family or whatever.

If a game is bad I won't support it, why should Sonic get a free pass?

If the game is great, I'll even buy multiple copies, like I did with Mania.

 

EDIT:

It may be impossible to please everyone, but they're not pleasing anyone with Forces. And that's an accomplishment, you really have to try to piss off almost an entire fanbase.

[StaticMania]

Maybe the music for this game will be all negative...it'll be a first for a mainline Sonic the Hedgehog game.

 

But it could happen, they might need a break after making so many good music pieces for 20+ years.