Alternate Sonic Soundtracks

[Tara]

I've suddenly realized that despite owning Sonic & Knuckles Collection, I've never actually heard the soundtrack differences between S&K Collection and the original S3&K.  Does anyone have links to those since finding them on YouTube seems to only lead to the Genesis version?

[Dizcrybe]

For starters:

 

[MegasonicZX]

For starters:

 

First time hearing this and already sounds a thousand times better than the original.

[VO.SUPER]

That PC soundtrack of S3&K sounded pretty good to me. 

 

As for the other tracks, I lean to no side of the Sonic CD argument. Some tracks I prefer the Japanese version, some I prefer the American version. Because sometimes I dig just having some more atmospheric tracks versus the bubbly crazy tracks of the Japanese version. For starters, while Palmtree Panic is a good track, those "yays" are just kind of obnoxious to deal with. 

 

I really just wish we could mix tracks for different parts of the levels.

Edited October 13, 2013 by VisionaryBlur

[Tara]

For starters:

 

This is really good, but it doesn't seem to match the idea for Launch Base at all.  That may just be because I was introduced to the Genesis version first, though.

[Tornado]

I thought it was changed due to either

 

1. copyright claims on Work That Sucker To Death and whatever song "TELEPORTATION YEAH, SCABBIDY-BOYEAH" comes from

 

or 2. The USA CD using a different audio format to the JPN and EUR ones.

They changed CD's soundtrack in America because they thought the original soundtrack sounded too generic for the time.

Make no mistake: They changed the soundtrack just to (rightly) let SoJ know that they could go fuck themselves. There were no rights issues or technical problems that Sega of 1993 couldn't work through relatively easily. Sega of America just wanted Sega of Japan know that they would not be pushed around like Sega of Japan wanted them to be regarding the game.

 

Sonic CD's soundtrack change was one of the most asinine decisions SoA ever made regarding Sonic IMO next to dumping X-treme's development team in the deep end from the beginning and allowing Archie to do whatever the fuck it wanted for years with the comic to disasterous effect. It was very unnecessary and a waste of time and money as far as I'm concerned, needlessly delaying the game. Came off as dick-waving too.

You know, regardless of any personal biases shown here, I hardly think giving Spencer Nilsen another outlet to work the same beautiful musical magic that he did with Ecco and Ecco II (even if the soundtrack itself isn't quite to the level of those two) was a waste of time or money just because it delayed what was ultimately a mediocre game from a failed game system for a few more months.

[Vertekins]

You know, regardless of any personal biases shown here, I hardly think giving Spencer Nilsen another outlet to work the same beautiful musical magic that he did with Ecco and Ecco II (even if the soundtrack itself isn't quite to the level of those two) was a waste of time or money just because it delayed what was ultimately a mediocre game from a failed game system for a few more months.

 

That only plays into it if you consider the game mediocre.

 

I don't.

 

Mega CD was a commercial failure and not a well thought-out console but then back at the time of CD's release, I don't think it's commercial failure was apparent then though I might be wrong.

 

I just consider the unsuiting, banal, samey US soundtrack a blemish on a truly great game and quite unnecessary when there was nothing wrong with the JP/EU one. I have to question whether or not SoA purported excuse for the soundtrack replacement being it did not appeal to the US was a good excuse.

[₪►F3lhog◄₪]

For starters:

 

 

Woah, just got a flashback to my childhood there. Sonic & Knuckles Collection was actually the first Sonic game I ever played back in 1997. If you compare those 3 (or 4 or 5, not sure) new soundtracks added for the PC version. I think they were done really well. In fact, I actually prefer the Casino Night and Launch Base soundtrack on the PC version than the Genesis one...(make the Icecap one a tie, since the Genesis one is really memorable, too)

 

About Sonic CD, I gotta say I wasn't a fan of the US soundtrack. - -U Also, going to the past and listening to a complete different tune felt a little out of place.

 

Make the Sonic 3D Blast soundtracks (Genesis/Saturn version) a tie, too, both were really great. 

 

It's kinda difficult to find a Sonic game with horrible soundtrack on it, even Sonic 06 has some good pieces of music, too. The one that comes to my mind it's Sonic Chronicles, hand down. >.< I never played  the game, but when I heard that god awful soundtrack and those horrible remixes...well...pretty much that was the reason I never gave it a try.

[Tornado]

That only plays into it if you consider the game mediocre.

 

I don't.

Just like your opinion only plays into it if you consider Sonic CD's US soundtrack "unsuiting, banal and samey," funnily enough. The game controls like shit if you play it any time after playing one of the regular ones, the level design is increasingly erratic, and in the long run it was ultimately irrelevant to the series compared to the ones that came out on the Genesis proper since the system was already not accomplishing what Sega wanted it to do by the time the game came out so barely anyone had played it until it was rereleased on the Gamecube.

 

Coming out a couple months later so Sega of America could have some creative control of the content of it (with a strong argument to be made towards making it more suitable for American tastes of the time) rather than just have it foisted on them like Sega of Japan tried to do with everything else on the Sega CD doesn't seem too horrible of a thing to me as a result; and we got two great soundtracks out of it as a result regardless of if you consider it a waste of time and money for them to have done so.

 

I just consider the unsuiting, banal, samey US soundtrack a blemish on a truly great game and quite unnecessary when there was nothing wrong with the JP/EU one. I have to question whether or not SoA purported excuse for the soundtrack replacement being it did not appeal to the US being a pretty bad one.

Oh, I dunno. Considering this was well before the anime boom in America, shoring up the cornerstone releases of one of the biggest franchises of the decade with a wacky J-Pop soundtrack with Engrish lyrical songs probably wouldn't have been received very well. And since the American market bought into (and had much more of a reciprocating effect on) the series far more than the European and (especially) Japanese one anyway, that seems like a fair enough call for Sega of America to make at the time.

[GuyWithThePie]

I don't just prefer the JP versions of the Sonic CD Boss and Game Over themes, I actually enjoy them too. Can't get enough of JP's Game Over:

 

TOOT TOOT SAWNIK WARRYOR, OH YEH, TOOT TOOT SAWNIK WARRYOR *Epic finish*

Edited October 20, 2013 by GuywithPie

[Aidan Heffernan]

I think I have one of the rarest revisions of Sonic Spinball [The one that sounds like the Sonic 1 title theme] but I think it sounds better in my opinion, what do you guys think?