Worst Sonic Game Soundtrack?

[JezMM]

People working at SEGA are just not consistent lol

Up til now she was. Consistantly AWESOME. 8C

I generally haven't liked the cut-scene music lately though. It's all just cartooney plinky plonks and endless refrains of the main theme whenever Sonic does anything. There are still some nice tracks but I miss the more original and varied tracks of stuff like Sonic Adventure 2's cut-scene music.

[Indigo Rush]

Sonic 4's music is only "bad" from a technical standpoint. They overuse the synth to the point of nausea. If they did something more akin to Sonic Generations, then I'm certain it would be more well-liked.

You can break down music in Sonic games to 3 parts:

Melody: the tunes and lyrics

Genre: the style and instrumentation

Technical quality: what technology was used to produce the music.

Melody and Genre are never inherently "crappy" or "bad," unless the melody is garbled something awful, or if the style doesn't fit the situation. Knuckles' rap numbers fit in their situation for being mostly ambient in nature, for example. A bad fit would be, say, Sky Deck's theme in Green Hill Zone. The song in itself isn't bad, but it doesn't fit the nature of the level. This is not the case with the Werehog levels, because the tunes are well orchestrated and fit the situation. (that's why we hear the Werehog battle theme so often, because the traditional ambiance of the level won't always mesh with combat)

On a technical level, however, we can get some bad quality at a clearer level. It doesn't matter how great the melody is, if it's being poorly emulated or sounds like a farting floppy drive, then it won't have much of a chance. Sonic 4 and Chronicles sort of fit into this, because the technology available was advanced enough to produce better quality sounds, but the sound team failed to take advantage of it. Sonic 4 was a synthetic mess, and the less said about Chronicles, the better.

So, this is just me repeating what I said before. A song is not bad unless the technical quality is low or if the melody and genre does not fit the situation. The latter is never a problem for Sonic, but the former is represented in a few games.

EDIT: completely forgot Sonic four whatever it was.

Oh, don't worry, I'll help you remember what it's called!

Sonic 4, see? You had it right the first time.

...get over it.

Edited June 28, 2011 by Indigo Rush

[Double Agent Motobug]

oh come on. XD All of the soundtracks mentioned here are way cooler than the soundtracks from both Rivals games. They were 40 second generic loops that didn't fit any of the levels they were in, except probably for the first level in Rivals 2. (The Instrumental to Race to Win).

Also, I personally think Black Knight had a badass

(It personally has my favorite last boss song ever... xD Marty Friedman FTW)

[JezMM]

I actually really dig both Rivals' soundtrack, though I do agree they were half-arsed length-wise, and did feel rather dark. Reminded me of Shadow's soundtrack.

You did pick the most boring song from the game there though.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sf4EpKhVbkQ

One of my favourite last stage themes there.

( I do hate that the only game rip in circulation though doesn't even let the tracks repeat/fade-out or anything mind you. =\ )

Edited June 28, 2011 by JezMM

[Indigo Rush]

oh come on. XD All of the soundtracks mentioned here are way cooler than the soundtracks from both Rivals games. They were 40 second generic loops that didn't fit any of the levels they were in, except probably for the first level in Rivals 2. (The Instrumental to Race to Win).

Also, I personally think Black Knight had a badass

(It personally has my favorite last boss song ever... xD Marty Friedman FTW)

Sonic Rivals 2 did have some gems here and there:

BUT.

BUT.

It's also responsible for this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UEKlBTV2K7E

THAT DOES NOT GO WITH GREEN HILL ZONE AT SUNSET, I'M SORRY.

Edited June 28, 2011 by Indigo Rush

[Double Agent Motobug]

Aha, Well like I said, the Rivals soundtracks to me seem the least inspired of any soundtrack. As a musician, I see these tracks' lack of real melodies and overall sameyness (again, barring Blue Coast, possibly more) as bases for more elaborate songs...but then it never happened. And yeah, most of the songs don't really fit (in my opinion) with the level themes. (The exceptions being the base levels I s'pose, as Jezmm posted). Originally the only soundtracks I didn't like were the Riders ones, mostly for the same reasons, but upon relistening they weren't so bad.

='D I think my favorite game OST is probably Sonic Rush, or Sonic 06. xD Soon to be pwned by Sonic Generations, methinks.

[Gabz Girl]

Bleepy bloopy bleepy bloopy blip blip bloop--Sonic Chronicles of course! D: Makes the NES sound like the Wii!

I never liked the music in the Gamegear games either. Just so bland and forgettable. And apart from a few tracks, ShtH doesn't have any interesting tracks either. They're so...bluh. >_>

[Kuzu]

Chronicles has the worst soundtrack imo. But if it wasn't for that game, I'd say Sonic R had the worst, the music was... unfitting.

[Mega]

My problem with Sonic 4's soundtrack is that the tracks are too darn short. Most are only about 30 seconds. The Genesis game tracks tended to be 45 seconds to a minute in length. Sometimes longer, if you look at 3D blast.

And that final boss music was the worst. It was like... ten, fifteen seconds?

[Dark Qiviut]

My problem with Sonic 4's soundtrack is that the tracks are too darn short. Most are only about 30 seconds. The Genesis game tracks tended to be 45 seconds to a minute in length. Sometimes longer, if you look at 3D blast.

[Sean]

Sonic 2006 was an abysmal, bland mess. Just barely over half the tracks on the OST are boring event music I automatically don't care about. The boss music is very forgettable, even if some of it really tries hard to stand out. Probably the most disappointing aspect is actually that of the level themes themselves, some which are decent but not good, and I wouldn't go out of my way to listen to them again. I got some enjoyment out of them once upon a time, but they're really nothing special and I can barely remember them. This game's soundtrack bores the shit out of me and I think its main claim to fame is that it rips off Flash Man's theme at one point.

[Vertekins]

About the Sonic 4 looping...

E.G.G Station gets very annoying very quickly due to the repetition of the song To the point of distraction. The final boss music is extremely irritating as well...

[azoo]

Chronicles, Chaos & Triple Trouble (minus Sunset Park), Sonic Blast, Advance 3, Rivals 1&2, Drift 1&2, and.. Sonic Labyrinth, maybe? I don't know, it's hard to find bad Sonic soundtracks. Note that all of those were handheld titles, as well.

Sonic 4: Episode 1 had bad instrumentation, but great songs. Haters of the boss music just gonna hate. I will say that EGG Station, the pinch-boss song and the final boss song are all kind of obnoxious, though.

Also do not understand the hatred of Spinball, either 3D Blast, SA2, ShTH, Nextgen or SatBK's soundtracks. Some soundtracks may not necessarily fit the Sonic series (SA2, ShTH, SatBK) but they're still good; and some are just too good in general to ever put down (Spinball, both S3Ds, Nextgen).

also anyone who says anything about either SCD soundtrack or Sonic R's I'mma slap you so hard

Edited June 28, 2011 by Azukara

[Indigo Rush]

I agree with Azukara. Sonic Spinball had some cool tunes, too:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pbEfadBoE70

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6apIXTeqO0U

[Blue Blood]

Sonic 2006 was an abysmal, bland mess. Just barely over half the tracks on the OST are boring event music I automatically don't care about. The boss music is very forgettable, even if some of it really tries hard to stand out. Probably the most disappointing aspect is actually that of the level themes themselves, some which are decent but not good, and I wouldn't go out of my way to listen to them again. I got some enjoyment out of them once upon a time, but they're really nothing special and I can barely remember them. This game's soundtrack bores the shit out of me, and I think its main claim to fame is that it rips off Flash Man's theme at one point.

[azoo]

I agree with Azukara. Sonic Spinball had some cool tunes, too:

[Your Vest Friend]

To decide my least favourite, I'll go through by the soundtracks by game (excluding the Game Gear games, as I just don't have any interest in them from a sound view, save Emerald Ocean). In this case, how much I like the soundtrack may not reflect how much I like the game.

-Sonic 1; Is actually a very good soundtrack, despite my stance on the game itself. Marble Zone, Spring Yard Zone and Lost Labyrinth Zone are gems.

-Sonic 2; I love this soundtrack. The only track I don't have on MP3 is Aquatic Ruin Zone. Thinking about it now, that's a shame because it's really a nice tune.

-Sonic CD; No, fuck this, both versions. Sonic CD in all respects is forgetable to me, which includes not recalling one in-game tune from it. The theme tunes are great, though.

-Sonic 3; While I'd say Ice Cap Zone from this is overrated, it's a decent enough soundtrack.

-Sonic and Knuckles; Another great one!

-Sonic Spinball; It's...okay. Honestly, given that it holds the title of my least favourite Sonic game, that's a huge compliment.

-Dr Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine; I actually like it a lot.

-SEGA Sonic Arcade; I enjoy it. Not one of the best, but the ending theme is a right corker.

-Knuckles Chaotix; Love it. They really went to town with the 32 bit capabilities.

-Sonic 3D; The Saturn version is forgetable, but the Mega Drive version is nice!

-Sonic R; I LIKE IT, LEAVE ME ALONE.

-Sonic the Fighters; I think it's pretty cool.

-Sonic Adventure; Eh, decent, not one of my faves. The character themes are great, though.

-Sonic Adventure 2; Actually a big step-up from Adventure in my eyes, wonderful soundtrack. My favourite theme on there is Throw It All Away, oddly enough.

-Sonic Shuffle; Never played, can't say.

-Sonic Heroes; There's a reason I own the OST to this. <3

-Shadow the Hedgehog; There's actually a good number of corkers in this one, and all the themes are brilliant.

-Sonic Advance; Eh...whatever.

-Sonic Advance 2; Better, but still meh.

-Sonic Advance 3; Better, and actually quite cool.

-Sonic Rush; YES. The game is mediocre, but I LOVE the soundtrack.

-Sonic Rush Adventure; This one has a fantastic soundtrack too!

-Sonic Rivals; I like it.

-Sonic Rivals 2; I love it! And going against the tide, I'd say the tunes for the levels were all suited to them (aside from the often mentioned Sunset Forest).

-Sonic '06; Eh, not memorable to me at all, can't even remember Dreams of an Absolution or His World.

-Sonic and the Secret Rings; Not played enough, can't remember the songs from what I did play, next.

-Sonic Riders; There's...erm, four songs I remember (Egg Factory, Digital Dimension, the SEGA-themed level and the menu music). That's about it.

Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity: And all I remember of this is Ride Through Gravity. Peh.

Sonic Free Riders; Never played (own the game, but not a 360 or Kinect), can't make a verdict.

-Mario and Sonic 1; Actually is nice.

-Mario and Sonic 2; And this one's lovely, especially the dream events (although I'm certainly down with Ski Cross!).

-Sonic Chronicles; Remember my verdict on Sonic CD and Sonic 3D? Take them, but make it 100x worse. It wouldn't even fly in an 8-bit Sonic game, let alone a DS one.

-Sonic Unleashed; Ranks up there with the best.

-Sonic and the Black Knight; I LIKE IT, LEAVE ME ALONE.

-Sonic Colours; Erm...not that memorable, for me.

So, TL;DR:

-Worst soundtrack is Sonic Chronicles, by far.

-Most overrated soundtrack is Sonic CD. Which will not go down well with a lot of my SoA cohorts.#

Edit: If there's one thing I will say about Sonic Spinball's soundtrack, I find that it's generally oversynthed to the point that what's there is too heavy to listen to. Listening to that options tune...it's probably the best one I 've heard off the game since the oversynth suits it. :/

Edited June 28, 2011 by VEDJ-F

[Sami]

Sonic 2006 was an abysmal, bland mess. Just barely over half the tracks on the OST are boring event music I automatically don't care about. The boss music is very forgettable, even if some of it really tries hard to stand out. Probably the most disappointing aspect is actually that of the level themes themselves, some which are decent but not good, and I wouldn't go out of my way to listen to them again. I got some enjoyment out of them once upon a time, but they're really nothing special and I can barely remember them. This game's soundtrack bores the shit out of me, and I think its main claim to fame is that it rips off Flash Man's theme at one point.

Edited June 28, 2011 by Dissident

[ChikaBoing]

Liking the Music has a lot do with how much you experienced the games, obviously. The OST of Unleashed was like an complementary part of the game, especially in the Daytime Stages, you can't replace it, much like you can't replace it in a Music Rythum game. Same goes for the Hub Worlds, an important part of why the Music grew on me, is because of a ever first time still demonstration of the Hedgehogs Engine Lighting and general graphics, if it were just a Map like in Unwiished/Colors or just had last-gen look, I woudn't nearly care as much for the Music. In contrast, Colors only had Maps, the Maps themes being so good made up for it.

In the Classics however, I wasn't so big on the Music even, if I were playing mute I woudn't miss it that much, the gameplay just made up for that.

Rush kinda didn't fit well togheter IMO. The Beta Leaf Storm fits far better.As so I like Rush's OST, but it doesn't enhance my enjoyment of the game,being unfitting.

[azoo]

Ah, thanks for reminding me; I had completely forgotten about that game. Black Knight may have been bland and generic, but unlike R, it didn't hurt my ears. UGH. I hate everything about Sonic R, and the OST is among the worst of the problems.

[Indigo Rush]

You best be trollin. Sonic R has one of the best OSTs in the series. Every track is epicamazing, and you KNOW IT. Super Sonic

On an unrelated note, I know that this isn't technically Sonic music, but Mean Bean Machine had some awesome stuff. Specifically this track:

[eXtaticus]

I'm going to have to go with SatBK on this one. Why? Well, allow me to repost (bearing in mind that it doesn't take into account the tracks exclusively on Face to Faith) for the Sonic Stadium last October:

- ~ -

Tales of Knighthood - Sonic and the Black Knight Soundtrack Review

Sonic Adventure, Sonic Adventure 2, Sonic Heroes, Shadow the Hedgehog; all games with stupendously superb soundtracks, all of which were directed by none other than Sega’s resident guitar god, Jun Senoue. The man is, quite frankly, an absolute genius; his incredible slashes of remarkably powerful rock and marvellous metal have been stalwart features of Sonic soundtracks since 1998, and his wowing influence continues to dominate the styles of the series’ masterful music even when he’s not actually directly involved in creating it. Since giving the hedgehog’s first truly 3D outing a distinct “rock” flavour, Jun’s become a world-renowned musician in the gaming industry, and has even contributed some material to popular Nintendo arena fighter, Super Smash Bros Brawl. After leaving his post as Sound Director in the Sonic series for a few years, (following the release of Shadow the Hedgehog) Mr Senoue has finally been invited back to work on the OST for the much-anticipated Wii title, Sonic and the Black Knight. So, has the long wait been worth it, and has the master of video game metal managed to make just as powerful and positive an impact as he did on Sonic Adventure, ten years previously?

Unfortunately and disappointingly, the answer to this question is, most definitely, a disconsolate and resounding “no“. Screeching guitar and overly simplistic melodies both serve to make Tales of Knighthood a thoroughly unenjoyable experience to listen to, and this is further worsened by the fact that the whole soundtrack exhibits very poor audio engineering throughout virtually the entirety of its duration; most of the various (and derivative) rock licks are ruined by their shockingly woeful tinniness, and the mismatched blend of classical and modern instruments creates nothing but tedious clashing and sharp discord.

The uninspiring and unoriginal orchestral pieces don’t help matters much, either; comparing them to their older equivalents in previous Sonic titles (such as the awe-inspiring Tricky Maze from Sonic Adventure) does far more than enough to show their true direness, and also reveals a worryingly high level of under-complexity in the newer tunes. Boring, lacklustre, and monotonous, these orchestral interludes give very little to the overall quality of the album, and serve only as worthless and pointless intermissions to break up the equally dull repetition of the rock.

It’s a real shame, too, as Tales of Knighthood not only marks Jun Senoue’s return to Sonic, but also the long-awaited comebacks of Richard Jacques (of Sonic R fame) and Howard Drossin, (who contributed to the fabulous Sonic & Knuckles soundtrack, and was also involved in creating the music for other classic MegaDrive titles such as the much-venerated Comix Zone and The Ooze) though neither of them have actually produced anything outstandingly spectacular for this particular album. A notable mention, however, is Drossin’s Dragon’s Lair, (not to be confused with Dragon Slayer, a dreary orchestral track with a stupidly similar name) which provides at least a moderately enjoyable listening experience, but - due to its uninspiring melody - falls a few marks short of being able to be classed as the incredible masterpiece that one would expect from such an acclaimed and experienced artist.

There is, however, a single, individual piece of music - composed by Sonic newcomer, Tommy Tallarico (made famous for his work on the original MDK) - which stands head and shoulders above all of the other tracks on the entire two-disc span of Tales of Knighthood; with a stupendously spiffy blend of spicy flamenco and riveting rock licks, Molten Mine is a wholly wonderful joy of a tune to listen to, and it serves as the one and only saving grace for the entire album as a whole. I was extremely shocked and disappointed, then, to discover that this magnificent musical magnum opus was actually a remix of one Mr Tallarico’s previous works; namely “Action”, from the distinctly unpopular Saturn and PlayStation helicopter simulator, Black Dawn. This in no way stops it from being an excellent tune, however; it’s just a major disappointment that the stellar sound team behind this decidedly un-stellar soundtrack couldn’t - at the very least - come up with some decent, inventive and new material for us all to devour and enjoy.

Tales of Knighthood, then, is - in virtually every way - a potentially wonderful album, though it’s thoroughly and totally ruined by Senoue’s scrap-metal, Drossin’s dross, and Jacques’ junk. And although Tommy Tallarico’s tremulously tantalising cover of “Action” from Black Dawn provides at least some classy and exciting listening material, it does precisely and absolutely nothing whatsoever to alleviate the diabolically serious originality crisis which grips the soundtrack so tightly. As it stands, it’s just an incredibly unsatisfactory group of unnecessarily lacklustre tracks, most of which provide absolutely zero pleasure and exert next to no charm at all. Oh well; for Jun Senoue, there’s always Sonic 4 and Sonic Colours, right?

2/10

Summary: Thoroughly unmemorable, virtually unenjoyable, entirely unspectacular and appallingly unexciting, Tales of Knighthood is the definitive example of a well and truly sub-par Sonic soundtrack, which relies on cheap covers and repetitive rock riffs to defibrillate its flat-lining fest of ultra-low-octane pseudo-fusion, pseudo-metal woefulness.

- ~ -

So, yeah. Negativity in the vitriol aside, I loathed it - and if you don't believe me about Molten Mine being a remix, take a gander at these two YouTube videos; the first being the Black Shite remix, and the second being the far superior original:

Vs.

I'll leave you to decide the rest...

[Carbo]

I don't really get the argument that Sonic 06's soundtrack wasn't "Sonic-y" enough. By Sonic Adventure standards, the stage songs hit home most of the time. They aren't really that memorable though, and I'd say apart from Wave Ocean and Kingdom Valley (Water), there wasn't really a track from that soundtrack that burned itself into my memory. It's production values were commendable but much like a lot of other game music catching onto the Orchestral fad, Sonic 06 kind of drowns in over-saturation, much like a lot of Orchestral Sonic music nowadays.

I will say however, that I find much more enjoyment in listening to the Sonic 06 soundtrack than the Unleashed soundtrack. I don't hate the Unleashed soundtrack, but I really don't like it either honestly. It seems as if it tries too much to be generally quirky, especially with the overuse of certain folk instruments.

[Indigo Rush]

I'm going to have to go with SatBK on this one. Why? Well, allow me to repost (bearing in mind that it doesn't take into account the tracks exclusively on Face to Faith) for the Sonic Stadium last October:

- ~ -

Tales of Knighthood - Sonic and the Black Knight Soundtrack Review

Sonic Adventure, Sonic Adventure 2, Sonic Heroes, Shadow the Hedgehog; all games with stupendously superb soundtracks, all of which were directed by none other than Sega’s resident guitar god, Jun Senoue. The man is, quite frankly, an absolute genius; his incredible slashes of remarkably powerful rock and marvellous metal have been stalwart features of Sonic soundtracks since 1998, and his wowing influence continues to dominate the styles of the series’ masterful music even when he’s not actually directly involved in creating it. Since giving the hedgehog’s first truly 3D outing a distinct “rock” flavour, Jun’s become a world-renowned musician in the gaming industry, and has even contributed some material to popular Nintendo arena fighter, Super Smash Bros Brawl. After leaving his post as Sound Director in the Sonic series for a few years, (following the release of Shadow the Hedgehog) Mr Senoue has finally been invited back to work on the OST for the much-anticipated Wii title, Sonic and the Black Knight. So, has the long wait been worth it, and has the master of video game metal managed to make just as powerful and positive an impact as he did on Sonic Adventure, ten years previously?

Unfortunately and disappointingly, the answer to this question is, most definitely, a disconsolate and resounding “no“. Screeching guitar and overly simplistic melodies both serve to make Tales of Knighthood a thoroughly unenjoyable experience to listen to, and this is further worsened by the fact that the whole soundtrack exhibits very poor audio engineering throughout virtually the entirety of its duration; most of the various (and derivative) rock licks are ruined by their shockingly woeful tinniness, and the mismatched blend of classical and modern instruments creates nothing but tedious clashing and sharp discord.

The uninspiring and unoriginal orchestral pieces don’t help matters much, either; comparing them to their older equivalents in previous Sonic titles (such as the awe-inspiring Tricky Maze from Sonic Adventure) does far more than enough to show their true direness, and also reveals a worryingly high level of under-complexity in the newer tunes. Boring, lacklustre, and monotonous, these orchestral interludes give very little to the overall quality of the album, and serve only as worthless and pointless intermissions to break up the equally dull repetition of the rock.

It’s a real shame, too, as Tales of Knighthood not only marks Jun Senoue’s return to Sonic, but also the long-awaited comebacks of Richard Jacques (of Sonic R fame) and Howard Drossin, (who contributed to the fabulous Sonic & Knuckles soundtrack, and was also involved in creating the music for other classic MegaDrive titles such as the much-venerated Comix Zone and The Ooze) though neither of them have actually produced anything outstandingly spectacular for this particular album. A notable mention, however, is Drossin’s Dragon’s Lair, (not to be confused with Dragon Slayer, a dreary orchestral track with a stupidly similar name) which provides at least a moderately enjoyable listening experience, but - due to its uninspiring melody - falls a few marks short of being able to be classed as the incredible masterpiece that one would expect from such an acclaimed and experienced artist.

There is, however, a single, individual piece of music - composed by Sonic newcomer, Tommy Tallarico (made famous for his work on the original MDK) - which stands head and shoulders above all of the other tracks on the entire two-disc span of Tales of Knighthood; with a stupendously spiffy blend of spicy flamenco and riveting rock licks, Molten Mine is a wholly wonderful joy of a tune to listen to, and it serves as the one and only saving grace for the entire album as a whole. I was extremely shocked and disappointed, then, to discover that this magnificent musical magnum opus was actually a remix of one Mr Tallarico’s previous works; namely “Action”, from the distinctly unpopular Saturn and PlayStation helicopter simulator, Black Dawn. This in no way stops it from being an excellent tune, however; it’s just a major disappointment that the stellar sound team behind this decidedly un-stellar soundtrack couldn’t - at the very least - come up with some decent, inventive and new material for us all to devour and enjoy.

Tales of Knighthood, then, is - in virtually every way - a potentially wonderful album, though it’s thoroughly and totally ruined by Senoue’s scrap-metal, Drossin’s dross, and Jacques’ junk. And although Tommy Tallarico’s tremulously tantalising cover of “Action” from Black Dawn provides at least some classy and exciting listening material, it does precisely and absolutely nothing whatsoever to alleviate the diabolically serious originality crisis which grips the soundtrack so tightly. As it stands, it’s just an incredibly unsatisfactory group of unnecessarily lacklustre tracks, most of which provide absolutely zero pleasure and exert next to no charm at all. Oh well; for Jun Senoue, there’s always Sonic 4 and Sonic Colours, right?

2/10

Summary: Thoroughly unmemorable, virtually unenjoyable, entirely unspectacular and appallingly unexciting, Tales of Knighthood is the definitive example of a well and truly sub-par Sonic soundtrack, which relies on cheap covers and repetitive rock riffs to defibrillate its flat-lining fest of ultra-low-octane pseudo-fusion, pseudo-metal woefulness.

I've always wondered why personal opinions deserve ratings. Oh well, stay classy Eggsy.

[Tatsumaki]

Toxic Caves and Lava Powerhouse are great. I will say though that my favorite from that game is the most controversial one:

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

I'm sure the good majority hates it, but I honestly loooove this track. Don't know what it is but I have a soft spot for this tune.

I... Actually love that song.

Dat sunshine.

Edited June 28, 2011 by Tatsumaki