Best Soundtrack Contest - Mk III

[JezMM]

Action Stage Themes - Up to 5 votes allowed

Crisis City: "The Flames"/"Skyscraper"*

Crisis City: "Tornado"

Flame Core: "Volcano"

Kingdom Valley: "Water"

Aquatic Base: "Level 1"

End Of The World**

You voted for six there, though the line break makes me assume it was unintentional. Either way could you clarify which ones you're voting for?

[Reading]

Vocal Themes

"His World" - Sonic's Theme

Action Stage Themes

Wave Ocean: "The Water's Edge"

White Acropolis: "Snowy Peak"

White Acropolis: "The Base"

Flame Core: "Cavern"

End Of The World

Honorary mention to Kingdom Valley: "Wind"/"The Castle".

Town Stage Themes

Soleanna Castle Town

Boss Stage Themes

Mephiles Phase 2

Solaris Phase 1

Solaris Phase 2

Other Themes

"Result"

Event Themes

Sonic Group

Mephiles Group

Solaris Group

"He's The Iblis Trigger!"

"Parade: Past Memories"

So, uh...I haven't read every page, but I notice people aren't usually giving the reasons for their votes. I hope it won't make the post an eyesore, but I'm going to go ahead and do that. I just don't feel right without it.

Comments may contain spoilers.

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Vocal Themes

His World

This is, by far, my favorite Sonic main theme song. I'm actually not that fond of any of the others, except Endless Possibility is sort of good, and I kind of like Knight of the Wind, in a cheesy sort of way...but anyway. His World has some nice orchestra, guitar, and good vocals. I think the song captures Sonic's personality near-perfectly, describing "His World" and how he has his own mindset and way of doing things. The song's minor key and snazzy orchestral effects also create a nice feel - upbeat, but almost sad in a way, like it's accenting on how Sonic is the only one with this permanent mindset, hanging onto his motive and attitude for life while the rest of world around him endlessly wavers among conflicting opinions and desires. A great song for Sonic, and a great song in general - it's really fun to listen to even outside of the fact that it's a Sonic song.

Action Stage Themes

The Water's Edge

This song sounds really beach-y, fitting perfectly to the oceanic environment. Wave Ocean is very similar to Sonic Adventure's Emerald Coast, and while I do enjoy Azure Blue World and Windy and Ripply, I like The Water's Edge better - it just sounds calmer and more serene. It almost feels like I'm there at the beach (which is no surprise, since I love beaches). I particularly think this song would suit an oceanic level with level design more like the Genesis games.

Snowy Peak

The first part of White Acropolis sounds quite retro with the "digital" instruments that form the melody in several locations throughout the song. It works epically (is that a word?) for the cold stage - along with the "abandoned base in a spy movie"-esque sound effects, it creates a nice abandoned and cold tone that just works so well and gets you pumped up for your entrance to the base.

The Base

The Base just seems to capture the depths of a freezing base perfectly. You really feel like you're in danger when you listen to the heavy rock, sneaking past searchlights and being shot at by guard robots. The beginning of this song is an excellent set-up - you're treated to ominous silence with more of the spy movie abandoned base-style sound effects, and then after a few seconds of drum roll, you're treated to some dangerous action-y rock.

The Cavern

It really feels like you're in a cavern. After the hot and frantic The Volcano, which I do like, but not quite enough to make it into my "Top 5", The Cavern is a tune done in a similar style, but with a much calmer and more subdued tone. I would've expected the inside of a volcano to have a more upbeat, "rockin'" or "angry" tune, like in a lot of other video games that have this sort of environment (Melty Molten Galaxy from Super Mario Galaxy comes to mind, one of my favorite songs from that game), but this calmer song fits strangely well, with more of an abandoned, ambient flavor that indicates the volcano might be dormant (although it looked rather active from the outside...), fitting the darker atmosphere, particularly the very dark room with the glowy spheres. This song seems quite versatile, like it could fit a lot of "abandoned" areas - I listened to it while writing a scene about an abandoned, "deactivated", "cyber" techno-maze, and it fit like a charm.

Also, as a quick note, do the Flame Core tracks actually have the word "The" in front of them? They're listed without it on the voting list, but the soundtrack names I have include them (yeah, I'm listening to each song as I write this).

End of the World

Well, what can I say? Really fits the environment it's used in (that seems to be a common theme here, doesn't it?), and it sounds creepy and foreboding, like a distorted, warped space-time area should.

Wind/The Castle

These similar songs were just pushed out of my Top 5. I love the orchestra-style pieces; they sound calm and nature-like, fitting for an area that hasn't been touched by sentient hands in a long time, but the tone and background percussion remind you that you're on a mission. Wind and The Castle sound like they could fit any foreboding grassland-type area. Perhaps Emerald Hill during a dimension-bending catastrophe in which the sky is darkened.

Town Stage Themes

Soleanna Castle Town

This relaxing yet lively tune just seems to fit the City of Water and its Italian flavor perfectly. The beginning of the song feels like it's introducing you to Soleanna in all of its splendor, and the new section about halfway into the song with its clarinet tunes (I can't really tell if those are clarinets, or trumpets, or what...) lets you know that Soleanna's a friendly, pleasant, and inviting town.

Boss Stage Themes

Mephiles Phase 2

This song sounds like it's really messing with your mind. It first gets you riled up with some ominous drum beats, steadily increases the volume with some sudden chimes, and then goes into full assault mode with a creepy gaping sound effect leading into the heavy, distorted main section. After this, we're treated to some weird chimes and mind-numbing sound effects that'll make your brain beg for mercy if you've turned it too loud. If Sonic's thoughts were ever distorted to the point of insanity, this style would fit a boss fight awesomely.

Solaris Phase 1

A very dark and ominous song. The Ominous Latin Chanting at the beginning and about halfway in really suits the fact that you're fighting an ancient interdimensional monster (and, the fact that I'm rather fond of rhythmic Ominous Latin Chanting). It's good in the opening, when it's just by itself, and again later. After that, the song seems to build up and intensify. It gets more and more intense, until at 2:46 into the song, it reaches its breaking point, with one final, cataclysmic key note. The sequence after that sounds like it's struggling to stay alive, giving its sad last hope and breath, and then it starts over. A wonderful boss theme.

Solaris Phase 2

Hands down, my favorite Sonic final boss theme. I already like His World, and this dramatic orchestral version is just about the best final boss music they could've done. As I described earlier, His World captures who Sonic is almost perfectly, and playing this version at the final boss really epitomizes Sonic and everything that he is. The song starts with a fairly low-key, orchestral remix of the opening, then crashes into a dramatic, triumphant rendition with ringing bells in the backdrop. The middle section is awesome as well, but the final section is probably my favorite part. The guitars and lead drum are abandoned in favor of dramatic strings, echoing bass drum, triumphant trumpets (that sounds like a children's book), and ambient vocals. It just sounds so triumphant and majestic.

I downloaded this song along with His World before I played the game, and when I played it, I was actually a bit disappointed by the somewhat lackluster transition to this song. Nothing really happens between the first and second phases, except a somewhat new form for Solaris; it's basically just "Oh, did we beat him?...Nope, he's back! Let's keep fighting!" So why the big change in music? I would've preferred a dramatic pre-final boss cutscene that really displays Sonic's personality, providing a great lead into the awesome final boss music. Shadow and Silver also fought this boss, which also kind of lessens the impact...but of course, now I'm just nitpicking. Doing something like that with just Sonic would be awesome, however.

Other Themes

Result

Well, it's His World. A nice acoustic remix of the main theme.

Event Themes

Sonic Appears

This is a great opener that accompanies Sonic's speedy entrance, rampaging all the robots, and rescuing Elise for the first time, prompting Eggman's missile attack. The heavy, upbeat, "Yeah!" guitar really sets the mood in place. Also, His World.

Theme of Sonic E3 2006 Version

I actually heard this song in Super Smash Bros. Brawl before I heard the "actual" His World, and as soon as the song began playing (it starts at the more dramatic point a few phrases in), I thought "WHOA this song is awesome." It's a great, more heavy rock, "capturing" version of His World. I don't really know why I thought of that word, but it seems to fit.

Mephiles Group

These songs are all pretty much the same thing, so I'll comment on them as one. Mephiles's theme is a very ominous and creepy tune that fits his character. It starts with a creepy opening piano, then zooms into a scary orchestral section that gets heavier as it progresses, leading into the final, heart rate increase-inducing section that lets you know that something bad is going to happen. It doesn't reach the "breaking point" - when the monster jumps out or whatever - but ends on that ominous note, leaving more to be discovered. A great theme for Mephiles.

The Villain Was Set Free

This song is based on Solaris Phase 1, and even without the Ominous Latin Chanting, it has a great ominous mood nonetheless. It starts with some calm orchestral notes, with vocals and harp-like effects that create an almost "ominous revealing story" feel, then moves into a violin section that enhances the mood some more. It's just so obvious that something terrible is about to happen.

The Resurrection of Solaris

Also based on Solaris Phase 1, this is a much heavier, more intense tune that really sets the tone for the impending disaster. It could only fit an atmosphere in which a catastrophic event like this End of the World is about to happen.

He's the Iblis Trigger!

This is another version of Mephiles's theme, but with a new, calm, dramatic section added in the middle. This section sounds very nice and dramatic with the orchestra, almost like it's actually explaining something and giving a dramatic revelation. Then, it crashes into the final section of Mephiles's theme, concluding with the scary finisher. A great song.

A song like this would work wonders for any creepy "revealing" scene, like, for example, if Sonic was having a disturbing nightmare. The calm opening plays as Sonic hears a mysterious voice. This leads into the middle section as the disembodied voice tells Sonic to kill someone he loves, and as he slowly moves toward them. The final section kicks in as the other person's eyes widen in fear and surprise, and just before Sonic stabs them, the song ends on its high violin note, and the dream suddenly ends. I can imagine my heartbeat racing already.

Parade: Past Memories

Ahhh...this song is just so beautiful. From the graceful piano opening to the final violin note, this song is almost 2 minutes of pure emotion. It really captures the mood of the scene with Sonic and Elise, knowing that the world has been saved at the cost of them ever meeting, a sad event because of how close of friends they became and how Sonic amazed Elise with his amazing talents and personality. Sonic's gentle smile as he watches the feather glide along the air seems to imply that he has at least partial recollections of the adventure. I think Sonic 2006 has the saddest ending of any Sonic game - Sonic Adventure 2 is a close second, but this song alone is probably what pushes 2006 into the lead for me. I didn't actually cry when I saw the ending, but my eyes sort of felt that way. Whenever I listen to this song, I feel like crying. I'm reminded of good, but sad endings, and how this song fits so wonderfully with the sad mood of the ending.

...And, for that reason, this is NOT a song I want to get stuck in my head. I listened to it a while ago, and then at my friend's birthday party, it was sometimes a struggle to drown it out with Arid Sands Day (which I also listened to then).

[JezMM]

^ Since this is a voting topic people don't usually do huge posts but I sure as hell don't mind if you want to talk to that length about them. Hell I might do myself at some point! It was a good read. =)

[Dr_Ultimate]

These are my votes

Vocal Themes

"His World" - Sonic's Theme

"Dreams Of An Absolution" - Silver's Theme

Action Stage Themes

Wave Ocean: "The Inlet"

White Acropolis: "Snowy Peak"

End Of The World**

Boss Stage Themes

Egg Cerberus/Egg Genesis

Egg Wyvern

Other Themes

"Town Mission 1"

[JezMM]

Okay, we've got a few definate winners, a tiebreaker, and a... possible tiebreaker. Winners are as follows: His World, Solaris Phase 2, Mission 4, and the "Sonic Group" of event themes.

Our tiebreakers are for the action stage themes and town stage themes... however I can't be sure about whether the Action Stage themes need a tiebreaker or not. As you may have seen, The Adventurer posted 6 entries, presumebly accidentally. The result of this is that... disregarding his post, White Acropolis: Snowy Peak and End Of The World are drawing. However, End Of The World is one of the ones he voted for, so if he did mean to vote for that one, that means it has one extra vote causing it to beat White Acropolis. If not and he did vote for End Of The World by accident, it means we'll be sorting it out with a tiebreaker. I don't just want to disregard his votes like that so I'm gonna give a bit of time for him to let me know.

Until then, our other tiebreaker is for the Town Stage Themes!

EDIT: Now updated with the Action Stage tiebreaker.

Round 32 - Sonic the Hedgehog (Primary Vote) TIEBREAKER

Please vote for ONE track per section.

Action Stage Theme Winners - Time Limit Ends: 3:40pm GMT (24 hours since this edit - see bottom of post)

White Acropolis: The Snowy Peak

End Of The World

Town Stage Theme Winners - Time Limit Ends: 11pm GMT (24 hours since this post - see top of post)

Soleanna Castle Town

Soleanna Forest

Soleanna New City

24 hours to vote, the first to 2 votes wins.

Edited April 20, 2009 by JezMM

[Reading]

^ Since this is a voting topic people don't usually do huge posts but I sure as hell don't mind if you want to talk to that length about them. Hell I might do myself at some point! It was a good read. =)

OK, then.

Funny, it took me almost two hours to write that entire thing, and then I accidentally deleted half of it. DX I tried to restore the second half as accurately as I could remember.

Anyway, I vote Soleanna Castle Town again.

[JezMM]

The Adventurer PM'd me and confirmed to cut out EotW, so we have a new tiebreaker, I've added it to my previous post.

[Blue Kirby]

White Acropolis: The Snowy Peak

Soleanna Forest

[JezMM]

Just under 3 hours remaining for the Town Stage tiebreaker.

[Reading]

I also vote Snowy Peak for the action stage tiebreaker.

[JezMM]

Well, time is up for the Town Stage tiebreaker and we have a winner for the other. I declare Soleanna Castle Town the winner of the Town Stage tiebreaker as it was voted for first.

Round 32 - Sonic the Hedgehog (Final Vote)

Please vote for ONE track.

Primary Vote Winners

"His World" - Sonic's Theme

White Acropolis: "Snowy Peak"

Soleanna Castle Town

Solaris Phase 2

Town Mission 4

Sonic Event Theme Group ("Theme Of Sonic ~E3 2006 Version~"/"Sonic Appears")

It amuses me that 50% of these tracks are all variations of Sonic's theme, hehe. X) Anyway, I vote for White Acropolis: Snowy Peak.

[Semi-colon e]

White Acropolis Snowy Peak please, awesome music right there.

[Reading]

Hmm...tough choice. I'd have to say Solaris Phase 2.

[Blue Kirby]

His World!!

[SoniClub]

"His World" - Sonic's Theme:

I kind of wore that song out a bit. I listened to it all the time. The fact it was used on every Trailer for the 'Sonic The Hedgehog' didn't help. Or the fact people still use it in their fan video's for Sonic.

But seeing as I haven't done so in a while, i've rediscovered it's awesomeness! It's not the greatest ever. But it's good enough to just beat the rest in the catagory. (Why all the love for Snowy Peaks; never thought it was that great! )

This was a tough one though. As many agree, The music was the only quality part of Sonic 06!

[Legendary Emerald]

Never voted in one of these things before. Guess I'll go with "Solaris Phase 2", because the cover versions of "His World" are much better than the original.

[JezMM]

Just about 24 hours remaining to vote... and right now it's a 2 vote tie between His World, White Acropolis and Solaris!

[Phos]

The Flashman theme.

[canderson]

I'll go with the Solaris Phase 2 theme.

I don't like the others =(

[JezMM]

The Flashman theme.

I'll probably seem really lame for busting your joke with this response, but while I get the fact it's probably a MegaMan reference, what I don't get is if you might have been trying to cleverly use it to refer to an actual track in the current round, so unless you clarify it as being a clever reference to an actual valid choice that I'm just not getting, I won't count it obviously, lol.

Oh, in other news, just over 4 hours left to vote. Current winner is Solaris.

Edited April 22, 2009 by JezMM

[JezMM]

Crap, forgot to update this last night. The winner is Solaris Phase 2!

Next up we have Secret Rings. I even went through and added descriptions of the cut-scene music coz I <3 you guys. (I really do, I love doing this contest and it would suck having no-one to vote in it, lol). But don't feel obliged to vote for it anyway if you don't care, lol. Incidentally, while it may seem odd for me to treat the main theme as a boss theme, there are only two "main" vocal songs in this game, and it seemed kind of off to put Seven Rings and Worth A Chance against each other in a single category, so yeah. Finally, I realise the Violin music in the party games is a bit too short to not be considered a "jingle", but it's too unique a context for me to include it in the upcoming jingles-only round. No other games have violin playing minigames after all, lol.

Round 33 - Sonic and the Secret Rings (Primary Vote)

Please vote for the appropriate number of tracks per section.

Stage Themes - 3 votes allowed

"The Lost Prologue" - Lost Prologue

"Let The Speed Mend It" - Sand Oasis

"The Wicked Wild" - Dinosaur Jungle

"The Palace That Was Found" - Evil Foundry

"High And Broken" - Levitated Ruins

"No Way Through" - Pirate Storm

"The White Of Sky" - Skeleton Dome

"Unawakening Float" - Night Palace

Boss Themes - 2 votes allowed

"Poison Spear" - Sand Scorpion

"How It Started" - Ifrit Golem

"Blue On The Run" - Captain Bemoth

"It Has Come To This" - Erazor Djinn

"Seven Rings In Hand" - Alf-Layla-Wa-Layla

Event Themes - 3 votes allowed (Added examples to serve as reminders)

"The Last Palace" - Opening FMV/Boss Introductions

"Sandstorm" - Title Screen/Erazor Meets Sonic

"Power Of The Ring" - End of level experience screen

"Misgiving" - Sonic's meeting of Shahra in his room

"Judgement" - Sonic collects the green world ring and asks Shahra if her magic can remove the arrow from his chest

"Ali Baba & Sinbad Rescued!" - Special Book Menu/Sonic Meets Ali Baba

"Shimmer Of Hot Air" and it's variations, "Heartbeat" and "Rage" - Excerpts used in various cut-scenes, and "Rage" is used in it's entireity when Sonic collects the Blue World Ring and Shahra gives him the mysterious "last resort" object.

"The Legendary Blue Hedgehog" - Sonic collects the yellow world ring and Shahra claims he is legendary

"His Fate" - Sonic collects the purple world ring, and Shahra explains why Erazor became evil (Worth A Chance Piano Version)

"King Of Kings" - Sonic and Shahra meet King Solomon

"The Promise" - Sonic promises he'll have Shahra smiling by the end of the ordeal (Seven Rings In Hand Acoustic Version)

"Miss You" - Shahra sacrifices herself for Sonic (Worth A Chance Acoustic Version)

"Revive" - Ending FMV

"Worth A Chance" - End Credits

Party Themes - 3 votes allowed (Added Youtube links for the multiple-use minigame themes)

"Character Select" - Character Select

"Advertise" - X Adventure World Map Menu

"Party Dress" - In-Game Theme

"Yellow Sneakers" - Quick upbeat theme used for many exciting competitive games

"Blue Shirt" - Slow-paced theme used for slower, less frantic games

"

- Funky theme used for slower-paced but rather competitive games

"

- Quick intense theme used for games that often have a very panicked atmosphere

"Violin Beginner's Class" - Specifically used for "Play! Violin"

"Violin Middle Class" - Specifically used for "Play! Violin"

"Violin Higher's Class" - Specifically used for "Play! Violin"

"Pull On It!" - Specifically used for "Pull on it! Carpet"

My votes:

Stage Themes: The Palace That Was Found, The White Of Sky, Unawakening Float

Boss Themes: Poison Spear, Seven Rings In Hand

Event Themes: Sandstorm, Misgiving, Worth A Chance

Party Themes: Yellow Sneakers, White Gloves, Violin Beginner's Class

Edited April 24, 2009 by JezMM

[Blue Kirby]

-Stages themes--The palace that was found // no way through // High and broken

-Boss themes---seven rings in hand

i didn´t like event themes, sorry.

-Party themes--yellow sneakers

Edited April 23, 2009 by Blue Kirby

[ovarloard]

Stage themes - "Let The Speed Mend It", "The Palace That Was Found", and "High And Broken".

Boss themes - "Blue On The Run"

I don't really listen to event themes, so I can't vote for these.

And, lastly, for Party themes, "Yellow Sneakers", "Purple Pants", and "Pull On It".

[Unknown]

Stage Themes: High and Broken, No Way Through, Unawakening Float

Boss Themes: How It Started, It Has Come To This

Don't really know the Event or Party Themes, unfortunately.

[JezMM]

About 22 hours remain to vote. Current winners are a tie between The Palace That Was Found and High And Broken, Seven Rings In Hand, Event category stands to be eliminated and Yellow Sneakers.

Also because I'm bored I'm going to follow Reading's example on the previous page by talking about what I loved about some of my choices:

The Palace That Was Found: The tune as a whole is pretty repetitive and ordinary, but when the melody changes from the synthesised strings to the electric guitar solo near the end, it's just awesome.

The White Of Sky: I love the lyrics to this one, and the instrumental section I find to be really catchy. Very interesting and unique tune too, there's not much else in the series like it.

Unawakening Float: This is, seriously, my favourite final level tune from any Sonic game ever. It's so damn epic and really pumped me up for the finale. Love the lyrics too, and the melody on the chorus is classic. Perfect mixture of epicness and "evil"ness for a final stage theme thanks to that darker guitar melody before the final chorus. Also love the way it opens, and how percussion is added to the opening upon the repeat in the track.

Poison Spear: Once again Fumie Kumatani at her best. Love love love this track and I seem to be the only person who does. The main tune is okay, but like many of my fave Secret Rings tracks, it's the bridge that really makes it. Good lyrics too.

Seven Rings In Hand: It's a good theme song that was unfortunately overused on the menu screens so was lame during the final boss. But more than anything I just love the chorus, especailly the guitar thing in the background. You know, where it's like "Seven rings in hand, speed through nights with feet in sand" ~Daw-naw-naaaw~ with the guitar. Love that.

Misgiving: This is such a chilling little track and really made the opening sequence for me. At first it sounded sort of generic fantasy tune with arabic elements, but then the modern pulsing percussion comes in half way through, and it just totally amplified the effect of the music to me. Gorgeous.

Edited April 24, 2009 by JezMM