Sonic 4's Soundtrack(s)

[PC the Hedgehog]

Am I the only one who absolutely adores the Sonic 4 soundtrack and, dare I say, find it to be some of Senoue's best work?

Yeah, I said it.

[JonoD]

Am I the only one who absolutely adores the Sonic 4 soundtrack and, dare I say, find it to be some of Senoue's best work?

Yeah, I said it.

To be fair... I don't think you're alone on this. Whilst I don't exactly see it as the pinnacle of things Senoue has done, I certainly find it several levels above 'ear rape'. Far from it in fact.

Granted, his work did seem very simplistic compared to some of his other tunes (namely those heard throughout Sonic3/3K) but damn was Sonic 4's soundtrack catchy. I can quite easilly find myself humming all the tunes as I play the stages and all of them to me sound like they belong where they do.

One thing... If anything I think could work in episode 2 (given if it was implemented correctly of course) is a fusion. Anyone who has heard the soundtrack to Scott Pilgrim Vs the World: The Game will know where I'm coming from. As an example... Take the track 'Another Winter'

I first heard this track only a couple of weeks ago and I was hooked almost instantaneously at how the old style and new just seemed to fuse together to produce an epic melody. Maybe just my mind... but tell you what. It could make episode 2's soundtrack something to remember.

[Barry the Nomad]

Overall, I liked Sonic 4's soundtrack. There were quite a few catchy tunes and I liked the concept of keeping it 16-bit sounding.

However, I can't see that concept staying strong through 2-3 more episodes.

My hope is that they keep Jun, but he pushes the sound a bit more. As mentioned, Sonic Team were always trying to push the sound of the hardware. Sonic 3 is leaps and bounds more complicated than Sonic 1's music. Sonic CD (both US and JP) was the pinnacle of the sound they were striving for as it was true CD quality sound. Had Sonic 3 been made for the Sega CD instead of the standard Genesis, I'm certain the music would be up to the crystal clear quality of Sega CD and Saturn standards. Heck, if Sonic 4 released back in 1996 for the Saturn, I'm certain they would have pushed the music as far as they could.

As mentioned over at Segashiro on their podcast, if Sonic Team wanted to push the HD visuals of Sonic 4 to the extreme detail and crispness that they did, then why did they not do the same for the music?

Edited November 16, 2010 by Barry the Nomad

[eXtaticus]

UPDATE 02/12/2010: Official Sonic Stadium Soundtrack Squad Review is now up; read below, and continue your discussions on opinions and predictions. Enjoy!

Sonic 4: Episode 1 OST

Though it originates from a wholly god-awful source, (the game from which the soundtrack comes is, quite frankly, an absolute travesty) Sonic 4: Episode 1’s fantastic BGM is a monstrously marvellous electro masterwork, with fiery synth, rockin’ retro beats and a shining and prominent influence from the styles and moods of the tunes of the classic titles - it truly is a glorious flashback to the halcyon days of chippy-trippy MegaDrive music, and is an absolute godsend to anyone who’s been hankering after a taste of a fresh, modern, Sonic-style take on the genre since the series changed its musical fashions so dramatically when guitars took over the audio side of things in Sonic Adventure.

With blindingly awesome tracks such as Splash Hill Zone Act 3 (which truly is the alpha of the pack, sporting supremely catchy chord sequences and a massively memorable melody) and Mad Gear Zone Act 1, (a far jumpier, more dance-orientated affair, which contains more saw-wave licks and syncopations than you can shake a glow-stick at) the Sonic 4 OST is most definitely an album to be remembered and revered as one of the true greats that the Sonic series has managed to produce, and despite a couple of minor niggles, (the instruments aren‘t exactly what I‘d call “authentic“ in terms of their ability to re-create a realistic retro sound, and, right from the off, it’s crystal clear that the track entitled “Boss 1“ was booted from the final cut of the Sonic 3D Soundtrack for a very, very good reason) is the epitome of excellence in modern electronic video game music - it’s by no means perfect, but extremely good and wonderfully well-formed nonetheless.

Rating: 8/10

Summary: Solid, superb, though sadly not superlative, Sonic 4's awesome OST is an excellent example of synth-pop brilliance, and delivers all of the goodies in spades. Personally, I'm absolutely ecstatic with it!

[FTA]

From Sonic Retro: "-As Tweaker has said, the music is sequenced in the Wii version due to WiiWare file size restrictions. With some elbow grease, the sequence/bank/wav data from the game's BRSAR was extracted and collected in this 7z file for your enjoyment. With this, we can convert the sequence data to MIDI (using this tool, please archive). Please note that the converted midi file is somewhat full of errors, but there are programs that can fix this (Anvil Studio might work). You can also possibly use those wav files for creating a Sonic 4 soundfont."

Does this mean that it's a bit of a task to get a soundtrack for the Wii version? I didn't really understand what the guy was talking about, but it made it sound like no soundtrack could be ripped, or is that me just not understanding?

Edited December 22, 2010 by FTA

[Sean]

If it's an MP3 rip you're looking for, there's one for the Wii version floating around somewhere.

[FTA]

If it's an MP3 rip you're looking for, there's one for the Wii version floating around somewhere.

Yeah I am. I've been looking for a while for one. I already have the HD version, but some tracks I prefer the MIDI versions. If anyone has a link please post it. Thanks.

[Sean]

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/38216/Sonic%204%20Wii%20OST%20%28Incomplete%29.7z

Took me two minutes to find in Retro's Sonic 4 topic. The "missing" tracks are just the speed shoes versions of the level themes.

[FTA]

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/38216/Sonic%204%20Wii%20OST%20%28Incomplete%29.7z

Took me two minutes to find in Retro's Sonic 4 topic. The "missing" tracks are just the speed shoes versions of the level themes.

[MizukiMoon]

I absolutely love Sonic 4's soundtrack- best thing about the game IMO. Best soundtrack I've heard in a game since Sonic Adventure : ) THIS is how Sonic music should sound in every Sonic game- Sonicky. It's amazingly catchy with that retro tinge to it it needs. The Wii version's my favourite, I adore the Mad Gear Zone's variation in this version, much better if I say so myself! My favourite song by far is the one found on the main menu, best video game music I've heard in a recent game in god knows how long!

[Skyler]

It's been said time and time again - the instruments are what keep the soundtrack from being enjoyable. There are other factors, such as the short length, but it would be a lot better recieved as a whole without the same synths over and over again.

[Barry the Nomad]

I played through the game again yesterday (thanks snow day!) and found the music to be very catchy. Good mix of tunes when playing from Splash Hill through to Mad Gear. I did note that the soundtrack gets progressively better. SHZ act 1 was weak, act 3 was great, CSZ act 2 was catchy, LLZ act 1-3 were the best of the bunch (very haunting Sonic CD-esque stuff, very moody '90s feel). MGZ was a bit hectic, but has the best instruments and suited the levels well.

If Episode 2 keeps the mood of the stronger tuns from episode 1 and cleans up the "meow meow" instruments, the upcoming music could be great!

[Chooch]

I personally think the music will be better if the developers try more so to replicate the quality of Sonic 3 (and Knuckles) instead of Sonic 2.

The same can be said for the gameplay. I still think Mad Gear is a fantastic track, tho'.

Edited January 28, 2011 by Chooch

[Shaddix Leto Croft]

Anyone think that the drums in Green Hill Zone sound just like the Splash Hill Zone act 1 drums ? or am I just going mad XD

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQXktcBcXh8

Edited March 17, 2011 by Shaddix Croft

[DarkOverord]

I still can't unhear that now ): It's rather similar and it's all your fault! Though thinking of Green Hill may make splash Hill more enjoyable...

Edited March 17, 2011 by DarkOverord

[Blue Blood]

Either it was a coincidence due to similar-ish stylings or it was actually intentionally. Either way, it's nice to notice. And also while I'm complimenting the game, I really like the boss music for what it is. Not that it's the best track in the world, but it's canned music from S3D, the first Sonic game where Jun had prominence in the soundtrack. It's pretty awesome in that sense.

[TheDanimator]

Sonic fans should NEVER insult MJ.

Sonic's was partially inspired by MJ

And Sonic 3 and Knuckles would simply just not be as fantastic without tracks like...

Ice Cap

Carnival Night

Launch Bass

Ending credits...

All of which being tracks that were either GREATLY mj inspired or that mj worked on.