Sonic

Game Music

E3 2010: SEGA Booth Audio Impressions

June 21, 2010 | Audun Sorlie | Comments Off on E3 2010: SEGA Booth Audio Impressions Share this E3 2010: SEGA Booth Audio Impressions

Ah SEGA, my longtime friend in life. It seems no matter how watered down the company gets or how many bumps they hit on the road to their finished product, I’m always drawn back to them with my arms open when they announce their new titles. At this E3 SEGA had a very nice looking booth with huge screens showing trailers, a nice looking Sonic 4 hut with Sonic himself displayed in statue form outside and the most heartbreaking t-shirt of all time, displaying proudly “Dreamcast September 2010” and “Guess Who’s Back!” giving a few uninformed nerds a near heart attack since they were anticipating the return of their favorite console, while it’s actually for the XBLA release of Crazy Taxi and Sonic Adventure.

While being one of the nicest looking booths, it was also incredibly noisy with dancing games, shooting games and trailers making it hard to pick up what the games actually sounded like. However thanks to my Six Million Dollar Man like hearing, I did get some idea of what we can expect to hear from SEGA in the near future.

Check it out after the jump! (more…)
Game Music

Shenmue Music Returns After 8 Years Via Sonic and SEGA All Stars Racing

October 15, 2009 | Audun Sorlie | 2 Comments Share this

On October 7th, SEGA revealed the newest character added to their Sonic and SEGA All Stars Racing roster to be none other than Ryo Hazuki! Ryo is of course most well known for being the hero of the Shenmue series, SEGA’s masterpiece on the Dreamcast. Most fans believed this announcement would never happen, but not only did their wish come true, but Ryo will also use his forklift from the dock sequences! Alex Kidd and Ryo playable side by side, a dream come true for my little heart.

This marks the first time Ryo has been playable in any shape or form since 2003. And like Sega Superstar Tennis , this game seems to sport arrangements of classic SEGA music from the different games the stages and characters are taken from, so this will also be the first time in many years we might get some new Shenmue arrangements! The last CD I can think of that arranged Shenmue music was SEGA Piano Nocturne released back in 2005. Looks like we got a lot to be excited for with this game, both in the audio and gameplay department! Richard Jacques was responsible for SUMO’s last crossover title, SEGA Superstar Tennis , so chances are high on him returning to arrange for this game as well.

The game is scheduled for release Spring 2010 on all platforms.
Game Music

Retro Remix Revue: Sonic the Hedgehog Drums… Live!

May 21, 2009 | Jayson Napolitano | 2 Comments Share this

I’m posting this because I love Retro Remix Revue and because the only guy I’ve met from the group is Adam Alesi, and he’s an awesome dude. Oh, and “Greenhill Zone” was one of the best tracks on their debut album, which you should definitely pick up right now if you for some reason didn’t last year.

Apparently Adam is trying out for the Brian Setzer Orchestra. Didn’t even know those guys were still around, but I wish Adam the best of luck, and think it’s cool that they used Sonic music to demo his talents. Maybe the Brian Setzer Orchestra will pick up RRR as their opening act!

Have a particular favorite track from Retro Remix Revue? Would you like to see them posting live performances of some of the other instruments (perhaps McGurty on synths)?

[Thanks Robby!]
Game Music, Reviews

Face to Faith: Sonic and the Black Knight Vocal Trax (Review)

May 13, 2009 | Jayson Napolitano | Comments Off on Face to Faith: Sonic and the Black Knight Vocal Trax (Review) Share this

A Sonic vocal album… normally I wouldn’t be thrilled about this one, but after checking out the Sonic and the Black Knight soundtrack, I was willing to give it a shot. While I’ve never been fond of the majority of vocal tracks in Sonic games of the past, as I found them to be way too over-the-top and cheesy for my tastes, this one actually got me.

Why? Well, for starters, I think this album takes itself a lot more seriously than previous efforts. I’ve actually come to like Crush 40, the band who performs Jun Senoue’s vocal compositions here, so I suppose that helps to. So, join Crush 40 and a number of other performers as they take you through the vocal tracks of Sonic and the Black Knight as well as a few unexpected bonuses.

Read our review of Face to Faith: Sonic and the Black Knight Vocal Trax after the jump. (more…)
Game Music, Reviews

Tales of Knighthood: Sonic and the Black Knight Original Soundtrax (Review)

May 6, 2009 | Jayson Napolitano | 6 Comments Share this

When I first heard about Sonic and the Black Knight, I thought it sounded like a questionable idea at best. It seems that many critics agreed with these first impression after the game was released, but I still had high hopes for the soundtrack. Composed by a large team of composers including series giants and newcomers alike, it definitely looked promising.

So, how about Jun Senoue, Tommy Tallarico, Richard Jacques, Howard Drossin, Yutaka Minobe, Hikaru Tanimoto, and a slew of performers on bass, guitar, drums, strings, violin, hurdy gurdy, and other instruments? Not quite as many composers as featured on the Sonic World Adventure soundtrack from earlier this year, but this one definitely gets some bonus points for the variety of talent alone. I hope you like rock music, because that’s what you’re going to get alongside some great orchestral music.

Find out if the Sonic and the Black Knight soundtrack is worth your time after the jump. (more…)
Game Music

A Look Back At Sonic Unleashed With Lead Composer Tomoya Ohtani

April 7, 2009 | Jayson Napolitano | 3 Comments Share this

A good Sonic the Hedgehog soundtrack? Well, I know a lot of people enjoyed the peppy soundtracks featured in the Sonic Adventure titles, but I miss the old days of catchy melodies and memorable musical moments. I think the huge team at SEGA delivered this with Sonic Unleashed, which I told everyone I loved in our review last month.

Well, I loved it so much that I looked into getting some time with Sonic Unleashed lead composer Tomoya Ohtani, and he has some interesting comments about the soundtrack. He acknowledges that the team took a different approach with Sonic Unleashed in terms of both scale and style, and even say she prefers having fewer vocal tracks in the game. Here’s hoping that they kept this up with Sonic and the Black Knight which was just released!

Hit the jump for our interview with SEGA’s Tomoya Ohtani. (more…)
Game Music, Reviews

Everybody’s Super Sonic Racing To Hear Planetary Pieces From Around The World (Review)

February 23, 2009 | Jayson Napolitano | 3 Comments Share this

It wasn’t too long ago that we published our in-game impressions from Sonic Unleashed. We’ve finally got our hands on the official soundtrack release that hit Japan at the end of January, and while we described the majority of the music in that previous write-up, at least we’ll be able to reference real track titles and tell you about the packaging (which is great!).

Composers Tomoya Ohtani, Kenichi Tokoi, Fumie Kumatani, Hideaki Kobayashi, Takahito Eguchi, and Mariko Nanba each contribute to a varied and downright awesome album. Numerous genres abound, but the quality here is consistent and quite impressive, with a slew of session artists and even the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra performing a piece.

Join us as we take a look at the Planetary Pieces: Sonic World Adventure Original Soundtrack. (more…)