RPGamers Network > Reviews > Game Music Reviews > Sonic the Hedgehog: 10th Anniversary
Reviewed by: Kie
To commemorate the 10th anniversary of Sonic the Hedgehog, Sega decided to take some of the classics from the sonic games in the past and present and create a Soundtrack out of them. 22 of the 23 tracks appear in either Sonic 1, 2, 3, Sonic and Knuckles, Sonic R or Sonic Adventure, with track 23 being a put-together of the Sonic Adventure 2 theme songs. So let's have a look at what it produced.
The first 6 songs are originals from the first Sonic game on Mega Drive (Genesis). The Green Hill Zone is a classic at worst. A great piece, and the most recognized Sonic song in the series. Star light Zone is a peaceful song, not at all fast, but it sounds starry, like it would make a good star theme, so well chosen. The Special Stage song is quite annoying, but once again, it matches the actual part in the game. The Final Zone is an awesome song, although made over 10 years ago now, it has a great tune. I can't say much for the instruments, but it's worth a listen.
Before I continue, you may notice that I left out the Title theme and All Clear theme. Mainly because they're very short tunes and I have no idea why they're included on the album, as with the others like them. Anyway...
There are only four Sonic 2 songs on the soundtrack, which is a little small considering the Sonic 2 soundtrack consists of many great songs. Emerald Hill Zone is a very upbeat, happy little thing. It sets the scene as the first zone quite well, as Sonic 2's fill-in for Green Hill Zone. Casino Night Zone, I'm sure if it was remade, would be a trumpet based song with heavy drums. It's another happy little song, I don't know if it sends any scene for a Casino, but anyway, the Special Stage song is quite well put together, using a lot of instruments...probably all of the ones available at the time, in unison.
Sonic 3 has two tracks on the album. The mentionable is Angel Island Zone, which has an oasis, islandy feel to it. The first part of the song is alright, but the second part, with the light organ playing a pretty good tune, is just great. However, I think that there are much better songs on Sonic 3. An Ice Cap Zone in there would not have hurt.
Sonic and Knuckles also has great music to it. Alas, there is only one speakable S&K song in the album also. Sky Sanctuary is a peaceful, yet action sounding. It uses orchestral sounding notes and instruments, yet at a fast pace. It blends into the zone very well, as the zone itself revolves around a sanctuary, but involves a rushing feel as you have to hurry to the final zone. Excellent work.
You Can Do Anything and Believe In Yourself are the two Sonic CD songs and are nicely made tracks from the game. Fans of Sonic CD will like and know these songs. Also as the music blends in quite well with the beats and everything, making them worthy additions to the album.
The Sonic R tracks included are tracks 18-20. The music is alongside vocals which sounds quite terrible, but the music is always fast paced and has a strong beat. Though most of the tune is taken up by the vocals, the tunes in the songs themselves are quite well done, and although none are recognizable (or recognized at all for that matter), they are worthy additions to the album.
The next two tracks are quite good vocal-wise. They are both from Sonic Adventure. Open Your Heart is probably the best song on the album, with awesome vocals by Johnny Gioeli and a great main theme for the game itself, with some great guitar playing.
The final track is basically a mix of all 6 character theme on Sonic Adventure 2. I'd recommend it only if you like at least 4 out of 6 of these themes otherwise it's not very good. Sonic's and Shadow's theme are the best of the lot, but the female singing isn't up to much (no offense to anyone there), although the highlight would be the great BGM (Background music in case you didn't know) with the cool drum beats and guitar in places. The synth works quite well too merging each theme together.
Quite a good album altogether. The disappointing parts would be the fact that they didn't put in the absolute best sonic songs, but they have put in some of the greats, which makes for a worthy celebration for 10 years of Sonic.
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| Album Information | Reviewer Rank |
|---|---|
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Sonic the Hedgehog: 10th Anniversary Published by: Sega Release Date: June 23rd 2001 Composed by: Masato Nakamura, Howard Drossin, Naofumi Hataya, Masafumi Ogata, Richard Jacques, Jun Senoue, Kenichi Tokoi, Fumie Kumatani 1 Disc, 23 Tracks Catalog: There is no catalog entry for this album. |
85 |
Reviewed by: Kie
To commemorate the 10th anniversary of Sonic the Hedgehog, Sega decided to take some of the classics from the sonic games in the past and present and create a Soundtrack out of them. 22 of the 23 tracks appear in either Sonic 1, 2, 3, Sonic and Knuckles, Sonic R or Sonic Adventure, with track 23 being a put-together of the Sonic Adventure 2 theme songs. So let's have a look at what it produced.
The first 6 songs are originals from the first Sonic game on Mega Drive (Genesis). The Green Hill Zone is a classic at worst. A great piece, and the most recognized Sonic song in the series. Star light Zone is a peaceful song, not at all fast, but it sounds starry, like it would make a good star theme, so well chosen. The Special Stage song is quite annoying, but once again, it matches the actual part in the game. The Final Zone is an awesome song, although made over 10 years ago now, it has a great tune. I can't say much for the instruments, but it's worth a listen.
Before I continue, you may notice that I left out the Title theme and All Clear theme. Mainly because they're very short tunes and I have no idea why they're included on the album, as with the others like them. Anyway...
There are only four Sonic 2 songs on the soundtrack, which is a little small considering the Sonic 2 soundtrack consists of many great songs. Emerald Hill Zone is a very upbeat, happy little thing. It sets the scene as the first zone quite well, as Sonic 2's fill-in for Green Hill Zone. Casino Night Zone, I'm sure if it was remade, would be a trumpet based song with heavy drums. It's another happy little song, I don't know if it sends any scene for a Casino, but anyway, the Special Stage song is quite well put together, using a lot of instruments...probably all of the ones available at the time, in unison.
Sonic 3 has two tracks on the album. The mentionable is Angel Island Zone, which has an oasis, islandy feel to it. The first part of the song is alright, but the second part, with the light organ playing a pretty good tune, is just great. However, I think that there are much better songs on Sonic 3. An Ice Cap Zone in there would not have hurt.
Sonic and Knuckles also has great music to it. Alas, there is only one speakable S&K song in the album also. Sky Sanctuary is a peaceful, yet action sounding. It uses orchestral sounding notes and instruments, yet at a fast pace. It blends into the zone very well, as the zone itself revolves around a sanctuary, but involves a rushing feel as you have to hurry to the final zone. Excellent work.
You Can Do Anything and Believe In Yourself are the two Sonic CD songs and are nicely made tracks from the game. Fans of Sonic CD will like and know these songs. Also as the music blends in quite well with the beats and everything, making them worthy additions to the album.
The Sonic R tracks included are tracks 18-20. The music is alongside vocals which sounds quite terrible, but the music is always fast paced and has a strong beat. Though most of the tune is taken up by the vocals, the tunes in the songs themselves are quite well done, and although none are recognizable (or recognized at all for that matter), they are worthy additions to the album.
The next two tracks are quite good vocal-wise. They are both from Sonic Adventure. Open Your Heart is probably the best song on the album, with awesome vocals by Johnny Gioeli and a great main theme for the game itself, with some great guitar playing.
The final track is basically a mix of all 6 character theme on Sonic Adventure 2. I'd recommend it only if you like at least 4 out of 6 of these themes otherwise it's not very good. Sonic's and Shadow's theme are the best of the lot, but the female singing isn't up to much (no offense to anyone there), although the highlight would be the great BGM (Background music in case you didn't know) with the cool drum beats and guitar in places. The synth works quite well too merging each theme together.
Quite a good album altogether. The disappointing parts would be the fact that they didn't put in the absolute best sonic songs, but they have put in some of the greats, which makes for a worthy celebration for 10 years of Sonic.
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