• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Sonic the Hedgehog Community Thread: Green Hills and Laughing Iizukas

Status
Not open for further replies.
I only cared about Bazaru de Gozaru because it was Ichinose's first musical project. The music's awesome, but the game itself is a great example of making the most of a corporate mascot, creating a great, well-developed puzzle game ou of thin air.

And the music's CD quality, too, so that's a plus.
 

Dark Schala

Eloquent Princess
Boy I miss the days when you could just put a game disc in a stereo/boom box/CD player and it'll start playing the music from the game or a hidden track.

I tried doing this with the original PS version of Suikoden I and it didn't work and I was sad.
 
Terranigma is technically Quintet, but it's Enix-published and completely amazing and everyone should play it and revel in its glory.
Yeah, I've heard great things about it, especially on gaf. Not sure how I'd go about accquiring and playing a copy today, though.

Enix was a publisher rather than a dev, so they outsourced a lot. For example, Dragon Quest was developed by the likes of Chunsoft, Level-5, Heartbeat, and ArtePiazza.

Huh. You learn something new every day.
 

Dark Schala

Eloquent Princess
You could always buy the Japanese version like I did, fiddle around with the Game Genie or your SNES, and play the JP version... Always play Terranigma with a controller somehow. No exceptions.
Or buy a PAL/JP copy and then emulate the English language version. I don't think GAF has anything against that; just as long as you own the game, it's fine.

I feel more comfortable buying cartridges and UMDs used than disc-based games. With discs, you have to think about scratches and whatnot. At least with carts all you have to worry about is the battery but that isn't too hard to replace outside of using pliers to take the thing out and replacing it with a new battery and some duct tape or soldering it. I mostly want to play the game rather than collect it so I don't care much about markings other than the sticker being fine.

With UMDs, you don't really have to worry much about scratches because the disc is already protected by plastic, unless the previous owner happily decided to somehow scratch the disc intentionally.
 

TheOGB

Banned
Man I really need to play Chrono Trigger... I have it for the DS and barely played it because I found out I still wasn't in the mood for RPGs at the time.
Same here, I tried to start it yesterday and stopped playing a minute later when I got out of the bed :|

Then I started playing Pokemon Black, so I guess it's true what they say
 
I still want a Sonic RPG that isn't Sonic Chronicles.

She said Sonic Chronicles! I get to post the song!

xXgCa.jpg


"I never agreed to that rule!"
 

BlackJace

Member
What the hell were they thinking when piecing together that awful soundtrack? They sounded like half finished soundbites from a completelt different game.
 

OMG Aero

Member
What the hell were they thinking when piecing together that awful soundtrack? They sounded like half finished soundbites from a completelt different game.
There's a story that they had to replace all the music at the last minute because it turned out they didn't have the rights to the music they meant to use or something but I have no idea if it's true or where it came from.
 

BlackJace

Member
There's a story that they had to replace all the music at the last minute because it turned out they didn't have the rights to the music they meant to use or something but I have no idea if it's true or where it came from.

Well if they did, I don't think it would've killed anybody for them to delay it a bit, for the sake of actual music.

That Nocturne theme, wtf.
 
Not sure if this has been found yet but there's a bug in Sonic 3. Near the end of act 1 there's a bonus (or check point) and when that bonus is done, the music from act 2 plays.

mqdefault.jpg
 

Dark Schala

Eloquent Princess
That's a glitch. Start the bonus round/special stage and the Act 2 music will play after you finish them.

I think it was fixed in the PC version but I haven't played that version in sooooo long.
 

Sciz

Member
Angel Island Zone Act 2 begins as soon as the place is lit on fire. It hotswaps the level during the wall of flame, but doesn't go through the act complete routine so none of the data gets reset and you have the illusion of still being on the same map. That's why you can't backtrack after that cutscene, but why you can go back into the back half of "Act 1" after reloading "Act 2" for whatever reason. Your score/time/rings variables are maintained through reloads of "Act 1", but the music id isn't.

Icecap does something similar, if you've ever noticed the graphics bug out for a moment right when you're exiting the final tunnel before the miniboss. That's the game switching maps on the fly.

edit: More precisely, every Act 1/Act 2 transition does that sort of seamless loading, it's just that AIZ and ICZ are the only two that do it independently of the flags that delineate the acts themselves. You can fake the effect easily enough if you stream all of your level data in the first place, but Sonic 3 is the only game I'm aware of that hotswaps independent maps. It's a fascinating trick.
 
Depends on what your definition of Act 2 is. You don't get the signpost, score tally and Act 2 screen until you destroy the fire machine.
His definition would be the map data, going by the rest of his post.

And he's right, the back half of Act 1 (based on whether or not you've cleared the boss or not) is contained in Act 2 (based on the level data).
 
There's a story that they had to replace all the music at the last minute because it turned out they didn't have the rights to the music they meant to use or something but I have no idea if it's true or where it came from.

There's also a rumor that when they replaced the music they literally just went on VGmusic.com and ripped MIDIs off from there. That was always framed as "one of my buddies noticed they were using one of his!"

I'm not entirely sure how much stock I put in a rumor like that, but it wouldn't be the first time something like that had happened.
 

Dark Schala

Eloquent Princess
If it was at the last, last minute, then I wouldn't be surprised if the MIDIs were taken from the Internet somewhere. They're really effing bad.

I was listening to VS Nega-Wisp Armour (Phase 2) while driving home today, and I think it was the first time that I fully realized how fun it is as a BGM and that parts of it are played with live instruments. The guy who's doing the drum kit (Masuo?) did such a fucking bang-up job with the percussion, holy shit. I think the rest of the thing is sampled if the Liner Notes are true, but man that percussion stands out for all the right reasons. Akinori Yamada's electric bass sounds great too.

...which makes the fact that the Time Eater didn't have an outstanding boss theme like Unleashed, 2006, and Colours all the more disappointing. Even an orchestrated version of Live and Learn would've been nice.
 
I was listening to VS Nega-Wisp Armour (Phase 2) while driving home today, and I think it was the first time that I fully realized how fun it is as a BGM and that parts of it are played with live instruments. The guy who's doing the drum kit (Masuo?) did such a fucking bang-up job with the percussion, holy shit. I think the rest of the thing is sampled if the Liner Notes are true, but man that percussion stands out for all the right reasons. Akinori Yamada's electric bass sounds great too.

...which makes the fact that the Time Eater didn't have an outstanding boss theme like Unleashed, 2006, and Colours all the more disappointing. Even an orchestrated version of Live and Learn would've been nice.
It's a shame Nega wisp Phase 2 doesn't just play from the get go because much like its similar Super Mario Galaxy 2 final boss theme counterpart the boss is likely to go down before actually reaching the good stuff. That and phase 1 is pretty unmemorable to me. Anyway i'll keep my ears open for the percussion on my next listen.

Time Eater using live and learn would probably leave me a bit sour, i'd feel like it was preferential treatment to SA2. somehow they should've taken the standard White World Hub music and turned it into a full blown song with a bit of the classic titla screen theme thrown in perhaps? at least I think that White World track is a Generations exclusive tune. Plus that goes with the way final boss themes since 2006 have been done.
 

OMG Aero

Member
It's a shame Nega wisp Phase 2 doesn't just play from the get go because much like its similar Super Mario Galaxy 2 final boss theme counterpart the boss is likely to go down before actually reaching the good stuff. That and phase 1 is pretty unmemorable to me. Anyway i'll keep my ears open for the percussion on my next listen.
At least it isn't like Sonic Adventure 1 where you get the awesome final boss music at the start, then halfway through the fight it switches to bland generic boss music. I will never understand why they decided to do that.
 
At least it isn't like Sonic Adventure 1 where you get the awesome final boss music at the start, then halfway through the fight it switches to bland generic boss music. I will never understand why they decided to do that.

I always forget about this until someone mentions it, even sillier is that the idea seems to be that you won the battle but the boss isn't dead so here comes generic dramatic music because victory was snatched from you! except this gap between boss battles is like 5 seconds and phase 2 plays the same if i'm not mistaken.
 

Kokonoe

Banned
The beginning music represents "your turn" so to speak, and the music that plays when Chaos returns is "it's turn". Kinda like in Dragon Ball Z where Cell comes back and this plays.

Difficulty does increase, though.
 

TheOGB

Banned
It's a shame Nega wisp Phase 2 doesn't just play from the get go because much like its similar Super Mario Galaxy 2 final boss theme counterpart the boss is likely to go down before actually reaching the good stuff. That and phase 1 is pretty unmemorable to me. Anyway i'll keep my ears open for the percussion on my next listen.

Time Eater using live and learn would probably leave me a bit sour, i'd feel like it was preferential treatment to SA2. somehow they should've taken the standard White World Hub music and turned it into a full blown song with a bit of the classic titla screen theme thrown in perhaps? at least I think that White World track is a Generations exclusive tune. Plus that goes with the way final boss themes since 2006 have been done.
Corrupted White World medley
 

Dark Schala

Eloquent Princess
It's a shame Nega wisp Phase 2 doesn't just play from the get go because much like its similar Super Mario Galaxy 2 final boss theme counterpart the boss is likely to go down before actually reaching the good stuff. That and phase 1 is pretty unmemorable to me. Anyway i'll keep my ears open for the percussion on my next listen.

Time Eater using live and learn would probably leave me a bit sour, i'd feel like it was preferential treatment to SA2. somehow they should've taken the standard White World Hub music and turned it into a full blown song with a bit of the classic titla screen theme thrown in perhaps? at least I think that White World track is a Generations exclusive tune. Plus that goes with the way final boss themes since 2006 have been done.
This would work given where all the debris he seems to like to throw at you comes from.

VS Nega Wisp Armour Phase 1 is pretty dull. It's too bad that Phase 2 doesn't start early. At least Super Sonic VS Perfect Dark Gaia had its time in the spotlight and it doesn't take long to build up like the Colours theme does.

That (seemingly unintentional) bait-and-switch they did with the beginning of Live and Learn transitioning into the Sonic 4 theme was pretty funny.
 
Yeah, it's kind of a shame that you'll likely only hear a minute or so of Phase 2 in game before beating it. I can totally forgive that though, because UNLIMITED COLORS.
 

Sciz

Member
While I'm on the subject, Sonic 3 does some other crazy ass stuff with regards to how it handles level data besides just being able to hotswap them outright.

Any time there's a chunk where you transition between indoors and outdoors and the level changes appearance (i.e. AIZ, FBZ, and LBZ), the game actually stores the level layout for those bits off the playable edge of the map and loads whichever one it needs when the player crosses a given boundary.

And there are a bunch of points where you're still technically on the same map, but the game has to unload a bunch of other data to make room for bosses/setpieces/etc. This is common in games to the point of being mundane when it comes to sprite data, but Sonic 3 does it with entire tilesets. Most notably, the ocean intro to AIZ Act 1 is completely separate from the rest of the act, MHZ Act 2's boss is elaborate enough that the entire level layout prior to the point of no return is unloaded (though object placement and the tileset itself remain), and the Death Egg art at the end of LBZ Act 2 is such a spectacle that the game has to throw out the tileset and layout for the rest of the level to fit it in.

And then there's the usual trickery with changing palettes and vertical/horizontal looping, but that's not nearly so special.

I'm sure jman could elaborate more if you dragged him in here, but suffice it to say that the game's engine is a damn fine piece of work.

At least it isn't like Sonic Adventure 1 where you get the awesome final boss music at the start, then halfway through the fight it switches to bland generic boss music. I will never understand why they decided to do that.

My standard procedure for the 2004 PC version is to swap the two tracks. Much improved.

Running Open Your Heart over the Generations version works too.
 
I remember reading a post somewhere that elaborated on all the tricks involved in programming S3&K. Can't remember where I read it, but it was a really interesting read.
 
Sciz: how did so many people to post in your Sonic music thread? I'm already heading into the survival stages of my Pokémon music thread. Let alone all of the megatons that have happened this week, and my inability to do a multi-post OP.

This shit ain't funny!
 
None of them are really-big news items, really. But Gaming side's been very active recently, and I thought Game Music-GAF was more active these days. Maybe I'm just disappointed by the turn-out.
 

qq more

Member
The megaton is that Sonic 5 was announced and it actually looks good! No homing attack! No dimps level design! Gameplay expands from Sonic 3 rather than halfassing it from Sonic 2. Levels are fresh and exciting! Nack makes an appearence! Etc.


haha :(
 

Dark Schala

Eloquent Princess
Sciz: how did so many people to post in your Sonic music thread? I'm already heading into the survival stages of my Pokémon music thread. Let alone all of the megatons that have happened this week, and my inability to do a multi-post OP.

This shit ain't funny!
We've had megatons lately? :O

I'm kinda surprised that since PokéGAF seems more active than the other community threads, that thread isn't gaining as much traction. Though it might be the same people over and over in PokéGAF and they've probably posted in the music thread already. With stuff like Sonic or Final Fantasy, you get more of a variety, I guess. With Pokémon, it kinda seems like the audience might be a little limited on GAF? I dunno.

And hey, like I said before--It's a music appreciation thread, not an OT. I'm sure if you ask a mod and explain your situation that they'll give a yes/no to a multi-post OP. I've seen people put 'reserved for future updates' in a second post or something in a few threads. And if not, that's alright, you can post another post about something else and link to it in your OP, like Sciz sorta did with the Sonic music appreciation thread... though that sorta makes it a little disjointed, but what can you do?
 
I've messaged a mod about the matter, you know
I don't plan on getting banned for rules I did not know

Although I'll try the latter option later. I need to get homework done.
 
I haven't got a response yet, so I don't know yet.

Either way: thread derail over. I'll make that community thread for Game Music-GAF, so we can talk about these threads in further detail.
 

Sciz

Member
Real talk: The DS arrangement of Nega Wisp Phase 2 is superior. It knows it isn't going to last more than fifteen seconds and cuts straight to the chase.

Sciz: how did so many people to post in your Sonic music thread? I'm already heading into the survival stages of my Pokémon music thread. Let alone all of the megatons that have happened this week, and my inability to do a multi-post OP.

This shit ain't funny!

To throw out a few guesses: The sheer bloody-minded length and comprehensiveness of the thing, the novelty (the only other major music thread prior to that being Pureauthor's Mega Man thread that set me to work in the first place), and generally wider interest in Sonic music than Pokemon music (more stylistic diversity, more controversy, etc).

If I've learned anything about tossing things out onto the internet, it's you'll be a lot happier if you take satisfaction from the labor of love itself rather than watching your hit counter.

And if not, that's alright, you can post another post about something else and link to it in your OP, like Sciz sorta did with the Sonic music appreciation thread... though that sorta makes it a little disjointed, but what can you do?

I just ran out of room. :( Sliding ever more and more bits of trivia and obscure titles into place after the fact ran me into the character limit something fierce.
 
If I've learned anything about tossing things out onto the internet, it's you'll be a lot happier if you take satisfaction from the labor of love itself rather than watching your hit counter.

And I do. I don't spam posts and threads trying to get tags or something like that. This is a serious topic for me, though, and I get emotional over it, lol.

I just ran out of room. :( Sliding ever more and more bits of trivia and obscure titles into place after the fact ran me into the character limit something fierce.
I've run out of room in my first post, too. But I didn't focus on trivia in the thread either, so I'm pretty satisfied with how it turned out as a music thread.
 

Dark Schala

Eloquent Princess
Real talk: The DS arrangement of Nega Wisp Phase 2 is superior. It knows it isn't going to last more than fifteen seconds and cuts straight to the chase.
It most certainly is. And you can hear the percussion more. <3 <3

Let's get back on track. This is a Game...


...Gear...

When I first got a Game Gear, I didn't have prescription glasses yet. Now I'm wondering how the heck I ever played the thing without glasses. Goodness. The brightness toggle is really weird.

Wonder if they'll release Super Columns on 3DS VC now. Sonic Chaos came out on 3DS VC, right? Or wrong and they went with just Sonic Blast and Sonic Labyrinth instead (ewww...).

Sciz said:
I just ran out of room. :( Sliding ever more and more bits of trivia and obscure titles into place after the fact ran me into the character limit something fierce.
That's too bad. :/ But it was good trivia! I learned a lot even though I couldn't post back then... >.>
 

Kokonoe

Banned
If they make a classic Sonic game again, they should just call it "Sonic Classic" or something similar so people don't associate it with Episode I & II.
 
Wonder if they'll release Super Columns on 3DS VC now. Sonic Chaos came out on 3DS VC, right? Or wrong and they went with just Sonic Blast and Sonic Labyrinth instead (ewww...).
They seem to only be putting up the Game Gear exclusive Sonic titles up at the moment. If they ever do get around to putting up Sonic 1,2 & Chaos, it'll probably be the Master System versions.

Columns GG has been ESRB rated for almost a year, I think.
 

Dark Schala

Eloquent Princess
Super Columns > OG Columns. Even though the OG Columns looked really good to me at the time. I think it was one of my favourite games when I was little.

Puyo Puyo's Sonic reskin was alright. Though it makes me wonder why they never made a Sonic version of Super Columns for anything. It would have worked similarly to Mean Bean Machine, I think.

Too bad they haven't put up the non-GG exclusive stuff yet. At the very least we got Triple Trouble. I suppose they felt that everyone should experience Sonic Labyrinth at least once!

3ADWg.jpg
 

OMG Aero

Member
Sciz: how did so many people to post in your Sonic music thread? I'm already heading into the survival stages of my Pokémon music thread. Let alone all of the megatons that have happened this week, and my inability to do a multi-post OP.

This shit ain't funny!
Don't get me wrong I am a massive Pokemon fan, but is the series really known for its music? The music isn't bad, but aside from some battle themes it isn't really memorable to me at all. If you played me some music that wasn't from the most recent games and wasn't something obvious like a gym battle theme, I would not be able to tell you what it is and I play each game for like 100+ hours.
As opposed to the Sonic series which consistently has great catchy music and pretty much everyone who played the original games at least has a few level songs from each game that they'll always remember, along with the love/hate vocal songs that they've had since Sonic Adventure.
 
Yes: the series is known for its music. I thought that was a thing, lol. Both Pokémon games and Sonic games have great, catchy music. And I have reason to believe there a number of GAFfers who play Pokémon games and like Pokémon music. Same can be said Sonic fans, though that franchise is bigger and had more fans.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top Bottom