Hope you've been enjoying the recently released Sonic Generations OST as much as I have. It's a nicely made one, much clearer than the rips that have been available since the game's release, and many of them come to nice, exclusive conclusions rather than fading out, which I often find disappointing. Plus, it's brilliant to finally get the tracks from the 3DS version! But that said, there are a few things that I thought could be improved upon.
Perhaps because I've come to music in general oddly quite late in life, I'm usually more of a fan of having a big shuffled list of various things together rather than listening to albums in sequence. I have an ever growing Sonic iTunes list which I've been adding to for a decade now (in fact the initial building of it was kind of a personal pre-Zone: 0 Sonic project of mine - my own emulator recordings from it are the same ones I add to the downloads of this site's game guides), and all OST tracks get thrown in and often renamed according to certain consistent patterns.
Anyway, sometimes I'll try and edit some of the tracks to suit my preferences, such as looping them or cutting them, sometimes even adding two or more tracks together or separating parts of others. There were some things I was quite surprised by on the OST, so having not actually done this for a while now, I whipped out Audacity and tried to see what I could come up with. Thought you might be interested too, if you have a similar approach to your Sonic music.
I was rather hoping that they would combine the "normal" and "fast" versions of Green Hill Act 2 and Sky Sanctuary Act 2 into a single track for each, with the faster one directly following the normal. Perhaps because whenever I hear the normal ones, I want to cut to the faster ones at some point, because they're better. They didn't do this on the OST, so here you go!
Green Hill Act 2
Sky Sanctuary Act 2
While listening on my earphones out and about, I couldn't believe how many loops Speed Highway Act 2 went on and on for. It's a decent enough piece of music, but it didn't seem to ever end. It appears to loop four times, but it's actually twice, it's just one of those tracks for which a single loop consists of the same tune looped twice but the second one differs very slightly. I brought the conclusion forward so that it only does one full loop of the song, so nothing is missed, but it ends before you get sick of it!
Speed Highway Act 2
For the Act 1 music, to suddenly start embedding the speed-up versions of the tunes into Crisis City and Rooftop Run was quite odd, though I can live with it. Even odder though, I thought, was the unexpected gap of near silence after the speed-up section of Crisis City, before returning to the main track. I found this quite distracting, so I've removed it.
Crisis City Act 1
If there's any interest I might one day post up some more tracks I've edited over the years from past Sonic games too.
You can import the rest of the Sonic Generations soundtrack from here, here, or here. I think it's on iTunes in the US too now, but still waiting for it here in Blighty, it would seem.
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Zone: 0 is a Sonic the Hedgehog game information site aiming to provide reference and strategy guides of more depth and clarity than ever before. With screenshots, maps and incredibly thorough descriptions for every level, Zone: 0 is an unofficial Sonic site like absolutely no other..
Hidden Palace Zone Sonic & Knuckles
With only one brief act, Hidden palace is hardly a stage at all, but more of a scene to the story, and a very important one. It's an ancient, decorated palace in the same icy cave region as Lava Reef Act 2, and contains the shrine to the Master Emerald. As Sonic, you'll meet Knuckles once again but this time there are no tricks and traps, it's a pure one on one brawl, hedgehog vs echidna. The two are distracted by activity over by the shrine and in a classic scene, Knuckles makes a shocking discovery that finally sets apart the good from the bad, and brings him to his senses at last. But is it too late..?
14th December 2011
Hidden Palace Zone added to the Sonic & Knuckles section
Hidden Palace Zone added to the Sonic & Knuckles section
28th October 2011
Lava Reef Zone added to the Sonic & Knuckles section
Lava Reef Zone added to the Sonic & Knuckles section
10th August 2011
Sandopolis Zone added to the Sonic & Knuckles section
Sandopolis Zone added to the Sonic & Knuckles section
17th May 2011
Flying Battery Zone and Gameplay page added to the Sonic & Knuckles section
Flying Battery Zone and Gameplay page added to the Sonic & Knuckles section
27th March 2011
Sonic & Knuckles guide has begun! Mushroom Hill Zone, plus Background Info and Stages and Story pages have been added!
Update history
Sonic & Knuckles guide has begun! Mushroom Hill Zone, plus Background Info and Stages and Story pages have been added!
Sonic Generations Soundtrack Edits |
Ricky Earl Returns to Zone: 0! |
Hide and Seek |
Sonic Generations - A Very In Depth Review
First of all, Happy New Year everyone, I hope you had a good break with family and/or friends, and are ready for the return of Zone: 0's resident artist Ricky Earl! It's been about a year since he's been available to contribute, so in case you've forgotten, he's vowed to supply a piece of artwork to accompany each level page on the site, or at least as many as possible. You can do it Ricky! Keep up the good work.
We're up to Chemical Plant now, check it out!
Meanwhile, I've managed to get quite far with the Sky Sanctuary guide. On the map, I've had to recreate the platforms that float up and down by hand from lots and lots of screen shots, which has set me back a bit, but I'm pretty sure I can get this one out there within this month. That's still pretty good, by my standards!
Also, a quick thanks to AAUK of Sonic Wrecks for giving Zone: 0 a couple of awards in his 2011 Sonic Wrecks Awards - we won Best Specialist Website and Best Use of Images/Graphics. Yay!
View the full blog page or add a comment...
We're up to Chemical Plant now, check it out!
Meanwhile, I've managed to get quite far with the Sky Sanctuary guide. On the map, I've had to recreate the platforms that float up and down by hand from lots and lots of screen shots, which has set me back a bit, but I'm pretty sure I can get this one out there within this month. That's still pretty good, by my standards!
Also, a quick thanks to AAUK of Sonic Wrecks for giving Zone: 0 a couple of awards in his 2011 Sonic Wrecks Awards - we won Best Specialist Website and Best Use of Images/Graphics. Yay!
View the full blog page or add a comment...
Update: Hidden Palace Zone added to the Sonic & Knuckles section
Slowly but surely, I'm getting there! One little level update for you this evening, Hidden Palace Zone. Home to what is probably my all time favourite scene in the whole series, and proof that you don't need words to create an epic story. I remember seeing it as a kid and considering it to be pretty much the most exciting work of drama of our time.. They were simpler times I must admit, but still, this is a great one to play along with, in your small part in as Sonic.
So, quite an exciting day today with the long-awaited arrival of Sonic CD on XBOX Live Arcade, PSN and eventually a whole load of other stuff too. The final gift (or money making opportunity depending on which way you look at it, though it's hardly pricey) of this wonderful 20th anniversary year - The hidden gem of the Sonic world is now out in the open for all to enjoy! Easily accessing the perfect version of this game has always proved difficult in the past, what with the rare and expensive Mega CD system itself, and a slightly temperamental PC version later on. Until now, I preferred to use a Japanese import (to get my preferred soundtrack of course) of Sonic Gems Collection for the Gamecube, which required a freeloader disc to be run first every single time, and of course nowadays it doesn't work on the Wii - not exactly a dream setup.
This post continues, click here to read on or add a comment...
So, quite an exciting day today with the long-awaited arrival of Sonic CD on XBOX Live Arcade, PSN and eventually a whole load of other stuff too. The final gift (or money making opportunity depending on which way you look at it, though it's hardly pricey) of this wonderful 20th anniversary year - The hidden gem of the Sonic world is now out in the open for all to enjoy! Easily accessing the perfect version of this game has always proved difficult in the past, what with the rare and expensive Mega CD system itself, and a slightly temperamental PC version later on. Until now, I preferred to use a Japanese import (to get my preferred soundtrack of course) of Sonic Gems Collection for the Gamecube, which required a freeloader disc to be run first every single time, and of course nowadays it doesn't work on the Wii - not exactly a dream setup.
This post continues, click here to read on or add a comment...
If at any point within the last ten years you'd have told me that to celebrate Sonic's 20th anniversary, Sega would release a game in which you could play as both Classic Sonic and Modern Sonic in recreations of nine levels from Sonic history, I probably would have laughed in your face and then attempt to edge away from the conversation. Sure, it's the game we've all dreamed about at some point I'm sure - the idea that we'd once again be able see the Death Egg rise from the clouds in Sky Sanctuary, race Metal Sonic in Stardust Speedway or irresponsibly board down the streets of City Escape, all in glorious HD. But for years with barely a hint of looking back - afterall, it's never been in Sonic's nature to do so - it seemed excruciatingly unlikely to ever come to fruition, and perhaps Sonic's vintage adventures would be forever confined to endless ports and compilation appearances, without any really precise acknowledgement of their great contents.
However, that was then but now things are a bit different. Sega seem more willing to listen and cooperate with fans these days and this has lead to something of a full circle motion, with more classic-oriented features and design decisions, and in turn, noticeably better games too. There's no better time for us to reflect on Sonic's long journey with a game that briefly stops, pauses and looks back lovingly at nostalgic Sonic lore in a way that also somehow feels totally new and highly exciting. There was a time when you would dread reading the reviews of a big new Sonic game. Hopefully, those times, a bit like Sonic Generations itself, are now in the past..
This post continues, click here to read on or add a comment...
However, that was then but now things are a bit different. Sega seem more willing to listen and cooperate with fans these days and this has lead to something of a full circle motion, with more classic-oriented features and design decisions, and in turn, noticeably better games too. There's no better time for us to reflect on Sonic's long journey with a game that briefly stops, pauses and looks back lovingly at nostalgic Sonic lore in a way that also somehow feels totally new and highly exciting. There was a time when you would dread reading the reviews of a big new Sonic game. Hopefully, those times, a bit like Sonic Generations itself, are now in the past..
This post continues, click here to read on or add a comment...
Featured Posts
Sonic Generations is a once in a two-decade treat not just for fans old and new, but for Sonic newbies and those who wandered away from the flock long ago. Everybody should be playing this game, and, in great detail, here's exactly why...
Sadly, after Sonic & Knuckles, I have decided I will not be creating any new content for Zone: 0. New guides by other writers may be possible, but not confirmed.
