The woodwinds of Press Garden emphasize the eastern theme, while the Wild West jingles of Mirage Saloon are embellished with banjo and olde-timey plinky-plonk piano, jarred back to the present with a periodic turntable scratch. This penchant for detail makes itself known so subtly, down to even the choice of synthesiser voices the muted brass of Studiopolis’ second act sings Sonic CD. There is a fantastic step change between acts the mood lifts, the tempo quickens, and it beautifully accentuates the progression of an adventure – something I’ve seldom felt since Sonic 3. The soundtrack to Studiopolis is a prime example in which Lopes really falls into his stride, and proves not only his ability to write something so recognisably Sonic, but that he has a deep understanding of the architecture that underpins what makes a memorable Sonic melody. The real statement of the soundtrack, however, is made by the original compositions in the new zones. Lopes pays proper homage to the original works, and from time-to-time sneaks in a familiar progression from elsewhere in the Sonic series, mirroring the zone cross-contamination suffusing each stage. Much of the title ventures through familiar territory such as Green Hill and Chemical Plant Zones, for which the compositions in act one have remained on the whole unaltered, only carefully and deliberately mutating in the transition to the second act. Sonically (no pun intended), the broader palette provides a much more embellished backdrop to a much richer visual experience, without the capacity limitations of 90’s hardware. In a perhaps a not-so-obvious move, Lopes has elected to inherit the audio style from Sonic CD, rather than take the chip-tune avenue…and in my opinion rightly so.
As such, an obvious direction might have been to follow suite from Knuckles Chaotix and emulate the console’s PCM stereo chip, with chip-tune proving a successful medium for so many modern video games reprising the retro style, such as Shovel Knight. have made it clear that graphically, Mania was intended to be representative of the 32X era. Sonic Mania’s musical direction could have gone in one of two directions from day one, Whitehead et al.
Like the majority of the Mania development team, Lopes has climbed the ranks of the fandom, finding his voice in the community over the past decade through remixing Sonic tracks among many others, before joining Pagoda West and composing the soundtrack to indie title Major Magnet. Taking the musical helm for Sonic Mania is Tee Lopes. But how does this compare to it’s 1990’s predecessors?
#SONIC MANIA SOUNDTRACK SERIES#
Twenty-something years later, we see the classic series revived through Sonic Mania – complete with a brand new soundtrack. From this musical era came the Sonic CD soundtrack, of which I speak specifically the Japanese/European version, which for many forms the epitome of the classic Sonic the Hedgehog sound. In any event, all 's well that ends well.Growing up in the early 90’s it was impossible to avoid the music scene pervading daily life seductive R&B tones danced through ear-worm melodies, from songs that would at the top of the charts for weeks. Now if this isn't talent i don't know what is ! And of course, the remixes of Sonic CD are also fucking on point. There is even DEAD ENDS in this game, that's horrible ! But even with all that, i kinda liked the atmosphere of the game, the idea of time travel IS fun even if time travelling isn't and the OST can be fucking on point at time.Īnd yet, Sonic Mania managed to make those levels my favorites from the game. And if you DO want to do that quest to go to the past to destroy Robotnik mchine in order to have a good future, you have to play with the infuriating time travel system which need you to be on a constant momentum for a while even if the game love to say that you lose it for unknown reason.Īnd don't let me started with the Level Design, it's confusing, awkward, love to make Sonic go in all direction without you being able to see clearly what's the possibilities. I don't understand the popularity in that game, the Time travel mechanic is great theorically but don't serves any purpose (The different road on Sonic DO serves a different purpose, higher road are usually harder to get and you die less easily here). I was amazed by Sonic 3&K (even with some bullshit level like Carnaval Night) and was hugely disappointed by Sonic CD. I loved Sonic 1 and 2 on Genesis and was really hyped to play Sonic 3&K and CD later.
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