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Gaming => General Gaming Discussion => Topic started by: Gumballtoid on July 13, 2013, 02:01:37 AM

Title: Sonic CD: US vs JP
Post by: Gumballtoid on July 13, 2013, 02:01:37 AM
After having played Sonic CD, Stardroid Venus and I could not come to a consensus on which soundtrack was better. Among the exchanges were quotes like "It's just better, end of story" and other such things. As this got us nowhere, ultimately we agreed to make a topic and let the community voice their opinion.

When voting, please consider not only the quality of the soundtrack itself, but how appropriate it felt for the game. A game can have a fantastic soundtrack, yet not even feel remotely appropriate.

As well as voting on the soundtrack you like the most, feel free to post any honorable mentions you came across.


For those who have not played the game (in this case, you really should), both soundtracks are available below.
US Soundtrack (http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLAF420C599C609AE0)
JP/PAL Soundtrack (http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLE68471028407DED9)
Title: Re: Sonic CD: US vs JP
Post by: Kapus on July 13, 2013, 02:07:50 AM
I like the JP soundtrack more for the most part (collision chaos and palmtree panic are some favorites), but there are some US songs I really like as well.

I love both of the soundtracks and listen to them indiscriminately.
Title: Re: Sonic CD: US vs JP
Post by: -FiniteZero- on July 13, 2013, 03:04:44 AM
I like both pretty much the same. Really, it's a per-track basis.

Palmtree Panic: Both are pretty similar to me. I like them equally.
Collision Chaos: I like the fell of the US soundtrack, but I prefer the JP soundtrack due to the catchiness.
Tidal Tempest: For Present and Good Future, I prefer the US one, but with the JP one I just LOVE the Bad Future.
Quartz Quadrant: I prefer the US soundtrack in all three cases. Especially the futures. So shiny. :3
Wacky Workbench: I don't care that much for the US soundtrack in this case, as I still have a hard time recalling which one is the Good Future and which one is the Bad Future. The JP soundtrack though is cool all around, and has a REALLY nice Bad Future there.
Stardust Speedway: Call me maverick, but I prefer the US soundtrack completely.
Metallic Madness: US Soundtrack. Full Stop. That Bad Future is so awesome.
Boss: US version. I like the seriousness and the creepiness.
Special Stage: About Equal.
Main theme: I prefer Sonic Boom over You Can Do Anything or Cosmic Eternity.
Title: Re: Sonic CD: US vs JP
Post by: Ivory on July 13, 2013, 04:11:48 AM
Ah, this subject. Oh boy! The amount of times I discussed this with Mr. X has been too much. Nonetheless, I'll share my opinions on the subject.

JP Soundtrack wins hands down. Why?

1) It suits the mood of the previous games better: CD music comes closer to sounding like the music we are accustomed to in the other classic sonic games, Sonic 1/2/3&knuckles, etc. Compare to the US Soundtrack which doesn't really fit in with the other soundtracks.

2) It was designed with the game in mind: Sonic CD was made in japan. Not much more to say, but the JP soundtrack was the intended soundtrack.

3) Sonic is traveling through time in the same stages: This is a huge one. The JP soundtrack remixes the same song for each time period, which makes sense because the bad future of Palmtree Panic Act 1 is the bad future of Palmtree Panic Act 1. The music is a more corrupted form of the present music, and this suits the mood of the game perfectly. The US Soundtrack tosses that out for unique music in every time period, which is far weaker.

4) The past themes, due to technical reasons, are still the same ones as the JP version. Which of course conflicts with the US soundtrack which doesn't even remotely come close to feeling the same. Even as a kid when I didn't know the JP soundtrack existed, I loved the past themes more than the rest of the themes. Metallic Madness Good Future JP is absolutely amazing at taking a final level sounding sonic song and turning into bright and cheery Sonic will succeed. The US Good Future is just so weak in comparison.

5) Contrary to popular belief, Sonic CD isn't actually as dark as the American soundtrack supporters make it out to be. Sonic is saving the future, not letting it fall to ruin. With that being said, the boss music in the US Soundtrack is the most unfitting thing for a classic sonic game.

The only thing the US Soundtrack has that I undeniably like more than the JP soundtrack is Sonic Boom. I'm also apparently one of the few people in the world who likes Tidal Tempest JP Present infinitely more than the US present. Because anyone else I talk to thinks the US Present is better.

Anyways that's about sums up my points. The final verdict for me is: JP Soundtrack fits the game better in all regards.
Title: Re: Sonic CD: US vs JP
Post by: Kapus on July 13, 2013, 04:22:22 AM
Tidal Tempest JP Present is one of my favorites. You're not alone.
Title: Re: Sonic CD: US vs JP
Post by: SmashTheEchidna on July 13, 2013, 04:52:09 AM
Ivory's made several good points, which I definitely agree with. I know that most of the US songs don't really fit in as well as the JP ones.
But, I love the US songs as well, and think that they're pretty great in their own right. I enjoy them both just as much, though I more often listen to the US songs since those are the ones I grew up with.
Title: Sonic, dead or alive, is m-m-mine.
Post by: LlamaHombre on July 13, 2013, 04:53:09 AM
I personally find the Japanese soundtrack just ear candy from start to finish, with spectacular keyboard solos and hilariously peppy lyrics and rap and so on and so forth. It just keeps me coming back to the game itself again and again simply for the sake up experimenting with the music. Not to mention, the individual zones maintain the same melodies, which I absolutely adore when it comes to soundtracks. It helps to maintain a sense of identity within the zones as well as provide multiple takes on one particular song. I might not like Wacky Workbench Past much, but Wacky Workbench Bad Future is among my favorite tracks in the game.

It just sorta leaves the American soundtrack kinda hanging there. It's not a bad soundtrack, but I didn't fall in love with it in the way that I did with CD's Japanese soundtrack.
Title: Re: Sonic CD: US vs JP
Post by: Gumballtoid on July 13, 2013, 05:02:44 AM
While Ivory's third point is quite accurate, I personally found the unique music to be far more impactful in the US version.

Things like Palmtree Panic and Quartz Quadrant had futures who started out similar but then became clear that the future was either bright and rosy or hopeless and bleak, and in the latter case, hit you where it hurt. The remorseful singing in Palmtree Panic Bad Future made you realize that, by not preventing the toxic and clearly uninhabitable future, you had screwed up big-time and was that much more impactful as a result.

The US soundtrack was also the one I was first exposed to, as I had played it on the Gems Collection and then went on to purchase the Steam build, so it has that much more familiarity and nostalgic value to me.
Title: THE BOSS THEME IS AN EXCEPTION BECAUSE US IS 10/10
Post by: Red on July 13, 2013, 06:06:12 AM
Sometimes I like to think this:

Jap version represents Palmtree Panic
(click to show/hide)

US version represents Palmtree Panic
(click to show/hide)

Jap version represents Stardust Speedway
(click to show/hide)

US version represents Stardust Speedway
(click to show/hide)

Jap version represents Metallic Madness
(click to show/hide)

US version represents Metallic Madness
(click to show/hide)

I would go on but I'm kinda lazy and I think that's enough, IMO, the JP Soundtrack is far better, and it's really simple why:

the US soundtrack lacks the past versions, therefore making it incomplete, the present, good future, and bad future versions do not go along with the japanese past versions,  however, the japanese versions fit with the rest of the japanese soundtrack.

I grew up playing the american version of this game that came for PC, but overall I still must say that the JP soundtrack is superior.
Title: Re: Sonic CD: US vs JP
Post by: Rozark on July 13, 2013, 06:33:40 AM
I'd say it depends on what kind of mood I'm in.
For a lighter tone of play or just doing some time trials, I go with JP.
For a darker tone of play or when I'm frustrated, I go with US.
Title: Re: Sonic CD: US vs JP
Post by: *Alice on July 13, 2013, 06:53:20 AM
The US soundtrack had an amazing end of level jingle that should really have been used in the JP version.
The rest of that music isn't all that great, though because the whole past <-> present/futures dissonance really ruins it for me.
However, most of the US music does sound quite good on its own and could probably fit better into a different game considering how it generally feels more like western 90s PC music (and I do like quite a lot of those).
Like, really. The US Present/Future versions of everything but Palmtree Panic and Tidal Tempest could have easily fit into a game related to western sci-fi on the PC.
But it is not suited for Sonic CD. It is as if you would play MM8BDM with the music from Duke Nukem or Doom, it would just feel out of place (but not necessarily sound bad).

The JP/PAL soundtrack on the other hand is really really good and fits to all of the stages perfectly, especially Tidal Tempest and Collision Chaos are just plain amazing in all 4 time zones.
It is probably one of the 5 best soundtracks in all of Sonic history.
And the boss theme is too good for words. It manages to fit to the tension of a boss fight while being incredibly silly and I don't recall having seen or heard something anywhere like it in any other game.
And not to forget, the game was supposed to have PCM samples to make the loops completely seamless in the JP/PAL version, but unfortunately that functionality was not implemented. More about that here (http://info.sonicretro.org/Game_Secrets:Sonic_the_Hedgehog_CD#Prototype_music_tracks).

// Feel free to stop reading here, the text below is only a rant about a single act in the entire game.

(click to show/hide)

Collision Chaos Past is my favorite piece of music of the whole game, by the way.
Tidal Tempest Present US is awful though.
Title: The US game over and boss theme.
Post by: Stardroid Venus on July 14, 2013, 01:09:15 AM
Personally, I think that the JP soundtrack fits the game better than the US. Some of the US soundtrack feels out of place. Like the boss theme in the US soundtrack. The US soundtrack isn't bad though. The US Stardust Speedway Bad Future is one of the better ones in the that soundtrack. Tidal Tempest Present JP is my favorite out of the JP soundtrack. It surpasses US Tidal Tempest Present.
Title: Re: Sonic CD: US vs JP
Post by: Mr. Sean Nelson on July 16, 2013, 03:52:25 PM
JP is far better, except for specific instances like Sonic Boom.

A lot of the american music in that game was just not good in general.
Especally the boss theme.

O HO HO HO HO HO

Game sucks anyway, though.
For realz.
Title: Re: Sonic CD: US vs JP
Post by: -FiniteZero- on July 16, 2013, 04:12:09 PM
For me anyway, it's possibly my favorite classic Sonic game, tied with Sonic 1.

The best version is of course the 2011 port/remake. Enabled music looping (as well as letting you choose which soundtrack you want), improves collision detection, and even gives ya Tails. Awesomeness.
Title: Re: Sonic CD: US vs JP
Post by: brotoad on July 16, 2013, 11:51:24 PM
They're both good for different reasons!
variations on
JP/PAL has more consistancy to it, the different themes in the stages are all reditions of a similar theme, which I personally prefer, while the US one has a lot more variety.

I don't think either of them are especially better!
Title: Re: Sonic CD: US vs JP
Post by: Blaze Yeager on July 17, 2013, 12:35:43 AM
Quote from: "brotoad"
They're both good for different reasons!
variations on
JP/PAL has more consistancy to it, the different themes in the stages are all reditions of a similar theme, which I personally prefer, while the US one has a lot more variety.

I don't think either of them are especially better!

I second this notion.
Title: Re: Sonic CD: US vs JP
Post by: afsonicking on July 17, 2013, 10:49:43 PM
I think both are equal but JP is better because it HAS NO CREEPY SONGS!
Title: Re: Sonic CD: US vs JP
Post by: VGS2 on July 17, 2013, 11:16:45 PM
Many a year ago, while I was still a total noob (I still am, but bear with me), I used to actually listen to the Japanese Sonic CD songs all the damn time in The Sonic Stadium, like some sort of musical cocaine. However, years later, quite like Gumballtoid, I played it for the first time in Sonic Gems Collection.
Naturally, I was kinda disappointed, seeing as I expected the British game to have the Japanese soundtrack like in the old days, but of course, we got good ol' nightmare fuel the musical instead.

Still, I'm kinda glad they gave us that instead of letting us feck around with the two of 'em, or keeping it JP only instead, to be honest. Otherwise, I'd have never gotten acquainted with the soundtrack at all.
Case in point, with the HD game, I keep the JP switch on, so yeah.
And so while I greatly prefer the Japanese one, I would miss the American one if it were to be wiped off the face of the planet because of... an alien invasion or something, I dunno.
'Tis nostalgic to me, and still rather pleasant to listen to.

In fact, I'm honestly surprised nobody's made Past remixes of the USA songs yet. Or am I just looking in the wrong places?

tl:dr Japan's version is the sexiest. Obey it.

On another note, I do have to wonder what the infamous Desert Dazzle (http://info.sonicretro.org/Desert_Dazzle)'s songs would've sounded like if it was put into the 2011 game. Alas, we may never know...
Title: It might have made me gone a little bit insane, but hey.
Post by: Shade Guy on July 18, 2013, 12:31:49 PM
Both versions convey their own musical ideas well; as Red mentioned, the US version focuses on one aspect of the stage's general theme, while the JP version focuses on another, eg. Palmtree Panic; US is palmtree (more tropical instrumentation, slower tempo), JP is panic (instrumentation is less generically tropical, more fast paced,). The difference is fine, and they're generally both good in their own right, but I can't help but appreciate the JP soundtrack more for its quirkiness and originality. Like, including lyrics in the JP Metallic Madness (Bad Future) theme that outright tell you to give up, "you can't do anything, so don't even try, get some help", is genius.

And regardless, the JP boss theme is an automatic winner for sampling this song; the song that got me through the hard times while mapping for MM8BDM v3a (Astro Man, I'm looking at you):
(click to show/hide)