#SONIC CD SOUNDTRACK ARTIST HOW TO#
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#SONIC CD SOUNDTRACK ARTIST PORTABLE#

I would put the game discs into my portable CD player (probably some crappy Magnavox thingy) and listen to their soundtracks for hours (yes, this works). As a child, I used to take my Sega CD games with me in the car for family road trips.

#SONIC CD SOUNDTRACK ARTIST FULL#

Full disclosure, I may be a little partial as I have exceptionally strong nostalgic memories of the soundtrack. Composer Naofumi Hataya and his team, as directed by Naoto Ohshima, deliver one of the best game soundtracks of the era. Some songs are catchier than others, but overall the soundtrack boasts some of the 16-bit eras most astounding compositions. It’s a tight and solid game with stunning visuals and exceptional tunes. There’s not much more I can say about Sonic CD that hasn’t already been said. It reminds us of our roots and the popular sound of the times. Even though those particular songs date themselves, it is in no way a negative thing. These tunes are much like the hip-hop-esque percussiony tune when we were first introduced to Knuckles in Sonic the Hedgehog 3. But isn’t that what made Sonic so damn cool? He exuded attitude and his style was edgy and raw. Many of the songs have an identifiable Sega and Sonic sound and feel, but a few tracks date themselves with their early 90’s hip-hop themes (see: “collision chaos” below). Nonetheless, despite many songs being left on the cutting-room floor, the final product is near flawless. It wasn’t all easy, however, as Sonic’s original designer and Sonic CD’s director, Naoto Ohshima, had the soundtrack composition team redo their work many times. With traveling between past, present, and future, Hataya found it easy to incorporate some motifs from club music. “Time Warp” is a major part of Sonic CD’s gameplay, it could almost be called a “mechanic” of the game. “…in retrospect, it was the first time I really focused on building a concept in my game music.”Įven with Hataya’s desire to incorporate techno and house music, it was always important that the team stay relevant to the game. Drawing inspiration from popular British audiences, Hataya wound up doing something new on a personal level: And here, on Sonic CD, they remain faithful, even going as far as to add to their stellar reputation.

Sega has always been impressive with their soundtracks, from the Master System to the Dreamcast, and even into their current software. Sonic CD ‘s soundtrack is truly masterful, if not legendary. For this reason, Sega started investing much more into the music creation, with the intention of making more realistic, high quality music.” This gave us much greater possibilities for the sound production. However, Sonic CD was developed for the new Mega-CD home console instead, which had digital Compact Disc audio capabilities. These allowed us to handle six FM channels, three PSG channels, and one noise channel. “We had previously worked on sound for Sega’s Mega Drive console, which had two internal chips for the music and sound effects. Said Naofumi Hataya, Sonic CD’s composer: Using a compact disc format allowed the music department to create with almost no technical limitations. And Sonic Team did more than just “take advantage,” easily exceeding fans’ expectations, most notably in the quality of sound and music.

#SONIC CD SOUNDTRACK ARTIST HOW TO#

Sonic CD was a shining example of how to take advantage of disc-based software at a time when cartridges still ruled the home-console landscape. Incredible graphics, outstanding music, sterling gameplay, and so much more. There’s no build-up introductory paragraph needed when it comes to Sonic CD.

Sonic cd soundtrack artist