Music of Sonic the Hedgehog

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A Japanese man (left) plays a guitar while an American man (right) sings in front of a crowd.
Jun Senoue (left) and his band Crush 40 have composed music for many Sonic games since Sonic 3D Blast (1996).

Sonic the Hedgehog is a Japanese video game series and media franchise created and owned by Sega. The franchise began in 1991 with Sonic the Hedgehog, a side-scrolling platform game, and has since expanded to include printed media, animations, a 2020 feature film, and merchandise. The music of the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise has been provided by a number of composers, ranging from Sega sound staff to independent contractors and popular bands. Music in the Sonic franchise covers many genres, including electronic, pop, funk, rock, hip hop and orchestral.

The Sonic franchise is well-known for its music; Tom's Guide wrote that it "has always had some of the best music in all of video gaming. From Sonic 2, to Secret Rings, to Zero Gravity, to Mania Plus, Sonic's always brought an S-Rank performance to his games' musical stylings."[1] Most Sonic games have received soundtrack album releases.

History[]

Sega director Fujio Minegishi had connections to the music industry at the time the original Sonic was in development, and suggested his friend Yūzō Kayama write the score. However, Sonic Team did not think Kayama's music would fit, and instead commissioned Masato Nakamura, bassist and songwriter of the J-pop band Dreams Come True.[2][3] Nakamura returned to compose Sonic 2's soundtrack. For both games, Nakamura began composing early in development with only concept images for reference.[4] He treated Sonic as a film and designed the music around the atmosphere that he felt from the images of the stages.[5] As a gift for the developers, Nakamura produced an alternate version of the Sonic 2 ending theme with Dreams Come True, included on The Swinging Star as "Sweet Sweet Sweet".[6] After the original game was released, Nakamura became popular in Japan, and increased his asking price. Dreams Come True owns the rights to Nakamura's score, which created problems when the Sonic Spinball team used his Sonic theme music without permission.[7]

Two soundtracks were composed for Sonic CD: the original score, featured in the Japanese and European releases, was composed by Naofumi Hataya and Masafumi Ogata, while the North American version was scored by Spencer Nilsen, David Young, and Mark Crew. The Japanese composers drew inspiration from club music such as house and techno, while Hataya cited C+C Music Factory, Frankie Knuckles, and the KLF as influences.[8] According to Nilsen, Sega commissioned a new soundtrack for the American release as the marketing department felt it needed a "more musically rich and complex" soundtrack. Nilsen also wrote a theme song, "Sonic Boom", which became one of the franchise's most iconic tracks.[9]

A number of composers contributed to the Sonic the Hedgehog 3 score, including Sega sound staff[10] and independent contractors recruited to finish the game on schedule.[11] American pop musician Michael Jackson, a Sonic fan, approached Sega, and he was hired to write tracks for Sonic 3. However, it is unclear if Jackson's contributions remain in the final game. According to Ohshima and Hector, Jackson's involvement was terminated and his music reworked following the first allegations of child sexual abuse against him,[12][13] but composers Doug Grigsby, Cirocco Jones, and Brad Buxer said his contributions remained.[14] Buxer, who was Jackson's musical director, recalled Jackson chose to go uncredited because he was unhappy with how his music sounded on the Genesis,[14] and that the credits music became the basis for Jackson's 1996 single "Stranger in Moscow".[15]

Sonic 3 was the first Sonic game composer Jun Senoue worked on.[10] Senoue has composed the music for many Sonic games since Sonic 3D Blast,[a] often with his band Crush 40, which he formed with Hardline vocalist Johnny Gioeli.[26] While the Genesis Sonic soundtracks were characterized by electropop, Senoue's scores typically feature funk and rock music.[27] Tomoya Ohtani has been the series' sound director since Sonic the Hedgehog in 2006, and was the lead composer for that game, Sonic Unleashed, Sonic Colors, Sonic Lost World, Sonic Runners, and Sonic Forces.[28][29] Ohtani, in an interview, stated that he attempts to "express through music the greatest features each game has", citing the diverse and energetic score of Sonic Unleashed and the more science fiction-style score of Sonic Colors as examples.[28]

Other composers who have contributed to Sonic games include Richard Jacques[30][31] and Hideki Naganuma.[32] Tee Lopes—known for releasing unofficial remixes of Sonic tracks on YouTube—was the lead composer for Sonic Mania[33] and a contributor to Team Sonic Racing.[34] Sonic games have also featured contributions from notable artists. The main theme of the 2006 Sonic the Hedgehog was performed by Ali Tabatabaee and Matty Lewis of the punk rock band Zebrahead,[35] while R&B artist Akon remixed "Sweet Sweet Sweet" for its soundtrack.[36] Doug Robb, lead-singer of post-grunge band Hoobastank performed the main theme of Sonic Forces,[37] while metalcore band DangerKids performed the theme song for the game's antagonist, Infinite.[38]

Merchandise[]

In January 2017, Sega made various Sonic soundtracks available on the music streaming service Spotify.[39]

Notes[]

  1. ^ Senoue was the lead composer for Sonic 3D Blast (1996),[16] Sonic Adventure (1998),[17][18] Sonic Adventure 2 (2001),[19] Sonic Heroes (2003),[20] Shadow the Hedgehog (2005),[21] Sonic and the Black Knight (2009),[22] Sonic the Hedgehog 4 (2010 and 2012),[23] Sonic Generations (2011),[24] and Team Sonic Racing (2019).[25]

References[]

  1. ^ Carneval, Robert (August 29, 2018). "The 16 Best Video Game Soundtracks". Tom's Guide. Retrieved May 13, 2020.
  2. ^ "The Making of Sonic the Hedgehog". Retro Gamer. No. 100. Bournemouth: Imagine Publishing. February 2012. pp. 46–49. ISSN 1742-3155.
  3. ^ "ソニックチーム物語". Sega Magazine (in Japanese). No. 3. SoftBank Creative. January 1997. pp. 9–13. (Translation by Shmuplations. Archived December 17, 2019, at the Wayback Machine).
  4. ^ Nakamura, Masato (2011), Interview with Masato Nakamura (Album Booklet), DCT Records, When I started writing the music, "Sonic the Hedgehog 1" was just still images..."Sonic the Hedgehog 2" started off the kind of the same. Just graphics.
  5. ^ Nakamura, Masato (2011), Interview with Masato Nakamura (Album Booklet), DCT Records, I wanted to treat 'Sonic the Hedgehog' as a film, my inspiration came from each screenshot, or each stage.
  6. ^ Naka, Yuji (2011), Interview with Yuju Naka (Album Booklet), DCT Records, Nakamura reoworked the ending theme...info a song entitled "Sweet Sweet Sweet" for inclusion on the Dreams Come True album
  7. ^ Horowitz, Ken (June 11, 2007). "Developer's Den: Sega Technical Institute". Sega-16. Archived from the original on April 8, 2016.
  8. ^ Stuart, Keith (2014). "Interview with Naofumi Hataya". Sega Mega Drive/Genesis: Collected Works. Read-Only Memory. p. 312. ISBN 9780957576810.
  9. ^ Horowitz, Ken (December 9, 2008). "Interview: Spencer Nilsen (Composer)". Sega-16. Archived from the original on May 12, 2018.
  10. ^ Jump up to: a b Herman, Tamar (September 10, 2019). "Jun Senoue on Creating Music for 'Team Sonic Racing' and the Future of Video Gaming Music". Billboard. Archived from the original on December 30, 2019.
  11. ^ Plunkett, Luke (November 17, 2019). "Unreleased Version Of Sonic The Hedgehog 3 Found After Surviving Development Hell". Kotaku. Archived from the original on November 20, 2019.
  12. ^ Carless, Simon (March 27, 2006). "Michael Jackson's Secret Sonic 3 Shame". GameSetWatch. Archived from the original on January 6, 2009.
  13. ^ Szczepaniak, John (2018). The Untold History of Japanese Game Developers: Volume 3. S.M.G Szczepaniak. pp. 301–302, 308–309. ISBN 978-0992926083.
  14. ^ Jump up to: a b Lynch, Joe (January 26, 2016). "Michael Jackson Wrote 'Sonic the Hedgehog 3' Music: Crazy Theory Confirmed?". Magazine. Archived from the original on November 15, 2019.
  15. ^ James, Montgomery (December 4, 2009). "Did Michael Jackson Compose 'Sonic The Hedgehog 3' Soundtrack?". MTV. Archived from the original on September 10, 2015.
  16. ^ Traveller's Tales; Sonic Team (November 5, 1996). Sonic 3D Blast (Sega Genesis). Sega. Level/area: Credits.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  17. ^ "Digi-Log Conversation Sonic Adventure O.S.T. Side-A". sonic.sega.jp (in Japanese). Sega. Archived from the original on June 16, 2016.
  18. ^ "Digi-Log Conversation Sonic Adventure O.S.T. Side-B". sonic.sega.jp (in Japanese). Sega. Archived from the original on August 18, 2016.
  19. ^ Four-Eyed Dragon (June 19, 2001). "Sonic Adventure 2". GamePro. Archived from the original on January 2, 2006.
  20. ^ "Sonic Heroes - Original Soundtrack". AllMusic. November 9, 2004. Archived from the original on January 15, 2017.
  21. ^ ""セガモバ"で『シャドウ・ザ・ヘッジホッグ』のサントラCDがプレゼント！". Famitsu (in Japanese). February 21, 2006. Archived from the original on June 19, 2009.
  22. ^ T-bird (February 7, 2010). "Jun Senoue interview by T-bird (2010)". Sonic Retro. Archived from the original on November 20, 2012.
  23. ^ T., Steve (April 2010). "True Blue". Nintendo Power. Future US (253): 14–17. ISSN 1041-9551.
  24. ^ Hammond, Joe. "Game Music :: Sonic Generations Original Soundtrack -Blue Blur". Square Enix Music Online. Archived from the original on March 31, 2016.
  25. ^ Gallagher, Mathew (June 7, 2018). "Jun Senoue lead composer on Sonic Team Racing". Video Game Music Online. Archived from the original on June 12, 2018.
  26. ^ Aitchison, Sean (January 10, 2020). "Sonic Youth: The History and Impact of Crush 40". Fanbyte. Archived from the original on April 26, 2020.
  27. ^ "Sega Unveils Sonic Adventure". News. Edge. No. 63. Bath: Future plc. October 1998. pp. 6–7. ISSN 1350-1593.
  28. ^ Jump up to: a b Greening, Chris (December 5, 2015). "Tomoya Ohtani Interview: Sonic Music for a New Generation". Video Game Music Online. Archived from the original on December 18, 2019.
  29. ^ Sonic Team (December 7, 2017). Sonic Forces (Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Windows). Sega. Level/area: Credits.
  30. ^ Leo, Jon (May 2, 2012). "Sound Byte: Meet the Composer - Richard Jacques". GameSpot. Archived from the original on December 30, 2019.
  31. ^ Sheffield, Brandon (June 16, 2008). "Staying In Tune: Richard Jacques On Game Music's Past, Present, And Future". Gamasutra. Archived from the original on December 30, 2019.
  32. ^ Frank, Allegra (April 27, 2017). "Jet Set Radio composer would like to remind you that he can't make a new game happen". Polygon. Archived from the original on April 28, 2017.
  33. ^ Webster, Andrew (August 10, 2017). "Creating the old-school soundtrack of Sonic Mania". The Verge. Archived from the original on November 8, 2017.
  34. ^ Sega (October 30, 2018). Team Sonic Racing OST - "Boo's House" (Music). Archived from the original on December 6, 2018.
  35. ^ "Sonic the Hedgehog". Sega. Archived from the original on October 4, 2006.
  36. ^ jkdmedia (September 15, 2006). "DREAMS COME TRUE Song to be Featured in Sonic the Hedgehog". GameZone. Archived from the original on August 18, 2015.
  37. ^ Frank, Allegra (July 6, 2017). "Sonic Forces recruits Hoobastank for its perfectly on-brand theme song". Polygon. Archived from the original on September 4, 2017.
  38. ^ Sega. "Sonic Forces OST - Theme of Infinite". YouTube. Retrieved March 17, 2021.
  39. ^ Leack, Jonathan (January 25, 2017). "Sonic the Hedgehog Heads To Spotify As SEGA Adds Thousands Of Tracks". GameRevolution. Retrieved May 11, 2020.
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