WINNERS: Video Games Live Los Angeles Concert

Thanks for all of your entries, guys! We received a huge number of applications – seems many of you are enjoying the E3 show, or live in the Los Angeles area! Well, only five pairs of tickets are up for grabs, so who’s impressed us with their Sonic soundtrack suggestions? We list them below, in no particular order:

Seiya P – Mother/Earthbound

I think a non-sega franchise whose music would fit the Sonic games is the Mother series from Nintendo (or Earthbound if you don’t recognize). The reason for this is because like Sonic the music featured in Mother (especially 2 and 3) have that “pop culture” sound and does not sound like what one might expect from video games.

I think like Masato Nakamura and even Jun Senoue, the music directors of Mother Keiichi Suzuki and Hirokazu Tanaka took inspiration from popular music like John Lennon and different genres of music. I mean listened to Master Porky’s theme or Porky’s Pokiesfrom Mother 3 and tell me they don’t sound like an Eggman’s base level and a boss theme from Sonic. Like the music in Sonic, the music from Mother sounds like it was taken from a movie and put in a video game and transports you a to a world filled with magic and adventure.

Ruud van de Moosdijk – Turrican

Although it is always hard to imagine any game without the soundtrack it came with (for me), I didn’t have a hard time coming up with this at all: Sonic for me stands for a couple of things that should be apparent in any Sonic game’s soundtrack: speed and attitude! That is why I feel that the best nomination would be: Turrican soundtrack (composed by Chris Hülsbeck). It is up-tempo (like Sonic), sounds modern yet is a classic (like Sonic), and it has attitude! I personally think it is a very good fit, beside the fact that it is one of the best video game soundtracks ever written. I have included some Youtube links to the various songs below!

Kevin Pescoran – Sengoku Basara 3

I believe that the perfect non-SEGA video game soundtrack for a Sonic the Hedgehog game would be Sengoku Basara 3. If you listen to the music, you will notice the fast and intense music, while still not being overly-dramatic and insane. Besides, that game was composed by several talented and skilled Japanese Composers, some of which, composed for other SEGA titles such as Bayonetta.

The overall sound of Basasra 3 is the exact same sound as Sonic: It sounds like a video game! It is not orchestral and dramatic like most games today, but it is in fact very anime-ish and imaginative. There is no “genre” that can classify Basara’s soundtrack other than “Video Game”. There is electric guitars, subtle electronic loops, cool sounding synthesizers, and of course, the feel of a video game.

Heath Higgins – Killer Instinct Gold

The diverse character themes and fast-paced, epic nuances transfer like no other (non-SEGA) game could to the around-the-universe tour that comprises any good Sonic game.

Imagine a Japanese bamboo forest zone with Jago’s Shakuhachi, followed by a techno club/casino/carnival stage using Orchid’s “Play Hard.”  Maya’s Jungle Beat is a tribal trip that perfectly fits a Marble Garden-White Jungle Zone mix, with an end-of-zone Eggman battle in a lost pirate stronghold sounded out by Spinal’s Skeleton Crew (sadly our only treasure is the one gold ring we managed to hang on to).

We next find ourselves racing east through a misty mountain valley with Kim Wu’s Oriental Blitz.  Then, we shift our latitude slightly south, where the character select screen’s electric guitars and anvils smelt us into an iron age-style mech factory, Eggman’s main ground facility.  A launch to an ultra high tech space station with Glacius’s Suaucer Being in the background means we’re hot on Eggman’s tail.  Tusk’s Barbarian Thunder tunes a surprisingly awesome final Eggman battle, and TJ Combo closes out the credits with a mantra of Feel the Power!

Tom Fry – Ridge Racer Type 4

Thanks to its bright and bold tonal hues ranging from funk to dance coupled with a swift tempo, it captures many musical qualities that have been bound within the Sonic franchise since its inception. This is most well illustrated by soundtracks such as the Japanese Sonic CD OST which undoubtedly makes a virtue of these aforementioned styles.

Carefully arranged, punchy beats and memorable electronic melodies are gelled effortlessly with the luminous, geometric aesthetic that is synonymous with the classic titles as well as titles from the contemporary handheld and post Sonic ’06 era of the series.

This trend runs throughout Sonic’s history seemingly regardless of composer with tracks from the likes of Hideki Naganuma bearing more than a passing nod to R4’s soundtrack when comparing Sonic Rush’s “New Day” to R4’s “Burnin’ Rubber” to name but one comparative example. Although Sonic has been known to explore other musical genres, particularly somewhat moodier rock during and shortly after the Sonic Adventure era, it is the dance and funk genres as explored extensively in R4 that resonates consistently throughout the Sonic franchise.

Congratulations to the Winners

As always, we were very impressed with all the entries, but we could only pick five! Honourable mentions include Jet Set Radio, Mega Man, Scott Pilgrim and F-Zero GX/AX – along with the huge number of entries for Street Fighter II (because Guile’s Theme Goes With Everything) – and good contenders they were indeed. But we really appreciated these winning entries, as they looked to games that you normally would not consider as substitutes for a powerful soundtrack that works with Sonic the Hedgehog.

Well done guys – you should all have received emails. Please respond as soon as possible so that we may be able to place your names on the list in the box office. Enjoy the show!