True Colors – The Best of Sonic the Hedgehog Part 2

JEZMM:
“If True Blue was about the quality of the music in the franchise, this compilation is about the wider variety of the music, covering almost every genre that modern Sonic has touched upon to great success. My only disappointment with the album was that there was only one song that was an entirely original, never-before-heard remix, and it was a song that has been remixed several times already –” Dreams Of An Absolution”. Having said that, it’s a beautiful and inspiring remix, and while we have heard a bit of the almost-new Open Your Heart remix before, that’s still an amazing track too. The other bonus tracks however either aren’t huge deviations from the originals, or are simply rarer tracks from Sonic’s history. On the plus side for long-time fans though, this is the first official release of “E-102’s theme” to have a definitive finish, and “Cosmic Eternity” has a slightly extended ending. As a fan of all varieties of Sonic music, I found it to be a fantastic musical celebration of the extended cast, although those who would rather Sonic stick to one genre may have mixed feelings.” [8]

Thumbs Up!: Fantastic variety of tracks. The new stuff ranges from “nice” to “awesome”.
Thumbs Down!: One too many Shadow-related tracks. New content may disappoint some.
Favourite Track: Dreams Of An Absolution (Starry Night Remix)

BLITZCHRIS:
“Both True Blue and its more recent brother True Colours, interest me for one major reason. Remixes. True Blue did well, but has True Colours stepped up to the plate? I dare say it has, bringing home 4 new and 1 previously released but unobtainable remixes. The long awaited Lee Brotherton remix, “Open Your Heart” attempts to modify the more rock-driven song into something suitable for a club, and does so with flare. Crush40 return with Mike Szuter of Magna-Fi fame to produce a mix most fans will appreciate with a combined cover of All Hail Shadow. There is something almost, ‘complementary’ about the grouping of Mike’s voice with Jun’s guitar. Ohtani’s ‘Starry Night’ remix of ‘Dreams of an Absolution’ was the low point of the album for me, destroying one of the songs that saved Sonic06 from complete embarrassment. It sounded like a mash between two songs that just didnt ever belong together. Lastly, the original demo for Lazy Days just wasn’t as cheesy and doesn’t have the same energy as its original. It was interesting however to hear how the song has evolved since its original release. It’s not a bad mix, just something different. A listenable version of the “Sonic3 MegaD Mix” was a cause for celebration, with the track only previously obtainable through the menu background music of another game. I’m a massive fan of “look-a-like” and I would have loved to have seen a more complete version; it was nice to see its inclusion anyway. ” [8]

Thumbs Up: The track selection for the rest of the disc was fairly spot on.
Thumbs Down: Ohtani’s ‘Starry Night” remix did not impress at all.
Killer Track: All Hail Shadow

T-BIRD:
“Again, like I did with my review for the C40 album, I’m going to pitch from the collector’s end of the pitch. While I can’t faulter the selection of tracks here (indeed, nice to see some unexpected stuff like Gamma’s theme), and a double-whammy of Shadow tracks in the form of Julien-K will always go down well. However it’s the same old Sonic tunes re-packaged, and I think there’s only so much of this the fanbase will lap up. Where are all the classic chip-tune tracks? If I was in marketing i’d be putting together a “Best of Classic Sonic” and stuffing it full of Sonic 1,2, 3&K tracks, and surfing the demand of even the non die-hard fans wanting to purchase a little bit of their childhood in CD form. Am I right? The remix and demo tracks are nice little touches to the end of the album, and it’s good to see some of the more obscure pieces like “Look-A-Like” haven’t been forgotten by SEGA as again this is probably a definitive track for a number of people in the fanbase. I think the real destroyer track on this album is the “K-Club mix of Open Your Heart” as it tears up both the melody and tempo of the original and makes something brand new – something the fans want and this album on the whole fails to deliver. If you’re gonna buy one of the new albums from last year kids, go for the C40 compilation, or better yet Jun Senoue’s “The Works”. [6]

Thumbs Up!: A thoughtful selection of non-Sonic character themes from through the ages.
Thumbs Down!: You’ve probably got most the tracks already.
Killer Track: Open Your Heart (K-Club Mix)

A “truly colourful” collection of new and old tracks. Yet, this is another album on which re-released tracks feature predominantly, with the mixed bag of six new songs splitting opinion.

True Colors is still available for purchase from the Jun Senoue Official Store, as well as play-asia, and CD-Japan.

Are we totally off the mark again?  Or… do you agree with us? Let us know in the comments!