SEGA aren’t exactly strangers to wheeling out the Classic Sonic games now. It’s a running joke amongst the fanbase that every Sonic fan owns at least 30 different copies of the original game across just about every gaming platform known to man. Hell – I had Sonic the Hedgehog on my chunky old iPod Classic! But after the rather staggering way SEGA stuffed up Sonic Colours Ultimate last year, I don’t think it’s unreasonable that some people were even more wary of Sonic Origins than they’d usually be. The good news is that this isn’t the mess that Sonic’s Wii outing got turned into. The bad news is that Sonic Origins is still a very flawed package, full of glaring errors and mistakes that are made more aggravating knowing they could’ve been very easily fixed.
In an interview composed with Brad Buxer back in May, Brad Buxer confirms that the majority of the music composed for Sonic the Hedgehog 3 was actually done by him and not Michael Jackson.
Buxer confirms that Michael Jackson had signed on to compose music for the soundtrack, but the actual writing duties fell to Buxer as he was Jackson’s main songwriting collaborator at the time. Buxer confirms he wrote 41 audio cues for Sonic 3 and Jackson only had input on one of them. He does not specify which song Jackson had input on and he does not specify which of the 41 audio cues ended up in the final game. We know for a fact that Ice Cap Zone was written by Brad Buxer because the melodies line-up with Buxer’s own song Hard Times that he recorded with the band The Jetzons.
Buxer also confirms that writing for the song Stranger in Moscow also came from the same sessions that produced the 41 audio cues for Sonic 3. Stranger in Moscow is often compared to the Sonic 3 credits theme as the songs share a similar chord progression. As this song was written separately from the Sonic 3 audio cues, it is more likely a coincidence that the songs sound similar.
5 other composers are credited for Sonic 3’s music: Bobby Brooks, Darryl Ross, Geoff Grace, Doug Grigsby III and C. Cirocco Jones. This means it is highly unlikely that all of Buxer’s 41 audio cues were used in the final game. You can watch an isolated segment of Brad Buxer’s May 2022 interview with Abbey Road Institute Paris below:
Out with the old, in with the new is very much the latest piece of news from SEGA’s PR team, as the company has announced that the standalone digital releases of the Classic Sonic games included in Sonic Origins will be delisted. That’s Sonic 1, Sonic 2, Sonic 3 & Knuckles and Sonic CD.
There’s no mention of specific platforms, but it’s safe to say this probably applies mostly to Steam (the only platform that currently offers all four of the titles standalone). That being said, the press release does note that the versions of Sonic 1 and 2 released for the SEGA AGES line on Nintendo Switch will survive the purge, as will the available titles on the Nintendo Switch Online Mega Drive app.
It’s perhaps to be expected, but still quite a shame. In particular the Sonic 3 & Knuckles and Sonic CD releases offered legal means to use fan projects such as Sonic 3 A.I.R. and the Sonic CD decompliation project. It’s also somewhat odd as the versions of Sonic 1, 2 and 3&K on digital platforms aren’t even the souped-up Retro Engine versions offered by Origins. That is, unless this purge includes the mobile releases… which would be confusing seeing as Origins isn’t coming to that platform.
On the whole it’s a bit of a rubbish situation for preservation as delistings always are, but from a business standpoint was probably to be expected. We’ll forgive them if they relist After Burner Climax on consoles somehow. Maybe.
When Tracker isn’t playing SEGA games, he’s talking about SEGA games. Or drawing about SEGA games. Or all of the above. You can also catch him over on Twitter.
It’s been very quiet on the Sonic Origins front. We haven’t heard anything since the game’s initial reveal back in May 2021, but something is definitely happening soon because the game has been rated in South Korea and some key art has been leaked via the back door of the PlayStation Network. You can see the key art in the header for this this article.
Sonic Origins is a new collection of Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Sonic the Hedgehog 3, Sonic & Knuckles and Sonic the Hedgehog CD. Sonic 3 & Knuckles will also be available to play in their full combined glory, and it has been promised that all games will be displayed in a widescreen resolution. This has led many to believe these ports are being based on Christian Whitehead’s mobile versions of Sonic 1, 2 and CD.
Sonic Origins is scheduled to release at some point in 2022 for “the latest platforms“. Here’s hoping more news on Sonic Origins is coming soon!
Sonic Origins has been officially announced as part of Sonic’s 30th Anniversary festivities.
The collection will include, for the first time on consoles, the remakes of Sonic 1 and 2 produced by Christian Whitehead, also known as ‘The Taxman’. It’ll also include his remake of Sonic CD, and the first re-release of Sonic 3 & Knuckles in a long time, though it doesn’t appear that it’ll be remastered like the other titles.
The game will be coming to “the latest platforms”, and more information will be announced later in the year. It’ll be released in 2022.
When Tracker isn’t playing SEGA games, he’s talking about SEGA games. Or drawing about SEGA games. Or all of the above. You can also catch him over on Twitter.
I’d like to draw your attention to the latest episode of Shay Says. If you’re unfamiliar with the series then it’s a documentary-style video games show that deconstructs certain games of gaming franchises in a similar way to Egoraptor’s Sequelitis.
For the latest episode, Shay is taking a detailed look at the gameplay mechanics of the Sonic franchise (and when I say detailed, I mean detailed). 2 more episodes will follow that look at other aspects of the franchise.
While I wouldn’t normally recommend watching an almost feature length video about a games franchise, Shay has some incredibly interesting things to say about what works and what doesn’t regarding Sonic gameplay mechanics. He’s also one of the few people I’ve seen actively suggest alternative mechanics that might just improve the experience.
If you have the time then please take a look at the below video because it’s an extremely well made and unbiased look at what makes the Sonic franchise work so well and what doesn’t.
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