I had the same thing with Sonic 2. Eveyone had it except me and even when I got it I was'nt allowed to play it until everyone (including parents) had a go.
At primary school a friend of mind (who briefly checked out this forum) did a very eccentric sparkster comic. I'll see if I can get him to part with it.
Is the US soundtrack really that much worse than the Japanese/European one, so much so that it hurts the core game? I've heard (and always though) that they were both good.
I can certainly stomach Sonic Boom at the very least. In fact, I like that song. Haven't really heard the rest of the US soundtrack (or even the Japanese, save for a few songs) to give a verdict.
I'd say they're both pretty much equal in terms of quality. Stylistically, they're very different and therefore open to personal opinion. I like both a lot and don't really care for one over the other.
Dark Crow wrote:Is the US soundtrack really that much worse than the Japanese/European one, so much so that it hurts the core game? I've heard (and always though) that they were both good.
The U.S. soundtrack isn't bad, but there's very little transition from present to good future to bad future. Sometimes, the good future would sound like <i>bad</i> future music, which annoyed me long before knowing of the soundtrack switch for the U.S. version. The music sounds like it was rushed, which it probably was, because SEGA was pushing out 3 more Sonic games at almost the same time, and they needed this game out on the market fast.
You Can Do Anything >>>>> Sonic Boom
Cosmic Eternity >>>>> Sonic Boom (Extended)
The US soundtrack isn't too bad, but I equate it to buying a DVD of a foreign film that only contains the dub track.
Personally I find the original soundtrack to be vastly superior, the fact that they match up with the Past tunes that are shared on both versions is a plus too.
The fact that I liked the Past music more than the CD audio in the US version says to me that I was meant to prefer the Japanese soundtrack from the beginning (and I do) but the US version has a more somber quality to it (if you can even say that about a Sonic soundtrack) and I do like the atmosphere it creates. It doesn't hurt the game as much as it makes it very different.
With the PC version, I'm sure there's a way to edit it (replace the CD tracks, etc) to play the Japanese music, or you could just pick up the Japanese or PAL MegaCD version and run it under an emulator right off the CD.
The US soundtrack isn't too bad, but I equate it to buying a DVD of a foreign film that only contains the dub track.
I don't really see this as a problem. Subtitles are not the "original vision" nor "the way it was meant to be" for any piece of media. They are both compromises for convience.
I mean it's not like fullscreen or widescreen where there is literally one option that is pure and life-giving and other is total shit. It's like two different piles of shit that have slightly different smells.
I have both the American and Japanese versions of the game for the Sega CD (I picked up a converted one that can go back and forth between Mega Drive/CD and Genesis/Sega CD. Requires so much power that the fan was replaced with a 3DO one to cool it! Put me out $300) and I say that both of them rock, however, if the Americans were going to change the soundtrack, they should have changed it completely instead of leaving the "past" tracks in there since they sound so out of place with the other songs of that level since each of the four songs (present, past, good future and bad future) are supposed to be slightly different variations of the same song. If they completed "past" tracks for the American version, then I would have preferred it over its Aisan counterpart, but without that change I would have to go with the Japanese version because of its completeness.
I know somebody's going to al;tr (if that's how you say it) this post because it's too long.
I kinda prefer "Sonic Boom" than "Toot toot Sonic Warrior". But that's just me. I'm just glad that I could play this game without owning a Sega/Mega CD.