This makes the Mania soundtrack sound all that much more impressive, honestly. That was a tightly-knit soundtrack with a clear consistent personality, and yet it managed to make literal covers of tracks from various older games sound right at home. This sounds like it was made by people who didn't listen to each other's work at all.
One of my favorite OSTs of all time and there are some amazing hits in Superstars like Speed Jungle Act 1 but sadly it’s so forgettable and all over the place in comparison
@@DoritoTime yea he should have been the lead composer on the entire ost, Sonic OSTs are some of my favorite music period and mania was one that I listened to endlessly on release and still do a fair amount. I was so excited for this soundtrack but god it’s really just the Tee tracks I like 😭😭 after a few days of reflection I just have to say that’s how I feel because at first I was ok with some others but they really don’t stick in your head and everything pales in comparison to the tracks Tee made. Jun isn’t a bad composer but the adherence to pretty much nostalgia bait in his classic Sonic comps makes everyone just so confused as to why and many of these songs feel more like mimics of what people did like about those songs and doesn’t understand the real why of it
@@Funkiotologistyeah, I’m surprised they let Jun compose another “classic Sonic” soundtrack after the abysmal failure of Sonic 4. They should’ve gotten Tee Lopes or whoever worked on the Sonic Advance series to compose the music.
@@therightestangleJun is an excellent composer. But he definitely should stick to guitars IMO. This “Sega Genesis sound font” shtick that Sega keeps trying to use just sounds horrible. It didn’t work in Forces and it doesn’t work here. It just doesn’t work.
@@Hyp3rSonic I love how you said this as if 'soundfont' is a slur or something lmao It's just a word with multiple definitions. It's giving people a clear and concise way to talk about music even if they don't know much about it, why do you wanna take that away 😭
If Mania’s soundtrack was like a Greatest Hits tribute album with a few original songs, then Superstars’ soundtrack would be a collaboration album between two artists with the same idea, but neither of them were allowed to communicate with each other.
Not sure what exactly you mean by collaboration, but I do know the legend of dragoon soundtrack, which is awesome, was made by two people that never met each other.
@@solidusgadgetWHAO that is NOT the takeaway here. Man makes great melodies and anything he touches with the guitar is gold, he just should not be permitted to try to emulate the Genesis sound using those synths ever again.
@@phillyfanmattJun's work on on TSR just a couple years ago made some amazing new songs and remixes. He really just doesn't understand Classic Sonic anymore.
The person they keep inviting who makes the weird "genesis music" is June senoue. He's the guy who makes the adventure music but for some reason when he composes and arranges classic sonic music it's really bad despite him being very talented at music. He actually did compose some songs for sonic 3 but at that time he obviously wasn't nostalgia pandering. Also he wasn't arranging those songs. This stuff has been happening since sonic 4. He doesn't make music for classic song games, he just makes generic video game music but it's fast and has a bad Sega Genesis soundfont. Whats worse is that he actively decides to do this instead of doing actual music like in the adventure games and on. I think hes the reason the soundtrack isnt amazing like other sonic games
It's weird, because Jun Senoue CAN arrange Genesis Songs, he did arrange a lot of tracks in Sonic 3D Blast (Genesis), if only he stopped using the Vaccum VST
This is a rarity for Sonic Team for their OST To be this mixed. Usually they go absolutely off the walls for it, but they probably didn’t for two reasons, one being lack of care from Sega, or the future plans.
“All over the place” perfectly describes the OST of this game. It isn’t bad but it doesn’t know if it wants to go full on mania with some of the tracks or sonic 4 ish with the chip tune music at certain points. While I definitely have my favorite tracks in sonic mania that I adore, I can listen to the OST from beginning to end and it has cohesive vibe. Sometimes It felt like they ran out of time or something and threw some stuff together for certain segments of the game.
I think Classic Sonic osts should be handled by one main composer, or if u want multiple composers, make so that he does all the songs of the zone (both act 1 and 2). And don't use just genesis sounds, u can mix it with other instruments. I LOVE Sky Temple zone and it uses mostly genesis sound, but if u change some synths into real instruments, it could be 10x better imo
@vividcolorandrichaudio6134 You can't be saying that while Jun craps out the shittiest 30 seconds loops with the exact same Sonic 1 drum beat on each of his tracks.
25:53 The fact that the song sounds much better with the drum beat says a lot about the boss theme. (I kinda like this song, the melody of the boss is really good, the problem is that Jun made it so empty)
Please react to the whole OST, your knowledge of the music from classic games in the franchise makes your comments in the analysis very well-informed. I loved the content, can't wait to hear what else you gotta say about this game's soundtrack!
I wish Jun would have aimed for a more 3D Blast feel if he still needed to make "Genesis like" songs, in my opinion it's the best Sonic music sounded in the Genesis. Rusty Ruins and Green Grove sound amazing.
ALSO BRIDGE ISLAND ACT 2 SOUNDS SOOOOO GOOD, ITS THE LITERAL PERFECT ACT 2 THEME IT GIVES ME CHILLS it’s sad how half of the OST doesn’t sound amazing like this, cuz it sure did have a strong start Also listen to Cyber Station Boss Theme (chiptune and non-chiptune version [apparently the non-chiptune version was unused?]), it’s AMAZING (probably my favorite track in the game) I would love to see you break that one down!
I would love to hear your reaction to the rest of the Superstars soundtrack! First time watcher, I was absolutely captivated listening to your thoughts on each song, hearing what you noticed that I hadn't even picked up on yet. Especially seeing your reaction to Bridge Island Act 2, there were so many parts about it that I didn't even realize, yet I still enjoyed it as much as you seemed to.
This soundtrack is so bizarre, some tracks I absolutely love and some tracks I can't stand and then you'll get something so random and out of place like a breakcore song lmao, hope to see you cover the rest of the OST!
It's not often I can disagree with someone for the majority of a video and still love it and appreciate the commentary. This is truly a hidden gem of a video and channel, I'm very happy to have found it and I look forward to watching the rest of your content.
The interesting thing about this selection of tracks is that they were all done by Jun Senoue and Tee Lopes. The title screen and Bridge Island 1 were composed by Senoue but arranged by Lopes, which is why they sound so good. Special stage was Lopes and Bridge Island 2 is “co-composed” by both of them. I’m not sure what that means exactly, but my guess is that it’s basically Tee Lopes’ interpretation of Jun Senoue’s composition. His remix, basically. So Jun Senoue is obviously capable of writing good music but he clearly shouldn’t be arranging it himself.
This is a superb analysis. There's just no dominant sound in this OST that makes me go "Yep, that's Superstars" and that to me is a bigger problem than any single track (aside from the boss theme). By the way I've been referring to him as Neo-Classic Sonic. And yes, PLEASE more of this.
YES! I am sure I can speak for others when I say that we want you to react to the rest of the soundtrack pleas! Great video, can't wait for the next one!
The consistent through line with the tracks in this game that are amazing are that they’re the tracks composed by Tee Lopes. Why Sega didn’t just get him to do the entire ost is beyond me.
What should've happened is Tee should've done ALL of the arranging. Sure, you can have Jun compose, but have Tee handle the instrumentation consistency.
I would love it for you to react to the rest of the soundtrack! As a whole I thought the OST was ok with a few exceptions. I think my favorite songs from the soundtrack were: - Lagoon City Act 2 - Speed Jungle Act Sonic - Sand Sanctuary
Best thing about this rollercoaster of a soundtrack is I learned about this channel. Auto-subbed. But yeah, I was looking forward to the OST more than the game itself and aside from the Tee Lopes produced tracks and some stuff at the end, it was so miss.
Lagoon City and Speed Jungle would be very interesting! Lagoon City has some great callbacks to Hydrocity and some of the Saturn Sonic OSTs (especially 3D Blast Saturn) that would be cool to hear your take on, and Speed Jungle is filled with tracks that aren’t bad, but are incredibly inconsistent. Otherwise, I just like Sky Temple and Frozen Base Act Tails so I’d be interested to hear your take on those!
honestly you should make more of these music analysis videos! I really liked to hear you thoughts on the ost since I've a lot of people (specially on twitter) bashing the soundtrack, in my opinion it's not the worst ever, like we've had sonic chronicles and sonic eraser (which tee lopes actually remastered for fun), but it's still very boring at times and there's not a lot of energy going on in some of the tracks, while others are just oozing with style and depth. Also a cool name for the new era of classic sonic I've heard somewhere (J's reviews I think) is the neo classic sonic era
i just think it's a huge shame they decided to vary the arrangements so much. The first six levels (minus Sky Temple) all sound very cohesive and sound like they came from the same game, and then after that it just falls apart and becomes very disjointed. The compositions themselves are solid. I particularly like Golden Capital Zone act 2.
You are incredible with your takes on this and just as much of a fan as I am of sonic as well. Thank you for this video you really break it down and make me feel like you have such a professional take on this and I really appreciate it. You seem like a professional and I can take your opinion on this seriously.
Sonic Triple Trouble had a 16-bit remake by fans recently, and that game proves you can have genesis instrumentation that still sounds good and not off-putting. In fact a lot of fan-made Sonic music proves that in my opinion.
id love to see you look at more of the ost!! even if i dont like a lot of the music, its genuinely useful to learn why they dont work + i love anything sonic
I love this video and how you just effortless tackle the sounds on the piano while it's playing. I agree with everything you've brought up! I especially like the Final Fantasy and Undertale nods.
I also hear death by glamour, but all my mind thinks is reference to the best Sonic OST: Sonic CD-Special Stage, never thought they sounded similar btw
When I heard the miniboss music from the first public demo I genuinely thought they just hadn't finished the track and put in a placeholder. Especially since, they didn't use Speed Jungle's music in that
People keep saying this is a hit or miss soundtrack, which is a totally valid opinion, but to me it felt more like an inconsistent one. It basically has 3 moods: Mania-ish, Sonic 4-ish and remixed Genesis-ish if that makes sense. None of these is bad, but having to constantly switch from one to another weakens the game's identity, and consequently makes the experience less memorable
Nice analisis of the ost really! I love that you got so attached to the old genesis vibes that it gets you good. Me as person ho doesn't urderstand technical cords and beyond, some ost "feels good!" and you can demonstrate that by explaining this. Keep it up with your videos 🤗
Dang man, you make some incredibly GREAT points. I see though youve only hit on a couple zones. I think if you make a 10 minute video on like 1 or 2 zones alone you'd make bank. Sonic music is a huge part of the experience. We also need Sega to realize that the Genesis -era snares and synths are tired. Give Tee Lopes the keys, let Tomoya keep the Modern stuff (which he absolutely killed it on Fronteirs) Sidenote: I would love to hear your take on Pinball Carnival act 1 and definitely act ii, which is easily one of the best Classic Sonic tracks of all time
I’d love for you to react to the rest of this soundtrack as well as react to some other sonic soundtracks, particularly ones that get mixed reception from fans like Lost World or Forces since those soundtracks have some fantastic songs on them but everybody just seems to dismiss them.
I'd eat up another video! My favorite songs in the ost are prob Both Carnival Nights, Lagoon City Act 2, and Sand Sanctuary, so it would be awesome to see you play with those! Another thing, the composer of the genesis sounding songs are Jun Senoue, who made many FANTASTIC Sonic songs, its sad he put his part of the OST all under Xpand!2 and the Sonic Snare, however I feel liek if he extended his songs and used different instruments, the songs would be way better! Again, cant wait to see your reaction to more!
4:11 one little reminder, it's not an I-vii°-vi, but rather an I-bVII-vi-bVI, this chord progression some sort of descending phrase to a mario cadence, if you want to hear a good example of it, You Can Do Anything from Sonic CD works.
I'm always a little cautious when I see the title "____ reacts", but honestly I really liked your approach here. Great on the fly playing, great use of references to explain your thoughts. As a result I think you've managed to encapsulate in a musically concise way what I think people have been trying to say about the OST since it's been out. On the subject, the more I think about it the more it feels like the overall direction of the OST has been slightly mishandled, like you point out you get two wildly different styles just from going from the opening title screen to the main menu. It's not thematically tied together - the big picture is missing.
Title Screen, and especially the 2 drum beats of the menu reminds me of Sonic 4 which... isn't an amazing start off the bat. While sure Mania's is chiptunes it still has that oomph, and not like it couldn't be done. Heck look at the Splash Hill remix from 3 years ago by Jun Senoue and Tee Lopes who did work both in Mania and here in Superstars (not to mention Hyper Potion in Mania and Superstars), so... we know they can. Then yeah Bridge Island is good... but not in love with it, feels like it's held back, and I think you did well to help me understand why. Even your keyboard, sounds like it's hitting the things more fluid and better. It's not bad, not mid a 5/10, it's... good 6, maybe a high 6 or 7/10 if you're just in the mood for it that day. Maybe compare the mini boss theme to Triple Trouble since it is a big inspiration for Superstars too... granted still not great lol, even comparing the fan remake version of Fang's theme. I also wouldn't say bad, it's boppin... but does lack soul, which is what music is, especially for video games. I like to say that, if the characters are the heart, the genre the mind, then the music for the game is the soul, that gives it life. This... is like that, it's a zombie, soulless, no0t bad but... repetitive and meh. Weird special stage music sounds more like a mini boss music... oh now that just, lol why'd you have to do that, now I won't unhear Death by Glamour lol. I do feel like I have heard it before, not that, but from some other boss or mini boss, my mind is going to Mario, maybe Zelda? Then it does sound more like a special stage at the 2nd part of it, around 20:45. 24:19... Mario Galaxy took me a while, but it's like they meshed Mario Galaxy and the special stage from Sonic 4 episode 1. 25:05.... oh................. oh noooo, nooooooooooooo, that's just Sonic 4's boss music. I love the drum beat kind of sound at the end but... that doesn't do anything for it if the majority of the song is that bland generic Sonic 4 sounding tune. Then yeah while the drum beat sounds good... it is also just a typical drum beat, in fact it's not that different from my typical testing of the system I used to do to make sure cymbals, snare, etc were working right. I mean to be fair I haven't been in music, a percussionist, since I was in high school about a decade ago... I'm super out of practice and yet I think I could still do better. Yeah... to wrap up it's not bad just... when you look to the future, are these songs going to be what anyone turns on in their spare time just to jam out to music? Like I happily listen to Sonic songs when I'm working, mowing, Open Your Heart, Living in the City, Escape From the City, What I'm made of, Dreams of an Absolution, icecap for Christmas, Pumpkin Hill Mystic Cave for Halloween... they're not bad, they're just lacking, seems like some of the soul was sapped out, could be better, and I don't see myself turning them on to jam out to in the future. Not bad, mid to good which, I mean isn't inherently bad... it's just for the history of Sonic music in the gaming world, that isn't a good thing, that is one of the 3 biggest draws to this franchise compared to so many other game franchises, is the amazing music. I wouldn't bat an eye if Mario had mid music, Mega Man, Castlevania generic spooky spoopy monster music WHOOOOOW, Sonic having mid music though... not a good thing (not to bash on those titles either, again, music is the soul of video games, just it's more than that for Sonic).
The melody of Bridge Island Zone Act 1 kinda reminds me of the vocal melody of Believe in Myself from Sonic Adventure 1, which is kind of funny considering the main melody of that song was lifted from Bridge Zone from the 8-bit version of Sonic 1.
Honestly, yeah. It would be awesome to have you cover the entire OST. I'm more than happy to wait, regardless of how long it takes. As someone who's learning how to be a musician and audio engineer, this video was very informative and interesting.
The Sonic Superstars soundtrack sounds like someone trying to make a Sonic 3 "best of" soundtrack, but they don't have the copyright to the soundtrack, so they had to change them a bit. Also, the mixing in the game proper sounds very flat. It's also really weird seeing all of these fully "3D" models and have none of them make *any* sounds.
This OST is such a mixed bag and it hurts my soul. I know Jun is a good composer, but all of the Genesis-esque stuff just feels like Sonic 4 Episode 3. Which is weird because the Episode 2 OST was actually a bop and leagues above 1, making me hope he had recaptured that groove. But, here we are. I think my favorite is Lagoon City, because of the Hydrocity Zone Jumpscare in Act 1, and the Tidal Tempest Vibes in Act 2. Any reference to my favorite Sonic tracks wins big points from me. Please, continue with the OST analysis. It's informative and entertaining.
I will mention the songs using the genesis drums/soundfont are made and produced by Jun Sunoue, who is the guitarist in Crush 40 and made or was a big part of most of the tracks for the adventure style games. He also made the tracks for Sonic 4, which is why it’s such a jarring difference. Jun is a great composer but he doesn’t know how to produce “classic style” Sonic music without just taking the OG sound font and somehow choosing the worst sounds possible
I’d really like to know what you think of Press Factory Act 1 because it’s been pretty divisive among people on whether it’s good or not with the way it sounds. I personally think it fits the level but the first 5 seconds or so are kind of Sonic Spinbally again I think it fits though.
this video was AMAZING, i Love vídeos like this, so to see one about my favorite franchise was awesome! I really hope you can react and talk about the rest of the OST, ESPECIALLY about Speed Jungle act 1(my favorite song from the game) there some REAL bangers too, like Lagoon City act 2 and the carnival and sand themed zones, as well as other not so great genesis styled songs, i feel they have what it is needed tô be memorable, but the genesis instrumentation just kills them...
I wonder if Longestsoloever is aware that Jun Senoue originally made Bridge Island Zone Act 1 with Tee Lopes changing the instrumentation and adding some more layers.
21:23 I don't care if you call it Hydro-city or Hy-dross-ity, it really doesn't matter to me, but I will continue to call it Hydro-city, and you can not stop me >:)
I've already gushed enough about Tee Lopes' phenomenal melodic work, but here in Superstars, my focus has been drawn to his addictive percussion work. He's consistently been making exactly the kind of Sonic music I've been hoping for ever since I first heard Sonic CD's JP/EU soundtrack way back in 2006
I want to see you dissect all the tracks in the ost cus there's some real good ones here and there's also some more underwhelming ones and I think it would be a very educational experience to see why some work better than others.
I really feel the songs that are missing and relying too hard on the Genesis are the ones written solely by Jun Senoe. I absolutely love him as a composer but his modern classic sonic music is the most rough in the series. Sonic 4 is a great example of that and people were so scared the whole soundtrack was going to be a rehash of that. Luckily Tee Lopes and the other composers saved this soundtrack and made their songs absolute bangers.
Please continue the review, especially the Tee Lopes compositions! There's Speed Jungle Act 1 that has similarities with Level 42's The Chinese Way in my opinion.. Thanks!
My biggest theory with this soundtrack is that its simply "unfinished." A lot of the higher quality tracks have placeholder-y midi tracks in the files (Bridge Island, Speed Jungle) so I'm assuming due to time constraints they didn't have time to arrange these tracks.
I was hoping it would be like a Pokemon BPSD deal where the game had a full midi soundtrack but got a day-1 update that added the final ost but that (unfortunately) doesn't seem to be the case, at least yet?
I have so much proud to know that in my homeland Sonic fans like T Lopes are contributing for this legendary series, its a tremendous honour. I really love this game and music so much, I m part of the generation of classic games so is good to grow up with Sonic The Hedgehog and watching him going. Note : I need to listen the entire soundtrack to give my honestly opinion. But my fav soudtrack in Sonic games: Sonic CD 1993; Sonic Rush DS 2005.
Please continue. I didn’t rly like the boss music but, the stage music I really enjoyed, my faves so far being Sand Sanctuary 1, pinball carnival 2 and Speed jungle 1. Not in any particular order.
At this point I'm genuinely curious if Jun Senoue cares even a little when producing sonic music, specifically classic sounding tracks. These "Sonic 4" type songs have always fallen flat to me, and I'm no musician but its 𝒆𝒎𝒃𝒂𝒓𝒓𝒂𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒍𝒚 noticeable when paired with Tee Lopes in this game. I respect what he's done in the past but I hope they keep him off future projects if this is the best he's got.
![Blox Fruits Dragon Rework Update [Full Stream]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/EqDAp8udhm0/mqdefault.jpg)
This makes the Mania soundtrack sound all that much more impressive, honestly. That was a tightly-knit soundtrack with a clear consistent personality, and yet it managed to make literal covers of tracks from various older games sound right at home. This sounds like it was made by people who didn't listen to each other's work at all.
One of my favorite OSTs of all time and there are some amazing hits in Superstars like Speed Jungle Act 1 but sadly it’s so forgettable and all over the place in comparison
@@Funkiotologist and to nobody’s surprise, Speed Jungle Act 1 was arranged by Tee Lopes
@@DoritoTime yea he should have been the lead composer on the entire ost, Sonic OSTs are some of my favorite music period and mania was one that I listened to endlessly on release and still do a fair amount. I was so excited for this soundtrack but god it’s really just the Tee tracks I like 😭😭 after a few days of reflection I just have to say that’s how I feel because at first I was ok with some others but they really don’t stick in your head and everything pales in comparison to the tracks Tee made. Jun isn’t a bad composer but the adherence to pretty much nostalgia bait in his classic Sonic comps makes everyone just so confused as to why and many of these songs feel more like mimics of what people did like about those songs and doesn’t understand the real why of it
@@Funkiotologistyeah, I’m surprised they let Jun compose another “classic Sonic” soundtrack after the abysmal failure of Sonic 4. They should’ve gotten Tee Lopes or whoever worked on the Sonic Advance series to compose the music.
Yeah you can very clearly tell where Tee either gave notes or just made the songs in this soundtrack lol
finally a "music producer reacts" that actually knows and cares about the topic they're discussing! more more!!
And doesn't shit on Jun for zero reason
@@therightestangleJun is an excellent composer. But he definitely should stick to guitars IMO. This “Sega Genesis sound font” shtick that Sega keeps trying to use just sounds horrible. It didn’t work in Forces and it doesn’t work here. It just doesn’t work.
@@StitchySpooksgood point, but please don't use the term soundfont
@@Hyp3rSonic I love how you said this as if 'soundfont' is a slur or something lmao
It's just a word with multiple definitions. It's giving people a clear and concise way to talk about music even if they don't know much about it, why do you wanna take that away 😭
If Mania’s soundtrack was like a Greatest Hits tribute album with a few original songs, then Superstars’ soundtrack would be a collaboration album between two artists with the same idea, but neither of them were allowed to communicate with each other.
And one of them REALLY wanted to see what he could do with that old Sonic snare sample
Not sure what exactly you mean by collaboration, but I do know the legend of dragoon soundtrack, which is awesome, was made by two people that never met each other.
The moral of the story is to not let jun senoue near the genesis sonic soundfont
And tell him that 14 second long loops are unacceptable in boss fights.
Or just not let Senoue near Sonic again
@@solidusgadgetWHAO that is NOT the takeaway here. Man makes great melodies and anything he touches with the guitar is gold, he just should not be permitted to try to emulate the Genesis sound using those synths ever again.
Or honestly just like…maybe it’s time to part ways. The old school jun tracks are so good, and it’s a shame to watch him tarnish his rep with this.
@@phillyfanmattJun's work on on TSR just a couple years ago made some amazing new songs and remixes. He really just doesn't understand Classic Sonic anymore.
His ability to pick up, catch on, and recreate or play along with the music is crazy talent. Especially on a keyboard
15:21
That boss theme percussion is so HEAVY. Absolutely spectacular. Right there with you.
I was always obsessed with that song when I was younger
Lol same @@mehiloll
The person they keep inviting who makes the weird "genesis music" is June senoue. He's the guy who makes the adventure music but for some reason when he composes and arranges classic sonic music it's really bad despite him being very talented at music. He actually did compose some songs for sonic 3 but at that time he obviously wasn't nostalgia pandering. Also he wasn't arranging those songs. This stuff has been happening since sonic 4. He doesn't make music for classic song games, he just makes generic video game music but it's fast and has a bad Sega Genesis soundfont. Whats worse is that he actively decides to do this instead of doing actual music like in the adventure games and on. I think hes the reason the soundtrack isnt amazing like other sonic games
It's weird, because Jun Senoue CAN arrange Genesis Songs, he did arrange a lot of tracks in Sonic 3D Blast (Genesis), if only he stopped using the Vaccum VST
Sega composers do not use soundfonts
@@suns3t_t0wn He only composed the tracks. The actual in-game arrangements were done by sound programmers.
Jun did all the bonus stage themes for sonic 3 and you can tell because they're all short and repetitive
Nope common misconception, He actually programmed his own music in himself.@@alanbareiro6806
This is a rarity for Sonic Team for their OST To be this mixed. Usually they go absolutely off the walls for it, but they probably didn’t for two reasons, one being lack of care from Sega, or the future plans.
“All over the place” perfectly describes the OST of this game. It isn’t bad but it doesn’t know if it wants to go full on mania with some of the tracks or sonic 4 ish with the chip tune music at certain points. While I definitely have my favorite tracks in sonic mania that I adore, I can listen to the OST from beginning to end and it has cohesive vibe. Sometimes It felt like they ran out of time or something and threw some stuff together for certain segments of the game.
this comment puts it really well tbh
There's a silva gunner high quality rip of sonic 4. They use an actual genesis soundfont and it actually sounds super good
I’m a musician who’s trying to study the skill, and vids like this are a godsend! Keep on, folks!
The quality difference between Jun Senoue's tracks versus the ones by Tee Lopes is hilarious.
jun loves his shit midi instruments that vaguely resemble the genesis soundchip
@@EmmetDaMarbleLolit's not midi
Yeah! Tee lopes is shi- I mean..good, and Jun is better!
@@therightestangle they are samples from old midi keyboards, might not be a midi file but im pretty an old midi keyboard like a korg or something
What about the tracks made by neither of them?
I think Classic Sonic osts should be handled by one main composer, or if u want multiple composers, make so that he does all the songs of the zone (both act 1 and 2). And don't use just genesis sounds, u can mix it with other instruments. I LOVE Sky Temple zone and it uses mostly genesis sound, but if u change some synths into real instruments, it could be 10x better imo
Personally i think that classic sonic soundtracks should be more inspired by the sonic cd/sega saturn sonic styles.
Tee Lopes carried all he could but it still flopped 💀
Yeah, CD style or mania style
@@TGVBT640 Tee Lopes is the weakest composer there lmao.
@vividcolorandrichaudio6134 You can't be saying that while Jun craps out the shittiest 30 seconds loops with the exact same Sonic 1 drum beat on each of his tracks.
Cant wait for you to react to the rest of the soundtrack!
Its my favourite thing when people doing an ost reaction play along with the track on their instruments
This ost feels very hit or miss which is not what I want from a sonic game
Yeah, we either get really good songs like the title screen or just Sonic 4 like Fang's theme.
@@AMemeableChannel To be fair, they did redeem Fang's theme further we get into the game's story but other than, yeah i agree.
@@hybridstudio4435 Oh yeah i forgot he had another theme
theres prob like 5 good songs in this entire soundtrack
Well depends which ost you're listening to my favorite is speed jungle and bridge island zone.
It's really weird how there's different Boss music further on in the game that sounds a thousand times better
I agree, it is strange.
It slaps like why wasn’t that the boss theme all the way through
When I hear Fang's theme after hearing HBH's theme, I have a hard time understanding why they couldn't have done it the same way.
16:41 You basically just described Sonic 4, right down to the "old Korg keyboard" description
25:53 The fact that the song sounds much better with the drum beat says a lot about the boss theme.
(I kinda like this song, the melody of the boss is really good, the problem is that Jun made it so empty)
Please react to the whole OST, your knowledge of the music from classic games in the franchise makes your comments in the analysis very well-informed.
I loved the content, can't wait to hear what else you gotta say about this game's soundtrack!
You should definitely react to the entirety of the speed jungle ost, all three songs are pretty good, with act 1 being my personal favorite
Lact ones me ans my bros as well!!!
Haven't gone through all the vid but I just LOVE how you play to Bridge Island, it's so cool seeing you just JAM over something!
check out my sonic covers on my main channel!
@@lse2can you please do a video on sonic cd
Best soundtrack outta any classic sonic game 🙏🏼
@@lse2 of course man! Big fan!
25:24 14 seconds for some of the longest boss fights in classic sonic history ._.
I wish Jun would have aimed for a more 3D Blast feel if he still needed to make "Genesis like" songs, in my opinion it's the best Sonic music sounded in the Genesis. Rusty Ruins and Green Grove sound amazing.
ALSO BRIDGE ISLAND ACT 2 SOUNDS SOOOOO GOOD, ITS THE LITERAL PERFECT ACT 2 THEME IT GIVES ME CHILLS
it’s sad how half of the OST doesn’t sound amazing like this, cuz it sure did have a strong start
Also listen to Cyber Station Boss Theme (chiptune and non-chiptune version [apparently the non-chiptune version was unused?]), it’s AMAZING (probably my favorite track in the game) I would love to see you break that one down!
I would love to hear your reaction to the rest of the Superstars soundtrack! First time watcher, I was absolutely captivated listening to your thoughts on each song, hearing what you noticed that I hadn't even picked up on yet. Especially seeing your reaction to Bridge Island Act 2, there were so many parts about it that I didn't even realize, yet I still enjoyed it as much as you seemed to.
Please make a part 2 of this. Your insight into how inconsistent this soundtrack is was amazing!
This soundtrack is so bizarre, some tracks I absolutely love and some tracks I can't stand and then you'll get something so random and out of place like a breakcore song lmao, hope to see you cover the rest of the OST!
I get goosebumps listening to the original Sonic mini boss songs
It's not often I can disagree with someone for the majority of a video and still love it and appreciate the commentary. This is truly a hidden gem of a video and channel, I'm very happy to have found it and I look forward to watching the rest of your content.
The interesting thing about this selection of tracks is that they were all done by Jun Senoue and Tee Lopes. The title screen and Bridge Island 1 were composed by Senoue but arranged by Lopes, which is why they sound so good. Special stage was Lopes and Bridge Island 2 is “co-composed” by both of them. I’m not sure what that means exactly, but my guess is that it’s basically Tee Lopes’ interpretation of Jun Senoue’s composition. His remix, basically. So Jun Senoue is obviously capable of writing good music but he clearly shouldn’t be arranging it himself.
This is a superb analysis. There's just no dominant sound in this OST that makes me go "Yep, that's Superstars" and that to me is a bigger problem than any single track (aside from the boss theme).
By the way I've been referring to him as Neo-Classic Sonic.
And yes, PLEASE more of this.
Please do the whole OST. I’ve enjoyed listening to your analysis so far.
Please keep digging into this! It's super interesting to hear the pros and cons of this OST from an informed perspective.
Sonic Superstars Sand Sanctuary Act 1 and Egg Fortress Act 1 OST are really good sounds
YES! I am sure I can speak for others when I say that we want you to react to the rest of the soundtrack pleas! Great video, can't wait for the next one!
6:43 I will always know it as the Mario cadence
I really liked Pinball Carnival, especially Act 2 when it goes halloween-y
Yeah Pinball Carnival Act 2 is awesome; that drop it has goes so hard
The consistent through line with the tracks in this game that are amazing are that they’re the tracks composed by Tee Lopes.
Why Sega didn’t just get him to do the entire ost is beyond me.
What should've happened is Tee should've done ALL of the arranging. Sure, you can have Jun compose, but have Tee handle the instrumentation consistency.
I would love it for you to react to the rest of the soundtrack!
As a whole I thought the OST was ok with a few exceptions. I think my favorite songs from the soundtrack were:
- Lagoon City Act 2
- Speed Jungle Act Sonic
- Sand Sanctuary
Those drum beats from the boss theme sound like bullets, man Jun REALLY putting us at gun point forcing us to get that nostalgia feel from it 😂
that boss music is so disappointing, such a bland track for what should be an exciting moment in my opinion.
Intresting. I personally liked the boss theme, I thought it held up pretty well to most classic boss themes. Just my opinion though
Hearing someone talk about how great the Sonic 3 and Knuckles ost is just music to my ears man 😌
Best way to describe this ost: INCONSISTENT
Best thing about this rollercoaster of a soundtrack is I learned about this channel. Auto-subbed.
But yeah, I was looking forward to the OST more than the game itself and aside from the Tee Lopes produced tracks and some stuff at the end, it was so miss.
Lagoon City and Speed Jungle would be very interesting! Lagoon City has some great callbacks to Hydrocity and some of the Saturn Sonic OSTs (especially 3D Blast Saturn) that would be cool to hear your take on, and Speed Jungle is filled with tracks that aren’t bad, but are incredibly inconsistent.
Otherwise, I just like Sky Temple and Frozen Base Act Tails so I’d be interested to hear your take on those!
i would love to see a part two of this!!! id be most curious for a breakdown of speed jungle act 1 and 2
check back tomorrow 😊
Please make more of these man, you've earned a new subscriber with how detailed and heartfelt your review was here! Amazing work!
honestly you should make more of these music analysis videos! I really liked to hear you thoughts on the ost since I've a lot of people (specially on twitter) bashing the soundtrack, in my opinion it's not the worst ever, like we've had sonic chronicles and sonic eraser (which tee lopes actually remastered for fun), but it's still very boring at times and there's not a lot of energy going on in some of the tracks, while others are just oozing with style and depth.
Also a cool name for the new era of classic sonic I've heard somewhere (J's reviews I think) is the neo classic sonic era
i just think it's a huge shame they decided to vary the arrangements so much. The first six levels (minus Sky Temple) all sound very cohesive and sound like they came from the same game, and then after that it just falls apart and becomes very disjointed. The compositions themselves are solid. I particularly like Golden Capital Zone act 2.
You are incredible with your takes on this and just as much of a fan as I am of sonic as well. Thank you for this video you really break it down and make me feel like you have such a professional take on this and I really appreciate it. You seem like a
professional and I can take your opinion on this seriously.
Great video, I hope you do a Part 2 or something cause there's more tracks in the game that that I'm interested in seeing your reaction to.
Sonic Triple Trouble had a 16-bit remake by fans recently, and that game proves you can have genesis instrumentation that still sounds good and not off-putting. In fact a lot of fan-made Sonic music proves that in my opinion.
It's Hydro City and I will endure waterboarding before I ever call it Hy drocity just to get a 'velocity' pun.
I've always said it as Hydro City. Wasn't it also officially revealed that it's Hydro City?
id love to see you look at more of the ost!! even if i dont like a lot of the music, its genuinely useful to learn why they dont work + i love anything sonic
I love this video and how you just effortless tackle the sounds on the piano while it's playing.
I agree with everything you've brought up! I especially like the Final Fantasy and Undertale nods.
Keep digging into this one, please. Thus was very insightful.
Whole soundtrack is Tee Lopes vs Jun Senoue.
I also hear death by glamour, but all my mind thinks is reference to the best Sonic OST: Sonic CD-Special Stage, never thought they sounded similar btw
When I heard the miniboss music from the first public demo I genuinely thought they just hadn't finished the track and put in a placeholder. Especially since, they didn't use Speed Jungle's music in that
People keep saying this is a hit or miss soundtrack, which is a totally valid opinion, but to me it felt more like an inconsistent one. It basically has 3 moods: Mania-ish, Sonic 4-ish and remixed Genesis-ish if that makes sense. None of these is bad, but having to constantly switch from one to another weakens the game's identity, and consequently makes the experience less memorable
Nice analisis of the ost really! I love that you got so attached to the old genesis vibes that it gets you good. Me as person ho doesn't urderstand technical cords and beyond, some ost "feels good!" and you can demonstrate that by explaining this. Keep it up with your videos 🤗
Given some slightly recent revelations, the Sonic 3 mini boss theme IS legally Michael Jackson.
Dang man, you make some incredibly GREAT points. I see though youve only hit on a couple zones. I think if you make a 10 minute video on like 1 or 2 zones alone you'd make bank.
Sonic music is a huge part of the experience. We also need Sega to realize that the Genesis -era snares and synths are tired. Give Tee Lopes the keys, let Tomoya keep the Modern stuff (which he absolutely killed it on Fronteirs)
Sidenote: I would love to hear your take on Pinball Carnival act 1 and definitely act ii, which is easily one of the best Classic Sonic tracks of all time
I’d love for you to react to the rest of this soundtrack as well as react to some other sonic soundtracks, particularly ones that get mixed reception from fans like Lost World or Forces since those soundtracks have some fantastic songs on them but everybody just seems to dismiss them.
I'd eat up another video! My favorite songs in the ost are prob Both Carnival Nights, Lagoon City Act 2, and Sand Sanctuary, so it would be awesome to see you play with those!
Another thing, the composer of the genesis sounding songs are Jun Senoue, who made many FANTASTIC Sonic songs, its sad he put his part of the OST all under Xpand!2 and the Sonic Snare, however I feel liek if he extended his songs and used different instruments, the songs would be way better! Again, cant wait to see your reaction to more!
4:11 one little reminder, it's not an I-vii°-vi, but rather an I-bVII-vi-bVI, this chord progression some sort of descending phrase to a mario cadence, if you want to hear a good example of it, You Can Do Anything from Sonic CD works.
Hi Jzee!
@@manuelmakesartz Hello
I’m reading out of a music theory book, so thanks for the pop quiz/progression to practice!
I'm always a little cautious when I see the title "____ reacts", but honestly I really liked your approach here. Great on the fly playing, great use of references to explain your thoughts. As a result I think you've managed to encapsulate in a musically concise way what I think people have been trying to say about the OST since it's been out.
On the subject, the more I think about it the more it feels like the overall direction of the OST has been slightly mishandled, like you point out you get two wildly different styles just from going from the opening title screen to the main menu. It's not thematically tied together - the big picture is missing.
Title Screen, and especially the 2 drum beats of the menu reminds me of Sonic 4 which... isn't an amazing start off the bat. While sure Mania's is chiptunes it still has that oomph, and not like it couldn't be done. Heck look at the Splash Hill remix from 3 years ago by Jun Senoue and Tee Lopes who did work both in Mania and here in Superstars (not to mention Hyper Potion in Mania and Superstars), so... we know they can. Then yeah Bridge Island is good... but not in love with it, feels like it's held back, and I think you did well to help me understand why. Even your keyboard, sounds like it's hitting the things more fluid and better. It's not bad, not mid a 5/10, it's... good 6, maybe a high 6 or 7/10 if you're just in the mood for it that day.
Maybe compare the mini boss theme to Triple Trouble since it is a big inspiration for Superstars too... granted still not great lol, even comparing the fan remake version of Fang's theme. I also wouldn't say bad, it's boppin... but does lack soul, which is what music is, especially for video games. I like to say that, if the characters are the heart, the genre the mind, then the music for the game is the soul, that gives it life. This... is like that, it's a zombie, soulless, no0t bad but... repetitive and meh.
Weird special stage music sounds more like a mini boss music... oh now that just, lol why'd you have to do that, now I won't unhear Death by Glamour lol. I do feel like I have heard it before, not that, but from some other boss or mini boss, my mind is going to Mario, maybe Zelda? Then it does sound more like a special stage at the 2nd part of it, around 20:45.
24:19... Mario Galaxy took me a while, but it's like they meshed Mario Galaxy and the special stage from Sonic 4 episode 1.
25:05.... oh................. oh noooo, nooooooooooooo, that's just Sonic 4's boss music. I love the drum beat kind of sound at the end but... that doesn't do anything for it if the majority of the song is that bland generic Sonic 4 sounding tune. Then yeah while the drum beat sounds good... it is also just a typical drum beat, in fact it's not that different from my typical testing of the system I used to do to make sure cymbals, snare, etc were working right. I mean to be fair I haven't been in music, a percussionist, since I was in high school about a decade ago... I'm super out of practice and yet I think I could still do better.
Yeah... to wrap up it's not bad just... when you look to the future, are these songs going to be what anyone turns on in their spare time just to jam out to music? Like I happily listen to Sonic songs when I'm working, mowing, Open Your Heart, Living in the City, Escape From the City, What I'm made of, Dreams of an Absolution, icecap for Christmas, Pumpkin Hill Mystic Cave for Halloween... they're not bad, they're just lacking, seems like some of the soul was sapped out, could be better, and I don't see myself turning them on to jam out to in the future. Not bad, mid to good which, I mean isn't inherently bad... it's just for the history of Sonic music in the gaming world, that isn't a good thing, that is one of the 3 biggest draws to this franchise compared to so many other game franchises, is the amazing music. I wouldn't bat an eye if Mario had mid music, Mega Man, Castlevania generic spooky spoopy monster music WHOOOOOW, Sonic having mid music though... not a good thing (not to bash on those titles either, again, music is the soul of video games, just it's more than that for Sonic).
The melody of Bridge Island Zone Act 1 kinda reminds me of the vocal melody of Believe in Myself from Sonic Adventure 1, which is kind of funny considering the main melody of that song was lifted from Bridge Zone from the 8-bit version of Sonic 1.
We as a society need to ban Jun from using that genesis snare drum sample.
Honestly, yeah. It would be awesome to have you cover the entire OST. I'm more than happy to wait, regardless of how long it takes. As someone who's learning how to be a musician and audio engineer, this video was very informative and interesting.
The Sonic Superstars soundtrack sounds like someone trying to make a Sonic 3 "best of" soundtrack, but they don't have the copyright to the soundtrack, so they had to change them a bit.
Also, the mixing in the game proper sounds very flat. It's also really weird seeing all of these fully "3D" models and have none of them make *any* sounds.
The Main Menu Theme sounds like a recycled or unused Sonic 4 Theme
The soundtrack encompasses the battle between the true fans and sega trying to hold on to sonic, cause they know we treat him better
20:04 ARE YOU KIDDING ME I'VE NEVER EVEN NOTICED THAT HOLY CRAP 4 EMERALDS IN ALMOST 5 AND I'VE NEVER NOTICED THIS
This OST is such a mixed bag and it hurts my soul. I know Jun is a good composer, but all of the Genesis-esque stuff just feels like Sonic 4 Episode 3. Which is weird because the Episode 2 OST was actually a bop and leagues above 1, making me hope he had recaptured that groove. But, here we are.
I think my favorite is Lagoon City, because of the Hydrocity Zone Jumpscare in Act 1, and the Tidal Tempest Vibes in Act 2. Any reference to my favorite Sonic tracks wins big points from me.
Please, continue with the OST analysis. It's informative and entertaining.
as you introduced yourself i just went
"yo this guy is a W"
"yo this guy is a double W"
"wait what"
Great video. I loved your analysis.
I will mention the songs using the genesis drums/soundfont are made and produced by Jun Sunoue, who is the guitarist in Crush 40 and made or was a big part of most of the tracks for the adventure style games. He also made the tracks for Sonic 4, which is why it’s such a jarring difference. Jun is a great composer but he doesn’t know how to produce “classic style” Sonic music without just taking the OG sound font and somehow choosing the worst sounds possible
I’d really like to know what you think of Press Factory Act 1 because it’s been pretty divisive among people on whether it’s good or not with the way it sounds. I personally think it fits the level but the first 5 seconds or so are kind of Sonic Spinbally again I think it fits though.
the placeholder sounding songs remind me a lot of how the sonic 4 songs felt, in a bad way.
this video was AMAZING, i Love vídeos like this, so to see one about my favorite franchise was awesome!
I really hope you can react and talk about the rest of the OST, ESPECIALLY about Speed Jungle act 1(my favorite song from the game) there some REAL bangers too, like Lagoon City act 2 and the carnival and sand themed zones, as well as other not so great genesis styled songs, i feel they have what it is needed tô be memorable, but the genesis instrumentation just kills them...
I wonder if Longestsoloever is aware that Jun Senoue originally made Bridge Island Zone Act 1 with Tee Lopes changing the instrumentation and adding some more layers.
21:23 I don't care if you call it Hydro-city or Hy-dross-ity, it really doesn't matter to me, but I will continue to call it Hydro-city, and you can not stop me >:)
I've already gushed enough about Tee Lopes' phenomenal melodic work, but here in Superstars, my focus has been drawn to his addictive percussion work. He's consistently been making exactly the kind of Sonic music I've been hoping for ever since I first heard Sonic CD's JP/EU soundtrack way back in 2006
I want to see you dissect all the tracks in the ost cus there's some real good ones here and there's also some more underwhelming ones and I think it would be a very educational experience to see why some work better than others.
I really feel the songs that are missing and relying too hard on the Genesis are the ones written solely by Jun Senoe. I absolutely love him as a composer but his modern classic sonic music is the most rough in the series. Sonic 4 is a great example of that and people were so scared the whole soundtrack was going to be a rehash of that. Luckily Tee Lopes and the other composers saved this soundtrack and made their songs absolute bangers.
how the boss fight track sounds short, is almost telling on how long the boss fights actually last in gameplay haha
Episode 3 sounding fire 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
Please continue the review, especially the Tee Lopes compositions! There's Speed Jungle Act 1 that has similarities with Level 42's The Chinese Way in my opinion.. Thanks!
My biggest theory with this soundtrack is that its simply "unfinished." A lot of the higher quality tracks have placeholder-y midi tracks in the files (Bridge Island, Speed Jungle) so I'm assuming due to time constraints they didn't have time to arrange these tracks.
I was hoping it would be like a Pokemon BPSD deal where the game had a full midi soundtrack but got a day-1 update that added the final ost but that (unfortunately) doesn't seem to be the case, at least yet?
Would love to hear your thoughts on Speed Jungle Act 1, man! Cool video on the opening tracks here.
I have so much proud to know that in my homeland Sonic fans like T Lopes are contributing for this legendary series, its a tremendous honour.
I really love this game and music so much, I m part of the generation of classic games so is good to grow up with Sonic The Hedgehog and watching him going.
Note : I need to listen the entire soundtrack to give my honestly opinion. But my fav soudtrack in Sonic games: Sonic CD 1993; Sonic Rush DS 2005.
frozen base act tails should have been covered it is an absolute certified slapper
Please continue. I didn’t rly like the boss music but, the stage music I really enjoyed, my faves so far being Sand Sanctuary 1, pinball carnival 2 and Speed jungle 1. Not in any particular order.
That early boss music has so many vibes of Sonic 4 ep1
the special stage start is actually a reference to the jp version of the special stage from sonic cd
Sounds like a fan game in every way
More like sonic 4☠️ do not do the fallen star like that
At this point I'm genuinely curious if Jun Senoue cares even a little when producing sonic music, specifically classic sounding tracks. These "Sonic 4" type songs have always fallen flat to me, and I'm no musician but its 𝒆𝒎𝒃𝒂𝒓𝒓𝒂𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒍𝒚 noticeable when paired with Tee Lopes in this game. I respect what he's done in the past but I hope they keep him off future projects if this is the best he's got.
7:04 Mario chords also