When I compare SA1 to SA2, I take a look at what I disliked.
SA1: Big the Cat levels, Amy levels, Knuckles levels
SA2: Knuckles/Rouge levels, everything that dealt with Chao raising.
I’d say that I hated less about SA2 than SA1. Then again, I haven’t played either since Dreamcast, so…
I’m going to make a controversial statement here: I don’t see why S3’s Ice Cap Zone music is good.
Actually, let me rephrase that. I think the song itself is OK, but I don’t understand why it gets as much praise as it does. To me, the background music doesn’t really add much to it and the main melody itself is way too short and repetitive (it’s literally 11 notes long…).
But fine, people have their own tastes in music; I can respect that. What I don’t find acceptable, however, is how grossly ignored the ice level music in other Sonic games are. I see people constantly go on about how amazing Ice Cap Zone’s music is, but I almost never hear people praise the music from, say, Diamond Dust Zone or Twinkle Snow.
For comparison’s sake, look at OC Remix. The total amount of non-Ice Cap Zone ice level remixes amount to… 2. OK, and the total amount of Ice Cap Zone remixes is… 11!? Seriously, what’s up with that?
Think of this as a PSA. Go listen to all these tracks that really need their due credit. Your ears will thank you:
Diamond Dust Zone (Genesis)
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Diamond Dust Zone (Saturn)
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Be Cool, Be Wild, and Be Groovy (Sonic Adventure 1)
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Ice Mountain Zone (Sonic Advance 1)
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Ice Paradise (Sonic Advance 2)
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(listen for the keyboard solo in this next one)
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Twinkle Snow (Sonic Advance 3)
[details=Spoiler](these songs are among my favorite Sonic songs ever)
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Cool Edge (Sonic Unleashed)
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EDIT: I actually liked Amy’s levels in Sonic Adventure 1. Sure, she was slower than Sonic, but she controlled well and Hammer Jumping everywhere was pretty fun, in my opinion.
Ice Cap is just catchy, simplistic in it’s main melody and can get stuck in your head easily…that’s really all that’s needed. Out of the ones that you’ve posted the only one that I can honestly say shares the same with Ice Cap would be Diamond Dust Zone (Gen). All the other tracks are great though.
I don’t find it all the memorable. I mean, I can hum almost all the songs in S3&K by memory in a heartbeat (including some of the multiplayer songs… love Balloon Park ^_^), but Ice Cap sounds too ambient for me outside of when the melody plays.
And like I said, I don’t find the melody to be all that good. It’s too simple. There’s no build-up to another part of the song; that’s all there is to the melody. It’s why I love Diamond Dust Zone and Twinkle Snow more, since those songs have a melody that builds up to a great finish before looping again.
This is even the case within S3&K’s soundtrack for the other levels. Hydrocity, Sky Sanctuary, Flying Battery, the aforementioned Balloon Park, etc. all have the kind of melody pattern I’m talking about. I just felt that Ice Cap missed the ball on that one.
I feel ya. You’re talking about the fact that it only has that melody but it doesn’t break down into much anything else unlike the Hydrocity, Flying Battery, etc that have a main melody that lead into separate section of the track or a ‘breakdown’. Thing is though that’s probably why it’s so catchy for most people and why there’s 11 OC tracks for it (There would definitely have been more than that…and I’m pretty sure there’s probably an Ice Cap track getting submitted there at least every 2 weeks. OC even did an inside joke about how many Ice Cap mixes get submitted). Honestly if someone was playing Act 1 and Act 2 of Ice Cap for the first time and it didn’t get stuck in their head then I’d consider that a rare case. IIRC Stuart Hayden actually mentioned hates Ice Cap because it got stuck in his head lol.
Nigga it’s all about dat Flying Battery Zone.
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Still like Metropolis Zone music best.
So what’s next guys? Sonic 1-3&K HD? Sonic Heroes HD?
I had an idea: Release a chao game on PSN/XBLA/Whatever Nintendo will have and KEEP IT THE FUCK OUT OF MY SONIC GAMES.
I got very annoyed in SA2B when it was the only thing holding me back from all 180 emblems, I know games in general are a waste of time but I rarely ever feel like I downright wasted my time, even if a game is bad it’s usually funny in how bad it is but chao raising isn’t bad, it’s just… a giant fetch quest.
I don’t seem to hate the mech levels in sa2 as much as everyone else. Frankly, mindlessly locking onto everything and seeing huge ass numbers flash in cosmic wall is pretty damn fun.
That would be true if this song didn’t exist…behold!
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Id say Sonic Heroes HD would be next up…no online just leaderboards…I hate seaside hill…
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Finally someone who agrees with me about Ice cap zone. I’m not too sure whats so great about it either. Its just ok, I’m not sure why it gets so much praise.
While we are on the topic of sonic songs, which is better Carnival Night or Casino Zone. Me and my friend have been having the biggest debate about which is the better song and honestly i don’t there should even be a debate because Carnival Night is a terrible song.
I used to not think much of Casino Night Zone’s music.
…Then I heard its remix in Generations.
You know, now that I think about it S&K had some pretty kick ass tracks…
I forgot about that one though because I rarely made it that far in that game. :oops:
But still, this one right here would probably have to be one of my all time favorite Sonic tracks, and it’s from my absolute favorite Sonic game ever.
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flying battery (act 1) is quite possibly one of the best tracks in any sonic game ever.
hydrocity (act 2) is real damn close though. i will actually actively avoid picking up invincibility stars on those levels so it doesnt interrupt the flow of the music.
if your first sonic game was sonic with green eyes then kindly stand aside while grown men’s is talking…
Labryrith zone > hydrocity zone
labryrith had that more aquatic flow to to it, hydrocity was just upbeat …the problem was you spent more time on land than in the water in hydrocity
Diamond Dust zone (genisis) >>Ice Cap
don’t get me wrong I love me some ice cap but I give the nod to diamond dust for the music…
Mystic Cave >> flying battery
dat cave vs. dat battery…LEGGO
did you guys know that sonic 2 was an unfinished game due to rom restrictions they had to make some cuts…death egg zone was suppose to be a full fledged zone but that got moved to sonic 3…hilltop and emerald hill where the same level…
I’m not even going to begin deciding which side i stand on this. Both songs were extremely awesome. I will agree that Diamond Dust is better then Ice Cap but I don’t think that’s saying much. I find both songs pretty boring.
While we are talking about sonic music I just want to make sure I throw in Aquatic ruin. That song is rarely mentioned and its a shame.
Starlight Zone still remains one of my favorite Sonic tracks ever. That zone in general never gets any love 
I love the music in that level, too. Although, my favorite track for a “star highway” level is Stardust Speedway (JP).
my highway level is Radical Highway…then Bingo Highway
this discussion could go on forever…lol
what kind level would guys like to see done that either hasnt been done before or not done enough