Sonic Origins: Fans Don’t Seem Happy About the Big Changes To Sonic 3’s Soundtrack
Sonic Origins aims to celebrate the classic 2D Sonic the Hedgehog game in earnest, but not all content is part of the compilation that will be released later this week.
The game includes a remastered version of Sonic 1, 2, 3 & Knuckles, and a CD with new animated cutscenes, bonus goals, and more. However, fans aren’t happy that the game doesn’t include the original Sonic the Hedgehog 3 original soundtrack.
Sonic the Hedgehog 3 soundtrack Complex history.. Michael Jackson’s work on the Sonic 3 soundtrack is well known as video game trivia. This has led to long-standing speculation as to whether Sega needs to re-release the game with the original music.
For years, Sega has re-released an emulated version of Sonic 3 that includes the original music. However, Sega has now delisted Classic Sonic games from the digital storefront prior to the release of Origins, so that version of the game is no longer available.
Currently, using Origins seems to confirm that Sega is not reusing the original music in Sonic 3. Earlier this month, Sonic Social Media Manager Katie Chrzanowski confirmed the complete original soundtrack. Never return to Sonic Origins..
“You can’t use all the original sounds [from S3&K].. Jun Senoue is serious about adapting the original music composed in 1993 to Origins. ” soundtrack.
new: @SEGAof @KatieChrz With a partially adapted soundtrack for Sonic 3 & Knuckles #SonicOrigins:
📢 “You can’t use all the original sounds [from S3&K].. Jun Senoue has been working really hard to adapt the original music composed for Origins in 1993. “#SonicNews pic.twitter.com/7va4T76QdZ
— Sonic The Hedgehog News and Update Tales Channel (@TailsChannel) June 9, 2022
The 1993 music mentioned by Chrzanowski is from the Sonic the Hedgehog 3 prototype, which appeared in November 2019. The excavated version of the game featured an unused music track that was finally replaced by the final version that fans know today. The prototype includes a carnival night zone, an ice cap zone, a launch base zone, a knuckles theme, a contest menu, and credit music.
In the case of Sonic Origins, Senoue seems to have taken the prototype music and recreated it for use in the edited version of Sonic 3, and fans aren’t very happy with the result.
Senoue has been working on the Sonic the Hedgehog series since Sonic 3 in 1994, and is also working on the next Sonic Frontiers. Any ideas on how his work on the prototype truck sounds? GameXplain:
As expected, the Origins replaced Sonic 3 track is, frankly, absolute pants.https://t.co/rwxCvO4cxg
— Andy Robinson (@AndyPlaytonic) June 21, 2022
Many fans seem to be fine with choosing to use the prototype track for legal reasons, but are dissatisfied with how the new version of the prototype song sounds.
I fully embrace the lack of Sonic 3 Jackson trucks.That’s what it is
But why does it sound worse than the prototype?
— Jon Cartwright (@JonComms) June 21, 2022
Sega needs to be licensed for Sonic 3 Music. Sorry, the prototype truck is shit.
— LonelyGoomba (@LonelyGoomba) June 21, 2022
They ruined the prototype music of Sonic 3 pic.twitter.com/U3iOgis1S7
— Paused until July (actually this time) (@_ WarpFormat_) June 21, 2022
As a lover of Sonic 3 prototypes, I’m amazed that Sonic Origins is making those sounds worse. Especially carnival night. pic.twitter.com/yQVef3q8iy
— Tuna “Tuner” Fish (@TunaTunerFish) June 21, 2022
There’s no reason why a prototype truck sounds like the original
— Cherribun (@ghostbunbun) June 21, 2022
that’s all ReseteraSonic fans are also dissatisfied with this element of the final product, and in the Sonic Origins review thread, the conversation surrounding the missing music in Sonic 3 dominates the conversation. Some fans say they plan to hand over the collection for this, while others say they’ll get the Steam version and wait for Modder to bring the original music into the game.
This is not the first controversy addressed by Sonic Origins. When the game was announced, fans were angry and confused by Sonic Origins’ complex DLC strategy.
Sonic Origins will be available on June 23 for PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X | S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC. For more information, you can see the first 18 minutes of gameplay on your PS5.
Logan Plant is a freelance writer for IGN. You can find him on Twitter @LoganJ Plant.
