SEGA Tunes

SEGA Tunes: Soul Calibur’s Light and Darkness (Soul Mix)

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It’s impossible to talk about the Dreamcast without eventually talking about Soul Calibur. Still arguably one of the best 3D fighting games ever made, the original Soul Calibur was absolutely groundbreaking in its day both in its spectacular next generation visuals and its supremely fluid and accessible game play. On top of all of this, the game had a presentation that was surprisingly grandiose for its time. While many of its contemporaries either tried to play themselves off as silly, over-the-top, or ridiculous, Soul Calibur presented itself with dignity. It was not just a fighter, it was “the stage of history!” You will not find a kick boxing kangaroos, bouncy boob physics, or gory fatalities here: only fighters battling their way toward their ultimate destiny.

This attitude is reflected in the game’s spectacular soundtrack. The game is filled to the brim with beautiful orchestrated themes meant to compliment the diverse characters and locations in the game. Back in its day, this soundtrack helped give the game a special epic quality that other fighters lacked. I confess, I do find the soundtrack to be a little dated by modern standards: these tracks were clearly produced on a budget with a limited orchestra, but that doesn’t mean they don’t still sound damn good. For your benefit, I’ve decided to feature the far superior “Soul Mix” version of the game’s epic theme song. You can check out the original track below.

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SEGA Tunes: Sonic Adventure, merging past and future

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My very first experience with the Dreamcast took place at a crowded Toys R Us demo kiosk, the system launch being mere weeks away and with a poster for Sonic Adventure having caught my eye.

I picked up the controller to find myself in some sort of futuristic bumper car hall. Momentarily confused as to what to do, I did what all little kids do when they’re stuck in a video game; I had Sonic jump around aimlessly until he hijacked one of the bumper cars and drove it out onto an outer space race track.

Simply put, my mind was blown, and the Twinkle Park stage became one of my favorites in the series, a place that it still holds to this day.

I was in for another surprise in the final product, when I got to play the Twinkle Park stage on my own TV with the sound up. The music, an epic remix of Panic Puppet Zone Act 1 from Sonic 3D Blast, was incredible. Crazily enough though, despite being a remix, the Sonic Adventure version unquestionably takes on a life of its own and fits the game just as well as an original track would have, if not better.

Sonic Adventure made several major changes to the series, there’s no doubt about it. But the game also had many nods to the character’s past, all integrated seamlessly into Sonic Adventure’s next generation shell.

To hear the original Sonic 3D Blast version of the song, hit the jump.

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SEGA Tunes: Samba de Amigo’s Samba de Janeiro

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In Samba de Amigo, every day is a dance party, with and endless parade of singing, shaking and Latin music. Few songs in the game embody the spirit of Samba’s visuals as well as Samba de Janeiro does. This is what a wild party sounds like and it’s always a joy to shake maracas to. This carefree party atmosphere also makes Samba de Amigo one of SEGA’s quintessential summer games.

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SEGA Tunes: OutRun 2’s Splash Wave

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Nothing screams summer fun like driving a Ferrari along the coast of some random tropical paradise, with a pretty girl at your side and rocking guitar music filling the air. Outrun 2, having all of these things, is pretty much SEGA’s definitive summer game. Splash Wave is one of my favorite tunes in the game because it perfectly matches the atmosphere Outrun 2. It starts out fast and frantic but quickly slows down with a lazier, more relaxing beat. As fast and frantic as Outrun 2’s game play can be, you are still a dude driving a Ferrari through some of the most picturesque scenery in gaming and Splash Wave aides that feeling beautifully by alternating between the exciting synth and the slower, lazier guitar.

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SEGA Tunes: “Door into Summer” from Knuckles Chaotix

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I’ve always thought of SEGA as the video game company of the summer. Many of their most memorable games start off in bright and sunny tropical paradises with endless blue skies. Stuff like Daytona USA, After Burner, Out Run, NiGHTS into Dreams, Sonic the Hedgehog and Ristar invoke the spirit of summer like few other games do.

I’ll be featuring a few of “songs of the summer” over the next month or so. Hope you enjoy them! Figured I’d start with something I’ve wanted to put up for a little while: Knuckles Chaotix’s “Door into Summer”. It not only has an appropriate name, but also has a nice, memorable tune.

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SEGA Tunes: AJ takes a look at Flashback: Quest for Identity

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AJ Rosa decided to take a look at two of his favorite songs from Flashback’s CD soundtrack. Take a look!

It’s kind of funny looking back on all those advertisements for Flashback on Sega Genesis that graced several gaming magazines in 1993. “It’s a CD-ROM game on a cartridge.”

That was a bold statement for sure, but once my brother and I laid eyes on those fluid cinematic cut-scenes, rotoscoped animation and hand-drawn backgrounds, our minds were totally blown. The music was something else. Synth-based minimalism that brought to mind images of a future where space travel is effortless, civilization is prospering, all while something dark and sinister builds underneath its glossy exterior. It gave me that very same feeling as when I watched Escape from New York or Blade Runner. Those scores may be simplistic in instrumentation, but there’s no denying their power to engage and affect an audience….

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SEGA Tunes: Outrun 2019’s Victorious and Feel the Beat

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Screw the people who criticized the Genesis’s sound capabilities: they’ve clearly never heard Outrun 2019. This is the sort of soundtrack you want to listen to when your cruising down a road at 500 miles per hour! 2019 is one of the better examples of Genesis music I’ve heard, but I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised. Outrun has a heck of a legacy when it comes to video game music, especially since the original game probably has one of the best SEGA arcade soundtracks out there.

Hope you enjoyed Victorious! Please go below the fold for another awesome track, Feel the Beat.

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SEGA Tunes: TrickStyle

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Back before Criterion was developing the critically-acclaimed Burnout series along with, more recently, their successful Need for Speed reboots, they released a little-known Dreamcast launch title called TrickStyle. It was a racer featuring hoveboards in futuristic versions of New York, London, and Tokyo, and though the racing physics engine and trick systems felt rough, what was unquestionable was Criterion’s artistry. The game’s art still sticks out as vibrant and incredibly detailed even to this day, and its soundtrack set the scene and gave the game a very cool feel.

This tune played on a racetrack inspired by New York City’s Central Park. It’s both ambient and also fairly melodic. Other music in the game is a bit more intense, but this one fit perfectly for a quieter race as you hovered through Central Park under the moon’s glow.

For another (very different) tune from TrickStyle, hit the jump.

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SEGA Tunes: Sonic Adventure’s Run Through the Speed Highway

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You know what had an awesome soundtrack? Sonic Adventure. Even if you hate the cheesy rock tunes of Crush40, it is hard to deny that Adventure’s soundtrack was by and large pretty awesome. Some of the game’s best tracks were those that went well with the blistering pace of Sonic’s levels. Case in point, “Run Through the Speed Highway”, the first theme of Speed Highway. Enjoy!

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SEGA Tunes: Power Drift’s Like the Wind

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You know what’s more awesome then classic SEGA arcade music? Obscure SEGA arcade music! I’ve never played Power Drift, but its soundtrack is still pretty damn awesome. This is just the sort of incredibly catchy, upbeat tune that I would expect from a classic SEGA title. Hope you enjoy it!

Power Drift’s soundtrack was composed by Hiroshi Kawaguchi. He is one of the oldest SEGA composers still active and working within the company. You can find his website here.

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SEGA Tunes SEGAbits Staff Spotlight: Kori Maru

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“Hello SEGABits readers! I’m Kori-Maru, admin of The Website of the Dead. Some call me one of the more “hardcore” Sega fans out there for my extensive knowledge of Sega’s games and my love for HotD. I would like to share some of my favorite SEGA tunes with you guys and my experiences with them. Let’s start out with…

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SEGA Tunes SEGAbits community spotlight: Brian Corey’s cover of Splash Garden

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This week we’re bringing you a special Tuesday Tunes, as we’re featuring the music of a SEGAbits community member! Ungibbed, aka Brian Corey, put together this cover of the NiGHTS into Dreams tune Splash Garden from memory. Pretty impressive if you ask us! Of course, we don’t blame him for getting the tune stuck in his head, as Splash Garden is a stage that Saturn fans have surely played again and again.

Great job, Brian, on this awesome cover! We look forward to hearing more tunes from you in the future. Share your comments for Brian below, or in our dedicated topic in the SEGAbits forums.

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SEGA Tunes Kenji Eno Tribute: Snow

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Kenji Eno, a composer who created soundtracks for a few SEGA published games, as well as his own original albums, passed away last month. I confess that I’ve never played any of the games he was involved in, so I’m afraid I am rather unfamiliar with his work. If it is anything like the above, then it seems like I’ve been missing out on some of the most beautiful and atmospheric soundtracks in SEGA’s library.

Expect to see more Kenji Eno tracks featured here as I continue to peruse his work. Until then, here’s another song from D2, “Morning Theme”. Be back next week when we finish off the SEGAbits staff spotlight with an entry from Kori Maru!

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SEGA Tunes SEGAbits Staff Spotlight: Ben, aka “nSega54”

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segabits shenmue tuesday tunes

And so, on a quiet night, the streetlamps frosty amidst the falling snow, the locals warm and cozy inside their apartments up above the city streets, the town of Dobuita continues to sleep….

Shenmue has been lying dormant for an unspeakably long time, with not even a hint of a resolution in sight. Money, enough to have gone a long way towards funding a 3rd installment, was instead carelessly tossed off to to a Texas-based developer named Gearbox Software rather than into the hands of Yu Suzuki. After all these years, is it finally time to accept that SEGA will never allow their fanbase to continue the series that holds so much of their nostalgic gaming memories?

I’d given up hope long ago that Shenmue III would be released. But that doesn’t mean I can’t still appreciate all the great memories it offered, memories which, even over a decade later, still linger. This week’s Tuesday Tunes will highlight a couple of my favorite songs from the Shenmue games’ legendary soundtracks, so sit back and take a listen.

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