The singer of Sonic R will go to all sorts of events to sing the songs when asked to, she adores singing them and that makes all the difference to the overall enjoyment of the songs. It's such a feel good soundtrack
I think the biggest compliment that you could give the Sonic R soundtrack is that, if you listened to the vocal tracks completely divorced from the game, you'd think they were in the Top 40 list of some Europop or Electronic Trance list from the '90s. (I'd argue Top 10, because they're that good IMO.)
Richard Jacques is such an interesting composer. He's a regular in the pantheon of Sonic/SEGA composers, but also an accomplished tv and film composer, as well as all around the game industry.
You can smile while listening, but then the gameplay makes you want to scream at your monitor. I played this game as a kid, and it is practically broken. Still, great music.
@@HereIam123 It only had a slightly steeper learning curve compared to the average racer for the time. As soon as you learn that the bumpers are your main means of cornering it's easy. I got it for Christmas and 100% it by dinner time and I didn't typically play racers. It definitely lacked some needed polish though, and more content.
@@ShaimingLong I played on a PC way back in 2002, using a keyboard, and I didn't own a controller. I might not have been aware of some features as a kid.
Sonic R’s music is just pure 90’s dance goodness, it never fails to put you in a good mood. The whole soundtrack was composed by longtime Sega composer Richard Jacques and the vocals were by British singer T.J. Davis. Sonic’s more known for rock music nowadays, but 90’s Sonic was all about dance. Sonic CD’s Japanese soundtrack being a great example.
God I love this whole soundtrack. It's so cheesy but it feels earnest in a way that makes it still appealing to me. Every theme in this game is similar to this. Btw the vocalist's name is TJ Davis! 7:12 This is actually one of the series' biggest strengths but also one of its biggest weaknesses. Because Sonic as a series has been so experimental, it's pretty impossible to please all Sonic fans and there's always going to be people who have a problem with the direction the series is taking at any given time. I think pretty much all of us love this song, though.
Sonic R and Sonic CD are my two favourite Sonic OSTs :) Vocalist is TJ Davis, and she's had a career in the music industry since the late 80s! Also Sonic R (and Sonic 3D) were made by UK studio Travellers Tales, who became TT Games in the mid 2000s and who you may know better as the lego game developers since Lego Star Wars!
DUDE. You are absolutely RIGHT about the "different generations of fans" thing. And Sonic is a series that had "cool" as part of its identity from the very beggining. The odd thing about this is that Sonic was a Japanese-made series but it was INTENDED for a western audience, so since the very beggining you could see what people at SEGA of Japan and SEGA of America saw as "cool" with stuff like different boxart and how Sonic's early character was adapted into the cartoons. This disparity between different iterations continued when Sonic needed to get hus first game on the Dreamcast. Sonic Adventure is both quite different and quite fammiliar, but one thing that I'll focus on here is that despite being in the same canon as the classic sonic games it was a whole new style that qppealed way more to a completely new audience than qppealing to people who were in love with the classic games. And this is the thing that makes q big difference between Sonic and other big kid friendly game franchises like Mario or Kirby. There are so many iterations of him, some even happening qt the same time, that so many people attatched to a different version of both his character and the style of the media he was in. This unfortunately does lead to a lot of uncivil conflict within the community, where discussion isnt "hey i like this better so ima stick to it but change isnt that bad..." and instead its "THIS THING IS BEING CHANGED AND THE PEOPLEWHO THINK ITS GOOD QRE INSANE" So unfortunately its not all fun and games :( Though I try to be as open minded qbout these issues as I can Sorry for the typos, in advance
I just get really excited whenever I see something sonic related pop up! There's just so many good tracks throughout the whole series that no matter what gets reacted to, I won't be let down.
Sonic R's soundtrack is an utter gem of cheesy 90's catchyness, but beyond that, I really like you getting a taste of the actual gameplay, level theming, etc that goes with the song. You should do this sort of thing for every video, I think. Or maybe do the intial reaction without footage, then with gameplay footage after when you're talking about it. Either way would be cool! (Though I imagine it might be a challenge to track down footage of the specific moment a track plays without knowing the game yourself, so maybe you can just let submitters know they can send that with the track?)
@@GamingTranceSeer yeah I was a Sega kid so I was lucky enough to have both a Saturn and a family PC. They sold sonic games like this at stores like toys r us and stuff and I just happened to pick up both sonic r and 3D blast after my Saturn stopped reading discs for some reason
It's kind of funny sega's taken on the reliability nintendo used to have, a variety of good music. Even when their games weren't good, their original tunes were jamming yet thematically fitting.
Just for future songs composed by him, Richard Jacques is pronounced "Jakes" (like James, but with a k). =P There's recently been a really cool Jet Set Radio documentary, he contributed a few tracks to JSR Future, though of course most tracks there are by Hideki Naganuma. ^^
For whatever reason, this sort of music was Sega of America's choice of sound for the pre-Adventure era of Sonic whenever CD-quality audio was a factor. Sonic R's OST in particular though has such a focus on being uplifting, outside of the best remembered track "Super Sonic Racing".
Finally. I caught up. Just in time for a favorite of mine. I am very familiar with this ost and like it very much. It starts off with a fun sunny feeling and a panning arpeggio, a good intro then it jumps right into the synthy piano chords and great vocals by TJ Davis with some really clean vocal runs. The chords are some of the most enjoyable chords I've ever heard. The bass is great like with a lot of Sonic music and the beat gets your head bopping. The harmonies are awesome especially at the end, there's a lot of power in Davis's voice. I don't think every song fits the game but I do think this song fits the specific area since I can see a sunny summer day whenever I listen to this song. I know this song has probably been done a billion times in the 90's and is insanely cheesy but honestly I don't care lol. I love this song and it's in my vgm playlist. It's funny you mention how you originally thought it was going to be in vehicles since there have been several Sonic games where it's just racing with cars lol.
I definitely sing along with these songs when I hear them. Whenever I play All-Stars Racing Transformed, every time Sky Sanctuary's theme switches to Regal Ruin - Back in Time I immediately start sings the lyrics in my head.
People meme on this soundtrack because they have this preconceived notion on what Sonic music is supposed to be, instead of the fact that back in the 90s, Sonic didn't really have an established sound. Unless you think the Genesis soundchip is the pinnacle of music. I can understand that people were upset with the game for being rather short, and difficult to control, but to deny the music the respect it deserves? Sonic is amazing because the music can actually be anything, it could be this, it could be chiptune, it could be Michael Jackson, it could be rock, it could be electronic, it could be orchestral, ANYTHING. This soundtrack is a bop, and it elevates the feeling of playing the game. I would suggest you listen to the music sans-lyrics, the instrumentals are included in the OST and they're equally as listenable. Richard Jacques tapped into a sound back then that were seeing remnants of in modern Sega music even to this day.
I'm really hoping you check out more of Sonic R's soundtrack now, as many other commenters have said - it's so good! Also your guess that this song belongs to that specific track in the game is correct, that's how Sonic R handled it's music
7:12 Yes the fanbase is a complete and unmitigated mess. But its the best kind of mess It's a Fun mess. And since Sega took the polar opposite approach to Nintendo when it comes to fan content. It's by far the most creative mess in all of video gaming fandom.
Sonic music in general is often what i listen to to cheer up, but you saying this on a Sonic R song of all things reminded me of a time when i would play the game and sing to the ost (mainly i'd sing to Living In The City, Back In Time, Diamond In The Sky, You're My Number One), to cheer myself up, i just feel basically the whole ost has that "good mood" feeling to it, it's nice. :3
Lol man i had Sonic R on the Saturn as a kid, the music was by far my favorite part of the game, it may be cheesy but MAN is it so good. You definitely should react to the rest of the soundtrack. It's only about 6 or 7 songs, but they are great.
Yes I know what you mean about multiple generations of Sonic fans. I'm the same age as the franchise and I feel the same as I did as a team with the series, and I don't think about my age at all. I've come to a point in my life, though, where I've been slightly more conscious of my age only in terms that the I see more fans, whose ages I don't always know because it's the internet, talking about the series in a way that it's clear they are newer or younger and don't know all the little fun facts that were common knowledge just 7 or so years ago. They can be teenagers and I'll realize they were so little when I was a teenager, so while I can chat with them, we aren't quite the same. And because of this, it occurred to me that, as an older fan, I, as well as others roughly my age, should start acknowledging that we have a responsibility to be be better role models and pseudo guardians that keep this place safe for very young Sonic fans. Especially since now days very young children use the internet. It can be dangerous, adults and kids mingling online as equals. It's really cool but also something we really need to keep our eyes on.
Sonic R music is like Metal Gear Rising Revengence boss music, first time listening to its music people think its dumb, then they end up unironically enjoying it.
Sonic has always tried to be the polar opposite of what Mario is. Fun, fast, not forced. Mario is slow, controlled and the player always knows the goal is to go through the motions in a scenerio the character doesn't necessarily have a choice but to be involved in ie: save the princess, collect this collect that rinse and repeat. Fun has something that really has been lost in so many games in the last 15-20 years
So Fun Fact about the Sonic R soundtrack: When Richard J. submitted the main theme for the game (Super Sonic Racing) to Yuji Naka for approval, he was so impressed with TJ Davis's lyrics that he demanded that all the tracks in the game have her lyrics in them.
I literally just found this video and am watching it in the middle of the night by myself literally shaking uncontrollably thinking about the numerous creepypastas and this song being the main trigger of that damn doll 😂😂😂
they probably want him to go through the first few ages of sonic music first, which I agree with cuz frontiers goes so hard that anything after might pale in comparison
You know... say what you want about Sonic R as a game... the music is chef's kiss. Honestly, that is one of the few gifts we got from the Saturn: great music. Even 3D Blast Saturn I hold in high regard for the music.
Richard Jaques is definitely one of the more interesting composers for Sonic because Sonic R's music stands out from the rest & he's also a movie composer. Unfortunately it also comes with the caveat of him being aggressively defensive (to put it nicely) of his music verbally attacking both Tee Lopes & Bently Jones for their remixes of Sonic R music. All that aside Sonic R really does stand out from the rest of Sonic's OSTs.
Ah man, this was just great fo watch. At it's best, Sonic R is a very "Meh" racer, it's honestly not that very good. However, this game's soundtrack is worth a listen to because it is phenomenal, one of my personal favorites in the Sonic series, a series known for absolute bangers.
Sonic R has great music. I don’t know if the full ost is sung by her, but Lyn (who sang for the Persona 5 osts) was the singer for at least one song. The game itself, however, is not good. I do not recommend playing it.
Hehe, finally. We’ve reached this day. God Bless TJ Davis, the perfect vocalist for 90s Sonic energy. Fun thing about the PC version of the game, it was written as a Music CD as well and included instrumental versions of every single song. And the instrumentals are so much like the other SEGA Saturn/CD games you’d be forgiven if you thought they were written without lyrics initially.
That's one way to race, but the best unlockables require either collecting tokens or chaos emeralds from the different paths while also getting first in the race. I like the challenge of trying to get every token AND emerald in a single race.
I do listen to the Sonic R ost sometimes when i wanna feel carefree ! I wonder if one day we'll be watching the Sonic Symphony on this channel ? Because i would love that !
I love almost every sonic song even if some games aren't great the music always is. I can't wait for when or if you get to the music from sonic frontiers!
I was kind of surprised when I heard this because the vocals reminded me so much of some in Final Fantasy XIII-2; a Russian singer, Origa did some vocals in that game and they sound pretty similar imo. I'm thinking of the music in New Bodhum, specifically. The style of the song in general is similar I feel, but this is a lot more upbeat
I like letting your stuff build up so I can binge listen to it at work. Gotta say, the emotional whiplash from FFX Wandering Flame and AC FA, two very nostalgic games for me, to fucking Sonic R lol
I loved this game and its sountrack since i was young and i played my saturn everyday. This reminds me of the summer i got it and i dont fucking care about people saying this game sucks everywhere, i had tons of fun unlocking things and raciing in the game and once you knew the levels ir rocked. This is 90`s as fuck and i love it.
Sonic R's soundtrack is amazing, it's not at all what you expect when you start the game for the first time, but then it just grows on you. I love it, and just about everything with Sonic R. People think what they may about the various games, but they aways do great with the soundtracks.
