I'm surprised there hasn't been a discussion about this game's music, even if the game isn't actually out yet.  Here's what we know so far..

- Jun Senoue is confirmed to be the composer

- The title screen music (pulled from the official Sonic 4 site) can be heard right here

- You can hear a couple really neat fan-made remixes over at Sega's blog here

I'm really digging that title screen music.  Those drum samples are pure Sonic and the track is super catchy, just like Sonic music should be!  I have a lot of faith in Senoue since he's worked on several Sonic games for the Genesis before, in addition to a lot of the newer games of course.  Here's hoping he produces an amazing soundtrack and we see a proper OST release.  Hey who knows, maybe with the release of a Sonic 4 OST we'll finally see a Sonic boxset.  Oh and even though it's probably going to be a very retro soundtrack, I really want Crush 40 to contribute at least one vocal song.. sort of an old meets new kinda thing.

I think Capcom just may have saved Sega.

I was always saying how badly Sonic needed a high def 2D reprise. It's pretty hard to mess 2D Sonic up. You have a blue hedgehog and you make him run fast through various levels. The big draw for me was always the music; I love the old-school sound the capabilities of the Genesis affords. I'm really hoping for a similar sound to what we received for the earlier Sonic games, particularly 1 and 2.

I dunno, the Sonic Advances didn't really hold my attention. I was excited for them and all (I still have the poster for Advance 3), but they lost my interest inside of an hour. And I thought the music was horrible in those games, which probably contibuted. I admit I haven't played Rush as much as I should have. It was/is fun (music is what it is...I like it ingame, not something that nets playtime outside of it, unlike my rips of Sonic 1-3).

This, on the other hand, looks like "GET!!! PLAY!!! LOVE!!! ROCK OUT!!! NOW!!!"

My thoughts, exactly. I also think he can live up to expectations and do a nice work. Just by hearing that sweet and awesome percussion gives me a a good and nostalgic feeling.
I hope they will also release this sometime down the road (of course I also want a Sonic box, but that's a given).

Sega updated the official Sonic 4 site today with a music download for the first act of Splash Hill Zone.

sonicthehedgehog4.com

Direct link to the mp3 on their server

Those drums are back again, yay!  I love it.  You're doing good Jun, keep it up!

Sounds just like his earlier style. Good, this is coming out good.
Tho, am I the only one who thinks the music would benefit greatly from having a more retro FM sound? It would be almost like classic Sonic if he used the MegaDrive sound chip, just similar to what Koshiro did on the Etrian Odissey soundtracks.

I love that Splash Hill Zone theme!  And yes, the drums ARE back!  Can't wait to hear the rest of the soundtrack.  This is a good day.

- Justin Pfeiffer

Leaky leaky.

Edit: There's a better rip now, which I uploaded here and here.  This one is encoded at a higher quality, the "Ending" track was added, I fully tagged and named the whole set, and the track times are longer since all the stage themes now loop and fade out properly.

Thanks for the links Miker! (where do you get this stuff?)

I'm not liking the music AT ALL though.
This is the worst thing I've ever heard Senoue do.

The Special Stage music reminds me of the Special Stages from Sonic 1.
Could those be making a return?

I hope so, those were fun.  I can easily picture playing the special stage from Sonic 1 to Sonic 4's Special Stage music, so it's very possible.

An interesting thing to note is that Boss Music 1 is an arrangement of an unreleased track from one of Senoue's first Sega projects, the Genesis version of Sonic 3D Blast.

I'm liking the music so far.  There's just something about that drum sample that gets me excited!  Mad Gear Act 3 really stands out to me, probably my favorite track so far right up there with the Splash Hill Zones.  Casino Street is awesome too, has such a Spring Stadium (3D Blast) / Casino Night (Sonic 2) feel.  Oh and as you already mentioned, I really dig the Special Stage theme as it's nice and soothing.

Who knows if these are even the final tracks.  They were leaked from a beta build of the game, so we'll have to wait and see.  Regardless if these are final or not.. if there is an actual soundtrack release (pleeeease Sega), they better get some classic Sega composers to do some arranged tracks.  I'm looking at you, Naofumi Hataya.

There's a better rip now, which I uploaded here and here.  This one is encoded at a higher quality, the "Ending" track was added, I fully tagged and named the whole set, and the track times are longer since all the stage themes now loop and fade out properly.

Infinite thanks for this, miker. I'm really tempted to listen to it fully, but I think I'm gonna hold on until I play the game, to not spoil it too much.
I only gave a quick listen to quite a few of the tracks. I dunno, it seems as if there's something missing, that last magical touch the very originals had. I think that maybe tweaking the melodies a bit may have quite an impact, as right now there's not a clear flow in quite a few of them. Also the synth is kinda "contradictory"; the drums make you think of MegaDrive instantly, yet you get a higher fidelity but simplified synth that doesn't fit that much in the role.
But they aren't bad in the slightest. I really liked the feel on Lost Labyrinth and Casino Street. I see this has a LOT of potential with some tweaks. And I'm quite sure some of them will grow quite a lot on me, as I could heard.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-pRIxhXm-4

sonic advance series has much better music than people give it credit for

this Sonic 4 stuff, on the other hand...

Wow, great arrangement.  Thanks for sharing!

I'm not so sure, guys. I'm actually liking what I'm hearing for Sonic 4 so far. Mad Gear sounds really nice, though I miss that authentic crunch of the Genesis sound chip.

It was cute, the first time around with Rockman / Mega Man 9. Then Contra 4. Okay. Gradius Rebirth. Whatever. THEN the NEW Super Mario Bros. Wii. Castlevania Rebirth. Notice a pattern yet?

Everyone's all just trying to go back down the retro path, because their new 3D crap isn't selling, but the fact is, most of these games are just the original games cut up and re-packaged, with newer, smoother graphical technology. NEW Super Mario Bros Wii, for me, was essentially SMB3 all over again!

My stance is, if you want the OLD Castlevania, or Gradius, or Mega Man, or Mario, or Sonic, or WHATEVER, why not just try and go back and play the original titles? Virtual Console or whatever has made that more than possible.

They should all try making new franchises, with new characters and ideas, instead of trying to resuscitate the same damn thing from ages ago...

As far as I'm concerned, video-gaming pretty much ended for me when the PSX era ended. FFX, I loved the crap out of, but anything else on the PS2, I really haven't been all that pleased with since then.

I'll still probably end up laying Sonic 4...but I probably won't end up caring about it a whole lot.

What consoles is it going to be released on?

...

Glad to see that Sonic & Knuckles was finally released on the Wii VC...I wonder how they're going to handle the lock-on technology with Sonic 2 & 3?

I didn't know you swung that way, Bern.

In any event, more than Megaman, Contra, Castlevania and Mario, Sonic needed this 2D sequel so bad. The blue hedgehog's outings since Sonic Adventure 2 have had, at the very best, mixed reception all across the board and even fan reception has been something of an oddity; I can't speak for the majority of gamers everywhere, but everyone I've ever talked to has had unfavorable opinions regarding post Adventure titles, with a few exceptions for the handheld ones like Sonic Rush.

are you for real?

I can kind of see where he's coming from, I still haven't invested in any system/games beyond the PS2 and as great as some of the games are for it I like the original PSX and it's library better - same with the SNES.

The guy who made that also uploaded a Genesis cover of Splash Hill Zone from Sonic 4, and it sounds awesome!  The only thing I don't like is that it has more of a Sonic 3 feel rather than a Sonic 1 and 2 feel which the original Sonic 4 music has (again it comes down to those drums!).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCtXDkMX9Ss

I can't say I totally disagree with Bernhardt on the retro stuff, but man...games like Sonic 4 and New SMB interest me way more than 99% of junk on the shelves right now, even if they aren't up to snuff with the classics they're based off of (although the added touches to New SMB Wii were great in their own way). I flip through a magazine nowadays and I see a couple dozen photo-realistic games that look like they could all be the same thing, then I see something like Sonic 4 that just oozes sexiness all over. And the price on a lot of these is more than fair, all things considered.

If I had access to a Wii right now, I'd be all over the Rebirths. In contrast...as of right now, I have access to my 360 and nothing is coming to mind to get (except for Super Street Fighter 4).

Wow, everything this guy has done (geckoamori) is pretty damn good.   Great retro-sound, (simulating the Genesis sound chip) but it all grooves/rocks.  Similar to a Yuzo Kushiro.  His house music (on his myspace), although not really my thing, is also very tasteful and great to test stereo systems to.  Great find.  Will be paying attention to this artist.

Loving the Sonic 4 music so far from Jon Senoue, the series really did need to go back to its roots.

The Act 3 music of Splash Hill Zone is my favourite of all of them, heres a Sonic 2 style version of it:)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eev7lcV1 … re=related