“ At clubs, DJs were using images of Sonic for their turntable slipmats, and stylish, fashionable magazines were using Sonic for their front covers,” said Hataya in the liner notes of the 2011 re-release of the Sonic CD soundtrack. (File)Ī major factor in Hataya and Ogata’s decision to take Sonic CD’s music in this particular direction was the increased prevalence of the Sonic brand in European club culture.
Naofumi Hataya was one of the composers behind the soundtrack of Sonic CD. After that, he entrusted us and let us take care of the work.” Ohshima, the team director,” said Hataya in an interview with Keith Stuart, “wanted a sharp feel for the theme, so we presented a composition that took in a lot of club music like house and techno, and he liked it. After several unsuccessful attempts at creating theme tracks, the team decided to draw on their house and techno influences to develop the basis of Sonic CD’s sound design. It wasn’t long before the blue blur himself would receive the same treatment with the upcoming Naoto Ohshima-directed Sonic CD, with Naofumi Hataya and Masafumi Ogata being entrusted compositional duties. With increased budgets and an eagerness for utilizing this newfound freedom, composers went to work creating some of the most technically impressive soundtracks of the 16-bit era. Sega was keen to capitalize on this new functionality, and allocated generous budgets for the sound on these Mega CD games, aiming for CD-level quality far beyond “normal” game music.” Naofumi Hataya, Sonic CD composer “…the Mega CD, which could use CD-DA, really broadened the horizons of what was possible for us as sound creators.
Level themes now sprang to life with a wide breadth of real and synthesized instruments, allowing composers to fully realize their ambitions in terms of game sound design.
The revelatory transition from the Mega Drive’s YM2612 six-channel FM sound chip to the SEGA CD’s Redbook audio was a technical boon for game composers and a cultural boon for consumers. What an impression the opening themes for Sonic CD must have made on audiences who’ve only ever played video games with chip-tune audio. “Toot-toot Sonic warrior, deep in space and mind.” “If you’re strong, you can fly, you can reach the other side of the rainbow.”
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