Sonic Lost World OST Review

 

Summary

I was not expecting much from Sonic Lost World's soundtrack. The game debuted the mediocre Deadly Six and, from what I've seen, fell into the same mistakes as Sonic Colors. 

However, this music really caught me by surprise. It was not the cringe-inducing, overly happy/poorly aged mess I was expecting. Not at all. 

The small bits of "Colors syndrome" (music that is 100% of the 2010s) was oddly refreshing in songs like Frozen Factory and even with the Color powers. The underwater Yellow Drill, Grey Quake, and Red Burst were all actually pretty cool. 

Overall it is much more atmospheric and cinematic than Colors, instead having much more in common with Sonic Unleashed. In fact, musically it's more like a sequel to that game. The locations have an uplifting mix of different instruments that evolve and adopt new themes through the different Zones. I haven't played this game, but the BGM defiantly gives me an idea of what the settings are like. They did not skimp on the dramatic cutscene music, either.  

Unfortunately there are no vocal themes, a major problem in this era. The main theme did kinda' grow on me. Happy, explore-y. The Deadly Six theme is powerful but repeated many times in the game, to the point of becoming silly.   

 

Best Song: Windy Hill Zone 2

Runner-Up (s):Sea Bottom Segue (Tropical Coast 3), Windy Hill Zones, Desert Ruins Zones, Silent Forest Zones, Lava Mountain Zone 4, Hidden World, Tornado, Red Burst, Eggman's Secret Weapon   

ARE YOU SURE THIS ISN'T WINDMILL ISLE ZONE 2? Ahem. Windy Hill is really beautiful, string-lead piece, and Zone 2 is an enhanced, lovely version of the first. The bongos are a nice touch, as is the gentle guitar in the background.  

Worst Song: Tropical Coast Act 1

Runner Up (s): Tropical Coast Zones 2, Sky Road Zones (except 4), Lava Mountain Zones (except 4), Frozen Factory Zone 3s, Sky Road Bonus, Cutscene music with: Master Zik, Who Got Us Into This Mess? Cyan Laser, Black Bomb, Hurry Up!, Reach for the Stars Jingles

The jingle for "Reach For The Stars" is by far the worst song in this game. However, I felt like naming that would be a bit of a cheat since that was only for the 3DS version and the console version was "Sonic Heroes" (a way better choice).  

Tropical Coast certainly sounds the part. It seems much too slow, though, and the funky parts mixed in just weigh it down further. Disappointing, especially compared to act 3.  

Final Ranking: B

This soundtrack is incredibly rich. It has a lot of atmosphere and depth with layers of beautiful instruments. 

However, aside from it's similarity to Sonic Unleashed, it just doesn't have the personality I expect. As stunning as these make the settings, Sonic's edgy/cool attitude seems absent. 

Games in the past had a lot of ambience to them, too, but they still added in hints of Sonic's personality. Maybe it's the lack of a main theme, but I find myself wondering if these tracks would easily fit Mario or some other game series. 

It's still really good, and some of the tracks have the right idea (Lava Mountain 4, Silent Forest 4, etc). But it feels like is something missing overall. 

Regardless, the arrangement is still quite engaging and nothing short of professionalism.

also. 

THE MAGIC CONCH.

...

Why is Yoshi in a Sonic game?