Current Era Wrap-Up

    

Sonic Music from 2010-2020

I'm not the biggest fan of the "Current Era," but even I have to admit it's home to some awesome music. 

Trivia

• Sonic Free Riders was the only Riders title without a version of "Catch Me If You Can." 
• Cash Cash, the band that made "Reach for the Stars" and "Speak with Your Heart" in Sonic Colors, also contributed to Sonic Generations and 2 CD tracks (such as the "Sonic Boom" cover with Crush 40). 
• There are 12 versions of "Reach for the Stars" in Sonic Colors alone. 
• It/a remixed version has been in 11 games since. 
• Sonic Generations was the first main-console game since the 90s that did not have a main vocal theme.
• However many themes such as "Open Your Heart" were remixed or others such as "It Doesn't Matter" returned as unloackbles.  
• A song by Hyper Potions, "Friends," was in the 2020 movie. They contributed to Sonic Boom Fire & Ice, Sonic Mania, and Team Sonic Racing.  
• Tee Lopes was chosen to compose Sonic Mania because of his popular fan remixes on Youtube. 
• "Fist Bump" from Sonic Forces was sung and written by Douglas Robb of Hoobastank. There are 9 versions of the song including cutscene music and remixes. 
• "Fist Bump" was the first vocal game-theme since "Reach for the Stars," a 7 year difference. 
• "Green Light Ride" was the first Crush 40 game-theme since "Knight of the Wind," a 10 year difference.    
• Team Sonic Racing was also the first game Jun Senoue had a major role in composing since Sonic Generations. 

Total Scoring

S: 0
A: 0
B: 4
C: 8
D: 8
E: 5

Best Soundtrack of the Era:

Sonic Forces was interesting. Sonic Generations was epic nostalgia. But it's Team Sonic Racing that gets the gold for it's unique way of making familiar songs new without altering them beyond recognition. There's just something very cool yet on-the-edge--something very "Sonic" about it, moreso than the rest. 

Best Handheld OR App Music of the Era:

Sonic Runners manages to be the best app by far, sounding just as great as a console game. However handheld games, like Sonic Colors, and Sonic Generations, and even Sonic Boom Fire and Ice, are also good for what they are. 

Most Underrated Console Music:

Sonic Free Riders wasn't as good as the other two before it, but it's still just as good as Sonic Colors and worth listening to. Sonic Lost World also seems to be forgotten in the mix, and it's such a beautiful ensemble it's hard to know why. 

Most Overrated Console Music:

Sonic Mania is good. But no, it's not the best. Generally half the songs were good, the other half were questionable. Remixes were also a tricky factor, often being a mess of too many things. It boils down to being an average OST that everyone loves because they love the game. 

Sonic Colors is also pretty over-hyped. In retrospect, I do think it was one of the best OSTs of this "era," but it had a very modern, popish, "2010" sound that will only sound worse as time goes on. While it's still good I don't consider it one of the "top 3" like everyone else does.   

Worst Music of the Era:

Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric is easily the worst sounding game that's not at a lower 8-bit type quality. While the songs aren't necessarily annoying or harsh, they are instead bland and repetitive. I have to 100% agree with the general opinion for once: it's the most generic music labeled "Sonic."