Review Summary: The moon is shining for you.
Sonic the Hedgehog is a series that has generated many conflicting opinions among the video game world and entertainment world as a whole – there’s a strict love-hate divide when it comes to Sonic the Hedgehog, and very rarely do you see people who’re on the fence about the sharp-tongued, speedy blue hedgehog. But no matter how much hate or indifference the games receive, the soundtracks contained within tend to be well-loved and respected. “Yeah, Sonic sucks, but the games have really good music.”
Sonic Heroes does continue this trend, but Heroes’ soundtrack marks a noticeable shift in musical direction and intricacy. Sonic Adventure had an exhilarating, rock-infused OST that, while simple and catchy, was also distinctly complex and intricate. Sonic Adventure 2 was even more ambitious and daring, with Jun Senoue turning the complicated, tight musicianship up a few notches and adding in hip-hop, industrial rock, and electronica to his already-eclectic palette. Sonic Heroes has none of that – it ditches all of the artsy crap for fun, cheesy, appealing rock-and-roll, complementing the game’s overall fun, cheesy, appealing vibe.
While Heroes’ soundtrack isn’t tremendously ambitious, and it doesn’t stand a chance to claim your attention in the face of an overpowering OST like Sonic Adventure 2 (or its predecessor, for that matter), it’s still very, very good, full of brightly-paced, upbeat, catchy tunes, the kind of stuff that puts a smile on your face, be it the lush, tropical “Seaside Hill”, the elegant, colorful “Casino Park”, or the relaxing “Frog Forest”. Sonic Heroes is filled to the brim with top-notch musicianship, proving that Jun Senoue and his team of musicians and composers hadn’t lost their edge after the preposterously ambitious Sonic Adventure 2. Everyone gets a chance to shine: the roaring guitars in “Egg Fleet”; the unbelievably tight drumming in “Ocean Palace” and “Grand Metropolis”; the funky slap-bass in “Egg Albatross”; the lush keyboards in “Event: My World” and “Battle: City Area”. While Sonic Heroes may be fairly conventional, that’s not to say it isn’t devoid of experimentation or complexity. This especially comes to light with tracks like “Lost Jungle” and “Hang Castle”, the former a restless prog-rock rocker with African-inspired rhythms and samples, the latter a spooky, hip-hop inspired track that meshes numerous melodies and counter-melodies together almost flawlessly.
There are a handful of drawbacks, of course. The vocal tunes, in particular, are downright silly, which has admittedly been a problem ever since the Sonic Adventure days, but the cheesiness has been augmented when it comes to Sonic Heroes. The title theme, “Sonic Heroes”, pops along well enough, but “We Can” is incredibly cheesy even by kid-focused song standards, with lyrics any jackass could have written in his sleep:
“Together we can overcome all the odds
It's never as hard as it seems
Everyone can do something special
The secret is sharing your dreams"
Even backed up by Ted Poley’s excellent vocals, the song fails to fully resonate because of how darn silly it is. “Follow Me” (Kay Hanley) is beautiful-sounding, but quickly becomes considerably less beautiful when you realize that the song is focused around a young, pink stalker with psychopathic tendencies. “Team Chaotix” (Gunnar Nelson) and “This Machine” (Julien-K, who've gone on to be a pretty great synthpop band) fare a little bit better, the latter especially because of its Orgy-esque, industrial-inspired beat, but they’re still absolutely ridiculous and hard to take seriously. For the most part, however, the worst songs on the album are the ones that are the most unmemorable. “Rail Canyon” and “Bullet Station” are decent rockers, but they’re awfully repetitive and turn into white noise by the end. “Power Plant” is a venture into the arena of experimentation, but there isn’t enough to make it stand out, especially considering its placement, sandwiched in between two absolutely fantastic songs. Most of the “Event” or “Boss” themes range from sub-par (“System Screen”) to alright (“Robot Storm”) to pretty good (“Egg Emperor”).
So, no, it’s not particularly groundbreaking. Sonic Heroes is a brightly-paced pop-rock extravaganza, and there’s something here that everyone is bound to enjoy in some capacity, be it the electronica-inspired “Special Stage: Bonus Challenge”, the vocal tour de force that is “What I’m Made Of”, the disco-esque “Mystic Mansion”, or the dark, mystifying “Final Fortress”. It’s a sound you’ve heard before, but it’s also a sound that Jun Senoue and his team has refined to near-perfection, and that’s exactly what a light romp like Sonic Heroes needed.
