Overview

The second Sonic Dreamcast title was a little disappointing compared to the original as it lacked new gameplay. But enough about the game itself, let's talk music. The soundtracks of games that are ridiculed always seem to be the best ones. This is no exception. Most of the themes are built around guitar and synth tunes. Following the well-received two disc Japanese releae, Tokyopop Soundtrax produced a one disc American release entitled the Sonic Adventure 2 Official Soundtrack. While a cheaper and accessible alternative, this soundtrack omitted a lot of great themes. Can it possibly be worthwhile?

Body

"Escape from the City" is the first level theme and it involves cool vocals mixed with a guitar tune. The lyrics can get repetitive, but the music is pretty awesome. I'd recommend you find the instrumental version which is on the Sound Test, but not on the soundtrack. "That's the Way I Like It" is the theme to Metal Harbour. The trumpets and guitar are the main instruments used against a percussion background. They all blend in quite well to a good, upbeat, and catchy tune. The actual track on the soundtrack is a little different to the game because it has a cool start and finish, something the other tracks lack. Good stuff. "Won't Stop, Just Go" is the Green Forest theme. Based on a guitar for the tune, it's fast paced, like Sonic themes are supposed to be, which is great. The percussion is pretty cool as it mixes with the guitar at times. Other than that, it's a nice tune all round.

"This Way Out" is a brilliant Sonic Adventure 2 theme. It is the theme for the first Tails level Prison Lane. It uses heavy and soft synths for the start of the theme and then goes into a heavy guitar for the coolest part and then back to synths. The guitar solo is just cool. It's definitely worth a listen to and one of the best themes in any Sonic game for that matter. Sadly, two of the best Tails themes — "Down in the Base" and "On the Edge" — were omitted from the official soundtrack. In contrast, the music generally isn't well done on the Knuckles levels which is a real shame. Those who like rapping such as in "Unknown from M.E." may feel otherwise. Even Knuckle's once-rocking battle theme "Masters of the Desert" didn't make it to save the day.

"Vengeance is Mine" is a cool theme for Shadow's Radical Highway. It uses a lot of electric sound effects to go with the guitar tune and a pretty cool drum beat also. "Rhythm and Balance" isn't a bad track either. This includes some gibbon noises (yes, the animal) and some vocal samples amongst the heavy drums, percussion, and keyboard. The scene is definitely set for White Jungle, the level to the theme, as the entire theme sounds like you're in a jungle. "Soarin' Over the Space" is a good Eggman level theme. The Cosmic Wall theme starts off with a siren noise and a few beats of the drums. Those continue through the track. There is a guitar in the middle of the track, but most of it is synth. It can get horribly repetitive, especially as that level is particularly long. "SA2" is a cool instrumental version of "Live and Learn". It has pretty good guitar riffs and drum beats. The only problem is that is gets too repetitive and after a while it just stops, but it's still worth a listen.

"Highway in the Sky" is the theme for the final level for Sonic in the Hero Side, Final Rush. It has a cool electric guitar mixed with normal guitar and heavy base. It's not a bad tune. It could be improved with maybe a different instrument used but oh well. "Deep Inside Of" is the third Cannon's Core theme and is quite awesome. It is the one that plays during Sonic's part of the level and is therefore fast paced and well done. The heavy synth works with the guitar interludes and the best part is probably around 0:36-0:49 where it gets into quite the cool synth solo which plays again at about 1:26. A great way to end the last action stage. The final track of the soundtrack is the best vocal song in the game by far. "Live and Learn" plays during the final fight as Super Sonic and Super Shadow fight Perfect Chaos. And what a way to finish the game. It's to the tune of "SA2", but with more in it and vocals included. I should add they are brilliant vocals by Johnny Gioeli and they accompany the perfect battle scene. A must listen.

There are several more major omissions on the disc. For example, the tropical Pyramid Cave theme and Rouge's level theme "34°N, 12°E" didn't make it. Even more notable, most of the battle themes were discluded, included a number of the rocking Sonic vs. Shadow themes. There is one relief, however, and that is the lack of event themes. The two disc soundtrack release is cluttered with those tracks that play during the FMVs and all that is between levels. Fortunately, this release removes the superfluous ones while keeping the comparatively important "Let's Make It" and "The Last Scene".

Summary

To summarise, the soundtrack to Sonic Adventure 2 is a solid addition to the Sonic series. It's great to see Sega showing an interest in guitars for their Sonic games now. That said, the one disc release doesn't entirely do it justice. While the track selection is good, it was inevitably that some themes from the two disc release had to be cut and a few omissions were really noticeable. This release is still fine for those looking for the iconic themes, but the rest should consider importing the two disc soundtrack.