Sonic CD, import or Us verison?

[Anthony1]

I have always heard that the import version of Sonic CD had much, much better sound. I had the U.S. version back in the day, and I enjoyed the sound, but I would have liked to check out the Import version too.

Anybody have both?

If so, is the Import version's music much , much better, as advertised?


Are there any other significant changes?

What do you need to make a Japanese Sonic CD play in a U.S. Sega CD?

[Jorpho]

My understanding is that the US and Japanese versions have _very_ different music. Only the "Past" music for each stage remains the same; the Present, Good Future, and Bad Future music for each stage are remixed versions of the Past music in the Japanese version.

"Sonic Boom" is replaced by some strange rap-like music with rather disturbing lyrics. (I think I heard something about "metal and lace"?) The intro movie is a little bit longer; the same version is included in the US PC port of Sonic CD.

All of this music can still be downloaded from somewhere, if I'm not mistaken.

As for quality, you might notice that in the US version the "Past" music is not actually CD audio. You can check this either by using the Sound Test or by flipping through the tracks with a PC CD player. I imagine that the Japanese version does not use CD audio at all. (Again, for some reason the Past tracks are playable as CD audio for the PC port.)
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[NE146]

I've heard the music in the Jap Sonic CD is a lot better and more "Sonic"-ish. However, I've never checked it out until just last week matter of fact. I downloaded the Jap Sonic CD ISO/MP3 and played it on the Xbox using Xenesis. I only played it for a short time (about 5 minutes) but if I remember correctly the U.S. version had some kind of Carribean music in the first stage (or was it my imagination). Well either way, it sure didn't sound that way this time. :P

I'll definitely check it out again once I'm done moving...

[Daniel Thomas]

I remember liking the American music for Sonic CD back in the day, but that was when the whole idea of CD-quality music and voices was a novelty in games. Now, it seems rather, well, cheesy. There are some good tunes, but they seem to sound more and more like the work of a Journey cover band. Maybe that's just me.

Now the Japanese soundtrack is much, much better. Mind you, I've only found a copy over the Internet for the Gens emulator, but the music really is top-notch. And the different time zones have different motifs of the same thing, which is even wierder for the US version -- the "Past" zones all have the original music. I have to say, the music at the start of the game, with the children going, "Yeah!", is fab.

Gamefan really ranted on this issue back then, and I have to admit, they were really on to something.

[Raedon]

have a look a the beta image.. POW!

ftp://24.204.17.40/