Sonic the Hedgehog is a DJ now and he just dropped a hot new mix

by: Alexander Krinsky Jun 22, 2020

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With new systems like the PS5 and the Xbox Series X constantly pushing new console technology, video games and studios with seemingly endless pockets will ensure gaming continues to change life as we know it year-over-year.

However, back in the 90s, the pixelated heroes that waited for us to come back inside from the rain and were limited to just two. Perhaps that’s why we remember them so fondly and revere them so highly to this day. The two successful systems each had their own representative. The Nintendo 64 changed video games with 3D platforming through Mario and the Sega Dreamcast gave us a new flow and speed in gaming that hadn’t previously been seen with Sonic the Hedgehog. 

The history of these games is loaded with topics to unpack and analyze but one thing is often overlooked. Maybe this oversight was due to the colors, or the challenge, or the speed, or the fact that most players were just little kids? But something of amazing quality was released with those games and that was the music. In hindsight, at that time no one did this better than Sega. Sonic the Hedgehog’s score was unique in that each level had such a succinct flowing sound that was in perfect tune with the gameplay. These levels were so fun and re-playable that Sega released many of the levels that came out in 1993 a full 18 years later in a game called Sonic Generations, and with that release came a track list of remixed songs that gave a feeling of both progress and nostalgia. 

Now in 2020, the SEGA SOUND TEAM recognized a new opportunity. The fans of their games changed dramatically. They’ve developed their tastes, established their lives, and lived a little, but nostalgia doesn’t go anywhere. Additionally, electronic music is now sewn into every facet of the mainstream and its possibilities are endless. With this cultural intersection in mind, recently, Sonic The Hedgehog himself threw down an hour-long set of remixed tracks from all the worlds we used to speed through. These tracks have fast-paced beats, flowing horn sections, synths, they flow just like the game so many used to love. 

This isn’t the Sonic movie, or a symphony playing the songs from Ocarina of Time, this is Sonic the Hedgehog throwing down well-produced, modernized tracks and just like the gameplay, organized in a way that the songs flow together. It would be so absurd if it wasn’t so fitting and musically satisfying. Listen below.