The Sonic 30th Anniversary Symphony Ruled

June 24, 2021June 24, 2021 Papa Dom

I love orchestral arrangements for gaming soundtracks. Nintendo’s done this a few times for Zelda, Mario, and I think even Pokémon, but I’ve yet to see one for Sonic the Hedgehog.

Until last night.

Sega decided to go absolutely balls to the wall for Summer Game Fest, and put together a full symphony orchestra for the Sonic 30th Anniversary Symphony.

I’m going to paste all the timestamps and full track list at the bottom of this blog (shoutout to the YouTube commenter who actually put that together), but this entire hour and a half is worth watching. Front to back, the Sonic 30th Anniversary Symphony is a fantastic tribute to the Sonic franchise and all of its fans.

Towards the end around the hour and a half mark, Crush 40 takes the stage. I’ve actually never seen the band perform live (in videos or in person), but you’d have no idea that the majority of the songs they played were 10-20 years old. They don’t look like they’ve missed a beat, and I absolutely demand that we replace all Christopher Columbus statues and parades with homages to a TRUE Italian icon, lead singer Johnny Gioeli. Also, give Jun Senoue a lifetime achievement award. If he already has one, give him another.

All in all, if you’ve got two hours or so that need some musical goodness in the background, throw this on and enjoy. There’s something for everyone here, and I really hope this isn’t the last we see of an arrangement like this. I would happily pay real money to see the orchestra and Crush 40 live.

Timestamps/Tracklist:

PART 1: Orchestral Medleys 15:10 – Sonic the Hedgehog Medley 20:28 – Sonic the Hedgehog 2 Medley 25:12 – Sonic Game Gear Medley 28:22 – Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles Medley 31:35 – Sonic Mania Medley 36:15 – Sonic SEGA Saturn Medley 39:20 – Believe In Myself ~ It Doesn’t Matter 43:03 – Sonic the Hedgehog 2006 Medley 49:07 – Sonic Unleashed Medley 53:59 – Sonic Lost World Medley 57:30 – Sonic Forces Medley 1:00:07 – Sonic Colors Medley

1:06:17 – Intermission (Chao Garden)

PART 2: Vocal Themes: 1:17:03 – Reach for the Stars 1:21:19 – Speak With Your Heart 1:26:13 – Endless Possibility 1:30:30 – Open Your Heart 1:34:17 – Sonic Heroes 1:37:49 – Green Light Ride 1:40:00 – Sonic Boom 1:42:41 – I Am… All of Me 1:47:11 – Knight of the Wind 1:51:40 – Escape From the City 1:54:57 – Live and Learn 2:00:21 – Credits (Friends from Sonic Mania)