Download: ♪ Sega Saturn Megamix
[audio: http://www.theodore3.com/files/sega_saturn_megamix.mp3]I think I’ve wanted to put together a mix like this since middle school. During that time, 90% of the music I listened to came from a Sega Saturn game. I was pretty excited to discover that most Saturn games could play audio tracks in a regular CD player. It was like getting a free soundtrack with every game! I loved it. At one point I started recording tracks onto cassettes, probably before my family’s computer could burn CDs.
I still remember the day I got my Saturn. My father had gotten a raise and said I could go to Toys ‘R’ Us and buy whatever I wanted. I glanced over the Playstation and Nintendo 64 and decided on a Saturn. Even then I was a Sega fan. It came with Nights Into Dreams, Virtua Fighter II, Virtua Cop and Daytona USA, some of the best games I’ve played. I also bought Space Jam, which was pretty terrible but I loved it anyway. After playing Sega Genesis for years, playing Cyber Speedway on the sampler disc (remember those?) with CD-quality sound was pretty amazing.
Saturn games actually introduced me to a lot of music that I still listen to today. Wipeout’s soundtrack by Cold Storage stands out as one of my first introductions to electronic music. After hearing it I headed out to the local FYE, browsed the “Dance” section and bought Roni Size & Reprazent’s album Newforms based solely on the cover art. It was the first album I’d ever bought with my own money. I’ve been hooked on drum breaks of all forms ever since, all thanks to a game about racing flying vehicles that shoot each other with rockets.
That is why I decided to make an ode to my Sega Saturn in the form of this mix. I’m still nostalgic for the days when Sega was a strong first party company, the days when Babbages sold Japanese import games, the days before the local arcade was converted into a hair salon and, well, the days when game discs had music on them. I’m not sure if others will connect with this mix as much as I do, since nobody I know ever owned a Saturn. But hopefully some of these will still be familiar. I may even make a part two since I had to cut some tracks to keep the mix around an hour. I also want another chance to draw Sonic The Hedgehog… You can check out my sketches of angry Sonic below.
Tracklist
1. Intro (Virtua Cop)
2. Warning (Burning Rangers)
3. Richard Jacques – Start of Race (Sonic R)
4. Bygone Dogs – I Will Not Take It (Cyber Speedway)
5. Zuntata – Penetration 〜Mind Bomb〜 (Layer Section)
6. Takenobu Mitsuyoshi – Black Cat Moon (Virtua Fighter II)
7. Hyakutaro Tsukumo – Legendary Wings (Thunder Force IV)
8. Richard Jacques – Gene Gadget, Act Two (Sonic 3D Blast)
9. Takenobu Mitsuyoshi – Sky High (Daytona USA)
10. Justin Scharvona – Fight Night With Flibby (Croc)
11. Channel X – The Fantom Voltage (Steep Slope Sliders)
12. Channel X – So High (Sega Touring Car Championship)
13. Hiroaki Yoshida – High Scores (Winter Heat)
14. David Leytze – Beginning (Fighting Vipers)
15. Shusaku Uchiyama – Liliane Theme (Mega Man 8)
16. Takenobu Mitsuyoshi – Jeffrey’s Stage (Virtua Fighter Kids)
17. Shun Nishigaki – Sakura’s Theme (Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo)
18. Richard Jacques – Living In The City (Sonic R)
19. CoLD SToRAGE – Brickbat (WipeOut)
20. Naofumi Hataya – We Are Burning Rangers (Featuring Dennis St. James) (Burning Rangers)
21. Marlon Saunders, Gabriel Morris & Issa Clemon – Dreams, Dreams (Christmas NiGHTS)
22. Richard Jacques – Level Complete (Sonic 3D Blast)
23. ??? (ManX TT Superbike)
