OutRun (1986)
Music by Hiroshi Kawaguchi
“Magical Sound Shower
“Passing Breeze”

Fantasy Zone (1986)
Music by Hiroshi Kawaguchi
“Opa-Opa! (Round One)”
“Hot Snow (Round Five)”
 
Aztec Adventure/Nazca ’88: The Road to the Golden Paradise (1987)
Music by Chikako Kamatani
Aztec Adventure/Nazca ’88: The Road to the Golden Paradise (Full Soundtrack, FM Version)

Dynamite Düx (1988)
Music by Hiroshi Kawaguchi
“Jungle”
“Achacha”

Alex Kidd in The Enchanted Castle (1989)
Music by Chickako Kamatani
“Desert Theme”

Wonder Boy in Monster World (1991, 1992)
Music by Shinichi Sakamoto
“Islands”

QuackShot (1991)
Music by Shigenori Kamiya
“Mexico”

The Lucky Dime Caper starring Donald Duck (1991)
Music by (NA)
“Peru”

Super Fantasy Zone (1992)
Music by Naoki Kodaka
“Shop”
“Mango”
 
Greendog: The Beached Surfer Dude! (1992)
Music by Paul Gadbois
“Intro & Aztec Temple”
Grenada
“Curacao

McDonald’s Treasure Land Adventure (1993)
Music by Katsuhiko Suzuki
“Stage 3: Magical Sea”

Ronald in the Magical World (1993)
“Magical Castle (Stage 4)”

Clockwork Knight (1994, 1995)
Music by Hirofumi Murasaki
“Title Screeen”
“Bob’s Tango”
“Iron Arms”

Clockwork Knight 2 (1995, 1996)
Music by Hirofumi Murasaki
“Salsa de Pepperouchau (Intro Mix)”

Ristar (1995)
Music by Tomoko Sasaki
“PLANET FLORA – Rd. 1-1 Theme – Shooting Ristar”
 
Sega Water Ski (1997, 1998)
Music by Tetsuya Kawauchi
“Advertising BGM B”
“Expert Course”
“Name Entry”
 
Shenmue (1999)
Music by Takenobu Mitsuyoshi, Yuzo Koshiro, Ryuji Iuichi, and Osamu Murata
“Boz Nov”
 
Space Channel 5 (1999, 2000)
Music by Naofumi Hataya and Kenichi Tokoi
“Mexican Flyer Remix”
“Pala Paya… Lounge Music”
 
Super Monkey Ball (2001)
Music by Hidenori Shoji
“Monkey Bowling Menu”
 
Super Monkey Ball 2 (2002)
Music by Hidenori Shoji, Haruyoshi Tomita, and Ryuji Iuchi
“Monkey Golf 2”

Sega Soccer Slam (2002)
Music by Michael Beckett, Robert Buckley, Daniel Fung
“Latino Tune”

Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg (2003)
Music by Mariko Nanba and Tomoya Ohtani
“Passionate & Silent Sea”
“Bossa Nova of Briny Air”

3D Fantasy Zone II W (2015)
Music by Manabu Namiki
“Endless Love (Link Loop Land)”

Samba de Amigo: Party Central (2023)
Music by Kenichi Tokoi, Takenobu Mitsuyoshi, Iona Takashima, and
Etsuko Shimada, Various Artists[1]
“VAMOS A CARNAVAL”


[1] The Samba de Amigo music and rhythm games originated in 2000 for the Sega Dreamcast video game console. The soundtracks feature myriad remixed versions of songs by real musicians and groups: many from within the Iberian, Latin American, and Caribbean regions.  

I have spent the past few days since my last post collecting tracks from Sega video games that attempt to represent music cultures from Spain. Portugal, Latin America, and the Caribbean to varying degrees. Up to this point, I have compiled over sixty VGM tracks, about half of which belong to the Sonic the Hedgehog series (1991-Present).  The history behind the series and its beginnings has received constant attention and revisions as the decades have passed. Created by Yuji Naka and released in 1991 as part of what many constantly refer to as the video game "Console Wars," Sonic the Hedgehog initially served as the leading video game mascot for promoting the 16-bit Sega Genesis and Mega Drive consoles. More specifically, the first Sonic the Hedgehog game helped Sega to directly compete with the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (Super Famicom in Japan) by demonstrating the graphical power of the Genesis/Mega Drive and visual trickery by emphasizing fast-paced gameplay, as well as pushing Sonic's personality as a video game character with attitude: something that future "Mascot Platformer" video games from the 1990s and beyond would try to emulate.

In the thirty-three years since his debut, the Sonic the Hedgehog series has mostly proven a commercial success by  spawning myriad video games, cartoons and spin-off shows, toys, food products, clothing, and live action film adaptations (including a third Sonic film premiering later this year).   In terms of music, the Sonic the Hedgehog series contains an eclectic mix of genres in popular music culture, including musical influences from Latin America and the Caribbean. In many instances, such music is often used as thematic material for in-game menu music or tunes that depict islands, some aquatic sections, or areas with festive atmospheres. Through my efforts in compiling the music from the Sonic the Hedgehog series, I have located thirty tracks that draw musical inspiration from several countries and regions: primarily from Afro-Latin and Afro-Caribbean influences from places like Brazil and the Anglophone Caribbean, as well the Mediterranean. One can hear such influences through the incorporation of instruments like guitars, accordions, marimbas, and lots of drumming percussion. Sometimes, the thematic material for a specific zone in a Sonic game can bear striking resemblances to pre-existing popular music. One could argue that the theme to "Aquatic Ruin Zone" from Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (1992) for example, sounds similar to the piece "Spain" by jazz pianist and composer Chick Corea (1941-2020) with his group Return to Forever. Other times, a Sonic game can have a completely different soundtrack for the same title based on the region in which it released. Such has been the case for the North American and international releases of Sonic CD ​(1993) for the Sega CD/Mega CD. The music for "Palmtree Panic Zone" in the North American release uses Afro-Caribbean influences, while the Japanese and European version apply Afro-Brazilian samba or salsa-like music with synthesized instruments and (in some cases) samples of vocal interjections and cheering.  I have provided the playlist with Sonic the Hedgehog tracks that I have compiled based on the chronological order of the release per game. Readers can find the playlist through my YouTube channel at ZEKE SPILLED INK MUSIC via Iberian, Latin American, and Caribbean Elements in VGM, Part 2a: Sega Games (Sonic). My next blog post will focus on other Sega games outside of the Sonic the Hedgehog series.      

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (1992)
Music by Masato Nakamura
“Aquatic Ruin Zone”
“Emerald Hill Zone (2-Player)”
“Mystic Cave Zone (2-Player)
“Results”

Sonic CD (1993) (North American Release)
Music by Spencer Nilsen, David Young, and Mark “Sterling” Crew
“Palmtree Panic (Present)”
“Palmtree Panic (Good Future)”
“Palmtree Panic (Bad Future)”

Sonic CD (1993) (Japanese/European Release)
Music by Naofumi Hataya and Masafumi Ogata
“Palmtree Panic”
“Palmtree Panic ‘P’ Mix”
“Palmtree Panic ‘G’ Mix”

Sonic the Hedgehog 3
Music by Brad Buxer and Sega Sound Team (Michael Jackson)
“File Select”
“Angel Island”

Sonic Labyrinth (1995)
Music by Atsuko Iwanaga
“Act 1 BGM”

Sonic 3D Blast/Sonic 3D: Flickies’ Island (Sega Saturn and Windows Versions) (1996)
Music by Richard Jacques
“Green Grove Zone, Act 1” (Sega Saturn and Windows Version)

Sonic Shuffle (2000, 2001)
Music by Yoshitaka Hirota
“Blizzard of Coast”

Sonic Advance (2001)
Music by Tatsuyuki Maeda and Yutaka Minobe
“Neo Green Hill Zone (Act 1)”

Sonic Advance 2 (2002)
Music by Tatsuyuki Maeda, Yutaka Minobe, and Teruhiko Nakagawa
“Music Plant Zone (Act 1)”

Sonic Rush (2005)
Music by Hideki Naganuma and Teruhiko Nakagawa
“Ska Cha Cha”
“Ska Cha Cha” (Blazy Mix)
“Vela Nova”

Sonic Rush Adventure (2007)
Music by Tomoya Ohtani, Seirou Okamoto, and Mariko Nanba
“Windmill Village Mode 1”

Sonic Unleashed (2008)
Music by Tomoya Ohtani, Fumie Kumatani, Kenichi Tokoi, Hideaki Kobayashi, Takahito Eguchi, and Mariko Nanba
“Windmill Isle (Day)”
“Windmill Isle (Night)”
“Apotos (Day)”
“Apotos (Night)”
“Spagonia (Day)”
“Spagonia (Night)”

Sonic Mania (2017)
Music by Tee Lopes
“Green Hill Zone, Act 2”
 “Sunshine Cassette (Save Select”)

Sonic Superstars (2023)
Music by Jun Senoue
“Speed Jungle Zone”

Uncharted Waters (Daikoukai Jidai[1]) primarily functions as a Strategy/Turn-Based Role-Playing Game (RPG) series. The series has existed since 1990 and has garnered sequels in Japan and other areas in Asia. The first few games concern fictitious European and British explorers, pirates, and merchants who must gather enough money, resources, and a ship crew to travel to the “New World” within a set time limit scenario (denoted by a finite number of "years" to complete the main objective, which would also cause the playable characters to age). Each scenario differs depending on the given character, who also can often have their own distinct musical theme, like in the sequel Uncharted Waters: New Horizons.
 
Later installments in the Uncharted Waters series would change video game mechanics and genres by eliminating the character aging and incorporating the Massive Multi-Player Online Role-Playing Game (MMORPG) structure and “Pay to Play” mobile gaming for computers and smartphones via Uncharted Waters Online (2004) and Uncharted Waters Origin (2022). These specific attempts at updating the series have produced mixed results. The games depend on having a stable Internet connection, a strong Internet server to manage the game through timed seasonal events, a large player base with humans who interact with each other online, and the willingness from the players to spend real money on in-game purchases to keep playing online and mobile games to unlock more content.
 
I must add as a disclaimer that the video games in the Uncharted Water series do not aim for historical accuracy. They focus instead on exploration and adventure, albeit through a romanticized lens. They additionally serve as a Japanese cultural reinterpretation of European colonialism through Strategy and RPG genres. Historians and researchers who specialize in colonialism, African Studies, and Latin American Studies should take note about the romanticized colonialism that permeates the Uncharted Waters games and approach the series with caution. The games feature glaring historiographical omissions: most notably, the absence of Transatlantic Enslavement and its impact on Africans in Europe and the Americas in the “New World.”
 
The soundtracks to the Uncharted Waters series include music that openly reflects genres associated with geographical regions from Iberia,[2] Latin America, and the Caribbean: from Spanish flamenco to reggae from the Anglophone Caribbean, to bossa nova from Brazil. Yoko Kanno also incorporates instruments from within these music cultures, either through synthesized interpretations or through orchestral arrangements. Audiences can clearly hear the etic cultural influences from outside Japan through the Spanish and Portuguese guitars, castanets and other percussion, accordion, and the application of modal scales. However, these same soundtracks also tend to rely on musical exoticism and deviations from historical accuracy by incorporating jazz and popular music. In some instances, such musical elements can combine to produce cultural confusion within the time periods that the Uncharted Waters games attempt to represent (such as the bossa nova: a musical genre from Brazil that did not come into existence until the late twentieth century, especially through its global popularity in the 1960s).
 
 
About the Playlist
 
I present a selection of tracks from the Uncharted Waters games that musically depict Iberia, Latin American, and the Caribbean. The playlist can be found on my YouTube channel at ZEKE SPILLED INK MUSIC under “Playlists” via Iberian, Latin American, and Caribbean Elements in VGM, Part 1: Uncharted Waters. It should be interpreted as part of an expansive listening guide in multiple sections and not something “complete” or “definitive.” Uncharted Waters features other sequels besides New Horizons. The series continued with the following in Japan and in different regions in Asia:
 
Daikoukai Jidai III: Costa del Sol (1996)
Daikoukai Jidai Gaiden (1997)
Daikoukai Jidai IV: Porto Estado (1999)
Daikoukai Jidai IV: Rota Nova (2006)
Daikoukai Jidai V: Road to Zipang (2014)
Daikoukai Jidai IV (2019)
 
Uncharted Waters (1990)

1. “In Lisbom” (“Portugal”)
2. “Southern Harbor”

  
Uncharted Waters: New Horizons (1993)

1. “Catalina”
2. “Caprice for Lute” (Theme of João”)[3]
3. “Empty Eyes”

Uncharted Waters Online (2004)

1. “Port”
2. “Lisbon”
3. “Seville”
4. “Credits”

 
Uncharted Waters Origin (2022)

1. “Town New World”
2. “Town Seville”
3. “Town Lisbon”
4. “KY Town Lisbon”[4]
5. “KY Town New World”[5]
6. “KY Event Ending 1”

Uncharted Waters II: Special Edition (1994)[6]

1. “Caprice for Lute”
2. “Catalina”
3. “Empty Eyes”

 
 
 
 
 
    
 
 


[1] Age of Exploration

[2] I use “Iberia” within this context to refer to Spain and Portugal.”

[3] The title to this track often uses the spelling “Joan.” It also deserves mention that the melody to the “A” section of this theme bears a striking similarity to the main melody to the verses in the song “Allentown” by Billy Joel (b. 1949) from his 1982 album The Nylon Curtain. The main difference between the two tracks lies in the meter, with “Allentown” in duple meter and “Caprice for Lute” in triple meter. Whether Yoko Kanno drew inspiration from “Allentown” or composed the melody subconsciously remains unclear.

[4] Uncharted Waters Origin lifts some tracks for the video game from other recordings. This track derives from an album with orchestral arrangements of tracks from the first Uncharted Waters game.

[5] This track is another synthesized instrumenetal arrangement of “Empty Eyes” from Uncharted Waters: New Horizons.

[6] This is a musical album with orchestral arrangements of tracks from Uncharted Waters: New Horizons.