Sonic the Hedgehog's Green Hill Zone Song Gets Lyrics After 30 Years
Legendary Sonic The Hedgehog composer Masato Nakamura has reworked the Green Hill theme into a new song in honor of Sonic’s 30th anniversary. Fans of Sega’s hyper-fast hedgehog mascot will instantly recognize the theme in question, as it played during the iconic Green Hill Zone, which was the very first level of the original Sonic The Hedgehog game back in 1991. Since then, it has seen countless tributes and remixes, including the two versions that played during the Green Hill Zone’s appearance in 2011’s Sonic Generations.
As for Masato Nakamura, while western fans mostly know him for his work on the first two Sonic The Hedgehog games, he is also famous in his native Japan as the bass player and co-founder of the J-Pop band Dreams Come True. The group was formed in 1988 and consists of Nakamura and lead vocalist/composer Miwa Yoshida - with fellow co-founder and keyboardist Takahiro Nishikawa leaving to pursue a solo career in 2003. Dreams Come True’s 1992 song “Sweet Sweet Sweet” was adapted into the end credits theme for both the classic Sonic The Hedgehog 2 and the ill-fated Sonic The Hedgehog (2006), but the band hasn't really crossed over with the Blue Blur that much despite Nakamura's strong connections to the franchise - until now.
A couple of days ago, Dreams Come True posted a music video for its updated take on Sonic The Hedgehog’s Green Hill Zone on its official YouTube page. This orchestral-style composition, dubbed “Tsugino Seno! De – On The Green Hill,” contains full Japanese lyrics by Miwa Yoshida and several interesting nods to the Blue Blur. These include an actor running through the titular Green Hill Zone wearing a pair of Sonic-like red sneakers (and eventually forming a blue streak of light behind him, just like the speedy hedgehog himself), a computer monitor that resembles the Item Boxes Sonic frequently comes across in his many adventures and a spinning sign at the end, reminiscent of the end goals in the first few Sonic games.
Watch Dreams Come True's music video on YouTube here.
As mentioned before, Sonic The Hedgehog is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, and Sega has several exciting projects in the works for the milestone. Most recently, a remaster of the 2010 Wii classic Sonic Colors launched across all current-gen platforms, though this was marred by numerous bugs and glitches in the Nintendo Switch port - some of which even caused epileptic seizures. On a much lighter note, Sega is working on a brand-new Sonic game for 2022, as well as a current-gen collection of classic Sonic titles called Sonic Origins.
Meanwhile, Dreams Come True’s updated version of Sonic The Hedgehog’s iconic Green Hill Zone song is a beautiful tribute to one of the Sonic franchise’s most well-remembered themes, as well as a fun nod to Masato Nakamura’s work on the earlier Sonic games. It comes at just the right time too, with fans currently celebrating Sonic The Hedgehog’s 30th anniversary throughout 2021 and 2022.
Source: Dreams Come True/YouTube