Listen to a Clean Cut of Sonic Mania’s New Studiopolis Zone

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The debut of Sonic Mania has revolved around the name of Christian Whitehead ^[2], the Australian developer whose loving ports and HD remakes of Sonic titles landed him as the driving force behind the new game. But beyond the screaming Sonic fans, the din of Internet pessimism and the critical discussions over “hands on impressions ^[3]” there’s another name worth taking note of.

Tee Lopes ^[4] is the composer for Sonic Mania and he’s giving the classic Sonic sound the same loving kick in the pants that Whitehead has seemingly done with the gameplay. Lopes has been putting his own spin (oh wow, not intentional) on Sonic’s themes for years by deconstructing and rebuilding them for piano, strings, horns and guitars. Some of his most well known remixes come from the ‘12 Series ^[5] but his YouTube ^[6], Facebook ^[7] and Soundcloud ^[8] pages are full of quality remixes and original work.

As for Sonic Mania, GameXplain ^[9] has uploaded a sampling of three tracks (sans sound effects or commentary) from the recently revealed playable build of the game. The Title Screen and Invincibility themes lead to the full length track from a totally new level: Studiopolis Zone. Lopes’ style here falls in line with Sonic CD’s Japanese score with piano and synth horns belting out a funky melody over samples and orchestral hits.

Check it out above and let us know what you think of Sonic Mania’s new sound or Tee Lopes’ collection of remixes in the comments below.