"Escape from the City" is the song played in City Escape, the first level of the Hero Story in Sonic Adventure 2. It was composed by Jun Senoue and performed by Ted Poley and Tony Harnell.

Legacy[]

The song can be bought in the game Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games as background music, although it is titled City Escape. The song has been remixed for Sonic Generations and it plays when the player is in City Escape. The song also returns in Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games as background music and is chosen in any other event while being played. It is a default song available in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, where it can be heard on the Windy Hill stage, and in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, where it can be heard on both Windy Hill and Green Hill stages. The instrumental version of the song can be heard in the background of Golden Bay tracks in Sonic Forces: Speed Battle and Sonic Dash. A live remix was used during the Sonic the Hedgehog 30th Anniversary Symphony. A remix of the Modern version from Sonic Generations, known as the Funk RMX, was published on the official Sonic the Hedgehog YouTube channel on 16 December 2021. After Update 1 of Sonic Frontiers, a Sound Memory unlocking the original version of the song for the Juke Box can be found on Ouranos Island, and after Update 2, the Cash Cash RMX is included in the 36-minute-long "Sonic's Birthday Bash Non-Stop Mix" Juke Box track when the player sets the island appearance to "Party Details." In Sonic Speed Simulator, the Funk RMX plays in the City Escape world, while an instrumental of the original plays in the City Escape Race. After the Symphony Showdown event, the Funk RMX is unlocked in the music player by default, while the original instrumental has to be unlocked by finding its Hidden Music Note in the City Escape world. In Shadow Generations, the Cash Cash RMX briefly plays when Shadow enters Sonic's portion of White Space.

Remix[]

At Sonic Boom, the music for Classic Sonic's version of City Escape in Sonic Generations was revealed. Modern Sonic's take on the song was heard on the Japanese version of the City Escape trailer.

The remix of the Modern Sonic version is very similar to the original, except having a different guitar arrangement, and it includes a third verse that does not appear in any other versions, as well as incorporating the melody of the Sonic Adventure 2 version of "It Doesn't Matter".

The Classic Sonic remix, similar to all the other remixes for Classic Sonic, is much more techno, with more electronic beats and sounds, and less guitar. Additionally in the second verse, the voice of Ted Poley is autotuned to the melody of the theme of Endless Mine level in Sonic the Hedgehog 3.

Lyrics[]

Connection to character/stage[]

• Rolling around at the speed of sound - Sonic's ability to curl up into a ball and travel at supersonic speeds.
• Got places to go, gotta follow my rainbow - Sonic's adventurous nature and he follows what he thinks.
• Can't stick around, have to keep moving on - Sonic never stays in one place for too long.
• No time for guessing, follow my plan instead - Sonic's plan to act first and think later.
• Trust me and we will escape from the city - Sonic following his instincts to escape from G.U.N..
• Find the next stage no matter what that may be - Sonic moves to the next stage no matter what is next, whether it is literally progressing to the next stage or level of the game, or the more figurative way of starting the new journey that awaits.
• I don't care what lies ahead - Sonic's willingness to take on any challenge
• Trust your feelings, got to live and learn - Sonic does what he thinks is right and through his adventures he always learns new things. Live and Learn is also the main theme of Sonic Adventure 2.

Trivia[]

• In the trial distributed before the release of Sonic Adventure 2, a different version of the song featuring a slightly-changed melody with guitars instead of vocals plays for the stage. A part of this version is used in Sonic Generation's Classic remix for the instrumental solo.
• In the remixed classic version, when the second verse plays, the melodic line parallels the music in Endless Mine from Sonic the Hedgehog 3.
• City Escape Act 2 in Sonic Generations contains a remixed variation of the instrumental intro section of "It Doesn't Matter" from Sonic Adventure 2.
• Escape from the City has the lyrics "Trust your feelings, got to live and learn!" which might be a reference to the main theme of Sonic Adventure 2.
• SFX used in the title screen of Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode I are featured in the Classic Remix.
• An instrumental rearrangement of Escape from the City can be heard in the two-player stage, Downtown Race, in 2P Battle mode.
• An acoustic version by Lee Brotherton was performed at the Summer of Sonic 2009.
• In Sonic Generations, the Modern version is an extended version of the original, with a new guitar solo, a new bridge and another chorus.
• As part of a promotion for the Sonic the Hedgehog film, an instrumental version of "Escape from the City" plays during Golden Bay Zone in Sonic Dash and also plays in the Golden Bay Zone stages in Sonic Forces: Speed Battle.
• "Escape from the City" is Jun Senoue's favorite vocal track from Sonic Adventure 2.^[2]
• In Sonic Adventure 2, for unknown reasons, the opening vocals of the song are cut from the actual game, but they are in the game's soundtrack. The same is true for the Sonic Generations remixes of the song.
• Prior to Nathan Sharp singing the song in the Sonic 30th Anniversary Symphony, he did a fan cover of the song twice: First time being in 2013 by himself only, and the second time being in 2016 with him singing along Andrew Stein (also known as Mandopony).
• Hyper Potions and Jun Senoue remixed the song for Saint Patrick's Day, in 2020, in a video published by the official Sonic the Hedgehog YouTube channel entitled "Irish the Hedgehog".^[3]
• The Sonic Generations of the song was added to Puyo Puyo Tetris 2 as selectable stage music in that game's final update.
• Despite being featured in Crush 40's eponymous album, this song is not considered an official Crush 40 song as a result of Ted Poley providing its vocals instead of Johnny Gioeli.^[1]

References[]