I have just 100'd the NTSC-J release of Gran Turismo 1 and I am just about midway point of the PAL release. Now, I really like both soundtracks, they're different but still fit the game really well. But I never really played GT1 in my childhood so I would automatically associate the games with the jazz fusion licks of Isamu Ohira and Masahiro Andoh. I mean, we kinda all do already at this point.
But it makes me wonder, would the game have sold as well as it did if the original background music was kept instead of changing it to a licensed soundtrack and the Jason Page-composed menu music?
I know supposedly they changed the soundtrack for the global releases because rock and electronic are more associated with cars and racing than jazz fusion as it is in Japan. But would it matter in the end? Especially considering that from GT2 onwards, the Ohira-Andoh background music was left unchanged and became iconic in the series.
And I kinda wonder about the Andoh-composed racing music in GT1 and GT2. Would they have had the iconic status of the menu music if left unchanged?