About

"Versus" is a song from the 1991 Sonic the Hedgehog video game Sonic Eraser, released exclusively on the Sega Game Toshokan subscription service. Online, the song is often considered a prime example of bad video game music, resulting in a viral remix of the song that attempts to improve it. In March 2025, the original version of the song went viral on TikTok as the subject of memes, including brainrot compilation memes.

Origin

In 1991, the puzzle game Sonic Eraser was released exclusively in Japan as part of the Sega Game Toshokan subscription service, which allowed Sega Genesis players with a Mega Modem to connect their console to the internet to play exclusive games, similar to Game Pass in the modern day.^[1] The game's versus mode track is simply titled "Versus" and is often considered to be a bad song.

On September 17th, 2017, YouTuber^[2] Bad Game Hall of Fame uploaded footage of the versus mode along with the song, titling the video, "Bad Game Music: Sonic Eraser (GEN) – 'Versus,'" garnering over 196,000 views in eight years. This is one of the earliest known online mentions of the song being bad.

Spread

On August 24th, 2021, X^[3] user @TeeLopes posted a remix of "Versus" captioned "In a parallel universe…" that attempts to make the song more listenable while remaining similar to other songs from the Sonic the Hedgehog series, garnering over 2,900 likes in four years.

On November 8th, 2023, YouTuber^[4] Tasya Gamergirl posted a meme using the remix in the first half of the video to represent a guy making a beat, followed by the original song in the latter half to represent what that beat actually sounds like, garnering over 19,000 views in two years.

On February 6th, 2025, TikToker^[5] @sk8rguest uploaded the song with a Squidward Listening To Music In Bed memehttps://knowyourmeme.com/memes/squidward-listening-to-music-in-bed, garnering over 33,000 views in a month. The original sound became the subject of memes in March.

For example, on March 23rd, TikToker^[6] @devenerance posted a meme compiling several viral videos and brainrot memes, timing them to the beat of the music, garnering over 599,000 views in five days.

On March 27th, TikToker^[7] @preachr__ posted a meme following the same format but with footage from the Spider-Man PlayStation video games, garnering over 120,000 views in a day.

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References