VG Soundtrack of the Day 074: Street Fighter EX plus Alpha

The music from Street Fighter II is classic stuff. Everyone is familiar with Ryu, Ken, Chun-Li and Guile's legendary stage themes. However, there are some Street Fighter beats that are often slept on when compared to the SFII jams. Street Fighter EX was the series entry into the the third dimension and the results were less than stellar. I still contest to this day that the games are nowhere near as bad as they are often made out to be but the star of the show for the EX games is the Arika characters such as Skullomania and the fantabulous music, specifically the home version of Street Fighter EX, Street Fighter EX plus Alpha. The arcade music for EX sound like prototype music while the arranged music from EX plus Alpha sounds like the fully fleshed out pieces of music these themes were always meant to be. Strange Sunset may not go with everything but man, the jazz is strong with this one. Cold Pipe screams industrial and I am all for some industrial music. Guardian of Light is so very Ken. Precious Heart has some of the best saxophone and guitar solos in any video game song. 

Street Fighter EX plus Alpha's music is so awesome you could listen to it all 4th of July weekend. In fact I'm gonna let you do just that. VG Soundtrack of the Day will return on Monday. Have a great one and enjoy the music. I know I will and I've can't count how many times I've listened to this soundtrack over the years.

VG Soundtrack of the Day Database

Favorite Tunes #226: Mango

What does Street Fighter, Final Fantasy, Fantasy Zone and F-ZERO have to do with this week's Favorite Tunes? Yeah, that's a stupid question because I wasn't sure what to write for this week's intro. 

Omen - Final Fantasy VI (SNES)

Years ago, I relucantly rented Final Fantasy VI from Blockbuster Video (to give you an idea of how long ago that was) because they didn't have Mega Man 7 in. When I booted the game up and was greeted with this overwhelmingly powerful piece, I knew I was in for something special. This track  combines several themes into including FFVI poster girl, Terra.  

Guile Stage - Street Fighter II' Special Champion Edition (GEN)

I think this is the third or fourth rendition of Guile's theme I've posted in Favorite Tunes. The Genesis sound chip does a good job of making the music sound a bit more like the CPS-I audio that the SFII was based off of, though Guile's theme does sound a key or two higher here. Still, this is a fine version of flat top's jam. 

Opening Theme - F-ZERO (album)

Back in the early 1990s, the original F-ZERO was given a killer arranged album simply titled F-ZERO and like all the cool stuff, it was only released in Japan. While rock is heavily associated with F-ZERO music, this was a full blown jazz album.

Main Menu - DRAGON Ball FighterZ (PS4, XBO, PC)

How's the latest patch for this game treating you all? Maybe that's a question I shouldn't ask. Well, we've finally got a theme from DBFZ that isn't a character theme or a level track. Main Menu themes really don't get enough love. 

Mango! - Super Fantasy Zone (GEN)

This Mega Drive version of Fantasy Zone was unavailable to gamers in the west until it was released on the Wii's Virtual Console. The soundtrack was not done by Hiroshi Kawaguchi, but rather Naoki Kodaka who turned in some really good Fantasy Zone tracks.  

Staff Roll - Street Fighter EX2 Plus (PS)

Since we've reached the end of another Favorite Tunes, let's close it out with a staff roll song. Like the Tekken series, when the EX titles came home, they recieved a few extras not found in the arcade versions such as more modes and of course, remixed music. When it came to the original EX, the PS arranged tunes were vastly superior to the arcade tracks. However, the arcade tunes of EX2 are so good that they rival that of the arranged tracks. 

Favorite Tunes Database

Favorite Tunes #195: Flashback

Let's do the time warp. Flashback has returned to Favorite Tunes. If you aren't familiar with Flashback, this is where I post six tracks that were already mentioned in a past Favorite Tunes. Think of it as the obligatory recap episode of an anime series only in Favorite Tunes form.

Can't Come Back - Under Defeat (DC, PS3, 360)

This helicopter shoot 'em up with an awkward control scheme was first released on the Dreamcast in 2006. Under Defeat would later receive a HD re-release in 2012 on the PS3 in physical form and on the 360 in 2014 as a digital only title. The game's soundtrack, composed by Shinji Hosoe, is godlike. If you're interested in a physical copy, they tend to be pricey.

Spagonia Rooftop Run Night - Sonic Unleashed (PS2, PS3, Wii, 360)

With Sonic Mania being so well received, bashing any Sonic game that isn't classic 2D has once again become all too common place. It has it's faults, but Sonic Unleashed is a 3D Sonic that I don't find myself hating. The Werehog sections, the most highly criticized aspect of the game does have highly repetitive combat to be sure, but not enough for me to write it off as bad. The music of Sonic Unleashed is among some of the finest in the entire series. If only that dang Werehog fight music didn't interrupt the level themes so often.

Lethal Strike -Final Fantasy Legend II (GB)

If you've played a Final Fantasy Legend title and thought to yourself "This feels mighty different from the other Final Fantasy titles," you're not wrong. Originally games in the SaGa line in Japan, all three GB SaGa games were released under the Final Fantasy Legend label outside of the Land of the Rising Sun. Kenji Ito and Nobuo Uematsu really gave the GB soundchip a workout when writing the music for this game. If you're looking for some standout GB chiptunes, you're in the right place with this one.

Take It! - Auto Modellista (PS2, GCN, XB)

It may be hard to believe, but there was a time when Capcom was once much better company than they are today. They were known for more than fighters and Resident Evil titles and Monster Rancher. The company was willing to experiment to a much greater degree than they do now with titles like Viewtiful Joe and Auto Modellista. Auto Modellista didn't set the world on fire but the game had stunning cel shaded visuals and some kickin' tunes.

Cold Pipe - Street Fighter EX+ Alpha (PS)

The EX series is the oddball of the Street Fighter titles, often viewed as an inferior set of side games when compared to the classic II line and III games. They aren't perfect but 3D Street Fighter could certainly be a lot worse. EX games were co-developed by Arika and they own the non Capcom characters. I'd about given up on seeing Skullomania and the gang but Arika surprised us all this year with the reveal of Fighting EX Layer. The EX games have some outstanding music the the PS version of EX's soundtrack easily surpassing it's arcade counterpart.

Betilla the Fairy - Rayman (Multi)

At a time where so many games were going from sprites to polygons, Rayman was released with some of the best sprite based visuals on any platform, resulting in a game that, over 20 years later, still looks dang good. Rayman is also really freaking hard, like so much harder than Origins, Legends and a lot of other platformers out today hard.

Favorite Tunes Database

Favorite Tunes #184: Rave Your Racers

Don't let the title fool you. This is not a racer based Favorite Tunes. Only one racing game is featured here. The rest is from ninjas, platformers, rage inducing party games and a sweet remake.

Pangu Lagoon - Freedom Planet (Multi)

A game inspired by the Sonic the Hedgehog games, specifically the 2D titles, Freedom Planet was first released on PC but later made its way to consoles. The game plays great and has some outstanding visuals and music to match.

Ancient Zone - Street Fighter EX 3 (PS2)

The final game of the EX series, EX3 went out as it came: an oddball child that was underappreciated with a fantastic soundtrack. The likelyhood of the EX games getting some kind of re-release is low since Akira owns the original characters made for those games like Skullomania and D. Dark. As much as I love high energy music in fighting games, a calm theme doesn't hurt. Ancient Zone has a sweet guitar solo and that violin is out of this world.

Jungle Adventure - Mario Party (N64)

If you weren't ruining your friendships  in Mario Kart 64, GoldenEye 007 or Perfect Dark, you were doing it in Mario Party. It baffles me that Nintendo has yet to re-release the original Mario Party when Mario Party 2 has seen two re-releases now. Might have something to do with all the wild analog stick spinning mini games that wrecked a lot of people's hands.

Area 1 - Blaster Master Zero (NS, 3DS)

The year isn't even halfway done and we've already gotten some pretty stellar games. I know I've talked a lot about Breath of the Wild on this blog, but one of my favorite titles of 2017 is the remake of the original Blaster Master, Blaster Master Zero. Any game that lets you melt ice and give the middle finger to ice physics is good in my book. Plus the soundtrack is all kinds of killer.

Act 1 - Ninja Gaiden III: The Ancient Ship of Doom (NES)

For some strange reason, Ninja Gaiden III was made harder when it was released for American audiences. Even with the new features like hanging on ceilings and being able to buff up your sword this game is too cruel and is widely regarded as the weakest of the NES trilogy. Thankfully, Ninja Gaiden III's music did not suffer a decline in quality.

Euphoria - Rave Racer (ARC)

Unlike Ridge Racer and Ridge Racer Revolution, Rave Racer never received a home release. The original race tracks for Rave Racer did make it into the PSP Ridge Racers titles as well as some remxies of said game's music. It was actually a bit difficult to pick a music track to use from this game because Rave Racer's music is incredibly lively and jazzy. In the end, I settled on Euphoria. It has shades of audio from the first two Ridge Racer titles as well as sounding a bit like something you'd heard from the last few Ridge Racer titles to come out.

Favorite Tunes Database

Favorite Tunes #181: Angry Gravekeepers

This week's Favorite Tunes features music from 1990s era Sonic, the underappreciated Street Fighter EX series and music from a Zelda title that is not Breath of the Wild. All this and Deathsmiles, too!

File Select - Sonic 3 & Knuckles (GEN)

Though Sonic 3 and Sonic & Knuckles were originally released as two separate games, the original intent was for them to be a stand alone title. I've always refereed to the duo of games as one, Sonic 3 & Knuckles, my favorite Sonic game. Among the game's outstanding tracks, the cool File Select theme is often overlooked.

Flash Train - Street Fighter EX 2 Plus (PS)

Everyone sings to high heaven about the classic Street Fighter II themes but what about the glorious music from the EX games? Music from EX2 and EX2 plus is so good that it can be tough for me to decide which version I prefer. But as spectacular as Flash Train is in EX2 it is a thousand times better in EX2 Plus. The saxophones kill it through most of the course but at the 2:19 mark, they get a sweet, sweet solo.

Stage 4 - Contra Force (NES)

The plan was to release this game under the title Arc Hound but the Japanese release was canned. The American release, however was still on and to give the game more exposure, it was released under the Contra name. But in 1992, the SNES and Genesis was what all the cool kids were raging over so Contra Force went on to become one of those rare NES titles. The music is friggin' killer.

SNES Rainbow Road - Mario Kart 8 (Wii U, NS)

Mario Kart 8 was one of my favorite entries in the long running series. But with the Wii U selling so poorly that means a lot of players missed out on it. The Switch is already faring much better than the Wii U so I'm pleased to see that Mario Kart 8 won't die off. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe will feature new playable characters such as King Boo, the Inklings from Splatoon and a battle mode much in line with the traditional battle modes of previous titles. Get ready to get your balloons busted on April 28th.

Ganon's Message - The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (SNES)

What would go on to become  the theme of Ganondorf/Ganon was first used in A Link to the Past, a game that is highly praised as being the best in the series. Like the king of darkness, Ganon's theme is sinister and dark.

Fury of the Gravekeepers - Deathsmiles (ARC)

Another of Cave's bullet hell shooters, Deathsmiles has been given a new lease on life thanks to Steam. The soundtrack is a form of spooky rock from none other than Manabu Namiki, a man that works wonders on SHMUP soundtracks.

Favorite Tunes Database

Favorite Tunes #163: Election Day Eve

How's that for a topical title? I've never been big on politics. Simply discussing it is a quick way to spark arguments with your friends and total strangers. I'm just ready to have this election overwith. This week, we've got tunes ranging from the SNES, Genesis, Game Boy and PS. Enjoy.

Dr. Light Lab 1 - Mega Man IV (GB)

Often labeled incorrectly as ports of the NES games, in Japan Mega Man's GB games went under the title of Rockman World and were far from being mere handheld versions of the console titles. Mega Man IV was notable for introducing shops to the entire series, an adrenaline filled final showdown with Dr. Wily and some nice GB versions of NES tracks from Mega Man 4 and 5 as well as original compositions. I personally prefer this version of Dr. Light Lab over the second.

Temple ~ DK Island Swing - Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze (Wii U)

Collect the Kong letters of every stage a world houses and you unlock a Kong level. In a game that already throws everything and five kitchen sinks at you, the K levels will make you want to curl up in a corner and cry. These levels are lengthy and checkpoint starvation is in full effect. On the plus side, each K level has this jazzy remix of DK Island Swing. Gotta hold on to what's left of your sanity somehow.

Sucker Punch - Splatoon (Wii U)

I've really been enjoying Chugga Conroy's LP of Splatoon. He's gotten me to try out weapons I probably wouldn't have touched otherwise. Turns out I actually like the Squiffer. Anyhoo, anyone that's played Splatoon knows the multiplayer jams are the bee's knee. Sucker Punch isn't my favorite (Ink or Sink and Friend List have that honor) but it's still a joy to ears.

Under Pressure - Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IV: Turtles in Time (SNES)

What it lacked in four player support, it made up for with exclusive bosses, new modes and extra stages. The SNES home conversion of Turtles in Time is often considered to be superior than the arcade original. I think it also benefited from the SNES sound chip. While the title might make you think of a classic song, Under Pressure is an original tune made just for the SNES version of Turtles in Time's Time Attack mode.

Attack the Barbarian - Streets of Rage (GEN)

The SNES may have had Final Fight but it lacked two player support. Streets of Rage didn't have this problem so it was another thing Genesis owners could rub in SNES owner's faces. Another plus for the Genesis crowed was Yuzo Koshiro's killer soundtrack. Am I supposed to beat up the boss or bust a move?

Irene - Street Fighter EX2 Plus (PS)

Just as Street Fighter EX + alpha had new features over it's arcade cousin, Street Fighter EX 2 Plus had some benefits over the stand up version. The PS version had some amazing arranged tracks done up by the same team that worked on the arcade game's music. Really, both soundtracks are gold, but EX2 Plus gets some exclusive music such as this beauty of a theme.

Favorite Tunes Database

Favorite Tunes #160: Here Comes a New Challenger

Aw yeah. You know what those five words mean. A new opponent has entered the ring. Yup, we've got music from fighting games this week. The only thing better than kicking the crap out of your opponent is doing it to some dope beats.

Those Who Fight (Version 2) - Ehrgeiz (PS)

This 3D fighter, released in 1998 and was famous for it's Quest mode. It was also notable for including Cloud, Tifa, Yuffie and Sepiroth from Final Fantasy VII as playable characters. It didn't get a digital release on the PSN outside of Japan and it isn't easy to track down a physical copy so expect to pay through the nose if you do. The game has some really cool and memorable music tracks, including an arrangement of FFVII's killer random battle theme. This track could have been in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U. Totally missed opportunity.

Jun Kazama - Tekken 2 (Arcade)

The first Tekken game I played, Tekken 2, left a huge impression on me, helping me fully embrace 3D fighters. The PS had some killer arranged tracks from the arcade versions music, but the arcade score was also quite good. Hearing this kinda makes me wish Tekken's composers would go back to this style of music.

Hitohira Reminiscent of Ketsui No Toki - Dead or Alive 2 (ARC, DC, PS2)

Talk about girl power. DOA is primarily known for it's hot chicks with huge boobs and said boobs jiggle physics. I haven't played a DOA game since DOA2 so I've been out of touch with the series for a long time. I can still recall that game's fantastic soundtrack, however, which let to the first inclusion of music from the DOA games in Favorite Tuns. Kasumi was always my favorite of the DOA gals.

An Empty Tome - Castlevania Judgement (Wii)

Back on the Wii, Konami took a stab at turning Castlevania into a fighter. The results proved to be disastrous, but hey, at least they were doing something with the franchise back then. Besides, that game gave us some pretty sick remixed tracks.

Theme of Jeffrey - Virtua Fighter (ARC)

I wouldn't really get into Virtua Fighter until the release of Virtua Fighter 4: Evolution on the PS2, an updated version of VF4. The game included a bonus 1VF 10th Anniversary game as a bonus, which was how I became familiar with the classic VF themes. Pai is my VF main, but I love me some Jeffrey theme music.

Flash Train - Street Fighter EX2 (ARC)

With the subtitle for this Favorite Tunes, you'd think I would have gotten to Street Fighter a lot sooner. It was really tempting to fill this Favorite Tunes with Capcom fighters, but I thought I'd be more diverse and give fighters from other companies some time in the sun. The EX series are Capcom's 3D fighters co-developed by Arika, a company that unfortunately owns the rights to the non Capcom fighters. This is why we've never seen Skullomania or Doctrine Dark in SF games since SFEX3 in 2000. Anyway, the music in the EX games is nothing short of fantastic. EX2 Plus has arrangements of EX2's music, but EX2's original themes are still incredible.

Favorite Tunes Database

Remix of the Week: Spinning Bird CPS1 Re-Arrange

The Street Fighter EX series has some pretty boss music. If you're unfamiliar with the EX games, Spinning Bird is Chun-Li's theme. Using the Fruity Loops Studio music maker tool, McQueen has recreated Chun's glorious theme in the style of Capcom's CPS1 audio hardware. The results are nothing short of stunning.

Wanna listen to this track on the go? Download the MP3 file here.