The mid 90’s till the early 2000 seems to be the golden age for fighting game soundtracks for me. The tracks reflected the character and the character’s story, the melodies were catchy and memorable, now the current batch of fighters that I’ve played (not that many) are all very generic and forgetful, kinda makes you wonder what’s the point, just give us the ability to play our own music.
There are so many great tunes on the DOA2 soundtrack, it’s probably my favourite fighting game soundtrack, but here are two of my favourites
Ein’s Theme
I love electric guitars, they just get me amped, this track really captures the fast pace of the action in DOA, plus it has such a catchy melody.
Dead or Alive 2 Gen Fu’s Theme
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9ZabUScQDs
Another fast paced track with a great beat, but this one uses more electro sounds, it doesn’t reflect the character at all (Old kung fu man, would have expected it to be one of the ninja characters).
Soul Calibur 2 Maxi’s Theme
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hBATyMSCg-Y
Track really portrays his backstory as a pirate whilst also giving that sense of a great battle and adventure, the track reminds me of some of the tracks on the Pirates of the Caribbean OST
Street Fighter Alpha 2 Adon’s Theme
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hsFAYNOleT8
Adon the shoto killer, it’s the theme I wish Sagat had, the guitar provides such an epic feel, accompanied by a thumping beat. Another track I feel captures the storytelling aspect of BGM
Battle Arena Toshinden 2 Eiji Theme
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2oB7z2KxUnM
Another epic guitar centric theme, but with jazzy twist. I could see this being used in an anime as an intro theme or end credits.
It’s got that Rocky 80’s vibe, which considering her character I think it is what they were going for :lol: