A Look At Music in Fighting Games

Music has always been around long before the first video game was ever created. Music is something that people will always be aware of no matter what form of media they expose themselves to. In the realm of video games, music is a means for allowing the gamer to become immersed within the world/realm of the game they are playing. People will always be attached to the music that they hear when playing a video game.

For fighting games, different music that is played allows the players to become immersed within a match. In most fighting games today, there is an abundance of heavy metal or rock style of music. This is considered the general standard today because it is a common belief that rock music is considered “fight music”. However, not all games conform to this common practice and belief, there are plenty of fighting games that have original soundtracks that lean towards the techno or rave style of music, usually when trying to express a feeling of “graceful” or “mystical” fighting between characters. Whatever the style of music within a fighting game, the main purpose of it is essentially the same. To set the stage and mood for the battle to be fought.

Music within a fighting game can also allow players to identify with a particular character. This means that the player will gain an emotional attachment to a fighter through the music that plays over the course of the battle. Most of the cross-over and mash-up fighting games almost always have music tracks that are meant to be character specific. This means that when a character enters the rings/stage, their music will start playing, signifying the moment of that characters arrival and a possible change of momentum in the match. The best example of this would be the Japanese version of Tatsunoko vs. Capcom. The soundtrack for that game consisted of re-mixed versions of characters’ theme music from the different Tatsunoko and Capcom franchises. Each character’s track has his/her own flare and intensity for when they would enter the ring.

Of all the fighting games ever released, no music is more popular then that of Street Fighter 2. It is easily the most recognizable, most re-used, and re-mixed music from a fighting game. Besides making gamers get pumped up during a match, what makes the music from Street Fighter 2 so popular is how people are easily players are able to associate the different music tracks with the characters of the game’s roster. Each of the original twelve World Warriors has a piece of music that is played on their home stage. This allows players to associate the music not only with the stage they are fighting on, but the specific character as well. The soundtrack to Street Fighter 2 is so well created and popular, that many sequel and spin-off games use the tracks for characters from the original Street Fighter 2. The music tracks are usually re-mixed and remade to give a contemporary sound to the character’s theme, so it may blend well with the rest of the game‘s soundtrack.

The music of a fighting game is an over-looked part of the package. As gamers, we get caught up in the heat of the battle and not realize that something taken for granted is what enables us to fully experience great moments within a game. Music within fighting games will always hype up a crowd and it’s competitors. The sound we hear behind the many punches and broken bones will always set the stage and emotion of the fights that go on. The music we hear during a match makes us appreciate the last minute comebacks and dire moments of a battle fought, even when the outcome is not always what we may have wanted. The music within fighting games will always resonate with gamers and will continue to allow them to identify with their favorite brawlers.