I have been on a Shimomura Yoko music marathon as of late.
The composer is best known is known for her composition works on “Final Fantasy XV”, the “Kingdom Hearts” games, “Live a Live”, “Super Mario RPG”, “Paraside Eve”, “Legend of Mana”, “Radiant Historia”, “Xenoblade Chronicles” to name a few.
But what a lot of people don’t know is that they grew up listening to Shimomura’s music.
The piano major from Osaka College of Music created the music for “Final Fight” (Round 5: Bay Area 2 & 3), “Nemo”, but while she was still employed with CAPCOM (before moving to Square Enix in 1993), she created the music for “Street Fighter II: The World Warrior” with the exceptions of “Sagat Stage”, “Here Comes a New Challenger” and “Round Start/VS”, which was composed by Abe Isao.
With that being said, I mention Shimomura’s name because with digital, you don’t get liner notes and with many video game soundtracks using the software company and Team right after, in a way it doesn’t give credit to the original composer.
But the soundtrack I am reviewing today happens to be “Super Street Fighter II Turbo Original Soundtrack”.
Back in the ’90s, with “Street Fighter II: The World Warrior” (1991) being the No. 1 game in the world, especially when it was released on SNES, everyone knew the music from the video game. It was ingrained in your head because you had to keep playing the game over and over to get better and learn the moves, while arcades that were thriving at the time, enjoyed the profits and competition that “Street Fighter II: The World Warrior” brought.
But what better way for CAPCOM and arcades to generate more profit than by introducing updated versions of the game.
“Street Fighter II: Championship Edition” was popular for making the four bosses as playable characters in 1992 and at the end of the year, they released the third arcade version titled “Street Fighter II Turbo” featuring faster speeds and new special moves.
By September 1993, CAPCOM achieved great success with the release of “Super Street Fighter II: The New Challengers” which introduced T. Hawk, Fei Long, Dee Jay and Cammy.
And by April 1994, CAPCOM released the fifth installment titled “Super Street Fighter II Turbo” introducing Akuma but most importantly, super combos and air combos.
And to this day, the game is still played competitively 30 years later.
So, “Super Street Fighter II Turbo Original Soundtrack” featured many of the music from “Street Fighter II: The World Warriors” that Shimomura Yoko created but featuring a new arrangement of those songs by Nishigaki Syun and Abe Isao.
There are probably much more that deserve credit and recognition that are not listed in the liner notes of the original CD releases but it was a tactic used back then by Japanese video companies (especially for composers hired for the job that do not get recognition) and a tactic still used today by some companies. And so, with digital releases, unless you do the research, you’re not going to find much.
And another thing that made this game different from its previous counterparts is that since it was running on CPSII hardware, the company wanted to capitalize on QSOUND which was known for 3D audio effects.
Which now brings me to the original soundtrack for “Super Street Fighter II Turbo Original Soundtrack” which you can get this 41-track album on Amazon for such a great price under $9.
While I’m not going to go through every song, one thing that does come in my mind of the original thought that came to the music from its original composition by Shimomura and hearing it evolve.
“Ryu’s Theme”, “Ken’s Theme” and “Guile’s Theme” were no doubt the most popular and for musicians who listened to the music, to play the bass and guitar for these tracks, was truly something.
But of course, this is not the original “Street Fighter II: The World Warrior”, the new arrangements are noticeable in songs such as “Chun-Li’s Theme”, “Guile’s Theme”, “E. Honda’s Theme”.
But in a way, it becomes very subjective of which version is best, the original or this. For example, Blanka’s original theme made you feel he’s from the jungle with the drums, but now the song has a more synth prominence.
Chun Li’s theme has this rattle, Vega’s more bass heavy sound.
With each character’s theme songs and their two ending themes presented, you also get the Q Sound logo, the character select screens and staff roll as well.
So, there are noticeable differences and it feels with the move to CPSII and wanting to take advantage of QSound, the goal was to make the soundtrack uses the soundscape at arcades.
But do know in advance, this soundtrack represents the 1994 release and not the original 1991 release. And getting songs that are arranged a little differently but still paying respect to Shimomura Yoko and Abe Isao’s original compositions.
And considering how the music changed for the series especially with the “Street Fighter Alpha” series going more for an electronic high energy beat style of music years later, for those nostalgic like I am, will find this album to be a blast to listen to and hear those songs that you spent hours of your life listening during gameplay in the ’90s again over 30 years later.
Sure, I’m nostalgic towards the original 1991 game but the original “Street Fighter II: The World Warrior” soundtrack is hard to obtain these days, and for the price at under $10 for over an hour’s worth of music and 41 tracks, it’s definitely worth checking out the “Super Street Fighter II Turbo Original Soundtrack” by Capcom Sound Team. Recommended!
