I love beat ‘em ups, and one of my favorites is Streets of Rage 2. Not only is this the best game in the trilogy, but it also has the best OST. Yuzo Koshiro is a legend when it comes to video game music. If I could, I also would’ve included Act Raiser and one of the Etrian Odyssey games (they’ll all fantastic) in this series, but space is limited, so I’ll just have to go with SoR2. This soundtrack will get under your skin with all kinds of groovy beats and hip-hop jams. Koshiro’s work here is stellar, working masterfully within the limitations of the Genesis hardware. The hip-hop/dance/techno styles worked perfectly within the world of Streets of Rage. He was joined by Motohiro Kawashima, who has collaborated with Koshiro on several OSTs over the years.
Go Straight
This is the theme for the first level, and it doesn’t mess around. It starts simple enough, but quickly crescendos to a keyboard jam that dominates with light percussion in the background. Even when the music fades, there’s always a perpetual rhythm, and when it gets exciting again, you’re ready for it. This song lends itself perfectly to street fighting. Its constant rhythm is infectious and doesn’t grow tiresome.
Dreamer
This is the best song in the game (imo). Its driven rhythm and addicting tune makes it memorable. It has a more predominant melody than most other songs in the soundtrack. The arpeggio which dominates before the melody and then returns at the melody’s conclusion perfectly bookmarks the song’s theme. The melody itself is vibrant despite being simplistic—it’s just simple enough to get stuck in your head. Perfect.
Under Logic
Koshiro once again masterfully builds toward the melody with simple yet infectious rhythms until the melody comes in at the 30 second mark. If that’s not enough, the melody “screams” in a succession of outbursts before looping. There is a bit of techno infused into this song as well (notice during the outburst the background bleeps and bloops that somehow mesh into the song perfectly).
Wave 131
This is another one of my favorites. It plays during a beach section, and it somehow conveys a beach party with a driving dance beat. Loud horn blasts accent the melody before taking over. The end of the song changes into a minor chord, which feels strange, but it lasts very short and clearly is supposed to contrast with the major style vibes when the song loops. This is one of those songs that will make you feel good.
Back to the Industry
This song has a more hardcore feel to it. The theme is earnest and seems to have a “do or die” mindset. This is a short song, only lasting for 30 seconds before looping. Within that time is the driving introduction and the simple yet intense melody that gives the feeling of dread. This song plays toward the end of the game, so its feelings of intimidation and anxiety are appropriate as you get closer to Mr. X.
Also check out: Streets of Rage OST, anything else by Yuzo Koshiro
Oh man, now I REALLY hope you can listen to my podcast on my favorite video game music composers, because guess who's on the list? Yup, Yuzo Koshiro!
I didn't have a Genesis as a kid, because I was a SNES man. So there were very few Genesis games that really impressed me. But Streets of Rage 2 was one of the few Genesis titles that did! My favorite song from it is "Under Logic" which they play on the stage where you're on a baseball field. I liked the elevator under the pitcher's mound because it felt like it went super fast and went a million miles down. You should've been in the Earth's core by the end of it!
Some of my other favorite Yuzo Koshiro songs include the intro to Ys Book 2, stage 2 from Super Adventure Island, and pretty much everything in ActRaiser and Legacy of the Wizard. His game company, Ancient, also made an indie title on Xbox 360 called Protect Me Knight, and its 3DS sequel Gotta Protectors are both awesome.
Back to Streets of Rage, have you played Streets of Rage 4? The music's not as good, but it's still fun to play. I really liked it anyway. My favorite character used to be Blaze, but now it's DLC character Estel Aguirre, who is a police officer who looks like she ate a can of spinach!
The Last Ninja
02/02/2022 at 10:03 PM
Thanks for sharing! Koshiro has done so much awesome music, he's definitely one of my faves. And yes, I have played SoR4, it's actually one of my favorite beat 'em ups.
daftman
02/02/2022 at 09:20 AM
That music fits the game so perfectly. I don't care for it as much on its own but I liked that last song you shared, "Back to the Industry."
The Genesis gets dumped on a lot for music but when used well, it really sounds great.
The Last Ninja
02/02/2022 at 10:05 PM
Yeah, I think composers simply had to be more creative when doing music for Genesis games. The Sonic games, Ristar, and Rocket Knight Adventures all have great soundtracks too.
KnightDriver
02/06/2022 at 10:26 AM
I love these chiptunes. I wish they were available to play in the recent Taiko Drum Master. I played several video game themes in that recently. It's so great to play along with the rhythm. It really gets you into the music; not as much as actually playing them on an instrument, but closer than just listening.
I remember Jeremy Parish (remember this journalist?) raving about the Etrian Odyssey music. I liked it, but it sounded closer to musak or very light classical to me.
The Last Ninja
02/07/2022 at 11:23 AM
Etrian Odyssey music is great! In fact, I was going to put one of those games on the list, but had to cut it due to limited space. Some tunes will sound more classical, but there's a lot of synth, jazz, and rock stuff in there too. Fantastic all around.
KnightDriver
02/07/2022 at 04:28 PM
I am so wanting to get back into Etrian Odyssey. Is there a new game for the Switch coming? I heard something about that not too long ago.
The Last Ninja
02/07/2022 at 11:43 PM
Apparently they're woking on a new EO game, but there's no official announcement yet. It's surprising they haven't ported some of those games to Switch, there's a ton of them.
KnightDriver
02/08/2022 at 11:48 AM
Yea, they had a run of 4 and then they remade them for 3DS, then there was ETO 5 I believe. I have most of them. I wish there were more of those old style first-person dungeon crawls on console. I know only of one, Ostencia, or something similar in name on Xbox.
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