Fighting games are a full-blown sensory experience: From feeling the rap of buttons under your fingers as you execute your bread-and-butter combo, to the explosive visual effects that accompany counter hits and special attacks, to the weighty audial blast of every punch and kick—all soundtracked to some of the hottest music in videogames.
Welcome to Soundtrack Sunday, where a member of the PC Gamer team takes a look at a soundtrack from one of their favourite games—or a broader look at videogame music as a whole—offering a little backstory and recommendations for tracks you should be adding to your playlist.
Like I was saying when talking about rock music in videogames a few weeks ago, the soundtracks we hear are a critical part of how games spin stories. They can prime our emotions before we’ve even heard any dialogue or seen any text—maybe soft violins ease us into a sad scene, or shrill plucked strings alert us to incoming danger.
Fighters are a little different, though. Sure we have story modes and snippets of lore here and there, but ultimately every battle is taking place in a vacuum. Maybe you’re practicing some new moves against a CPU, or more often than not putting your ego on the line to go against a real-life opponent. Maybe that’s online, at your locals, or maybe even on the big stage at a tournament.
It’s a concept stripped down to its most fundamental parts. No cutscenes to clue you in, no dialogue trees to alter the course. It’s just you, one other person, and a mental encyclopaedia of frame data, punishments, and half a dozen combo routes. That’s why audio and presentation is so important—visually it has to look exciting while cleanly conveying every hit, which means most of the theatrics end up tucked into every corner of its sound design.
I’m currently at VSFighting in Birmingham, the UK’s primo major fighting game tournament. One of my favourite parts about getting to attend is how electrifying the atmosphere is when you’re all piled into an auditorium to watch the final eight players duke it out for victory all while the game’s sound is fit to burst out of the speakers.
Players will chant along to voice lines, yell “Ey, ey, ey, eyyy!” to every hit in a combo, and sing along to some of their favourite stings in the best fighting game soundtracks. Take Street Fighter 6 and Reinvent the Game. It’s the song that plays in the character select screen, before each fighter gets to play up to the camera in a little cutscene. You’ll almost definitely find everybody chanting along to “Yeah, yeah!” as a way to get the pre-match hype kickstarted.
I’ll also forever have fond memories of Tekken 7’s Infinite Azure—a stage that got counterpicked a whole bunch back when the game was current—and the final round theme Moonsiders 2nd. Popular commentator Tasty Steve almost couldn’t resist mouthing along to the beat drop, and almost every time I hear the song it’s accompanied by him yelling “Bwahm bwahm bwahm bwahm BWAAGH!” Listen to it, you’ll see exactly what I mean.
Songs in fighting games aren’t just there to serve whoever’s fighting their way to victory. It also serves the audience watching, either at home or alongside those taking to the main stage. Whether you’re going for character themes like Granblue or Street Fighter, or dedicating multiple tracks to each stage like Tekken, ultimately the goal is the same: get players battle-ready, and let viewers know they’re in for a real good fight.
It’s a collective experience, one that feels wholly unique to fighting games. From high-octane tracks that pull from EDM, hip-hop, and hardcore influences, to more atmospheric tracks that lean more trance, industrial, and ambient genres. It’s music so good that people dedicate entire DJ sets to it—the Tekken World Tour 2023 finals enlisted DJ and fighting game composer Mifumei to spin some discs, and it went hard.
Here are some of my absolute favourite fighting game tracks (with a little help from all my lovely FGC pals) you should be adding to your gym, work, and cleaning playlist. Hell, whatever really. Add ’em to your sleep playlist. I also promise to not make it entirely Tekken, as this list could absolutely be entirely composed of tracks from the series. They’re just that good.
Moonsiders 2nd. Popular commentator Tasty Steve almost couldn’t resist mouthing along to the beat drop, and almost every time I hear the song it’s accompanied by him yelling “Bwahm bwahm bwahm bwahm BWAAGH!” Listen to it, you’ll see exactly what I mean.
Songs in fighting games aren’t just there to serve whoever’s fighting their way to victory. It also serves the audience watching, either at home or alongside those taking to the main stage. Whether you’re going for character themes like Granblue or Street Fighter, or dedicating multiple tracks to each stage like Tekken, ultimately the goal is the same: get players battle-ready, and let viewers know they’re in for a real good fight.
It’s a collective experience, one that feels wholly unique to fighting games. From high-octane tracks that pull from EDM, hip-hop, and hardcore influences, to more atmospheric tracks that lean more trance, industrial, and ambient genres. It’s music so good that people dedicate entire DJ sets to it—the Tekken World Tour 2023 finals enlisted DJ and fighting game composer Mifumei to spin some discs, and it went hard.
Here are some of my absolute favourite fighting game tracks (with a little help from all my lovely FGC pals) you should be adding to your gym, work, and cleaning playlist. Hell, whatever really. Add ’em to your sleep playlist. I also promise to not make it entirely Tekken, as this list could absolutely be entirely composed of tracks from the series. They’re just that good.
Funky
- Tekken 8 – Twilight Party Cruise (Climax)
- Dragon Ball Z Budokai 2 – Character Select
- Tekken 6 – Karma (Electric Fountain)
- Lethal League Blaze – Ain’t Nothin’ Like a Funky Beat
- The King of Fighters ’97 – Cool Jam ~Stormy Saxophone 3~
Epic
- Killer Instinct (2013) – The Instinct
- Mortal Kombat – Techno Syndrome (Mortal Kombat)
- Street Fighter 6 – The Plunderer (JP’s Theme)
- Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising – Parade’s Lust
- Dragon Ball FighterZ – Broly’s Theme
