Aural Offense! – ExpertPenguin’s Top 5 Character Select Themes

It’s Wednesday–and the release of SF3: Third Strike online is a day late, but I haven’t any complaints, the game is downloading =, much to my delight. The thought of hearing its excellent music, combined with the thought of Makoto’s walking animation had me pumped.

Greatest.I boot up the game, and immediately, I’m greeted with some questionable, yet inoffensive rap music declaring and signifying the illustrious return of one of the greatest fighting games in existence. It’s not the menu music I remember but, I didn’t fret. “This is fine”, I thought to myself. One of Third Strike’s charms were after all, the pseudo-ghetto atmosphere that permeates every inch of the game, from art direction to music. The cheesiness went down about as well as eating octopus, but like this event, there’s an undeniable cool about the song all the same.
I threw myself back into the game, having not played it in YEARS, I decided to start with Arcade Mode. As the remastered character select screen slid into view, adorned with new and well executed artwork, I barely had time to appreciate the artistic merit before something offensive assaulted my eardrums.

“WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS?!”

The music…was gone. My beloved character select song (find out name) was gone, and in it’s place was a travesty. Terrible flow, weak lyrics, and a definite sense of trying to emulate the original and failing was more than enough excuse for me to mute my television, and hope the rest of the game hadn’t suffered the same fate.

..Fortunately, it hadn’t, and the rest of the OST remained intact, making the rest of the experience a nice trip. I even discovered later on, much to my delight that the original music was hidden in the game as an unlockable. But the experience in general had left a sour taste in my mouth, and had me wondering, was the character select music THAT important?

I think so. I think, aside from providing noise, it sets the tone for the game, the tone for a player’s attitude, and in rare cases, can motivate the player to even play better. People tend to ignore just how instrumental (ha!) music can be in setting a mood, but I have a select few that I know always get me ready for a fight. without further ado, here are my top 5 select screen themes.

5.Marvel vs. Capcom 2 – “Take You For A Ride”
(Composers: Tetsuya Shibata, Mitsuhiko Takano)

Either the laziest or the most brilliant simple song, before artists like Soulja Boy realized repetitive hooks with no lyrical content could ensnare the ears of millions, Capcom was already batting 11 on insanity by infusing their most popular fighting series with a lounge jazz soundtrack. That alone makes this choice crazy considering some of the more excellent themes for the Vs. series (like the one reused from X-Men:CotA), but not one track on the any of those OSTs was as catchy, irritating or strangely addictive as the character select screen music in MvC2, which consists of a 8 second loop of “I’m gonna take you for a ride!” being repeated ad nauseum. Whether it inspired you to pick your characters as fast as humanly possible, became white noise that you’d accidentally hum, or irritated you enough at your opponent’s slow selection to gas you up for a good fight, there’s no denying it’s power. That power is what makes it one of the most unforgettable themes, for better or worse. Oh, and the fact that Capcom saw fit to make THREE remixes of it for Marvel vs. Capcom 3? Pure fanservice. You know deep down inside, you love it.

4. Super Smash Bros Brawl
(Composers: Nobuo Uematsu, Shogo Sakai, Masahiro Sakurai)

Shit. As if they were trying to evolve the Smash Series beyond it’s toybox roots, what used to be an unassuming tune in the N64 evolved to an action theme in Melee, and into a full on orchestrated piece on full blast in Brawl. This singlehandedly makes a simple Nintendo themed character select feel like peering into the chamber of gaming gods.

Never mind that you were -still- toys come to life, but apparently this kid was watching a load of sci-fi in-between sequels, because this is -epic- music on a Michael Giacchino scale. I can’t say I’m terribly surprised, considering they reeled in the composer for Final Fantasy for this, but even I couldn’t have guessed he’d lay it on this thick. I mean, in any given moment of this game there could be a plumber fighting a marshmallow while a government soldier plants C4 on a hedgehog.

Inexplicable.
That’s the thing about orchestral music, it has the power to infuse anything–vegetable or mineral– with grandiosity. Just the other day, the Crysis 2 score popped onto my iPod while I was doing laundry, and the simple act of applying fabric softener became a race against time for the fate of the texture of my boxers.
True story.

3.Dead or Alive 2 – “D.O.A.”
(Composer: Unknown)

Before Itagaki realized he had the stature (and budget) to start ruining DOA’s soundtrack with awkwardly placed Aerosmith music, the soundtrack was a collection of mostly placeholder themes communicating generic emotions like rage and whimsy to match the characters. One theme in particular stood out above the others however, and it was the menu music. I swear, if this butt rock didn’t get you PUMPED at the prospect of kicking someone around in EXTREME arenas filled with danger because DOA is so HARDCORE…

..you probably aren’t drinking enough Red Bull. In that case, do carry on.

2.Mortal Kombat 3/Ultimate/Trilogy – “Character Select”
(Composer: Dan Forden)

Mortal Kombat was always a dominant force in the Arcades, notably for it’s sound design as much as the violence. While the music was largely tongue-in-cheek faux oriental fare, the sound effects were thick, meaty, and everyone in the Arcades knew whether you were on the receiving end of an uppercut, or the victim of a brutal Fatality. This remained true until MK3, whose story took the fights from the traditional shrines and dojos and placed them in modern day streets. The music changed to reflect this, adopting a faster paced soundtrack, but it was the select screen music that really drove it home. Combining a fast drumline with a traditional choir sound, it sounded powerful, immediate, and like MK was honoring it’s “ancient” traditions with a more modern style. FIGHT!

1.Street Fighter 3: Third Strike – “Let’s Get it On”
(Composers: Hideki Okugawa, Infinite)

That fighting game with an unassailable reputation I’d as such for every good reason: Superb 2D animation that has yet to be matched in any fighter, a fighting engine that can be played on multiple skill levels, and a diverse, new eccentric selection of characters are all at the top of the list. However, of all of SF3′s innovations, it was the soundtrack that remains one of the most unforgettable parts. Part jazz, techno, hard rock, and all eclectic, each character* had a superb theme to call their own that matched their style perfectly, and the highest point of it all came in the form of the character select music. A dirty hip hop beat kicks in, characters appear, and before you know it, lyrics. Lyrics about the game you’re playing, and a chorus that makes you want to shoryuken someone right in the jaw:

Let’s get it on now (Select and make your first pick)
Let’s get it on yeah (Ten, nine, eight, seven six)
Let’s get it on (yo choose and pick the best one)
Let’s get it on yeah (Five, four, three, two, one)Need I say more? I mean, honestly. It isn’t as if every person reading this site doesn’t know this by heart already

And there you have it. While far from the most comprehensive list (though Guilty Gear XX and Killer Instinct certainly have honorable mentions), these are the themes that had me the most hyped, the most energetic, and most of all, ready to destroy the person across from me, be they AI or human. You can always tell when a game has less than exceptional music, leaving players to fill the blanks (I’ve lost count of the number of high level Tekken players wearing headphones), but a fighting game with great music speaks for itself, enabling players and bystanders alike to feel and emulate it’s energy.

*Now I realize I covered the whole Soundtrack instead of just the select music, but that’s just how good the soundtrack was. Whether “Jazzy NYC” conjures up thoughts of Evo Moment #37, or adrenaline kicks while hearing “The Circuit”, there’s a reason I (and I’m sure many people) were offended upon booting up ‘SF3: Online Edition’. It was that heinous.