Flashback - 002 - Streets of Rage 2's soundtrack

Streets of Rage 2 was, on its own merits, a spectacular beat-em-up. One might go so far as to say things never really got much better than that one point in time, with competition being fierce between SoR, Final Fight, Double Dragon, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and lets not forget about all the early 90's amazing arcade only experiences. The one thing that this specific game had over every other game at the time was the amazing soundtrack. Most games had simple medleys that would stick in your head forever, but something about the soundtrack here was just so much more than that. To this day, I can start the game and spend a lot more time than I should just listening to music in the sound test.

Remember that part where you're in that park at night, walking through and beating up thugs as they wake up from laying on benches? Guaranteed if you don't, you could load up that song and remember how magical it made the entire environment feel. The big thing in gaming since Uncharted 2 was released has been trying to create these elaborate set pieces, making the game one of the characters instead of just players and npcs. While games hadn't really progressed to that point all those years ago, the soundtrack is just as important as any boss, character, or level. All in all, I seriously love this game, and the soundtrack...? Let's all just take a moment to thank the composer, Yuzo Koshiro, for an effing amazing job.