street fighter It has long been known for its music: from the early days of the series, the characters in the game have been given their own themes, exciting players in battle. Whether it’s Guile’s infamous theme in Street Fighter 2 (which obviously goes with anything), or Street Fighter 5’s incredible Rashid theme, the series’ music is almost as important as the gameplay.
Living up to that reputation, Capcom reveals a new Ryu theme street fighter 6 yesterday. You can see it in this article below (well, listen to it). While anyone with ears can hear the new song (called Viator) is funky, upbeat, and – importantly – engaging enough to withstand multiple listening sessions, some fans complained that it wasn’t a Ryu classic theme.
A cursory glance at the comments in a Youtube video, or beneath a tweet announcing a new theme, fans basically want one thing — and only one thing: Ryu’s classic theme.
Viator is upbeat, funky, and sounds…happy! Does this reflect the fact that the fighter has finally taken control of Satsui no Hado and feels better? Does this reflect that his life is finally being sorted out and that his contemporaries – Ken – seem to be digging deep into Kirk van Houten’s territory? who knows. I think it’s good that Ryu has something different happening, but fans are asking for something low-key.
“No, it doesn’t fit Ryus’ emotional and conscious state,” said a twitter user Respond to the topic. “The score of this music is clear, chaotic, high-pitched, colorful, playful, light…that’s not Ryu.”
“Everything in this game looks great, but these new themes are just…unnecessary,” said other. “A classic is a classic, don’t change what you don’t need.”
“Ouch. First Chunli, now Liu,” said other (edited for clarity). “The iconic theme, gone. Please choose a classic theme or even a SF6-style remix, because this is not Ryu at all. It’s frustrating because everything else looks perfect.”
It’s easy to see why people are salty – change is hard to accept! – But this is a new generation of Street Fighter, which naturally brings some new additions and some notable changes. If we had to trade classic tracks for proven songs like this, so be it! There might be some kind of DLC or bonus that gets you traditional music somewhere – enjoy new music while it’s fresh and let the bass line take over your soul.
That’s what Ryu – the new, happy Ryu – wants.
Street Fighter 6 will launch in 2023 for PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S and PC (via Steam).
