Results tagged “street fighter ex”

You know you're out of ideas when you're recycling old ones and try to pass them off as something new.

Which could be something the, oh, three of you who've had ample experience with both Street Fighter EX and Street Fighter EX 3 might be thinking. Everyone else is just wondering what the heck I'm talking about. This entry will be about Street Fighter EX's soundtrack, but most of the tracks from this game made their way into the third game in the form of character themes. So to speak, they kind of share the same soundtrack. EX 3 does have a soundtrack of its own, however, which contained themes for characters introduced in this spin-off that didn't have themes in the previous game, along with individual stage themes. This means I kind of regret using "Precious Heart" in that entry, but it's not like there aren't plenty of other perfectly recommendable tracks.

The Street Fighter EX games, developed by Arika, were the franchise's first foray into 3D, something the results of which would have been interesting regardless of whether it turned out messy. You'll find a plethora of different opinions on the games around the internet, but they're actually pretty competent fighting games. It wasn't a perfect transition from 2D to 3D because of how loose the controls felt; something many of us wouldn't have realized if Rival Schools hadn't shown us how to perfectly adapt 2D fighting game controls into 3D.  A pity no one noticed that game.

Also, by "competent," I'm referring to the first two games. The figuratively phoned in third game is best left not discussed, unless you're talking about the soundtrack.

The jump to 3D meant venturing into the unknown for Street Fighter, so a soundtrack was composed that could also be relegated to comparatively unfamiliar territory. Capcom and Arika hired Shinji Hosoe, Ayako Saso, and Takayuki Aihara for the job. The results? Three of the best soundtracks in the franchise's history. It's also criminally underrated, but that's precisely what makes it a good candidate for an entry like this.

This is "Spinning Bird," Chun-Li's theme for the series, something I hope you guessed if you're a fan of the franchise. You may notice that while some of the character themes may be inspired by their Street Fighter II themes, they're given a different approach. I like this theme more than her SFII theme; a shame Capcom apparently refuses to use it again, assuming they own the rights:


Here we have "Garnet Sky," used for new characters Cracker Jack and Blair Dame. If you think it sounds like something inspired by numerous western themes, you'd be right, as that's also the kind of stage they fight in. You could probably accurately picture the stage. If there's one aspect you could knock the EX games for legitimately, it's the bland backgrounds:


"Arabesque" is the theme for the semi-popular wealthy Arabian Pullum Purna. This theme fits both the character and the stage perfectly, but that doesn't mean it's not nice to hear outside of the game. I see this song played over quite a few Youtube videos of Street Fighter IV matches, and some fans have admitted to using this song while using the custom soundtrack feature:


This entry was awfully tough to write, as I have plenty of recommendations for this soundtrack. I needed to fit in "Strange Sunset" for how delightfully smooth and jazzy it sounds, and it's the exact antithesis of "Precious Heart," which uses a fast-paced tempo and is heavy on the saxophone. All three EX games have some of the best music in the franchise, but it's one of the least praised.

Mention the name Street Fighter EX around any parts of the internet that can be considered a fighting gamer's habitat, and you're bound to get some strange looks. SFEX is considered one of the more dubious entries in the Street Fighter franchise, and for good reason. There's nothing wrong with the franchise branching out into a different kind of territory, but that's only as long as it enters said territory well; which EX most assuredly didn't. For all of its qualities, it has plenty of problems with it.

A lot of fans had trouble adjusting to the then-floaty jumping mechanics that came with Street Fighter III, but SFEX's are much, much worse. And don't even try to delve into how awkward actually attacking an opponent is, as what can be said about the jumping can also be said for the actual fighting itself. But if there's one aspect of the EX franchise that will be remembered fondly, it's the music. It's not what you'd usually expect to hear in a fighting game, but something about it makes the music pretty comforting to listen to.

(OK, some people may remember the characters more fondly than the music. EX had some of the most "out there" characters you'll come across in a fighting game.)

It was SFEX's itinerary to establish itself as being completely different from every other Street Fighter game that had come before it, something it did in just about every way. Unfortunately, most people didn't like how different it was from the others. It's nothing that should replace the usual crop of Street Fighter titles -- nor do I think this was Capcom or developer Arika's intention -- but it does its job as an alternative take on the formula. In fact, one of the gameplay mechanics it established, super canceling, made it into a "normal" Street Fighter game: that being the incredibly well liked (though niche) Street Fighter III.

All of the EX games use a New Age-style of music found in the usual Street Fighter game, but you'll also find a nice amount of jazz, pseudo-rock tracks, and Asian themed soundtracks, all of which either depending on the stage location or representing the character's nationality. In fact, some of them are a nice and not-off-putting fusion of various styles. The EX series definitely has the most diverse soundtrack of the entire Street Fighter franchise; how nice of Street Fighter EX 3 to include tracks from every game.

One of the best ambient tracks, for instance, is Ancient Zone. This one matches the stage of the same name, and sounds like a theme that you'd like to explore an ancient ruin to. Though it doesn't sound like something you'd want to fight to:


Unlike the last theme, this one is for a character: Vega. You might have been able to guess that without me telling you, given how it's something that would suit a matador -- and it's also called Matador! Well, OK, it wouldn't perfectly suit one, but it's not like Vega is the typical matador, hence why it fits. Personally, I like this theme more than his Street Fighter II one:


The last one is also a character theme, fittingly for the series' resident pandering schoolgirl Sakura. The use of a saxophone really makes it sound very jazzy, yet it's so upbeat that it fits the character in question:


The reuse of a bunch of tracks is probably also a testament to how lazy of an overall effort EX3 was. I'd like to think no one was expecting new from the first installment in the series for PS2 (the first two were PSOne titles), regardless of whether it was a launch title. It sure wasn't, though the game was still fun; but all of the tracks, meaning the ones it reused and the original music created for this game, were great. Thinking about that kind of makes the blatant laziness a little easier to stomach. A little.

The Street Fighter EX series, as previously stated, worked as a good alternative to the usual game in the franchise, but anyone approaching them now likely wouldn't think so. Like most PSOne titles, time has not been particularly kind to this game. But anyone during its prime who found it as a fun-though-different Street Fighter game will remember fondly, especially the music these days. Just, uh, don't go back and play it, OK?

Yeah, so Street Fighter EX isn't that great of a game, a point I made last week. But like a lot of games, there were some appreciable aspects to it, which is a point I really should have made last week. Other than characters we'll surely miss like the Kasumi Todo-inspired Hokuto and Skullomania, there was something else that stood out with the EX series: the music.

All three of the EX games some of the best music I've heard in a fighting game, probably putting it second to the Soul Blade/Calibur titles. It's great stuff, ranging from slower tracks (mostly in EX 3) along with faster-paced tracks that, while energetic, aren't fast enough to have a predictable melody within them. And that's good, since as vairety is the spice of life, a healthy mixture of melancholy and energetic songs can be the spice for a lively soundtrack. A soundtrack where tracks like Ancient Zone and Before Moon can coexist.

Sure is a pity about the game it's attached to, even if it's better than that other Street Fighter game that I absolutely refused to discuss in the retrospective. Along with the new characters that were created in the series that are totally forgotten by so many. Oh, and of course the so-bad-they're-good endings.

When Street Fighter IV was announced and shown to be using a 3D graphics system, fans balked at the approach it was taking. While Capcom claimed that their intention was to capture fans sense of nostalgia, their memories were of the game being a 2D experience, hence the hassle. But Capcom's ambitions went further than that: they also wanted to bring back the audience that left after Street Fighter II Turbo. Fortunately, the results were good, but the initial fan reaction was understandable given the existence of Street Fighter EX.

Street Fighter EX was the franchise's first foray into 3D. Assumingly, Capcom didn't want to continue developing all of the sub-series in 2D, and decided to enlist the help of Arika to develop a new game using the Playstation's polygon pushing power. A pity about the actual game, though, which is pretty mediocre thanks to the game's loose controls, which make performing techniques and combos more difficult than they should be. Also, I don't think anyone wanted to see their favorite characters make the transition into blocky polygons. Thankfully, it looks better in motion, but that isn't enough to assuage the clunky feel of the game.

EX was also a host to a bunch of new characters, the majority of which were some of the most bizarre the series ever produced. Some of them were pretty normal, like Hokuto and Pullum (both of which I'd personally like to see in other games), but some were downright eye raising, like a dominatrix named Blair Dame, an entertainer in a skeleton suit named Skullomania (who's also memorable in his own right), and a man with a long wire and spikes embedded on his wrists named Doctrine Dark. The characters were mostly pretty interesting, much better than the game they were in.

The first EX title also had some bizarre endings. These were supposedly designed to give Tekken a run for its money with full CG endings only accompanied by music. They all either ranged from boring to embarrassingly awkward. Some of which are so awkward and comical that they qualify as nothing other than cheesy humor today, mainly because they're so out of character for Street Fighter.

To continue with the legacy, Street Fighter EX 2 released for the PSOne a few years after the first game. The good thing is that the graphics were smoothed over for this one, giving the character models a smoother feel. The gameplay? Oh, well it's still as clunky as the first game's. There are also a bunch of new characters, like Blair's sister Sharon, but none of them are as memorable as anyone introduced in the first game. Except for maybe Area, a nerdy-looking girl wearing roller skates and a mechanical arm. Yeah, bizarre. EX 2 is probably the best in the series, though that isn't saying much if the core game is still lacking.

Then came Street Fighter EX 3, which was...well, not really a sequel. This was a launch title for the Playstation 2 back in 2000, so naturally the game looked better than a PSOne game. It also featured a tag mode similar to Tekken Tag Tournament's. Again, the core game was the same, and there were no new characters added. EX 3 instead reuses characters from the previous installments, with a few omissions - one of which is fan-favorite Akuma, interestingly enough.

Street Fighter's first foray into 3D didn't go so well. On the other hand, it's probably good that these games were released, because Capcom could use it was a reference point for Street Fighter IV for what not to do with 3D space. Needless to say, they did it very well. So while Street Fighter EX is a viable historical reference point, it's still an unfortunate blight on Capcom, Arika, and the Street Fighter franchise.