Recommended Soundtracks: Street Fighter EX 3

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?