Overview

The Street Fighter II Complete File is a package that commemorated the smash hit Street Fighter II: The World Warrior. It included an 80 page booklet documenting the history of Street Fighter II and a 21 track compact disc featuring the game's music. The album is mostly a compilation of sound profiles for the game's characters; these feature the original character themes in conjunction with the voice and sound effects used during the game. However, the album also features a number of exclusive arrangements too, namely of five character themes and the rarely arranged opening and ending. There are a few other surprising items within. Is this a recommended purchase for Street Fighter II fans?

Body

Street Fighter II Complete File features full-length renditions of all 12 character themes. They're essentially the same sound quality as the music featured in the Arcade's Street Fighter II: The World Warrior. The album is nicely structured to feature similar character themes in succession. It moves from the motivating anthems for Ryu, Ken, and Guile to the quirky tunes for Zangief, Dhalsim, and Blanka to the Asian-inspired compositions for Chun-Li and E. Honda. The original section concludes with the unforgettable themes of the Four Devas. However, the enjoyment of can be lessened by the use of in-game voice and sound effects during each sound profile. Some features add a bit of nostalgia and individuality such as the announcements of the character's countries at the start of each each piece. However, the increasingly prominent use of voices and sound effects as each sound profile progresses usually distracts from the music. Once the initial shock of hearing Hadokens in Ryu's theme is over, the overlays tend to be tolerable but still undesirable. Their very inclusion seems to defy the purpose of compilations of original game music — the opportunity to hear the original music without interruptions.

A surprising but welcome feature to the album are arranged tracks interspersed between the sound profiles. It wasn't possible to include arrangements of all character themes given the playtime limitations of the disc, but most of the best are here. Some of the track order is unusual, since the first arrangement to be heard is for Vega's theme, but that can be forgiven; after all, Vega's melody is my very favourite of the Street Fighter II repertoire and is nicely preserved in this faithful rendition with the occasional guitar solo. The arrangement is of similar low sound quality to the Street Fighter II Image Album yet not as ambitious. However, fear not as Guile's theme is given a more creative arrangement that simultaneously emphasises his fighting spirit while portraying the industrial theme of his stage. The Street Fighter II veterans also appear — Ken is given a power-rock arrangement with even some growling saxophone solos while Ryu gets a synthpop arrangement with a rocking interlude. Both are well done, but Ken is probably the highlight of the disc. Strangely Zangief appears too with a suitably groovy and goofy mix. Not the most ambitious arrangements, but a very nice bonus!

But that's not all! There are arrangements of the so-called subsidiary themes on the album too. Much like its Image Album counterpart, the album opens up with an interpretation of "Theme of World Warriors". It captures the spirit of the day with light rock riffs and some extravagant saxophone passages. Of all arrangements of the theme, this one will probably make you feel the best! Moving to the end of the soundtrack, the original ending themes are tastefully clustered together into an easy to skip five minute compilation. The "Special Remix Medley" samples passages from each character theme and each character's voice effects above hip-hop grooves. It's impressive how many tunes and sounds are cleverly blended into one medley, though the endless 'uhhs' from a male rapper in the background can be quite annoying. Still, it serves as a nice nostalgic reprise. Finally, "Ready to Fight!" is an arrangement of the staff roll theme. Though I've never cared for the vanilla original, this version captures all the inner fun and excitement. The saxophone arrangement and performance, while derivative, is far more accomplished than essentially all other Street Fighter II arrangements featuring the abused instrument.

Summary

The Street Fighter II Complete File is an enjoyable and nostalgic trip back to Street Fighter II. The original themes are classics, the arrangements are well done, and there are quite a lot of pleasant and not so pleasant surprises within. However, there is little featured on this album that makes it a must-have purchase. Cluttered with sound and voice effects, the original section is bettered by essentially all other Street Fighter II arranged compilations out there. As for the arrangements, there are more comprehensive and creative arranged albums out there such as the Street Fighter II Image Album and Hyper Street Fighter II Remix Tracks. Nonetheless, this album is a nice piece of Street Fighter II memorabilia and should be a satisfying purchase for hardcore fans of the game.