Overview

The widespread success of Fatal Fury Special led SNK to produce a two-part arranged album series. Featuring arrangements of all the character themes from the score, these albums preserved the concept of the gameplay and inspiration behind the original music. Nevertheless, they often enhanced them by incorporating richer stylings and live instruments. The second arranged album features ten more character themes and an original image song.

Body

Once again, Mai Shiranui's theme headlines the album. However, this time the arrangers focuses on the Japanese origins of the character, rather than her idol status. As a result, listeners are given a traditional instrumental arrangement rather than another obnoxious vocal tracks. The kokyu and shakuhachi performances are especially beautiful here. Traditional Japanese soloists do a wonderful job capturing the calm nature of legendary master Tung Fu Rue. It's almost a pity that the pop elements from the original had to be carried over too. Less desirable is Joe Higashi's arrangement, which sounds frantic and overblown from start to finish. Shifting from the Asian focus, there's also a folksy accordion-based arrangement of Andy Bogard's theme "Pasta" here. Like the original, it's admittedly a strange fit for the American character, but catchy and charismatic nevertheless.

Like the predecessor, the album is otherwise dominated by rock arrangements. Kim Kaphwan's theme is a pleasant contrast to the harder, meaner performances on the previous album. The bright melody is emphasised on synthesizers against some very punchy backing, while the solos are an enjoyable supplement. Ryo Sakazaki's theme is given one of its best renditions to date. Yasumasa Yamada achieves a perfect when portraying this secret boss encounter, blending Western and Eastern elements, intense sections with heroic moods. "Duck Dub Dub" is definitely the most rhythmically compelling remix here, but it's also the most cheesy. It has even stronger 'pump it up' vibes than the original. The team reserve the hardest sounds for Fatal Fury's final boss, Geese Howard. The rock performance offers few surprises, but will still satisfy those looking for a classic 'gamey' rock track.

There are a few unnecessay additions that spoil the album. Most significantly, the opener is another rendition of Terry Bogard's "Kurikinton" that is practically identical to the arrangement featured on the first image album. The arrangement is a fantastic expansion on a mediocre original, but it certainly didn't need to be featured twice. What a way to emphasise that a second album wasn't necessary! The release ends with the original image song for Fatal Fury Special, "Non Stop! One Way Love", also featured in a separate single. Given it was conceived as an idol song, it does exactly what it was supposed to do and sounds far less contrived than the arrangement of Mai's theme on the previous release. That said, it will still only appeal to select audiences, with its youthful vocalist, happy-go-lucky melody, and vapid arrangement.

Summary

This image album is on par with its predecessor. While the material ranges in quality, the instrumental arrangements are generally well-produced and expand successfully on the originals. That said, Pony Canyon could have easily combined the two image albums into a single encompassing release. This release is best reserved for hardcore collectors.