When you discuss the soundtrack to the Streets of Rage series, one name is likely to crop up first: Yuzo Koshiro. The legendary composer behind the likes of Revenge of Shinobi, ActRaiser, Etrian Odyssey and more is indelibly connected with Sega's belt-scrolling series, and his studio, Ancient, was involved with the development of the second and third instalments, too.
However, what some people aren't aware of is the fact that Koshiro didn't compose the music for Streets of Rage 2 and Streets of Rage 3 alone; he collaborated with the incredibly talented Motohiro Kawashima, who would also return to contribute to Streets of Rage 4 alongside Koshiro. During his career in games, Kawashima worked on titles such as Batman Returns (SMS / Game Gear), Shinobi II (Game Gear), Eye of the Beholder (Sega CD) and Amazing Island (GC).
Kawashima was recently interviewed by Jonathan Tustain, and spoke about his regret that his work outside of Streets of Rage perhaps isn't as well known as he would like.
When asked if he was proud of the fact that his music is still discussed today, Kawashima replies:
I actually feel more disappointed than anything that many people are unaware of the game music I've created over the years. In some ways, I see it as a reflection of my own lack of effort in promoting my work. Mr. Koshiro at Ancient once told me that they couldn't afford to produce soundtracks due to profitability concerns.
Because of this, I’m now exploring ways to make my past works more accessible through online streaming services. I truly hope that when they become available, people will take the time to listen. To be honest, I probably haven’t received the recognition I’d like for the amount of game music I’ve composed, and I’d love for my work to be more widely appreciated.
Kawashima was also asked about the power of nostalgia when it comes to retro games and their soundtracks:
It’s surprising to see retro games make such a strong comeback. Nostalgia is a powerful and positive force—it carries an inevitable energy precisely because it can’t be predicted.
When it comes to music, in the ’90s, Mr. Koshiro and I set out to create listenable music using game sound sources. That’s why we never compromised—we composed game music with the sole aim of making something truly great. It may have taken 30 years for that effort to be fully recognized.
In that sense, I believe the same can be said for games themselves.
Streets of Rage 4 was also mentioned, with Kawashima stating that the process of working on the game was "enjoyable":
I approached it while considering what the SoR sound was all about. Since there was a significant gap between SoR 3 and SoR 4, I couldn't simply follow the style of SoR 2 and SoR 3.
Back then, Streets of Rage 2 and 3 incorporated cutting-edge music into game sounds. I realised that even if we were to incorporate today's cutting-edge music, it wouldn't satisfy people's expectations for the sound of Streets of Rage.
Therefore, I think we aimed for a ratio of about 80% nostalgia and 20% freshness.
You can read the full interview here.