What makes all this so special?
This is the first official Fan-made soundtrack ever.
Even better: it’s FREE.
Most importantly though: it's very good.
OC remix had already done a tribute album to Street Fighter and this got Capcom’s attention. With the HD remix they were looking to restyle and introduce this awesome game to a new generation and recapture the older crowd. Not only did they have the characters hand drawn by UDON (responsible for the run of the Street Fighter comic) but figure in OC Remix as well and that’s a very nice revamp from the original. I got an e-mail letting me know about this album and immediately went to download it. Mostly it was out of curiosity that got me to do that, but once it finished up I burned it to CD and listened to it walking to work one day … well, all my co-workers got a copy for the holidays after that. Not just because most of us had played Street Fighter II but because it is just that good.
All the music got excellent treatment, solid revision into the modern era while holding very true to the original style and everything that made the games groove so great to begin with. Ken’s Stage is one of my favorites, with its extremely infectious beat and rock ‘n roll sound. Still, with the treatment each part of the musical score got, that’s a hard call for favorites. The soundtrack totals at 66 tracks, covering the opening demo, two versions of each stage (one regular and one fast for heavy damage), music for each of the characters endings (Ex. Ken, for his regular finish and one for his wedding). All of it well done and though I have yet to be to play the Street Fighter II HD Remix I can see it fitting into the revamp seamlessly. Each part got its own treatment as appropriate and the results of this collaboration are frankly outstanding. The fine people who put the time and effort into creating this album deserve every last bit of credit for their work.