NACL-1225: TEKKEN2 STRIKE FIGHTING Vol.1

[Chris]

Can anybody confirm whether individual composer credits were given for the Tekken 2 Strike Fighting soundtracks? I'd assume not based on how the credits are presented, but thought I'd check.

[Cedille]

If you can believe it, the booklet has only the track by track commentaries from the game characters and 9-pages dialogue between them. Screw Namco.

[Nisto]

Are there no Japanese title for this one? Same goes for Vol. 2.

[Mac_Tear]

A shame there aren't any credits about the arrangers who did which tracks... the same goes for Vol. 2

[drdevilfx]

According to this tweet, Sano only arranged "The Headshaker" (not surprising at all), "Ring a Bell", "Two Different Sides" and "Hit Out".

According to this series of tweets, Sasaki arranged "Emotionless Passion", although we still don't know what else he did.

According to this page, Saso may have arranged "Eastern Dance" and/or "The Place, 1997" (judging by how she says something along the lines of "I think it was for the stage of a Jackie Chan-like character", although I used Google Translate soooooo...).

As for Aihara: he did "Rhythm of China" judging by how the second half of "Martial Master -Billy's Remix-" sounds pretty close to it. Hosoe may have also did "It Makes Me Higher" due to its similarities with the other Chicago theme rearrangement "Night in Chicago".

That's pretty much all I could find regarding the arrangement credits. If anyone else is curious enough you could try contacting the arrangers.

[drdevilfx]

So I found a page on Aihara's site where he confirms doing "Rhythm of China", "More Vigorously!", "Surprising Truth", "Paul's Miracle Deathfist" and "Go! Go! Go", along with the opening theme on Tekken 1 which is only present on the iTunes re-release. He also recalls doing more arrangements but can't remember which.

[Jheop]

Sorry, I meant to post the second set of scans that got uploaded to this album instead for the album "NACL-1229"

https://vgmdb.net/album/1060

[Carl]

Jheop, I moved the set of Vol.2 scans over to NACL-1229 now, thanks.

[BlazingAbyss]

As mentioned in the album notes, several tracks from the console version of Tekken were recycled for the console version of Tekken 2, they are as follows:

Tekken 2 Strike Fighting Vol. 1
06: MADE OF STONE = Windermere, U.K.
07: Rhythm of China = Sichuan, China
12: More Energy! = Fiji
15: The Waves You Saw = Name Entry
16: Unexpected Truth = Venezia, Italy
17: MARCH TO THE COLUMNS = Acropolis, Greece
22: ALMOST FROZEN = King George Island, Antarctica
24: Ancient Temple CBD = Angkor Wat, Cambodia

Tekken 2 Strike Fighting Vol. 2
06: It Makes Me Higher = Chicago, U.S.A.
12: All things are in flux and nothing is permanent = Kyoto, Japan
20: Hit Out = Marine Stadium, Japan
21: Here is the Point of No Return = Monument Valley, U.S.A.

• These titles are likely named in reference to their use in Tekken 1 rather than Tekken 2. "ALMOST FROZEN" refers to the freezing temperatures of Antarctica, "MARCH TO THE COLUMNS" refers to the Acropolis of Athens, etc. This is also supported by how the recycled tracks are specifically listed in association with their Tekken 1 stages in the music comments. For example, "Hit Out" is listed as being for the Stadium rather than the Grand Canyon, "ALMOST FROZEN" is listed as being for Antarctica rather than the Taj Mahal, etc.

• "Unexpected Truth" is not used anywhere in Tekken 2.

• The "CBD" in "Ancient Temple CBD" is short for "Cambodia."

Also, for whatever reason, some of the PlayStation version titles were changed in later releases (NBGI-0012, LMLP031, Tekken Tag Tournament 2, Tekken 7 & Tekken 8.) The only track that used this naming scheme on the original release was "Silent Assassin -cool headed mix."

A Man of Artificiality → Jack-2 (Industrial Drum Edition)
Eastern Dance → Beak Doo San (Double Drumming Mix)
Two Different Sides → Marshall Law (Japanese Traditional Techno Mix)
Nobody Catch Me → Michelle Chang (4PS Re-Arrange)
Morning Field → Jun Kazama (Super Ecology Mix)

[BlazingAbyss]

I've been thinking about some of the more strangely worded titles on the Tekken 2 Strike Fighting albums and trying to determine what their indented reading was supposed to be. I wonder if any of the composers might recall what exactly they were trying to say in English, assuming that they were even responsible for naming them in the first place that is.

Tekken 2 Strike Fighting Vol. 1

01 A Man of Artificiality
This track is used in Jack-2's stage, Akihabara. I don't think that there's anything wrong with this title from a technical standpoint, but the phrasing does sound kind of strange. Perhaps they were just trying to say "Artificial Man?"

08. Cut in the Memories
This track is heard in Kunimitsu's ending which depicts her cutting through a stone with Yoshimitsu's sword. I'm under the impression that it's supposed to be "Cut/Cutting Through the Memories." The aforementioned stone looks like it might be a grave marker (possibly Yoshimitsu's?) so that might be what the "memories" are referring to. It's also possible that that they actually meant to say "memorial" rather than "memories."

10. Dream a Way
This track is used in Baek Doo San's ending. It's most likely supposed to be "Dream Away" since the ending depicts Baek fondly reminiscing about his father.

25. Nobody Catch Me
This track is used in Michelle Chang's stage, the Sonoran Desert. The title would make sense if it's meant to refer to Michelle jumping off of something, but there's nothing about the character or her stage that would make me think that's the case. I'm inclined to believe that they meant to say "Nobody Can Catch Me," possibly in reference to her moniker, the "Wandering Fighter." It could also be in reference to how Heihachi, Kunimitsu and later Kazuya were all after her because they wanted her pendant.

Tekken 2 Strike Fighting Vol. 2

06. It Makes Me Higher
This track is recycled from the first game and was originally used in the Chicago stage, in the second game it's used in Lee's stage, the Launch Pad. I don't think that there's technically anything wrong with this outside of it sounding a little unusual. I can't find any examples of this particular phrase being used anywhere else outside of the song "It Makes Me Higher" by The Other Ones. It's possible that they might have meant "It Takes Me Higher," but it's hard to say for sure. Oddly enough, the title actually seems more fitting for the Tekken 2 stage considering the presence of a spaceship. However, the album's booklet specifically lists the track in association with the Chicago stage, so I can only assume that it's in reference to how it's set on top of a rooftop with a clear view of the Chicago skyline.

09. A Calm Before a Storm
There technically isn't anything wrong with this one, but I'm under the impression that they meant to say "Calm Before the Storm" like the English idiom.

17 Winner's
This track is used in Ganryu's ending. I can only assume that it's supposed to be "Winner" or that part of the title is missing as there is no follow-up to the possessive noun. If part of the title is missing then my best guess would be that it was meant to be "Winner's Picture/Portrait/Painting," since the scene with Ganryu transitions to an image of him, presumably one taken or made to commemorate his victory.

20. Hit Out
This track is recycled from the first game and was originally used in the Marine Stadium stage, in the second game it's used in Bruce Irvin's stage, the Grand Canyon. However, the album's booklet specifically lists the track in association with the Stadium stage. Considering that it's specifically a baseball stadium, I think that there's a good chance that it's actually supposed to be "Strikeout." "Strike" and "hit" are synonymous terms so I can see how that could have been lost in translation. It's also possible that that they were trying to say something like "Hit Out of the Park."

22. Ring A Bell
This track is used in King's stage, the Church Sanctuary. There technically isn't anything wrong with this one, but I'm under the impression that they meant to say "Ring the Bell." King is a pro-wrestler, so I believe that the title is specifically referring to the bell heard at the start and end of a wrestling match.

24. BE IN THE MIRROR
This track is used in Devil/Angel's stage, Mirror Darkness. I'm under the impression that it's supposed to be "Inside the Mirror" since to "be in" something is to be "inside" of it. The stage itself looks to be set inside of a mirror, so that may lend some credence to this interpretation.

28. Landscape Under The Ghost -KAMINANO
Does anyone have any idea what exactly "Kaminano" is supposed to mean? "Nano" is a way of ending sentences, so if "kami" in this context is 'god' it might roughly be something like "I'm a god." However, even then there's no subject there besides "kami." Nano is more akin to just stating a fact, and since Japanese is so context-based, there's really not much to go off of, it's basically just "god." Even then, if I recall correctly, "nano" is a very childish way of ending sentences, so I highly doubt that's right at all.

[Phonograph]

maybe a contraction of 神(かみ)を名乗(なの)る

[fusoxide]

Originally Posted by BlazingAbyss

A Man of Artificiality → Jack-2 (Industrial Drum Edition)
Eastern Dance → Beak Doo San (Double Drumming Mix)
Two Different Sides → Marshall Law (Japanese Traditional Techno Mix)
Nobody Catch Me → Michelle Chang (4PS Re-Arrange)
Morning Field → Jun Kazama (Super Ecology Mix)

Still intrigued by these digital re-release titles. I wonder if these were Namco's titles before NEC Avenue renamed them all? They feel much more like titles that would appear for bonus remixes on Victor CDs. If only Victor had published the OST instead of NEC Avenue, who didn't even bother to provide a composer/arranger breakdown! I also understand what they were trying to do (order and rename the tracks to make it feel like a cohesive album experience), but ultimately I think that just makes things more confusing to most people, especially with the track list hopping between stage, ending and menu themes.

[BlazingAbyss]

Originally Posted by Phonograph

maybe a contraction of 神(かみ)を名乗(なの)る

That seems plausible. By the way, do you by chance have any thoughts regarding the English titles they used and if they might have been written incorrectly? If so, what do you think they were trying to say? I wish that they had either written them in Japanese instead or just included Japanese titles alongside the English ones so that they could have been more easily deciphered.

Originally Posted by fusoxide

Still intrigued by these digital re-release titles. I wonder if these were Namco's titles before NEC Avenue renamed them all? They feel much more like titles that would appear for bonus remixes on Victor CDs. If only Victor had published the OST instead of NEC Avenue, who didn't even bother to provide a composer/arranger breakdown! I also understand what they were trying to do (order and rename the tracks to make it feel like a cohesive album experience), but ultimately I think that just makes things more confusing to most people, especially with the track list hopping between stage, ending and menu themes.

I was wondering that too. Sadly, even if they are the original titles, there's still no telling what the original PS titles for Heihachi, Yoshimitsu, Paul, Lei or Kings' themes were supposed to be. It would have been easier if they just did what they did with the digital release of the PS Tekken track titles and just added "(PS Version)" to them. It's strange too because why did they only change those titles on subsequent releases, but not any of the others? Are the titles for the PS exclusive tracks the original Namco titles? What about "Emotionless Passion?" The arcade version was titled "Kazuya -Devil Kazuya-" on VICL-15050, so why wasn't it changed to something like "Kazuya (*blank* Mix/Edition/Arrange)" on later releases like the other 5 character themes?

I decided to put together a list of what the titles might have looked like had they been released by Victor instead. With that said, there's a few tracks that I can't really account for. Tracks 1.04, 2.04, 2.09 2.10, 2.13, 2.14 and 2.18 are the PS versions of tracks that were originally featured on the arcade release of Tekken 2, but there's no way to know for sure what they would have called those mixes specifically. Similarly, since tracks 1.03, 2.01, 2.24, 2.17 and 2.28 are exclusive to the PS version there's no means of knowing if these titles were given to them by Namco or if NEC Avenue named them and then Namco simply continued to use those titles, but not the ones for Jack-2, Baek, Michelle, Law and Jun's themes for some unknown reason.

Spoiler:

Tekken 2 Strike Fighting Vol. 1
01 Jack-2 (Industrial Drum Edition)
02 Jack-2's Ending
*03 Black Winter Night Sky
*04 Heihachi Mishima (???)
05 Heihachi's Ending
06 Windermere, U.K. (PS Version)
07 Sichuan, China (PS Version)
08 Anna's Ending
09 Baek Doo San (Double Drumming Mix)
10 Baek's Ending
11 Armor King's Ending
12 Fiji (PS Version)
13 Alex's Ending
14 Roger's Ending)
15 Name Entry (PS Version)
16 Venezia, Italy (PS Version)
17 Acropolis, Greece (PS Version)
18 Bruce's Ending
19 P. Jack's Ending
20 Marshall Law (Japanese Traditional Techno Mix)
21 Law's Ending
22 King George Island, Antarctica (PS Version)
23 Wang's Ending
24 Angkor Wat, Cambodia (PS Version)
25 Michelle Chang (4PS Re-Arrange)
26 Michelle's Ending
27 Jun Kazama (Super Ecology Mix)
28 Jun's Ending

Tekken 2 Strike Fighting Vol. 2
*01 Are You Ready?
02 Nina Williams (Cool Headed Mix)
03 Nina's Ending
*04 Yoshimitsu (???)
05 Yoshimitsu's Ending
06 Chicago, U.S.A. (PS Version)
07 Lee's Ending
08 Kunimitsu's Ending
*09 Attract Movie (???)
*10 Paul Phoenix (???)
11 Paul's Ending
12 Kyoto, Japan (PS Version)
13 Mid-Boss (???)
*14 Lei Wulong (???)
15 Lei's Ending
16 Kuma's Ending
17 Ganryu's Ending
*18 Emotionless Passion
19 Kazuya's Ending
20 Marine Stadium, Japan (PS Version)
21 Monument Valley, U.S.A. (PS Version)
*22 King (???)
23 King's Ending
*24 Be in the Mirror
25 Devil's Ending
26 Angel's Ending
*27 Go! Go! Go!
*28 Landscape Under the Ghost - Kaminano