Even though there had been rumors for a few weeks, actually seeing Ryu in Super Smash Bros. rekindled something in my heart. I didn’t think I’d be so excited about it, but…I am.

I’ve talked in earlier versions of these posts about how influential these theme was in developing my enjoyment of video game music. I’ve probably told the “listened to it on loop in the sound test menu while I did my homework” story five times by now. But I bring it up again as a way to measure my anticipation for downloading Ryu (and in Shaun’s case, Roy) into Smash later today.

As an added bonus, Yoko Shimomura (who had other themes in SSB as well) included a brand-new remix of the original track for Ryu’s stage. It’s included below too. It’s a cool take on music that she first composed almost 25 years ago. By the way, that’s a horrifying concept when you really think about it. I’m old and probably on death’s door.

Ryu looks like he was meticulously put together, and I’m looking forward to putting him to the test against Smash’s ever-increasing roster.

Street Fighter II/Super Smash Bros. – Ryu’s Theme

And for good measure…

Music to My Ears covers soundtracks or individual songs from video games. You can view all posts in the series by clicking here.