Art of Fighting 2 is the peak of SNK's AoF trilogy, and its Neo Geo soundtrack is a masterclass in early-90s fighting game music that often gets overlooked in favor of its flashier cousin, Fatal Fury. The SNK Sound Team delivered character themes that are as distinctive as the fighters themselves -- "The Horse and Me" for Ryo Sakazaki has that earnest, martial arts movie energy that defined the Kyokugen karate school, while "SWING THE HOUSE" for Robert Garcia goes in a completely different direction with a funky, jazz-inflected groove befitting the rich Italian playboy.
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The character theming is what really elevates this soundtrack above typical fighting game fare. "Chinese Old Man -NEO ASIAN MIX-" for Lee Pai Long leans into traditional Asian instrumentation filtered through the Neo Geo's iconic sound hardware, and "Gang" for Jack Turner delivers the kind of menacing, street-tough energy that SNK did better than almost anyone.
"Pumpkin and Clown" for King is a personal favorite -- a sophisticated, slightly mysterious piece that matches her enigmatic persona perfectly. Beyond the fight music, the production details show real care. The split between "Ferrari Man" as Robert's start demo and "SWING THE HOUSE" as his actual battle theme gives the presentation a cinematic quality, as do Mickey Rogers's paired tracks "Towards Glory" and "Prelude to Glory."
Even the bonus game music and the success/failure jingles have character. Art of Fighting 2 pushed the Neo Geo hardware to deliver one of the best-sounding fighting games of 1994, and this soundtrack stands as proof that SNK's composers were operating at an incredibly high level during the arcade golden age.