Astra Superstars is a wonderfully eccentric 2D fighting game developed by Sunsoft for arcades and Saturn in 1998, and its soundtrack is every bit as colorful and offbeat as its cast of magical anime fighters. "Welcome to Astra World" sets the stage with an inviting, fantastical energy, while "Trust your Stars" on the character select screen builds anticipation with the kind of catchy, upbeat melody that made late-90s arcade lobbies so inviting.
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Each character gets both a stage opening jingle and a full battle theme, giving the roster a sense of personality that many fighting games of the era lacked. The character themes are delightfully varied and perfectly tailored to their fighters.
"Wandering Lightning Speed" for Lettuce's stage crackles with electric energy, while "Angel Star" for Maron brings a more ethereal, heavenly quality. "Memory of a Sleepy Forest" for Stella's stage is dreamy and atmospheric, contrasting sharply with the explosive "Arcane!
Enmagougouzan" that accompanies Sakamoto's stage with over-the-top mystical intensity. "Present from the Country of Ice" for Rouge delivers chilly elegance, and "Welcome to Onion Country" for Coco is as charmingly absurd as its name suggests.
This is peak late-90s Sunsoft, a studio that always had a knack for punchy, memorable game audio. The individual stage openings before each fight add a theatrical flair that makes every match feel like an event, and "Warcry of a Brave War" brings appropriately epic energy.
For fans of obscure 90s fighting games and the Saturn's underappreciated library, Astra Superstars' soundtrack is a joyful discovery that captures the magic of a more whimsical era in the genre.