The Neo Geo's sound chip doing traditional Japanese instrumentation in 1993 was absolutely wild. Samurai Shodown set the template for what a weapons-based fighter should sound like, and nobody topped it for years. Song of Men (Sun) for Haohmaru has that iconic tension, just this stoic koto line that makes every slash feel deliberate.
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Nature's Banquet flips the mood completely with Nakoruru's theme, bright and almost playful. Shadow for Hanzo goes full stealth-mode darkness. And then Tuna exists, which is Galford's surfer-energy theme named after a fish and it somehow works perfectly.
The way this score bounces between serene calm and explosive violence mirrors the gameplay itself. Essential listening for anyone who loves 90s SNK.