It’s been a month or less since we’ve heard any developments from the upcoming sequel to Sega’s Streets of Rage/Bare Knuckle from Dotemu, Lizardcube, and Guard Crush Games. So it’s only apt that the latest from the trio of publishers and developers is focused on the heart and soul of the series: the music.

The game’s main composer is none other than Olivier Derivière, the same guy who did the music for one of last year’s finest game soundtracks A Plague Tale: Innocence.

The title will also include new contributions from Scattle (Hotline Miami 1 & 2), Das Mörtal (Hotline Miami 2), XL Middleton, and Groundislava. Yuzo Koshiro and Motohiro Kawashima, the OG composers of the series, will be contributing as guests.

Unfortunately, Jet Set Radio composer Hideki Naganuma will not be joining this eclectic list due to scheduling conflicts. But taking his place is legendary Capcom composer Harumi Fujita. Her works include  Mega Man 3, Final Fight, Strider, Chip n Dale Rescue Rangers, Bionic Commando, and a lot of arcade hits. We’ll be doing a SoundScape on her work next month, rest assured.

Check out the samples below courtesy of Dotemu’s SoundCloud page.

My Take?

I have to be honest here: it’s definitely different. The OST seems to be channelling neo-wave synth work in games like Katana Zero and the Hotline Miami series. And really, it’s the best way to pivot to instead of channelling the Eurodance movement of the 90s like Yuzo Koshiro did with his Streets of Rage music work.

If you’re expecting something from that era coming in full blast, you’re going to be very disappointed. However, if you come in with an open mind, you’ll find a lot of tunes that pay homage to the games while emanating their own style of current beats.