The intro theme 'A Fist for a Fist' is surprisingly accessible as a standalone theme and his two remaining entries, 'Fetus' and 'Lights', are both convincing and addicting to listen to as prologue and final results themes, respectively. 'Touch and Go' is a whimsical tune that, while initially free-spirited and almost chiptune-esque, offers a melody that hovers in major key territory before dipping into occasional bouts of dissonance. Mixing upbeat, upright jazz basslines with distorted vocal samples and low-res organ licks, Kosaki has created a piece that's both practical and catchy great background msuic for a fun two-player fight with a friend. Speaking of bitcrushing, Kosaki's 'Bit Crusher' is a great example of his sweet fusion techniques. His other main entry, 'Mob', features some great bitcrushed guitarlines and melodies that give the listener something to hum long after the track is over. However, his true achievements shine through with entries like the bass-heavy breakbeat of 'The Strongest Iron Arena' and the ethereal 'Fear', the latter of which sounds closer to something that belongs on Disc Two of the Unlimited SaGa Original Soundtrack than a Tekken soundtrack with 'Fear', Toyama layers light synth swells under a deliberately paced percussive loop and various airy sound effects to create a beautiful and slightly unsettling track. Toyama's 'Uninhibited' is reminscent of his work on Tag given its driving bass and light techno beat. The blend of Toyama's electro-action themes, Kosaki's eccentric fusion, and Miyake's bizarre, vocoded, and almost Katamari-esque themes coalesce into a triple tag team of styles that takes the series on an unexpected hard right turn after traveling down a fairly straight road for the previous iterations in the franchise. While they all had their chance to contribute to Tekken Tag, Tekken 4 is where they really had the opportunity to shine brightly as their individual compositional styles hinted at on Tag come to full fruition here.

The three main composers for Tekken 4 are the three relatively new faces from Tekken Tag Tournament: Akitaka Toyama, Satoru Kosaki, and Yu Miyake. This isn't just fighting game music with a twist this is video game music knocked over, stood on its head ,and spun around into a euphoric state of progressive electronic bliss. Headed by a few unconventional composers and chock full of unconventional music for a fighting game, Tekken 4 is a wonderful exhibit of what greatness can come from breaking the mold and presenting something completely unexpected in an arena where straight-up techno and rock rule supreme. If Tekken Tag Tournament can be considered the end of the first chapter in the series, then Tekken 4 is the beginning of an entirely new segment in the series' musical progression. Tekken 4 Original Soundtrack :: Review by Zane

Tekken 4 sound track