Ryu’s Street Fighter 6 Theme Is Straight Out Of Jet Set Radio

Music has always been a huge part of the Street Fighter series. Hell, you can’t even think about the 2001 arcade game Capcom Vs SNK 2 without the piano riff from This Is True Love We’re Making playing in your head. That shit slaps and it’s sounding like the folks over at Capcom are cooking up some more banger tunes in Street Fighter 6.

Today, the official Street Fighter YouTube page uploaded the new theme song for its “fighting hobo” Ryu called “Viator.” Although I’d skipped out on listening to the new themes for Luke and the lady-who-never-skips-leg-day, Chun-Li, something came over me today and I decided to give Ryu’s new bop a listen. Folks, I might just have to put down Juri Han and main Ryu in Street Fighter 6 because his new theme is straight heat.

It should come as no surprise that the longest theme (so far) would go to the series flagship character, but what I didn’t expect was for his theme to be funky as hell. I had to check my tabs to make sure I didn’t have 2 Mello’s music playing in the background by mistake. The flavor text in Ryu’s theme description wasn’t kidding when it said we’ll feel the journey he’s been on throughout the series and the energy SF6 has in store for him. I’d wager part of Ryu’s journey involved an excursion to Jet Set Radio’s Tokyo-to with how groovy “Viator” is.

In contrast to Ryu’s Street Fighter V theme, which had all the pomp and circumstance of a song that would play during the finale of a fantasy anime battle, “Viator” is more modern and upbeat, matching the color splash of graffiti imagery showcased in SF6’s parries and finishers.

“Viator’s” groovy hip hop record scratches intermingled with the euphoric roar of trumpets and licks from what I can assume is a shimasen harmoniously reflect Ryu’s countless battles across the globe while also giving you something to bounce your booty to while kicking people’s asses.

After replaying Ryu’s theme several times today, I started to chuckle at the parental advisory warning at the start of the video viewers that “may contain content inappropriate for children.” Though Ryu’s theme isn’t quite “baby-making music,” it’s pretty close. Let’s just hope for Sakura’s sake Capcom doesn’t put her in SF6 because lord knows what’ll happen if she’s on the opposite end of Ryu’s new theme.