The sheer enthusiasm of Leo Birenberg and Zach Robinson’s bombastically electric guitar-led score for Street Fighter is a thing to behold by itself, so that combined with a killer ’90s-styled orchestral/electronic sound and countless references to iconic themes makes it so worth a listen.
I’d like to preface this review by saying that I know very little about the music for the Street Fighter games, so bear with me. In fact, I wasn’t actually going to review this soundtrack – for the 2026 movie adaptation of the aforementioned games, directed by Kitao Sakurai – at all, that is, until the other day when I heard Leo Birenberg and Zack Robinson’s absolutely fantastic music for it. That changed my mind pretty swiftly, and you’ll see pretty quickly why; the thirty nine track album begins with “FIGHT!”, and right off the bat an impeccably ’90s, rock and hip hop-infused orchestral style leaps ferociously into centre stage; emphatically bombastic electronic beats thud intensely against a throbbing electric guitar, with a catchy new theme – presumably the ‘movie’ theme for Street Fighter – then leaping heroically into frame from the forty five second mark. It’s kind of like Daft Punk’s unapologetically upbeat theme for TRON: Legacy in tone, though its cheery mood does fade briefly as the grandiose instrumental ensemble then gives way to eerily low-pitched vocals hinting towards villainy at the cue’s midpoint. It isn’t long though before this too ends, with the ever-triumphant main theme striding boldly back in to elevate the mood once more and crashing percussion crescendoing the two and a half minute opening track to its finish.
“Chun-Li: Woman Of Vengeance” whistles ethereally with Asian-style woodwinds and plucky, rather hopeful electric beats bopping happily along, harkening I think – if my Street Fighter research of the past couple weeks hasn’t failed me – back to the character’s theme from the games themselves, particularly the style of Street Fighter II. “M. Bison” then does a similar thing, with strings plucking away at a very videogame-y style hinting toward the character’s game theme before Birenberg and Robinson’s new main theme for the movie strides determinedly into frame towards the end on brass. The head-nodding “Combat News” then thunders enthusiastically with an electric guitar surging atop echoingly emphatic drums for much of its runtime, until a powerfully vocal rendition of the main theme then closes out the cue. After a rather wistful, woodwind-focused piece of serenity in “Ryu: Lost Champion”, a standout moment arrives with the phenomenally bombastic “Guile’s Theme”; even I recognised the tune behind this particular Street Fighter game homage, it’s that iconic, and the composers give it an absolutely impeccable tribute here as everything instrumentally is brought to the forefront and goes ham. Pounding electronic beats, a soaring electric guitar, crashingly enthusiastic drums, a delightfully game-y sound and of course the theme itself crash along at a fervent pace throughout this incredible track, and if you’re not smiling by the end of it – you might want to listen to it again.
Roaring surges of angry choir are central through “Gouken’s Fate” with anxious orchestra backing, before a colder sound overtakes with the moody “Interpol” as dissonant electronics and vocals menacingly take the forefront. “1993 World Warrior Showdown” then simmers with dramatic apprehension as electronic beats echo with growing tension, though it doesn’t take long for that deafening ’90s-style instrumental enthusiasm to return, first with the boppily upbeat “Ken vs Balrog” as the twinklingly electronic side of the score absolutely shines, and then with the frenetic “Jailbreak” as surgingly heroic synth roars together with head bopping beats and thudding metal guitar until Ryu’s theme from the games triumphantly crashes out the track. The tense fighting sound from “1993 World Warrior Showdown” then returns in imposing electronic form in “KEN VS RYU”, intermixing with louder, more anxious orchestra until the eerily malevolent vocals from earlier return in “Akuma’s Arrival”. The action finale of the score then arrives with “The Final Awakening” and “Hadoken!”, with the former pitching ’90s-styled synth and electric guitar in tense orchestral battle with said vocals, and the latter reprising the main theme on triumphant synth and drums. Final and Standout Cue “The Fight Continues!” is then a delightful love letter to the classic ’90s fighting game sound with upbeat piano, electric guitar and rock stylings happily abound, with a particularly grandiose rendition of the main theme closing out the five minute cue.
Overall, Leo Birenberg and Zach Robinson’s score for the 2026 Street Fighter movie harkens back to the synthy gaming soundscape of the ’90s with spirited enthusiasm, and that’s only scratching the surface of this album’s sheer style. Rocking a well-crafted tonal intermix of that delightfully ’90s game atmosphere and bombastically in-your-face metal, said synth is joined by explosive electronic beats, pounding drums and roaring brass underpinning the absolute stylistic star of the show, an emphatically thunderous electric guitar – and the way all these instruments then leap triumphantly together across the entire score is a thing to behold just on its own. The composers then utilise this impeccable intermix for a wide range of head-nodding, catchy tracks – and that’s when we get to the actual Street Fighter part of all this. In the lead of this ninety minute soundtrack is a determinedly heroic ‘movie’ theme of the composers’ own creation (heard best through opening cue “FIGHT!” as well as the standout “The Fight Continues!”), and accompanying it are an absolute abundance of entertaining thematic references to the games themselves, most notably in the style of Street Fighter II. “Guile’s Theme” is the best of the bunch there, with the crashing grandeur of the iconic character motif bringing all the above instruments and styles together for an absolute standout moment, and other references to Chun-Li and Ryu (“Jailbreak”) will likely make this score well worth checking out for a Street Fighter fan.
I myself hadn’t heard much of the music for the Street Fighter games prior to this soundtrack (other than the iconic Guile’s Theme) but after loving it, I might have to check some out.
Score: 7.5/10
Standout Cues: Guile’s Theme, The Fight Continues!
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