Hi friends!
I decided to write this article not as a “journalist” with Wikipedia open, but as someone who truly lived this game since the late ’90s.
I had my beloved “gray” PS1, and among my discs was the one — Tekken 3.
And while the fights, characters, and graphics were mind-blowing back then, the music… the music became something much bigger for me.
I want to share why the Tekken 3 soundtrack is still one of the best in the series - and in all games of that era.
How It All Began: Who Created This Magic?
The music was crafted by the incredible Namco Sound Team, namely:
• Nobuyoshi Sano (Sano) - already an electronic music experimenter at the time.
• Hidenori Shoji - yes, the same guy who would later compose for Yakuza.
• Keiichi Okabe - his work on Nier would later become legendary.
• Hiroshi Okubo
• Yu Miyake
Even then, Namco had more than just “in-house composers” - they had truly wild and brilliant people who decided, quite seriously, to make a fighting game soundtrack that sounded like dirty club rave music.
The Sound: Streets, Clubs, and Fights
If Tekken 2’s music leaned more toward “action movie” and orchestral vibes, Tekken 3 suddenly dropped an entire collection of electronic, techno, breakbeat, house, and rock on us.
And it didn’t feel weird - quite the opposite, it felt like stepping into a dark club, walking the streets of Tokyo, or fighting in an open-air tournament.
The tracks matched the arenas and characters perfectly:
• Jin’s stage — mysterious, even unsettling breakbeat.
• Eddy’s beach — house with a splash of samba.
• King’s stadium — hard rock with synths.
• Urban stages — grim and rhythmic, like a megacity at night.
And that authenticity was everything — you could feel the atmosphere of the fight and the place.
Why Is It the Best? Why Do People Still Listen 25 Years Later?
Because:
• It was bold in 1997, a fighting game with this kind of sound blew our minds and delivered huge emotions.
• It was memorable even now, the themes are easy to recall.
• It fit the visuals perfectly not just background music, but an essential part of the experience.
• It was ahead of its time many tracks still sound modern today.
And you know what’s most important? These tracks are full of soul.
They weren’t made from a template or just to tick a box - they’re tracks you want to put on vinyl and just listen.
Discs, Releases, and Collector’s Dreams
I still remember stumbling across a pirated CD labeled “Tekken 3 OST” at a flea market in Kyiv in the early 2000s.
I was over the moon and listened to it on my Sony Discman D-E441.
Only later did I find out that the official releases were actually:
• In Japan: Tekken 3 Original Soundtrack (1998) - CD with the arcade versions.
• Also in Japan: Tekken 3 Arcade Soundtrack - pure arcade sound, no remixes.
• In Europe and the US, there were hardly any official CDs, but tons of bootlegs.
• Today you can find them on Discogs or eBay, sometimes even on vinyl.
Arcade vs. PS1: What’s the Difference?
One of the coolest “Easter eggs” for fans:
In the arcade version, the music sounded simpler and more raw — the Namco System 12 hardware was limited.
On PlayStation, though, the tracks were re-recorded in the studio, with CD-quality layers, bass, and atmosphere.
So what we got on PS1 wasn’t just a port it was practically a remix album bundled with the game.
Theatre Mode
Oh, how I loved discovering Theatre Mode by accident.
Who remembers? - the menu that unlocked after beating the game.
There you could rewatch character ending movies and… listen to the game’s music!
For me, that was absolutely mind-blowing at the time.
About 7 months ago, during one of our retro gaming nights, we literally put on Theatre Mode, poured some drinks, and just listened to the music, saying:
“What a fantastic soundtrack!!!”
We all got goosebumps.
And Now? Does This Music Still Live?
Oh, absolutely:
• On YouTube, Tekken 3 OST videos get thousands of views.
• At fan tournaments, Tekken 3 tracks are still played as thematic hype music.
• Fans keep making remixes, chiptunes, and cover them on synths and guitars.
• Even today you can find fresh vinyl reissues of the soundtrack.
Conclusion
You know, for some people Tekken 3 is a childhood game.
For others - the first “battle” on PlayStation against friends.
And for me - it’s also the music that sparked my love for electronic music and retro vinyl.
In this game, the music wasn’t just “background,” it was the soul of the whole experience.
And if you’ve never fired up Tekken 3 just to listen to the tracks in Theatre Mode - I highly recommend it. Dive back into the atmosphere with the console - it’s so worth it.
Thank you to everyone who read this article and maybe caught the vibe I was trying to share.
