Esaka

Esaka is a name related to several songs in The King of Fighters series of fighting games, often related to Kyo Kusanagi or his clones. Esaka is often attributed to Kyo in the Orochi Saga, while Tears is attributed to Kyo in the NESTS Saga.

Esaka is the name of a train station in Osaka, the city where the old SNK headquarters was located. So, Esaka is also often used to reference and refer to the old SNK.

Esaka (The King of Fighters '94)
The first Esaka has a prominent usage of keyboards. It also has electric guitars, bass guitars and drums. The arranged version has a guitar solo.

It was created to fit the chaos in the street shown in the Japan Team stage in KOF '94.

An arranged version of this song also appeared in The King of Fighters '98, that has been transformed into a Pop Rock / Post-Grunge song that features a prominent usage of acoustic guitars.

Funky Esaka
This song is often ostracized by SNK and Japan Team fans, since it does not suit them (in the mind of almost everyone). This version is a funk (as the name says) song, featuring prominently bass guitar, keyboards and sax. It also has percussion, drums and an electric guitar.

The arranged version of this song has a bass solo and a saxophone solo as well.

Esaka (The King of Fighters '96)
This song is the mostly known theme song of Kyo Kusanagi and is one of the most classic songs of The King of Fighters series. The song has also appeared in The King of Fighters '98, The King of Fighters 2002 and The King of Fighters 2003.

The intro of the song is played by a keyboard and soon the song starts with an electric guitar. The song has a fast tempo and fans consider this song to truly mirror Kyo Kusanagi's personality and music taste.

The Brazilian band Megadriver had recorded this song, transforming it into a Heavy Metal song.

The song was remixed for The King of Fighters 2002: Unlimited Match by Yasufumi Fukuda. It features a new intro and has a new synth-rock feel to it.

Esaka Forever
This song seems to be heavily based on its previous version. The intro is played by an acoustic guitar, but soon the song starts with an electric guitar. The song is generally fast-paced, but it has some slowdowns. The song's main riff is played by the electric guitar, but it also has some keyboards.

This song has been judged by fans as memorable, specially the arranged version, which some call epic (as the name says).

Esaka ~Acid Mix~
This is the theme of the two Kyo clones in The King of Fighters '99. This version is basically a remixed version of the 1996 version. It is faster, features a techno beat and also has some vocals.

It was created to mirror the technological feel of the NESTS era.

Goodbye Esaka
The old SNK knew that The King of Fighters 2000 was going to be the last game of the series they were going to develop, so they created this song. The name Goodbye Esaka (or Good Bye ESAKA) was given to this song to mirror the situation SNK was facing. Since Esaka had been attributed to SNK, some fans call this song Goodbye SNK.

The song prominently features acoustic and electric guitars and is a little bit heavier than the other Esakas. The song has a main riff played by the electric guitar that gives the listener a "Goodbye feel" that SNK intended to give. The arranged version has a bigger usage of the acoustic guitar.