Those who have spent time in a traditional arcade know that despite the constant chaos of whirling sounds, some magically rise above the collage of audio obscurity and can be heard amid all the noise. Marvel vs. Capcom 2’s character select theme, I Wanna Take You For A Ride, has this power.
The franchise’s most iconic theme (and it has a few) has been a classic in the fighting game community for nearly a quarter century, and we’re excited to share with you that the incredibly talented 8-Bit Big Band has taken the song to new places. Continue on to hear the full studio rendition, complete with lyrics, of I Wanna Take You For A Ride.
Where the original simply looped the theme’s title as the sole lyric, 8BBB has fleshed things out quite a bit. Clyde and Gracie Lawrence take lead vocals as a 20+ musician band indeed take us on a ride like we’ve never quite been on before.
The amount of time, thought, and talent that went into this are immediately apparent as the music video shows off the entire band recording in studio. The music itself is absolutely stellar and fully captures the trumpet-driven spirit of the original.
As an added bonus in the video, a collection of Marvel vs. Capcom 2 characters duke it out in true MvC2 fashion in the foreground as the musicians bring the action to life from the background.
Those who’ve been in the fighting game community for a while know that taking on such a classic and trying to expand on it is a daunting task, but 8-Bit Big Band is conclusively successful with what they’ve done here.
You can give the video a watch below, but be warned, as with the games in the franchise this comes from, there’s some brief strobing light action that could affect those with epilepsy or similar sensitivities.
As always, please let us know what you think in the comments after you’ve had a chance to watch.