Yakuza, known in Japan as Ryū ga Gotoku (Like a Dragon, Japanese), is an action-adventure beat ’em up video game franchise created, owned and published by Sega.
The series originated from Toshihiro Nagoshi’s desire to create a game that would tell the way of life of the yakuza.
The series primarily focuses on the yakuza Kazuma Kiryu from the Tojo clan.
While Kiryu often assists the Tojo clan, the series has also featured him searching for another way of life in the form of raising orphans and helping those in need.
The gameplay of Yakuza has the player controlling Kiryu and various other characters depending on the story, in the city of Kamurocho, a fictionalized version of the real life Kabukichō district in Tokyo, where he can encounter an enemy, perform an activity or participate in its various available sub-stories, which often complement the main game story and reward the player with extra EXP to better enhance your fighting style, resilience and gameplay.
This game is also well known for its various mini-games, which range from things like bowling, darts, and arcade games, to much more involved things like hostess club management which can take a number of hours over the course of several sessions in themselves to complete, all to some hilariously amusing results.
The franchise has become a commercial and critical success, and as of 2017, Sega has reported that the Yakuza franchise has sold a combined total of 10.5 million units in physical and digital sales since its debut in 2005. Strong sales of the games in its original Japanese market has led to the franchise’s expansion to other mediums, including film adaptations.
A great Beat ‘em up series that not only has had popularity over its home country of japan, but has gotten a big following in the united states and in Europe.
So it is why this STAGE of the Retro VGM Revival Hour, you better set up which fighting style works better as you are about to journey through the streets of Kamurocho taking down some thugs with these selected tracks from the Yakuza game series.
Download this episode directly HERE (right-click and choose “Save As”!)
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Full track listing:
===========Game – Composer – Title – Company========
1.) Yakuza 0 – Hidenori Shoji, Zenta Tsuchihashi , Kensuke Inage, Yoshiji Kobayashi, Karasuya-sabou, Saori Yoshida, POPHOLIC, Yasuyuki Matsuzaki, Hiroaki Watanabe, Sachio Ogawa, Fumiyoshi Shimohara, Yuri Fukuda, Keisuke Hattori, Takehiro Mamiya, yuyoyuppa, Hirotaka Kumagawa & Kiyo – “Force Addiction, La-Di-Da, Ultimate Road Rage, One-Eyed Slugger, Oath of Enma, JUDGEMENT (w/ vocals by Takaya Kuroda) & 24 hour Cinderella (w/ vocals by Hidenari Ugaki)“ – March 12, 2015 – Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio/Sega – Windows PC, PS3 & PS4
2.) Yakuza – Hidenori Shoji, Sachio Ogawa, Keitaro Hanada, Fumio Ito, Yuri Fukuda & John Newton – “Funk Goes On, Scarlet Scar, ID & Poison Pill” – December 8, 2005 – Sega – PS2, PS3 & Wii U (Japan Only)
3.) Yakuza 2 – Hidenori Shoji, Hideki Sakamoto, Franz Gruber, Norihiko Hibino & Takahiro Izutani – “As a man/As a brother, Push Me Underwater, Blockhead Boy, Face To Face & Evil Itself“ – December 7, 2006 – Sega – PS2, PS3 & Wii U (Japan Only)
4.) Yakuza 3 – Hidenori Shoji, Kentaro Koyama, Takahiro Kai, Hiroyoshi Kato, Love Sound System, Yoshio Tsuru & Hideki Sakamoto – “Fly, Bruise, Ryu-Kyu Humming, Crush and Strike, Test Your Imagination & D 2 A (w/ vocals by Chihiro Aoki)” – February 26, 2009 – Sega – PS3 & PS4
5.) Yakuza 4 -Hidenori Shoji, Kenichi Tokoi, Yuri Fukuda, Yoshio Tsuru, Ryohei Kohno, Mitsuharu Fukuyama, Yasuhiro Takagi, Yuichi Kanatani, Chihiro Aoki, Takashi Izeki, Takahiro Kai, Minako Seki, Flarewave Sound System, Eiji Kawai, Shigemitsu Goto, Love Sound System & Hideki Sakamoto – “Underground Dazzling Star(Neo), The Myth, Fighting Fighter & MachineGun Kiss” – March 18, 2010 – Sega – PS3 & PS4
6.) Yakuza 5 – Kyosuke Himuro, Yukihide Takekawa, Mitsuharu Fukuyama, Hidenori Shoji, Chihiro Aoki, Yasuyuki Matsuzaki, Hiroaki Watanabe, a-fei, Takeshi Isozaki, Zenta Tsuchihashi, DIG, Yuya Saito, Junya Tanaka, POPHOLIC, Yuri Fukuda, Atsuhiro Watanabe, Shunsuke Minami, Atsushi Yamaji, Gioachino Antonio Rossini, Akiko Akiyama & Saori Yoshida – “Hailstorm, I believe in you, Receive and Slash You, The COOL GUY SOSUKE, Comin’at ya/My girl, Noodle shop Ryuya & Loneliness loop (w/ vocals by Rie Kugimiya)“ – December 5, 2012 – Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio/Sega – PS3 & PS4
7.) Yakuza 6: The Song of Life – Chihiro Aoki, Hidenori Shoji, Yuri Fukuda, Saori Yoshida, Fumiyoshi Shimohara, Kenichi Tokoi, Tatsuyuki Maeda, Teruhiko Nakagawa, Zenta Tsuchihashi, Yasuyuki Matsuzaki, Hiroaki Watanabe, Kiyo, Tsuyoshi Kaneko, Shunsuke Minami , Shunsuke Yasaki, Masahiko Iida & Akiko Akiyama – “Bonds, Seakillers, Town Bully, Bloodstained Philosophy, Lots of Lights & Like A Butterfly (w/ vocals by Takaya Kuroda & Saki)“ – December 8, 2016 – Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio/Sega – PS4
8.) Yakuza Kenzan (Ryū ga Gotoku Kenzan!) – Hidenori Shoji, Hideki Sakamoto, Hiroyoshi Kato, Keisuke Ito & Yuri Fukuda – “Water and Melon, Blood Maker, Immortality & Masochism“ – March 6, 2008 (Japan Only) – Sega – PS3
9.) Kurohyō: Ryū ga Gotoku Shinshō – Mitsuharu Fukuyama, Hidenori Shoji, Yasuyuki Matsuzaki, Hiroaki Watanabe, Yukie Sugawara, skankfunk, Itsuki Onagi, Kentaro Ishii, Kouji Kinoshita, Heigo Tani (wall5) & Eigo Natsui – “Die anyway, DIGITALIZED, Kill city, YOUR KNIFE FEELS GOOD & SO UNUSUAL“ – September 22, 2010 (japan Only) – Sega & Syn Sophia/Sega – Playstation Portable
10.) Project X Zone 2 – Yoko Shimomura, Masami Ueda, Thomas Parisch, Laurent Ziliani, Kinuyo Yamashita, Masakazu Sugimori, Kohei Tanaka, Hidenori Shoji, Takenobu Mitsuyoshi, Yuzo Koshiro, Rio Hamamoto, Akihiro Namba, Chikayo Fukuda, Hiroyuki Kawada & Takuya Hanaoka – “Funk Goes On“ – November 12, 2015 – Monolith Soft/Bandai Namco Entertainment – Nintendo 3DS
11.) Yakuza: Dead Souls (Ryū ga Gotoku OF THE END) – Mitsuharu Fukuyama, Takahiro Kai, Takeshi Isozaki, Yuri Fukuda, Susumu Tsukagoshi, Chihiro Aoki, Yuichi Kanatani, Daniel Lindholm, Hiroshi Furukawa & ABOTTO Leo – “Inescapable Battle, Cry, Akiyama Battle Theme & Gary’s Boot Camp“ – June 9, 2011 – Sega – PS3
12.) Yakuza Ishin – Chihiro Aoki, Hidenori Shoji, Daisuke Anayama, Keitaro Hanada, Takatsugu Wakabayashi, Sachio Ogawa, Saori Yoshida, Zenta Tsuchihashi, Yusuke Sawai, Yasuyuki Matsuzaki, Hiroaki Watanabe, Ryohei Kohno, Yuri Fukuda, Shunsuke Yasaki & Tsuyoshi Kaneko – “Shika Flower, Sad sword, Roar, Willow’s Riff & Destroyed“ – February 22, 2014 (japan Only) – Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio/Sega – PS3 & PS4 (Both Japan Only)
13.) Judgment (Judge Eyes)- Hidenori Shoji, Yuri Fukuda, Saori Yoshida, Rio Hashikawa, Chihiro Aoki, Hiroaki Watanabe, Yasuyuki Matsuzaki, Tomoyuki Tanaka, Jin Senbonmatsu, Hideyuki Ono, Shunsuke Yasaki , Yuki Kobayashi, Kiyo, Charles François Gounod, Johann Sebastian Bach – “Drumfire, Moth, Line of sin, Final decision, BUZZY, Darkness & The Last Assassin XIV: Symphony of The Judgment“ – December 13, 2018 – Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio/Sega – PS4
14.) Yakuza Kiwami – Hidenori Shoji, Yuri Fukuda, Saori Yoshida, Keitaro Hanada, Sachio Ogawa, Syunsuke Minami, Shunsuke Yasaki, Zenta Tsuchihashi, Tsuyoshi Kaneko, Kiyo – “Funk Goes On, Flirt With Bomb, Ideal For Violence, The End Of The Dogma & Cherry blossoms 2000“ – January 21, 2016 – Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio/Sega – PS3, PS4 & Windows PC
15.) Yakuza Kiwami 2 – Hidenori Shoji, Yuri Fukuda, Saori Yoshida, Keitaro Hanada, Sachio Ogawa, Syunsuke Minami, Shunsuke Yasaki, Zenta Tsuchihashi, Tsuyoshi Kaneko, Kiyo – “The End Of The Dogma, Amusing Octagon, Update With Gunfire & The Wicked“ – December 7, 2017 – Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio/Sega – PS4 & Windows PC
