Not sure if there's been a topic on this, and apologies if there already has been, I looked, and wasn't able to find one specifically about video game soundtracks.
But I was wondering what is everyone's favourite video game music they like to listen to from time to time?
Mine is mostly because of nostalgia, so it's pretty much all late 90's and early 00's games.
Oh yeah, Transistor had a really nice soundtrack that went along with the game, added quite a bit of emotion to it for me. Not really played the other games in this list, other than a bit of Bastion and Hyper Light Drifter, don't really remember their soundtracks though...
Smash Bros. has an insane amount of good music. I would kill for a behind the scenes type thing showing all the composers talking about the tracks they got to remix and stuff.
I have a large amount of game OSTs that I love, it's hard to even just name a few.
A couple of my random favourites:
Golden Sun
Perfect Dark 64
Advance Wars(both the DS titles)
Castlevania 3(all Castlevanias having kick arse music too though)
My favorite game soundtrack is definitely SaGa Frontier. Every track is amazing, especially the ones from Red and T260's scenarios. Battle 5 is still the best song I've ever heard in any video game. The first time I fought Metal Black, I sat there for like 10 minutes before I even input a command just listening to the music.
My other favorites are: Final Fantasy 6, Sonic 1-3 (& Knuckles), Mega Man 1-5, U.N. Squadron, Axelay, Lightening Force, and of course, Bio Metal:
I would say my favorite video game soundtracks are:
Mother Series (Earthbound)
Pokemon Series
Sim City SNES
Secret of Mana
Final Fantasy 6
Mega Man Series
Super Mario Galaxy
I love the file select theme as well and Top Gear game on SNES have some great music!
In terms of retro OSTs, I quite enjoyed the 1943 Level 4 track. This game has ports to the NES and PC Engine and those renditions are neat too, and in fact it was the NES version that stuck out to me.
If we're counting homebrews, I quite like the rendition of Chill for the Atari 8-bit PCS. This is in stark contrast to the Game Boy rendition which always confused me when listening to it.
For something more modern, I enjoy Mamizou's theme from the Touhou Project series (yeah mandatory Touhou mention, I guess)
The soundtrack to Skyrim (I made the mistake of playtesting my game while listening to Standing Stones. Whatever music I come up with for my opening town is just gonna be crap by comparison now.)
Any of the "repurposed" licensed music in BioShock Infinite. I especially like what they did with Tainted Love and Fortunate Son. The music carried so much of the worldbuilding weight in that game.
Oh, and of course the greatest song ever made: Shuffle or Boogie from Final Fantasy VIII.
It's kinda difficult to narrow down which OSTs I really like, because there are always some songs you just simply don't care for. On the other hand, coming up with OSTs I listen to regularly, even if I skip a few tracks, is pretty straightforward for me. The kicker is I haven't even played some of the games I like the OSTs for.
First off, the OSTs I listen to these days more frequently than others:
"Kid Icarus Uprising" (3DS) by Various Artists Notes: I love this game! I love this OST! All the NES and GB remixes, Pit-Two's bolero, Viridi's theme, the girl and dog's melody (gutpunch)-- THE ORNE! Half the tracks loop, while the other half are complete. What's not to love about this OST? G-FORCE IN MY FACE!!
"Blaster Master" (NES) by Naoki Kodaka Notes:I've loved the first stage's theme song since day one. I loved the rest of the OST after I got past the first stage.
"The Adventures of Batman & Robin" (SMD) by Jesper Kyd Note: I never played this game. The more I listen to it, the more I love it. At first I hated it, but then I loved it on my second go. It's very much EDM/club music reminiscent of Martin Galway in that it starts with a few looping riffs then builds up. . You NEED headphones. Some versions even boost the bass.
"Castlevania: The Arcade" (ARC) by Various Artists Note: Half this OST is original music I don't care for, the other half is remixes of some of the best songs from the Castlevania franchise. I love what they did with "Black Night" from the first NES game, given how little they had to work with.
"Seiken Densetsu 2 (Secret of Mana)" (SNES) by Hiroki Kikuta Note: So I was reluctant to put this as a favorite OST, but then I remember the feelings I got from certain tracks when I played the game as a teen. Even songs I don't like, I can appreciate -- "Secret of the Arid Sands" for example I feel has an interesting drums section. The boss theme "Danger" pumps you up with its alarming intro and rocking outro. "Ceremony" is easily one of the most unnerving tracks of any 16bit game, inspired by Balinese music. "Leave Time For Love" made me super pumped to tackle the Mana Fortress. I'm sure I wasn't the only kid pretending to be Atreyu astride Falkor after calling down Flammie while "Flight Into The Unknown" or "Prophecy" played. But out of the entire soundtrack, there was one track that stuck in my head -- and apparently in Kikuta's head too, since he remixed it for Seiken Densetsu 3.
"Seiken Densetsu (Adventures Of Mana)" (GB) by Kenji Ito Note: This is mostly nostalgic - I played the crap out of this game. Every now and then I listen to the arranged albums, but even the Gameboy chiptunes are enjoyable for me.
"Mega Man 2" (NES) by Takashi Tateishi Notes: This feels like a throw-away nomination. There's something wrong with you if you don't like this OST!
"Final Fantasy VI" (SNES) by Nobuo Uematsu Note: I didn't want to list this, but there's no denying I easily love nearly 3/4 of this soundtrack. From the epic opening credit roll, to the slew of somber melodies, to arguably the best boss battle theme(s) ever! Yeah, I'm with Team Kefka until the day I die. Ugh! I orgasm every time I listen to his theme, and the fact Square programmed the whole boss fight around Uematsu's composition is just cream atop sugar.
And dropping this outside the spoiler tag so EVERYONE can hear it. How did I miss this?! The rock ballad is gone, though...
Favorite Singles: These are the individual tracks I listen to frequently even though I dislike or just ignore most of the rest of the OSTs they belong to. This isn't a slame against the OSTs, I just don't enjoy the majority of the OST as much as those listed above.
"Top Gear" (SNES) by Barry Leitch
Track Title: "Track 1" Notes: Glad to see Top Gear 2 was mentioned, but for me the first game had the better OST, as short as it was. Whenever I meet someone into retrowave, I ask if they're familiar with the first track's theme.
"Terranigma" (SNES) by Miyoko Takaoka & Masanori Hikichi
Track Title: "The Way Home (Credit Roll)" Notes:I heard this track before I had beaten the game and it was love at first hearing. I've played very few songs on endless loop, this one has been looped more than any other.
"Chrono Cross" (PS1) by Yasunori Mitsuda
Track Titles: "Radical Dreamers: The Unstealable Jewel", "Dream of the Shore Bordering Another World" Notes: DSBAW is the track I play on loop when I'm trying to mellow at night when I'm not depressed. RD was the first track I fell in love with. I never played any of the games after Chrono Trigger, but both tracks were derived from the prequel "Radical Dreamers" (SFC).
"Clocktower" (SFC) by Kōji Niikura
Track Title: "Don't Cry Jennifer" Notes: There isn't much of a soundtrack to this game, so it's not surprising that I picked this track. This is another game I never played with a track I listen to frequently. I almost included it on my Halloween 2019 playlist.
Dancing Mad is one hell of a song, though. I kind of prefer to think of it as being composed not by Uematsu, but by Kefka himself: an ode to his newfound godhood that doesn't quite survive his own insanity, his arrogance doing battle with his madness and losing. How the hell was that song (or anything off of the FF VI soundtrack, for that matter) from an SNES game?
Bionic Commando Rearmed
Super CastleVania IV
Contra 3
Mega Man X
F-Zero
Super Metroid
Zelda 3
Shadowgate NES
Zelda 2
Battle of Olympus
Alien 3 NES
Terminator 2 NES (it's experimental)
Any of the Mega Man NES games, but I've heard them so much that I can't tolerate them
Back again to add:
Double Dragon
Double Dragon 2
Silver Surfer (possibly the highest energy NES soundtrack)
Super Double Dragon 4
Kid Icarus
Balloon Fight
Batman NES
Journey to Sylius
After hearing so many soundtracks, I've started to notice similar sounding songs even on modern soundtracks.
If you're into experimental game music, have you heard the theme to Parallax (C64) by Martin Galway? The first time I ever heard the theme was just a MIDI rendition of it -- and I fell in love with it immediately. The original version is even more experimental and I'll admit, it's definitely not for everyone. It sounds like a mess throughout the later parts and can make your ears bleed, but I think if you recognize it for what it was, you can enjoy it.
Holy ninja beats! I gotta list this OST -- I just discovered it tonight (never played the game):
If you're into experimental game music, have you heard the theme to Parallax (C64) by Martin Galway? The first time I ever heard the theme was just a MIDI rendition of it -- and I fell in love with it immediately. The original version is even more experimental and I'll admit, it's definitely not for everyone. It sounds like a mess throughout the later parts and can make your ears bleed, but I think if you recognize it for what it was, you can enjoy it.
I enjoy Battleblock Theater's OST,
UNDERTALE's,
Team Fortress 2's,
Castle Crashers',
COD: BO2's,
Pokemon's (various), and probably a good amount of others that I can't think of.
Some more favs:
Great Gianna Sisters (Orchestral Version)
Driller
And others:
Ace 2
Ikari Warriors (by Elite, not the US version)
Midnight Resistance
Bionic Commando (European version)
Creatures 1/2
Commando
Thing on a Spring
Delta - Title Screen and In Game
R-type
and on and on...............
I’ll try to keep my list short but there are so many games with great music. The one song I keep going back to is Smoking King’s theme from Travis Strikes Again.
No More Heroes series
Shadows of the Damned
Lollipop Chainsaw
Silver Case
25th Ward
Flower Sun & Rain
Killer7
Killer is Dead
Red Dead Redemption games
Zelda series(specifically 2, Majora’s Mask, and Wind Waker, though Skyward Sword and Breath of the Wild are close)
Kirby series, especially Adventure
Sonic Adventure games
Shadow the Hedgehog
Super Mario Galaxy
Paper Mario 2
Chrono Trigger and Cross
Secret of Mana
Final Fantasy series(mostly 4, 6 and 10)
Pokemon gen 1 and 2
Earthbound and Mother 3
Demon’s Souls
Bloodborne
Sekiro
MadWorld
God Hand
Okami
Nier and Nier Automata
Drakengard 1 and 3
Metroid series
Smash Bros. Melee
My most recent favorite track in a modern game is the main battle theme of FF15.
That game is loaded with good tracks if you stop to listen.
But they did SOOoooo good on this FF battle theme, it really sells the grandeur of the game, fits in with tiny joke battles to huge monsters or tense moments, and it just delivers so much drive, just makes every battle feel epic and involved. Not heard a better battle theme since ff12 boss fights. it never fails to get my excited and pumped.
I really like the driving orchestra base with the whimsical wind pieces accenting the background.
Yeah, because you can buy soundtrack CDs from the previous games to play in the car...
But yeah, I was underwhelmed by a lot of things in FF XV, but the music was not one of them. That boss music during the battle with Leviathan is just amazing.
But yeah, I was underwhelmed by a lot of things in FF XV, but the music was not one of them. That boss music during the battle with Leviathan is just amazing.
The sheer number of people who said "Chrono Trigger" just goes to show how good the soundtrack is. Yasunori Mitsuda is a genius and a little mad, throwing nonfunctional elements into his harmony throughout. If I had to pick a favourite one, it would really be a hard task (Magus' battle theme, Undersea Palace, heck the Main theme), but probably the Black Omen would make it to the absolute top for the piano bit alone:
Final Fantasy VI: This is just some of the best game music I've ever listened to, hands down. The variety, complexity and the bloody aria are just breathtaking. Usually my go-to OST when I am in the mood to listen to OSTs.
LoZ: Oracle of Seasons / LoZ: Oracle of Ages: I have listened to these soundtracks on a daily basis for years while I was playing the games and reaching 100% completion of the freaking rings. Yet I never grew tired of any of them, which I believe shows how good they are.
Other than these there might be other OSTs that I listen to occasionally (a big chunk without ever playing the games) but by far these are the ones I feel a personal connection to and the ones that immediately come to mind upon the topic of "The best game OSTs".
I think you guys already mentioned all of my favorites....except I don't think anyone mentioned anything from Star Fox(unless the Smash Bros ones count). The original Star Fox, N64, and Gamecube(not the adventures one) had some great tracks. The Corneria ones are probably my favorite from this series.
I also am a huge fan of most of the OSTs of the Final Fantasy series. I get goosebumps from both "Decisive Battle" of FF6 and "Battle at the Bridge" of FF5. The beginning arpeggios of that one just knocks you out.
I DO like me some Contra 3 tracks as well, and you have to like tracks from Metroid games, though I still think Metroid 3 had the best ones.
Another one not mentioned here...Magic Carpet. This was a game in the mid 90s(1994 I think). The music isn't super great..but it is one of the first games to have that adaptive tracks thing, where it changes based on what is happening. The song changed when you were in combat...but it isn't a different track completely, rather just pieces were added. SNES SMW1 did it too when you hopped on a Yoshi. I have always liked the technique. In fact, I'd kind of like to make an audio system for GMS that does that exact thing, either fading in/out different versions, or just having overlapping tracks turn on/off.
Donkey Kong Country (SNES Trilogy)
Sonic the Hedgehog (All Genesis)
Super Mario World 64
Super Mario RPG
Super Mario Kart 64
Streets of Rage 2 and 3
Castlevania (Especially by Michiru Yamane)
Legend of Zelda
Pokemon (Gameboy)
My most favorite video game track ever is Stickerbrush Symphony
I have at least a dozen versions of it in my music library.