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[Pete301]

I'm not sure if anyone has created this thread before. But I have plenty of listening time during the day and would like to know people's favourite sound tracks, to broaden my ears. It doesn't have to be from a video game.

I'll start off by listing some of my faves...



- some of the tracks in this are just very crazy, but I think he manages to keep a great structure and make it interesting (The Friendly Faith Plate)




- These songs are very catchy and I admire the awesome percussion he creates.

These are probably my two favourite, though I'm willing to change my mind if people can show me some awesome tunes.

[Audiosprite]

final fantasy ix is the loveliest game soundtrack, in my opinion.

and more recently, the infamous: second son soundtrack is a fucking blast to play along to. i was really happy to hear the composers integrate the 'seattle grunge' sound into the 'infamous' sound, and they did it really well.

[mono]

these r good









magical chase

[louiscroquet]

Halo 2 and Halo 3 ODST are really good
Hotline Miami of course
Minecraft OST is very relaxing I like it
And the Forza Horizon 2 OST is awesome, fits perfectly with the game

[rj]

here's a lot





one of my earliest games and to this day one of my favorite game soundtracks. high-energy, saturday morning, and sometimes even bluesy. the genesis generally kicked the snes in the fucking head when it came to soundtracks; this is just one of many examples re: that.





"this is some cheesy jet set radio rip off bullshit" i say to myself roughly five years ago, "so why do i like it so much"

scott pilgrim vs. the world: the movie: the game

anamanaguchi is a rock band that uses an nes and famitracker to make music inspired by video games, and they were contracted to make music for a game inspired by a film inspired by a comic inspired by video games, which brings everything full circle. this is better + singier than almost any real nes soundtrack; apart from some exceptional, great, rare work like this, you'll not likely hear something quite this upbeat and wonderful on a console that basically everyone seems to agree was good in hindsight without really giving much good reason as to why

hotline miami

it's hotline miami. this is a bit of a cheat maybe but i don't care; everything here fits the game flawlessly and is 90 percent of why i spent 5 hours after buying it just playing it straight through to the end.

viewtiful joe

i
fucking
love
this soundtrack. i love all of these, but i need to emphasize it on this one a lot because this is an ost that doesn't get bandied about as much; everything on here is absolute one hundred percent gold. especially (especially) the track directly linked to, "joe the hero"

animal crossing

a game that should be the equivalent of doing homework is one of the most compelling things ever put to disc, and it's in large part because of this fun and oft gorgeous soundtrack. this has everything; one of the top tier gcn osts ever done.

sonic cd (jp) (usa has some excellent stuff too)

sonic cd is my favorite sonic. it's my favorite sonic soundtrack. sonic will never be good again, i cry, as i take another ritualistic bite of my daily chili dog, reminiscing of the days when the color blue didn't spell depression and the idea of a character inspired equally by michael jackson and bill clinton didn't have a ring of ridicule to it

cave story

it's cave story i'm not elaborating

katamari damacy

holy shit. besides warioware, what other huge successful game has had an ost this off the wall? this goes all out with its weirdness and owns it and doesn't even try to make it cool. which is, you know, part of why it's so cool.

super monkey ball 2

this is another one of those gcn games that has an amazing soundtrack that's undervalued, i think. it's the same team and composer as

f-zero gx

which makes a lot of sense; the two games share a love of trancey vibes and dx7; they also love sawtooths. like, a lot.

f-zero gx goes way more eclectic, though, which leads to some oddly affecting cheeseball stuff like this mid-2000s sonic-y buttrock here

rayman origins

dude! christophe héral should probably always do music for michel ancel games, it's like the proverbial reese's effect. beyond good and evil is great; this is transcendent. dialing down the seriousness allows the music to open up and be a lot freer and breezier, and the mandolins, ukes, and singsong make this ost a pure fucking joy.

fez

fez is another obvious one. i don't need to talk about fez much. you know it. it's slow, it's melodic, it's happy, it's synthy, it's got an analog vibe despite being definitively made all with digital instruments. it's good.

the last of us

i'm not usually a fan of super-modern orchestral filmic soundtracks, but this one nails it. it doesn't just feel like something perfunctory; there's actual melodies, actual music with a hummable tune to it that fits the mood well. honestly music is at its best as accompaniment to images when it manages to work on its own as something approximating pop work; this pulls it off with aplomb (especially in the linked section)

phoenix wright: ace attorney

this whole damn series has incredible music but it really never tops the first installment; this is where all the melodies hit the hardest. ripe for rearrangements, too, so yeah

warioware (all games, but especially twisted! and touched!)

you...really have to hand it to intelligent systems. they're not only responsible for paper mario and advance wars but also super metroid and the vast majority of warioware games. it's unfair, really. warioware (especially the two games mentioned above) are probably the most g-funky top 40 ass nintendo games ever released, way heavy on synthy california melodies and cheesy pop tunes. amazing stuff all around, honestly.

and zero other nintendo games have ever really done anything nearly like this. ever.

also, some of these songs arejust impeccable for the smash bros treatment, so uh yeah

jet set radio future

hideki fucking naganuma. need i say more? dude does a norman cook better than norman cook does; his chemical brothers impression makes them bite their own dust. amazing fucking work.

vib ribbon

easily my favorite playstation one game is a little-played or seen rhythm title with tempest-y wire art and procedural music library-based levels years before audiosurf ever happened.

it has a built-in soundtrack written for the game that's some of the best pop music i've ever heard in my entire life, without exaggeration. this is straight up land of the loops territory; when i discovered this game i could physically feel my mind actually blowing.

command & conquer (series from 95 through red alert 2)

the thing about the command and conquer series is that it's really difficult to nail it down as any one game's soundtrack or aesthetic being the definitive one; the first (which is linked) is likely the most eligible candidate, as it's the simplest, the punchiest, the most 90s, but a case could be made for any one of these fucking games.

frank klepacki is to blame for all of this. he composed every damn track on every damn one of these games and they're all great. every single one.

i favor tiberian sun because i'm a terrible idiot but red alert and c&c 95 have some incredible industrial bass stuff if you haven't heard them. red alert also has some gorgeous tinkly synth stuff i never heard until recently because i hadn't played multiplayer until very recently. when i was a kid, my computer didn't have internet. it's not my fault.


that's maybe enough for now

no it's not one more:

comix zone

have you not played comix zone? you should! it was great. it's an incredibly polished, stylish brawler for the genesis that nobody actually played because the damn thing was released right around the end-of-life for the console.

game had a great soundtrack by fucking accident. transmuted from terrible wannabe nirvana grunge songs; because the composer of the soundtrack couldn't emulate the sound of the guitars and whiny vox well, it ended up becoming something far weirder and better, and thankfully his melodies are pretty damn good when they're not sung by someone who would have been kicked out of oasis

[louiscroquet]

Damn I totally forgot Rayman and Fez 
Agreed with all you say about these two games! Rayman soundtrack is as fun as the gameplay, FEZ is very zen.

[Kyle Preston]

Limbo

It's dark, ambient, and it sounds to me like it was crafted more from a sound design perspective than a musical perspective; very unique.





Some of the sounds and synths are a bit cheesy, especially considering it was made when good software was available (maybe the Wii couldn't handle it?), but from a musical perspective, this OST demonstrates themes and variations in a way that I haven't heard in other games; it's beautiful, cohesive and Koji Kondo is wicked smaawwt!





Thomas Newman is king! A very under-rated movie p.s.

The Master

Every project that Jonny Greenwood has been apart of is interesting.  I think he's one of the mighty few at the front lines pushing the art form forward.  Take a seat to listen to this one.

[Jasmine]

RJ, you posted quite a handful of ear-candy. I played Viewtiful Joe, but never had the opportunity to take in the soundtrack. Definitely going to check it out!

As for me:

Dear Esther

Jessica Curry has this inane ability to take melodies and textures that some would initially perceive as "odd", "off", maybe even "simple", and just.. make beautiful, wondrous things with it. I'm head over heels in love with this soundtrack - I would recommend it (and her) to ANYBODY.

The Ultimate Yogi

Ryan Richko is an indie composer that I have been following (currently writing for a game titled Telepath Tactics). I'm a huge fan of his work and, suffice to say, I was ultimately sold after hearing this album of his. Each piece is a gem.






Wonderful mixture of ambient, electronic, orchestral, 80's pop... SO MUCH effin' YES for Eric Sirra.





A game that I revere as a hidden gem, I can't get over just how much great music is in this game! Though not composed by a single person, it contains a myriad of unique pieces composed by extremely talented composers.

Sonic Unleashed

No words. A game that takes Sonic all over the world, and a soundtrack that is just as diverse as his journey. I played this game over and over simply to hear the soundtrack in motion.

[amushel]

A timeless classic in film scoring (it also happens to be my favorite film). Phenomenal atmosphere and an important influence on electronic music and soundtracks.




Clearly influenced by the last one. This is pretty much the kick-ass modern VGM equivalent to Vangelis's work on Bladerunner. I listen to this when I want to remind myself how much better I could still get at composing/producing music.

FEZ is another great one, that also happens to be REALLY Vangelis-inspired, but with a fakebit edge to it.

I've always been a huge fan of the Halo soundtracks and while Halo 2 and ODST (the latter being my favorite) have been mentioned, Spartan Assault, while not the most amazing game in the series, has a surprisingly quality soundtrack. Tom Salta did a great job appealing to the style set by O'Donnel and Salvatori in the Bungie era games.

Halo: Spartan Assault

[Kyle Preston]

Oh My God I Forgot John Williams, hallowed be his name. WTF is wrong with me?

[bbtombo]

A few for me that come to mind:





The whole soundtrack is so cohesive, and super nostalgic for me, but I something this OST did super well was give the game urgency (for how slow it was at times). Getting in fights and making decisions on people's lives really felt important and serious, and for me the quartet/orchestral tracks embellished that urgency and importance in the world.





Holy shit. Again, played this as a kid, but the midi horns and everything make it feel so dark and war-bearing and I fucking love it. Stands the test of time in terms of captivating war. So good.

Pokemon Gold/Silver

This game showed so well that music could provide environment that graphics couldn't at the time. I still dream of sailing to Cianwood City. And it's the melodies. I'm impartial to straight tonal melodies in VGM, but Pokemon (and final fantasy) does it so well, that it makes you want to.

Dig the thread so far!

[Pete301]

Wow, loads of soundtracks. You guys made my drive home today much nicer. I never realised how great the final fantasy soundtracks were.

Also I forgot to mention a soundtrack, it probably isn't the best soundtrack but I have a lot of great memories playing the game, and the main theme is incredible _{(even if it's originality is questionable)}...

[ArnoldSavary]

Plenty of great soundtracks already posted, but here are the ones I feel have to be mentioned:



and

:
The soundtrack of these games is one of big reasons why I love them. Nobody in my opinion has ever come close to this balance between mystery and light-heartedness. Russel Shaw's music is elegant and subtle and perfectly suited to the quirky but quite dark visuals and themes of the game.
Bowerstone is probably the best pizzicato piece I've ever heard, even counting the classical repertoire, and A Hero Awakes is a reference in terms of flow and natural development of a melody.

Machinarium
This OST is often praised as one of the best in indie games and rightly so. It's a jewel of sound design, with a carefully crafted sound palette. Again a very subtle soundtrack, best illustrated by this track. For those interested in this kind of music, I strongly recommend you check out Jacaszek, who's probably Tomáš Dvořák's secret twin.

Tekken 3
It never ceases to surprise me how nobody ever talks about this soundtrack. Might be because it's not viewed as being as artistic as the usual cinematic ones, but to me the Tekken 3 OST is among the best things to ever come out of the Big Beat movement - easily up there with acts such as The Crystal Method or Lunatic Calm.

Also somehow Jeremy Soule was not mentioned, so let's remedy that:
Skyrim
Guild Wars
Dawn of War (a personal reference for everything epic and inspiring)

[rj]

This OST is often praised as one of the best in indie games and rightly so. It's a jewel of sound design, with a carefully crafted sound palette. Again a very subtle soundtrack, best illustrated by

. For those interested in this kind of music, I strongly recommend you check out Jacaszek, who's probably Tomáš Dvořák's secret twin.

aw fuck you! this was totally one i absolutely forgot in my big post above. one of my favorite game soundtracks.

gonna be a dick and give braid's ost a casual mention as well, because, well, come on. you were humming that for days. everyone was. admit it.

[ArnoldSavary]

Yeah, Braid's soundtrack was awesome, I was really surprised to learn it wasn't actually composed for the game.

I see you mentioned Christophe Heral! Rayman was great but it didn't have

or

.
Getting the opportunity to make musical levels like this one one day would be fantastic.

[rj]

both of those are great but

is the one from bg&e that made me stop fucking playing so i could just listen to the damn thing, true story.

that and

are my favorites 100%; i think the soundtrack on the whole is really good, but it doesn't have the sheer melodic playfulness that takes origins' ost over the edge for me

another game i didn't mention that i maybe should have is metroid prime, if only because one of the other rare moments where i stopped playing to just listen to what was happening aurally was this

metroid prime 2 has an even better title theme

[rj]

ANOTHER GAME MOST PEOPLE DON'T GIVE THE TIME OF DAY:





though castle of illusion gets most of the love from people who remember it, it's world of illusion that i'd argue isn't only the better game but the better soundtrack; the only game to probably rival this one is nes ducktales. not only are the melodies great, but the fm work + production is arguably taken farther than any other non-sonic game on the genesis. (you could make an argument for toejam and earl but i'm not a huge fan of that soundtrack, so sue me)

just listen to the track above, or the

, or the opening level music, or the flying carpet music; all of this stuff is gold

more games:

super hang-on

i briefly considered putting this in my list and then reconsidered on the somewhat-flimsy basis that i only really cared about one track: the (fucking impeccable, like literally flawless) outride a crisis. i reconsidered my reconsideration after listening to the soundtrack again and being kinda surprised at how good everything else was too. there's not a lot, but it's all great!

but outride a crisis is five levels above and beyond. it's one of the all-time best pieces of music ever made for any video game, and it almost feels confident enough that it, personally, despite being an inanimate piece of art, knows it.

streets of rage

ditto this: the only piece of music that i still really think about from this today is the title. but a revisit tells me how wrong i am for not lauding the fuck out of it; just listen to this boss theme! or this fucking number, or this. streets of rage had the hotline miami soundtrack before hotline miami had the streets of rage soundtrack.

[bbtombo]

I forgot! It's so obvious, but really sitting down and listening to the Spelunky OST is so cathartic. It feels good in the belly of your soul.

[Kyle Preston]

Also somehow Jeremy Soule was not mentioned, so let's remedy that:






Dawn of War (a personal reference for everything epic and inspiring)

Yeah, wow; dropped the ball on that one too.  For me it's Morrowind, but Skyrim certainly is a pretty impressive feat.

Also Journey by Austin Wintory is fantastic.

[Pete301]

mmmm  , Jeremy Soule makes some great stuff.

I was going through all my old Amiga games the other day to find any good soundtracks (a lot were actually not great, which disappoints me because the games are so good). However I found this gem that I feel needs to be mentioned:





It's also a great game.