Hardcore Gaming 101 Unveils Top 250 Western Gaming Tunes

[Earnest Cavalli]

Hardcore Gaming 101 Unveils Top 250 Western Gaming Tunes

Castlevania only lost because it was made in Japan.

After weeks of voting, Hardcore Gaming 101 -- a website that should double as the go-to history text for everyone working in the gaming industry -- has compiled its list of the top 250 songs from videogames made in the West.

And by "West," I obviously mean the United States and Europe. Latent imperialism strikes again!

As for the list itself, the results are quite interesting. Here, let me show you the top 10:

Game - Song Title - Composer
1. Diablo - Tristram - Matt Uelmen
2. Monty on the Run - Main Theme - Rob Hubbard
3. Solstice - Title Screen - Tim Follin
4. Doom - At Doom's Gate (E1M1) - Bobby Prince
5. Donkey Kong Country - Aquatic Ambiance - David Wise
6. Donkey Kong Country 2 - Stickerbush Symphony - David Wise
7. The Secret of Monkey Island - Main Theme - Michael Land
8. Civilization IV - Baba Yetu - Christopher Tin
9. Scott Pilgrim vs. the World - Another Winter - Anamanaguchi
10. VVVVVV - Potential for Anything - Souleye

As you can see, topping the countdown is the Tristram town theme from Diablo. A solid choice, as that song is a perennial favorite and anyone who has played the game can immediately recall that haunting, mournful tune. Then the list immediately jumps to the controversial by awarding the number two spot to the main theme from Monty On The Run.

What? You've never heard of Monty On The Run? The beloved 1985 Commodore 64 title from Gremlin Graphics? For shame, dear reader! You've obviously got a lot of history to bone up on. Fortunately, that's exactly why HG 101 exists.

But before you go rushing off to scour their archives for lengthy dissertations on classic games you were only vaguely aware of, pay a visit to the comments section below and offer your take on what is the greatest Western-made videogame song of all time. Or make your own top 250 list. As long as we get those sweet pageviews, maybe my corporate taskmasters will forgive me for blatantly promoting the work of another website.

Maybe.

Source: Hardcore Gaming 101 [http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/vgm/wvgm2011.htm]

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[soren7550]

Let's see if they have any tracks from Mass Effect 1 & 2, Modern Warfare 2, and/or Fable 3 (my favorites video game soundtracks).

EDIT:
Mass Effect appears 3 times: #87 M4 Part 2 (which wasn't even made for the game), #140 Uncharted Worlds and #141 Suicide Mission. I personally would have picked different tracks from Mass Effect, but oh well. (don't get me wrong, I love M4 Part 2 but it kind of gets the heave ho due to a technicality, no matter how well it fits with the game)

Mass Effect OST [http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL8725C030AA893BB5&feature=mh_lolz]
Mass Effect 2 OST [http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL26F9197BA33E50FA&feature=mh_lolz]

No Call of Duty games nor Fable games appear though.

Also, why are my badges screwed up?

 

[Carnagath]

No Jeremy Soule in there? Seriously dudes?

 

[LazerFX]

Yeah, it's got to be said the Morrowind/Oblivion/Skyrim theme musics have been all universally awesome, and should be recognised as such. The way they've managed to keep the musical themes there, while making them sufficiently unique for each game. I've hardly stopped subconsciously whistling the music for quite a while now - without even realising I'm doing it, and (unlike most songs that get stuck in your head) enjoying it

 

[ZeroMachine]

Some of these entries brought back great memories (and now I want to play Assassin's Creed II again ) but no Megaman? No Elder Scrolls? Only one Halo song?

No ZELDA?

These guys have such an odd mix of good and bad taste. And they LOVE VVVVVVVV.

EDIT: Right, duh, western games. That's why "no Megaman/Zelda". But still, to the other two points, what the hell, guys?

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

The only reason it's controversial is that Monty isn't number 1. You try doing Diablo with only 3 channels.


Or maybe you remember it from this:


Or let's bring it up to date...


Sublime.

Which is why the C64 still pwns the dead-flesh Speccy.

BTW guys, the top 1000 is here: http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/vgm/bestvgm2011.htm and I think your guys show up later on.

 

[Earnest Cavalli]

These guys have such an odd mix of good and bad taste. And they LOVE VVVVVVVV.

It's not so much "these guys" as it's the collective will. This list is based on a huge reader poll.

And VVVVVVVV was great!

 

[ZeroMachine]

These guys have such an odd mix of good and bad taste. And they LOVE VVVVVVVV.

It's not so much "these guys" as its the collective will. This list is based on a huge reader poll.

And VVVVVVVV was great!

Ah, I didn't realize it was a poll thing at first.

And I never said I disagreed. Still need to beat it, though...

 

[ThaBenMan]

I see nothing from Bastion on that list - unacceptable!

 

[Rainboq]

I see nothing from Bastion on that list - unacceptable!

Agreed!

Also: Nice with the opening to Civ IV being on that list, that song deserves its spot.

P.S. No mention of the loud and bombastic TF2 music? DISGRACEFUL!

I kid really, its nice to see people actually taking the care to do this.

 

[Myke_storm]

oh god I remember getting my mum to buy monty on the run for my C64.

Which is why the C64 still pwns the dead-flesh Speccy.

damn right

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

huh...something tells me they are very old retro games, that seem to favor alot of pc games...i know it's western games only, but still quite surprising on some of them.

mir oh well..brings back some memories on a few of them.

 

[Andronicus]

No Jeremy Soule...
No Grant Kirkhope...
No Mark Mothersbaugh and Josh Mancell...

Sigh. Oh well. At least "Lil Bonus Room" made it in, even if it did only get 3 votes...

 

[JaceArveduin]

I'd like to say that this list needs an injection of the BFME2 and Republic Commando soundtracks.

 

[Harker067]

I see nothing from Bastion on that list - unacceptable!

Click through for the full list. #39

 

[Phlakes]

I can assure you the folks at Hardcore Gamer 101 have little taste. This doesn't surprise me.

Get some of this-


And this-


And this-


And then (because I won't clog this post anymore) you've got yourself a list.

 

[weirdee]

Tower of Heaven at 177? What are they, philistines?

edit: and that isn't even the best tower of heaven song!...

it's this one

 

[omicron1]

The problem with user vote polls is that they are heavily biased by visibility.

Only someone who has played all games in existence can truly judge; as is, any game that less than (say) 25% of poll-takers know is doomed to obscurity by default.

This list is also (as are many such lists) skewed badly towards old console titles. This, I believe, reflects more the nature of "Hardcore Gaming 101"'s readership than it does the actual quality of the works involved.

No Homeworld, no Anno, no Age of Empires, no Elder Scrolls. And the Gothic 3 theme tune is rather memorable as well.

In sum: Move along, nothing to see here.

 

[Arcanist]

The lack of tracks from The Binding of Isaac disappoints me greatly.

They did get some, though, like the Icarus theme from Deus Ex: Human Revolution and Ezio's Family from Assassin's Creed 2.