Favorite VG music?

[Kubz]

the God of War soundtrack is great. sets up an epic atmosphere, really adds to the game play. Red Alert 2's soundtrack is also a classic. the whole industrial sound really fit well with the gameplay. GTA: Vice City and San Andreas have soundtracks that i will never forget, hours of listening to VROCK and Radio X have made me always tie those songs to the games. i really enjoyed the soundtracks for NFS: Underground 2 and Most Wanted as well. they chose fitting, fast paced songs.

those are the ones i remember off the top of my head

 

[Wicariusly]

I personally loved the soundtrack to F-zero GX for the gamecube. All 41 characters had there own unique theme song with its own style, and although some were bad some were rather catchy. And most of the songs that played during the story mode were great at setting the mood.

 

[Theoban]

It's not my favourite VG music, but it's the one that made me sit up and pay attention to it.

In Shining Force, it's on the 4th Chapter where you're fighting your way into the town, the 2nd to last battle of the chapter, the music there just runs shivers down my spine.

And of course in the more modern era, Morrowind wins my vote. Love it.

 

[CarlosYenrac]

Virgil, you mentioned secret of mana and i got goosebumps..... i used to rent it for the week and just leave the title screen running. i can hear the call of the dragons now....

also ffvii - the scene where the jet powered bikes jump from galbadia garden into balamb (pretty sure it's used elsewhere too, but i really love that scene) - stirring stuff.

incidentals from metroid still get me, i find myself humming along just saving the game

also i have to include all of legend of zelda's soundtracks (well from 3 onwards at least) but in particular when i first heard it coming out of a gameboy i was amazed -and yes, i mean *1st* generation gameboy- at the sound quality they managed to squeeze out of that speaker. i guess ninty just knows their hardware best, hence why first party titles are all i really buy their systems for.

Carlos, Fanboy Purist.

 

[lionusprime]

NiGHTS InTo Dreams on the Sega Saturn was a veritable feast for the ears, as was Burning Rangers. Nobuo Uematsu is also one of my favorite composers, and so Final Fantasy, Kingdom Hearts and more recently Blue Dragon are all in my list.


CarlosYenrac, the piece from FF8 you're talking about is probably 'Only A Plank Between One And Perdition', though I can't remember exactly. I think that's an awesome track too, though I prefer The Man With The Machine Gun. Laguna battles were always awesome. Of the FF games, my favorite sound wise was IX. The normal battle music in it was fantastic - which it had to be considering how often you hear it I guess - but all the event battle tracks were brilliant as well.

*SPOILER*

Feel My Blade, the track from you fight Steiner at the start during the play, and Hunter's Chance, the soundtrack from the Hunting Festival, are two of my favorite pieces of music ever, let alone VG tracks.

*END SPOILER*

 

[Katana314]

OK, I'm sorry for being the whiny hating person here, but HOW does everyone like Oblivion's soundtrack? If you've ever gone into the game files, you see that there are a total of about...6 songs! And in relativity, they're pretty dang short. No special songs for certain events, just like 3 songs for combat, 3 songs for "not combat" and the main theme. I admit the main theme is good, but...I got pretty tired of a bunch of those songs.

 

[josh797]

i cant beleive this you guys missed the best one ever, maybe the most popular game ever.

Tetris.

wow thats surprising. now that thats over with, in no particular order:

"still alive" from portal
theme from Halo
mario
zelda
pokemon
super smash bros melee
medal of honor (i know strange, but go back and listen, its great)
yoshi story
sonic
tetris

 

[Gear-Zero]

For sheer enjoyment I'd have to go for Jet Set Radio.

But I also really love the music in Shenmue.

Oh, and "Still Alive" from Portal, obviously.

 

[hooliganyouth]

"Kane & Lynch: Dead Men" has an excellent score even by Jesper Kyd standards. I look forward to tracking down a copy to add to my Jesper Kyd & Crime Thrillers score collection.

 

[CarlosYenrac]

ooh ooh yes music c from tetris on the original GB!!!!

 

[Vigormortis]

Half-Life series - I may be biased as this is my favorite game series as well, but that may be due partially to the music. Kelly Baileys work on the soundtracks and sound design of all of Valve's games always fits perfectly to what is going on in the game and makes for just great listening. Combining techno-industrial tracks with moody, claustophobic, ambient tracks makes for one of the more unique STs out there and accurately portrays the dystopian, cyberpunk, horror feel of the Half-Life story. One of the only soundtracks I listen to outside the game.

MechWarrior2 series - Jeehun Hwang had amazing talent for creating such a rhythmic, ambient soundtrack with such limited techology. Just made you feel like you were really piloting a 30 foot tall, 80 ton, walking metal robot.

Prince of Persia - the blend of ambient persian music with metal guitars was very cinematic
BG&E - Propaganda!
Psychonauts - almost physchodelic (no pun intended)
Metal Arms - not my favorite game, but loved the ST)
Conker's Bad Fur Day - how could anyone NOT love this one?
Homeworld - gave the player a sense of awe and scale of the epic space battles
Sonic Adventure 2 - just kinda catchy, if that makes sense
Metroid Prime - each song fit perfectly with it's designated area
Perfect Dark - had a very cyber-punk combined with 70's spy feel
Freespace 1 & 2 - like homeworld, complimented the visuals to make you feel like you were in the middle of space.

 

[TheAtheist [deprecated]]

Actraiser

 

[Copter400]

Psychonauts had a lovely selection of tunes.
I liked the way Star Wars Battlefront would play 'March of the Stormtroopers' as the Empire kills the last of the rebels.
Destroy All Humans 2, it often has catchy tunes from the 70's in conjunction with mass genocide, something that can't go unnoticed.
Runescape (please don't hurt me) had a nice soundtrack.
Jak 2 definitely deserves a mention.

 

[BigText]

I can't overstate the awesomeness of Kelly Bailey's stuff. He's the guy that's done all of the music for the Half-Life series. I listen to Vortal Combat on, essentially, a daily basis. The only problem with a lot of the music is that the music is meant to be played with the game. For example, the song Last Legs, which plays during the final battle in Episode 2, has a huge chunk in the middle where's it's pretty much just drums. In the game, the gameplay and the music compliment each other, and the drums keep the intensity quite nicely. However, on its own, it seems like the middle part should almost be omitted entirely. It's still excellent, though.

Then there's Seiken Densetsu 3 and 4. I can't get over how AMAZING the SD3 final songs are. I've been trying to find a remix of Sacrifice Part 2, which has incredible drum work, and Sacrifice Part 3. Remember when final boss music was just awesome, complex, awe-inspiring pieces of amazement? Sacrifice Part 3 is the epitome of that, I believe. I'd really like to hear what these songs would be with higher sound quality.

For Seiken Densetsu 4 (called Dawn of Mana in the states), the game had 4 different composers work on the game, leading to excellent music of all genres. The Latin-based Fool's Dance remains one of my favorite songs, and the techno Death Sally Battle is incredible as well.

I also love the FFX soundtrack, but the ending theme that was linked to at the beginng is just too slow. I appreciate slow, beautiful songs, but that was just snail-paced. Zanarkand, Aeon Battle, and the final fight against Yu Yevon are some of my favorites. Also, I'm the only person in the world who liked Otherworld, apparently.

Beyond that, it's just obvious staples like Zelda, Metroid, and the like. I don't feel I need to go into detail there.

I'm sad to say this, but I've never played SotC. I think I need to.

 

[TheAtheist [deprecated]]

Star Ocean: The Second Story has a great selection of music. Also, the main theme of Myst III: Exile is great. Jesper Kyd's work from the Hitman series has always been very good. Digging back into my youth a bit, the Streets Of Rage series stands out as being pretty awesome. Last but certainly not least is Akira Yamaoka and the Silent Hill series.

 

[purifiedinfire]

bioshock was pretty good, the song in the beginning of call of cthulhu: dark corners of the earth is one of my alltime favorites.

but nothing....

NOTHING!

beats the soundtrack for crash twinsanity

 

[jadedcritic]

Harry Gregson Williams - the orchestral opening to MGS2, the sons of liberty.
To date that pretty much is my favorite video game music, ever. With the possible exception of the Wind Nocturne from Lunar: Silver Star Story

 

[The Rogue Wolf]

Some oldies, some more new, all memorable in my book.

Out Of This World/Heart Of The Alien- various (some abjectly fantastic music in this game)
Final Fantasy IV (2 U.S.)- Red Wings Theme
Final Fantasy VI (3 U.S.)- Aria di Mezzo Carattere (beautiful), Cyan's Theme (sad but noble), ending theme (which I learned to play on keyboard and STILL REMEMBER NOTE BY NOTE)
Chrono Trigger- Millenial Faire theme, Forest Theme 600 AD, Schala's Theme (SO beautiful)
TES IV: Oblivion- there's this one piece of piano/strings music that just sounds so melancholy and lonesome; it played the first time I emerged into Pale Pass (it was snowing and twilight) and I was just hit by this feeling of being alone in a long-dead place
Half-Life 2- a score actually used in HL1, but it hits much harder in this scene. Coming down from the dam, turning a corner and seeing the dock leading to Black Mesa East, then a guitar begins a rather low-key yet powerful techno mix
Portal- Still Alive (c'mon, who DOESN'T love it?)
Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening- Ballad of the Wind Fish (especially in the ending sequence... the seagulls, the waves, the gentle flute... who knew the Game Boy could do so much with sound?)

There's probably more, but I can't remember them at the moment.

 

[Count_de_Monet]

I think Total Annihilation gets an honorable mention because you could use your own music for different events.

C&C was great because it was realish music and each song meant something in the game so it wasn't just background noise it actually helped you get into the experience of the game. Who cares if your soldier was six different colored pixels, when that attack song came on I got pumped.

Though I know quite a few people disagree I think the score for Guild Wars was great, especially the Northern Shiverpeaks song. It had a...snowy feel to it which I loved.