I don't know if CaptainCrunch already made a thread for this, so sorry if it's a retread. I went on a bit of a Youtube binge today of some classic game soundtracks, figured I'd see what everyone's favorites are
Rock n' Roll Racing was my first exposure as a kid to Black Sabbath or Deep Purple, and these songs are forever embedded in my brain for how many hours I spent playing this
One of the greatest tunes of the 16-bit era
PS1 redefined what a console game soundtrack could be, and some were absolutely amazing. I remember leaving Twisted Metal sitting on the menu screen just so I could hear the kickass theme
Red Alert Hell March, nuff said
Aside from Red Alert, Starcraft has one of the best RTS soundtracks of all-time, with the Terran theme being my favorite
Crossing into Mexico for the first time in RDR is one of those game experiences that sticks with you for how good the song is
And finally my vote for greatest video game soundtrack of all time, DOOM. Never before have I played a game where the music and gameplay meshed so well, I actively anticipated the moments when you were swarmed with demons simply because of the kickass soundtrack that followed
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I have some pretty strong opinions on video game music, but I'll try to keep it brief!
My favorite song from any video game is Forest Interlude from Donkey Kong Country 2. David Wise was at the pinnacle of video game music during the SNES era, and it's incredible to see how he was able to produce such a huge depth of sound in the DKC 2 soundtrack.
There are so many good Final Fantasy songs all the way from the first game through to FFXV, but if I had to choose one to listen to it, it would be Searching for Friends from FFVI.
I actually got into shoot-em-up games because of the music, and I have to say that Gradius Gaiden for the PS1 had one of the best soundtracks for that genre. It's full of energy and this song for the start of the final stage is a great primer for the toughest level.
I've played a ton of rhythm games over the years...probably too many. It's so hard to narrow so many good songs made specifically for a rhythm game down to a favorite, but my gut tells me I would choose Xenon from Beatmania IIDX 8th Style.
Finally, not to ignore modern games entirely...Journey for the PS3 completely surprised me when I first played it, and it's stuck with me because of how well the game told the story and how the music changed based on what you did. Watching chemgear play the game along to a live performance of the music was so amazing and I'm glad I got to see that in person.
Honorable mentions:
- Bubble Man (Mega Man 2)
- Hydro City Zone Act 2 (Sonic 3)
- End Credits (Mario Kart 64)
- Lost Paintings (Castlevania: Symphony of the Night)
- Uncharted Theme
"The Fate of the Galaxy" is brilliant and really sets the high stakes tone of the game as far as being a full-game worth of send offs, rather than just one final scene where we're expected to say goodbye to so many beloved characters. I love this trilogy.
Last edited by ComixZone; 05-03-2018 at 12:37 AM.
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For me it's the Persona series. Consistently high quality, oozing with style, and so uniquely Persona. The vocal tracks kill it, the pure instrumental tracks kill it.
Old school EVE Online jukebox tunes (not sure what plays now in game), the entire soundtrack back when I was playing 2004-2006 just had a feeling of really channeling a vast and relatively empty galaxy that you were a minuscule part of. A couple of my favourites:
Watching chemgear play the game along to a live performance of the music was so amazing and I'm glad I got to see that in person.
I've never been on stage for anything and we were pretty nervous beforehand. Pretty crazy experience though and it was cool to meet you in person! Austin has a really neat youtube video where he annotates the complete soundtrack that might be of interest:
Side note, Tina Guo of the Wonder woman theme was the cellist for the soundtrack.
Neal Acree has also done a ton of great game music:
Of course Tommy also brings his awesome Video Games Live concert to Calgary every few years. Highly recommended if you are at all interested in Video Games music.
We haven't met Nobuo Uematsu but he's a giant in the space of course.
I love the Celeste soundtrack, and my favorite song from it has to be the B-Side remix of Chapter 4. in love with a ghost definitely nailed the quiet atmosphere of the original track while mixing some retro and modern sounds into it. It's easy to put on repeat!
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Wing Commander was great for that bombastic simulated orchestra
Somewhat obscure, Ace Combat 4's orchestra soundtrack was also great, with the final mission music being a great audio cue that this is the mission for all the marbles. (Also helps that there's a 30? plane furball that has to be navigated through to reach the objective.)
The closest to the rock'n'roll music aesthetic ace combat 4 comes to is Comona.
The Ace combat series was a great arcadey flight sim shooter that most will say topped out with ace combat 4-5 zero. Much like Final Fantasy, the player doesn't really need to have played the previous games to enjoy the current iteration.
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