Best Game Soundtracks?

[Subotai]

I just finished replaying Heart of Winter, and as it finished I was again amazed at the quality of the score. Very well done and in keeping with the theme of the game. Anyone else think of any great video/computer game soundtracks?

[Michael Rabattino]

Well, i've always thought the BIS games had terrific scores. Jeremy Soule is pretty damn good.

As for other excellent soundtracks, for console,

Every Final Fantasy
Metal Gear Solid 2
Silent Hill 2
Kingdom Hearts
Shenmue Series
Xenosaga

For PC,
The Jedi Knight games
Grim Fandango
Fallout Series
Baldur's Gate series, Icewind Dale series, Planescape:Torment

[Cheese Biscuits]

Zelda has the best video game theme ever. Metal Gear Solid comes in a close second.

[Dan Laugharn]

Wipeout XL

[mongycore]

good call on XL, the cd soundtrack is somewhere in my closet right now.

I've always had a soft spot for Hook on the SNES when it came to soundtracks...of course I always have a soft spot for anything Williams has done.

The overworld theme to Zelda has to be one of the best...even though it repeated forever, it was catchy, far from annoying, and epic which suited Zelda perfectly.

[Agent 86]

Tecmo Super Bowl for NES
All Super Mario Games
C&C Red Alert

[Tony Ryan]

This dating game one of my cousins from Japan has for PS or Dreamcast (Or neither, I don't really remember what system it was for), I don't remember the name of the game, but the music was so cheesy and perfect. It really had the best soundtrack I have ever heard in a game

Game was a tad whacked though.

[Ryo Hazuki]

This is one of the hardest questions for me to answer, since there are just so many. But I have to break this catergory up into three different ones: Emotional, Technical, and Special Soundtracks.

Emotional
1. Final Fantasy 7
2. Final Fantasy 10 (Just for "Ending Theme")
3. Final Fantasy 9
4. Final Fantasy 8
5. Final Fantasy 6

Technical
1. Shenmue (Series)
2. Xenosaga
3. Final Fantasy 8
4. Final Fantasy 7
5 Final Fantasy 9

Special CD's
1. Final Fantasy Symphonic Suite
2. Shenmue Orchestra Version
3. Final Fantasy 9 Piano Collections
4. Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time: Hyrule Symphony
5. Final Fantasy 8 Orchestra
6. Final Fantasy 6 Grand Finale
7. The Best of Ys
8. Final Fantasy X Piano Collections
9. Final Fantasy Live Concert (Release Date: 5/9/02, this cd will be higher once I hear the real one)
10. Game Concert CD

[Richard Dickson]

If you think Heart of Winter is good, the score for Icewind Dale is downright unbelievable. The main theme is nothing short of amazing.

I also really liked the music for Heroes of Might and Magic III.

[Michael Rabattino]

Poxy Von Sinister:
If you think Heart of Winter is good, the score for Icewind Dale is downright unbelievable. The main theme is nothing short of amazing.
It sure is. I would just stay on the title screen and listen to it before playing the game. The main chorus is just so damn heroic.

I'm so glad to see chewers' tastes are with Black Isle/Interplay/Bioware.

[Richard Dickson]

The Baldur's Gate scores are pretty good also -- not quite as moody and atmospheric as Icewind Dale, but the main themes for both I and II sure do get the blood pumping.

[Sethos]

video games:

sega genesis/megadrive:
-Streets of Rage II (one of the best game soundtracks ever!)

-Revenge of Shinobi (same dude as SoR2, excellent themes)

-The Immortal (a fantastic theme, and some mighty impressive background music, which isn't very loud, but it sure makes everything even more tense)

SNES:
-Zelda: A Link to the Past (in my mind, still the best version of the main theme)

-Contra III (very loud, very good)

PSX:
-Silent Hill (creepy as hell)

-Resident Evil (same, though instead of SH's industrial noise, this harkens back to seventies horror synthesizer tunes. I love it!)

-Resident Evil 2 (same as above, only with some more really cool piano music as well)

-FFIX (just brilliant)

PS2:
-Silent Hill 2 (same as one, only slightly less creepy and more emotional (the "Promise" theme)

-Final Fantasy X (great song at the end, and I love the "prayer"music when Yuna dances on the water)

-Baldur's Gate Dark Alliance (great music, but not as good as the pc versions)

-Devil May Cry (because of the seamless transitions between gloomy gothic stuff to pumping techno/rock tunes for the fights. amazing)

-Ico (because less really is more.. and the music that is in the game is just perfect)

PC games:
-any monkey island game, but especially the excellent rendition of the theme in the last game.

-all Black Isle Studios games, but especially Icewind Dale and Baldur's Gate II - those main themes are spectacular

-the Gabriel Knight games. great theme for all the games, and the incidental music ain't bad either. the only atrocious thing is the fake wagner opera at the end of The Beast Within. ugh!

my favorite game soundtrack, however, must be the OST to OUTCAST. the game itself turned out to be a great idea but with poor execution (I hated the controls and all the bugs). But where else do you get a full orchestra (Moscow Symphony Orchestra) and a full choir participating on a game soundtrack? not just a great game OST, but one of my favorite CDs ever. You can download some mp3s of the OST from the official site: <a href="http://www.outcast-game.com/english/html/image_soundtrack.html" target="_blank">Outcast MP3</a>

[Charlie Brigden]

ThunderForce IV on the Genesis/MegaDrive. Rocking game, rocking soundtrack.

[xtheshapex]

blaster master for the NES...i dont rememebr the overall soundtrack,but the opening theme when the little kid loses his frog in the giant pit,that music is absoulutely chillin,i dont care what anyone says...

megaman 2...by far my favorite for any game

chrono trigger

zelda for NES

deja vu

[LlamaRama]

Ditto on Heroes III and Monkey Island.

Also... Total Annihilation has a pretty spectacular orchestral soundtrack that fits the epic nature of the game perfectly.

In Half-Life, the music was nothing particularly special, but was used to great effect. It was so rare that when it actually did start playing, you immediately got a huge adrenaline surge.

[imported_Adam Warren]

Wanderer from Y's had great soundtrack back in the day. Final Fantasy VI/III was never really matched as far as FF games go. Zelda had the best soundtrack on the NES(Startropics, TMNT II runners-up). I suppose Tony Hawk should get a mention for its listenable pop-song soundtrack.

[raoul duke]

Interstate '76

[Ryo Hazuki]

I have never played a game called Ys but this song on the soundtrack is simply breathtaking. It is track 12 and it's called "Musical Suite - Lilia -Neo Falcom Classic", and it's performed by the London Symphony Orchestra.

Download the song here...
<a href="http://www.gamingforce.com/audio/mp3/sz/vbys.php" target="_blank">http://www.gamingforce.com/audio/mp3/sz/vbys.php</a>

[Cheese Biscuits]

I always thought the music in the Myst games (while sparse) was very affective, Riven especially. It had some of the most atmospheric music I've ever heard... but, the game is all about atmosphere, so it would have to be.

[Brian Ross]

The Outcast soundtrack rules, the best there is.

And I do have the Myst soundtrack, I sometimes enjoy ambient music from time to time. I just wish the tracks were longer.