Video Game Music- The Ultimate Soundtrack

[Jason Tandro]

This thread is a quest to find the ultimate video game soundtrack. First, I want to start by dividing each entries into console categories and then we can have a discussion from there.

When I say "best soundtrack" I have certain criteria:

1. Uniqueness of individual tracks. (Samey sounding crap gets old after a while)
2. Respect of 18th Century Music Theory. (I've always felt that the best music adheres to set music theory... which means certain new age ambient sounding tracks... while I think they are kinda cool... probably wouldn't make the cut)
3. Level of musical detail. (Complexity isn't neccesarily what I mean. When I say detail, I mean clear effort to make each track well rounded and full.)
4. Memorability. (Everybody has heard the damned Mario Theme about 100 times.)


That being said, here are my picks:


NES: Super Mario Bros 3
This barely edged out Zelda II, but I must stand by my criteria, and let's face it. Zelda II music was very samey and there were only 10 tracks.

SNES: Final Fantasy VI
Now there were SEVERAL contenders for this category. I personally like SMBW, Donkey Kong Country, Illusion of Gaia, and even the Lawnmower Man soundtrack... but Final Fantasy VI is a must have OST, and is probably the best overall soundtrack in the Final Fantasy universe, plus which the opera scene is one of the most outstanding moments in video game history.

Gameboy: Pokemon Blue/ Red
Come on, how can you not choose Pokemon! Sure there were a couple of tracks that made me want to drill a hole in my head (the bicycle theme comes to mind...) but the battle themes, town themes, dungeons... it had great music!

Nintendo64: Super Smash Bros.
That's kind of out of left field, I know, but it had the best of the best of several series, so it kind of wins by default.

Gamecube: Super Smash Bros. Melee
Again, another victory by default.

Nintendo Wii: The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
Not Brawl, sorry! The sountrack of this game changed the way I look at Zelda. Gone is the kiddy adventure, and it's definitely taken a more epic stride, featuring orchestral pieces that would put John Williams to shame.


Sega Genesis: Sonic 2
Best music of any sonic game evar!

Sega Saturn: Lunar 2
Argue with me on this one, I dare you! But no seriously, anybody who has heard the remixed soundtrack can't possibly argue with me on that one, plus which Sega Saturn didn't have that many games.

Playstation One: Star Ocean: The Second Story
I was originally going to choose Final Fantasy 8, but then I remembered the gripping main theme of this game, the avant garde quality of the town themes, Rena's theme, the final boss theme... It was a masterpiece.

Playstation Two: Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater
A soundtrack taken straight out of a Bond-style spy movie, with just the right amount of camp value to make it a faithful homage to the generation, but enough modern day to make it enjoyable. Mr. Hibino had his work cut out for him, but he did very well!

Playstation 3: Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots
Granted my PS3 knowledge is severely limited, but I still think this one will take the cake in the end. Unless you've played the game, I can't possibly describe how many lightyears ahead of its time this quality of music is.

I haven't got tracks chosen for PSP or DS.

[EverPhoenix]

of the games/consoles i have played... here we go


SNES
Lufia II: Rise of the Sinistrals.
Anyone who has played this would know what i mean, the music is simply amazing. I was going to say Terranigma, but then again, its this game that demands the most space of my videogame music playlist.

Nintendo Gameboy
Pokemon Red&Blue
Yeah, its definitely a good one. considering the grand range of sounds they had to work with, it turned out to be amazing.

Gamecube
Baten Kaitos
Having not played too many GC games, (or even much of this one, im only 10 hours in), i dont have a large amount of games to compare to. But some of the songs ive heard from this game are brilliant.

Nintendo Wii
Super Smash Bros: Brawl
A default win. i havent played enough wii games, and this one does have some epic scores.

PC
Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness
Its amazing this entire soundtrack is all midi. Has a very medieval ring to it, and just rocks.

PlayStation
Final Fantasy 8
Another default win due to my great knowledge of the games on the playstation. But this does have some great pieces in it.

PlayStation 2
Grandia II
Amazing Soundtrack. Even though i did play a PC port of this game, and its originally on the Dreamcast, i still think i can mention it coz there was an official ps2 release

I cant quite make up my mind for the GBA and the DS, because of the few games ive played on them. sure ive spent hundreds of hours, but its mainly been pokemon. And the later ones dont have much in the way of an outstanding soundtrack.

i didnt put any n64 games down, because the grand total of n64 games ive played isnt high enough for me to make proper judgment. same goes for any other ones ive missed.

[inferiare]

Oh man, why you do this. I have so many games I feel has some of the best music I've ever heard.

As for creativity, the Ar Tonelico series, hands down. Akira Tsuchiya, the creator of the games, went so far as to make a spoken language(!) as a basis for the game (the language is Hymmnos). The games are based on musical tones and emotions put into the words spoken, and based around music itself. I mean, who goes to those lengths anymore? No one. It would explain why I've been listening to the soundtracks so much; I'm absolutely in love with Hymmnos and the songs are incredibly beautiful. While some of the background music might not be too impressive (though I love it all the same), the songs are simply magical. Backed by Noriko Mitose, Akiko Shikata, and Haruka Shimotsuki, the songs have some amazing things about them (sorry for my not so coherent squee over this, I'm slightly inebriated ;; I know what I want to say, but it's not coming out right.)

If you need proof:

Ar tonelico II Hymmnos Concert Side Red ''Flame ~ Homura''
Ar tonelico II Hymmnos Concert Side Blue "Waterway ~ MIO" (Hibernation is amazing and beautiful, I'm really sad that youtube fails. The song is 14 minutes long and the translation is very fiaisuygsaf-inducing.)

I would link to the Tsukikanaide and Hoshiyomi cd's, but no one has playlists for those. :/

Another for creativity that I love is the Katamari Damacy games. I mean, come ON.

Terranigma will always have a special place in my heart, of course. I shouldn't have to mention it. The ending theme will always make me tear up.

I'll... think of more when I'm more sober and not retarded.

[tay120n64]

Best soundtracks? Well, for memorability alone, anything by Koji Kondo is both catchy and endearing.

Koji Kondo = Mario, Zelda, Star Fox, Smash Bros.

My favorite soundtracks though, would have to be the following:

Chrono Trigger

The combined efforts of Yatsunori Mitsuda and Nobuo Uematsu brought forth one of the most memorable RPG soundtracks of all time. Though not as catchy as, say, the Mario theme, every track reflects the incredible work the composers put into it. Rumor has it that Mitsuda worked himself to physical illness making the OST, which is why Uematsu had to come in and help.

Final Fantasy VI & VII

I would go so far as to claim these two to be among Uematsu's greatest works. The amazing detail that was put into VI was almost unsurpassed in its time. And the amazingly memorable tunes of VII remain its strongest feature. (even if they sounded like crap on the actual game)

Katamari Damacy

Who doesn't love the random quirkiness of Katamari? The mix of J-Pop and Jazz made for an unforgettable experience.

The World Ends With You

And speaking of J-Pop, this game had some amazingly involved music. Granted, it wasn't the best in the world, but it is unique among games of its caliber. Not to mention the fact that it was all on a DS game.

Super Smash Bros Brawl

OVER 40 COMPOSERS CONTRIBUTED TO THIS GAME. Holy Jesus Christ, Batman. For the most part, it's all remixes and tribute tracks, but the involvement of so many top name composers easily puts Brawl among the greatest.

Super Mario Galaxy

Koji Kondo outdid himself. A fully orchestrated soundtrack was something Nintendo wasn't exactly known for, but their first true foray into that world was something that, many times during gameplay, took my breath away.

Honorable Mentions:

Pokemon Red/Blue
Super Mario Bros. 3
Zelda: Ocarina of Time
Zelda: The Wind Waker
Sonic Adventure 2[/i]