Favourite Game Soundtracks

[pictsy]

Some games have iconic soundtracks, some have beautiful scores.  What are your favourites?

For me, I love the final fantasy scores.  IX in particular.  The Zelda scores are always a delight with the original music being very iconic to the wonderful sounds of Ocarina of Time.  From the Amiga days there are the fabulous Pinball Dreams and Fantasy games, Speedball 2 and a particular favourite of mine, Hybris.

Some more recent contenders would be the soundtracks would be from Okami and Muramasa: The Demon Blade, the latter of which seems to - at times - combine heavy metal with traditional Japanese music.

[Link Prime]

Here's the top 3 that popped into my head;

Ocarina of Time- the greatest game ever also happened to have the greatest soundtrack ever. Go figure.
GTA: Vice City- sure, all GTA games have great soundtracks, but there was something about Vice City's selection of 80's gems that just felt right. A stone cold classic, that I have on CD.
Silent Hill- great horror evocations, and the main theme has not been bettered IMHO.

[Professor Bear]

In the orchestral range of things, the bass-heavy use of horn in Uncharted 2's OST really made it stand out among Naughty Dog's usual cinematic production standards.  I also normally don't go for stylised OST choices but Gustavo Santaolalla's stripped-down and desolate instrumental work on The Last Of Us really nailed the post-apocalyptic western vibe the game was going for in concept if not in visuals (too much greenery and bright colours to really pin down a western ghost town aesthetic, for my taste).  That main theme is haunting stuff.
GTA: San Andreas remains an all-time favorite.  Rock, pop, country, dad rock, soul, even early 90's dance and rarely a duff note.
Fallout 3 - great mix of period swing and jazz, though no alt-takes on famous standards - given that the world is set in a divergent reality - like Bioshock Infinite tried.
007 Blood Stone made a damn good fist of being a "proper" Bond OST right down to not-horriffic Joss Stone title song I'll Take It All.

[radiator]

Don't listen to that much game music, but both Bastion and Superbrothers: Sword and Sworcery had some nice tunes:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOOqdRsbHKA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xzGEiER7mkc

[Greg M.]

Chrono Trigger - very evocative, mysterious, and oddly haunting - maybe my all-time favourite.
Persona 4 - Perfectly judged, intensely memorable j-pop earwormage.
Fallout 3 - Not so much the songs played on Galaxy News Radio, though they do undoubtedly give the game a unique vibe, but more the ambient soundtrack itself - very atmospheric.

Not coincidentally, these are probably my three favourite games. In terms of use of existing songs, Brutal Legend is worth a mention for its proper old-school heavy metalism - you can't beat haring across the countryside to the strains of 'Kickstart My Heart'. To be honest, the soundtrack was far better than the game. Ocarina of Time definitely deserves an honourable mention for the 'Hyrule Field' tune alone, though I also have a soft spot for the 'Lost Woods' theme.

Edit to add: Can't believe I forgot one of my absolute favourites - the theme tune to 80s arcade machine Rolling Thunder.

[dweezil2]

Streets Of Rage II.

And pretty much anything by Rob Hubbard on the C64

[dweezil2]

And this rather superb effort for the ZX Spectrum from the supremely talented Tim Follin!

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=JOZ8rbmlWrk&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DJOZ8rbmlWrk


Who said the humble Speccy couldn't do music? It's 303 tastic and one of my favourites ever!

[Third Estate Ned]

And this rather superb effort for the ZX Spectrum from the supremely talented Tim Follin!

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=JOZ8rbmlWrk&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DJOZ8rbmlWrk


Who said the humble Speccy couldn't do music? It's 303 tastic and one of my favourites ever!

I too love Tim Follin's Speccy soundtracks, especially this one on Ghosts 'n' Goblins:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ci1oXHHanno

[Rog69]

I think my all time favorite would have to be the Defender arcade machine, the sound on it was incredible.

[NapalmKev]

The tune from the original arcade version of Gauntlet - the in between level tune.

And also from the arcade; Crude Busters - not the music but the in-game speech (Psycho Santa, Ho Ho Ho).

Cheers

[GrinningChimera]

Deus Ex : Human Revolution. It's my go-to soundtrack. Or when I get bored with that Max Payne 3.

Both are must haves imo.

[M.I.K.]

While we're praising Mr. Follin, I was always very impressed with the 128k tune for Solar Invasion.

One of the most impressive game soundtracks I've ever heard was the one for Cryo software's 2001 Jekyll & Hyde game.

[dweezil2]

Yeah, that Tim Follin is something of a genius!

What he managed to squeeze out of those primitive sound chip at the the time was nothing short of remarkable!

[shaolin_monkey]

The electronic rendition of the Star Wars theme on that vector line version in the arcades was awesome.

I have a soft spot for the tunes in Mariocart, but that could be because I've probably played every rendition of it ever!

Okami has a wonderful soundtrack:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ec_k_TY7CcM

...but then it's a wonderful game, especially the PS2 version, which had a muted watercolour effect over a canvas stipple.  It made you feel like you were in a japanese watercolour.  The music just accentuated that feeling.

[pictsy]

Okami has a wonderful soundtrack:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ec_k_TY7CcM

...but then it's a wonderful game, especially the PS2 version, which had a muted watercolour effect over a canvas stipple.  It made you feel like you were in a japanese watercolour.  The music just accentuated that feeling.

Yay!  Another for Okami.  I have the soundtrack on my MP3 player currently and I'm getting the official art book for Christmas.  I have the Wii version (for the motion brush thingy) and it's a beautiful game.  Kinda like Muramasa: The Demon Blade.  That is a gorgeous game, fun and has a great soundtrack... but no art book :'(

I am surprised there hasn't been more Amiga game suggestions.  Am I the only one that had an Amiga as a kid or am I the only one that appreciated it's music?