Twelve Game Music Tracks Worth Keeping 364
The field of game music has gotten considerably better over the years, a fact that Games Radar highlights in a simple 'list article' about iPod-worthy game music. They highlight some obvious recent gems, like Coulton's "Still Alive" and "Hikari" from Kingdom Hearts, but also bring back some older goodies with choices like "Everybody Jump Around" from Jet Set Radio or "Chemical Plant" from Sonic 2. "Sonic games used to have amazing music. And while single-player Mystic Cave Zone came a close second, this has to make the list. It may be basic compared to modern CD recordings, but just listen to how each of the console's sound channels is used - it's remarkable. Intricate and dramatic, this industrial anthem builds and builds before seamlessly looping in a non-annoying way."
Castlevania Symphony of the Night Anyone? (Score:3, Interesting)
Don't forget Chris Huelsbeck's game music (Score:3, Interesting)
Planescape: Torment (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Hikari from Kingdom Hearts? (Score:3, Interesting)
A few more of my favorites (Score:5, Interesting)
* "Radio" from Command and Conquer: Red Alert
* menu song from Forsaken (it's track 6 or 7 on the game CD... not sure if it has an actual title but the band that performed it is "The Swarm")
* "Tangerine" from Earthworm Jim 2 (soundtrack by Tommy Tallarico)
* the intro song from Earthworm Jim 2... I don't think I've ever seen it on a CD, but it's probably the first "a cappella" song I ever saw in a video game, even though it was just samples on a SNES/Genesis
* most of Mechwarrior II
* most of Katamari Damacy
* "Beyond the Bounds" from Zone of the Enders: Second Runner
* the operatic tracks from Heroes of Might & Magic II
* most of the Interstate '76 soundtrack
* one of the songs from Dr. Mario ("fever"?).
* "Skyward Fire" and "Save Me" from Unreal Tournament
Also, for those of you who haven't seen it already, OverClocked Remix has plenty of great freely-downloadable remixes of video game songs:
http://www.ocremix.org/ [ocremix.org]
Homeworld soundtrack (Score:2, Interesting)
Personally, I'd put their use of Samuel Barber's "Agnus Dei" (the choral version of his Adagio for Strings) at the top of any games-related music list, but they seem to be focusing on music especially composed for a game.
Re:As usual, only CONSOLE games (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:A few more of my favorites (Score:3, Interesting)
This immediately jumped to mind. My flatmate discovered that if you put the game CD into a CD player, it would play the soundtrack. It was pretty novel at the time, and had some neat, catchy string music.
The nearest I've heard to it in popular music is Brainbug's "Nightmare".
The other one people seem to be missing is Arcanum. That had some great chamber music in it.
Personal favorites (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Now it's time for another round of... (Score:2, Interesting)
grim fandango (Score:3, Interesting)
I still have -- and occasionally listen to -- the mp3s in my music collection.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grim_fandango [wikipedia.org]
Good suggestions, may I voice some more? (Score:3, Interesting)
Megaman 2 and 3, Megaman X and X4. Seriously, the original title of the character was Rockman, his sister was named Roll, Protoman was originally named "Blues", his dog sidekick is named "Rush" and his bird sidekick is named "Beat". The franchise was designed with good music in mind.
Yasunori Mitsuda's work: Chrono Trigger theme (Chrono Trigger), Time's Scar (Chrono Cross), 90% of Xenosaga Episode I (including Resurrection, Gnosis, Battle of KOS-MOS, Ormus, Song of Nephilim, and Kokoro), 90% of the Xenogears soundtrack (special mention to Awakening, Knight of Fire, Small of Two Pieces and June Mermaid - they still give me chills when I hear their atmospheric melodies).
Yuki Kajiura: hasn't done too much, but Xenosaga: Episode II's Communication Breakdown, Image theme of Xenosaga II, and Jr. are the best. Xenosaga Episode III was a huge improvement. Go for "The Battle of Your Soul", "Promised Pain", "Godsibb", "Testament". A lot of good tracks aren't included on the CDs, but somebody at Glabadia Hotel has ripped the music from the game. Look for Assault #2 and Battle vs. Yuriev.
Nobuo Uematsu: okay, bear with me - he makes a lot of good music, but he reuses a lot of chords and melodies from game-to-game, and has a hard time branching out. BUT, what he gets right he gets very right. One Winged Angel - Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, Zanarkand (FFX), YOU'RE NOT ALONE (FFIX), Vamo' alla Flamenco (FF IX), FITHOS, LUSEC, WEPOS, VINOSEC (FF VIII), Cyan (FF VI), Trojan Beauty (FF IV), and My Home, Sweet Home (FF V "Dear Friends" soundtrack).
F-Zero (Guitar Remix): Endless Challenge, Long Distance of Murder
Gran Turismo: Moon Over Castle
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night: Bloody Tears
And something I haven't seen yet:
Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete - Luna's Boat Song and the Intro Theme. When you watch the animation sequence for the Boat Song, you will be hooked into the game. It's perfect and expresses the game's lighthearted, romantic, colorful world. And the Intro Theme rocks, too. Yes, they're in English.
Lunar: Eternal Blue Complete - Eternal Blue and Lucia's Theme. Same as above, but longer and better. These're also in English.
I cannot believe nobody mentioned Lunar...
Na naaaa na... (Score:2, Interesting)
"I see you rolling me / I wanna wad you up into my life"