I have lots of favourites but I feel like most will be suggested by others so I’ll go for one that isn’t as popular: Monaco: What’s Yours Is Mine. The whole soundtrack is amazing start to finish. Some of the best piano tunes to ever be in a video game, and a super under-appreciated game. It should’ve been way bigger than it was. Unfortunately it’s being tainted by its less-than-stellar sequel which came out recently. Don’t play the sequel, but definitely play the original. It’s fun solo but it really shines co-op with a friend (or three). It supports up to four players and I’d definitely recommend co-op if you have the means. I used to play it on 360 with a friend of mine and it’s some of my most fond gaming memories. It’s not a difficult game to figure out but it’s not an easy game to get good at. But all that is to say, play the game, or if you can’t, absolutely listen to the soundtrack. It’s awesome.
Patient Gamers
A gaming community free from the hype and oversaturation of current releases, catering to gamers who wait at least 12 months after release to play a game. Whether it's price, waiting for bugs/issues to be patched, DLC to be released, don't meet the system requirements, or just haven't had the time to keep up with the latest releases.
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Halo 1, 2 Reach
Animal Crossing (personally Wild World and New Leaf)
Mario Kart DS, Wii, 7, 8(D)
Bionicle Heroes DS
Art of Balance
Ghostrunner 1 and 2
Midtown Madness 3
Pokemon (Any gen)
SUPER MARIO GALAXY. IT HAS SUCH A LEGENDARY SOUNDTRACK. If you wanna just try it out, first listen to "Gusty Garden Galaxy" Literally one of the most beautiful game soundtracks.
Some which come to mind are:
- Bastion
- Lost Eden
- Duke Nukem 3D
- Flatout 2
- System Shock
- Arcanum ...
But there are probably a lot more which I have played and are great.
World of Warcraft
Killer Instinct 2013
Mick Gordon... Hopefully he didn't get screwed on that one like he did with Doom. It is a wonderful soundtrack.
pictionary nes. trust me. wave race 64 but slow it down to 56% speed. waterworld, platoon, alcahest, evergrace spiderman nes - first level, solar jetman, aerobiz supersonic, uncharted waters, dune msdos
i could go on
The answer is always Chrono Trigger.
30 years later, and still nothing has topped it. No game even comes close.
I got one I'm betting we won't find on here yet...
Alone in the Dark 5, an incredibly ambitious game that fell short, but had some great ideas.
One of which was how that incredible soundtrack by Oliver Deriviere drove this particular playable sequence, 59th Street .
The whole soundtrack done in conjunction with "The Mystery of Bulgarian Voices" is absolutely stunning for an action-horror title.
It was the best part of the game and an incredible example of meshing soundtrack with cinematic gameplay.
. . . actually? All the stuff he does is freaking awesome, so see/listen to his other titles like:
- Remember Me (Awesomely underrated!)
- Obscure
Other (lesser known / thought of?) good soundtracks off the top of my head:
- There Came an Echo (by Big Giant Circles. So good they used the theme in Stranger Things! Season..2?)
- Anything by Supergiant lol.
- Oni (bungie / rockstar)
- FTL
- Metro 2033, Metro: Last Light, Metro: Exodus
- Deus Ex: Human Revolution
- X-COM: Enemy Unknown and X-COM 2.
- King's Quest VIII: Mask of Eternity
I'll probably add to this if I think of any more. :)
Megaman 2 still reigns supreme IMO. The most consistent soundtrack for any video game ever. Bangers end-to-end.
Sexy Parodius is also fantastic. It's a demented mix of jacked up, synthesized classical and folk tunes. This is probably my favorite track: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qlRO9Q0dbQA&list=PLAdIErLpAnQCc5Mk19_MAyeV5bMGsFRpG&index=24 The synth-sax is incredible!
Cyberpunk has ton of awesome tracks
Pon Pon Shit
final fantasy, anything thats NOT 7 simply because its played to death.
Ape Out really only has the one song... but it is perfectly utilized to puncuate the gameplay experience.
The music is the reason I got the game actually, and is also the reason I recommend it to people. The gameplay is also awesome, but the music really sells it and is a core part of the gameplay too.
I think nothing top the JRPGs. My current favs would be Nier: Replicant & Nier: Automata. There's also this rather obscure game I love called Ar Tonelico in which the music is part of the story; of course that wouldn't do if the music suck.
Other than that, I love the entire soundtracks for both Cult of the Lamb as well as Stray.
All the Astro Bot games have phenomenal soundtracks, Kenneth CM Young (of MediaMolecule) is brilliant and knows how to write really catchy earworms. Really got stuck listening to Trapped in Time and Papa Tree.
- Bravely Default kicks with both special and battle themes (go give vagrant of love a try)
-Gran Turismo 4 suuper nice menu themes i especially like hypnosis, the motorious zone, don't kick yourself and be at home
Tetris Effect for me.
Citizen Sleeper
I'm honestly surprised no one has mentioned Chrono Trigger yet. Absolutely fantastic soundtrack.
Secret of mana 3 is also great. The track that comes to mind is "where angels fear to tread"
Chrono Trigger, Trials of Mana, and Final Fantasy 6. SNES had some phenomenal soundtracks.
Speaking of SNES, I enjoyed the top gear soundtracks. They were like eurobeat on a race before eurobeat, powerful yet soothing: https://youtu.be/sqF1nOdV7bY
P.S.: you might be missing some of the benefits stereo can provide: https://youtu.be/nGeyVf5kkjI
Bastion. It's Bastion. Holy shit the answer to this question is Bastion.
I'm assuming you know that Hades' soundtrack is fucking amazing, but before that came Bastion (from the same developer), and it has possibly the most powerful soundtrack I've ever experienced. The way it's integrated into the story genuinely blows my mind. Every track is a banger, but then you'll start to get used to it, and then you'll hear a song that's so different, and it's because something unexpected and beautiful is about to happen.
Then you'll get to the end and you'll have a choice to make. Except it won't feel like a choice, because you'll feel compelled to do exactly what the game wants you to do, and then you're rewarded with one of the most beautiful sequences I've ever seen in a game, accompanied by a haunting song that I still sing fourteen years later.
I can't stress this enough: if you want a game where the music is an essential part of the experience and is just so fucking amazing on its own that you'll want to play it on repeat, the answer is Bastion.
I also really loved the soundtrack to Baldur's Gate 3.
Recently,
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. I think the soundtrack was the best part of the game.
All time,
Anything Final Fantasy or Elder Scrolls is timeless.
Bastion had a fantastic soundtrack. I still have songs from that game in rotation. There are a few perfectly timed music queues that made each song just hit hard.
Nobody has mentioned the Fallout games, but they always have a great radio station you can turn on for background music. Sometimes the soundtrack itself is pretty good too.
Not seen mentioned yet, but Homeworld (1999).
The transition from the opening cutscene to the game proper scored to Agnus Dei (Adagio for Strings) by Samuel Barber really set the tone for the thing.
I don't remember much else about the soundtrack, but that one piece stuck with me.
Ori and the Blind Forest/ Will of the Wisps Still the only two games that I've sought out and added the music to my playlists, although Skyrim and LoZ songs tend to be covered by artists in my daily rotations
Celeste.
The synergy between the soundtrack, the gameplay and the mechanics is just unparalleled.
Earthbound/Mother (mainly Mother 3)
Zelda (especially Ocarina and Twilight Princess)
Ratchet & Clank (especially the first game had some bangers)
Half Life, surprisingly. It has very little music but Diabolical Adrenaline Guitar drops at the perfect moment and makes you feel like you're living in an action movie. 🤌
OFF by Mortis Ghost is similar. Mostly ambient tracks but the melodic ones hit different
Absolute nonsense for this post to have 61 comments and none of them have mentioned Outer Wilds yet. Echoes of the Eye could be its own separate answer to this as well. Take a listen to this track, it is the essence of adventure in audio form
The soundtrack in Celeste is fantastic
Grim Fandango.
Seriously, it's one of the only games I consider to even HAVE a soundtrack. It's absolutely next-level.
You should check out Peter McConnell's (Composer for Grim Fandango OST) other works. You may find some bangers there.