Games Soundtrack Appreciation / Discussion Thread

Btw, do you guys listen to soundtracks in any particular fashion different from how you'd listen to regular music? In any way in particular? Like while playing online games, working, doing mundane tasks (like commuting), exercising, and/or etc?

Pikey26 wrote:

Btw, do you guys listen to soundtracks in any particular fashion different from how you'd listen to regular music? In any way in particular? Like while playing online games, working, doing mundane tasks (like commuting), exercising, and/or etc?

I often like to have quiet music on in the background when I'm reading, as long as it's not too upbeat and has little or no lyrics. So I may play the Bastion soundtrack and a selection of Skyrim tracks - mixed in with some jazz or cello - while I'm reading The Hobbit or something. Basically, whenever I'm doing something that benefits from some music playing, you can bet my game soundtracks are tossed into the mix.

Edit:

This one from Red Dead Redemption provided one of the single most moving moments I've had playing a game. If you've played it, you know what I'm talking about.

Although Mass Effect was already posted, I have to post this one because it might be my favourite piece of video game music ever.

For fun I tried to do a midi version of it but I can't make midi instruments sound good for the life of me :U

Pikey26 wrote:

Btw, do you guys listen to soundtracks in any particular fashion different from how you'd listen to regular music? In any way in particular? Like while playing online games, working, doing mundane tasks (like commuting), exercising, and/or etc?

I blast SNES's F-Zero OST when driving back home from work.

Pikey26 wrote:

Btw, do you guys listen to soundtracks in any particular fashion different from how you'd listen to regular music? In any way in particular? Like while playing online games, working, doing mundane tasks (like commuting), exercising, and/or etc?

I have 2+ hours of commute time/day. Most of that time is podcasts or soundtracks. Also, they're perfect for drowning out the noisy BS-ing @$$holes in the adjoining cubicles at work. Perfect because they don't have distracting lyrics. I can really enjoy being productive at work.

Actual intro song begins at 3:10 (I couldn't find a video of just the song) - one of my favorite game themes.

How could I have forgotten one of my newest favorites

Okay let's start with something a little old-school. Besides being a catchy, heroic theme, it had the benefit of being on a mixed-media CD. Stick it in a player (quickly skip track 1) and enjoy.

This one was a bit of a surprise. The whole OST is great, but this stands out as my favorite track.

Another great OST for a wholly underrated game. BTW, the entire OST is available for free here.

To change gears a bit (pun intended).

And finally, a great finale to a fun series.

I will add my +1 for the Mass Effect series too. Not entirely outstanding, but some fantastic individual tracks fitting to the space opera vibe of ME.

Okay, I'm certain you guys are going to get sick of me. This was a bad thread to start. Love me some soundtracks.

If you're looking for game OST's, I recommend Sumthing Distribution. Though Amazon's MP3 store seems to be getting more of them too.

D-Man777 wrote:

Okay, I'm certain you guys are going to get sick of me. This was a bad thread to start. Love me some soundtracks.

Naww the more the merrier.

Soundtracks CAN be some of my favorite aspects of anything I enjoy, it's nice to get some of the best stuff from games I wouldn't necessarily ever seeing myself play.

kyrieee wrote:

For fun I tried to do a midi version of it but I can't make midi instruments sound good for the life of me :U

Selective application of Reverb effect and very slightly adjusting the tuning can do wonders. That said, we're not really talkin pure midi at that point.

Xenoblade Chronicles has been amazing.

So far the title theme, and Satorl Marsh Night them have been the standouts I think. I'm sure there's more.

EDIT: Videos

A lot of times a game's soundtrack becomes the only thing I remember about a game (especially when it has aged a bit ;))
A few of my favorites:

Note: ↑ Above is essentially the version Super Smash Bros. Brawl featured. ↑

The shear number of songs produced by games that I like sure makes a "short list" difficult to create

Eldon:

Totes. There are some games that I scarcely remember save for the music. Super Mario RPG is one of them. I mean, I remember the game being awesome-sauce, but it's the music that stuck with me more than anything.

And since you brought up Super Mario Land (and what an awesome song, by the way), this next track is my absolute favorite from a game that was essentially the formative experience with the Game Boy: Super Mario Land 2. (The good stuff picks up at 1:50)

And to round out my old-school musical reminiscing, I have one from a game that I have vivid memories playing in no small part because of the music: Mega Man 3.

Machinarium was mentioned just above, but I'd feel remiss if I didn't link my favorite from the game:

And sweet, sweet Bastion. As I'm sure others did, I loved Zulf's Theme, and the end credits mashup between that and Zia's Theme was delightful, but this is what I loved the most:

That's not saying much, though. I love all the music in this damn game. Even Rucks humming Zia's Theme.

Hell, especially Rucks humming Zia's Theme.

So much good stuff in this thread.

My pick is Wild Arms:

Man, you guys are linking some great stuff, but nobody has linked Chrono Trigger? Are you all mad?

You gotta realize, CT was scored on a SNES. No real instruments, no big orchestra. One crummy little synth in a piece of cheap hardware. And, nonetheless, the soundtrack is incredibly engaging and highly listenable. There's a TON of music in this game, enough to literally fill three CDs worth -- I know, because I actually own them.

Here's a sample of ten of the themes, maybe not the ones I would have picked, but quite good:

Be sure to at least check out #2, Frog's Theme, at 7:22. It's worth listening to the whole thing, but check out Frog's Theme for sure.

I mean, fer chrissake, that's on the goddamn Super Nintendo!

A kid I knew in college was one of those Tetris savants. He'd play this game for hours. The soundtrack haunted me until I finally figured out the name of the game and found a download for it... and now there's Youtube.

This track found itself onto many a mix cd. Especially good when I'm driving with a headache. There's something about the backing 'thump' that makes it less ouchy...

I'm not ashamed to admit that this track has been played in my bedroom.
Zombie Shuffle indeed.

I love a lot of music from the Arc the Lad games, but for some reason this one is my favorite battle track in particular from Twilight of Spirits. I love the crazy mesh of music going on in this track (in particular I love the guitar intro around 1:30 and the way it blends back into the main theme around 2:10).

Though Final Fantasy has kind of fallen off the rails as of late, the series has spawned a crazy amount of great music over the years. These are a couple of my favorites.

This thread is killing my computer, but I love it!

Grim Fandango is one of my favorites, and one of the few soundtracks I listen to. However, this thread is not complete without the Morricone-inspired Outlaws.

Oh, I forgot to mention Dustforce. The game would not be as excellent as it is without awesome music like this:

Man is this thread right up my alley. Just some that haven't been mentioned yet:

The best version of the Zanarkand theme listed above:

Uematsu is still the man:

Here's a fairly obscure one:

Yeah, that intro video / music for Wild Arms was the best thing about that game.

I had a big list of SNES games but you know what, the best collection of Nintendo's past systems games is in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. There's ~300 tracks in that game and tons of greats ones like this rendition of the Donkey Kong Country 2 track, Bramble Blast:

Myth: The Fallen Lords' Siege of Madrigal has since been put in as an easter egg for all the Halo games (also being a Bungie title). Sometimes remixed sometimes not but regardless, it's a great piece of music.

No Videogame thread is complete without these classic, timeless, virtuoso gems:

Super Metroid - Upper Brinstar (SNES)

F-Zero - White Lands I (SNES)

Final Fantasy IV - Zeromus (SNES) (from 0:56 to 1:17 truly majestic)

Shadow of the Colossus - The Opened Way (PS2) (The entire OST is magnificent, but this one really lands the sentiment of encountering a Colossus for the first time)

And perhaps my all-time favorite game, with perhaps the world's greatest OST, not enough tracks can be selected, so I'll choose the final theme, which encapsulates most themes into one 11minute piece of utter brilliance:

Final Fantasy VI - Ending Theme (SNES)

And within the same game, Nobuo Uematsu's amazing contrast in tone and theme:

Final Fantasy VI - Land of Ruin

I can't possibly be the only guy here who played tons of C64 and Amiga games. So... Turrican, anyone? Factor 5 also developed Super Turrican 1&2 and Mega Turrican, which looked fancier, but were mostly based on the original trilogy, which was the real deal. I own and love the original soundtrack, but Kickstarter brought a nice reminder: Chris Hülsbeck, the guy who composed all Turrican soundtracks, wants to do an Anthology Edition. Woot!

I've met Chris twice or thrice since a former colleague knows him pretty well. He's a genuinely nice and humble guy, so I'm not having a hard time investing in this.

kexx wrote:

No Videogame thread is complete without these classic, timeless, virtuoso gems:

Super Metroid - Upper Brinstar (SNES)

Oh, you found the one weakness in the Smash Bros. Brawl soundtrack - the Metroid tracks. Most are absolutely ruined by voices, and in one case it sounds like a terrible attempt of a surfer dude impersonating an announcer. I shudder at the thought.

@Slacker - thanks for mentioning Planescape!

Some more favorites of mine from that era:

Also, everyone interested in video game soundtracks should be listening to Top Score podcast here:
http://minnesota.publicradio.org/rad...

Shatter has got a pretty sweet soundtrack: