Celebrate gaming music

[Johnlives]

Music in video games has come a long way, from chips that go beep to full orchestras. Sometimes it even makes it into our personal music libraries.

I think one of my favourtie soundtracks is that of Arcanum


It really captured the feel of melancholy of a world in change.

But it's not just in game music, people have been inspired and influenced by it to create covers and their own songs. We've had a few on The Escapist over the years like Miracle of Sound and Rebecca Mayes. I'm also a fan of Malukah.


What about you? Any favourite video games soundtracks - maybe they made it to your personal music player of choice? What about artists that are inspired by video games or have you made it to any concerts that play video game music?

 

[Metalmacher]

So this is just a "Favorite Game Music" thread, then? Ok then...

My favorite game OS has to be from Sonic Colors. Yeah that's right, eat me. My favorite music comes from a Sonic game, and I don't give a donkey's tail what you all think.

 

[Elfgore]

Gotta give it up to three games for having great soundtracks.

Spoiler: Dragon Age: Origins

The best way to welcome someone into the High Fantasy world they're embarking on.

Spoiler: Final Fantasy 13

The intro theme was probably my favorite thing about this game, then I hit the combat and realized they had an amazing song for that too. The game may be meh, but they made on hell of a soundtrack.

Spoiler: Kingdom Hearts 2

I almost bought this game as a kid, just because of this song. The first time an ad came on for this game and this song started, I fell in love.

 

[gigastar]

Theres simply too mmuch music in games that i adore to list off the top of my head.

Though heres a couple of my more recent favorites, both form Ys: Origin.

Spoiler

 

[Nazulu]

Spoiler: My picks from some classic games

Haven't responded to one of these threads for a long time, and so I have to bring up the usual awesome Super Metroid theme, but a metal version this time -
And here is the widely ignored most bad ass game music I've heard so far, Ragnarok from Megaman Zero 4 -
Say what you will about Sonic 06', though we've already said it all, but some of the music in this game really kicks ass -
And a level theme I will always come back too, because that old music is so much better -

My favorite game OS has to be from Sonic Colors. Yeah that's right, eat me. My favorite music comes from a Sonic game, and I don't give a donkey's tail what you all think.

I don't get it. Sonic games are known for having some amazing soundtracks, including Sonic Colours is known as one of the good games. I can't imagine anyone having a problem with this one.

 

[StatusNil]

Time to break out a classic, methinks. Here's Rob Hubbard on the SID:


Edit: Nevermind, I dun learned me how to embed proper-like.

Edit 2: And this one's even better. Game was based on a character from 2000 AD, better known for Judge Dredd. It was hilariously brutal for the time, which makes the solemnity of the musical theme even cooler.

 

[Flashmanic]

If you want some video game music appreciation, go to ocremix.org

Great music from old and new games, with remixes spanning across genres. And it isn't just random remixes being dumped on the website, all tracks go through a judging process. It's pretty great.

 

[Hero of Lime]

While it's not my favorite video game song, I really enjoy the Splatoon Splatfest song. Heard it all day yesterday, as it was a Splatfest day, and I am totally fine with that!

 

[Guffe]

One of my favorite ones has to be Song of Storms from The Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time.
It also has a one hell of a metalcover.
Here are both:

Spoiler: Song of Storms

Best "fan made special stuff" has to be this though!


Other good series with songs I like are Xenoblade and Pokemon

 

[Neurotic Void Melody]

One of my favorite ones has to be Song of Storms from The Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time.
It also has a one hell of a metalcover.
Here are both:

Spoiler: Song of Storms

I wholly agree with the song of storms. There are some other good, classic zelda music tracks, but the song of storms has a distinct feel to it. I remember it being the first tune I managed to learn by ear for guitar, as the internet had no tabs for it that I could find. But it is my fallback tune for practicing scales on ze keyboard. Very relaxing but fun to play

Anymoo, recently I remember being quite impressed by Rayman origins/Legends's music. Not just the special music stages, especially not the one with that fuckin kazoo replacing the vocals!

I liked the acapella mario tracks in galaxy. Quite fresh to hear in a video game.

Transistor has a great selection.of music. It helps that there is a dedicated to hum along to the backing tune. Like it exists solely to fulfill that one niche need that resides in someone like me.

Ok, gonna cheat a bit here and say Sound Shapes. Some of the user generated content is great too. There was a particularly memorable one involving what appeared to be an office complex slowly succumbing to a sinister other-realm. The music was industrial, distorted and unsettling. I loved it!

Edit: why are some of these Captchas impossible to decipher? Am I a robot?

 

[Luminous_Umbra]

Besides what has already been posted, Bravely Default had some pretty awesome music. From the field theme to the boss battle music, and everything else. So much good music.
Here's a sample:

 

[CaitSeith]

I have just two words: Still Alive

 

[Xeros]

I'm just gonna use my previous answers since my opinions haven't shifted all that much. All of the following are still in my library, and I play them all fairly frequently, especially while I'm at work.

By far my favorite game and soundtrack. Great on its own, even better when it's perfectly setting the tone, and mood of each stage.

Spoiler: Syphon Filter

Same deal, but in a much more frantic manner.

Spoiler: System Shock 2

Again, same deal. However, this time around it's much more diverse. Frantic when it calls for it, serene when the atmosphere is right, and downright creepy when things start getting real.

Spoiler: Metroid Prime

Wanna go fast? There's no better way.

Spoiler: F-Zero GX/AX

Unless you're Sonic; then there's a much better way.

Spoiler: Sonic 3 & Knuckles

Old classics:

Spoiler: Streets of Rage

How on Earth did I forget Streets of Rage? By chance, did you ever play the remake? While the original soundtracks are undeniably godlike, the composers for the remake bring some welcomed heft into the fray.

Spoiler: Max Man

And speaking of classics, I've gotta give some love to

Spoiler: Golden Axe

Never heard of that actually, seems like a good track though, only got as far as Streets of Rage 3 myself

It's a fan remake of SoR's 1, 2, and 3 wherein you start on any of the first stages, and fork-in-the-road your way through any of the rest with some interesting new tidbits in between. I highly recommend it.

... How about a little more Tony Hawks?

3, 4, and UG are a tad fuzzy, but the soundtracks for 1 and 2 really opened my mind to a diverse set of music when I was younger, and I still have both albums in their entirety, as well as the collective works of just about every artist therein. I still credit

Spoiler: Powerman 5000's When Worlds Collide

from THPS2 as my introduction to industrial metal.

Megaman (all, up to X)

My god, yes. 3 specifically, personally. Everything from

Spoiler: The mesmerizing intro

, to the incredible stage music, among which there is nary a lapse in excellence in any track

Spoiler: least of all, my personal favorite song/Robot Master

, to that

Spoiler: explosive final boss track.

 

[Legomaniac91_v1legacy]

Shovel Knight's soundtrack is great, though my personal favorite is the Plains of Passage: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wqAYMZSOQao

Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance. Silly name, but it has the perfect music to slice up cyborgs and robots to: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jTQIogLBFBs

The Pokemon series has always had some good tracks. The Legendary theme from X/Y is currently stuck in my head, so I'm going to get it stuck in all of yours! :https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_QvXdAyM0aA

And lastly, the universal sound of "prepare to have your shit wreaked!" :https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=btys5pB4LrE

 

[DocJ]

Gonna go with some Awesomenauts tunes here. Awesomenauts is a MOBA with a different almost comic approach to it's characters. One of my favourite features is that all members of the Co-optional podcast have voiced a character. Each character also has their own theme song to go with them and some I can just listen to for ages.

Spoiler: Awesomenauts

 

[Wiggum Esquilax]

Ys music for me. Not surprising from a series specifically predicated upon it's music.

Spoiler

 

[Spakko]

Hmmm... The Total War series has pretty excellent music imho (especially the credits songs).

Spoiler

And sometimes a funny new spin on a old "classic" piece of game music is all it needs for me to dig out the game in question and play it again.

Spoiler

 

[ffs-dontcare]

Being a huge fan of immersion, I listen to these whenever I just want to lose myself. For this post, I'll start with my all-time favourite game soundtrack and then keep going in no particular order.

I also listen to these during my graveyard shifts.

Spoiler: Tiberian Sun

Spoiler: Mirror's Edge

Spoiler: Unreal

Spoiler: World of Warcraft

Spoiler: Deus Ex: Human Revolution

Spoiler: Dawn of War II

Spoiler: Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon

 

[The Almighty Aardvark]

Love Journey's music so much. This one's probably one of my favorite songs:


Also like a lot of the usual suspects, Bastion, Transistor, Metroid Prime, Xenoblade Chronicles, Okami...

One that I love though that doesn't get mentioned often is Final Fantasy Chrystal Chronicles. I have a huge fondness for the whole caravan on the road ascetic, and I feel like the music in the game captures that tone so well. Here's one of my favorites from it:

 

[Something Amyss]

Thing is, we didn't need to come a long way. While added instrumentation is nice, this is still one of the greatest themes in gaming:


However:

I have just two words: Still Alive

I'm making a note here: freaking yes.