Favorite Game Music/Soundtrack (1 Viewer)

[Masood Ali]

I know everyone here has played at least one videogame where the music was absolutely spellbinding...it conveyed some sort of emotion, sense of greatness or wonder, etc., that you'd find yourself humming for the next week.
What was that game, and when was that moment?
It might sound a little silly, but the music from the first Sonic The Hedgehog game (on the first level) made me choose the Genesis over the SNES (a decision I somewhat regretted later on).
Another tune was from Mario 64 (Jolly Roger Bay). Simply wonderful, and made that my favorite level in the entire game.
The most recent tune has been from Metroid Prime. The Phendrana Drifts (right-click "Save As" if you want to listen) music caught me off guard when I first entered the level, but I've been whistling it ever since.

 

[Matt Wooten]

off hand the best video game sdtk to me is halo. i played that game and i was in total awe of the music.. not just the game.
Metal Gear Solid 2 has the best opening theme to any game imo.

 

[James T]

Redguard. Most people probably haven't heard about this game. It's like tomb Raider/Prince of Persia in the Elder Scrolls timeline.

The music is awsome and sounds like something that John Williams or Hans Zimmer put in a blockbuster movie. It's perfect swashbuckling music.
The music is copied as a hybrid data/music CD, so every once and a while, I pop in the CD in my discman to listen to it.

Other games include the main theme for Metal Gear Solid 2, the level themes for Street Fighter 2, Zelda Overworld theme, and the Castlevania for SNES.

 

[Dave Bennett]

Halo, Metal Gear Solid 1&2, Final Fantasy X, Metroid Prime, Zelda:A Link To The Past. More to come

 

[Mark Evans]

The main Zelda theme has a sweeping, epic tone that just gets me in the mood to stride forth against evil every time I hear it, very excellent.
Final Fantasy IV has all-around superb music, notably the battle theme, boss battle theme, and the end boss theme. The re-mix of the overland theme by Enya is nice too.
Super Mario Sunshine - how can you not love the acapella Mario theme during the "Secret of..." stages? Doo-doo-doo-dodododo-doo-etc.
'Scars Left By Time' from Chrono Cross is an effective song too, especially in the pre-opening sequence when it's tied to some of the great CG shots in that game. Symphony of the Night has some seriously excellent tunage in it as well.
PC wise, almost every single song in Star Control II is an awesome piece of musical work. The Monkey Island theme (especially the stereo version from Curse) is an excellent tune too. And the main Gabriel Knight theme, which I have in both plain vanilla and re-mixed versions.

 

[Andrew Chong]

There are so many!
For instance:

Rob Hubbard's masterful "Commando" theme for the Commodore 64 (with only three channels; no more).

Kärtsy Hatakka's and Kimmo Kajasto's brilliant theme and music in "Max Payne" for the PC.

Chris Vrenna's (of Nine Inch Nails) extraordinary music in "American McGee's Alice" for the PC.

Power of Seven's infectious electronica music in "Oni" for the PC.

 

[Oscar Saenz]

The only game soundtrack CD I have ever purchased was for Sega's Phantasy Star Online. I'm now looking into buying the 2 disc compilation that just came out - it includes the music from the GCN PSO Ep. I&II release. Good stuff!

 

[Joel Mack]

There's lots but two that immediately came to my mind are "Medal of Honor: Allied Assault" and "Mechwarrior 2" on the PC. Awesome.

 

[Jay Mitchosky]

Halo. Right from the opening menu with the chants.

 

[Romier S]

Ah, my kind of subject
Some of my favorites:
Michiru Yamane-Castlevania Symphony of the Night: No game soundtrack conversation is complete without mention of this score. Its simply one of the best music soundtracks committed to a CD. For a series that is known for its gothic soundtracks Symphony of the Night is the absolute best the series has to offer. This is one that is spun almost daily at work.
Yuzo Koshiro-Streets of Rage 2: I love this soundtrack. Its available for purchase if you do a little digging and its well worth it. Love the boss battle music especially.
Akira Yamaoka-Silent Hill 2: Listened to daily at work and there is a reason. Haunting score with some great industrial riffs and some seriously spooky melodies. The music here is almost as important as the graphics in creating that disturbing mood Silent Hill is known for.
Saori Kobayashi, Mariko Nanba-Panzer Dragoon Saga: Difficult to find and goes for a pretty penny if you find the 2-disc orchestral version (about 70 bucks on Ebay anymore) but I'll never sell it. IMO this isn't a soundtrack that can be listened to without playing the game first. There is a certain emotional attachment you get to the music and the characters that conjure up images of the game while you listen to this.
Jeremy Soule-Icewind Dale: If fantasy/epic music is your thing then this is a must own in just about every which way there is. The main theme is so good I have to loop it at least 2-3 times. The further you get into the disc the more interesting and varied the music gets. At 31 tracks, its a huge score but so its very easy to listen too.
Jeremy Soule-Giants Citizen Kabuto: One word to describe this score....subdued. It plays its role in the game nicely and at first you go unaware of its presence. As you move along though you notice how relaxing Soule's score really is. Which is funny considering the mayhem that ensues in Giants. (YOU VICIOUS BASTARD!). Well worth the money and readily availble.
There is just a lot more that I could write about but I'll place those as some of my most listened too at the moment.
Some recent ones that have gotten my attention:
Panzer Dragoon Orta-Spiritual successor to Saga. Some of the themes are used again from that soundtrack and remixed to create almost new pieces of music. Highly recommended.
Elder Scrolls III Morrowind-Another Jeremy Soule Soundtrack (I rather like him in case you haven't guessed yet). Some really nice themes here. My main complaint is that there is so little music for a game that is so huge in contrast.
Jet Set Radio Future-I dont even need to say it again.......Aw screw it UNDERSTAND THE CONCEPT OF LOVE!
Ico- Was able to recently purchase this one finally. If you haven't played the game then shame on you and if you have then you know exactly what to expect here. I try not to listen to it at work as it is TOO relaxing at times and I damn near fall asleep.
EDIT: Some honorable mentions that I didnt want to leave out:
Metal Gear Solid 2 OST (both the original and "The Other Side" follow-up disc)
Onimusha 2-disc OST (The orchestral second disc is heavenly)
American Mcgee's Alice (all about the atmosphere)
The Legend of Zelda A link to the Past (Come on, the main theme alone is worth it!!)
Anarchy Online (One of the best things about this game is the music, same compose as The Longest Journey if I remember correctly)
Halo (The chants, oh the chants)
Diablo II (Matt Uelman's fantastic score!)

 

[Adam Tyner]

An extremely random-sounding choice, but when I first played the Genesis game 'Wings of Wor', I thought the music on the first level was the best I'd ever heard in a game.

 

[paul h]

The whole Quake soundtrack by Trent Reznor (here's hoping for the new one)
Skate or Die, Sanxion, Delta, all by Rob Hubbard on the humble C64
Last Ninja
Castlevania SOTN

 

[Talal]

I remember the original MDK's soundtrack really impressed me. I wish I could find the music somewhere. Same goes for MEdal of Honor: Allied Assault.

 

[Woo Jae]

The only soundtrack I purchased so far was Xenogears OST by Yasunori Mitsuda. That said, being for the most part an RPG player, that was my favorite game from beginning to end.

 

[JoshF]

Final Fantasy VII. Ahh. Especially Aeris' theme.

ICO. Beautiful and mature.

Pitfall. Just because it was the first game with background music.

 

[Masood Ali]

Woo, I knew I forgot something. I actually have Xenogears sitting on my desk right now; no soundtrack, but I remember the in-game music to be quite enchanting.

 

[Morgan Jolley]

Final Fantasy VIII had an amazing OST.

MGS2 had such good music because the theme song was written by a professional (Harry Gregson Williams). I agree that it was great.

 

[MattSG]

Command & Conquer, Interstate 76, sonic series, mega man series, FF VII definately, starcraft, and Civilization 2.

 

[DwightK]

The very first cd I put on my xbox was the soundtrack for Ultima 9: Ascension.

Stones is my favorite song in every version of Ultima since 5 and the Ultima music is my favorite game music.

Second place would probably have to go to the Sorcerer's music in Heroes of Might and Magic 2 and 3. The rest of the game music is great as well.

For consoles, I like the chants in Halo.

 

[Damien]

i'd say project gotham racing was one of the most current and well-put together soundtrack that I've heard(comparing to other games like tony hawk). You'll be suprised at the amount of bands on there that are just now getting recognized. I do like Ghost Recon's score as well. Going further back in time, most of the first party nintendo games had superb soundtracks, as did aquare games like xenogears and final fantasy 7.