My favorite for a long-time has been Trent Reznor’s soundtrack for the original Quake.
I used to throw my Quake CD into the CD player just for the background music, it was a little creepy, but it was great music to read to.
Yes! I was wondering when someone was going to back me up on this. This is, of course, the same tune I mentioned in the OP. My favorite mix of it is probably that from Death Mountain in Link to the Past.
Hmpf, no-one mentioned Turrican II for amiga or even Manic Miner for the spectrum sx. Manic Miner even showed the tune it was playing on a onscreen piano. Aaaah nostalgia…
Syphon Filter
Final Fantasy VII I think has the best original music of any game. The composer (I forget his name, it’s something Japanese, Nobuo Umatsu or something like that) is just so prolific it’s ridiculous. There’s so many different styles and moods, and they are all amazing.
Sim City 3000’s original jazz is very cool too.
The Command and Conquer series (Frank Klepacki) also fits moods very well. I never played Red Alert with any other music besides Hell March.
I always thought the Gran Turismo series made excellent use of existing music in its games. And I’m glad they made a playlist for GT3 so I never again have to hear Snoop Dogg singing about how phat the game is. I do wish that they would someday use Cake’s “The Distance” for their opening movie. Also, if you’ve never heard the Japanese theme song, Moon Over The Castle, check it out. It’s awesome.
Metal Gear Solid 2 has very excellent music too. Harry Gregson-Williams did a great job adding his own touches to the existing theme and creating some new stuff too. I also love the end credits song “Can’t Say Goodbye To Yesterday” by Rika Muranaka.
The music from Star Control 2! It is, by far, my favorite game of all time, and the music is very fitting and fun to listen to.
Grim Fandango and The Longest Journey have good ambient music, but I don’t listen to them much.
Ultima IX: Ascension has some beautiful orchestral music. MechWarrior 2’s soundtrack is superb, as is that of Total Annihilation (well, the first 7 tracks anyway). I also enjoy parts of the Sacrifice and Battle Realms soundtrack.
To keep this list from growing too large, I’ll stop here.
the panzer dragoon games for the saturn. nice stuff.