I always loved the Wave Race 64 music. It was filled with lots of really elaborate strings flourishes, power chords and Brian May-esque tri-tones, and Philip Glass-style arpeggios. My friends and I used to get totally stoned and just listen to the Wave Race music from the Sound Options menu.
Drake Lake (maybe one of the most interesting tunes musically.) The synth arpeggios and then the string flourishes part used to really hypnotize us when we had smoked two bowls of potent herb.
Twilight City (awesome bass line on the bridge at 0:27)
I forgot to mention that one of my favorite scores is from Blake Stone: Aliens of Gold, a 3D shooter that came on the heels of Wolfenstein 3D but utterly failed to make any splash. But it was good fun and the music, despite being MIDI-only, rocked. My favorite tracks on the above linked page are Meeting, Dark Hall, Theme, and Jungle, although the whole soundtrack is a hoot. Jazzy, funky and James Bondish. Good work from Bobby Prince, who also scored other greats like Commander Keen, Doom and Wolfestein/Spear of Destiny. (How can you not love a guy who writes a track called “Jazzin’ Them Nazis”?)
Say what you wish about the game itself, but Age of Conan had some of the best scoring I’ve ever heard for a video game. I would often stop what I was doing just to stand around and listen to the music.
Most of my picks have been mentioned already but I will just have to reiterate:
Anything from Castlevania makes me happy. I have Bloody Tears and Vampire Killer as ringtones on my cellphone. My personal favorites are from the old NES ‘Simon’s Quest’ and the PlayStation’s ‘Symphony of the Night’.
Also mentioned by someone were Persona 3 and Persona 4. 3 was more hip-hop in nature, while 4 was straight-up pop, but I enjoyed them both. SMT Nocturne’s battle theme is a favorite of mine, also.
Final Fantasy 4 and 6 had some majorly amazing soundtracks. Final Fantasy 8’s orchestrated version was also really, really awesome. Final Fantasy piano collections are generally very nice, also, along with the Pray and Potion vocal collections.
There’s more than one orchestrated album of Legend of Zelda music out there, from the NES classics to the N64 games. The overworld theme is one of the absolute classics of vg music out there.
I’ve never played any Megaman games, but my boyfriend does, and I enjoy the music.
Another favorite of mine was the soundtrack to a computer game called Interstate-76. Set in an alternate 1970s where folks strapped machine guns to their vehicles and dueled. Great 70s style soundtrack.
Yay, I get to mention both of the two I came in here to mention!
They’re both games from the original Xbox. The first is Voodoo Vince, a delightfully wacky game where you control a voodoo doll who defeats enemies by harming himself. The music, which is available as a soundtrack CD, was written and largely played by the incomparable Steve Kirk.
Here’s a sample: Main Street. It’s a great jazzy piece that’s reminiscent of Django Reinhardt.
Another favorite from the game is Zombie Guidance Counselor, a raucous call-and-response tune that puts me in mind of a New Orleans jazz funeral.
On a less evangelistic note, the orchestral score for the dogfighting game Crimson Skies is wonderfully cinematic.
The first video game music I remember really liking is Rob Hubbard theme for International Karate, I love this orchestral version.
One of my all time favorites is Clint Bajakian’s score for Outlaws, done in the style of Ennio Morricone.
Some of my other favorite soundtracks have been already been mentioned: The Secret of Monkey Island, Final Fantasy VII, Shadow of the Colossus, Interstate '76.
The Ys series as a whole (there are a surprising lot of them, released over a bizarre scattershot of platforms over the ages. I played one of them (no idea which, really) on my PC years ago) have quitenoteworthymusic.
Bah, didn’t get a chance to edit and add that Total Annihilation had some nicely orchestrated pieces of music that reminded me of all sorts of SF shows and movies.
Yes, I know, I did have a chance but didn’t take it, 5 minutes and all that.
Ha, thanks for this, I haven’t heard that in too long. Grim Fandango is one of my favorite games ever. I’m not even a huge fan of that type of adventure game but Grim Fandango was just magic. I need a balloon worm now…
To add to the Final Fantasy love, this was always my favorite. Final Fantasy Theme. I love hearing the new versions of it as the series goes on.
I remember after beating Garland and rescuing the princess and hearing the theme at the real start of the game. At the time, that was the coolest idea ever: Even though I just beat the first boss, the game was only just starting!
