Best original music in a video game

I just thought i'll start up a topic discussing the best original video game music, with a) the best original video game soundtrack and b) the best original song in a video game.

I think that the best soundtrack is Paper Mario the Thousand Year Door, and the best song is Open Your Heart from Sonic Adventure.

1. Shadow of the Colossus ~ Roar of the Earth by Koh Otani

The greatest score ever crafted for a video game. What makes it so superb is not just its composition but its usage in the game. When travelling around the Forbidden Lands, you are not assaulted with these bolshy, flashy scores, you are treated to just simple sounds of birds and water... then when you start meeting up with Colossi, that is when the grandiose music starts coming in, most epically.

2. Dracula X: Nocturne in the Moonlight OST by Michiru Yamana

If you've played Symphony of the Night you know it has a stupendous score. From the biggest of cIassical of pieces down to techno/metal it pretty much features something from every kind of music there is and uses it all extremely well. If it weren't for Shadow, this would easily be my first choice for best original scores.

3. S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl

It seems that any game with "Shadow of" in the title ends up not only being a great game but also having a stupendous original score as well. The epitome of "atmospheric music" is STALKER. I only wish all the songs were available for download on GSC's website, or at least they provide a way of buying the soundtrack because this is easily my choice for third best original score ever made. Dead Cities Pt.2 is a song that just by itself, not even combined with a thought of something from STALKER, can creep me out.

- Chrono Cross

- Chrono Trigger

- Final Fantasy VII

- The Megaman and Megaman X series.

There are so many, hate to leave any out but of the ones I've heard, I'd give the nod to the God of War games, with my favorite track being this one

Chrono Cross has the best soundtrack.

Live and Learn (Sonic Adventure 2) by Crush 40 is in my opinion the best song in a videogame.

Open Your Heart is awesome aswell.

-Shadow of the Colossus: Grandiose, epic, pretty much sums it up. Check "The opened way" or "The Farthest land". Composer Koh Ohtani

-Ico: Personal, poetic and natural. Check "Castle in the Mist" or "You were there". Composer: Michiru Oshima

-Silent Hill 2: Rock music that's perfectly suited to the surroundings. I would call it Rock with horror vibes but that only brings up middle aged men with bad make-up, and it's better than that, in fact it's one of the best. Check "Theme of Laura" or "Promise". Composer: Akira Yamaoka.

-Final Fantasy VI: RPG music at its finest, Check "Terra" or "The Prelude". Composer: Nobuo Uematsu.

-X3 Reunion: Synth space operatics, this is how space should sound like. Check: "Peace 3" or "Reunion Theme" (Click on the Think video). Composer: Alexei Zakharov.

-Odin Sphere: Ephemeral fantasy, but a bit thin of the amount of tracks, still awesome though. Check "Opening Title music" or "Shanachie version" Compose: Hitoshi Sakamoto.

Other notable mentions include Dark Cloud 2, Eternal Sonata, FF7 and 8, Morrowind and Oblivion, Shenmue I and II.

1. Shadow of the Colossus ~ Roar of the Earth by Koh Otani

The greatest score ever crafted for a video game. What makes it so superb is not just its composition but its usage in the game. When travelling around the Forbidden Lands, you are not assaulted with these bolshy, flashy scores, you are treated to just simple sounds of birds and water... then when you start meeting up with Colossi, that is when the grandiose music starts coming in, most epically.

foxhound_fox

The underlaying music itself, though, is fantastic, and the sountrack has a lot of segments of music within the tracks that never actually was used in the game, which was a shame.

I thought the underlaying music was great, but was underwhelmed by the implementation of the music into the game. The devs were trying to create an adaptive score out of pre-recorded music tracks, but unfortunately their methodology seemed rather shoddy and rushed, as transitions between music tracks in Colossi fights was too abrupt, and didn't feature any sort of logical musical shift between the track that would play before you had the advantage, to when you actually had the advantage (furthermore, there was some minor track recycling in the game, which wasn't as big of an issue, but it irked me slightly).

The underlaying music itself, though, is fantastic, and the sountrack has a lot of segments of music within the tracks that never actually was used in the game, which was a shame.

Skylock00

Yep, one of the technical limitations of the console and the music format. Was one of the reasons that Nintendo still stuck with MIDI with Twilight Princess.

I never really noticed the abruptness of the change of music, nor its delay so much whilst playing. What did irk me though was after listening to the full album, half of it is missing from the game. There are some amazing pieces which barely get played in the game, if at all.

Yep, one of the technical limitations of the console and the music format. Was one of the reasons that Nintendo still stuck with MIDI with Twilight Princess.Hoobinator

This is especially the case in sections of the game that didn't even require adaptive score work, like the title screen, pre-set cutscenes, and other moments, which could have all featured pre-recorded tracks instead of the sampled/sequenced worked used. Most of the adaptive aspects of the audio featured crossfades from one track to another, which would have taken more resources with pre-recorded audio, yes, but is entirely possible given current technology, where you can even make transitions to and from pre-recorded audio tracks on the downbeats of measures and such.

It could've been a limitation of the engine/coding that was used, probably, but it still upset me quite a bit.

Twilight Princess was one of the most dissappionting games for me in recent history in terms of the soundtrack, especially given that the trailer for the game feautres full, live orchestral music, but none of that is actually featured in the game itself.

3. S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl

It seems that any game with "Shadow of" in the title ends up not only being a great game but also having a stupendous original score as well. The epitome of "atmospheric music" is STALKER. I only wish all the songs were available for download on GSC's website, or at least they provide a way of buying the soundtrack because this is easily my choice for third best original score ever made. Dead Cities Pt.2 is a song that just by itself, not even combined with a thought of something from STALKER, can creep me out.

foxhound_fox

Shadow of the Colossus is the best original music in a vidogame imo. My favourites are:

Those who remain, the demise of the ritual and idol collapses.

To the guys who said there were many tracks which haven't been used in the game, they did use every piece of music in the OST. Don't press start and keep watching the trailer before the intro and you get a track, when you're exploring in the open world you hear many tracks, when you enter an area where a colossi awaits, you hear a different track. they'rmini tracks used as a background music which is barely heard.

Everything from Xenogears. I personally think this is Yasunori Mitsuda's best work.

Personal top 3 songs from Xenogears.
1- Lost... Broken Shards (This song can actually make me cry. 9 times out of 10 it does.)
2- The One Who is Torn Apart (You really get a sense of despair and fear from this track.)
3- Sea of Bond and Fire (Greatest song to have an introduction with. Sets the games mood so well)

Honorable mentions
Grahf: Emperor of Darkness (Second best villain theme)
Leftovers of the Dreams of the Strong (Tell me this song does not pump you up.)

Here are links to all of the songs I gave. You better listen to them or else.
http://www.xgam.org/xenogears/downloads/music/1_23.mid
http://www.xgam.org/xenogears/downloads/music/2_13.mid
http://www.xgam.org/xenogears/downloads/music/1_3.mid
http://www.xgam.org/xenogears/downloads/music/1_13.mid
http://www.xgam.org/xenogears/downloads/music/1_15.mid

To the guys who said there were many tracks which haven't been used in the game, they did use every piece of music in the OST.

gamingqueen

Jet set (or grind) radio and Jet set radio future each have an excellent soundtrack that really adds to the tone and feel of the game. I really got into this game and a big part of that was the soundtrack.

Also must add that the original super mario bros has an amazing score, if not the best score in video game history! perfecly blends to the gameplay.

I thought the underlaying music was great, but was underwhelmed by the implementation of the music into the game. The devs were trying to create an adaptive score out of pre-recorded music tracks, but unfortunately their methodology seemed rather shoddy and rushed, as transitions between music tracks in Colossi fights was too abrupt, and didn't feature any sort of logical musical shift between the track that would play before you had the advantage, to when you actually had the advantage (furthermore, there was some minor track recycling in the game, which wasn't as big of an issue, but it irked me slightly).

The underlaying music itself, though, is fantastic, and the sountrack has a lot of segments of music within the tracks that never actually was used in the game, which was a shame.

Skylock00

I never really noticed the music in Stalker other than the song playing at the main menu, but that on its own was enough to let me know I better have an extra pair of boxers handy.
PBSnipes

1. Rome: Total War - Journey to Rome.

2. Medieval II - Song for Toomba

3. Elder Sctrolls III - Title Music (forgotten it's name)

4. Shadow of the Colossus - The Opened Way

5. Uncharted: Drake's Fortune - Title Music (doesn't have a name as far as i know).

Final Fantasy games of course! Nobuo Uematsu is a genious and should be doing music for movies. OMG MIDI-like music is so much better than current games music!

I'm mad no one commented on the Xenogears music. Shame on you, you ignorant fools.Kreatzion

No need to resort to such words. ;)

i honestly think Halo series has one of the best Atmospheric music ever. the music comes at the perfect time and just flows with what ever you are doing.Halo773ER

i honestly think Halo series has one of the best Atmospheric music ever. the music comes at the perfect time and just flows with what ever you are doing.Halo773ER

I'm mad no one commented on the Xenogears music. Shame on you, you ignorant fools.Kreatzion

Ya the Xenogears music owns.

There are so many, hate to leave any out but of the ones I've heard, I'd give the nod to the God of War games, with my favorite track being this one

kfjl

Absolutely, I am always surprised that God of War is rarely cited in soundtrack threads. It's such a great score.

More love needs to be shown for The Longest Journey/Dreamfall. Fantastic orchestral score.

Morrowind was also quite good. Jeremy Soule's work generally pleases me.

The main themes from both these games are some of the most memorablemusic I've heard in a game.

Too many to mention, but let's see:

Sonic 3 - Sandopolis, Mid boss and level end boss, final boss - same with Sonic3 and Knuckles.

Castlevania - Bloody Tears, Simon's Theme, Vampire Killer, Iron Blue Intention, Blood Relations.

Final Fantasy - One Winged Angel, Aeris Theme, Eyes on Me, Melodies of Life, Suteki Da Ne, Battle of the Silver Dragons, Seymour's Theme, To Zanarkand, All three final boss pieces from Final Fantasy 8.

Arc The Lad - Natural Selection

Sonic 3D Games - Open Your Heart, Live and Learn, What I'm Made Of, His World

Suikoden - Gothic Neclord, Tragic Battle, Requiem of Grief, Exceeding Love, La Passione Commuove La Storia and so many more

Wild Arms - Into The Wilderness, Battle with Zeik, Funeral March

Ace Combat - Zero, The Journey Home, The Unsung War

Gran Turismo(boring games) - As Heaven Is Wide, Moon Over The Castle

Lost Odyessy - Eclipse of Time

Silent Hill - She

G-Darius - You, I Am Alive

Secret of Mana - Danger, The Dark Star

Star Trek Legacy - Opening Theme, Cautious Battle(if that's waht it's called, a nice track anyway)

Far too many to mention.

R/T

A recent discovery to the game i'm playing at this moment. I love the battle music to one of the stages in StreetFighter 4. The one with the children cheering the fight on in the background. Here's a link, it's even better in game because the music changes depending on the situation.

Great game, I love Capcom, they rekindle my faith in all things Japanese.