Out With the New, In With the Old: Memorable Video Game Music

few game songs are actually good by themselves, they just go well with the game, and if the game is good the song is the nastalgic trigger. if you really liked the game the song will make you remember fond memories and make you happy. i can only name a few "game songs" (that i like) that i would have enjoyed to listen to if i had never played the game.

battlefield's theme music is really memorable! Though you cant say the same thing for the entire soundtrack of the game... it still has that audio 'connection'

Hey Gereth good show. Don't worry man. Indie games have you covered. Binding of Issac, Super Meat boy, Bastion. As for retail games. Rayman origins had such catchy music. Also check out some Wii games. DK country returns and hell even No more Heroes 2 with its NES soundtrack. My favorite game music comes from Jet set Radio.

off the top of my head:1) confrontation with the enemy - xenoblade chronicles http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HAW4xlbyu28

2) departure (RTRZ idea version) - megaman zero 2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ZrrDqMXQTo

3) battle hymn of the soul - persona 3 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rdMhTL5bZrs

4) i'll face myself (battle) - persona 4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_58-XYXuJMs

5) what's past is prologue (HoaH version) - metroid OM http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6dv75IVBPKI

the entire xenoblade chronicles soundtrack, from prologue to epilogue, is superb; many MMZero tracks are great, and the remastered versions are even better; some of the music in persona 3 (if you ignore the bad english) and much of those in persona 4 are catchy; the zelda 25th anniversary orchestra tracks are incredible; individual pieces from many other recent games are good.

i agree that music is not the focus of many modern games. i think games like xenoblade chronicles show that music may considerably enhance the gaming experience, even in the modern world where at times everything seems to be about improving graphics.

The tune from Tetris he is referring to is actually an Ukrainian folk song called "Kalinka".

i think kingdom hearts and halo are the most recent games that i would reconize instantly, oh! just remembered the metroid prime menu was prity memorable too.

i know all the recent sonic game tracks but those dont count cause im a sonic super fan freak.

Any one remember assassins creed II :Ezios family?

thought that was pretty good

If I were to have a top 5, these would be the tracks I would choose:

1) Those Who Fight Further - FFVII

2) Winds of Time - Chrono Trigger

3) Bynn the Breaker - Bastion

4) Doomsday Zone - Sonic 3 & Knuckles

5) Menu Theme - Heroes of Might & Magic III

Yeah, thinking about it now that I look at my own list, only Bastion has really produced a truely memorable soundtrack for me in the past decade. Every other game track that I really can recall as being memorable is from back before games started using the generic orchestral music (mostly for Fantasy genre games), or, as you say, the "Hollywood" music (for the big set-piece action games).

I guess it's because back in the day (saying makes me feel old...), games couldn't wow you with super realistic graphics and Hollywood style scenes, so they came up with memorable scores to keep you excited instead.

I ABSOLUTELY LOVED THE SONGS IN KINGDOM HEARTS!!!!!!

I enjoyed that montage.

Modern game music seems to be all Hollywood style. Pretty boring to listen to, but it usually does enhance the feeling of the game. I think it's just developers all jumping on the bandwagon, trying to copy Hollywood to get video games recognized.

Also, maybe a lot of veteran composers are exhausted of ideas. Like the Final Fantasy and Elder Scrolls composer. After composing for so many similar games, they eventually reuse stuff in the later games. Not entire songs, but a few notes here, a few rhythms there. So from the gamer's perspective it sounds like the same old thing.

My favorite video game theme is the intro theme to The Secret of Monkey Island. Actually, that entire series has amazing music.

1 playlist? Please. I have 14 playlists in my iTunes, one for Mario, one for Zelda, one for Powerglove, one for The Oneups, a couple for OCRemix albums, and one for my own remixes, and one for remixes I get from Newgrounds. I have a single album set up for actual music: just for Queen.

Either way, I agree.

FF had so many good tunes, like he said the Highwind had a wicked track. Also really liked Dam from Goldeneye & C&C's Hells March.