Best game soundtrack?

Ecco: Defender of the Future by Tim Follin.
Not everything in it is gold but what is good, is really really good.
The older (non Follin) Ecco soundtracks are very nice too, but not quite as good as this.

 

Heres some samples: http://www.timfollin.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/
(music room and next selection)

 

My favs:

"Licensed Track" Soundtracks:
Ghost In The Shell (PS1/SCEI/THQ)
Wipe Out series
Rollcage2
Rez

Original Soundtracks:
Silent Hill series
Katamari Damacy series
ICO

... all are available as CD, some only as japanese import though

 

I like to bring up a few more OST's

AceCombat 4
Castlevania Symphony of the Night
Panzer Dragoon Orta
Z.O.E 2nd Runner
ICO (very nice, ambient style soundtrack)
Primal(its orchestrated, but nice to listen to)
Vagrant Story


Those are just some of my personal picks that I think are worth checking out.

 

reply

Castlevania: SotN

and you can't buyt this one, but Blazing Lazers on TG16 has an awesome musical score.

 

There are places you can download original game music and plugins for winamp(and other players) that use new file types specific to each system that emulate that systems sound hardware so you get authentic game music in a tiny format(the entire soundtrack for FF7 is only 821KB).

 

Jet Set Radio (incl. Future)
Katamari Damacy

 

Any of the Square titles... (I especially enjoyed FFX and FFX-2's soundtrack)

Another big title is Metal Gear Solid 3 (the Theme song makes it worth it alone IMO) by Harry Gregson Williams.

 

Wipeout 2097. Very good beats, particularly as the UK electronica scene was just warming up when this game launched. FSOL, Prodigy, Underworld, Orbital, etc. Stuff I rediscovered in my all-night giant-iris'ed adventures a few years later

Jet Set Radio Future. Grooves coming out the wazoo, nearly matching DJ Shadow in terms of cool decks. (Helloooo Alison! I wanna hold your hand! I haven't been the same man since I saw you comin' in. Let's have a toast to the girl from Aisle 10)

And this is coming from someone who's not usually into electronic stuff.

EDIT: Out of interest, if you put your game CD into your CD player you can listen to the game music. V. good value! Although they also sold a slightly different CD as a soundtrack.

 

MechWarrior 2 has a nice soundtrack. And Betrayal at Krondor has some catchy songs.

 

my recommendation...

Hi ho,

okay, I recommand you to the following scores:

- Baldur's Gate (I,II + add-on) *hehehe*
=> That's a brilliant orchestral score, with live percussion performance (~ 30 membranophones altogether) and real brass recordings and a perfect synth-orchestra (sounds really authentic). There are many theme developments, of course with some kind of "musical complexity" (no standart string-triad-wailings á la Jeremy Soule).
The main motif (2nd, 2nd major 3th upward, then a 3th back and two 2nds down) is almost used in every cue, but in such an interesting and artistic way that it is a real pleasure to recognize it in each track.

- Ultima IX (and of course the extracts of U. X)
=> That score is the live recording of a 40-piece essemble with many strings, string-like instruments and mediavel flutes, called a "sweetening orchestra".
The soundtrack contains plenty of wonderfully composed themes for each location (mainly mediavel towns, castles and dark dungeons) the Avatar - the main character of the game's story - has to visit. Of course there are also some fighting cues and short suites for the game interrupting video seuqueces.
Two main/franchise themes dominate the whole score: The heroic Fellowship theme (for the Avatar's kindreds) and the dark, chant-like Guardian motif, which represants the absolutely evil antagonist of the Avatar.
The soundtrack itself is about 75 mintues long, the average length of each track amounts to 2-3 mintues.

The 6 tracks of Ultima X are good as well, because they're performed by the big Northwest Symphony and contain a little of the matierial of U. IX.

- Diablo II: Lord of Destruction (add-on)
=> that's a really nice performance of the popular (mostly metal) Diablo themes by the City of Prague Symphony Orchestra.
Not very long (only 5 tracks of 5-8 mintues), but quite interesting and - somehow - very moving.

- Jurassic Park - The Lost World
=> I don't know if you have this already. If not: JUST GET IT NOW!! *g* That's Giacchono's first live orchestra score. There very adventurous themes and cues in good and variative developments. The performance is perfect, because of the great Seatlle Philharmocis.

- Heroes of Might and Magic II
=> An epic fantasy score, such as Merlin or Willow, but more coherant and homegeneous (not so many emotional changes). The orchestra sounds very good but is sampled by big synthesizers. The opera-like voice performances (mostly tenor and sopran) are of course live recorded.

- Myst II: Riven
=> Not really an orchtral score, but still worth a listering!
It provides you with a dark, epic atmosphere that never really gets loud, so it also carries a bit of an ambient (almost new age) flavor to it. Perfect not just to go with the game (I have to assume, since I am not a Myst gamer myself), but to work, read or write. It's mellow, but it doesn't sound common or simple. It is one of those albums you wish you could get more of, so I end up playing it once and again and again in my stereo... ^^

- Super Smash Brothers
=> That's an orchestral suite containing 15 well arranged medleys of the most beautiful Nitendo gamemusic themes (the Super Mario Theme, or the Zelda Ouverture for instance).
The whole work is performed by the Tokyo Philahormonics in a perfect sound quiality. Although it's a live concert recording, there're no end clapping, ovation or other noises.
I have cut them away (thanks Audacity 1.5). All!!!

-Warcraft III
=> Not as good as World of Wacraft, WC III has a very pleasing soundtrack, with epic-dramatic themes, as well as some very calm and beautiful cues. The "Cinematic Suite", a cut-together of the orchestral video sequences, is definitively the best!

- and - last but not least - WORLD OF WARCRAFT
=> That's a fantasic instrumental soundtracks. Most of the pieces, particularly the one of the main locations, are orchestral live recordings. The tracks are very long (average ~ 6-8 minutes) and all in all the scores measures almost 80 mintues.

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Hope I've convinced you of geniality of these game osts!
Please excuse my poor use of language. That's of course the guild of our poor German education system!!! ^^
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Greetings from Cologne

Dustin Naegel

 

Chrono Cross

Chrono Trigger

Final Fantasy VII

Final Fantasy VI

Final Fantasy Tactics

Xenogears

To name a few.

 

Here's a clue

A very poor education system that teaches English to the Germans a lot better than English system teaches German ot the English