The Greatest Video Game Music Playlist of All Time [Video Game Music Thread]

[Marionette]

Ar Tonelico is full of amazing music (I mean, come on, music is kind of its thing), but this is my favorite song. I have listened to it so many times. Just wish it were up in better quality. :B

Also, I figured this might be the best place to ask: anyone know artists who compose good, original JRPG-style music? The only one coming to mind is Seiko-P. I'd love to know more artists who can really capture the vibe (I'm not sure what else to call it, haha) while still doing their own things. Bonus points if it's not solely chiptune (not that there's anything wrong with chiptune! it is just so easy to find I'm tripping over it).

[Acidilicious]

Yes, even more Ar Tonelico. I really love this one in particular, especially since I knew what it was talking about. Basically, the song is 'sung' by Ar Ciel, which means, in Hymmnos(The language spoken in the AT universe), The World. Basically, the song talks about a planet that was ruined by its civilization, and prepares to rebirth, or end. The song starts with the planet absolutely furious, and at the end, she's way more melancholic. The song just speaks by itself.



And yes, now you've got your average Touhou shoot 'em up with little lolis. This one's the Stage 5 theme. It just feels like a race before the final stage, and finally builds up. It's pretty good before the boss of the stage, which is just a complete nightmare. This song might be one of my favorites in the series.

[Marionette]

Ooh, XaaaCi is awesome. I haven't played 3. I haven't played 2 either... I own it, but I haven't finished 1 yet. Orz I should get on that.

I also need to try actually playing Tohou instead of just listening to endless remixes of its lovely music.

Had Evil Zone music stuck in my head lately. I'm not sure if it's actually all that good or just nostalgic, but it gets me pumped. :v Especially Kakurine's and Keiya's themes.

[Acidilicious]

There's really something special about AT's music: You feel it down there. It just brings a lot of emotion. (Akiko Shikata and #Misya extracting, I'm looking at you.)

Touhou has just so many songs and remixes and fan circles that you can end up looking at fanart or listening to remixes for hours without touching to the canon material. That's what happened to me.

[AnotherHomestuckUsername]

Has any Super Mario Galaxy 2 music been posted yet? That game had some spectacular music. Looking back, it has one of my favorite game soundtracks.

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This one gains instruments as you progress through the game, like the Comet Observatory in SMG1.

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Songs aren't really in order and i'm probably missing some good ones, sorry
Man, I have to play that game again sometime. So great.

[BRPXQZME]

Also, I figured this might be the best place to ask: anyone know artists who compose good, original JRPG-style music?

Radiation...? </obviousanswer>

Touhou has just so many songs and remixes and fan circles that you can end up looking at fanart or listening to remixes for hours without touching to the canon material. That's what happened to me.

Pretty much, you wake up days later wondering why your hard drive is so full.

[Marionette]

Obviousness would be why I didn't mention Radiation alongside Seiko-P. xD I actually tend to throw all my HS music in with all my Seiko-P music when I'm in the mood for that kind of thing... but I hunger for moooore.

Touhou discussion makes me need Septette for the Dead Princess. In its case, I actually prefer the original to most remixes and arranges, as much talent as there is in the Touhou music community. They tend to slow it down a lot, which is fitting enough for a song for a dead princess, but I really like the pace and mix of sounds in the original.

[BRPXQZME]

Hey, if there’s one thing I’d like to see done on a Disklavier, it’s this:

[AnotherHomestuckUsername]

BONUS: The best shop theme. The best.

[Neostar]

Has any Super Mario Galaxy 2 music been posted yet? That game had some spectacular music. Looking back, it has one of my favorite game soundtracks.

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This one gains instruments as you progress through the game, like the Comet Observatory in SMG1.

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Songs aren't really in order and i'm probably missing some good ones, sorry
Man, I have to play that game again sometime. So great.

Thank you so much! That game has some of the best orchestra music ever.

[Neostar]

BONUS: The best shop theme. The best.

I approve of this.

[BRPXQZME]

SimCity 2000: Man, great times

The tunes were all MIDI for the original releases, so there is no one canonical “sound” to them. The closest it gets is probably OPL2/OPL3 because it uses The Fat Man’s timbres and everyone who used a PC used a Sound Blaster at the time. Man, I loved the way MIDIs sounded on my tinny SB 1.0; too bad Dad wanted to gut that machine :\

However, this is from the PSX version, which had better a soundset than the typical PC/Mac MIDI player of the time. The PSX sound hardware wasn’t shabby at all; a solid Ken Kutaragi design. Yes, he designed some groovy hardware long before you ungrateful whippersnaps turned him into an Internet laughingstock *oldmanfistshake*

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Transport Tycoon: Another set of great MIDI tunes and an equally addictive game from about the same time. The style for this game—and this is rare for a video game—is mostly throwback blues and jazz (a little gospel, funk, and latin thrown in?), so it kind of feels timeless; you might forget for a moment what decade it is. If you play either of these games, you will probably know all the songs by heart soon enough.

Again, no canonical sound here. It is a testament to the musical content that the songs survive being run through GM sample sets they have no business being run through.

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Duke Nukem II: Remember when so many video game soundtracks tried to be rock/metal all the way through and Duke Nukem was a joke on purpose? Me neither, I was just a kid at the time. Still, kind of surprised this song doesn’t have live covers all over YouTube.

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[Don]

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BONUS: The best shop theme. The best.

Yes, so much win right there. That game has an amazing soundtrack, especially since it has Bollywood!

Anyways, song dump:

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[Superfrequency]

Did anyone already dump Gitaroo Man? I have never played it, but this song is the business:

[Anonymoose]

Jesus all of these youtube links are makin my computer crash.

other than MY complaints, how aboot this?

Here I was thinking I was the only one who played Lufia II.

Mhm. Its too bad that its not as known as Chrono Trigger or other RPGs. DX

[Superfrequency]

Win rap battle for toilet, take victory shit

[BRPXQZME]

Jesus all of these youtube links are makin my computer crash.

other than MY complaints, how aboot this?

Here I was thinking I was the only one who played Lufia II.

Mhm. Its too bad that its not as known as Chrono Trigger or other RPGs. DX

So, how about that sliding puzzle UGHHHH

[Lucas Hydekar]

So, how about that sliding puzzle UGHHHH

I did it once, but in my most recent play though, I spend four hours not finishing it. Screw that, the Egg Dragon isn't that hard.

On topic:

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[Acidilicious]

More!



Aaah, Condemnation Wings. There's just so much emotion behind it, and when you know the character's story, it's even better.

Also, oh my god, SimCity 2000. My MIDI output made the tunes amazing. I had some random SoundBlaster.

[BRPXQZME]

Also, oh my god, SimCity 2000. My MIDI output made the tunes amazing. I had some random SoundBlaster.

I think at the time a lot of people were all like “you gotta hear it on the MPU-401” or “XG, man”, but to me those just don’t hold up as well as crappy tinny FM synthesis! Maybe it’s just ’cause I grew up with that Sound Blaster. Had that computer for like seven years or so. You want a bizarrely cool experience, try listening to FF8 MIDI rips through the OPL2 chip!

[Stij]

Crappy tinny FM synthesis is where it's at, man

[Superfrequency]

FM sounds more like plastic to me. Like, you know that sound when you rub an inflated balloon? FM bass.

[Stij]

That's a really good description, actually. To me, some of the tinkly DX7-ish sounds sound like crystal or glass, too.

[Superfrequency]

I don't have synesthesia, really, but I do associate sound with color, so it's difficult to articulate what I mean in any understandable way. But I don't really think about it a lot so maybe I am full of shit I dunno.

FM just sounds ... rubbery. Which I suppose makes sense considering how it works. I can't imagine viderogames with subtractive synthesis. It sounds too 70's.

[Acidilicious]

Also, oh my god, SimCity 2000. My MIDI output made the tunes amazing. I had some random SoundBlaster.

I think at the time a lot of people were all like “you gotta hear it on the MPU-401” or “XG, man”, but to me those just don’t hold up as well as crappy tinny FM synthesis! Maybe it’s just ’cause I grew up with that Sound Blaster. Had that computer for like seven years or so. You want a bizarrely cool experience, try listening to FF8 MIDI rips through the OPL2 chip!

Personally, I recently lost my old computer with that SoundBlaster. It's all good memories now. (And that's why my SimCity sounds completely different on my Windows 2000 with DOSBox.)

Aaah, FM Synthesis. It's really the good old bleep bloop sounds that we hear on old games. Those are memories, too. But I like them better on the PC98 games of the Touhou series, though.