The Best Video Game Music of All Time

[GameBanshee News]

The guys at UGO have compiled a list of what they feel is "The Best Video Game Music of All Time." Along with obvious choices like Super Mario Bros. and The Legend of Zelda, they toss BioShock's "La Mer" into the fray:

Crooner Bobby Darin's original version of "La Mer" also shows up in BioShock, but it's the haunting instrumental version by jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt that greets players at the above-ground doorway into Rapture. The light, lazy, guitar-led version of this classic tune seems to emanate from every inch of the structure which serves as the entry point into Andrew Ryan's failed utopia. When the same song is heard later on, after the full extent of Rapture's rapid decline has been revealed, memories of that "red pill" moment when you flipped the lever in the bathysphere become all the sharper for it.

Listen to it here.

[DesR85]

Still prefer Nobuo Uematsu's music and Portal's.

[Loki[D.d.G]]

Just an interesting point to note. In a recent poll done(I forgot the source), it turns out that the Mario theme was one of the top ring-tones for 2007.

[Brother None]

Everyone knows the Streets of Rage 2 soundtrack is the best of all time

nuff said

[fable]

Morrowind. Well, and Microprose's Magic: The Gathering, which used some great Renaissance music.

[Siberys]

Why did they include the Final Fantasy prelude? It's the frickin scales on a piano, nothing special.

[Tricky]

I don't know about the best (I listen to too much music to remember specifically about games), but some time ago I was quite taken by the music directory of Heroes of Might And Magic 3.

[Loki[D.d.G]]

The classical music from Civ 4 is also good.

[swcarter]

Originally Posted by Tricky

I don't know about the best (I listen to too much music to remember specifically about games), but some time ago I was quite taken by the music directory of Heroes of Might And Magic 3.

Most of the time I barely notice the background music in games. Sometimes I play a game and I can't remember afterwards if it even had background music. The only time I've had a "wow" moment with music was with HOMM3. One of the factions gets a full operatic score, and that impressed the heck out of me lo those many years ago when the game came out.

SWC

[Loki[D.d.G]]

Originally Posted by swcarter

Most of the time I barely notice the background music in games. Sometimes I play a game and I can't remember afterwards if it even had background music.

I guess a mark of good game music is that it makes you sit up and take attention. Or does it blend in with the atmosphere so well you don't even realize it's there?

The only probelm I have with background music is that it gets repetitive after awhile, and this is painfully true for long lasting games such as TES among others.

[Brother None]

Originally Posted by Loki[D.d.G]

I guess a mark of good game music is that it makes you sit up and take attention.

Amusingly, I'd call that the mark of bad game music. The music is supposed to add to the game, not distract you from it.

Our winner of this year is a good example. It's full of ambient music and typical ambient sounds, like the grind of metal on metal you can only get at 1000 fathoms under water, but what really finishes it is when you run past a jukebox or gramaphone and it's playing Sinatra or Armstrong or whoever. And maybe it's just me, but I don't really "take notice" when that happens, it just seems to make sense. This is a 50's world, that's 50's music, I accept it as natural. (I think Bethesda might be on the wrong track for this one with Fallout 3 by letting you tune into radio stations, thus consciously manipulating the music, but we'll see.)

A soundtrack that supports both the atmosphere and the setting is a rare thing.

[Loki[D.d.G]]

And that in essence is the second option I provided.

Or does it blend in with the atmosphere so well you don't even realize it's there?

[Tricky]

I used a mod once for Morrowind that would add blank mp3's to Morrowind's playlist. Effectively you'd only hear an actual music mp3 every once in a while. That might be something for you, Loki. There should be a similar mod for Oblivion.

[Loki[D.d.G]]

Originally Posted by Tricky

I used a mod once for Morrowind that would add blank mp3's to Morrowind's playlist. Effectively you'd only hear an actual music mp3 every once in a while. That might be something for you, Loki. There should be a similar mod for Oblivion.

Thanks Tricky. Will scout around for it.