New List - Best Music?

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VideoGameCritic
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New List - Best Music?

Postby VideoGameCritic » February 14th, 2019, 10:44 pm

I'm thinking about putting together a Top 20 list of games with best original music.

A few come to mind right away:
Streets of Rage
Street Fighter II
Sonic the Hedgehog
Pitfall 2

Maybe you guys can help me out with your suggestions?

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Retro STrife
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Re: New List - Best Music?

Postby Retro STrife » February 15th, 2019, 2:09 am

Easy choice for my favorite:
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night is the best game soundtrack I’ve ever experienced. Not just the instrumental tracks, but don’t forget “I am the Wind” which is a great song sung during the closing credits.

Speaking of actual songs with lyrics written for a game, “Snake Eater” from Metal Gear Solid 3 is my all time favorite. Interestly enough, that and I am the Wind are both sung by Cynthia Harrell. “Escape from the City” from Sonic Adventure 2 is a close second for me- awesome song. MGS3 is a strong soundtrack overall, but not sure if it’s strong enough to crack a top 20 (Sonic Adventure 2 def couldn’t).

When considering original music, you can’t leave out JRPGs, which have some of the most famous soundtracks in gaming history. I’m really partial to the Final Fantasy VII soundtrack (just check out some of the renditions of "Aerith's Theme" on Youtube), but I’m sure there’s better ones out there if anyone here can think of any.

Cafeman
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Re: New List - Best Music?

Postby Cafeman » February 15th, 2019, 10:05 am

Are you keeping this list restricted to games before CD soundtracks?

Here are a few games that come to mind where I liked their music. Not sure if they are the best or not , so you decide, the VGC picks above are already good ones.

Ballblazer Atari 5200 and 7800. Very catchy tune with jazzy improvisation sounding technique too.
Arcade games too? If so, Reactor and Gyruss (Bach's Toccata).
For 90s, I always enjoyed Road Rash and Comix Zone tunes. Also Tempest 2000. And the original Panzer Dragoon.

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ActRaiser
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Re: New List - Best Music?

Postby ActRaiser » February 15th, 2019, 10:28 am

I'd like to nominate the following:

ActRaiser
Journey to Silius (first stage end boss)
Tempest 2000

edited:
And for best licensed soundtracks
GTA: Vice City
Guitar Hero

Voor
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Re: New List - Best Music?

Postby Voor » February 15th, 2019, 7:20 pm

Super Metroid
Battle Kid 2

JWK
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Re: New List - Best Music?

Postby JWK » February 16th, 2019, 7:46 pm

Mega Man 2 (NES)
Secret of Mana (SNES)
Thunder Force IV/Lightening (lol!) Force (Genesis)
The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (SNES)
Super Metroid (SNES)
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (PS1)
God of War (PS2)
NieR (PS3/360)
NieR Automata (PS4/XB1)

Paul Campbell
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Re: New List - Best Music?

Postby Paul Campbell » February 17th, 2019, 11:21 am

My favorites:

Mega Man 2
Ninja Gaiden (NES)
Journey to Silius
Blaster Master
Simon's Quest (just because of Bloody Tears)
Wonder Boy 3
Axiom Verge
Gremlins 2 (NES)

GTS
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Re: New List - Best Music?

Postby GTS » February 17th, 2019, 12:03 pm

Streets of Rage 1 and 2
Megaman 2
Blaster Master
Sonic the Hedgehog
Thunderforce 3
Contra
Contra: The Alien Wars
Super Mario Bros (pick any)
Metroid
Super Metroid
Ghouls N Ghosts
Duck Tales
Outrun
Life Force

As a general rule, any Konami, Capcom, or Nintendo (1st party) games for the NES and SNES.

Paul Campbell
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Re: New List - Best Music?

Postby Paul Campbell » February 17th, 2019, 2:56 pm

GTS wrote:Streets of Rage 1 and 2
Megaman 2
Blaster Master
Sonic the Hedgehog
Thunderforce 3
Contra
Contra: The Alien Wars
Super Mario Bros (pick any)
Metroid
Super Metroid
Ghouls N Ghosts
Duck Tales
Outrun
Life Force

As a general rule, any Konami, Capcom, or Nintendo (1st party) games for the NES and SNES.


I would add Sunsoft to that list of developers...

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ActRaiser
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Re: New List - Best Music?

Postby ActRaiser » February 17th, 2019, 6:13 pm

Paul Campbell wrote:My favorites:

Journey to Silius


Did you know that Journey to Silius was supposed to be a licensed Terminator game? I always thought the first stage was straight out of the Terminator movie but never understood why until years later.


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