"It brings kings to their knees!"

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. I love videogame soundtracks. Over the years, there have been many influential and just plain incredible soundtracks. I would like to take a moment to recount some of my favorites in no particular order.

Mega Man X (SNES)

Everybody celebrates the soundtrack for “Mega Man 2″. Don’t get me wrong, Mega Man 2 has a great soundtrack. I love it. But I very rarely see recognition for the soundtrack of “Mega Man X”. After continually pumping out sequels with recycled assets on the NES, Capcom decided it needed to take things to the next level with the blue bomber’s jump to 16-bit. They decided to go all out and make an entirely new kind of Mega Man. The result turned out to be my second favorite game of all time. They didn’t throw soundtrack duty at just one person. This score was made by a total of 5 people: Setuo Yamamoto, Makoto Tomozawa, Yuki Iwai, Yuko Takehara, and Toshihiko Horiyama. I have the feeling this was a big factor in making it so great. The stage themes have such a high energy. I could listen to them all day, and honestly, I have before. Yuki Iwai returned to score X2, and although it was a decent OST, it couldn’t hold a candle to the original.

Castlevania 3: Dracula’s Curse (NES)

Few argue against the quality of the music in the Castlevania series. Ever since the first game, its become known that with a new Castlevania comes a new brilliant soundtrack. “Castlevania 3: Dracula’s Curse” took the stylistic groundwork laid down from the first game and took it one step further. The OST is bursting at the seams with memorable tunes. “Out of Time” (The Clock Tower) will always stay fresh in my mind.

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (PS1)

Symphony of the Night ushered in an entirely new era for the Castlevania series. The open map structure, widely referred to as Metroidvania, breathed new life into the series. Michiru Yamane had already scored her first Castlevania in 1994, the Sega Genesis entry: Bloodlines. But it wasn’t until SOTN that her name came to be synonomous with Castlevania. Yamane’s classical influences fit the series like a glove and songs like “Wood-Carved Partita” would push gaming soundtracks to a higher level of prestige.

Chrono Cross (PS1)

Let me get this out of the way: Yasunori Mitsuda is my favorite composer. I try to collect every piece of music this man does. The man puts his soul into his work and it shows. After all, he developed stomach ulcers working so hard on his very first soundtrack, Chrono Trigger, and now it’s one of the most popular RPG soundtracks of all time. But Chrono Trigger, though it is my favorite RPG, I feel had its soundtrack actually surpassed by its sequel, Chrono Cross. From the intense opening song “Scars of Time” to the ending theme “Radical Dreamers”, this is an OST that has got me through my share of rough times. Mitsuda took inspirations from music all around the world including Mediterranean, Fado, Celtic, and even percussive African music. “The Dead Sea / A Tower in Ruins” still sends chills down my spine and its following track, “People Imprisoned by Destiny”, I can simply lose myself in. I’ve spent many nights just soaking in this magnificent soundtrack.

Xenosaga (PS2)

Yeah, yeah. I put two Mitsuda OSTs in here, so I’ll be brief. The score of Xenosaga was almost a 180 degree style change for Mitsuda in many regards. Instead of world music, a symphonic style was used. Many of its tracks were even performed by the London Philharmonic Orchestra. “Nephalim” is pure catharsis. If you’re going to pick this one up, just make sure to get the Sleigh Bells edition instead of the DigiCube release. Trust me on this one.

Super Metroid (SNES)

Super Metroid is still my favorite game of all time. I make an effort to beat it annually. The very atmospheric soundtrack conveys the eerie sense of loneliness on planet Zebes perfectly. “Maridia 2″ will creep you out to the core.

F-Zero GX (GC)

Putting this Nintendo IP in the hands of Sega was the best thing that could have happened to this series. Sega’s own Hidenori Shoji provided the bulk of the game’s soundtrack which consists mostly of a rock/techno hybrid. I couldn’t be happier with his rendition of “Red Canyon” and new original works like “Shotgun Kiss” prove that it’s worth it to put the money into an original soundtrack over a licensed one in the racing genre.

Guilty Gear XX (PS2)

Refining songs from previous entries while adding some new ones led to not only one of my favorite videogame soundtracks, but one of my all time favorite rock albums. Seriously. Every performer on this OST does an outstanding job. They never let any section get stale. The guitar will rock your socks clean off, the bass goes all over the place, the keyboard will never leave you bored, and the drums… oh lord, the drums. I’m not usually a fan of the double bass kick, but never in an album have I heard it used in such a perfect amount. Not too much, not too little. Just perfect. If you like rock, listen to this album.

Okami (PS2)

This game is beautiful and the soundtrack is no exception. The OST is five discs of songs inspired by classical Japanese works. I am still floored that a soundtrack this large can be of such high quality throughout. It is truly an impressive feat.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Wii)

Though it consists mostly of arrangements rather than original material, Super Smash Bros. Brawl is a very notable soundtrack. Not only is it the largest soundtrack I’ve ever seen, it has the most people involved as well. Treating every game as if it’s the last, they spared no expense in the music. Great composers from all over the videogame music spectrum came together to arrange famous Nintendo tunes. This soundtrack’s existence is hardly even believable.

I could go on. In fact, I actually trimmed this list down a bit. There are plenty more amazing videogame soundtracks to mention. But what about you? Which soundtracks are your favorites and why?

Tags: castlevania, Chrono Cross, f-zero gx, Guilty Gear XX, Mega Man, Mega Man X, Okami, soundtrack review, super metroid, Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Xenosaga

This entry was posted on Monday, March 9th, 2009 at 8:00 am and is filed under Features, Music. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.