Best Ever Albums

Re: Videogame Soundtracks

EyeKanFly — Fri, 22 Oct 2021 17:40:44 GMT

Author: EyeKanFly

Posted: 10/22/2021 21:40

I just played through Golf Club: Wasteland. It's a sort of post-apocalyptic story with a fairly basic gameplay where you play golf. But the soundtrack is very good. The entire soundtrack for the game plays as if you're listening to "Radio Nostalgia from Mars" complete with "throwback" that remind humans (currently living on Mars) of life as it used to be on Earth. Interspersed with the songs are short stories and people who call into the radio station, often with incredibly dystopian stories. The gameplay is meh but the story is neat.

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Creatures of the World is my favorite, and Two Astronauts seems to be the fan favorite. Nothing too deep in the lyrics other than just general dystopian themes of the game. Oh and there's a song called "Repetition" which is sort of funny put-down of club music.

Re: Videogame Soundtracks

Tha1ChiefRocka — Tue, 28 Sep 2021 23:56:06 GMT

Author: Tha1ChiefRocka

Posted: 09/29/2021 03:56

I know that I made a pretty substantial post about this at some point, but just to contribute again, I'll put some of my favorite video game music here.

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Re: Videogame Soundtracks

EyeKanFly — Sun, 26 Sep 2021 09:41:49 GMT

Author: EyeKanFly

Posted: 09/26/2021 13:41

travelful wrote:

Japanese Breakfast released a new album today, a soundtrack for the indie game 'Sable' (available on Xbox game pass). I adore her other album this year 'Jubilee' so I downloaded the game last night after I saw she did this soundtrack. Played though about 2 hours of the game and it was pretty solid, I'll probably play through the whole thing. This morning at work I went ahead and played the full album and man it's a beauty. It can definitely be listened to as a standalone album but it might make you want to play the game because it did for me. The soundtrack showcases a gorgeous ambiance of desert sandscapes that curate a sense of mystery and exploration, but also occasionally a feeling of alienation or loneliness. It's mostly instrumental but some of the beginning tracks have vocals. I recommend it.

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Sable by Japanese Breakfast

This is really cool. Heard good things about the game but didn't realize Japanese Breakfast made the soundtrack. You'd think that would be a selling point lol, although the average indie gamer probably has never heard of her. Definitely going to want to pick this up.

Also will be picking up Disco Elysium really soon, heard good things about the music but haven't listened yet.

Re: Videogame Soundtracks

travelful — Fri, 24 Sep 2021 15:00:40 GMT

Author: travelful

Posted: 09/24/2021 19:00

Japanese Breakfast released a new album today, a soundtrack for the indie game 'Sable' (available on Xbox game pass). I adore her other album this year 'Jubilee' so I downloaded the game last night after I saw she did this soundtrack. Played though about 2 hours of the game and it was pretty solid, I'll probably play through the whole thing. This morning at work I went ahead and played the full album and man it's a beauty. It can definitely be listened to as a standalone album but it might make you want to play the game because it did for me. The soundtrack showcases a gorgeous ambiance of desert sandscapes that curate a sense of mystery and exploration, but also occasionally a feeling of alienation or loneliness. It's mostly instrumental but some of the beginning tracks have vocals. I recommend it.

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Sable by Japanese Breakfast

Re: Videogame Soundtracks

EyeKanFly — Thu, 9 Sep 2021 09:13:26 GMT

Author: EyeKanFly

Posted: 09/09/2021 13:13

JOSweetHeart wrote:

Forgive me if this is a dumb question, but has anyone else here besides me remember the Paper Boy video game? I have it on the first ever Game Boy unit.

God bless you always!!!

Holly

P.S. Sadly the first Game Boy and the first Nintendo were the only systems that I ever got.

Paper Boy was a good one. Honestly can't say I remember the music at all but maybe that's because I often played in silenced on long trips.

I also realized I mentioned Hades before but left out Supergiant's other incredible games Bastion and Transistor (never played their other game Pyre). All have incredible soundtracks. Bastion is sort of like a western or sci-fi/fantasy western, draws heavily from both film scores and the Final Fantasy series. Transistor has a little more variety, the player character is a singer and it's probably the best music of their games so far IMO. The composer (Darren Korb) considers the music electronic post-rock, but I think that narrows down the style too much. It's definitely electronic and synth-infused rock for the most part I guess.

Re: Videogame Soundtracks

JOSweetHeart — Thu, 9 Sep 2021 04:50:46 GMT

Author: JOSweetHeart

Posted: 09/09/2021 08:50

Forgive me if this is a dumb question, but has anyone else here besides me remember the Paper Boy video game? I have it on the first ever Game Boy unit.

God bless you always!!!

Holly

P.S. Sadly the first Game Boy and the first Nintendo were the only systems that I ever got.

Re: Videogame Soundtracks

Luigii — Wed, 8 Sep 2021 18:17:26 GMT

Author: Luigii

Posted: 09/08/2021 22:17

Don't have a list of absolute favorite video game soundtracks. But if I want to add some that weren't mentioned, I would throw these.
Super Monkey Ball
Super Monkey Ball 2
Wario Land 4
We Love Katamari
Paper Mario (N64)
Sonic Mania
Sonic Adventure 1&2
Kingdom Hearts
Metal Slug
Bomberman Hero. Redial is a dope banger

And there is other soundtracks that slap. Do want to add that on the credits for the original Metroid Prime, the duo Autechre got a special thanks.

Re: Videogame Soundtracks

JOSweetHeart — Wed, 8 Sep 2021 12:55:42 GMT

Author: JOSweetHeart

Posted: 09/08/2021 16:55

^^^ Thank you! I love Dr. Mario. 😄 😄 😄

God bless you always!!! 😄 😄 😄

Holly

Re: Videogame Soundtracks

EyeKanFly — Wed, 8 Sep 2021 11:25:14 GMT

Author: EyeKanFly

Posted: 09/08/2021 15:25

Patman360 wrote:

Can't believe I forgot both Jak & Daxter and Ratchet & Clank, considering I love both series, gonna have to come back to this and knock it up to 100 cause I'm sure I'll think of many more as I go...

I might have to do the same, there's many good ones popping up here.

Good call on Dr. Mario, Holly!

LedZep I'm gonna have to check out Plague Tale. Might wait for whenever the hell I can get my hands on a PS5 though

Re: Videogame Soundtracks

Patman360 — Wed, 8 Sep 2021 11:17:57 GMT

Author: Patman360

Posted: 09/08/2021 15:17

EyeKanFly wrote:

This is awesome Patman, I agree that Diddy Kong Racing has been slept on. As has Jet Set Radio, RoundtheBend! JSR is one of only a very few video game soundtracks that I think works just fine or better stand-alone than with the context of the game. I'd throw the aforementioned Cuphead as well as maybe Hotline Miami and Sonic R into the mix.

And Patman thanks for bringing up THPS. I think I've mostly been focusing on original music/scores in video games, so I've left out the compilation-style soundtracks of games like THPS, Skate, Need for Speed Underground, even Grand Theft Auto series. THPS3, Need for Speed Underground 2, and Tony Hawk's Underground probably take the cake for me in that category.

Also want to mention that Mark Mothersbaugh of Devo does a ton of video game soundtracks: he did the first 3-4 games in the Crash Bandicoot series, Jak (and Daxter) 1-3, The Sims 2 (and a variety of Sims spinoff games), and most recently, Ratchet & Clank Rift Apart.

I considered leaving compilations out alright but at the same time, they're among the most played games albums I ever gotten in to and opened a doorway into many other genres, I lived off that San Andreas soundtrack for an entire summer whilst doing my undergrad thesis, basically the only thing I had on an old tiny iPod and just listened to it for days on end, sent me down all sorts of avenues!

Can't believe I forgot both Jak & Daxter and Ratchet & Clank, considering I love both series, gonna have to come back to this and knock it up to 100 cause I'm sure I'll think of many more as I go...

Re: Videogame Soundtracks

JOSweetHeart — Mon, 6 Sep 2021 18:05:02 GMT

Author: JOSweetHeart

Posted: 09/06/2021 22:05

I love the original Super Mario 1-3 music and the music for Donkey Kong Country.

God bless you always!!!

Holly

P.S. The original Dr. Mario and Tetris music is also good.

Re: Videogame Soundtracks

LedZep — Mon, 6 Sep 2021 12:10:24 GMT

Author: LedZep

Posted: 09/06/2021 16:10

A Plague Tale: Innocence is an indie darling with beautiful cinematic medieval folk soundtrack. Hasn't been mentioned yet (and a big rec, pick it up on sale). Other than that I agree with a lot of Patman's and EyeKanFly's choices.

Re: Videogame Soundtracks

EyeKanFly — Mon, 6 Sep 2021 09:07:18 GMT

Author: EyeKanFly

Posted: 09/06/2021 13:07

This is awesome Patman, I agree that Diddy Kong Racing has been slept on. As has Jet Set Radio, RoundtheBend! JSR is one of only a very few video game soundtracks that I think works just fine or better stand-alone than with the context of the game. I'd throw the aforementioned Cuphead as well as maybe Hotline Miami and Sonic R into the mix.

And Patman thanks for bringing up THPS. I think I've mostly been focusing on original music/scores in video games, so I've left out the compilation-style soundtracks of games like THPS, Skate, Need for Speed Underground, even Grand Theft Auto series. THPS3, Need for Speed Underground 2, and Tony Hawk's Underground probably take the cake for me in that category.

Also want to mention that Mark Mothersbaugh of Devo does a ton of video game soundtracks: he did the first 3-4 games in the Crash Bandicoot series, Jak (and Daxter) 1-3, The Sims 2 (and a variety of Sims spinoff games), and most recently, Ratchet & Clank Rift Apart.

Re: Videogame Soundtracks

Patman360 — Mon, 6 Sep 2021 07:01:21 GMT

Author: Patman360

Posted: 09/06/2021 11:01

This is fairly haphazardly thrown together off the top of my head so don't read too much into the order but these are generally the games that spring to mind when talking about soundtracks, naturally my enjoyment of these games helps also in making the soundtracks more memorable. A lot of stuff still missed and with time could easily knock this up to 75/100, nonetheless, I feel a good starting point and a wide variety of soundtracks styles and types in there ranging from completely original scores to perfectly chosen pop songs which will complement a game. Could listen to all of these for hours on end and never tire really.

1. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
2. God of War
3. Diddy Kong Racing
4. Doom
5. Red Dead Redemption 2
6. The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker
7. Final Fantasy 7
8. Spyro the Dragon 2: Ripto's Rage
9. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2
10. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
11. Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door
12. The Last of Us: Part II
13. Super Mario Sunshine
14. Metroid Prime
15. Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus
16. Sonic the Hedgehog
17. Death Stranding
18. Super Mario Odyssey
19. Resident Evil 4
20. Super Smash Bros. Melee
21. Donkey Kong Country
22. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
23. Bioshock
24. Silent Hill 2
25. Goldeneye 007
26. Super Mario Galaxy
27. Star Fox 64
28. Halo 3
29. Crash Bandicoot
30. Bloodborne
31. The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds
32. Super Mario 64
33. Super Street Fighter IV
34. Tetris
35. The Last of Us
36. Mario Kart: Double Dash
37. Pokemon Blue
38. Super Mario RPG
39. Mass Effect
40. Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne
41. Hotline Miami
42. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
43. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater
44. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3
45. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
46. Banjo-Kazooie
47. Super Metroid
48. Mortal Kombat
49. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
50. Toejam & Earl

Re: Videogame Soundtracks

RoundTheBend — Sun, 5 Sep 2021 23:16:59 GMT

Author: RoundTheBend

Posted: 09/06/2021 03:16

I honestly find videogame soundtracks pretty terrible for the most part.

Although this one was pretty pivotal to the game and can stand on its own pretty well. Humming The Bassline is something I'd chose to listen to without the game, as would many of these tracks. MANY of the acclaimed ones people talk about, I wouldn't really want to listen to without the context of the game.

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Re: Videogame Soundtracks

Patman360 — Sun, 5 Sep 2021 20:23:38 GMT

Author: Patman360

Posted: 09/06/2021 00:23

I’ll throw together a cohesive list tomorrow when I’m awake and functioning but I’m a fairly avid gamer and instrumental game soundtracks have been the lifeblood to me studying my way through multiple degrees. Can’t ever gather the same focus with regular albums, Ocarina of Time (which is still firmly in my N64) is one of my go-to’s, but wanted to shout out the yet to be mentioned Diddy Kong Racing.

Currently burning my way through the remakes of Tony Hawk Pro Skater/Final Fantasy 7, games with top tier soundtracks.

Off the top of my head I love the music of Doom/Wind Waker/Spyro/Mario Sunshine/Street Fighter and many many more, I used have a chart on something vaguely like this but it’s horribly outdated and I reckon I could (and now must) make a decent one that’s actually up to date!

Re: Videogame Soundtracks

EyeKanFly — Sun, 5 Sep 2021 16:35:53 GMT

Author: EyeKanFly

Posted: 09/05/2021 20:35

an-outlaw wrote:

EyeKanFly's list is amazing 😄 Even included Castlevania 4 which brings so much memories back

Thanks! I think I made this list a year or so ago, there's a few games I've been playing recently which I'll need to add. I'm currently playing through Kentucky Route Zero and man the atmospheric soundtrack is so good. Sometimes it's just ambient/soundscape nonsense, but when the bluegrass hits, it's damn good. There's also a few other soundtrack surprises. It's also more of a point-and-click adventure than a video game, but for me it's fun and an intriguing story. I actually picked it up since it was recommended to me as a game I could play without paying attention to the audio (since I wanted to listen to other music in the background), but I've found myself enjoying the soundtrack a lot.

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Kentucky Route Zero (Original Soundtrack) by Ben Babbitt

Re: Videogame Soundtracks

an-outlaw — Sun, 5 Sep 2021 04:53:52 GMT

Author: an-outlaw

Posted: 09/05/2021 08:53

EyeKanFly's list is amazing 😄 Even included Castlevania 4 which brings so much memories back

Re: Videogame Soundtracks

EyeKanFly — Thu, 2 Sep 2021 08:51:56 GMT

Author: EyeKanFly

Posted: 09/02/2021 12:51

[quote="travelful"]

EyeKanFly wrote:

With that said, I'm gonna have to checkout some of the soundtracks listed! Believe it or not I have never played a Zelda game in my life (disgraceful, I know) but one of my friends just let me borrow Breath Of The Wild, so I'll check that out as soon as I clean up my backlog a bit more. Hades is now on Gamepass so I will be playing that soon as well. Cuphead seems to be a favorite of many, I've never played the game but I'll look into it. Does it work well as a standalone listen?

1) BotW is my favorite single-player game I've ever played. It's loads of fun, and kept me engaged in the game's world for a lot longer than most games do. BotW is the first Zelda game where wanted to keep playing after beating the story (to be fair, I've never played another Zelda game that actually has any substantial post-game content). The music is very minimalist/ambient in most of the game, which I guess is why I didn't include it in my list. But there are some fantastic cinematic/symphonic moments and songs throughout the game. I don't want to spoil because they often end up being during boss battles. There's also a few songs which interpolate old Zelda music, in particular you might run into an accordion player across Hyrule occasionally, I'd always stop and listen to him/her because they'd occasionally play fun takes on themes from prior Zelda games (and new stuff too which is also good).

One thing I will say, this game is not a typical Zelda experience, so if you love/hate BotW, that's not necessarily an indication that you'll love/hate any other Zelda title. BotW has been criticized for weak dungeon design and boss fights(which is central to all older Zelda games), but easily has the best overworld of any Zelda game so I'd say it's worth it. It's also insane how much freedom it grants you. If there's a mission you don't like, you can just ignore it. Very very few dungeons/missions/etc. are actually "required" to finish the story. I love video games, but I'm often not particularly skilled, so having a system like this was really good for me.

2) Cuphead's soundtrack is pretty good standalone. Almost better than playing the game lol, this was a game that was way too difficult for me. It's a 2D side-scroller in the vein of old NES games like Mega Man (which were known for being very difficult, you had to keep a player coming back again and again, but find a way to do it using limited assets and limited space on a game cartridge). So Cuphead was a bit too tough for me. So honestly I might say the soundtrack was better standalone than in game lol.

3) Sea Shanty 2 is a 100% certified banger haha. I never played Runescape but recognize the track from friends who did play. Also it has a lot of similarities with some music from Fire Emblem (which is probably a coincidence since Runescape was created by a British studio before Fire Emblem was even available outside of Japan).

Re: Videogame Soundtracks

travelful — Thu, 2 Sep 2021 07:27:11 GMT

Author: travelful

Posted: 09/02/2021 11:27

EyeKanFly wrote:

I'm gonna have to disagree there because video game soundtracks do seem fairly highly regarded on RYM (much more so than here or pretty much anywhere else that reviews/ranks/rates albums).

Yeah I think you may be right, I may have spoken prematurely before actually looking up some of the classic videogame soundtracks.

With that said, I'm gonna have to checkout some of the soundtracks listed! Believe it or not I have never played a Zelda game in my life (disgraceful, I know) but one of my friends just let me borrow Breath Of The Wild, so I'll check that out as soon as I clean up my backlog a bit more. Hades is now on Gamepass so I will be playing that soon as well. Cuphead seems to be a favorite of many, I've never played the game but I'll look into it. Does it work well as a standalone listen?

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RuneScape: Original Soundtrack Classics by Ian Taylor

This is another one that is extremely nostalgic for me. I absolutely love this soundtrack lol. Sea Shanty 2 is a certified banger.

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