Music in Video GamesSeptember 19th, 2007 by Monique
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The music in video games is often neglected and confined to the background. People praise game play, characters, plot, and even voice acting, but rarely do they praise a video game based on its soundtrack. And yet, as gamers, we all know the Zelda theme by heart, we can whistle the Mario Bros theme, and we all remember “One Winged Angel” from FFVII. This is because, despite being tucked away and out of the spotlight, music is integral to video games. It sets the scene. It creates ambiance. It creates immersion. Fast-paced beats set our hearts racing, and slow violins warn of us an impending Hallmark moment.
Arguably, without music, video games would not be where they are today.
This then is my tribute to both the music and the sound designers. In no particular order, here are my favorite songs from some of my favorite games complete with mp3 downloads. You may right click then ’save as’ to download the file, on either the icon or the hyperlinked song title.
Chrono Trigger is a game that was ahead of its time. To me, it has unforgettable characters and redefining gameplay. It also has some absolutely stunning music. Yasunori Mitsuda composed its soundtrack with a little help from Nobuo Uematsu. Perfectly composed, many of the pieces are timeless despite the game’s release over twelve years ago. “The Day the World Revived” is my favorite track from the OSV, and it’s hauntingly beautiful.
One of my favorite survival horror series, Silent Hill, has bone-chilling music. The game series itself has a unique path with a complex storyline and truly macabre messages as well as environments. The sound designer for this game is Akira Yamaoka. He’s more recognized than most video game composers and has worked for all of the SH titles by Konami. “Not Tomorrow” appears in the first game and, with its haunting chords and melancholy notes, matches SH’s mood perfectly.
I think MMORPGs are often forgotten about when it comes to their music. But really, would an epic boss fight be half as epic without the music? Even if you’re supposed to be listening on Ventrilo or Teamspeak, you’ve probably turned on sound for each dungeon at least once to hear the music and enjoyed it. World of Warcraft has a fabulous soundtrack, and a lot of it is displayed in the song “A Call to Arms.” It sounds stereotypical in some ways, but is still compelling in its own right. Definitely a song I’d be listening to when I kill Arthas.
Metal Gear Solid is another good series with good music. MSG3, which follows operative Naked Snake (aka ‘Big Boss’ in MSG1/2) in the Soviet Union, is not of a genre a lot of gamers look for “good” music from–that crowd is usually the RPG crowd. However, its music is like something out of a James Bond movie and it is vivacious, the perfect kind of music for a game based on infiltration. MG3’s “Main Theme” captures the soundtrack’s heart.
While speaking of James Bond-esque music, Perfect Dark has some killer (no pun intended) beats. Rare truly created a masterpiece with PD—both in the gameplay and the soundtrack. It matches the shooter perfectly, and makes me want to grab my N64 to play. Most of its music alternates between techno and instrumental. “G5 Building: Reconnaissance” is the best song and has great atmosphere.
Well, you probably knew Final Fantasy would get a mention. Anyway, the deal is that Nobuo Uematsu? He’s an amazing composer; the video game composer. He composed the FF series’ soundtracks. I could be obvious, and offer a download of “Liberi Fatali” or “One Winged Angel” or “To Zanarkand.” But I’m not, because most gamers have heard those titles. Instead I present FFX’s “Ending Theme,” which is actually my least favorite FF (still enjoyable, though) but one of my favorites in terms of music. This song is simply genius, much like Uematsu himself.
Suikoden is an incredible series. Its music is equally so. The Suikoden series is a mixed bag in terms of availability in the USA, and my favorite song from the series is on one of the rarest PS games–Suikoden II. The second in the series, it was a limited release, even though it’s by far one of the best of the series. “Reminiscence” conveys the storyline between two childhood friends well, and is very sorrowful, much like the game’s ending(s). Also interesting to note, is most of the series’ soundtracks contain subtle vocals like this track does. It’s a rare move on Konami’s behalf.
Resident Evil is not too well-known for its soundtracks. I never really understood this, because I know a lot of their tracks are works of art. Masami Ueda worked hard on Resident Evil 2’s soundtrack and “The Second Malformation” is an awe-inspiring piece played when the player encounters the second stage of Umbrella scientist William Birken. It is typical boss fare, but still unique in its own way.
Parasite Eve has recently been disappointment to fans, with the announcement that its third game after a decade of absence will be a cell phone game. Still, the soundtrack and series are not a disappointment and are commendable. PE2’s “Main Theme” is by Yoko Shimomura and it’s as beautiful as Aya Brea, the series’ protagonist.
Valkyrie Profile 2 is the most recent game on this list as it came out last year. The series is based on Norse mythology and has an obscure plot coupled with excellent gameplay. VP2’s song “Sank Memories, More Deep” is steady and striking, nothing fancy but perfect for the scene in which it’s presented. As a side note, if you haven’t checked out the series, Valkyrie Profile is worth your time and money.
Lastly, but not least, there’s The Legend of Zelda. I don’t think this series even needs an introduction. Picking this series’ song was incredibly hard and this is by no means the top Zelda song. For a few minutes, I was torn between “Gerudo Valley” and the opening theme of Zelda:OoT. Finally I ditched both, and went for “Saria’s Theme” which is most recognizable in The Lost Woods. Simply put, it shows Zelda’s energy and playfulness as a series.
Hopefully you’ve enjoyed the music and this list. If you’d like to share with me some of your favorite games and your favorite song of theirs in the comments, by all means, go ahead! You can also email me at monique@girlsdontgame.com with any downloads you’d like to share.
September 19th, 2007 at 7:18 am
Before I even started reading I was thinking, “She better include Not Tomorrow in that list!” Hehe, I also love the music of Perfect Dark. It’s in my Ipod! Okay, I better click submit before I post my own personal list of favorite game music. :p
September 19th, 2007 at 7:26 am
I was thinking. “Oi oi, where’s the OOT music?” and there it was, Saria’s Theme.
Also I’ve never played Silent Hill, but that tune sounds a bit like Sunday, Bloody Sunday.
One of my still favorite tunes is the Super Mario Bros theme. It just never grew old on me.
September 19th, 2007 at 9:29 am
Saria’s theme was the only decent track on the OoT album. Well, and Ganon’s theme as well. Pretty “meh” overall.
My favorite track from the PE OST was the theme where you fight Eve at the Statue of Liberty or whatever. I think that’s what it was, haven’t played that game in forever. It was epic, I have an awesome remix of it too from Project Majestic Mix.
Sonic really deserves a shoutout too.
And I suppose everyone says the Great Giana Sisters had an excellent soundtrack.
And Cave Story… one of the best OSTs I’ve ever heard, albeit in chiptunes. Amazing for an amateur work, though.
And how could you have a video game music post without mentioning Overclocked Remix. They have an awesome remix of OoT’s Forest Temple, a compilation project of CT music, a few good PE mixes.. among others.
Well, that’s my poorly-formatted rambling thoughts. Haha, maybe I’ll shove all of my favorite remixes in your face sometime, cause I’m sure you’d like some.
September 19th, 2007 at 9:35 am
We seem to get a lot of comments that go along with the lines of “How could you not have blah blah on a list about blah blah…” My response to this is rather simple: Because we can’t think of everything, our opinions and tastes are different than yours and we actually like getting responses from people who seem to fill in the blanks, so to speak.
Not everyone likes the same music from video games (I actually really like the music from OoT, Saria’s theme in my opinion isn’t the only good piece in fact I don’t even really LIKE Saria’s theme), and this is true on any of our posts, really.
We just like games.
You like games, you read about them in our blog, and we love your responses when you have something to add. Thanks for all the great feedback so far.
September 19th, 2007 at 10:55 am
I particularly enjoy the music from 1943, makes the game that much more exciting.
September 19th, 2007 at 1:39 pm
Bravo on the fine collection of good video game music. I must say that my favorites are from the Final Fantasy series and the Metal Gear Solid series….truely magnificant work. I would love to attend something like this
You know I still whistle the victory theme from the many final fantasies where ever I go…
September 19th, 2007 at 2:08 pm
I had to buy the Silent Hill soundtrack after I overheard it for ten minutes around my friends house.
http://turtles-paradise.net/misc/igtheme.mp3
September 19th, 2007 at 8:19 pm
Most noteworthy is Michael Giacchino’s orchestral score to “Mercenaries”. “Black” was very good too. I’m a sucker for that.
September 19th, 2007 at 8:25 pm
Candi–I was so torn between “Not Tomorrow” and SH2’s “Promise.” Then I started thinking about SH3, and got even more lost. I love that series music so fucking much. Also, PD reminded me of you because I remember how into it you were!
Raymond–You should check out SH! It’s a great series!
And I saved the best for last, Zelda has always had goooood music.
Peter–I was trying to focus on just the songs themselves and their creators, not fanworks. I definitely like the OC remixes, especially their FFVII mixes. And I like OoT’s music, so
Dana–Well-said, agree x10.
irContradiction–Haha, I loved that game, but I had to find it on YouTube to remember the music.
Alex–I attended one of those video game concerts 2-ish years ago. It was fabulous, but I wish they could have played a few more of my favorites.
Suzie–I. Love. That. Song. You’re amazing.
Shawn–I’ll check those out.
September 19th, 2007 at 9:30 pm
Nice list.
September 19th, 2007 at 10:28 pm
I love Call To Arms too… But I think my favourite part in the game is when you fight Illidan, the music and the cool dialogue are just sweet put together and how the music changes as the phases change.
Almost makes me think I’m fighting an epic ending boss in a Final Fantasy or something.
September 20th, 2007 at 8:15 am
Good Blog.
I’ve heard some of these songs while playing the games. As for the rest, I’ll be sure to download them. I’ve always enjoyed what the music adds to a game. It can really make or break the atmosphere.
As for some games with great music. Check out Blue Dragon, and Eternal Sonata.
September 21st, 2007 at 4:59 am
I recall not too long ago there was a video game orchestral production making its way around America and, I think, Europe. I was looking forward to it, as it had some favourites of mine such as Baba Yetu, the menu music in Civilization 4. Other games such as Metal Gear Solid and World of WarCraft were also being featured.
It never came down here to Australia though. We did have “Play!” at the Sydney Opera House which was virtually the same thing, but produced by different people and full of music from games I never played. Not unpopular games, just mostly console games and I’ve not owned a console since the SNES. I think Zelda was in fact the only piece in there I knew, so I thought it best to save my money and didn’t go.
Nevertheless I think that the popularity of these events goes to show that game music is no longer the neglected aspect of gaming that it once was.
September 22nd, 2007 at 1:31 am
There’s some great songs in that list!
Heck, one of the few things I liked better about WoW than Guild Wars was the soundtrack. Until the recent Eye of the North expansion anyway, which completely blows WoW out of the water on the sound front.
Anyway, music can really help make some games an amazing experience.
Outcast (1998) wouldn’t have been half as amazing (even then it’d still be my favorite singleplayer game ever though) if the Moscow Symphony Orchestra hadn’t created such a stellar soundtrack, the main theme in particular was great. Likewise with Unreal Tournament: it’s soundtrack is the stuff of legends - and part of the reason why it was more popular than the more highly anticipated Quake 3.
Very few PC gamers won’t recognize the Red Alert 2 or Unreal Tournament main themes right away, even though most gamers haven’t played either. It’s interesting how game music can actually be more popular than the games themselves - and these kinds of popular soundtracks are bound to help sell some more copies too
September 24th, 2007 at 10:05 am
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September 25th, 2007 at 7:32 pm
I’m a fanatic of Video Game Music as well. About 99% of the 17 gigs on my Ipod is video game related music. In fact right now I’m listening to the Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time Rearranged Album. Good stuff. Especially if you like dance-able music. I have to say my favorite game for it’s music would undoubtedly have to be the music from “Shadow of the Colossus.” Especially the track called “Revived Power.” If you have never heard of it, listen to it now, I beg you.
Plus, if you want a site of really good Video Game Remixes, head on over to OCremix.org. They just finished a massive project that includes remixes of all the tracks from FF7. Very high quality stuff.
Augh! I just noticed that someone already mentioned OCremix. Oh well, I’ll keep it in to hopefully direct more people there.
September 29th, 2007 at 8:44 pm
I do enjoy video game music a lot, and I’ve got a big iTunes playlist of it.
My absolute favouritest are the Myst soundtracks, particularly Myst and Myst III. I’ve got the other 3 soundtracks, but they’re not quite as awesome.
Galbadia Hotel has quite a few tracks from them, I think, if you’re interested in checking them out.
October 6th, 2007 at 4:31 pm
Yay for video game music!
I love your list.
I don’t know if you’ve played Legend of Mana. It’s an often overlooked game, but it has some of the most beautiful music in a video game I’ve ever heard. Yoko Shimomura composed it, and you can find the entire soundtrack at Blue Laguna here:
http://bluelaguna.net/music/legend-of-mana-ost/mp3s.php
October 10th, 2007 at 8:13 pm
Good music in here, and I was immediately happy when I saw Chrono Trigger at the top of the list. My favourite game music right now? Starcraft:
http://www.fileplanet.com/dl.aspx?/classicgaming/vgtunes/Starcraft.zip
Tales of Phantasia and the original Star Ocean are also in my top 5.
October 11th, 2007 at 2:01 pm
There’s this great part in the original Half Life where you come out onto a cliff face, and the full version of the Valve song starts to play.
And you’re completly right of course, you don’t want to rawk out while watching a poignant reuniting lovers scene, and you don’t want soft music when an intense boss battle is going on!
I for one am going to Video Games Live this year with mates. Anyone else attended before?
October 13th, 2007 at 8:32 am
How could you forget or not even have heard about Castlevania Symphony of the Night?! That game had some of the best music i have ever heard in a video game before. Id say that the soundtrack for that game surpasses many final fantasy ones. especially the more recent ffs
October 14th, 2007 at 3:46 am
Beautiful. I love video game soundtracks. And i agree; videogame music is not given the credit it deserves!
December 2nd, 2007 at 6:53 am
Some great choices there. There have been a number of gaming blogs which have been blogging about music lately. This has resparked my interest in the genre.
Although I agree that the MGS3 Snake Eater theme is definetly a good choice I think that the main theme for MGS2 is absolutely superb. Its the music that plays during the game’s intro.
Also ‘The Best is Yet to Come’ on the original MGS is also superb, this is the gorgeous song with the lyrics in it (only MGS track to have lyrics). AI think that it is done in Japanese but sung by a Chinese singer.
December 4th, 2007 at 4:03 am
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