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Out of nowhere today, I've been humming music from Outlaws.  Haven't played the game in ages (MAKE A SEQUAL GODDAMIT KTHX!), but the score is just so friggin' good that it's obviously stuck with me.

So what is everyone's opinion on the best "score" from a computer game?  I'm not talking about a soundtrack a'la GTA, I'm referring more to an original composed score.  I have to say mine is Outlaws.  Sheer brilliance.  I think I'll go dig up that CD and rip the audio tracks onto mp3's after work today.

It may not have been the best (midi and whatnot), but the original music from UO is still fresh in my mind even all these years later.  Diablo 2 also had a good score, IMO.

Morrowind.

I bought the collectors edition was back when because it was the only one left at the store. It came with all the music on CD and I still listen to it. Really great stuff.


The music is composed by jeremy soule.
http://www.jeremysoule.com/

I still have to go with the Castlevania series.....all the way from the early NES 8-bit themes (and the brilliant covers of them by bands like the NESkimos and Minibosses) to SOTN and Lament of Innocence.

I find myself quite often firing up Tragic Prince and Rainbow Cemetary from the SOTN soundtrack on Winamp.

Bring the noise.
Cheers.............

Zelda

Of newer games, I did the same as schild and ripped the audio tracks from EQ2. Haven't really felt the need to do that for any other games just yet though.

[edit]Katamari Damacy - for the schildren ;)[/edit]

The Legend of Zelda has always had great highpoints of musical scores for me. In the 64 version, it was Gerudo Fortress. In the Windwaker, it was the island with those birdpeople. Both were very upbeat and catchy, and I had them stuck in my head for weeks.

Find the NESkimos cover of the original Legend of Zelda. Pretty good rendition of it, though they take some creative license late in the song....creating arguably one of the most hardcore pissed off rocking moments ever recorded.

Bring the noise.
Cheers...............

I should play more console games...

But yeah, the original 8-bit Zelda music is legendary.

For some more modern scores:
Beyond Good and Evil - Lots of style.  
Halo 2 - Great so far.
Metroid Prime - Redone NES goodness.

I've always been partial to the Final Fantasy scores, Metroid, and Zelda (from Legend to Windwaker) ones.  If I remember right, Earthbound had a particularly cool score.

Edit: Yah, I agree with Flashman, Morrowind's score was just awesome.

Castlevania: Lament of Innocence
Katamari Damacy
Zelda 1
Final Fantasy 4 & 6 (particularly the piano versions - a white album from Uemetsu)
Ridge Racer
Wizards and Warriors (and Iron sword by proxy)

Damn, I could go on and on. But I'll say that the REALLY good scores are few and far between. Katamari Damacy is probably the best I've ever heard.

Propaganda!


The music from The Neverhood always made me laugh. The score ranged between endearing and annoying, but it perfectly fit the game world.

The original Command & Conquer (Before that industrial/techno beat got played the fuck out) was the first score I really paid attention to. EQ2, for all its other faults, had a kick ass score that I have on MP3 at work. Splinter Cell had a decent score as well.

The HoMaM series has always had excellent music, and Reznor's Quake score was great.

I like most games that have good situational music that realistically and believably shifts depending on what the player is up to.

Final Fantasy IV/IIUS
Final Fantasy VI/IIIUS
Phantasy Star 2/3

Really old stuff:
Little Big Adventure 2 (I think it was released in the US as Twinsen's Oddyssy)
Some of the tunes in Monkey Island 1 (and the pirate song from MI3).
An obscure PSX game called Tunnel B1.

Less old stuff:
A few tracks from Deus Ex.
Homeworld & Homeworld 2.

Is Outlaws that old Doom-like (3D with sprite enemies, etc.) cowboy FPS? I liked the very scene-setting music from that also.

Interstate 76  (Bring on tha Funk)

The opening theme to both Fallout games.

Best one I can remember off the top of my head would be The Dig[/b].

Thief 1.  Loved the music done for it.
Halo
Morrowind
Wipeout
XCom: UFO Defense(global view mode)



I so very much agree.  Now I need to install it again to remember the music.

No, you just need to put one of the cd's in your cdplayer to enjoy the soundtrack.

Some great music has been mentioned in the thread so far, I'll add
Mechwarrior 2
Ultima IX Ascension ( Pretty lousy game, but the music was great )
Mafia

Edit: Damnit I forgot Eternal Darkness.

for some reason the music to Dragonstrike is going through my head.

Oh yeah MW 2 had a great soundtrack, in geekier moments we'd play it as background to our roleplaying sessions.

Yeah, that's the one.  An old Lucasarts game from '97 that stands at the very top of my all time favorite FPS listalong with Half Life.

The animated cut-scenes from Outlaws were awesome... They sure don't make 'em like that anymore.

Huh.  I can't think of a single game that had music good enough that I'd actually consider ripping it into an mp3 collection for any reason other than nostalgia.

As far as best integration of music into a game, I pick KOTOR.  The sometimes subtle integration of Star Wars themes and the smooth transition into tension when battle started was cool.

Ultima 7
Wing Commander II
Ultima Worlds: Martian Dreams

Bruce

I'm telling you people, the latest Castlevania for PS2 has an amazing soundtrack. AMAZING.

And why is Katamari Damacy not on everyone's list? Could you all please put some more epic sci-fi on there please?

Dr. Mario

Secret of Mana
Final Fantasy III US
Chrono Cross
Xenosaga Episode I
Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne

Sim City 3000
Diablo II
Unreal Tournament

Oh, I suppose I should mention I have an mp3 of Imperial March - Leviathan Mix from Star Wars: Force Commander in my playlist.  Nice instrumental, but I can't speak to the rest of the soundtrack from the game as I never played it.

Bruce

/shudder

Ahh the soundtrack to 6th grade math class on my gameboy. :)

Just thought I'd take a moment to pimp a local Arizona band, the minibosses (http://minibosses.com/).

"Everybody wins"

Good stuff.

I also have liked varios tidbits from various games.  I second the Geurdo Valley theme from Ocarina of Time, and the Dragon's Island theme from Wind Waker (as well as the opening bit).

Over time I've picked up quite a few Game OSTs.  I'll listen to just about any game's OST though...doubly so if its a Nintendo or Squaresoft game.

Nobuo Uematsu > Me.

Oh and GamingFM (http://gamingfm.com/complete/main/) needs to be pimped now methinks.  Pretty good selection for a stream.

Starcontrol for the win

Monkey Island had good soundtrack - have it on my ipod, heck - most so did Full Throttle and all their adventure games.

For some reason I love the opening title music for Metal Gear Solid for PS2.

I enjoy some of the Blizzard music. EQ2 had good music. Halo's choir music during the title screen is kind of cool.

Dear god, you are so wrong. If I recall correctly it was the Imperial March remixed as an 80's hair metal anthem. Really, really bad stuff.

As far as good soundtracks, one of Tie Fighter's many great features was a fully interactive soundtrack. It mixed the music on the fly so that when you were in trouble, the soundtrack seamlessly shifted to a minor key. Very well done (it was called iMUSE) and sadly lost when the CD version wussed out and went to CD-Audio.

Now, here's a REAL remix of the Imperial March! I always loved the socialist realist take on it that Tie Fighter took. It's not evil, it's... uh... fighting for... uh... stability and... stuff. (This is another good one from the same site.

Anu Orta Veniya is another personal favorite.

The main theme from Viewtiful Joe and the main theme from FF X (the piano music) are two of my favorites.

Edit: Oh and I really like "Divinitus" from Rome: Total War. Most of the music in that game is pretty good in fact.

I don't think so.  It doesn't sound like it has anything to do with hair metal.

Do a search for it yourself on your favorite fileshare program and see what you think.

Bruce

Can there ever be a "what's your favorite..." thread that doesn't degenerate into bland lists with no explanations and whose-got-the-bigger-nerd-dick contests?

Yarg!

Anywyas, my fav is Chrono Cross - I have the entire sound track ripped, and on burned CDs in my CD case.  The mixture of tropical, celtic and classical vibes are pure joy, especially the overworld themes.

Icewind Dale.

Shouldn't need to give reasons, if you've heard it.

If you haven't;  why the fuck not ?

In the case of a thread on favorite GAME music, I don't think there is any way anyone in this thread can not claim to be a big nerd. Of some type.

Not that there's anything wrong with that.

The two I have listened to many times (as background fare while doing other things) are the Myst and Riven soundtracks.

Played them the other night while friends and I played the new AH game "House on Haunted Hill" -- [a not-so-great game BTW. We had been hoping for something good from it, but we're spoiled these days by so many of the great German board and card games and the gameplay design of HHH just misses the mark -- that and it is so buggy from a rules standpoint that we swear the FAQ is twice as long as the rules...]

I'd have to say either Zelda: OOT or Metal Gear Solid. Both had very moving music and were paced perfectly within the game. Some of Square's stuff is great, but Konami seems to have a better history of making music that just fits.

FF3
Chrono Trigger
Icewind Dale (Some of Soule's best imo.. I think it was him anyways)
BGII & Throne of Bhaal
Planescape: Torment (I like the recurrent theme they pulled here)
Freespace II
Prince of Persia
Curse of Monkey Island
Ghost Recon

Everything that comes to mind.  These games all had soundtracks or specific segments that I've listened to out of the game.  When in the game, they were especially effective in conveying the emotional meaning of a certain situation in addition to the visuals.

Oh yeah, and I like the opening WoW theme when it's in full swing.

many that have already been mentioned, but I would also like to throw in:

.hack//

The games have some really good music, and the anime has a kickass awesome soundtrack.

I'll add to that - it's true they do. Most of the music, iirc, is by a band named Seesaw.

Star Control II for complete arcade action
The Dig for that classical touch
LucasArts music CD. Has 20 turns from different games, all very well done.

Homeworld 1/2
Katamari Damacy
Metal Gear Solid 2 (I'm a Harry Gregson-Williams fan)
Phantom Brave
Shadow Hearts 2
Star Control 2 remixes (http://sc2.sourceforge.net/downloads.php)
Warhammer 40K: DoW

HoMM's
Icewind Dale
Morrowind
Ultima's
Wing Commander

In no particular order, depending on mood. Though the single most liked song would be "Stones" from Ultima. I even got a fricking version with text in my mp3 collection.