Best music in a game to date?

Nothing makes gaming more fun than charging into battle with some awesome tunes blasting from your speakers. Or as the main hero falls in battle to a soft violin. Music and sound is just as big part of gaming as any other gameplay mechanic. Its the part that leaves a mark on your subconscious, to whenever you hear it, you can't but help be reminded of the first time you struck down a dragon or conquered worlds.

So what game is it that's had the best music for you? It could be just one song in the entire game that stood above the rest, or an entire soundtrack that lead you through lands.

For me? Two games. The first is one we all know, Metal Gear Solid. The strings and brass has made me shed many tears for our headbanded ol' ninja.

And the second game, a slightly less well known game, Afro Samurai. The sound track was pure gold in this game, and possibly the best thing about the game. I still liked the game, but I wouldn't have liked it nearly as much if it hadn't been the same music.

EDIT: also maybe throw in a comment as is to why it was so great to You.

Shadow of the Colossus.

Xenoblade Chronicles

I tend to enjoy the music in RPGs the most, perhaps because they're given more emphasis than in most other games. Golden Sun has a fantastic soundtrack, and the original songs from KotOR have a special place of nostalgia in my blackened soul. And, as much as I hate j-pop, the Persona 3 and 4 soundtracks can always bring a smile to my face.

Outside of RPGs, the aforementioned SotC soundtrack is pretty amazing.

Streets of Rage 2's soundtrack is pretty great. I can't really think of any other soundtrack that has as a distinct a style, or at least one that's stuck with me as firmly.

Honorable mentions to Ace Combat 5 and Castlevania: Lament of Innocence.

@Red: Probably because RPG's try to set a theme more than other games, and music helps with settings.

@SoldierG654342: All of the Ace Combat games have had pretty good music.

Watch people say Halo, and others wonder why.

@senorfuzzeh said:

@SoldierG654342: All of the Ace Combat games have had pretty good music.

3, 4, & Zero's were all good. 6's was a bust and I have no desire to play the most recent one. None of them come close to 5's though.

I would probably have to go with Final Fantasy X. 8 years since playing it, and I still get songs stuck in my head.

I'd have to say the Metal Gear Solid series; I mean, Yell Dead Cell, Father and Son, Encounter, etc., are all so brilliant!

Probably not a very popular opinion, but The Death of Vladimir in Battlefield 3 is beautiful...

@habster3 said:

I'd have to say the Metal Gear Solid series; I mean, Yell Dead Cell, Father and Son, Encounter, etc., are all so brilliant!

Right on brother! yeah I think Metal Gear 2 had some of the better music, then the third was great too.

Mega Man 2

I would have an impossible time choosing but Chrono Trigger and Persona 3 and 4's soundtracks stick out as clear winners. Some of the most memorable music I've ever heard and it all lives on my iPod at all times.

To Zanarkand alone almost makes Final Fantasy X's soundtrack the best, even if the rest of the songs are simply average.

The upcoming Rhythm Heaven Fever has some real bangers.

The first Fable had amazing music (the rest of the series is great too, but just not as amazing as the first time). Toy Commander is a game I'm deeply nostalgic for, specifically the fantastic music. The same thing applies to the TimeSplitters franchise, though I wouldn't consider the music in that as amazing, just great.

As far as this generation goes? Alan Wake had some really interesting choices, but those were all (mostly) licensed tracks--if we're going down that road there are probably a hundred other games I could rattle off right now. The Halo games have a very recognizable and well done score, though I guess that's not really this generation. Same with the Elder Scrolls games, but again not limited to this generation. I really wish I could say Mass Effect (scifi epics need an amazing score!) but that's always been one part of the series I felt was lacking--no recognizable theme.

Come to think of it, I don't know that I have a favorite score for a game based this generation. That's sad.

Top Gear on Super Nintendo because this song has been stuck in my head for 15 years.

second Alan Wake, it was a unique way of inserting some very poignant tracks.

Also, the POWER singalong in Saints Row: the Third.

Nier has the best music in any video game ever made and I don't think you can make an argument against it

@Animasta said:

Nier has the best music in any video game ever made and I don't think you can make an argument against it

Your avatar still grosses me out but I'll agree with this to an extent. Nier has a great OST.

@Animasta said:

Nier has the best music in any video game ever made and I don't think you can make an argument against it

Completely forgot about Nier. It defiantly does have some good music in it.

@xaLieNxGrEyx: Its just a red head, why is that gross?

@senorfuzzeh:

I'm just kidding but it's from Catherine and throughout the game it's "implied" (smacked over your head) that she's either a man who has undergone a sex change, or a cross dresser.

Sonic 3..... duh

@xaLieNxGrEyx: Ouch.

I played Catherine and I don'r recall her being a cross dresser or anything :S Maybe I missed something...

As stated earlier, Nier is great. One of the first ones that comes to mind. The other has to be Kingdom Hearts, any of them. Yoko Shimomura is a genius.

Guitar Hero 2, some of my all time favorite songs and bands in that game and the covers don't even ruin them

The persona games are great (4 more than 3). Metal Gear is a "solid" choice. More recently I loved Bastion's music to death. Mine, Windbag, Mine?! Amazing! Not to mention all the voiced tracks. In trying to come up with something else to put down I rediscovered this.

EVERY BOSS BATTLE EVERY TIME.

I can't believe I finished that game...

@senorfuzzeh said:

@habster3 said:

I'd have to say the Metal Gear Solid series; I mean, Yell Dead Cell, Father and Son, Encounter, etc., are all so brilliant!

Right on brother! yeah I think Metal Gear 2 had some of the better music, then the third was great too.

Yeah, I'd agree with those points. I'm also rather partial to the first game's tracks for nostalgia sake hahaha

Nier has the best music in any video game ever made and I don't think you can make an argument against it

I think the music in Skyrim is amazing

@solidejake said:

Watch people say Halo, and others wonder why.

This is why.

The music is incredibly atmospheric, really well composed and always manages to fit your situation perfectly. Few other games achieve anything close to this.

Any of the Halo games have fantastic soundtracks, though if I had to pick one it would probably be ODST just because it set that lost and alone type tone that game was trying to pull off quite well.

Donkey Kong Country 2

Super Meat Boy.

Bastion. Hands down the best Game Score I ever listened to.

Jet Grind Radio

Battletoads & Double Dragon (SNES)

Sonic CD (US)

Mega Man 2

MadWorld

Painkiller

Half Life Franchise

All three Metroid Primes

Favourite old school OST: Secret of Mana

Favourite licensed soundtrack: Jet Set Radio Future

beavis and butt head in virtual stupidity Gwar is in it so....it defaults to 1

ffX

Zelda. Enough said.

@Turambar said:

@Animasta said:

Nier has the best music in any video game ever made and I don't think you can make an argument against it

I can make an easy argument against it by citing any Etrian Odyssey game.

I'll second that. I've barely played any of the games but I can't stop listening to the soundtracks and various arrange albums.

assassins creed

homeworld

Deus Ex : Human Revolution and the AC series are fucking hard to beat. Hitman series too, along with Heavenly Sword. Oh and MGS.

Forgot how awesome that Halo ODST score was. Halo is actually the only multi-game series where I have made it a point to purchase every single score that is released. Reach and the Halo Legends discs were both great too.

You can't really compare say...NES games to what we have now. Well, you can, but it would be stupid since you're comparing what is being done with a unique sound chip to just having CD quality music in there. I'm excluding music games, doesn't really make sense to compare Guitar Hero to a game with music designed specifically for the game itself.

So with that in mind -

Best 8-bit era: Ninja Gaiden II (NES). That intro song is still holds up to intros you see in games TODAY. The other Ninja Gaiden titles, the Mega Man series, and Metal Gear were great too. It's a shame the SNES ports of the Ninja Gaiden titles really stunk the music up.

Best 16-bit era: Super Metroid (SNES). Thunder Force III, Sonic 1, and Strider (all Genesis) are close seconds. The SNES may have had a "superior" sound chip, but aside from orchestral-based stuff (Actraiser, Zelda 3, etc), I generally preferred the Genesis' music. Nintendo did a good job with their own stuff but most non-Nintendo developed games just sounded so flat compared to the harder edge the Genesis music had.

Best arcade: Mortal Kombat II. That whole series has fucking awesome music, from MK1 up until the reboot from last year.

Best "CD quality" audio (ie 32 bit era and beyond): Castlevania SOTN. Thought that Jet Set Radio Future was really good as well.

Bastion and any Sonic Game ever. This cannot be disagreed with.

@habster3 said:

@senorfuzzeh said:

@habster3 said:

I'd have to say the Metal Gear Solid series; I mean, Yell Dead Cell, Father and Son, Encounter, etc., are all so brilliant!

Right on brother! yeah I think Metal Gear 2 had some of the better music, then the third was great too.

Yeah, I'd agree with those points. I'm also rather partial to the first game's tracks for nostalgia sake hahaha

Yeah that was probably what MGS4 did the best with, all the throw backs to the old songs. Like when you first arrive on shadow moses It sent shivers down my spine or the final fist fight between Snake and Liquid Ocelot. Ah. Such an amazing game...

The Zelda series always have great music. Super Meat Boy and Binding of Isaac also have great music

Wind Waker had great music. Much of it was really uplifting and fun. The original 3 Sonic games had some great music too.

Most games just have generic symphonic stuff that's kinda dull after a while.

I mean, how does this not cheer you up?

Seriously. best music in a game ever. Makes me sad this game was so forgotten.