MUST Have Video Game Soundtracks?

The only soundtracks i ever though,  hmm, i wouldnt mind buying some of that, was for for the first Taxi driver.
 
But i would never buy an actual soundtrack cd, just find the artist themselves and buy and support them instead.

@BackupPanic said:

"Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory OST by Amon Tobin, check it. "

Alone in the Dark

The Last Ninja trilogy for the C64 :-) 
Well... It's not likely to have had a CD release, but the sid-files are widely available. 
 
As for people mentioning Mass Effect and Oblivions soundtrack... 
Personally I found Oblivions soundtrack to be very generic and Mass Effects soundtrack to be tiring - But then again... I figure the music in any game you play in 50+ hours is bound to get on your nerves.

The World of Goo Soundtrack is amazing. Plus, it's free on 2d Boy's website! Check it out.

A few of my favorites:
American McGee's Alice
Odin Sphere
Ninety-Nine Nights
Lost Odyssey

Just remembered something; Unreal Tournament.

"
Golden Sun and  Golden Sun: The Lost Age, both games have some of the best soundtracks ever made. "

Fable 1, and a few tracks from Uncharted 2 and Ninety Nine Nights were pretty good too

The Medal of Honor OSTs are really great, especially the first few.
Prince of Persia if you can track them down.
Freedom Fighters, again if you can track it down.
Mirror's Edge.
Panzer Dragoon series, especially Azel.
The Primal soundtrack is really good, especially for a game that went by the wayside.
Lair has a score that far exceeds the quality of the game it was for.

Silent Hill 4, Hitman 2: Silent Assassin, Mass Effect and Brutal Legend.

I liked Xenosaga 3's sound track quite a bit. And Silent Hill 3 has pretty good music too. Not "good for a nerdy game" good, but like, good as in I could listen to it driving my car with people around and not feel like a fool. That kinda good. Good relative to normal music as opposed to chiptuned opera and bad rock.

Halo
Halo II Volume 1
Halo II Volume 2
Halo III
Halo 3 ODST

I really like The Witcher OST.   Pawel Blaszczak and Adam Skorupa made some great music for that game in my opinion.
 
It's free to download as a separate part of the Enhanced Edition patch so check it out.

Medal of Honor Frontline
NBA Live 2003
THPS games are badass too.

" Silent hill game soundtracks are good Half life episode 2's soundtrack is really good  killer instinct soundtrack is also good "

" I mostly like soundtracks to games that are very colorful, and as a result the music is rather jaunty and fun.  Games like Banjo-Kazooie (all 3 of them), Super Mario Galaxy, Donkey Kong 64, and even the old Donkey Kong Country trilogy all have great soundtracks.  I also have enjoyed the soundtracks for Ocarina of Time, Wind Waker, and Twilight Princess (Wind Waker is my favorite).  Super Smash Bros. Brawl also has an awesome soundtrack. "

Okami
Bionic Commando: Rearmed 
Half-Life 2 (Episode One, Episode Two)
Not a must have, but Alone In The Darks was pretty good too

 
Bionic Commando: Rearmed   
Katamari damacy

" Silent Hill 2.  Best soundtrack of all time!!! "

Shatter +1 
 
I liked Guild Wars’ music, but the DRM with DirectSong was so restrictive that I haven’t checked back since I switched to a Mac.

" @Kiemoe said:

"Stubbs the Zombie in Rebel without a Pulse Soundtrack "

Yes this, the only video game soundtrack I have. "

I really want to get a hold of the Bioshock and Bioshock 2 soundtracks.  Those violin songs are really good I think.

" I really want to get a hold of the Bioshock and Bioshock 2 soundtracks.  Those violin songs are really good I think. "

" I really want to get a hold of the Bioshock and Bioshock 2 soundtracks.  Those violin songs are really good I think. "

I rather like the soundtracks for these games.

" @Madhattan said:

"Silent Hill 2.  Best soundtrack of all time!!! "

   "

I never get tired of the RE: Code Veronica soundtrack.

OST from Persona 3 & 4, Silent Hill and Final Fantasy games.

Final Fantasy Tactics OST is really stellar, and the two composers who worked on this later worked on FF XII, so if you liked 12 check out Tactics.

Mass Effect OST and The Halo Trilogy of OST's

Persona 3, Persona 4, CVS2, and 3rd strike.

I'd also ad the Modern Wa... Err, Call of Duty 4 soundtrack, only for the "Deep and Hard" song, because of lyrics like:
 
"This the third installment from Infinity Ward, shit, don’t soil your drawers, ‘cause it’s deep and it’s hard, bitch."

Someone answer this for me please: Is the soundtrack for Modern Warfare 2 officially available anywhere?

Someone answer this for me please: Is the soundtrack for Modern Warfare 2 officially available anywhere?

Its fucking disgusting how nobody has mentioned Streets of Rage 1 and 2, the best original soundtracks of all time- hands down.

• Street Fighter 2 Soundtrack 

World of Goo has an amazing soundtrack.

" @HandsomeDead: Offically... No, at least it's not on Amazon, and they usually have most weird video game soundtracks. But it IS out there... "