What are the contenders for Soundtrack of the Year?

I can only think of one I'm absolutely sure of myself, Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze. Seriously if you haven't played it check it out, it's been known to relieve pain. It's got hell of range from Lion King ass Choral shit to Smooth Motherfucking Jazz (or Ska? I don't know genres). From boss music that sounds like Ninja Diddy Kong Racing to Heavy Metal Boss Music. There are a lot of beautiful tracks, a lot of exciting tracks and a lot of nuance. David Wise mixed old and new together super well too. If you know his SNES work there's a lot to love in it. From songs that are half old and half new to motifs and instrumentations from the classics being weaved throughout the soundtrack. Example, the drums of Run Rambi Run playing while riding Rambi in one level. It's really great. The full soundtrack has now been ripped and released in a nice and clean way. Check it. Much better than the old rip.

What other games are viable for the best soundtrack this year? Transistor maybe? That game had some great stuff in it. Shovel Knight? It has pretty solid music but I don't know if I'd ever want to listen to it. Super Smash Bros certainly will have most music but I wouldn't give it that must credit. Mount Your Friends perhaps? The music in that is amazing. Does Vib Ribbon count?

Hmm, does John Wick count?

You can play Wick in Payday, so technically it should count. Right? ...right?

...right?

Tropical Freeze is a likely candidate. Although the fact that most of the Bomb Squad have not spent a lot of time with it will probably affect its chances.

Crypt of the NecroDancer is pretty killer. No vocals, though (unless you count the dude who sells you stuff, which you totally should).

Pix the Cat is great.

Personally, mine will be Bravely Default. Say what you want about the story structure of that game, but the music is fantastic.

I think Mario Kart 8 has the best music I've heard all year.

The Yawhg has an amazing soundtrack for its brevity. Also, it kinda doesn't count (because it was technically released last year) but the Killer Instinct soundtrack is fucking incredible. Each new fighter added has had just the most kickass theme, and each one is so different from the last.

Middle earth comes to mind

Divinity: Original Sin

Transistor had a pretty great soundtrack. It's really the only soundtrack that immediately comes to mind.

Unless you count Persona 4 Arena: Ultimax. Sure, it's mostly reused tracks from P3 and P4, but those games have pretty great soundtracks.

Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=454IG6mfiK8

I really enjoyed the Lightning Returns soundtrack, particularly the first city's nighttime theme--very jazzy. Drakengard 3 has a pretty excellent soundtrack (that no one heard because no one played it!) that is reminiscent of Nier in several places, just not quite as good. Destiny has some fantastic pieces here and there, but the rest is pretty boring in my opinion. Those are just the ones I can think of.

Transistor's soundtrack is the best part of that game. Shovel Knight's is really solid too; Lightning Returns and Mario Kart 8 also have fantastic music.

I think two that won't get mentioned a lot but I really liked were Valiant Hearts and Child of Light. I still go back and listen to some of those tracks pretty regularly.

I was ready to think long and hard about this, but yes, Donkey Kong. It's a no-brainer. The music's amazing and fits the game perfectly. Lots of subtle integration into the levels themselves, too. Honestly, DK might be in my top 3 overall.

Mordor's music stuck out to me at times, but I spent so much time messing around that the soundtrack felt limited.

Shovel Knight has incredible music. Shantae and the Pirate's Curse is great. Wolfenstein was no slouch, either.

Or Master Chief Collection, despite it being a couple weeks away. From the iconic stuff to the grit of Halo 4. So good.

That game still has to come out to be considered for that, and god damn I hope it does. I'm against Early Access in principle, but I've come so close to buying it so many times...

Lethal League and Shovel Knight in my mind.

As of right now? Most likely Tropical Freeze. Destiny and Shovel Knight are up there too. Still waiting on Smash Bros to come out, although the soundtrack for that game being great is a known quantity.

If we're counting trailer music, that one track from the FFXV trailer this year should win.

Mario Kart 8 has an amazing fucking soundtrack and my guess is that Alex will be pulling strongly for that one. I'm sure SSB4 will have way more music, but we'll see how good the remix's are. Bayonetta 2's soundtrack is Japanese-as-fuck and very fitting though not quite as strong as the originals score. I haven't played Transistor, probably never will, but I listen to that soundtrack daily, the vocal songs are both beatifull and haunting.

Unfortunately all my soundtracks of the year also happen to be from games included in my games of the year. BUT

1. Shovel Knight
2. Transistor
3. Abyss Odyssey

Someone here said the best part of Transistor was the soundtrack; I disagree but I will state that my favorite part of Shovel Knight is in fact the soundtrack. Shovel Knight is the best collection of Mega Man tracks since Mega Man 3. Plague Knight's music is up there with Snake Man and Flash Man.

Drakengard 3 probably. I haven't played it (having no money is fun!) but I listen to it constantly

Transistor gets bonus points for the two versions of each track. I probably spent at least an hour hanging out on the Beach humming to Coasting.

Payday 2.

Transistor. No contest.

Transistor. Wolfenstein. JAZZPUNK. Destiny. In that order.

Transistor. The 5 vocal tracks are fucking incredible (Paper Boats actually caused me to tear up) and the instrumental ones are pretty damn good as well.

@impartialgecko: I was shocked to see you were the first person to say Jazzpunk.

I would be OK with DK tropical freeze, jazzpunk or Wolfenstein winning. But I think Mario Kart 8 is the most deserving.

I probably would like Transistor's more but I don't think I played enough of it to see much of a variety between the songs.

@noboners: The music in Jazzpunk isn't the most memorable thing about it, unlike Transistor, but it's so fucking good.

I'd also rope all the sound design and effects in with this as well because a lot of Jazzpunk's jokes are built on musical cues.

For me it's transistor, definitely. Persona always has great soundtracks but I haven't played Persona Q yet.

Transistor's music is extremely well done and sets up that world well. I don't even know what else contends with it.

The music in Velocity 2X is incredible. My other choice would be Wolfenstein.

Transistor. Hands fucking down.

Also it probably wont count since Halo 2 (I think this track showed up in the main menu?) came out in 2004, but the Master Chief collection gives us a chance to hear this again:

Transistor would probably be in there. I haven't played a lot of games that came out this year though so its going to be tough for me to choose some other proper candidates.

OH WAIT, Crypt of the Necrodancer! That should be a fucking candidate!

Nothing that came out this year can even hang with Tropical Freeze.

Bayonetta 2 and the Witch and the Hundred Knight are my top picks so far

@hassun: Patrick has spent some time with it and remarked that the music was way way better than the game which he was very much enjoying... but then he decided to save it for Football season and promptly forgot about that when football started. Dan is way into Returns and only got Tropical Freeze a few weeks ago. Hopefully he puts in the time to play it before GOTY season. If he thinks DKCR is as good as Mario World than I can't imagine how much he should dig Tropical Freeze.

As for the rest of the staff all that needs to happen is when they're making a list of soundtracks to look at for soundtrack of the year prep someone needs to remember to include DKCTF. After that they'll all likely listen to some and the rest should be self evident.

PS I'd like to quickly say it again: Mount Your Friends. Oh wait, does that not count because there was an Xbox indie games version out last year? Bummer if so, that game's music is super dumb and I'd love to see it be nominated.

Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze, Transistor, Mario Kart 8 and Bayonetta 2 are the games that spring to mind.

Dat Tomorrow is Mine. Dat Moon River remix. Don't sleep on that Bayonetta 2 soundtrack.

Yup, right, that was pretty damn good.

Ya, completely forgot about Transistor. I'll also second Wolfenstein as a contender.

Banner Saga is far and away my favorite this year so far.

how about the swapper or will it not count because it came out ages ago on the pc. it has a haunting soundtrack that adds to the atmosphere of the game.

Pix the Cat. Also a contender for most overlooked game of the year.

Tropical Freeze curbstomps everything else imo. I have no interest in the game/Wii U, but the soundtrack is ridiculous.

Can't weigh in on Tropical Freeze and Transistor as i haven't played either. Putting my vote in for Wolfenstein, solid game all round and i felt the atmospheric music and all the excellent quirky fascist re-mixes really went a long way in the world-building and storytelling.

It might actually be Lovely Planet for me:

I never gave The Wolf Among Us its props last year because the whole game wasn't out, and I fully intend on placing it in the running for best soundtrack this year. I absolutely loved the way it mixed 80s and fantasy into its music. It's incredibly atmospheric.

Transistor is the first word for half of the posts in this thread. It is pretty great, even if I didn't like it as much as Bastion. Bravely Default had quite a few excellent pieces as well. I'm also partial to Luftrausers, Always Sometimes Monsters, and Wolfenstein.

I should probably just listen to the soundtrack for Drakengard 3, but I want to hear it in the game first, and I keep deluding myself into believing I'm going to play that.

Towerfall Ascension, without a doubt.
I kinda put the title screen on this summer just to hear the title music on repeat.

@babychoochoo: Havent played that witch game, but just hearing that music makes me want to try it!

Transitor wins. Hands down.