What game music evokes a visceral emotional response from you? (Updated with Playlists!)

Sky High from Daytona USA.

Boy, what a tough question to be concise on. "Concise".

A few which come to mind immediately just out of good ol' personal nostalgia are the main menu theme from Metal Gear Solid, Theme of Solid Snake from Metal Gear 2, Animal Crossing's main theme, Super Mario Land 1 and 2's themes, the Pokémon Red Pallet Town theme, Halo: CE theme, Unreal Tournament main theme, Sonic The Hedgehog 1, 2 and 3's main themes (and a hell of a lot of each of their soundtracks, to be fair), Spyro the Dragon's main theme, Super Smash Bros. Melee theme, Max Payne's theme, Road Rash 1-3 and Shadowrun on Genesis.

Gunstar Heroes' opening theme, just about anything off the Ys franchise (especially I and II), the soundtracks from Twisted Metal 1 - 3, the Crash Bandicoot theme, the GTA 1 theme "Joyride" by Da Shootaz (and probably 3/4 of every track ever put into the franchise) and (if you count promotional demo discs) pretty much everything I ever heard off of the PlayStation Underground CD Magazine back in the day. CART World Series' Track 7 aka Michigan. Grabbag, E1M1, Castlevania: SOTN's save-loading screen song Prayer. Moon Over The Castle. Siphon Filter. Deus Ex. That's it, I have to walk away from this at some point.

(REEEAAAAALLY hard to decide, it's taking all the self-restraint I have not to go on a YouTube embedding binge here. My family's been tremendous fans of Gen I - II Pokémon, mainly, since the beginning, so any music from that's up there on the highest rungs of the ladder for me personally alongside the 90s Mario and Sonic (and Spyro) franchises. Lots of sweet moments spent catching Snorlaxes, collecting badges and showing the fam. And rings, and springs, and gems, and Stewart Copeland.)

NANAKOOOO

My fingers get twitchy just hearing it:

@the_nubster:

No doubt! I had to take multiple breathers from that game. The atmosphere and tension... whew

i'm a little shocked no one has said this one from mass effect. especially when they brought it back out in 3...maaaaaaan.

and this was an under-appreciated climax from 2.

but really, i rep the machinarium soundtrack every opportunity i get. so, so good.

I'm probably gonna edit this response like 50 times because there's so much music in games that resonates with me emotionally, but this is the first one that came to mind.

The one that immediately sprang to mind. I love/hate it so damn much.

So many good ones in this thread. The main theme from Ocarina of Time is one for me too. Same with the MOHAA theme (I was huge into that game. It was one of my first multiplayer games), the BF2 theme and anything from Age of Empires 2 (I've played that game since I was 7, so it's a big one for me).

Others I can think of are a couple songs from Hotline Miami 2 (like Perturbator's "Sexualizer"), The Fallout Theme from Fallout 3 and 4, The theme from BF1942, the original Animal Crossing theme, the Animal Crossing: Wild World theme, Mute City from F-Zero GX.

The biggest one for me though, is this:

I've long considered the PC version of Mafia to be one of the best games of all time. For its time it was mind-blowing. The shooting was fantastic, the graphics were insane for the time, the cars had highly detailed damage modeling like being able to shoot out the gas tank and run a car you are chasing out of gas, something GTA didn't have until over 10 years later, along with wheel damage, engine damage, and transmission damage including losing gears (Most of this damage modeling was removed from the console version in favor of a simple GTA-like damage model). You also had more realistic traffic and you had to follow the rules of the road. The missions in the game were amazing also. They did a fantastic job of building tension, and the atmosphere was quite good. They managed to do some things in the game that we still rarely see today.

Mafia II was alright, but it lost most of the magic that made the original Mafia so good.

This isn't the only game song to invoke that WOOOOO YEAHHH!! feeling for me...but this was the first one that popped into my head for some reason. Even listening to this now makes me excited and I wanna play through the game again.

It's the opening song from Tales of the abyss.

Realistically, this could just be shortened to "Persona 3/4 +Spinoffs OSTs", but I'll pick out a few of the stand-out tracks:

• Persona 3 - Kimi no Kioku [Ending theme] - Such a strong way to end the game; Without spoiling it, the ending of the game is a real bittersweat moment, and this song goes perfectly with it.
• Persona 3 Portable - Wiping All Out [FemMC battle theme] - The female route in Persona 3 Portable is my favoured way to play P3 (mainly due to better S. Links). I love the entirety of the song, but the first 20-25s of it are a perfect accompaniment/start to a battle
• Persona ~Trinity Soul~ - Breakin' Through - Cheating a little, as this is from the P3 anime spin-off (which isn't that great), but this is a great track
• Persona 3 The Movie #2 -Midsummer Night's Dream- [Ending theme] - Again cheating a little, as this is from the P3 movie adaptation, but since hearing it for the first time in Persona Super Live 2015, I can never not hear it when I think of (P3 spoilers) Shinji's death.
• Persona 4 - Reach Out to the Truth [Battle theme] - Possibly the most recognisable track from Persona 4, I think it is used better in The Golden, where it only plays if you get player advantage
• Persona 4 - 霧 (Fog) [True Ending battle theme] - On its own, this is a good track, but not great. The way it is used in the game, for the long final battle, is fantastic - it ebbs and flows, and prepares you for the real final battle (after a mid-battle story event) themed by The Genesis. As I'm sure people who watched the Endurance Run will remember, that works amazing well for that battle - sombre beginnings, but just as you are starting to feel all is lost, the guitars kick in with the main melody from Reach Out.... and pulls you through to the victory. Great use of music in a game.
• Persona 4 The Golden - Snowflakes [Winter 'overworld' theme] - I very rarely get emotional whilst playing games, but having watched the Endurance Run a number of times (and so knowing the game was heading to a close), and having some ideas what was going on with Marie, this hit me HARD in my first playthrough of The Golden. Beautiful song, and perfect for the mood of the game at that moment.
• Persona 4 - Never More [Ending theme] - Beautiful song to close the game with. The linked version is from the [Never More -Reincarnation:PERSONA 4] album, which is my prefered version of it.
• P4U2 - Break Out Of... [Opening Theme] - As someone who isn't a big fan of fighting games, the music was one of the best things about Persona 4 The Ultimate and its sequel. This song epitomises what I love about these OSTs - a nice fusion of the P3 and P4 musical styles. The ending theme, Today, is also very good

Pretty much all of FEZ's soundtrack is incredible, and with the context of my experience with the game, virtually core to my entire being. So, that one's up there, yeah.

Prior to that, Total Annihilation pretty much took the cake for all-time most important soundtrack.

Outside of those, there's a few tracks here and there that stir up pleasant or melancholy memories. Ultima Underworld had a short soundtrack of some value, and oddly, Sonic Advance for the GBA stood out to me, Ice Mountain and Egg Rocket zones in particular.

EDIT: Just remembered possibly the most vital piece of music ever composed for a game, which is the Phendrana Drifts theme. Here's that for half an hour.

A link to the past, credits theme.

@ben_h: Oh man! Mafia was awesome! That song brings out so many memories.

Best thread.

The lead melody from Terra's Theme about fucking makes me cry. It's both beautiful and driving, it hints at the scope and grand adventure of Final Fantasy with this minor, detached bittersweetness. When the harmony comes in, it gets even better.

Well the first one that comes to mind is the music that plays over the ending cutscene of Grim Fandango.

Certainly more than I can think of right here and now, but here's what pops to mind immediately.

The first two are self explanatory, being arguably the most memorable core melody from their respective games / franchises.

The third needs a bit of explanation. In Super Robot Wars games, every unit on your side has a music theme attached to it and is played when that unit attacks, and continues until a unit with a different theme attacks. Bosses in the game generally also have their own themes and boss themes always override your own unit's themes.

However, due to a programming error in one of the earlier SRW games, Trombe! will not be overwritten by boss themes. As a result, it has turned into both a bit of a running joke, and also a signal for extreme badassery in any and all SRW games that include it.

Got one more

Uhm most Final Fantasy music

Suikoden music

FFT music of course

And as a bonus here's a song from Escaflowne that always fills me with pure joy...

Oh fuck I guess after decades someone stripped it from YouTube now I'm super bummed out. Gotta figure out which external HD I have the song on.

I don't know why since I don't have a huge attachment to Zelda compared to other games, but I almost cried when listening to a re-orchestrated version of 'Hyrule Castle' when I installed the 'Classic Zelda music' mod for Skyrim.

http://www.zreomusic.com/listen

Painful Memories from Heavy Rain

Say what you want about the game, the music is really good.

The entire soundtrack for Toy Story Racer.

My favourite Kart game of all time.

I know that feeling since ALL of Phantasy Star music from 1 to 4 gets that response from me and more so as it was some of the great times I had with my now passed away father, since as a kid I would watch him complete these games and the music (despite how freaking awesome it is) was all part of that.

Valkyria Chronicles A loved Passed on with always destroy me and make me cry due to just because of everything that happened for that song to present itself in the game, I wont say as it's all spoilers but it hit me hard and still does.

Mass effect had the most amazing response from me at the end of the game, it was a case of just shepard/my shepard just kicked ass and then basically goes "this was just the start....I will be there to finish this." then BAM! THIS SONG!! Made me feel so achieved. Even when I was completing it for the 5th time before going out to buy Mass Effect 2 on release day still made me pumped.

I have to think on some more because there are plenty that have elicited an emotional response. Music is the most effective tool I find at making me 'feel' something. I don't cry at actions or storylines or get too super excited at other things, but man, the use of music can just blow me away (Jurassic Park theme building to a crescendo, I'm looking at you).

For me the Intro to the Secret of Monkey Island just reminds me of my childhood. Plus it's a kick ass tune.

If you've never played Terranigma you should give it a try.

By no means the only, nor the peak. But this was a great song timed amazingly. Really stunning use of a song in a game.

Both are played during the credits of their respective games and listening to them just makes me remember the hours I spent playing those games as a kid and how awesome they were.

Godot and the whole craziness of the final case!

Speaking of the music from Phantasy Star, @mithical, a number of games on the Genesis have powerful songs attached to them. Something about the sound chip in that thing could do incredibly unique, very sharp music. For instance:

Super Hydlide is so weird, so completely unremembered, that I have to mention it even if the music isn't super great (it's still good, though!)

Just listen to the sick stereo intro to Herzog Zwei! As long as you had your stereo output hooked up on your Genesis.

Master of Monsters is obscure, and has an INCREDIBLE soundtrack. I still hear some of the musical themes and melodies crop up in modern games.

This one:

Five that come to mind is the main theme to Metal Gear Solid 2, E1M1, the main Super Mario theme, and the battle song from Persona 4 (thanks to the Endurance Run), and Sins of The Father from Metal Gear Solid V.

The San Andreas loading music has always gotten me super amped and ready to pull of some insane stunts and actions

Lots of persona-stuff. Memories of you, never more, reach out to the truth, the almighty, the last version of Mayas theme etc... But that has already been brought up.

Legend of heroes: Trails in the sky, two games that deserve to be played by anyone with a love for JRPGs hit me really hard and has been on my mind alot even after two years after I first played it.

There's simply too many pieces that moves me, but the ending song always stuck with me. It's a vocal version of the games main theme and efter the ending it just struck the exactly right cord with me.

For the very same reason, this version from the second chapter makes me feel all gooey and warm inside and if I'm in the right m.ood, my eyes becomes a little teary.

And lastly... The most badass and powerful final boss-theme I've ever heard. Chills man. So many chills.

Boktai is one of my favorite games ever, with Sabata being a contender for favorite character. Every time I hear his theme it brings back a bunch of memories--from across the entire saga.

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Vivi's Theme, Vamo Alla Flamenco, Steiner's Theme, Qu's Marsh, Amarant's Theme, You Are Not Alone, and Dark Messenger all give me some serious emotions on their own, let alone when I hear them in-game. Vivi's Theme instills in me a sense of tepid anticipation and excitement. Steiner's Theme and Qu's Marsh are the songs of the daily grind that I trudge through; Amarant's Theme (through game memories) and You Are Not Alone lift my spirits back up.

Dark Messenger, though. That gives me actual chills. I gear up for a fight.

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This is perhaps one of, if not my favorite song ever. Full stop. I can't describe the feeling I get from it besides overwhelming joy.

WoW was a social thing between myself and a large group of friends back in high school when it launched. Played for maybe 4 years, then off and on for another 4. The original login music still holds a lot of weight with me, not in a "my favorite music of all time!!!" sense, but in an evocative time-and-place emotional sense.

There are a few that spring immediately to mind--the romance theme from Mass Effect 3 as well as the ending theme were sufficient to leave me an absolute fuckin' wreck on multiple occasions (I really liked Mass Effect 3 you guys). Also the guy who was repping the Machinarium Soundtrack is 1000% on point--I am such a fan of that music, especially this one (DANCE LITTLE ROBOT MAN! GET YOUR GROOVE ON). That and the vast majority of the FFIX soundtrack (particularly the piano arrangements) make me remember many late nights spent grinding and drinking vanilla Pepsi. Ah, I can taste it e'en now.

Finally (and most recently), the entire goddamn Oxenfree soundtrack causes a relaxation and wistfulness far beyond what it probably should--but fuck, listen to this track and tell me it doesn't blow your mind.

Song of Storms means a lot to me too.

Cannot BELIEVE we got Chrono Cross before Chrono Trigger! What song makes you feel more like a hero than this:

What makes you feel a sense of foreboding dread into an epic struggle than THIS?!

The black wind howls, mothertruckers!

And to keep the Jesper Kyd train a'rolling:

I can't imagine a song that more perfect evokes the feeling of an overwhelming invasion.

@vextroid: I can't believe I forgot Ace Attorney. The music in those games are definitely a huge reason they are so successful at what they do.

It's hard to beat the pursuit and objection themes for epic music that gets your heart racing and adrenaline pumping.

Every single song from Nier and Memories of You from Persona 3 probably get the biggest emotional response out of me. It's amazing to me that I'm gonna get two new soundtracks from the creators of these two this year.

There's plenty of game music out there that has the power to affect my emotions. The piano theme from Max Payne, basically any music from the Metal Gear Solid franchise, and heck even the Final Fantasy X theme does something for me. Most of it's largely based on nostalgia, but I think the music onto itself might be effective even taken out of context.

However there's nothing out there in almost all music, except for some Pink Floyd, Radiohead and Bop stuff, that gets to me the way that the Halo theme does. I've cured entire bad days just listening to the thing and gone into horrible dental surgery powered by adrenaline derived from it. It's simply the best.

@ben_h: Props for Mafia theme!

This thread is great.

Michael Giacchino is a famous composer who does all sorts of huge movie scores, but he also did Call of Duty:

If you dig that, also check out Pegasus Bridge. It's beautiful, Band of Brothers quality stuff.

And then obviously:

That song is childhood.

This is because of nostalgia, but I love the metal gear solid 2 intro, it just fits the feel of the game.

Another song that fits really well is most songs in Hotline Miami, but especially this song. It just get the blood pumping. The big contrast when the level is over, music stops and you have to walk back to your car through all the horrible slaughter is incomparable to any other game I played.

A lot of good stuff has already been mentioned. Almost anything from the original Mass Effect hits me because I played the game at a strange time in my life, so I think the emotional moments hit me in a way that they wouldn't have otherwise. I especially loved Vigil, which I think is one of the best pieces in the entire series at encapsulating the awe of your character in that universe and how young and small humans are supposed to be in comparison to these other alien cultures. Off the top of my head, my own choices -

Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura - Main Theme

I think as a piece of music, this theme really hits me. I remembering starting the game up and hearing this really sad theme and wondering just what I was in for. It's a wonderful, unique game and I think the main theme really sets the stage for the game.

Hotline Miami - Knock Knock -Scattle

Hotline Miami is filled with songs that push the player forward through level after level of gory violence. I think the music and the gameplay are perfectly paired, and one of the best song and level combos was Knock Knock in the level called Assault. I have listened to this song outside of the game many times and it still makes me feel like I could run through a brick wall.

Super Mario Bros. 2 - Overworld Theme

I don't think any game is as special to me as Super Mario Bros. 2 is. I pretty much love all of the music in the game, but the overworld theme just brings me back to being a kid again. If there is a fountain of youth, this is the song that you'll hear when you take a sip of the water.

Stuff from Kingdom Hearts still gets a reaction out of me, although I think it's mainly nostalgia at this point. When that HD collection came out and they'd redone the music with a live orchestra it sort of became the main driving force of replaying that game for me-- to see the cool new versions of the old music that didn't age as great.

Nier's soundtrack hits the same notes it did the first time I heard each track, despite listening to that soundtrack probably 100 times over by now. It's probably my favourite video game OST.

In terms of more recent stuff, the opening theme for Tales of Zestiria made my jaw drop and then burst out laughing at how out of place it was (and then it did it again in a late game boss fight with another song), but I don't quite think that was "emotional" :p

The Moon theme from Duck Tales is probably the only game music that truly MOVES me. Even as a kid, I remember thinking, "this has a weird effect on me that I do not understand."

@captain_insano: So glad someone mentioned Monkey Island!
For me it is the version from Curse of Monkey Island, as that was the first one I played back in the day. Just makes me so happy!

Other than that there is a ton. I am easily moved, one of those who gets easily emotional. But if there was a "deserted island, one thing to bring" type deal, I would bring music from Legend of Zelda - Majoras Mask.
Specifically the Clock Town music. Mostly because the feelings it invokes is happiness and hope. Well, until you get to the third day that is.
Here is a bonus remix version from the awesome Theophany.
If they ever make a movie or a TV-series based on The Legend of Zelda, they must use this as some kind of "this is the happy end" music. If not, they have fucked up.

Same here! Can't here that intro without being teleported back to Boxing Day 1992. The Monkey Island 2 intro has a similar effect. I'd been wanting to play that game so much, so when I finally had it installed and fired it up it was just magical.

The Encounter, Duel and Escape themes from Metal Gear Solid still gives me a great adrenaline rush. That soundtrack sounds like a lost John Carpenter record.