The Top 12 Video Game Soundtracks @ Forbes

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Fastfritz sends in The Top 12 Video Game Soundtracks Of All Time at Forbes. Though not an RPG list, it is dominated by RPGs. Dragon Age: Origins and Arcanum make the list among a sea of jRPGs.

 

To their credit, some truly extraordinary pieces like To Zanarkand are in the list but overall the title is a misnomer imo. It should be "The Top 12 Video Game Soundtracks Of All Time, according to our readers who mostly play only recently released RPGs and perhaps a few of the more popular 'classics'".

No Legend of Mana music, no Lords of Magic tracks, no fighting game music, no turn-based game music. I'd even rank a few arcade game music, RTS music and even one or two desktop game music above some tracks mentioned in that list.

 

Strange list, but as with any top lists, it is their top list. Everyone else likely has a different one. Mine would have none of the titles in this one.

 

Music is always a personal preference thing, so lists like this will vary a lot from person to person.

For instance, I've only played DA:O from this top 12 list. Even including the honourable mentions, I'd only have played some of the TES series. And I would not place either on any top 10 list of soundtracks I would make.

Then again, I don't think I'd get much further than a top 3 list for game soundtracks. Too often the music is either bland elevator music, ambient music or some form of classical orchestral music. While this is fine for enhancing the mood of the game, it doesn't necessarily make it good music in my book.

My favorite soundtracks, for instance, are in no real order:
Unreal - the music does an excellent job of enhancing the mood in the game, but I find it great to listen to even outside of the game.
STALKER: Call of Pripyat - again music that really enhances the mood in the game (though in a completely different way than Unreal) and that I find very relaxing to listen to outside of the game.
C&C - there is no mood to enhance in C&C, but I just love the music. I would start up the game just to listen to the music. While the Hellmarch in Red Alert is probably the best known song of the entire Command & Conquer series, I find I generally prefer the music in the Tiberian dawn and Tiberian sun better overall.

Honourable mention would then be the Deus Ex Human Revolution soundtrack. I love the music, but I suppose it needs more time to cement itself in my memory as ranking among the ones I mentioned above.

 

Baldur's gate is good, Planescape could be down right chilling. Most C&C/Dune/Generals games have great soundtracks, and the Tropico games can be sleeper hits in that departments.

However... there are two games I'd really want to nominate. One is somewhat recent - VtM: Bloodlines. The other is one of the (imo) all-time classics: Star Control 2.

Star Control 2 could make the PC speaker sound decent, for crying out loud, and some of its themes were down right incredible on a sound blaster. This game is older than some of my friends, and still sounds good; the remixes for the Ur-Quan Masters update are awesome as well.

 

I've never played VtM Bloodlines, but listening to some of the songs in the soundtrack on youtube makes me totally agree with you. Some great music there.

I forgot to write it down in the previous post, but Carmageddon and Carmageddon 2 should definitely be on that list too. Fear Factory and Iron Maiden? Yes please.

And while I'm throwing around some links, imagine listening to this in the background while sneaking through an abandonned factory while you suspect that there's mutants prowling around. And then one suddenly jumping on you.

Or crawling out of a crashed space ship and when you finally manage to get out of it (big ship), you get your first music. Great stuff.

Also original C&C. Need anything more be said?

 

My biggest complaint is that it's weird to have entire series lumped together. FFVI and FFX-2 have nothing even vaguely similar about their sound tracks, either in quality or style.

Props for Bastion though. That soundtrack alone puts the game ahead of almost all action RPGs lately. Absolutely masterful.

 

The Last Ninja should be on the list. its actually the first game to have a soundtrack, as well. Meaning more than 2 tracks. Last Ninja had 12.

 

^ Spot on mate!

Last Ninja had some outstanding and catchy sound-work. It sounded awesome on my old Amiga 500.
There are actually many examples of great music in Games. But too many to warrant a simple list like that.