Top 10 best video game music/themes and why?

What makes good video game music? Its different to all people, to me good video game music is about Nostalgia and emotion. If the music/theme brings out emotions then that's what I consider good.

Here are my top 10 favourite and the reason why, I also like giving stats and ratings to everything:

Honourable mentions:

-Ryu Hayabusa theme Ninja Gaiden ,
-Chrono Trigger frogs theme,
-Skyrim theme,
-Megaman theme,
-Vamo Alla Flamengo FF9,
-Terras theme FF6,
-One winged Angel FF7,
-Place I'll return to some day FF9
-Kingdom Hearts theme (not the song, the tune)
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#10 - Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time: Gerudo Valley

Reason: It sounds good, it develops over time. Reminds me of Mexico and Mexican culture for some reason. It feels soothing.

Nostalgia factor:....................... 7

Emotions factor:....................... 5 (soothing to the mind)

How music sounds:.................. 8.5

http://www.youtube.com/watc... , with 1.5 million views

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#9 - Melodies Of Life - (English) - Final Fantasy IX

Reason: This is a song, and it really makes sense with the video and with the game as a whole. It reminds me of the struggles that humans go through for each other.

Nostalgia factor:....................... 9

Emotions factor:....................... 9 (happiness, sadness, struggle)

How music sounds:.................. 8

https://www.youtube.com/wat... , with 3 million views

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#8 - Final Fantasy IX OST - Loss of Me ~ Beatrix's Theme

Reason: Very classical, bring out a sad emotion :(

Nostalgia factor:....................... 9

Emotions factor:....................... 9.5 (sadness)

How music sounds:.................. 8.2

http://www.youtube.com/watc... with 200K views

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#7 – Aeriths Death Theme (FF7)

Reason: Brings out a sad emotion, the theme and the scene when it played in the game matched. Each bounce of the pearl synchronised with the music.

Nostalgia factor:....................... 9.5

Emotions factor:....................... 9.5 (sadness)

How music sounds:.................. 9

http://www.youtube.com/watc... , with 1.5 million views

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#6 – Final Fantasy 8: Landing on Dollet

Reason: Pumps you with action. Scene is full of action and the song just gets your adrenaline running.

Nostalgia factor:....................... 5

Emotions factor:....................... 5 (adrenaline)

How music sounds:.................. 9.5

http://www.youtube.com/watc... , with 80K views
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#5 – Persona 4: Magatsu Inaba theme

Reason: Similar to Zelda, this song is very soothing to the mind, it fits the situation as if this is the last chance, last hope.

Nostalgia factor:....................... 9

Emotions factor:....................... 7 (soothes the mind)

How music sounds:.................. 9.6

http://www.youtube.com/watc... , with 1K view (original deleted)

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#4 – Halo Theme

Reason: Just so cool, fills you with adrenaline.

Nostalgia factor:....................... 5

Emotions factor:....................... 7 (lots of adrenaline)

How music sounds:.................. 9.7

http://www.youtube.com/watc... , with 4.2 million views
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#3 – Metal Gear Solid: Main theme

Reason: Sounds great, lots of nostalgia for me in this tune.

Nostalgia factor:....................... 10

Emotions factor:....................... 7 (happiness, lots of adrenaline)

How music sounds:.................. 9.8

http://www.youtube.com/watc... , with 100K views

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#2 – Final Fantasy 5: Clash on the Giant Bridge

Reason: Sounds amazing. That’s all there is to it.

Nostalgia factor:....................... 9

Emotions factor:....................... 0

How music sounds:.................. 9.9

http://www.youtube.com/watc... , with 1.3 million views

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#1 – Final Fantasy 10: To Zarnaknd

I will leave you with it *takes cap down to cover eyes*

http://www.youtube.com/watc...

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So what is your favourite video game music/theme and why?

[PhantomTommy]

Excellent blog. I'd add The Monkey Island Theme simply because the bass line sounds like it was written by Jesus.

The Sight Of Spira from FFX is phenomenal too!

[Ranma1]

There are so many good themes, I just found it really hard to decide. But FF1-10 have some really good and memorable music

[Blastoise]

These are some awesome choices

[guitar_nerd_23]

Ramma1: You may of heard of this guy already but if not you'd probably love it

http://www.youtube.com/watc...

He's done loads, easily the best youtube ff guitarist I've come across.

Also check out PowerGlove for some glorious 80's metal videogame covers, they've done a fair few of Nobou's tunes.

[Valenka]

I am quite fond of the classic Tomb Raider themes, as well as some tunes from older James Bond games.

[wishingW3L]

Chrono Cross: http://www.youtube.com/watc...

Chrono Trigger: http://www.youtube.com/watc...

Dragon Quest VIII: can't even say which one I like the most. This game has the best OST. Period.

http://www.youtube.com/watc...

http://www.youtube.com/watc...

http://www.youtube.com/watc...

http://www.youtube.com/watc...

[I_am_Batman]

Maybe a bit too much FF for a top ten. Though I admit that Nobuo Uematsu is one of the best video game music composers ever.

There was so much good music in games back in the Mega Drive SNES days too.

[HammadTheBeast]

I disagree, Final Fantasy games are built heavily on music choice. They have some of the most memorable music themes of any game. I'd also put in some Sonic Adventure ones, a lot from FF 8 , and a couple from Legend of Dragoon.

[I_am_Batman]

"I disagree, Final Fantasy games are built heavily on music choice. They have some of the most memorable music themes of any game."

No need to tell me. I'm a fan of FF myself and have a lot of nostalgic memories connected with that series. And as I said before Nobuo Uematsu is one of the best video game Composers but that doesn't mean that you can ignore all the others. That's why I think that 6 FF in a Top ten is a bit too much because you only have 4 more slots to give Tribute to other composers.

[caseh]

Have to say I agree with Batman. Way too many FF games in there. There are hundreds and thousands of gaming soundtracks out there that are amazing but when you list 6/10 of the best video game tracks and they are FF games you're limiting yourself to whats available.

Missing the likes of Yuzo Koshiro as a prime example, one of the most influential innovators of video game usic prior to CD based consoles.

[TopDudeMan]

FFIX had some of the best music I ever heard. I think FF lost it's magic when Nobuo Uemasu stopped composing for them.

[Blastoise]

I agree for the most part but there were still some top tunes to come

http://www.youtube.com/watc...

[Kratoscar2008]

My top ten are:

Shadow of the Colossus (All of them)
Persona 3 (Burn my Dread and Heartful Cry)
Persona 4 (Backside of the TV and I will face myself)
Final Fantasy 8
Final Fantasy X
Growlanser 1
Silent Hill 2
Twisted Metal 2
Valkyrie Profile Lenneth
Final Fantasy 6

Shoji Meguro is a musical Genius.

[belac09]

Shoji Meguro and Nobuo! FTW!!!

[DragonKnight]

FFXII Clash on the Big Bridge
FFX People of the North Pole.
FFX Wandering Flame
FFX Auron's Theme
FFX Fight with Seymour
FFVIII Man with a Machine Gun
FFVIII Maybe I'm a Lion
FFVIII Eyes on Me Piano Version
FFVII Lifestream Theme
FFVII Cosmo Canyon Theme
FFVII Sandy Badlands
FFVII Wutai Theme
FFVII Jenova Theme
FFVI Shadow's Theme
FFVI Dancing Mad
FFV Clash on the Giant Bridge
FFIV Baron's Theme
FFIV Red Wings Theme
FFIV Within the Giant

Those are my fave FF themes. And here now is an epic OCRemix cover of Baron's Theme.

https://www.youtube.com/wat...

Imagine that in FFIV and you'd see why no one messes with Baron.

[TheFirstClassic]

I think my favorite might be the best is yet to come, from the mgs 1.

http://www.youtube.com/watc...

[belac09]

It is amazing, that song playing at the end was sooo powerful.

[Blacktric]

Mine has to be Can't Say Goodbye To Yesterday from Metal Gear Solid 2. God I just love that song.

http://www.youtube.com/watc...

[SeraphimBlade]

Mmm, I have quite a few pieces I always love to hear:

Ocean Theme - Windwaker: THAT is how you make stupidly open expanses of water exciting

"Snake Eater" - MGS3 : ...does anyone else start singing this in other games when it feels like a ladder is taking too long to climb? I can't be the only one.

"Weak Executioner [Litchi vs. Arakne]" - Blazblue: That little hint of sadness in this intense song sums up the two characters' tragic conflict perfectly.

"Gluttony Fang [Hazama]" - Blazblue : speaking of summing up characters, when the chorus hits, it's hard not to picture Hazama laughing his ass off. And mercilessly kicking mine. (could fill this whole thing with Blazblue. Moving on...)

"Flying to your Heart" - Gitarooman : not much to say about this one. Magic guitars. Giant enemy crabs. General awesomeness.

"Sacred Worlds" - Sacred 2 : Why the hell did Blind f***ing Guardian have to partner up with such a mediocre dungeon crawler? Speaking of which, where the hell is your rock band dlc?! Don't you want all of my money?!

"Cornered" - Phoenix Wright : The original game's version, of course. Despite the title, this is actually a triumphant tune, usually accompanying an "A-HA!" moment that'll turn the case on its head.

And, file this one under "guilty pleasure"...
"Open Your Heart" - Sonic Adventure : shut up.

there's SOOOO many more and so little time...

[rnmartinez]

Awesome article! With all this push for visuals we forget about music.

[DivineHand125]

My list:

Nathan Drake 2.0 theme
http://www.youtube.com/watc...

Zelda Skyward Sword theme
http://www.youtube.com/watc...

Smash bros Brawl theme
http://www.youtube.com/watc...

Mass Effect 2 Suicide Mission
http://www.youtube.com/watc...

Final Fantasy 13 battle theme
http://www.youtube.com/watc...

Prototype 2 theme
http://www.youtube.com/watc...

[Zechs34]

Dat Suicide Mission from ME2... Man, What a fabulous piece of music. You should really look up a lot of the remixes out there as they are all almost awesome.

[TheSuperior]

Love the halo theme makes me happy everytime I hear it!

[majiebeast]

Super metroid:begin theme
Xenoblade:boss theme(One who gets in our way)
Ducktales:moon stage
Megaman 3:Snakeman stage
Godofwar:Main theme
Uncharted:Main theme
Rayman origins:Murray of the deep
Dragon Quest VIII:Rememberances
Metal gear solid 3/4:Snake eater
FF7:So many
Chrono trigger:All of them there is like no bad music in that game
Lufia 2:Final boss theme
Persona 3:Velvet room
Secret of mana:Main theme
FF6:Tera's theme
TMNT turtles in time:Sewer theme
Illusion of time/gaia:Final boss theme and in the earthen womb.

There is so much really good video game music out there you cant make a top 10 really.

[thorstein]

Early Final Fantasy on SNES (with that sound.) are among my favorites.

[e-p-ayeaH]

The original FF soundtrack is around my favorites even tough most squaresoft/squareenix games have great music.

Same can be said about many popular series of games like call of duty and here´s why http://www.youtube.com/watc...

videogames have great soundtracks in general and that´s the kinda stuff that makes me a proud gamer.

[OmniSlashPT]

Nobuo Uematsu > all

[tuhi009]

Super Mario World - Overworld

Deus Ex - UNATCO

Moneky Island 2- Main Theme

Shadow Of Colossus - ALL

MGS - Main Theme

Oblivion - Watchman's Ease

Chrono trigger - ALL

Halo - Main theme, Perilous Journey

Halo 2 - Peril

And lots of others i cant remember

[Xenomorph]

No Chrono Trigger. YOU FAIL GOOD DAY SIR.

[moegooner88]

Someday the dream will end from FFX, for some reason this theme stuck with me since I first played the game in 2003, but then again FFX was a masterpiece in all aspects.

[LightofDarkness]

No Megaman? No Chrono Cross/Trigger? No Nier? No Castlevania? It's an ok list, but I would certainly replace some of those FF themes with some of the above. But then again, theres nothing quite as subjective as music opinions. I still think there needs to be more variety there, though.

[Reverent]

The Song of Healing from Majora's Mask is the top for me. Beautiful, dark, twisted, artistic, and incredibly emotional all at once.

[Picnic]

Outset Island - The Wind Waker. It's so tentative and 'cute' and its unassuming elegance belies the fact that it is a superb piece of classical music. One of the most graceful songs/instrumentations that I have ever, videogame or otherwise. Also bearing in mind that you are leaving your grandmother to go on a quest, it will potentially, and unexpectedly, make you want to cry at the very START of an adventure.

For its mysterious beauty, Inside the Crashed Space Pirate Frigate on Metroid Prime is worth a shot:
http://www.youtube.com/watc...
But it does go on a bit when you just listen to the audio- best when you're playing it in the haunted confines of that spaceship, most things (as usual in Metroid Prime) utterly dead.

Aquatic Ambience stood out a lot in the 16 bit days:
http://www.youtube.com/watc...
It's an ideal theme tune for the Metroid Prime level actually.

and I love the music from Super Mario World. Dire Dire Docks from Mario 64 is well known too - as is some Banjo Kazooie music.

To raise the spirits a bit more, how about Jet Set Radio Future?

Aisle 10:
http://www.youtube.com/watc...

and Teknopathetic, the ideal song for Reggie 'I'm about taking names 'Fils-Aime:

http://www.youtube.com/watc...