Top 7- Best Video Game Soundtracks
Next up in the series of Best Soundtrack lists is Video Games. It's slightly less universal sure but music is no less important here than in Movies or TV. In fact, I'd say this is probably the medium where music is most important. Hence, this list exists. So, lets do it!
7. Halo
The term "space opera" has never been so fitting. The whole Halo franchise and the original in particular have some incredibly epic moments in them and every last one of them is accompanied by a gorgeous score. My personal picks here would be either the original opening theme or the theme from The Silent Cartographer. Epic moments heightened by epic music, even if recent games have slipped slightly.
6. Rayman Legends
The musical levels. That's all I have to say to convince you of it's place on this list. For those who don't know, first, shame on you. But second, they're a series of levels at the end of each stage that are rhythm based and feature popular songs as the soundtracks. There was the mariachi Eye of the Tiger, the orchestral level or my personal favourite, Castle Rock and Black Betty. These levels were the height of a frankly great game and even ignoring the wonderful music from every single other level, this game deserves to be here.
5. Scott Pilgrim vs The World: The Game
A game based on a movie based on a graphic novel based on pop culture should have been horrible. But not only did this game prove to be a fantastic brawler, it came with a wonderful bit-tune soundtrack. Every song is great and has beautiful little details in every single level that make the music just essential to listen to. It's an underrated soundtrack for a little known game and it's just great.
4. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
A game about playing a bunch of magic songs hasn't got a choice other than to have a magical soundtrack and fortunately, Ocarina of Time fits right into that without a problem but still manages to create a gorgeous and slightly haunting soundtrack that keeps me coming back for more. The theme is superb and I can still sing the theme from song of storms because it sticks with me so very much. But my personal favourite for both how it sounds and for the connotations from the game is the Lon Lon Ranch theme. It never fails to give me the shivers and feel happy inside. A classic soundtrack for a classic game.
3. Hotline Miami
Hotline Miami is a hugely frustrating game that features you dying. A lot. Like, a lot a lot. As such, one of the worst things it could possibly do is have an annoying soundtrack that repeats constantly and makes you want to go out and kill a room full of guys with a baseball bat in real life. Hotline Miami never succumbs to that by having long, hypnotic songs that pull you into the zone with their pulsing techno beats. I don't particularly like electro music but thanks to Hotline, I will now just blast out Horse Stepping to zone out for a few minutes. It's bad music but done fantastically.
2. Animal Crossing: New Leaf
This music takes me back to a very happy/very rough time in my life where I was an Animal Crossing addict. Every day, I would go around my village, harvest the fruit, say hello to all my villagers, maybe pay off a bit of my debt, go have a coffee, dig up fossils, go give the clown dude some fruit so I can feel real emotions. The list goes on but for a while, this game took up more of my time than real life, as sad as that sounds. I'm cold turkey now, thank god, but this music conjours up memories of a happy and pathetic time of my life. It's delightfully sweet music for a sickeningly sweet game that I should not love this much.
1. Bastion
One of the most beautiful and delightful indie games ever made deserves what is in my opinion the best soundtrack ever made for any game. It's such a delightful little thing and it's impossible not to love it. For me, it feels like a smaller scale version of Firefly with it's sci-fi/western mashup of a tone. As someone who loves Firefly, this is great news. For me, there are two huge highlights. Number one is Build That Wall, a peaceful and serene song with one singer and one instrument. It's pure beauty. Number two is the final song that plays over the credits, Setting Sail, Coming Home. It's a slightly more musical version of Build That Wall but also with the narrator singing over it and instruments coming together to create a fantastic piece of music that I still listen to as a great song. It's a soundtrack that as a whole can't be beaten.
7. Halo
The term "space opera" has never been so fitting. The whole Halo franchise and the original in particular have some incredibly epic moments in them and every last one of them is accompanied by a gorgeous score. My personal picks here would be either the original opening theme or the theme from The Silent Cartographer. Epic moments heightened by epic music, even if recent games have slipped slightly.
6. Rayman Legends
The musical levels. That's all I have to say to convince you of it's place on this list. For those who don't know, first, shame on you. But second, they're a series of levels at the end of each stage that are rhythm based and feature popular songs as the soundtracks. There was the mariachi Eye of the Tiger, the orchestral level or my personal favourite, Castle Rock and Black Betty. These levels were the height of a frankly great game and even ignoring the wonderful music from every single other level, this game deserves to be here.
5. Scott Pilgrim vs The World: The Game
A game based on a movie based on a graphic novel based on pop culture should have been horrible. But not only did this game prove to be a fantastic brawler, it came with a wonderful bit-tune soundtrack. Every song is great and has beautiful little details in every single level that make the music just essential to listen to. It's an underrated soundtrack for a little known game and it's just great.
4. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
3. Hotline Miami
Hotline Miami is a hugely frustrating game that features you dying. A lot. Like, a lot a lot. As such, one of the worst things it could possibly do is have an annoying soundtrack that repeats constantly and makes you want to go out and kill a room full of guys with a baseball bat in real life. Hotline Miami never succumbs to that by having long, hypnotic songs that pull you into the zone with their pulsing techno beats. I don't particularly like electro music but thanks to Hotline, I will now just blast out Horse Stepping to zone out for a few minutes. It's bad music but done fantastically.
2. Animal Crossing: New Leaf
This music takes me back to a very happy/very rough time in my life where I was an Animal Crossing addict. Every day, I would go around my village, harvest the fruit, say hello to all my villagers, maybe pay off a bit of my debt, go have a coffee, dig up fossils, go give the clown dude some fruit so I can feel real emotions. The list goes on but for a while, this game took up more of my time than real life, as sad as that sounds. I'm cold turkey now, thank god, but this music conjours up memories of a happy and pathetic time of my life. It's delightfully sweet music for a sickeningly sweet game that I should not love this much.
1. Bastion
One of the most beautiful and delightful indie games ever made deserves what is in my opinion the best soundtrack ever made for any game. It's such a delightful little thing and it's impossible not to love it. For me, it feels like a smaller scale version of Firefly with it's sci-fi/western mashup of a tone. As someone who loves Firefly, this is great news. For me, there are two huge highlights. Number one is Build That Wall, a peaceful and serene song with one singer and one instrument. It's pure beauty. Number two is the final song that plays over the credits, Setting Sail, Coming Home. It's a slightly more musical version of Build That Wall but also with the narrator singing over it and instruments coming together to create a fantastic piece of music that I still listen to as a great song. It's a soundtrack that as a whole can't be beaten.
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