Give me your favourite OSTs, individual tracks, whatever.
I have lots of favourites but I feel like most will be suggested by others so I’ll go for one that isn’t as popular: Monaco: What’s Yours Is Mine. The whole soundtrack is amazing start to finish. Some of the best piano tunes to ever be in a video game, and a super under-appreciated game. It should’ve been way bigger than it was. Unfortunately it’s being tainted by its less-than-stellar sequel which came out recently. Don’t play the sequel, but definitely play the original. It’s fun solo but it really shines co-op with a friend (or three). It supports up to four players and I’d definitely recommend co-op if you have the means. I used to play it on 360 with a friend of mine and it’s some of my most fond gaming memories. It’s not a difficult game to figure out but it’s not an easy game to get good at. But all that is to say, play the game, or if you can’t, absolutely listen to the soundtrack. It’s awesome.
Seconding this for the co-op play. It just captures the feeling of a heist so perfectly in a bite-sized package. In a matter of seconds you’ll go from everyone calm and knowing their role, to full panic mode as soon as someone makes a mistake, to a wary sense of relief as you manage to barely get to safety but still have to complete your mission.
I didn’t know about the sequel. Now I’m tempted to try it…
Unreal
Not sure if mentioned yet, but EVE Online has an amazing soundtrack. Their 10 Year Anniversary Symphony is just the cream on top.
I would like to throw in Terranigma’s OST. Specifically, the Hometown theme song.
Quake 2
Guild Wars 1
Ape Escape. I think Cryptic Relics is my favorite track but they’re all so good. They’re all drum and bass bangers.
I play that game just for the soundtrack basically. It’s a great game anyway gameplay wise but that soundtrack is killer.
The factorio space age dlc. Particularly track 06 from Fulgora.
Subnautica. Love the atmosphere that the music conveys.
Jetset radio
Dustforce
Scott Pilgrim vs the Wolrd the Game
River City Girls 1 and 2
Okami
A lot of great ones have already been mentioned: (Old School) Runescape, Bastion, Bomb Rush Cyberfunk, Braid, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, Celeste, Chrono Cross, Chrono Trigger, Crypt of the NecroDancer, Cyberpunk 2077, Deus Ex (2000), Donkey Kong Country 1 and 2, Doom 2016, Earthbound, F-Zero GX, FTL, Hades, Halo, Hi Fi Rush, Hotline Miami, Jet Set Radio and JSR Future, Kirby (any of them), Legend of Mana, Mother 3, Neotokyo, Nier: Automata, Pizza Tower, Quake, Ratchet & Clank (any of them), Risk of Rain 1 and 2, Shadow of the Colossus, Shantae (any of them), Shatter, Shovel Knight, SimCity 3000, Sonic 3 & Knuckles, Sonic Adventure, Sonic Adventure 2, Sonic CD (Japan), Sonic Mania, Sonic Rush, Stardew Valley, Tower of Heaven, Transistor, Trine, and VVVVVV
Here’s some that haven’t been mentioned yet:
Ape Escape
- PS1 game, soundtrack by icon of the 90s era Japanese House music scene, Soichi Terada. All of his tracks are bangers. I’ve seen the soundtrack described as House, Jungle, and DnB. Probably my favorite game soundtrack ever, but that’s probably nostalgia talking.
- Soundtrack: Game Rip, Fan Remastered or Originape Soundtrack/Official Soundtrack CD (Note: Terada has released his own remastered tracks in the 2020s since the Originape CD, but they are split over multiple albums and I’m too lazy to track them down at the moment)
- Standout tracks: Peak Point Matrix/Galaxy Monkey, Primordial Ooze, Thick Jungle- Woods, Dark Ruins, Crumbling Castle, Specter’s Factory- Outside, Time Station
Final Fantasy Legends III / SaGa 3 Jikū no Hasha: Shadow or Light
- Originally on Gameboy, Japan only remake on DS (fan translation patch exists). This is really a game in the SaGa series, but was released under the Final Fantasy name internationally for marketing purposes. Characters don’t have levels, their stats change based on what they do. Enemies also drop meat and parts that you can apply to a character to change their class, with some unique mechanics for different types. Features a time traveling stealth bomber, THE TALON, that may possibly be the only airship in gaming with a working toilet. DS Remake is generally better, but it kills overworld exploration by turning it into “select an adjacent POI” instead of free roam.
- Soundtrack: Gameboy, unfortunately I can’t find this version with track names. DS Remake
- Standout Tracks: Setting off into the future, Holy Ruins (a criminally underused track in game), Oasis (has some odd animal sfx added in the middle in this remake version), Stronghold (imo, one of the best dungeon themes in gaming), THE MOTHERFUCKING TALON THEME (this is the GB version, as the DS remake loses the countermelody which imo weakens the track)
Ghost Trick
- Originally for DS, has been remade for just about everything now. It’s effectively a VN with fancy gameplay segments, and the music really helps carry the whole thing. Beautifully done sprite animation too.
- Soundtrack: DS, 2023 Remaster
- Standouts: Ghost Trick, Lynne- Red-Headed Target, Awakening, The Mystery Surges Ahead, Cabanela - Lanky and Loose Lawman, Jowd- Fated Jailbird
Gunpoint
- Old indie sidescrolling noir stealth game. The main gameplay revolves around puzzle solving by hacking buildings’ electrical systems. Hook that lightswitch up to the secure door lock. Rig that motion sensor up to short out a power plug and take out a guard instead of it just turning on the lights. Delightful jazz soundtrack.
- Soundtrack
- Standouts: Security, Circuitry and You, Subterfuge Shuffle, Cold Halls and Footfalls, The Five-Floor Goodbye
Megaman ZX
- DS sequel to the Megaman Zero series for GBA, but now with a Metroidvania twist.
- Soundtrack: ZX Tunes- Official remix/rearrange soundtrack
- Standouts: Innocence- 90s style anime opening, Green Grass Gradation, Rockin’ On, Brilliant Show Window, Cinq Ville - C`est Notre Espoir, Gauntlet
And I’ve spent way too much time on this comment. Here’s more not mentioned so far that I don’t have time to do a writeup for: Skies of Arcadia, Super Meat Boy, Tomba 2: The Evil Swine Returns, Uplink, XCOM (Original), XCOM (Reboot), XCOM 2 (Reboot)
+1 for gunpoint, I absolutely loved that game and its soundtrack. That might be the best one commented so far.
So happy to see Ape Escape get the credit it deserves.
For entire OSTs: any of the FromSoft soulslikes, Lies of P, Diablo 2 + Lord of Destruction, any Monster Hunter game really (especially the ones in Pokke village, so Freedom 2 and Freedom Unite/Portable 2nd G), Hollow Knight, currently enjoying Ridge Racer’s (PSP) soundtrack for working out, Deltarune and Undertale, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 and Bboy the Game for some perfect-vibe licensed music…
Disco Elysium’s is my current favourite OST, but the game itself might also just be current favourite game.
As for individual tracks, I like the Spanish guitar portion of “The Drive/First Contact” off the RE4 soundtrack. Back when I started out with breaking (“breakdance”), think 2008/9ish, we had a remix of that specific part of the song that would play often - I’ve got very fond memories of that. The song itself, its remixes and the remake versions actually are some of my favourite running music for the gym.
Here’s the remix in question if anyone’s interested: https://youtu.be/SMWV-3pbcLE
As for one favourite individual song from each of the aforementioned OSTs:
- Hunter’s Dream (Bloodborne)
- Shadow Flower (Lies of P)
- Rogue (Diablo 2) + Lord of Destruction intro
- Pokke Village theme (MH Freedom 2/Unite/Generations (Ultimate)) and Mizutsune theme (first fought in Generations)
- Mantis Lords (Hollow Knight)
- Rotterdam Nation - Remix (Ridge Racer)
- Ruins (Undertale) and My Castle Town (Deltarune)
- I’m a Swing It by House of Pain or Ace of Spades by Motörhead (THPS3)
- Don’t Sweat the Technique by Rakim or Apache by Incredible Bongo Band (Bboy the Game)
This was lots of fun to think about. I hope anyone reading can find something of value here. :)
Faster Than Light
Going through the lists everyone has posted I realized I’m surprised I haven’t seen anything from the Medal of Honor franchise posted. I only ever played Medal of Honor: Frontline because a roommate had it, but it was scored by Michael Giacchino, who also composed the scores for the original Medal of Honor, Medal of Honor: Underground, Medal of Honor: Allied Assault, and Medal of Honor: Airborne. Giacchino won awards for the first four soundtracks in the series and it was his video game work that caught J. J. Abrams’s attention and led to him scoring Alias and Lost, starting his TV and movie career.
Also, if you enjoy soundtracks, you might like StreamingSoundtracks.com. It’s been around since 2001 and features soundtracks from movies, tv shows, and video games. It’s a free streaming radio service with the playlist queued by listeners along with limits on how frequently any track can be played, so you won’t hear repeats very often. A manager at a past job played it most days. One year someone took advantage of the “No repeats” rules and played all the horror tracks throughout October so that on Halloween there were basically no horror tracks available, angering many when they realized what had happened. I found it one of the more impressively planned and executed pranks I’ve personally witnessed.
I loved Airborne. It was the only one I ever played though. Maybe I’ll revisit the series sometimes soon.
Batman the Videogame on the NES, FFVII, the entire WipEout series, original soundtrack for Crazy Taxi, Sonic the Hedgehog 3/Sonic & Knuckles, X-Men on the Sega Genesis, WET, Omega Boost, Zone of the Enders, BurnOut 3: Takedown, Mobile Suit Gundam: The Lost War Chronicles, Roommania #203, Street Fighter Alpha 3, Mega Man 2 & 3, Doom, SSX Tricky, Xenogears.
