Best Video Game Soundtracks For Game Lovers
Best Video Game Soundtracks: Without music, games wouldn’t quite be the same. Silent moments don’t have quite the same poignancy as those backed by killer beats and struck piano keys, crazy brass, breezy woodwinds, and the sweet fury of stroked strings on violins, guitars, and more? From the primitive but expressive soundchips of 1980s consoles to the full instrumentation available to game musicians today, video games have been producing original tunes that defy classification.
These are the best video game soundtracks–original jams, no licensed music–in history. Video games and music have always gone hand in hand. But what are the greatest examples of this marriage? From Nintendo 8-bit classics to stirring cinematic scores that have accompanied modern masterpieces like Red Dead Redemption and The Last Of Us, here’s our ultimate guide to the best ever video game OSTs.
Best Video Game Soundtracks 2017
Rain World
Set on a distant, post-human earth, the remains of looming mega-architecture and newly flourishing wildlife make up your playground in Rain World. Assuming the role of a hybrid animal called Slugcat, you must run, jump, crawl and slither your way past the other ravenous animals, out to get you as well as each other. It’s a beautifully eerie work punctuated by moments of heart-stopping danger, deftly aided deftly by James Primate and Lydia Esrig’s beautiful soundtrack.
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
What do you think of when someone mentions The Legend of Zelda? Chances are it’s Koji Kondo’s iconic ‘Overworld Theme’, which has, for better or worse, come to dominate the Nintendo franchise’s music for over 30 years. You won’t hear it much in BotW though; just like the countless shrines, Korok seeds and treasure chests dotted around Hyrule’s open world, it’s well hidden.
Oikospiel
David Kanaga, the composer behind Proteus and Panoramical, has made a career out of playfully nudging the limits of what constitutes a video game. In those titles, his music was pushed to the fore, gently mutating according to the loose rules of the game. Oikospiel, his latest project and first produced entirely under his own name is no less musical – though it’s significantly more deranged. Here, he imagines an opera composed by dogs.
Nier: Automata
My memories of Nier: Automata are inextricably linked to the music, which does as much for the game’s atmosphere as its character designs, environment art or story. Right around when I arrived at Pascal’s Village, it was clear something musically special was going on, and that was before I realized that every battle anthem had been re-recorded with chiptune sounds for a seamless crossfade every time I started hacking.
Best Video Game Soundtracks Of All Time
Red Dead Redemption
If you’ve played Red Dead Redemption, there’s a good chance you know what we’re going to talk about here. It’s either the moment John Marston enters Mexico for the first time or, after murdering Dutch, returning to the homestead. In both cases, Rockstar’s choice of song over the simple act of travelling is incredible – because it’s exactly how it would work in a film.
Legend Of Zelda: Ocarina Of Time
From the very beginning of the franchise, Legend of Zelda’s always had music that seemed to fit perfectly over what was happening on screen and enhance it in a way that few games are capable of doing.
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
Although the likes of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, IV and V have used radio stations effectively, Vice City was the first to attempt it – and probably did it the best. Rockstar’s song choices were so well-chosen, it’s quite possible that they merely lifted the playlists from genre radio stations in the ’80s and transplanted them into the game.
Best Video Game Soundtracks 2018
Celeste
It’s intricate and polished, just like the game itself, and it carries an astonishing amount of emotional weight. Each dynamic layer is added at just the right time. This soundtrack is so brilliant, I’ve found it’s made me rethink my own approach to game music. —Ben Prunty, Into the Breach composer.
Hitman 2
Hitman 2’s OST has a mixture of good elements from the franchise. They threw proper amounts of dark ambiance, symphonic tension, and electronic elements all in a bowl, and then added a sense of charm and humor to it.
Ben Prunty ~ Into the Breach
A soundtrack that is not only for a tragic end of the world but its eternal return. Under this premise, Ben Prunty has crafted a slow, engaging soundtrack made mostly with acoustic and electric instruments.
DVA – Cherries On Air – Chuchel OST
Czech band DVA returns to videogame music after their impressive work on Botanicula (2012) – and what a return it is. They brought their utopian, naïve folklore to the context of a game that’s meant to be like watching a (particularly strange) kids’ cartoon about a ball of fur whose sole desire is to eat a cherry, of which he is continually deprived by a mean, omniscient hand.
Best Video Game Soundtracks For Studying
- Donkey Kong Country 2 (SNES; 1995)
- Bastion (Multi-Platform; 2011)
- The Legend Of Zelda: The Wind Waker (GameCube; 2003)
- VVVVVV (Multi-Platform; 2010)
- Assassin’s Creed II (Multi-Platform; 2009_
- Super Meat Boy (Multi-Platform; 2010)
- Spyro 2: Ripto’s Rage!
- Fez (Multi-Platform; 2012)
What Games Have The Best Soundtracks?
The best video game music: our guide to the best soundtracks
- God of War, Bear McCreary (2018).
- Monument Valley 2, Todd Baker (2017).
- Journey, Austin Wintory (2012).
- Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture, Jessica Curry (2015).
- The Final Fantasy Series, by Nobuo Uematsu.
- The Legend of Zelda, by Koji Kondo.
- Uncharted, by Greg Edmonson.
- Tetris – Russian folk song?
What Is The Best Video Game Soundtrack?
The Best Video Game Soundtracks of All Time
- 1,206 562. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time Nintendo.
- 744 441. Chrono Trigger Square Enix, Square Electronic Arts, Square.
- 858 415. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Bethesda Softworks.
- 727 309. Final Fantasy VII Square Enix, Eidos Interactive, Square.
- 607 326.
- 542 338.
- 503 321.
- 467 247.
Does Spotify Have Video Game Music?
Spotify has launched a new portal for music dedicated to gaming. The project brings video game music of all kinds into one place, covering both original soundtracks as well as playlists curated by Spotify staff and members of the community. However, we also hope Spotify manages to add more OSTs soon.