Bits come in, music comes out: Talking Time's Top 50 Video Game Soundtracks

[conchobhar]

The votes are in. 38 Tyrants voted for a cumulative total of 422 soundtracks. That’s a lot of spread— you guys have so many different and rich tastes that we had a lot of games in the final list. But there were so many voters that no OST could rank into the Top 50 without the backing of at least three Tyrants, and there were some unexpected entries (and some unexpected omissions too). So let’s find out what soundtracks are considered the best by the collective mind of Talking Time.

Just a few words before we begin. As always, remember that the goal of this list is to celebrate video game music. If you have criticism, that's fine, but please keep it civil and refrain from attacking your fellow Tyrants.

Also, while we encourage you to share your own favourite tracks, we kindly ask that you link them instead of embedding them. I know the YouTube embeds are extremely convenient, but in excess they're also liable to make the page extremely long, and cause weaker computers to buckle under the strain. Leave the embeds to us; we're professionals.

And now, without further ado…

Talking Time's Top 50 Video Game Soundtracks

Honourable Mentions:

Civilization IV
Ecco the Dolphin (Sega CD)
Final Fantasy Legend III
Trails in the Sky the 3rd
Drakengard
Alien Soldier
Gone Home
Quest for Glory IV: Shadows of Darkness
Transistor
Heroes of Might and Magic II


Runners up:

Some OSTs had less total points but more mentions than other soundtracks that placed over them. We want to honor those popular soundtracks that just barely didn't make the Top 50 but were more popular by giving them their moment in the spotlight:

56. The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker
51. Breath of Fire III
51. Final Fantasy IX


The List:

49. Vagrant Story
49. Legend of Mana
48. Cave Story
47. Bastion
46. Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze
45. Saga Frontier
44. Xenoblade Chronicles
43. Super Mario Galaxy
42. Gitaroo Man
41. ICO
40. Castlevania: Lament of Innocence
39. Metroid
38. Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse
37. ActRaiser
36. Super Mario Bros.
35. Final Fantasy XII
34. DuckTales
33. Final Fantasy VIII
32. Ys I & II
31. Super Metroid
30. Suikoden II
29. Ys III
28. Okami
27. Skies of Arcadia
26. Suikoden
25. Streets of Rage 2
24. Final Fantasy VII
23. Nier: Automata
22. Persona 5
21. The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
20. Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4 / Persona 4 Golden
19. Mega Man X
18. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
17. Mega Man 3
16. Shovel Knight
15. Xenogears
14. Earthbound
13. Super Castlevania IV
12. Nier
11. Final Fantasy Tactics
10. Final Fantasy IV
9. Mega Man 2
8. Secret of Mana
7. Shadow of the Colossus
6. Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
5. Chrono Cross
4. Undertale
3. Katamari Damacy
2. Final Fantasy VI
1. Chrono Trigger

[conchobhar]

#56 — The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker
74 points • 4 mentions • Highest rank: #13 (Rascally Badger)

Featured Track: Dragon Roost Island

The Great Ocean • Title Theme

Composed by: Kenta Nagata, Hajime Wakai, Toru Minegishi, Koji Kondo
Platform: Gamecube • Release date: March 24, 2003
Featured player: Shigeru Miyamoto on the mandoline (pending Snopes confirmation)

I’m really surprised this didn’t place. I voted for this, because I do think this is the best Zelda score. Not only does it have a very heavy Irish influence, it is also a very atmospheric soundtrack - and when the atmosphere of the game is mostly a wide blue ocean, filled with adventures, the resulting tracks are just as full of wonder.

It is also a Zelda game with many composers, and perhaps the one with the least influence by Koji Kondo. It still reuses many familiar Zelda flourishes, many of them noticeable in the epic overworld theme that plays whenever you sail in the ocean (“The Great Ocean”). And while it is not exactly the OST per se, sound design plays a great role in the game, with island themes fading in and out as you approach them and musical notes that match every strike and parry, reaching its crescendo in the final battle with Ganon, where every strike and arrow just adds to the symphony of the familiar Ganon theme (spoilers!).

The popular vote from the tyrants was for Dragon Roost Island, a guitar and percussion heavy track that is just a delight to hear. The finest music you can wish for when you visit your humanoid bird friends.

~ Positronic Brain

[conchobhar]

#51 (Tie) — Breath of Fire III
77 points • 4 mentions • Highest rank: #10 (Hazama Kuro)

Featured Track: To a Distant Place

Cedar Woods • For the Dragons • An Uncertain Millennium

Composed by: Yoshino Aoki, Akari Kaida
Platform: Playstation • Release date: September 11, 1997
Corporate buzzword: Inciner-gy

To be honest, I've never played Breath of Fire III; but, over the years, I've heard a number of its tracks and have always been impressed. Instead of a typical rock or orchestral arrangement, Breath of Fire III goes for something a bit smoother, a bit jazzier— with particular emphasis on piano and xylophone. In a genre where the soundtracks are sometimes in danger of blending into each other, Breath of Fire III stands apart as a beacon of originality.

So imagine my surprise when I went researching it for this write-up and found it's not well-regarded at all! According to the Breath of Fire wikia, GamePro once slammed the music for "seem[ing] more appropriate for a corporate infomercial than a heroic fantasy RPG." Ouch!

I suppose that makes it a cult classic. Someone still loves you, Breath of Fire III.

Anyway, check out "To a Distant Place" above. That's the second overworld theme of the game, and it's certainly an atypical one. But that's its very strength: upbeat, relaxing but still plenty adventurous.

~ conchobhar

[conchobhar]

#51 (Tie) — Final Fantasy IX
77 points • 4 mentions • Highest rank: #2 (Daikaiju)

Featured Track: Melodies of Life

Hilda Garde • Final Battle • The Place I’ll Return to Someday

Composed by: Nobuo Uematsu
Platform: Playstation • Release date: July 7, 2000
A voice from the past

There's an amusing story behind the creation of Final Fantasy IX's music. Nobuo Uematsu was initially contacted only for the essential tracks— character themes, the battle track, a few atmosphere pieces and assorted others. Instead, Uematsu got really into the gig, and turned in a staggering 160 pieces of music. 20 tracks went unused, but even then, Final Fantasy IX was the longest soundtrack in the series to that point; in fact, its length wouldn't be surpassed until XII. That's an impressive amount of work for someone who was only expected to do a couple dozen tracks!

Length isn't everything, of course. The appeal of IX's soundtrack is much the same as the game itself: it's a throwback to earlier, simpler times. Uematsu's approach here is similar to his SNES work, returning to medieval music as his basis and remixing older melodies— most notably, the Battle theme not only brings back the bass riff introduction, but turns it into the skeleton of the entire track. But that's not to say IX is entirely derivative, because it has its fair share of varied and unusual tracks; incorporating instruments like ukuleles, flamenco guitars and kazoos, and styles like ragtime piano and lounge/crooner.

The featured track is "Melodies of Life", the game's main theme, and a soaring (some would say mushy) love song. It plays over the credits, but variations of it run deep in the fabric of IX's soundtrack. The most immediately noticeable use is in "Over That Hill", the game's main overworld theme, but the melody is predominantly used to score Garnet and Zidane's budding relationship. Its appearance in the credits, then, represents the culmination of it all. It's also Uematsu's favourite track.

[Solitayre]

Originally Posted by conchobhar

Cedar Woods •

I think Chrono Trigger gonna sue somebody.

[Positronic Brain]

Oh, just to be clear - Vagrant Story and Secret of Mana tying at #49 means that FFIX, the game right behind them, is game #51 and missed the top list... for 1 (one) point.

[Rascally Badger]

Originally Posted by Positronic Brain

Oh, just to be clear - Vagrant Story and Secret of Mana tying at #49 means that FFIX, the game right behind them, is game #51 and missed the top list... for 1 (one) point.

WHAT HAVE I DONE!

[Peklo]

We hope you like ‘Factory’, you’ll be hearing it for hours

It's my favourite track! I wanna cuddle up and burrow into the workshops and live inside them forever, and the music's no small part of that. Other considerations: Dullahan, Abandoned Mines Level 1, Undercity, Tieger and Neesa, Truth... such a consistently great soundtrack.

Legend of Mana's music isn't really a favourite, but I'm glad there are vocals in Swedish in it.

Edit: a tiny "um, actually" if you'll bear with me: it's Sakimoto, not Sakamoto.

[Positronic Brain]

You're all monsters. According to iTunes, I've listened to "Song of Mana" 25 times in the last 24 hours. It was quite the earworm back then, and I had completely forgotten I had it in my collection until the list ran.

Oh, crap, now I want to hear it again.

Originally Posted by Peklo

Legend of Mana's music isn't really a favourite, but I'm glad there are vocals in Swedish in it.

I assume they are decent lyrics and the singer actually pronounces them right? Because Shimomura's previous try at a non-english non-japanese track was Parasite Eve's "Somnia Memorias", which has serviceable spanish lyrics but you can tell right away the singer is just mimicking the words.

Originally Posted by Peklo

a tiny "um, actually" if you'll bear with me: it's Sakimoto, not Sakamoto.

Oh, man, I know this, but a) it was late and b) I've been spending too much time with Persona 5 and that jerk Ryuji Sakamoto. But yeah, my bad.

You know? I might have run out of cute animal pictures to offer as apologies.... But Thorgi says thee nay!

[Destil]

Originally Posted by Solitayre

I think Chrono Trigger gonna sue somebody.

I've been wondering how the hell this happened for like ... 20 years now!

[Loki]

Yay Legend. I'm surprised.

[MCBanjoMike]

Very excited for this list to commence! But first, a nitpick:

Originally Posted by conchobhar

Featured player: Shigeru Miyamoto on the mandoline (pending Snopes confirmation)[/CENTER]

I'm almost certain that's meant to be a charango, which admittedly is pretty similar to a mandolin, but which is typically played by strumming with the fingers instead of using a pick (allowing you to strum chords rapidly like in this song).

[Peklo]

Heck yeah Breath of Fire III. In a sea of boring would-be epic orchestral fantasy scores for RPGs, its bubbly jazz sensibilities are an eternal blessing. Read these two interviews with composers Akari Kaida and Yoshino Aoki for further context on what a special thing it was, engineered by two women who should be way more celebrated and recognized in the pantheon of video game composers than they are.

I didn't vote for it, but with such a sheer mass of music to its name, it would be sad if nothing in Final Fantasy IX worked. I'm very fond of Awakened Forest, primarily associating it with the quiet intermissionary sequence where a disguised Ramuh tasks Garnet and Zidane to assemble a morality tale from fragments of a story describing Josef's sacrifice from Final Fantasy II. On another note, the remix of Pandemonium, the Castle Frozen in Time is almost preposterously grand and imposing. Maybe I just like FFII references!

[Positronic Brain]

Final Fantasy IX didn't make my list, but it was close.

Why did I cut it? Well, don't take me wrong - I love the FFIX OST. It was on permanent rotation in my Winamp player back in the day, and I bought the original collector edition of the CD... But as much as I like it, I must admit that, just like the game itself, it is sloooooooow. Take the amazing Battle Theme, for example; yes, it has the traditional bass line, and it is a great track, but it takes ages to reach the meaty part.

That said, I love that Uematsu went nuts and wrote several versions of each track. I love that Kuja's fight is scored to a higher tempo version of his character theme. And Melodies of Life has to be one of the most haunting tracks Uematsu has written - my favorite version of it being one that was arranged for Melody of Legend ~Chapter of Dream~ by this guy Yasunori Mitsuda.

Uh, Uematsu and Mitsuda surely are talented. Maybe we'll see them again down the line.

Originally Posted by MCBanjoMike

I'm almost certain that's meant to be a charango

Ooops.

Here, have some Magikarp cosplay as an apology.

[Issun]

Originally Posted by Positronic Brain

I love that Kuja's fight is scored to a higher tempo version of his character theme.

That reminds me of another track I really dig: The Desert Palace Theme where they combined the two above themes.

[four-so]

I limited my list to three games per series, so while I certainly have FF titles, like you do, FF9 didn't make it.

Of course, it wouldn't. I've said before I have an intense dislike of FF9 so it didn't even occur to me to vote for it. Having said that, the Evil Forest theme is lovely. Reminds me of a Chrono Trigger outtake.

Only one Zelda title made my list and it wasn't Wind Waker. Quelle horreur! It is a wonderful OST, though.

[Positronic Brain]

Just a quick note - some people have expressed in private that they don't know about music so they don't feel qualified to participate in the conversation. But hey, that's not true - it's like saying you have to be a pro-gamer to talk about why you like a game so much. Tell us why a OST is awesome, share with us your memories and how you felt when that particular track came in.

You're among friends. Let's celebrate together.

[Issun]

Not overburdening my list with Final Fantasy entries was a challenge in and of itself. In the end, only three games made the cut and IX wasn't one of them (though it easily could have been!).

My favorite track: Place of Memory, the final dungeon theme. It's a beautiful, mysterious, wistful theme, and so was perfect for a series leaving its "nostalgic" era and heading into its modern era.

Zelda games have great soundtracks too, but only one game made my list (not Wind Waker).

My favorite WW Track: Wind Temple My favorite Zelda dungeon tracks are the oddest ones. Like this and City in the Sky from Twilight Princess.

I dislike Breath of Fire III for reasons completely unrelated to the music.

[Hazama Kuro]

Breath of Fire III is a delight. I think that, besides its compositional strength, that it's so unusual among soundtracks (at least for RPGs) while still being powerfully evocative is what made it stand so strong in my heart. Alas! At least I will still get to wax poetic about it. Thank you for this opportunity.

[Adrenaline]

I limited myself to one game per series on my list, and so The Wind Waker didn't make the cut. Dragon Roost Island is a great track, though.

[Dracula]

I didn't vote for Wind Waker, but I'd wager it's absolutely my favorite Zelda OST. It's the only one where I strongly associate the music with the pleasure I get out of the game experience. Other Zelda games have good music, or interesting music; Wind Waker has emotionally impactful music.

FF IX and BoF III were both on my lists and I'm glad to see other people chose them. I think they could be considered underdogs in their own ways. Hilda Garde was my nominated track for FF IX - I tend to gravitate toward the bombastic airship themes.

Issun: I love that one tooooo. FF IX really hits on all the best emotional notes for me.

I definitely remember reading those reviews for BoF III back in the day. In fact when I voted for it, I was thinking "people hate this OST, but oh well." So I'm also glad to see folks voting for it. Good stuff.

[conchobhar]

Add me to the chorus saying Wind Waker is the best Zelda soundtrack. I voted for the Title Theme, but you really can't go wrong with Dragon Roost.

[Dracula]

I also really like the Gulug volcano music that's a remix of the Gulug music from FF1.

[Kirin]

These are all excellent choices that didn't quite make my list! I adore pretty much all the tracks I've listened to from Wind Waker, but haven't played the game.

As for FFIX... so much good stuff. In putting together my lists, I somewhat downplayed the FFs (though several still appeared) perhaps in a bout of overcorrection, as FF soundtracks pretty much defined my game music tastes for over a decade. I'm surprised nobody yet mentioned one of my favorite tracks, You Are Not Alone. Like "Dark Messenger" (Kuja's battle theme which PBrain linked above), it ain't subtle, but it's a lot of fun.

[Rascally Badger]

Was the line between 51 and 50 real close? Because I don't know how I am going to sleep at night knowing that FF9 didn't make the list because my last touch finalizing my list was to drop it several spots. A lot of the standout tracks have been mentioned already.

That's both it and Wind Waker from my list. Also, FF9 went down my list because I realized I forgot the Zelda series existed until right before I sent my list in, so I hastily added WW and reshuffled.

[Positronic Brain]

Originally Posted by Rascally Badger

Was the line between 51 and 50 real close?

We'll find out soon! We'll be posting two entries a day during weekdays, starting today. We'll have som lil' bonuses on weekends, too.

And for what's worth, I think most of us forgot one series or other. I completely forgot one of my favorite soundtracks existed, for example, and I was reminded of its existence when I was tallying the votes =(

[kurumin]

My favorite track from WW's soundtrack is The Legendary Hero. Wind Waker was my first Zelda game, and it was a striking first impression hearing this track while a fairy tale was being told. The weak part of the soundtrack is probably the music that plays in the dungeons.

Breath Of Fire III is one of those slow RPGs, and i can't imagine playing it if the soundtrack didn't set the mood.

Final Fantasy IX is amazing. Since i associate the main battle theme with loading times, i can't help but skip it whenever i listen to the soundtrack.

[Dark Medusa]

Originally Posted by kurumin

My favorite track from WW's soundtrack is The Legendary Hero. Wind Waker was my first Zelda game, and it was a striking first impression hearing this track while a fairy tale was being told. The weak part of the soundtrack is probably the music that plays in the dungeons.

Breath Of Fire III is one of those slow RPGs, and i can't imagine playing it if the soundtrack didn't set the mood.

Final Fantasy IX is amazing. Since i associate the main battle theme with loading times, i can't help but skip it whenever i listen to the soundtrack.

I loooooooooooooooooove Dragon Roost Island, but this is also a very strong track from Wind Waker. I very much associate that song with Wind Waker, it does a great job of setting the initial mood.

[DRAGON FRIEND]

Originally Posted by Issun

Wind Temple My favorite Zelda dungeon tracks are the oddest ones. Like this and City in the Sky from Twilight Princess.

Oh, I love those too! I think part of it is how well they fit the atmosphere of the environments they're part of. Title Theme, Ocean Theme, The Legendary Hero are all great too.

I feel so guilty for not voting Wind Waker/Dragon Roost. Is it too late to change my vote? Like, I think I was going to?... Why didn't I vote for it...
but then I voted for eight Castlevania soundtracks.

[Balrog]

The Wind Waker soundtrack is just so dang happy, it's hard not to love it. My personal fave is Outset Island: