Underrated video game music?

[kitsunebi]

All right.  Gonna open up a new direction here.  We PC gamers started gaming on CDs in the early 90's with console gamers following shortly thereafter.  That opened the stage for actual songs, with singing and everything.  Now, no one is gonna convince me there's a better vocal soundtrack than Parappa the Rapper, but anyone who hears "Kick, jump, it's all in the mind..." and can't finish the rest of the lyrics needs to seriously go sit in a corner and think long and hard about what they've been doing with their lives up until now.  So we'll just consider that one "NOT underrated."

 

To be honest, I don't think original video game songs get very much attention, at least compared to strictly musical tracks.  Is it because they're not any good?   Hmmm....  I'm curious to see what vocal tracks people might have to recommend.

 

For me, the first time I was blown away by a vocal track in a game was Lunar Silver Star Story Complete on the Playstation.  Not so much because of the song itself, but because of how well done it was.  Working Designs didn't just use the Japanese vocal, they redid it in English and totally nailed it - it's much better than the typical anime dub quality of its time (and I actually prefer it to the Japanese vocals).

 

Another one that's pretty good is from the indie PC game To the Moon.  The game won a bunch of awards (several of them for its soundtrack), but it's an indie game AND on the PC only, so I imagine a lot of the peeps at Retromags haven't played it, since RM seems to lean heavily towards the console side of things.  Anyway, the game is pretty much a super-concentrated mix of the bittersweet melancholy of love and loss, and I think that feeling is captured pretty well in this song.

 

OK, one more.  From the ending of King's Quest VI, "The girl in the Tower." OMGLOL
WARNING:  This song is AWFUL.   Awful in the most 80s-Michael-Bolton-power-ballad way possible.  But it still makes me grin just through the sheer power of its ULTIMATE CHEESE.

[EricHostile]

Ooooh, underrated videogame music. You sir have brought about a monster which is difficult to tame. I love videogame music, it's something I'm very passionate about, and I plan to go into a career as a videogame music composer.

 

"Heaven, Resounding Wings" from Albert Odyssey: Legend of Eldean, composed by Naoki Kodaka. Everyone is familiar with Kodaka's classic NES tunes but almost no one knows of his orchestral RPG music for the Albert Odyssey series. And it's a shame, too, because he wrote some pretty good stuff. It's true that his melodies aren't as instantly hummable as Uematsu's or Kondo's or Shiono's, but the music he wrote is still very listenable. "The Road Walked by Heroes" from the first Albert Odyssey I highly recommend as well as its arrangement for the Orchestral Game Concert 3 retitled "Theme of Albert Odyssey".

 

 

"The Spirit Chaser" and "The Tower of God" from Treasure of the Rudras, composed by Ryuji Sasai. Sasai was one of Square's lesser-known composers, but he was just as talented as Uematsu, Mitsuda, and Kikuta - it's just that he never really had a chance to prove it. In America we only saw his work on Final Fantasy Legend III (alongside Chihiro Fujioka) and Final Fantasy Mystic Quest (alongside Yasuhiro Kawakami), as well as Bushido Blade 2. But none of these games was ever particularly well-known except Mystic Quest which is well-known because of the soundtrack. I've never heard Bushido Blade 2, but in my opinion his best music is undoubtedly for Treasure of the Rudras. These two tracks are personal favorites, "The Spirit Chaser" being the best battle theme from the game and "The Tower of God" my personal favorite area track. The quality of these uploads is not the best but the music still shines through. If you like them, also check out "Beginning for the End", "The Ultimate Warrior", "Earthbound", "Edge of Darkness", and "Beyond the Rising Moon".

 

 

 

"A Powerful Emperor" from Breath of Fire, composed by Yasuaki Fujita. Fujita was the lead composer for this soundtrack, but Mari Yamaguchi contributed a handful of pieces (including the capital-c 16-bit Classic "Starting the Journey") and Minae Fujii, Yoko Shimomura, and Tatsuya Nishimura each contributed a single piece each. "A Powerful Emperor" comes from the opening and is a powerful, dramatic work that shows deep influence from Star Wars and dare I say it The Legend of Zelda as it has a similar bassline as "Dark World Mountain/Forest", but this may just be coincidence. If you like this - or even if you don't - "Starting the Journey" should be checked out as well. 

 

 

My fingers are tired so that's all I'm posting. But be warned: I'll be back!

 

There are some really good ones here!!

[tedart]

I always liked this one, among thousands, but this whole soundtrack is great.

https://youtu.be/9uc-GRg5pjQ?list=PLB784776F547256AA

[miketheratguy]

Has anyone mentioned Ys yet? More specifically, the much-maligned third game?

 

[te72]

Personal favorites:

 

Resident Evil 1, on PS1. This was one of the first games that, for me at least, really set the atmosphere with the music. It wasn't necessarily something you would listen to outside of the game, (yet, I still have the OST), but it captured every tense feeling that slasher films were good about. You know when the music makes your hair stand up on the back of your neck, you're hearing something special.

 

Blood Omen, Legacy of Kain. Again, great atmospheric music here. Everything just felt so... heavy. Which, if you've played the game, you realize just how appropriate that is, given the circumstances of said game.

 

Suikoden, pretty much anything from this one, or its sequel. Celtic influences in a JRPG? Works quite nicely, makes the world feel alive. Wish the original composer would come back to that series. Then again, wish that series would come back... not holding my breath there though.

 

Dirge of Cerebus. Likely the most underrated of my favorites, as the game itself was pretty much panned. However, the soundtrack is quite solid, and worth a listen.

 

Chrono Cross. Hmm... I know lots of us played this one, but how many of us remember the OST, or any of its music? I would say it falls into the underrated category simply by its relation to Chrono Trigger. However, it is another really great OST, most of the songs hold up nicely on their own, some (such as the opening and "Those Seized With Life") are particularly strong.

 

 

Kitsenubi, you asked for favorite vocal tracks in a game? How about "Why" from FF7: Crisis Core? Never played the game, but I love the OST for the most part.

[shinobi33]

Stage 4 theme in Shinobi 3 - Return of the Ninja Master for the Genesis/Megadrive.  One of my favourite video game themes ever.  Also love those Street Fighter 2 themes as mentioned above and some Sonic themes like Chemical Plant, Flying Battery, Ice Cap, Sky Sanctuary and Sonic & Knuckles boss themes.

 

[orthicviper]

True Lies SNES 1st level music

 

Drakkhen SNES character creation music

 

Streets of Rage 2 game gear soundtrack which i much prefer to even the great genesis version soundtrack

 

Shinobi for game gear has a great soundtrack and i think this song is kind of emotionally impactful

 

Twisted Metal Head On has my favorite TM soundtrack ever and one of my favorite gaming soundtracks period

Edited December 1, 2016 by orthicviper

[kitsunebi]

1st boss battle, G.I. JOE.  The whole soundtrack is pretty good, actually, as is the game.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7exw-jkeNqE#t=4m09

 

And much better known, another game where the entire soundtrack is good, Dave's theme from Maniac Mansion:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CKCEDiPO-vU#t=1m06

 

And the rock cover of the same tune (because it sort of demands to be played on guitar):

[Data]

The Nintendo version of Double Dragon 2  was always inspirational and linear for me.  It would start with the title song then the opening Billy's girlfriend is punched in the bread basket and carried off by gang members revealing a needless panty shot. 

I give credit to Jimmy though.  It would be hard to watch Marion with his brother without ever revealing the love he has for her.