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My favorite game soundtracks: 32/64-bit era
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With the advent of CD-based technology and bigger storage technology, the music in video games had taken the next step in evolving past the bleeps and bloops of its 8-bit roots to full-blown, complex orchestrations with diverse instruments. This is also when popular musical acts began licensing their music to video games, starting a trend that has lead to the creation of Guitar Hero. Here are some of my favorites from that era, which seems it occured so long ago.
Just like the picks I made from the 8-bit and 16-bit era, I'm only picking the soundtracks from games I played and loved, not just my opinion on what 'the best soundtrack' is. If there's a game I probably should've included or missed (which is likely due to these lists increasing in picks), email me at ramsfanman@hotmail.com.
Playstation
Brave Fencer Musashi (1998), Composer: Tsuyoshi Sekito-One of the more enjoyable action RPGs I ever played, mainly due to the awesome Twin Mountains song heard throughout most of the game. One of the best Square soundtracks. Soundtrack availability: Like many of the Square soundtracks, it's probably available for import.
Bust A Groove (1998),Composer: Various Artists: One of the pioneers of the rhythm genre, this video game had really awesome J-Pop tunes to go along with some surreal fighting mechanics. An awesome PS game. Soundtrack availability: Very possible to find MP3s online.
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (1997), Composer: Michiru Yamane-Not only was this Castlevania the best of the entire franchise, the soundtrack is a masterpiece. Bouncing back through so many genres, including metal, pop, jazz, and classical, with such bombast, this is a soundtrack everyone should listen to. Soundtrack availability: I was able to find an album in stores and you should to, or import it.
Chrono Cross (2000), Composer: Yasunori Mitsuda-Okay, I love this game but I can admit that this is not the sequel that could ever live up to Chrono Trigger but the stellar soundtrack made me feel that Chrono Cross could surpass it. There were so many different styles of music form some different regions, including Celtic, Reggae, and African music. It even had some remixed tunes from Chrono Trigger, but from the opening cinema, the soundtrack didn't sound like any other video game from that era and still doesn't to this day. Soundtrack availability: I remember going into Amoeba Music back in 2003 and going through their video game soundtrack section and scored a copy of this three-disc album. Others might not be so lucky but it's worth it to hunt it down.
Dance Dance Revolution (2001)-Composer: Various Artists-If Bust a Groove brokeground for the rhythm genre in video games, then the DDR franchise completely obliterated it with a drill with one of the more intense and hella fun dancing games with some awesome J-Pop and techno mix-ups. Soundtrack availability: High. There are too many mixes out there so you're bound to run into one or many tunes
Einhander (1997), Composer: Kenichiro Fukui-I love the shmup genre and this was one of the best in the genre and from Square (please get on a sequel). And it had an absolutely thumping and pulsating techno soundtrack that may cause you to dance during gameplay. Soundtrack availability: In 2007, a soundtrack for the game was reissued in Japan, so there's a good chance of importing it.
Final Fantasy VII-IX (1997,1999,2000) Composer: Nobou Uematsu-Some of Uematsu's finest work were made in the PS-era Final Fantasy games, with so many great tracks full of lush, complex orchestrations. I didn't wanna just combine series because I felt that would be a disservice to the work the composer(s) put into the soundtracks, but of all the soundtracks from Final Fantasy games, it's 'One-Winged Angel',with its haunting vocals and brooding bass, that is the most recognizable and one of my favorites. Soundtrack availability: There's a good chance that an album can be found. I've seen numerous copies at Amoeba Music in Los Angeles.
Medal of Honor (1999), Composer: Michael Giacchino-Completely groundbreaking for its cinematic score, which gave to action a frantic and instense action movie feel. The game completely set the bar for nearly every WWII FPS. Soundtrack availability: An album was made contain the score but its availability may be low.
Metal Gear Solid (1998), Composers: Hiroyuki Togo, Lee Jeon Myung, Kazuki Muraoka, Gigi Meroni, Takanari Ishiyama-As action games moved towards having a cinematic flair, musical scores reflected that change with cutscenes having big, orchestra pieces. But the incredible music in Metal Gear Solid showcased the tension whenever you got detacted by the enemy as well as the big cutscenes. One of my favorite games on the Playstation, I always loved the boss encounters with its intense, driving score. Soundtrack availability: An album was produced in 1997, so copies may actually exist.
Oddworld: Abe's Odyssee: (1997), Composer: Ellen Meijers-A completely innovative game as this one has got to have an impressive score to go with and thankfully, the music delivered the goods from beginning to end. Soundtrack availability: Good luck hunting for it on the internet.
Parappa the Rapper-(1996)-Composer: Masaya Matsuura: Another pioneer in the rhythm genre, this is one of the most memorable games for its incredibly charming hip-hop soundtrack. Soundtrack availability: Probably really easy to find if you look online.
Resident Evil 2-(1998), Composers: Masami Ueda, Shusaku Uchiyama, Shun Nishigaki-This was the game that went from cheesy B-movie homage to cheesy action roller coaster with the intense opening level escape to the heavy metal-themed end credits music, this was one of the best soundtracks in the RE franchise. Soundtrack availability: Probably very easy to find online as well.
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 & 2 (1999,2000)-Composers: Various Artists-A franchise that used to be built around skateboarding culture of the time, the music reflected the underground nature of skateboarding back before it exploded in popularity the early 2000s, some of the tracks came from various genres including hip-hop, heavy metal, punk, alternative, and ska. Soundtrack availability: The first game had a smaller soundtrack from various artists but no album exists. The second game had a bigger soundtrack but again, no album was made compiling all of the songs.
Vagrant Story (1999), Composer: Hitoshi Sakimoto: One of the more mature RPGs I played, the music perfecly fit the ambience of political intrigue. Soundtrack availability: An album was made and is probably available for import.
Wipeout, Wip3out (1996,1999),Composers: Various Artists: One of the original launch titles, Wipeout was notable for having some excellent racing gameplay and being one of the very first games to use licensed songs in a video game and the electronica music was married to the futuristic look and feel of the game perfectly. My favorite game in the series is the third (technically, fourth) edition with some more great electronica music, especially Sasha's Xpander track. Soundtrack availability: If you have a copy of the game, it's easy to rip the tracks from the CD (which is the case for nearly every disc-based game).
Xenogears (1998), Composer: Yasumori Mitsuda: Another great Square RPG and another great Mitsuda soundtrack, with a heavier Celtic influence in the music. Soundtrack availability: Like many of the Square games, an album exist and can be imported.
Saturn
Burning Rangers (1998), Composers: Naofumi Hataya and Tomoko Sasaki-I always loved when Sega composers make rock songs because it sounds cheesy and awesome and this soundtrack is Sega at full cheese. Soundtrack availability: an album probably wasn't made, but MP3s are probably available.
Nights into Dreams...(1996), Composers: Naofumi Hataya and Tomoko Sasaki-One of my favorite Sega soundtracks ever, this is one of the most elegant soundtracks that matches the dream-like setting of the gameplay, so many songs to choose: the grand opening theme, the awesome Gillwing song, the infectious Message from Nightopia, the awesome harmonies in the closing theme song, and Know Thyself, a song not heard during gameplay. Soundtrack availability: It's one of the most popular soundtracks, so various albums and remixes can be found.
Panzer Dragoon series (1996-1998), Composers: Yoshitaka Azuma, Yayoi Wachi, Junko Shiratsu. Teruhiko Nakagawa, Tomonori Sawada, Saori Kobayashi, Mariko Nanba: One of the few bright spots for Sega during the Saturn days, the music was as incredible and diversely unique as the look of the games theirself. Each game contains some incredible, ambient songs. Soundtrack availability: The albums are as rare to find like Saga, but just like Saga, it's worth the search.
Nintendo 64
F-Zero X-One of my favorite F-Zero games, this was a straight-up metal album from beginning to end, which just felt like a '80s metal festival every time I play. Soundtrack availability: MP3s are easy to find online.
Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (1998), Composer: Koji Kondo-One of the biggest and best Zelda games, the expanded themes from A Link to the Past combined with the new, immersive tunes gave the game an emotional weight it's never had before and gave fans a soundtrack of the ages. Soundtrack availability: An album was made and is pretty rare to find.
Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask (2000), Composer: Koji Kondo, Toru Minegishi-This was my favorite Zelda (until Twilight Princess showed up) because it was just so different than any other Zelda and that was reflected in the music but it felt incredibly grand and it gave the classic Zelda overworld the grand feel that wasn't present in Ocarina. Soundtrack availability Probably hard to find.
Sin & Punishment: Succesor of the Earth (2000), Composer: Tresaure-Like many of Treasure's shooters, this was an intense thrill ride with some kick ass, uptempo rock music. My favorite tune occurs when Airan starts to take down an entire battle fleet, one of the few times a song matched the atmosphere and look of a game level. Soundtrack availability: Probably hard to find
Star Wars: Shadows of The Empire (1996), Composer: Joel McNeely-Not one of the best Star Wars games, but I loved the soundtrack especially the tunes during the title screen. This has all the usual epic bombast expected in the Star Wars franchise. Soundtrack availability: Probably not that hard to find.
Super Mario 64 (1996), Composer: Koji Kondo-Another great Mario game with some new twists on classic tunes and some great new tunes that have become personal classics, like the theme for Bowser's Castle. Soundtrack availability: Finding MP3s for this game should be easy.
Next list: The giant 128-bit era
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