Nocturnowl
Member
Okay let's finally get this out there.
1. Viva Pinata
In a generation where the leap to a much wider use of orchestration gave us many booming epics it's the more subdued take on things that stuck with me most. Kirkhope's Viva Pinata OST covers both the original and its sequel Trouble in Paradise(which is effectively a bit of an expansion pack, musically it adds a bulk of desert and arctic themes) which offers a wide selection of what I could call gardening goodness.
From the man himself...
I usually throw out Oven Fresh Day and Bedtime Story as the fearsome duo so I'll mix it up this time.
Soil Song for your day theme
Growing Under Moonlight for night time
2. Super Mario Galaxy 2
The sneaky thing about going with Galaxy 2 over Galaxy 1 is that a number of the originals best tracks return either straight up or in remixed forms, as a bang for my buck vote I've leaned towards 2.
That said I have more to my reasons behind voting for the sequel, the amount of orchestartion is upped from the first game which lends a greater level of consistency to the proceedings, be it the various jingles no longer being jarringly lower quality (Grand Star Get is so much grander now!) and even souping up some of the more ho-hum tracks of the first game (Honeyhive gets a massive boost from the addition of extra instruments).
Of course the new tracks are fantastic as well and are among my favourites in the vast Mario series. Kondo delivers some great last hurrahs with what little he contributes being some of his best in years, meanwhile Yokota and Nagamatsu continue the musical legacy with applomb.
Kondo- Starship Mario
Yokota- Fluffy Bluff/Cloudy Court Galaxy (I like this more than Gusty Garden, come at me!)
Nagamatsu- Melty Monster Galaxy
While the SMG2 OST isn't quite a clean sweep with a few tracks being simply "there" I find its highs to really elevate the whole thing, when that endgame sequence has Galaxy Generator, the killer final bowser phase music that leads into one hell of a staff roll you're going out on top of the world...no, on top of the GALAXY!
3. Nier
It's been something of a journey for Nier in my musical musings, I always appreiated it but not to the same heights as most. I felt (and in a way still do think) that the emphasis on Emi Evans vocals leads to a level of sameyness across the board which can slightly hinder variety (you could say if she's not your jam then you ain't got much to ummm...spread on your toast here?) but on the other hand there's little else like it among gaming soundtracks. It's a very distinct style for sure that leads a lasting impression. It's actually almost criminal how some tracks don't get used nearly enough if I recall in game (Grandma!) while some others rear their heads a bit too much (Emil Sacrifice, pls stop being in EVERY emotional scene towards the end!).
This probably explains why I really took a while to click with the soundtrack and remind myself of some of the truly fantastic pieces which aren't quite as prevalent in a playthrough.
Temple of the Drifting Sands
The vocals here are hauntingly good, for my money the most mesmerizing on the OST.
Gods Bound by Rules
4. Sonic Generations
Yes I'm being a bit underhanded here, I have struggled to narrow down my one Sonic choice from this generation and boy is there a ton of great options. Colours holds my favourite track of the gens Sonic outings with the mesmerising Aquarium Park (linked for greatness). Unleashed's Planetary Pieces has tremendous scope, production and worldly variety (fun side story: I initially considered the OST "not Sonic enough", a reasoning that holds little logical weight and drew the ire of our previous musical thread host, safe to say she gave me a valuable lecture on why my thoughts were flawed here and look I really like it now!). Then there's also a load of crud like Sonic 4 and Professor Beef's beloved Sonic Chronicles disaster, but regardless the great outweighs this thus continuing to make my choice tricky.
So in the end I thought "which one do I go back to most?", and that would be the series celebration in Generations which gets the wonderful luxury of picking already strong tracks from the series entire history. So yes this is mostly a remix selection ala Smash Bros but hot damn, what a remix selection! You have straight updates and unique re-imaginings across the board. Another devilish twist here is the Generations OST also covers the 3DS entry which has even MORE music so basically this is an embarrassment of musical riches. The work here is so stellar a relative unknown in Crisis City can stand alongside the likes of Green Hill and Chemical Plant, the whole package feels cohesive with is impressive as heck when you consider how varied the series music has been across its many years.
Rooftop Run (Classic)
Modern leaves the more immediate impact but Classic should get its due here.
Seaside Hill (modern)
Many bonus points for seguing into Ocean Palace towards the end.
5. de Blob 2
The de Blob games hold a very interesting trump card for their musical stylings and I ain't just talking about its heavy leaning towards funky goodness. Integrated into the gameplay itself is an ever increasing musical escalation tied to the game's painting mechanics, the more colour you add back to the monochrome world the more the music ramps up. But even cooler than that is how each colour corresponds to an instrument, red for instance is a saxophone and each building you colour results in an immediate burst of sax, in turn this means that stringing a series of actions that literally paint the town red will cause something of an improvised saxophone string which is just the coolest. I'm sure there's actually a term for what the game is doing with its sound design, alas I can't for the life of me remember it.
Just when you think I can't possibly sneak another double OST in, the entire de Blob 1 soundtrack is in here as unlockables so hell yeah, this made going with 2 an easier choice. Though in general 2 has the stronger selection I find, basically I just wanted to throw a nod to the first game's Euphoric track which could be an entire vote by itself.
Back to the sequel...
Blob in Space is like RADICAL SCI-FI SURFING MUSIC!
The Colourist Agenda for some more straightforward disco
6. Xenoblade Chronicles
You could describe the Xenoblade OST as being standard JRPG fare just done really well, not the most glamorous depiction I know but it gets the point across.
Overworld themes, character themes, battle themes and all that jazz (no actual jazz mind you). I sound like I'm underselling it here quite heavily but IT'S GREAT! Yes I'm kinda at a struggle wrapping this one up in a neat summary so hopefully the music speaks for itself. A strong showing for music that compliments and enhances its environments, you don't forget stepping out onto the Gaur Plains or the night time transition of the Marsh thanks to the music accompanying the visual.
Frontier Village
On The Fallen Arm (Night)
7. Ace Attorney Investigations
This was a tough one to narrow down as those of us in the west were besieged by a whopping 6 DS entries into the Ace Attorney series in this generation, though only the last three took full advantage of the improved DS sound quality over the GBA you still can't ignore the original trilogy. The first game nails down a series music formula that continues to this day, the third brings Iwadare on board to become a franchise regular bringing strong tracks like The Dark Fragrance of Coffee into the fold.
When it comes down to it I barely lean towards Iwadare's work on both Investigation titles with the first oh so barely beating its sequel to this spot.
Pursuit: Lying Coldly
which was my favourite cornered theme until its sequel sniped the top spot.
Let me laugh at the cool (...hmmm, that's an interesting title translation)
8. Pokemon Black/White
Pokemon series is a reliable standby for soundtracks, with Black/White it felt just that bit more experimental than usual while still continuing their distinct soundfont style, complete with a few small variants due to seasonal variations. Its direct sequel carried on the trend and added more to the Gen 5 jukebox but I'll stand by the first round which finished its main game up with a boss theme that's contains a minute of heavy percussion buildup and an end credits theme that eschews series tradition by sounding like the hypest battle theme to not actually be a battle theme.
Also the rival battle theme is great, efff the haters!
Battle Team Plasma
Icirrus City
9. Skullgirls
In a generation that could be considered Castlevania's last hurrah assuming Konami continues its current trajectory I ended up preferring Michiru Yamane's vania esque but jazzier outing with Skullgirls. Jazzvania I will always dub it, though Yamane's not alone with other chaps on board who tend to bring more straight jazz stuff, in any case it's a great concoction of sound fitting for a fighter that carries it's own sense of Dark Deco style.
Unfinished Business, the stage theme for a character that's basically a bunch of brass instruments bolted together, fitting!
Skull Heart Arrhythmia
10. Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia
But regardless of what I just said, CV is still strong enough to make the cut and there was a great trio on the DS to draw from. Ecclesia wins out for some tremendous mood setting in its tracks, they may not be as immediately memorable as what turns up in Dawn of Sorrow or Portrait of Ruin but they leave a more haunting memory that lingers, and also some baller boss themes.
Jaws of A Scorched Earth
Lament to the Master
Honourable mentions (of which there are many!)
X Mega Man 9
Straight back to the olden days here, except sound effects no longer cut into the tunes, wonderful! A satisfying throwback 8bit style soundtrack that does just a little bit more than an NES actually could
Hornet Dance
X Dustforce
It's a bit up and down across the board but the Fastfall album for Dustforce by Lifeformed offers a lot of chill tunes, [URL="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KXH5G_bqrlc"]Cider Time[/URL] is so good he used it again somewhere else I'm sure.
X Bastion
Darren Korb makes his impact with "acoustic frontier trip-hop", I shit you not!
Spike in a Rail
X Kirby's Epic Yarn
A surpringly high number of new tracks make up this soothing stress free outing along with some solid remixes for good measure, like pleasant piano? then this is the OST for you.
Weird Woods
X Blazblue Calamity Trigger
Well Blazblue and its numerous updates at any rate, though I never stuck around beyond the original I did enjoy its fantasy rock vibe, that said my favourite track was the electic Catus Carnival for oddball character Taokaka
X Scott Pilgrim vs The World
Anamanaguchi bring their video game inspired style to...a video game! how novel! It's also a real jam, don't sleep on it being a licensed title.
Suburban Tram
X The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
Zelda finally gets (some) orchestration and the results are mostly worth it.
Fi's Theme
X Castlevania Lords of Shadow 2
That's right, I went for one of those Oscar Araujo Lords of shadow soundtracks partly because they're kinda underrated because "blah blah, cinematic fluff", but also because it's in fact a strong example of Cinematic music that also fits the series it represents.
Dracula's Theme
X Professor Layton series
No one soundtrack really excelled in a way to make my main list but holy shit, those main themes were bringing the goodness, especially Devil's Flute/Last Specter/Spectre's Flute.
1. Viva Pinata
In a generation where the leap to a much wider use of orchestration gave us many booming epics it's the more subdued take on things that stuck with me most. Kirkhope's Viva Pinata OST covers both the original and its sequel Trouble in Paradise(which is effectively a bit of an expansion pack, musically it adds a bulk of desert and arctic themes) which offers a wide selection of what I could call gardening goodness.
From the man himself...
And it shows, I'm of the thought that this OST is really quite underrated on the whole, some of the most soothing night time themes you'll hear from a game and the overall air of pleasantness is something of a breath of fresh air in itself.
I usually throw out Oven Fresh Day and Bedtime Story as the fearsome duo so I'll mix it up this time.
Soil Song for your day theme
Growing Under Moonlight for night time
2. Super Mario Galaxy 2
The sneaky thing about going with Galaxy 2 over Galaxy 1 is that a number of the originals best tracks return either straight up or in remixed forms, as a bang for my buck vote I've leaned towards 2.
That said I have more to my reasons behind voting for the sequel, the amount of orchestartion is upped from the first game which lends a greater level of consistency to the proceedings, be it the various jingles no longer being jarringly lower quality (Grand Star Get is so much grander now!) and even souping up some of the more ho-hum tracks of the first game (Honeyhive gets a massive boost from the addition of extra instruments).
Of course the new tracks are fantastic as well and are among my favourites in the vast Mario series. Kondo delivers some great last hurrahs with what little he contributes being some of his best in years, meanwhile Yokota and Nagamatsu continue the musical legacy with applomb.
Kondo- Starship Mario
Yokota- Fluffy Bluff/Cloudy Court Galaxy (I like this more than Gusty Garden, come at me!)
Nagamatsu- Melty Monster Galaxy
While the SMG2 OST isn't quite a clean sweep with a few tracks being simply "there" I find its highs to really elevate the whole thing, when that endgame sequence has Galaxy Generator, the killer final bowser phase music that leads into one hell of a staff roll you're going out on top of the world...no, on top of the GALAXY!
3. Nier
It's been something of a journey for Nier in my musical musings, I always appreiated it but not to the same heights as most. I felt (and in a way still do think) that the emphasis on Emi Evans vocals leads to a level of sameyness across the board which can slightly hinder variety (you could say if she's not your jam then you ain't got much to ummm...spread on your toast here?) but on the other hand there's little else like it among gaming soundtracks. It's a very distinct style for sure that leads a lasting impression. It's actually almost criminal how some tracks don't get used nearly enough if I recall in game (Grandma!) while some others rear their heads a bit too much (Emil Sacrifice, pls stop being in EVERY emotional scene towards the end!).
This probably explains why I really took a while to click with the soundtrack and remind myself of some of the truly fantastic pieces which aren't quite as prevalent in a playthrough.
Temple of the Drifting Sands
The vocals here are hauntingly good, for my money the most mesmerizing on the OST.
Gods Bound by Rules
4. Sonic Generations
Yes I'm being a bit underhanded here, I have struggled to narrow down my one Sonic choice from this generation and boy is there a ton of great options. Colours holds my favourite track of the gens Sonic outings with the mesmerising Aquarium Park (linked for greatness). Unleashed's Planetary Pieces has tremendous scope, production and worldly variety (fun side story: I initially considered the OST "not Sonic enough", a reasoning that holds little logical weight and drew the ire of our previous musical thread host, safe to say she gave me a valuable lecture on why my thoughts were flawed here and look I really like it now!). Then there's also a load of crud like Sonic 4 and Professor Beef's beloved Sonic Chronicles disaster, but regardless the great outweighs this thus continuing to make my choice tricky.
So in the end I thought "which one do I go back to most?", and that would be the series celebration in Generations which gets the wonderful luxury of picking already strong tracks from the series entire history. So yes this is mostly a remix selection ala Smash Bros but hot damn, what a remix selection! You have straight updates and unique re-imaginings across the board. Another devilish twist here is the Generations OST also covers the 3DS entry which has even MORE music so basically this is an embarrassment of musical riches. The work here is so stellar a relative unknown in Crisis City can stand alongside the likes of Green Hill and Chemical Plant, the whole package feels cohesive with is impressive as heck when you consider how varied the series music has been across its many years.
Rooftop Run (Classic)
Modern leaves the more immediate impact but Classic should get its due here.
Seaside Hill (modern)
Many bonus points for seguing into Ocean Palace towards the end.
5. de Blob 2
The de Blob games hold a very interesting trump card for their musical stylings and I ain't just talking about its heavy leaning towards funky goodness. Integrated into the gameplay itself is an ever increasing musical escalation tied to the game's painting mechanics, the more colour you add back to the monochrome world the more the music ramps up. But even cooler than that is how each colour corresponds to an instrument, red for instance is a saxophone and each building you colour results in an immediate burst of sax, in turn this means that stringing a series of actions that literally paint the town red will cause something of an improvised saxophone string which is just the coolest. I'm sure there's actually a term for what the game is doing with its sound design, alas I can't for the life of me remember it.
Just when you think I can't possibly sneak another double OST in, the entire de Blob 1 soundtrack is in here as unlockables so hell yeah, this made going with 2 an easier choice. Though in general 2 has the stronger selection I find, basically I just wanted to throw a nod to the first game's Euphoric track which could be an entire vote by itself.
Back to the sequel...
Blob in Space is like RADICAL SCI-FI SURFING MUSIC!
The Colourist Agenda for some more straightforward disco
6. Xenoblade Chronicles
You could describe the Xenoblade OST as being standard JRPG fare just done really well, not the most glamorous depiction I know but it gets the point across.
Overworld themes, character themes, battle themes and all that jazz (no actual jazz mind you). I sound like I'm underselling it here quite heavily but IT'S GREAT! Yes I'm kinda at a struggle wrapping this one up in a neat summary so hopefully the music speaks for itself. A strong showing for music that compliments and enhances its environments, you don't forget stepping out onto the Gaur Plains or the night time transition of the Marsh thanks to the music accompanying the visual.
Frontier Village
On The Fallen Arm (Night)
7. Ace Attorney Investigations
This was a tough one to narrow down as those of us in the west were besieged by a whopping 6 DS entries into the Ace Attorney series in this generation, though only the last three took full advantage of the improved DS sound quality over the GBA you still can't ignore the original trilogy. The first game nails down a series music formula that continues to this day, the third brings Iwadare on board to become a franchise regular bringing strong tracks like The Dark Fragrance of Coffee into the fold.
When it comes down to it I barely lean towards Iwadare's work on both Investigation titles with the first oh so barely beating its sequel to this spot.
Pursuit: Lying Coldly
which was my favourite cornered theme until its sequel sniped the top spot.
Let me laugh at the cool (...hmmm, that's an interesting title translation)
8. Pokemon Black/White
Pokemon series is a reliable standby for soundtracks, with Black/White it felt just that bit more experimental than usual while still continuing their distinct soundfont style, complete with a few small variants due to seasonal variations. Its direct sequel carried on the trend and added more to the Gen 5 jukebox but I'll stand by the first round which finished its main game up with a boss theme that's contains a minute of heavy percussion buildup and an end credits theme that eschews series tradition by sounding like the hypest battle theme to not actually be a battle theme.
Also the rival battle theme is great, efff the haters!
Battle Team Plasma
Icirrus City
9. Skullgirls
In a generation that could be considered Castlevania's last hurrah assuming Konami continues its current trajectory I ended up preferring Michiru Yamane's vania esque but jazzier outing with Skullgirls. Jazzvania I will always dub it, though Yamane's not alone with other chaps on board who tend to bring more straight jazz stuff, in any case it's a great concoction of sound fitting for a fighter that carries it's own sense of Dark Deco style.
Unfinished Business, the stage theme for a character that's basically a bunch of brass instruments bolted together, fitting!
Skull Heart Arrhythmia
10. Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia
But regardless of what I just said, CV is still strong enough to make the cut and there was a great trio on the DS to draw from. Ecclesia wins out for some tremendous mood setting in its tracks, they may not be as immediately memorable as what turns up in Dawn of Sorrow or Portrait of Ruin but they leave a more haunting memory that lingers, and also some baller boss themes.
Jaws of A Scorched Earth
Lament to the Master
Honourable mentions (of which there are many!)
X Mega Man 9
Straight back to the olden days here, except sound effects no longer cut into the tunes, wonderful! A satisfying throwback 8bit style soundtrack that does just a little bit more than an NES actually could
Hornet Dance
X Dustforce
It's a bit up and down across the board but the Fastfall album for Dustforce by Lifeformed offers a lot of chill tunes, [URL="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KXH5G_bqrlc"]Cider Time[/URL] is so good he used it again somewhere else I'm sure.
X Bastion
Darren Korb makes his impact with "acoustic frontier trip-hop", I shit you not!
Spike in a Rail
X Kirby's Epic Yarn
A surpringly high number of new tracks make up this soothing stress free outing along with some solid remixes for good measure, like pleasant piano? then this is the OST for you.
Weird Woods
X Blazblue Calamity Trigger
Well Blazblue and its numerous updates at any rate, though I never stuck around beyond the original I did enjoy its fantasy rock vibe, that said my favourite track was the electic Catus Carnival for oddball character Taokaka
X Scott Pilgrim vs The World
Anamanaguchi bring their video game inspired style to...a video game! how novel! It's also a real jam, don't sleep on it being a licensed title.
Suburban Tram
X The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
Zelda finally gets (some) orchestration and the results are mostly worth it.
Fi's Theme
X Castlevania Lords of Shadow 2
That's right, I went for one of those Oscar Araujo Lords of shadow soundtracks partly because they're kinda underrated because "blah blah, cinematic fluff", but also because it's in fact a strong example of Cinematic music that also fits the series it represents.
Dracula's Theme
X Professor Layton series
No one soundtrack really excelled in a way to make my main list but holy shit, those main themes were bringing the goodness, especially Devil's Flute/Last Specter/Spectre's Flute.
)
