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What videogame franchise has the best music?
- Thread starter Ganondorfo
- Start date
Definitely:
Final Fantasy
Golden Sun (or Sakuraba in general)
Mario
Zelda
Halo
World of Warcraft/Warcraft
Diablo
Castlevania
Mother
Chrono Trigger
Kingdom Hearts
Pokemon
Megaman
Persona (Meguro is the man)
Soul Calibur
Brawl/Melee/Bros.
and pretty much any game Masashi Hamauzu has worked on.
The man (Hamauzu) is a genius. He may not write stuff that is obvious on the surface with just melody+accompaniment, but holy crap, if you take a really good listen to the music from Sigma Harmonics, Unlimited SAGA, Crisis Core, FFXIII, and Musashi, you'll find a ton of amazing things he does with music, and he definitely rewards those who pay close attention to what he's put in his music.
His stuff doesn't have so much obvious memorability to the casual listener, but to the listener with a refined ear who knows how to really listen to what he's done with the music in all the games he's worked on, you'll fully appreciate what he's done in FFXIII. One reason why I find XIII to also be the best of the FF OSTs is that much like how there is a central theme to the game, the same can be said about the music, and it really is all-encompassing throughout the whole game in some very creative and ingenious ways. Not to mention, I just love his compositional methods so much. I can probably hum to you every song from FFXIII, it's all that good.
Not to mention it, he's also a top-notch piano arranger, and is considered to be one of the best in the industry for VG piano albums. He's arranged his own, Uematsu, Mitsuda, and a other composers music for piano albums, and man does he know how to recreate some amazing pieces, in refreshing ways, while still staying true to the originals.
As a M.M. Music Composition student, I can definitely say that he's the composer who's had the most influence on me in many ways. Now off to listen to the arragment "Aquatic Ambience" that he did for the Symphonic Legends concert.
Final Fantasy
Golden Sun (or Sakuraba in general)
Mario
Zelda
Halo
World of Warcraft/Warcraft
Diablo
Castlevania
Mother
Chrono Trigger
Kingdom Hearts
Pokemon
Megaman
Persona (Meguro is the man)
Soul Calibur
Brawl/Melee/Bros.
and pretty much any game Masashi Hamauzu has worked on.
The man (Hamauzu) is a genius. He may not write stuff that is obvious on the surface with just melody+accompaniment, but holy crap, if you take a really good listen to the music from Sigma Harmonics, Unlimited SAGA, Crisis Core, FFXIII, and Musashi, you'll find a ton of amazing things he does with music, and he definitely rewards those who pay close attention to what he's put in his music.
His stuff doesn't have so much obvious memorability to the casual listener, but to the listener with a refined ear who knows how to really listen to what he's done with the music in all the games he's worked on, you'll fully appreciate what he's done in FFXIII. One reason why I find XIII to also be the best of the FF OSTs is that much like how there is a central theme to the game, the same can be said about the music, and it really is all-encompassing throughout the whole game in some very creative and ingenious ways. Not to mention, I just love his compositional methods so much. I can probably hum to you every song from FFXIII, it's all that good.
Not to mention it, he's also a top-notch piano arranger, and is considered to be one of the best in the industry for VG piano albums. He's arranged his own, Uematsu, Mitsuda, and a other composers music for piano albums, and man does he know how to recreate some amazing pieces, in refreshing ways, while still staying true to the originals.
As a M.M. Music Composition student, I can definitely say that he's the composer who's had the most influence on me in many ways. Now off to listen to the arragment "Aquatic Ambience" that he did for the Symphonic Legends concert.
For me, personally, It's a toss up between Castlevania, Guilty Gear/Blazblue (These count as the same franchise to me), and Ys.
Sure, i can appreciate the epicness of the style of music that features in Zelda or Final Fantasy, and the bouncy, joyful sounds of games like Mario, and there are even some tracks of that style on the games I listed, but I personally prefer the sound of a guitar wailing in my ear, and when it's wailing alongside a piano or a violin or an organ, that's just the best type of music ever.
Sure, i can appreciate the epicness of the style of music that features in Zelda or Final Fantasy, and the bouncy, joyful sounds of games like Mario, and there are even some tracks of that style on the games I listed, but I personally prefer the sound of a guitar wailing in my ear, and when it's wailing alongside a piano or a violin or an organ, that's just the best type of music ever.
TestOfTide
Banned
Smash Bros is correct, but cheap answer for obvious reasons.
I've always been partial to chiptune and chiptune-ish music so I'll give it two categories:
Chiptune (and similar)
- Megaman (excluding 7 and 8)
- Pokemon
- Cave Story*
- Kirby
- Castlevania 8bit
Regular:
- Actraiser*
- Castlevania
- Super Mario Galaxy (1 & 2 makes it short but sweet series)
- Half-Life (although that probably has more to do with the perfect delivery than the music itself)
- Halo (great music and even greater delivery)
- Chrono Trigger*
- Starfox Assault (medicore game; amazing soundtrack)*
- Megaman X series
- Sonic
- Silent Hill (favorite being The Angel Room from IV)
- Metroid
- Metal Gear Solid
*technically only 1 game but I will list anyway.
It seems I'm also partial to SNES midi. :\
I've always been partial to chiptune and chiptune-ish music so I'll give it two categories:
Chiptune (and similar)
- Megaman (excluding 7 and 8)
- Pokemon
- Cave Story*
- Kirby
- Castlevania 8bit
Regular:
- Actraiser*
- Castlevania
- Super Mario Galaxy (1 & 2 makes it short but sweet series)
- Half-Life (although that probably has more to do with the perfect delivery than the music itself)
- Halo (great music and even greater delivery)
- Chrono Trigger*
- Starfox Assault (medicore game; amazing soundtrack)*
- Megaman X series
- Sonic
- Silent Hill (favorite being The Angel Room from IV)
- Metroid
- Metal Gear Solid
*technically only 1 game but I will list anyway.
It seems I'm also partial to SNES midi. :\
BrokenSymmetry
Member
Guild Wars.
magicaltrevor
Banned
Metal Gear Solid
Assassin's Creed 2
Shadow of the Colossus
Uncharted 1 and 2
Sonic
Street Fighter
Assassin's Creed 2
Shadow of the Colossus
Uncharted 1 and 2
Sonic
Street Fighter
The Nintendo trinity
Mario
Zelda
Metroid
Even though Other M OST was somewhat disappointing it was still better than 99% of the games out there.
Also "smaller" Nintendo series like Pikmin, Star Fox etc have great music
Then you have
Metal Gear
Castlevania (Lords of Shadow is disappointing though..)
Final Fantasy
and recently
Uncharted
Halo
Mass Effect
Overall i find modern game music lacking though. I hate this "cinamtic" generic orchestral music
Mario
Zelda
Metroid
Even though Other M OST was somewhat disappointing it was still better than 99% of the games out there.
Also "smaller" Nintendo series like Pikmin, Star Fox etc have great music
Then you have
Metal Gear
Castlevania (Lords of Shadow is disappointing though..)
Final Fantasy
and recently
Uncharted
Halo
Mass Effect
Overall i find modern game music lacking though. I hate this "cinamtic" generic orchestral music
StevePharma
Member
You know you've got a good franchise going on when it's dependent on atmosphere, people talk about the music a LOT and when the compositions can redeem the not so strong entries in the series you know you got your act together.
I'm looking at you of course, SILENT HILL.
I'm looking at you of course, SILENT HILL.
Turrican
<3 Chris Huelsbeck
http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=D6E186604D8F298F&feature=iv&annotation_id=annotation_997813
<3 Chris Huelsbeck
http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=D6E186604D8F298F&feature=iv&annotation_id=annotation_997813
Shotgun Kiss
Member
Anth0ny said:
I'd say Smash Bros. counts, but only if you disregard all the music that's been taken directly from other games as-is, and not been remixed.
Even if you only count the remixed stuff, there's still a hell of a lot of amazing music, and definitely a contender for one of the best gaming soundtracks.
Games like Grand Theft Auto, Guitar Hero, Lumines, etc, definitely don't count though, as their soundtracks weren't specifically created for them.
Herbspiceguy
Member
Mother
tomjenkins
Neo Member
Htown said:
Even if you based in around it's original music it's still up there.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjQJAmSa7xA
Vs. Master Hand (ssb64)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYYU-rJz5tM&feature=related
Menu Theme (melee)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eyoR-Pg6o0c&feature=related
Battlefield (brawl)
TheListener
Member
Fable always has amazing music. <3 Russell Shaw
BobsRevenge
I do not avoid women, GAF, but I do deny them my essence.
The Lair series.
To give you an idea of how awesome Castlevania is, even the Castlevania Pachislot game had an amazing soundtrack.
triplestation
Member
shadow of the collosus, uncharted(2)
The Iron Yuppie
Member
Mega Man (including X): I defy you to not like the X vs. Zero theme in X5
Final Fantasy
Halo
Mass Effect
Metal Gear Solid
Final Fantasy
Halo
Mass Effect
Metal Gear Solid
j_k_redtail
Member
Enron said:
Seriously. I mean - no Ace Combat? WTH?
ZERO trailer with awesome music
Also, Shadow of the Colossus.
2 Minutes Turkish
Banned
Streets of Rage.
What do I win?
What do I win?
ZephyrFate
Banned
You could listen to a few more composers, I think.zlatko said:
Mother and...
RollerCoaster Tycoon!
Fairground Organ #1: Die Regimentskinder Marsch (Children of the Regiment March)
Fairground Organ #2: Heyken's Serenade
Main Theme (RCT 1)
Main Theme (RCT 2)
Rock Style 1
Summer Style
Water Style (third best water theme in gaming)
Roman Style
Wild West Style
Medieval Style (my favorite style!)
Steel Jungle
Bermuda Shorts
Summer Air (Main Theme) (imo, anyways)
Rock Like a Dude (F-YEAHHH!!!)
even RCT3 had a few decent tracks, however drastically different they may be.
RollerCoaster Tycoon!
Fairground Organ #1: Die Regimentskinder Marsch (Children of the Regiment March)
Fairground Organ #2: Heyken's Serenade
Main Theme (RCT 1)
Main Theme (RCT 2)
Rock Style 1
Summer Style
Water Style (third best water theme in gaming)
Roman Style
Wild West Style
Medieval Style (my favorite style!)
Steel Jungle
Bermuda Shorts
Summer Air (Main Theme) (imo, anyways)
Rock Like a Dude (F-YEAHHH!!!)
even RCT3 had a few decent tracks, however drastically different they may be.
devastatorprime
Member
Im gonna give No More Heroes and Viewtiful Joe honorable mentions. I think both have great music.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9TX9o6uZnEs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FcFKZr589PM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9TX9o6uZnEs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FcFKZr589PM
Net_Wrecker
Member
2 Minutes Turkish said:
Came in here to post this. Streets of Rage 2 OST >>>> all others.
Host Samurai
Member
Castlevania and Street Fighter. Music is always solid in every installment.
There is nothing that compares to Kirill Pokrovsky, who scores the "Divinity" games (Divine Divinity, Beyond Divinity, And Divinity 2: Ego Draconis). He does atmospheric music like no other composer does. He is truly in a class of his own. His arrangements are so complex and deep that other videogame composers pale in comparison. When you're in a deep dungeon or in a cave, you REALLY feel like you're there.
The best is that the music is all available for free. I listen to the Divine Divinity soundtrack all the time. When it comes to variety there is nothing that quite matches it, virtually every track belongs to a totally different style.
http://www.kirillpokrovsky.com/
http://www.larian.com/Site/english/divinity/music.html
The best is that the music is all available for free. I listen to the Divine Divinity soundtrack all the time. When it comes to variety there is nothing that quite matches it, virtually every track belongs to a totally different style.
http://www.kirillpokrovsky.com/
http://www.larian.com/Site/english/divinity/music.html
HarkenSlash
Member
I'd probably say Megaman.
les papillons sexuels
Banned
warlords battlecry... Seriously underrated soundtracks.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKwyAcd4n8s&feature=related
and alan wake.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKwyAcd4n8s&feature=related
and alan wake.
Alaskanbullworm
Member
Only one mention of Banjo Kazooie and no mention of Viva Pinata nor Goldeneye? For shame Gaf, for shaaaaaaaaaaaaame.
Long live Grant Kirkhope!
To me he's one of the few that knows how to make video game music and not just music in a video game. If you know what I mean.
Long live Grant Kirkhope!
To me he's one of the few that knows how to make video game music and not just music in a video game. If you know what I mean.
Just replayed and finished Baten Kaitos: Origins. Still a really good game four years later, but the biggest reminder was how good the music was. Just a few of my favorites:
Le Ali Del Principio
The Valedictory Elegy ~guitar Version~
Raincloud
Powerful voice of an Old Soul
Ruins
The Great Pillar Laden with Moss
Soothing, adrenaline pumping, mysterious, melancholic, creepy, hauntingly beautiful. It's got it all.
Of course, the first game set a pretty high bar too.
Just one of those unique pieces that stick with you
Le Ali Del Principio
The Valedictory Elegy ~guitar Version~
Raincloud
Powerful voice of an Old Soul
Ruins
The Great Pillar Laden with Moss
Soothing, adrenaline pumping, mysterious, melancholic, creepy, hauntingly beautiful. It's got it all.
Of course, the first game set a pretty high bar too.
Just one of those unique pieces that stick with you
Himuro said:
Good shit man! So depressing thinking about how Shenmue 3 may very well never see the light of day. The first two(originally intended as one big game) were the most memorable gaming experiences I've ever had. The music, atmosphere, exploration, and characters... no game was more believable!