List of video game soundtracks considered the best

This is a list of video game soundtracks that have consistently been ranked among the best by video game journalists, critics and publications. It is largely based on "Top 10 / Top 100" type lists that purport to describe a publication's views of the soundtracks in gaming of all time. While any single publication's list often reflects its own taste, when the lists are taken in aggregate, a handful of games with a notable soundtrack have achieved something approaching critical consensus by multiple repeat appearances in such lists, and often ranking highly when they do appear.

List of soundtracks considered the best

Methodology

A number of sources taken from across publications, from 1985 to the present, were used to compile the list. Games which consistently showed up in multiple lists are featured below. Note that some of the lists are "outdated" in the sense the same publication made a later best-of list to gain a wider chronological spread. In general, contemporary reviews do not necessarily reflect the long-term consensus and open player-submitted polls, while obviously measuring an important facet of a game's reputation, tend to be easy to rig or otherwise influence, hence the primary usage of critic lists.

Note that as most of the sources used are from the English-language press, this list naturally reflects the preferences of the English-speaking world, primarily North America, and to a lesser extent, Western Europe, downplaying the preferences of other heavy video-game-playing areas, such as Japan and South Korea. Very recent games are not always represented either. Another issue occurs when a publication lists an entire video game franchise as having a consistently high-quality soundtrack. These situations have not been counted for this list.

This list mostly happens to includes games from the third generation of console gaming onwards. The minimum criteria for the list is at least three sources for any game.

Table

Game Original release year Composer Number of lists Lists / references
Chrono Trigger 1995 Yasunori Mitsuda
Nobuo Uematsu		 9 Classic FM,[1] Factmag,[2] Forbes,[3] Hardcore Gaming 101,[4] The Richest,[5] Tom's Guide,[6] Twinfinite,[7] WatchMojo,[8] GamesRadar[9]
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 1998 Koji Kondo 9 Classic FM,[1] Consequence of Sound,[10] Factmag,[2] Game Rant,[11] Hardcore Gaming 101,[4] NME,[12] The Richest,[5] Tom's Guide,[6] WatchMojo[8]
Streets of Rage 2 1992 Yuzo Koshiro
Motohiro Kawashima		 8 Clash Music,[13] Engadget,[14] Factmag,[2] Hardcore Gaming 101,[4] NME,[12] Tom's Guide,[6] WatchMojo,[8] GamesRadar[9]
Final Fantasy VI 1994 Nobuo Uematsu 7 Classic FM,[1] Engadget,[14] Factmag,[2] Game Rant,[11] Hardcore Gaming 101,[4] USgamer,[15] WatchMojo[8]
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night 1997 Michiru Yamane 7 Factmag,[2] Hardcore Gaming 101,[4] NME,[12] Rolling Stone,[16] Tom's Guide,[6] USgamer,[15] WatchMojo[8]
Red Dead Redemption 2010 Bill Elm
Woody Jackson		 7 Consequence of Sound,[10] Engadget,[14] Factmag,[2] NME,[12] Rolling Stone,[16] TechnoBuffalo,[17] Twinfinite[7]
Final Fantasy VII 1997 Nobuo Uematsu 6 Classic FM,[1] Consequence of Sound,[10] Factmag,[2] Hardcore Gaming 101,[4] NME,[12] Rolling Stone[16]
Metal Gear Solid 1998 Kazuki Muraoka
Hiroyuki Togo
Takanari Ishiyama
Lee Jeon Myung
Maki Kirioka		 6 Classic FM,[1] Consequence of Sound,[10] Forbes,[3] Game Rant,[11] Hardcore Gaming 101,[4] Twinfinite[7]
Bastion 2011 Darren Korb 6 Forbes,[3] Factmag,[2] PC Gamer,[18] TechnoBuffalo,[17] Tom's Guide,[6] GamesRadar[9]
Journey 2012 Austin Wintory 6 Clash Music,[13] Engadget,[14] Factmag,[2] Business Insider[19] Tom's Guide,[6] GamesRadar[9]
Super Mario Bros. 1985 Koji Kondo 5 Factmag,[2] Forbes,[20] Hardcore Gaming 101,[4] Rolling Stone,[16] The Richest[5]
Tetris 1989 Hirokazu Tanaka 4 Factmag,[2] NME,[12] Rolling Stone,[16] The Richest[5]
Silent Hill 1999 Akira Yamaoka 4 Business Insider,[19] Factmag,[2] Hardcore Gaming 101,[4] The Richest[5]
Halo: Combat Evolved 2001 Martin O'Donnell
Michael Salvatori		 4 Forbes,[20] Game Rant,[11] Factmag,[2] Business Insider[19]
Shadow of the Colossus 2005 Kow Otani 4 Clash Music,[13] Factmag,[2] Forbes,[20] Hardcore Gaming 101[4]
Portal 2007 Kelly Bailey
Mike Morasky		 4 Factmag,[2] NME,[12] PC Gamer,[18] Rolling Stone[16]
Fez 2012 Disasterpeace 3 Business Insider,[19] Engadget,[14] Factmag[2]
Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance 2013 Jamie Christopherson 3 Clash Music,[13] Rolling Stone,[16] Tom's Guide[6]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Video Game Music: 15 great computer game scores". Classic FM. 2012.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Twells, John; Stabler, Brad; Bowe, Mike; Wilson, Scott; Lea, Tom (2015-04-28). "The 100 greatest video game soundtracks". FACT Magazine.
  3. 1 2 3 Kain, Erik (2012-09-08). "The Top 12 Video Game Soundtracks Of All Time". Forbes.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Kurt Kalata (2011-10-25). "Best Video Game Music of All Time". Hardcore Gaming 101.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 Valente, Adriano (2014-12-05). "Top 10 Greatest Video Game Soundtracks of All Time". The Richest.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Workman, Robert (2013-09-04). "10 Best Video Game Soundtracks". Tom's Guide.
  7. 1 2 3 "The 8 Best Video Game Soundtracks of All Time". Twinfinite. 2014-09-05.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 "Top 10 Retro Video Game Soundtracks". WatchMojo.
  9. 1 2 3 4 "Top 25 Greatest Video Game Soundtracks of All Time". GamesRadar.
  10. 1 2 3 4 "Top 10 Video Game Scores and Soundtracks". Consequence of Sound. 2013-09-18.
  11. 1 2 3 4 "The 10 Greatest Video Game Soundtracks". Game Rant. 2014-12-04.
  12. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "23 Of The Coolest Ever Video Game Soundtracks". NME. 2015-07-20.
  13. 1 2 3 4 Diver, Mike (2013-09-16). "7 Of The Best: Video Game Soundtracks". Clash Music.
  14. 1 2 3 4 5 Seppala, Timothy J. (2015-07-09). "These are our favorite video game soundtracks". Engadget.
  15. 1 2 "Which Video Game Features your Favorite Music". USgamer. 2014-12-14.
  16. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Deane, Donald (2014-10-04). "Nine Legitimately Awesome Video Game Soundtracks". Rolling Stone.
  17. 1 2 Frederiksen, Eric (2015-08-07). "Top 5 Spotify Game Soundtracks you should be listening to". Techno Buffalo.
  18. 1 2 Wilde, Tyler (2015-02-16). "What are some good PC game soundtracks?". PC Gamer.
  19. 1 2 3 4 Letzter, Rafi (2015-08-01). "The 10 best examples of video game music being completely amazing". Business Insider.
  20. 1 2 3 Kain, Erik (2012-07-13). "5 Great Video Game Soundtracks: Which Are The Best Of All Time?". Forbes.
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