Synyster Graves

Synyster’s Top 7 Game Soundtracks

by on Jan.25, 2011, under The Top 7 of Everything

Music is integral in any gaming experience. It provides ambience whether it’s victory, dilemma, suspense or despair. Several times the soundtrack is so good, it merits being purchased on CD so you can relive your games in your mind as you drift off immersed in the iconic sound that it creates. Anyways, here are my top 7 soundtracks from video games. (I’m not counting Rock Band and Guitar Hero in this list, as the games are for performing the original songs, besides Rock Band 3’s setlist is rubbish!)

7. Gynoug (SEGA Mega Drive)

I loved this classic 16-bit side scrolling shooter and one of the aspects that made it so great was the well orchestrated synthesised music which took you through the levels. Ranging from triumphant mezzoforte pieces, to haunting gothic fugues, Gynoug was one of the first games to develop a soundtrack for a game of which I wanted to listen to even after the Mega Drive was switched off. The tunes were almost classical in composition and served as a great soundtrack to accompany Wor blasting his way through the minions of Hell. Plus for a game which came out in 1991, it’s not that bad at all.

6. Triggerheart Exelica (SEGA Dreamcast)

Staying with scrolling shooters, Triggerheart Exelica boasted a really good digital soundtrack and was the last SEGA title to be released on the Dreamcast. Subsequently it has come out on the PS2 and XBLA and the soundtrack itself has been remixed several times over to cater for the arcade version. The techno soundtrack goes really well with the level designs and the boss music is exceptionally good. For a relatively average shooter, this game was accompanied by great tunes which set a great tone for the rest of the game.

5. Nier (Xbox 360)

While Nier was quite clearly a by product of SquareEnix’s off day in terms of storyline, character development, gameplay mechanic and anything else which makes a good game, the only thing they did manage to get right was the soundtrack. The music is simply fantastic and it a great aid in immersing yourself into the swing of the game, even if the actual story is stupid and annoying. The variation of the music depending on the different landscapes you find yourself in is painted well by the diversely haunting choral parts coupled with the epically powerful orchestral parts.

4. Silent Hill 1 & 2(Playstation)

Although it has lost its way in recent iterations, the original Silent Hill on the Playstation knew exactly how to scare the living crap out of you with it creepy darkened corridors, faded and subtle white noise and creatures leaping out at you from all manners of darkness. But the deciding factor as to why so many gamers like myself suffered night terrors for months was definitely the soundtrack. The music switches from haunting chimes during the daytime accompanied with chilling choir noises in the distance, to industrial and disturbing cacophany when the world changes into hell. I couldn’t really choose between the first two games as I have both on CD and both gave me about a month of nightmares, the latter probably scaring me more because of that bloody Pyramid Head!

3. Boom Boom Rocket (Xbox Live Arcade)

Being a huge fan of classical music, I was quite surprised to see the musical adaptation of many classical pieces get a modern dance/rock remix for the release of Xbox Live Arcade’s Boom Boom Rocket. Essentially the game was like the other rhythm games like Guitar Hero whereby you have to press the coloured buttons to correspond to the ascending fireworks. Composer Ian Livingstone has done a fantastic job transcripting these classical pieces into an amazing soundtrack and has done versions of Beethoven’s “Moonlight Sonata” and “Symphony No.5”, Greig’s “In The Hall of The Mountain King” (or Alton Towers to you philistines) and Bach’s “Toccata and Fugue”. The soundtrack again can be listened to easily when not playing the game and the music for each level is simply brilliant.

2. Final Fantasy X (Playstation 2)

Well now we’ve reached the top 2, now I can speak of the brilliant of Nobuo Uematsu. This is the guy responsible for the amazing soundtracks of all the Final Fantasy titles, well the more recent ones. Not only was Final Fantasy X the greatest storyline in Final Fantasy history (in my opinion), but it also had a fantastic soundtrack to accompany it. The music was haunting, chilling, exciting and romantic in the appropriate places and made this game one of the most immersive games in the history of gaming. Personally my favourite piano piece from any of the Final Fantasy games is “To Zanarkand” (incidently I got the opportunity to play this on a Grand Piano last Summer) but there are other classics on it too such as the theme tunes to Besaid Island and the battle sequences. All in all, this whole game had an abundance of beautiful orchestral, choral and piano pieces and is perfect easy listening or chilling out to.

1. Final Fantasy VII (Playstation)

Speaking of genius of Nobuo Uematsu, my favourite and in my opinion game with the best soundtrack is Final Fantasy 7. FF7 had an outstanding and emotive storyline rivalled only by FFX and the sheer scale and beauty of music is unparallelled. The hustle bustle music from the inner streets of Midgar City to the combat music was just your first taster of the first disc of FF7, only for your whole world be turned upside down when you actually leave the city and go out into the big wide world. This is when the music really begins. The rolling green landscapes may not have been the best graphics for a title released in 1997 but the theme for the open world is probably the best music I have ever heard in a film. The sheer epic sound and grandeur rivals the soundtracks of epic movies such as Lord of The Rings and Judah Ben Hur. Each character has their own theme too and hearing the orchestral originals and the piano versions of Tifa’s Theme and Aeris’ Theme are quite something. Even down the opening arpeggio of FF7 sends chills down the spine. Simply put FF7 has the best music ever written for a game and I loved listening to every piece of it. If you’re into video game music, go out and get the soundtrack, it’s well worth the listen.

If you do however work in the Video Game industry and are looking for a composer for your game, may I recommend my friend Freqmaster, who’s written many pieces inspired by some of the aforementioned games. You can find his website here.

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