rec me soundtracks to rank

backloggd trend etc. etc.
I've tired of gaze and skramz for the moment and wanna build out my vgm playlist. it's also fun to write about music in detail since i don't often in my reviews. stuff from my played games I'll cover more quickly but I'll take whatever recs

The World Ends with You
The World Ends with You
rec'd by bendylegs

effortless shibuya-kei rendered in glorious compressed DS pcm. some of the best vocal tracks ever put into a jrpg. it's difficult for me to even attempt to capture the breadth of this soundtrack: plenty of house and techno ofc, but also odd math-funk, driving rock, boom bap, breaks, vortex cortex, dreamy psych, scratches, disco, drop D, off-beat reggae guitar chirps, and piano ballads. every locale, every battle, always something new. if you haven't listened to this soundtrack, let me wake you up

1

Jet Set Radio
Jet Set Radio
rec'd by HylianBran

you already know. y2k's best and worst trends rolled together into a definitive template of the era, overlayed on the era's most stylistically synchronous work. I remember back when I was a teenager a record store owner sold me a 12" of jurassic 5's improvise for half-price, a rather nice gesture, and a record I'm proud to own.

miller ball breakers
funky radio
recipe for the perfect afro

2

Sonic Adventure
Sonic Adventure
rec'd by HylianBran

unlike his more trendy and presentist SA2 ost, senoue truly let everything fly on this one. in some ways this makes everything a lot less even (big's rockabilly vocal theme makes me roll my eyes), but the variety shows off a stunning versatility that makes me crack a smile whenever I boot this one up. his riffage is still top-notch as well from chugging chords to squealing leads. Station Square's theme is lovingly cheery and yet runs into an augmented progression with a soaring melody and sparkling chimes behind it. each level features multiple internal "acts" that change the backing track while maintaining the motif, a feat that modern sonic games should take note of. some characters even get unique themes for stages, including the yawning slide guitar for big's version of emerald coast. I love his fish caught! theme that leans into angular sputtering synths reminescent of Takenobu Mitsuyoshi's work on virtua fighter. elsewhere the sounds presage dance-punk, such as the much-loved speed highway theme before veering into jungle without missing a beat. need some latin jazz? casinopolis offers a vegas revue on its pinball boards that goes far beyond the call of duty for a minigame. venture into the mystic ruins and experience tumbling and jilted rhythms overlayed with washy pan flute and indecipherable praises. I could continue on and on like this (the soundtrack is insanely long) but rest assured that every new concept, every stage transition, every mood, vibe, and affect are all captured here in their full glory, powering the beginning of "next-gen" at that time in a game that pushed far beyond the boundaries of common design at the time. my favorite though? the doom-y, industrial, completely out of left field Red Hot Skull

3

We Love Katamari
We Love Katamari
rec'd by DJSCheddar

much like the game itself, the soundtrack is a refraction and reflection of the original katamari damacy, a veritable funhouse mirror plaza of ways to stretch and warp the base product. the flagship tune: Katamari on the Swing, a precious and fawning big band take on the original's instant classic theme song. shibuya-kei is sort of a meaningless genre classification, but what it captures in terms of "japanese artists blending the artistic tools of western musicians while pushing the boundaries the west refuses to" is captured here succinctly. one of my favs: Bluffing Damacy, a KIRINJI-esque swim through twitchy drum machine patterns, sparse acoustic guitar, earnest woodwinds, and a lovingly poppy tenor performance. Houston is another standout, driven by samba drums and flitting synths, and with a striking vocoder backing on the chorus (this one actually did get a KIRINJI remix in katamari forever, and it's suitably gorgeous). I love how Blue Orb builds itself out of nothing, starting with just haphazard samples and constructing itself into swirling space debris and melting pads. DISCO PRINCE's sparkling city pop reimagining of The Moon and the Prince from the first shines brightly as well. my only quibble: the annoying-on-purpose Sunbaked Savannah, which remixes fan favorite songs from the original with the noises the animals make when you roll over them. truly stunning in its audacity

4

Karous
Karous
rec'd by MrPixelton

I love the dnb stuff going on here, verging on drill-esque breaks. absolutely perfect for the final licensed dreamcast title to have such an effortlessly layered 90s electronic backdrop to it. amen breaks aplenty, trembling leads, and vibrating bass. best standouts for me were one thing reality, you can't fxxk me (this one reminds me a bit of venetian snares), and death from above 4098

5

Sonic Adventure 2: Battle
Sonic Adventure 2: Battle
rec'd by FrozenRoy

probably a definitive influence on my music taste from when I was a kid. the senoue guitar sound rips, and his blend of pop punk, ska, and metal on this ost is filled with so many classic tunes that it's hard to name favorites. the rap and r&b tunes in this game def hit as well, even with how corny they can get.

this way out... for prison lane
rhythm and balance... for white jungle
supporting me... for biolizard
plus all of the classics (live and learn, escape from the city, that's the way I like it, a ghost's pumpkin soup)

6

Mr. Gimmick
Mr. Gimmick
rec'd by Drax

man is this a blast from the past... used to be very active on SMWCentral aruond ten years ago, and whenever best OST discussions were had this was among them (alongside Plok in fact!). as soon as happy birthday came on it almost felt like I was transported back... glorious fm synth on NES always gets me excited. indomitably thick and rich with plucky bass, swooning pads, and gorgeous delay on the leads.

7

Viewtiful Joe
Viewtiful Joe
rec'd by Drax

so many sick squelchy synths, dribbling ARPs, lots of LFO, just how I like it! would love to play something like Blue the Justice in iidx. gentle churning guitars under intertwining layers of rotating synths. Dark Fiend hits me in a lot of the same way, the melodies don't necessarily stick out to me but that raw electronic groove keeps me excited. Rhine Hotel drops into a lower gear, with syncopated ride cymbal propelling a Rhodes-esque fluttering piano line and wonderfully cheesy orchestra stabs. the whole thing lapses into harrowing ambience on 2,000,000 Leagues Under the Sea, overlaying watery groans with glitchy twangs in the upper registers. basically this is exactly the kind of electronic soundtrack I want from a game: thick, overblown with sick synth sounds, and explosive

8

Hotline Miami
Hotline Miami
rec'd by bendylegs

love this game's droning, hypnotic take on 80s synth music. obvious italians do it better/Drive (2011) influence here, but it works to the game's benefit imo. the sparsity of instrument keeps the retro tone from becoming overbearing or schmaltzy. also it always surprised me that sun araw was featured in this game, as I only ever knew his work from reading TMT. his song Deep Cover on here is very good

9

Yakuza
Yakuza
rec'd by HylianBran

Hidenori Shoji's work with sega always gets my blood pumping, and his work here is no exception. in some ways I prefer the ps2 soundtracks over their kiwami upgrades; they're definitely more raw. the texture here is explicitly more urban and grimey, and shoji dives into his limitless bag of ratcheted, loping, polyrhythmic guitar riffs for standouts like Funk Goes On (compare this riff to Storm from smb1). definitely verges on metal much more than earlier work, but even though I'm very picky about metal I think the lines here are sludgy and groovey enough to land (such as in Scarlet Scar). honestly feels like it shares forebears with SA2 in a lot of ways, yet the way it combines electronics and metal averts the corniness that tends to arise from such attempts. less varied on a macro-level than the later games, but also highly stylistically divergent within the sections of each song. honestly looking to play through this one soon... once I'm done with y7 I absolutely want to trek through both ps2 titles

10

Sin and Punishment
Sin and Punishment
rec'd by JohnHarrelson

the moment I heard this I thought "this can't be regular n64 stuff?" and then quickly found out it was streamed PCM and not MIDI; amazing work. densely packed and replete with smooth, thick bass and squealing guitar. I enjoy the detours into house such as on spiral up fortune. not a harsh soundtrack by any means but a friendly assault on the ears nonetheless. looking forward to playing this one soon

11

Celeste
Celeste
rec'd by Lead

chiptune throwback stuff is not generally my cup of tea, but lena raine's work here has heart that competitors lack. heavily piano-based, often overlayed repeatedly to create cocoons of interspersed vamps, with prickly square waves poking through to provide melodic support. operatic and powerful without being overbearing, such as in Confronting Myself. other standouts include the nauseating and crumbling nightmare reality exposed in In the Mirror and the driving encouragement propelling madeline's ascent in Reach for the Summit. the b-sides are all great too!! such a great concept to allow others to stretch and rework songs into new great concepts that can skirt the themes of the original stages.

12

Klonoa 2: Lunatea's Veil
Klonoa 2: Lunatea's Veil
rec'd by HylianBran

really impressed by the depth and rich texture present here. staggered triplemeter rhythms, shimmering leads, and creeping honey-like pads underneath. mutating and expanding song structures as well. I'm always a fan of the very 90s cathedral-esque stabs... this whole soundtrack has reminds me of the church in midgar. more encouragement for me to get off my ass and get into this series; jumping between tracks doesn't do this justice. really impressed by make believe and ark

13

The Adventures of Batman & Robin
The Adventures of Batman & Robin
rec'd by DJSCheddar

the genesis's FM synth chip has aged somewhat poorly in comparison to the snes's sample-based custom chip, but from my perspective this is mainly because of many developers struggling to cater to FM synth's strengths (especially those who used the squawky, tinny presets of the GEMS library). jesper kyd meanwhile uses a sound tinged with industrial and EBM and washed with thick, vibrating low end, making the chip seem more than apt for the material. less melodic and more textured, and engrossing all the same

14

Plok
Plok
rec'd by Drax

a suitably lovely follin brothers ost that pushes the SNES to its limits. the samples here are simply so polished compared to many of their contemporaries, and the compositions feature so much evolution and variety beyond simple two-section loops. the folky western themeing is not always my fav, but the technical strength here is commendable. if nothing else, check out Beach: psych electronic lurching in 7/8 with groovy horns once it settles into a groove

15

Batman: The Video Game
Batman: The Video Game
rec'd by DJSCheddar

an earlier yet no less impressive crack at maximizing the power of the genesis's yamaha chip. I love the minor key chord progressions here and clean drum samples. naoki kodaka leans more into the FM cheese than kyd, but delivers some truly memorable tunes along the way

16

Kingdom Hearts
Kingdom Hearts
rec'd by HylianBran

shimomura's piano compositions are so rich, and their melodies are so memorable and sincere. the soundtrack mostly stays in genre for each locale, but she performs each admirably. in-game my only gripe is that the loops are rather short, and with the amount of time you can spend in each area the repetition can become a bit much. still a classic for sure, and I can't forget to mention simple & clean either.

17

Sonic the Hedgehog
Sonic the Hedgehog
rec'd by HylianBran

honestly His World is a solid main sonic theme... wait no I'm relistening to it now and god these vocals are uniformly terrible, c-tier linkin park expy. they were trying to sound like final fantasy so goddamn bad on this soundtrack, utterly baffling game. some of these cuts are absolutely choice tho, check out Wave Ocean (The Water's Edge)'s amen break-backed dreamy emerald coast reinterpretation , overlayed by polyrhythmic guitar descension. most of the songs otherwise don't really stick out to me as I poke through the soundtrack, in yet another demonstration that having full orchestral backing doesn't necessarily elevate the game's soundtrack beyond regular cinematic fare without good composition to back it up. the vs. Character theme stands in direct contrast to that tho, insanely hectic and riveting with the amount of layers it projects. at this point I ended up just skipping any of the cutscene tracks since they all just put me to sleep... most of the level themes are actually quite fun though. the vibraphone is so playful on Tropical Jungle over the twitchy four-on-the-floor behind it. we move into straight-up techno on White Acropolis (Snowy Peak), and a rather solid showing to be completely honest. I'm trying to think of a way to talk about this soundtrack in broad strokes but basically when it wants to, it has a creative vision that reflects a modern update to the textural dynamism of the original Sonic Adventure, but it's belied by the hard rock tracks (which are not senoue level) and the orchestral tracks, which are uninteresting

18

Yakuza 2
Yakuza 2
rec'd by HylianBran

just a hair lesser than the original, which is totally fine imo. as a direct sequel it's trying a lot of the same things in a shorter timeframe, so I'm not disappointed that some of the tracks just sound like b-sides from the first. some of the new tracks are really good regardless, such as sotenbori's hard-edged jazz fusion battle theme Outlaw's Lullaby, which may be my fav battle music from the series. still a lot of those shoji-signature guitar lines here as well. some fascinating new textures, such as the shamisen and pornographic moans on No Laughter. apparently this one had multiple composers on it? which may contribute to why some of the riffs on here feel less weighty than the original. A Scattered Moment is also a brilliant track, summarizes the rivalry between the two dragons perfectly

19

Summon Night: Swordcraft Story
Summon Night: Swordcraft Story
rec'd by FrozenRoy

was rather surprised to queue this up and hear the OG game boy's square waves in all their glory. GBA games tend to lean on the somewhat ugly 8-bit PWM streaming channels, so it's nice to hear a game that effectively utilizes the original sound hardware alongside strategically streamed samples. Lonesome Feeling is a perfect example of this: clean ocarina gently intoning over rumbling oscillators. can also be heard on multiple other songs with top-notch percussion samples and pleasing chiptune on top. I'm not a big chiptune guy but the compositions here leverage the hardware so intelligently

20

Ecco the Dolphin
Ecco the Dolphin
rec'd by GutterTrash

on one hand: applaudable in its unnerving ambience and sorrowful, plodding tracks. on the other hand: they used fucking GEMS, why did they use fucking GEMS? apparently novotrade altered the driver, probably to produce some of the swooshing crescendos and such, but it's still got that abhorrent twang to it. it's a real shame, since in terms of mood it touches upon claustrophobia and darkness that few of its ilk capture. just look at Ice Zone's shimmer and out-of-time pan flute underneath the whine of breathless high-end leads. the [Time Travel[(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9OkLaNoABiY) theme also has a tragic melody paired with bursts of noise, like steam blowing from a hot vent. thankfully there's the CD ost as well, but I would've loved to hear a proper FM synth rendition

21

Super Mario Bros.
Super Mario Bros.
rec'd by mellorine

it's a classic. heavily syncopated and instantly memorable. gonna post this mr. bungle live rendition from 1991.

22

Madou Monogatari 1-2-3
Madou Monogatari 1-2-3
rec'd by HylianBran

didn't realize there was such a power gap between the FM synth chips in the PC98 and the MD but it's so apparent here compared to puyo puyo. the title screen hit me with woozy, intoxicating bass that I absolutely couldn't stop listening to; there's so many creative pitch-bends and weirdo harmonies littered across many of the incidental tracks here. love the forlorn lead and choppy triplets on GO!. the main themes for battle and such all are on-par for what I'd want with this tech: there's nothing radical in terms of composition or catchiness here, but the voicings match each mood perfectly. that slap bass effect on PROPHETIC DREAM is so much more convincing than I've heard in many other fm synth projects. also this video HB linked with the soundtrack playing back on a real recreation of the chip sounds so amazing and better than any rip I could dream of, check that one out if you're interested here

23

Journey
Journey
rec'd by Drax

swimming with vast arrays of instruments both traditionally western and decidedly not. I'm not a big ambient guy but some of these drones are incredibly, like a more layered stars of the lid. the use of dynamics is key to success here, and the different pieces blend into one another so naturally. the pieces that move into more rhythmic territory also demonstrate an applaudable level of finesse

24

VideoBall
VideoBall
rec'd by DJSCheddar

some of those chiptune squeals get into Virt-pastiche territory, whether this is a good thing or not is in the eye of the beholder I suppose. regardless, the melodies hit exactly in the NES-era sweet spot. the Pregame track leans into some mario kart-inspired territory, with thin pianos supported by a hi-hat-heavy breaks, dry bass, and a duck-like grinning lead on top. I love the mid-riff chord progression bait-and-switch on Hard, it's simple but rich in execution. was surprised by the scratches and groove on Slam! some of the other retrofunk marks don't get quite met, but it's a nice gesture all the same. I also enjoyed Sweet's roiling percussion giving way to airy claps and later a tasteful piano solo. slight in execution (as in I think it could use a bit more low-end), but a surprisingly fun mix all the same

25

Snatcher
Snatcher
rec'd by Drax

ugh... I need to go ahead and finish this one, don't I? One Night in Neo Kobe City is such a spectacular mood-setter into the blade runner/80s retrofuture city/kenny g meets terminator angle this game has. the rest is atmospheric FM synth, which is pretty much fine, if a little too bubbly for my tastes. it's to the game's benefit that it can lean on less structured tracks with interpolated blips and bobbles to set the mood, though I would ofc have preferred cd quality. the suspense in Creeping Silence has always stuck out to me, those opening chords just capture the intrigue perfectly

26

Luigi's Mansion
Luigi's Mansion
rec'd by FrozenRoy

pretty sparse soundtrack (which is apt given the material) but I love the main melody and much of the oddball sound effects. the gameboy horror warp sound in this game is so crunchy... sometimes the game gets this sort of analog synth sound that's so warm on my ears, like in the ghost portraitificationizer room. overall obvious influences from resident evil given the languid atmospheric tunes, but I like how eclectic the ost remains regardless. totaka always bangs

27

Snake Pass
Snake Pass
rec'd by Drax

generic savannah pastiche... wait david wise composed this? doesn't necessarily reach the emotional peaks of some of his other work, but the texture in the compositions on display here is enthralling. the percussion alone intertwines in such a way in stereo that I could really sink into... a lot of callbacks throughout each themed world to his DKC work for sure. the fire world theme surprised me quite a bit, didn't expect the electronic backing there, dunno if I like it or not. not a very long soundtrack it seems, but rather solid all the same

28

Let It Die
Let It Die
rec'd by yabo_san

wtf this ost is 100 songs long? and it's all actual japanese bands, none of which I've heard of? mostly because I'm more into their indie/punk/gazer scenes and this veers more towards straight-ahead modern alt, or harder anime OP type stuff. I'm always fascinated how more popular japanese stuff lies downstream of fascinating and often cloistered american trends such as dance-punk and math, probably because many of their musicians are much more proficient than even well-known artists over here. still, none of the stuff on here (or like, the 20 seconds I listened to of each song) really stuck out to me no matter the style; it's too polished, often too tied to edm trends I find uninteresting, and not wild enough to really grab me. couple tracks that did catch my ear tho: this 2step-adjacent MOP of HEAD cut, the folk rhythms of this asobius track, this ARCHAIC RAG STORE track that reminds me of a slighter ling tosite sigure with its scattered guitar and dance rhythms (god that band would've fucking sick in this game), the melting keys and breaks of AJYSYTZ's locus of circle, ONSO9 Line's blurry post-post-punk, a bit of twiddling math licks (reminds me of faraquet a bit!) from Rhycol. there's some brief flirtation with ska, hardcore, electroclash, metalcore, on here as well, which I appreciate. made it through about 40 tracks and then got bored...

29

Strider
Strider
rec'd by unaderon

always wanted to play this but still haven't gotten around to it. listening through now, it's the sort of hybrid electronic/rock soundtrack I expected, but very solid nonetheless. coup stuck out to me on first listen, as well as multiple tracks that lean into some breakbeats - I always have a soft spot for those. each track seems to have a unique instrument or texture it incorporates to differentiate them. I love that ARP at the beginning of the armed fortress

30

F-Zero X
F-Zero X
rec'd by HylianBran

an entire OST of butt-rock MIDI... I guess impressive that it's not terrible, but definitely my least favorite of the three mainline soundtracks. and to be fair, butt-rock sells the game a little short, since tracks like Fall Down to the Scream are in straight-up thrash territory, absolutely exploding with rattling double-kicks and hair-singing pentatonic shredding at 185 bpm. a couple nice remixes of classics from the snes original (Endless Challenge subs in for Mute City), and the more I listen, the more I remember how artfully they nailed the bends and slides on a real guitar neck through MIDI. Devil's Call in your Heart has legitimate guttural growls that I forgot about it? could've subbed in for as a b-side on Reign in Blood to be completely honest. also the track names are so fucking cool... basically what I'm trying to get across is that standalone these tracks sound hokey and tacky but there's enough great and surprisingly hardcore material here to accentuate the nail-biting speeds of the gameplay. the guitar arrange version alleviates some of these issues... but also doesn't have all the songs rerecorded sadly enough (plus the clean production and synth patches make the quality increase over MIDI more negligible than it should have been).

31

Yakuza 5
Yakuza 5
rec'd by ExAndOh

believe it or not this is the only yakuza soundtrack that I couldn't remember any songs from off the top of my head. favorite battle music is definitely affected fight. this is a pretty electric guitar-heavy ost for them as a whole, and much like the similarly rocking sonic adventure 2, it makes me end up sorting each track mentally into "good riff" or "bad riff", which can make my impression more uneven overall. the place where I used to be is wildly good riffs tho, there are some others that aren't really standouts but are still pretty fun. the idol songs that haruka sings rule. also, trance alert

32

Mega Man X
Mega Man X
rec'd by HylianBran

I'm always torn about this soundtrack: the compositions are absolutely on par with the best of the NES line (my personal fav: MM3, I remember learning that intro on guitar back in high school....), but at the same time I find the samples excessively squawky. guitar on SNES usually sucks I'm sad to say. the full-band stabs are especially grating, with the same consistency as a particularly damp fart. still, if this comes on in between runs at GDQ you know there's gonna be a smile on my face. favs are Chill Penguin, Boomer Kuwanger, and Spark Mandrill

33

The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel II
The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel II
rec'd by Drax

my main exposure to falcom's music was through ys 8, which had a solid ost but leaned a little too heavily on "energetic orchestral sound with squealing guitars" which I'm not a fan of. this ost seems to have better variety, and fewer tracks that sound canned ie obvious synthetic instruments. also I find the motif that this sound team puts in each of their games charming, if a little on the nose with its frequency

34

Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana
Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana
rec'd by FallenGrace

I sort of summed my opinion on this game up with the ToCS2 blurb, but yea, somewhat synthetic driving guitar tracks mixed with some solid and eclectic exploration themes. I honestly dig this particular dungeon theme, the squelching bass and earnest retro lead tickles me for some reason. I'm struggling to find other things to say about this one: I just am not into this type of vgm. perfectly adequate, but never something I would listen to outside of the game.

35

Diddy Kong Racing
Diddy Kong Racing
rec'd by BansheeNeet

sort of forgot david wise did stuff outside of DKC lol. I think the SNES's warped and muffled samples accentuated his strengths as a composer more than the canned, ticky-tack MIDI samples of the n64, but given that this is a kart racer and not an atmospheric platformer I would imagine he was trying to write to his audience. I like how he plays with bluegrass and folk influences here and there (those banjo rolls on the title screen sound great). a lot of "oh, yea" relistening to this one outside of a couple that for some reason resonate in my mind a little more, like crescent island or disco-lite darkmoon caverns

btw I got to see david wise perform live on sax at magfest during an impromptu guest spot a couple years back, amazing and evocative soloist no question

36

Devil May Cry 5
Devil May Cry 5
rec'd by Cynical_Nuclear

under my rym-hardened exterior I really am a fan of meathead nu metal shit (limp bizkit rules) and the butt rock that permeates the original dmc games will always stick in my head. when it comes to incorporating electronic elements, I'm a retro guy tho; think more Static-X or Fear Factory and less Path of Totality-era Korn. in the post-Monstercat world tho we see more of the latter, and dmc5 mainly sticks to that palette + general polished cinematic interstituals. less interesting standalone and more interesting with the excellent style gauge-driven layering mechanic that beefs up the battle music as your combos progressively get crazier.

37

Cotton: Fantastic Night Dreams
Cotton: Fantastic Night Dreams
rec'd by HylianBran

a nice cd quality soundtrack but also not particularly innovative or varied. in fact, some songs are rather repetitive, making listening to them for more than a minute or two rather bland. leans on a lot of tried-and-true chord progressions. the instrumentation is solid though, especially the parts that aren't straight-up MIDI.

38

Der Langrisser
Der Langrisser
rec'd by Chap

i can't help but feel that the instrumentation is a bit thin on most of these, less in that there aren't enough voices but more in that everything chosen was a bit too tinny. remarkably energetic nonetheless, and I appreciate the skill and deftness of the basslines. lots of swift arppegiation and rolls that feel purposeful. would've appreciated more stylistic variation, as in perhaps a couple downtempo, more swooning tracks (possibly not appropriate for this game tho, since I've never played it).

39

Furi
Furi
rec'd by Drax

just not really my thing. the modern--tinted 80s synth revival isn't appealing to me, and this game's ost seems split between that and more ambient stuff. suitably aggressive for gameplay, but not something I would listen to on my own

40

Wandersong
Wandersong
rec'd by Drax

too far into twee commercial-music with ukulele territory for me. when it's not that it's generic ambient stuff so... there's a couple tracks that grabbed me a bit. It's a Ghost! has a nice drive and hurried flute line. I really cannot stand the bell chimes either the more I listen to this. also I'm very unmotivated to listen to more of it since this is like 4 hours long and I'm already tired of the twee... really not for me, even though there's nothing truly terrible about it

41

Puyo Puyo
Puyo Puyo
rec'd by HylianBran

man that opening is some GEMS-ass FM-synth cheese grater garbage. the rest of it is perfectly competant though, even though I don't think their choice of modulators/voices is particularly great. the main battle themes are all catchy enough, but I don't really find most of the compositions to be very dynamic.

42

Kao the Kangaroo
Kao the Kangaroo
rec'd by FrozenRoy

passable MIDI soundtrack for a platformer. nothing I'd call really innovative or richly textured, or even containing an earworm melody. some of the more electronic tracks have some neat patches going on though, a couple lo-fi gems here and there

43

57 Comments


Devil may cry 5

2 years ago

Diddy Kong Racing

2 years ago

thanks for the replies, I'll still be doing this throughout today if anyone has any other recs

2 years ago

Luigi's Mansion

2 years ago

(BTW glad to see another Static-X fan! The Only was a song I've listened to way too much, haha)

2 years ago

same here!! wisconsin death trip was one of those albums I originally heard as a kid and getting more into metal. once I'm home from work I'll do my lm ost writeup; that was another one of my favs from when I was young

2 years ago

Klonoa 2
Jet Set Radio
Kingdom Farts

2 years ago

Yakuza 5

2 years ago

done done and done

2 years ago

Sonic Adventure 2: Battle

2 years ago

Strider (2014)

2 years ago

Karous

2 years ago

Sin and Punishment

2 years ago

done done done and done

2 years ago

The Adventures of Batman & Robin (Genesis)
Batman: The Video Game (Genesis)

Also side note, I love the unorthodox final boss song from Y5, fits so well for some reason, that soaring guitar

2 years ago

FURI, Journey, and Trails of Cold Steel II.

2 years ago

Kao the Kangaroo (the first game)

2 years ago

I'm pretty sure one of the versions of Make Believe in Klonoa 2 is unused. I think it's a great fit for the Burton-esque atmosphere while also fitting in well with the deliberately manufactured feel of the area. People should talk about it more.

2 years ago

super mario bros

2 years ago

sorry for taking so long with this, yesterday ended up being pretty hectic for me. should be caught up on all the recs now tho!

2 years ago

hotline miami
the world ends with you 🤝

2 years ago

Bro no worries for speed at all, it's only a list after all.

Summon Night: Swordcraft Story

2 years ago

I guess Swordcraft Story's music was taken off of youtube so here's a link https://downloads.khinsider.com/game-soundtracks/album/summon-night-swordcraft-story-craft-sword-monogatari

2 years ago

Mega Man X

2 years ago

Thanks for updating! For some more out there requests, how about Gimmick! and Plok?

2 years ago

Cotton Fantastic Night Dreams (PC Engine version): https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL8x7wHq_i5DctiuY9gVI9IaJl4_UzKJA8

Yakuza: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLU_iZ-e4vsqzpu5vfvc6DyxlzLDmY9pKZ

Yakuza 2: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLg10XkQAvVGAhX_qktf20gLzS_WNpDvWn

F-Zero X: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLC0EEC2951F7155F3 (you should listen to F-Zero X Guitar Arrange Edition too)

Puyo Puyo (Genesis/Arcade): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YXAiZNMowJM

Madou Monogatari 1-2-3 (MSX2): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6Nhbs2aTYM

Sonic Adventure: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvNp0Boas722L8qX0VsBhaI8s0a9k4Umr

Sonic 06': https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvNp0Boas723k0aBhOnIBp1cYAp8S89i7


Sorry for all the requests! I guess it's your fault for writing interesting notes... haha I'm so funny. Feel free to take your time.

2 years ago

Just curious: do you prefer the HD version of the Kingdom Hearts ost or the original? No, this is not me requesting you rank that one too. Just curious.

2 years ago

i suppose the HD one, since I've never played the original. are there important differences between them i should check out?

also I'm still way behind but i did at least get your requests done @bendy... two of my favs!

2 years ago

Celeste

2 years ago

Der Langrisser


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