Day 1: Title screen music
Halo - Main Theme
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g6T5WHpKK-E

I'm not a big fan of shooters generally and have no great nostalgia for Halo, but the main title screen of Halo 1 is an all-time classic.

Day 2: Opening level music
Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow - Pitch Black Intrusion
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zNRDHbT-sGs

I can't explain why the first stage theme in Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow stuck with me so much. It was my first Castlevania game but I didn't particularly get too obsessed with the game. That being said, it's a serious well known for having absolute banger tunes so it makes sense that something would resonate with me like this.

Day 3: 8-bit music
Sonic the Hedgehog (Master System) - Bridge Zone
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYJkol00JCE

My first experience playing Sonic the Hedge was the built-in game on the Master System II and I feel like it often gets forgotten about. If my hazy memory hasn't failed me, it was a pretty faithful version of the game in terms of gameplay but with unique stages and music.

Day 4: Music from a console exclusive series
Shadow of the Colossus - The Opened Way
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWB8P4jbsAA

Not sure this counts as a ""series"" but Team Ico's games all have just a distinct feel and style that I can probably put it in this category. Shadow of the Colossus had amazing music throughout, but this is the song in particular that I keep thinking back to when I'm thinking about the game.

Day 5: Hub world or overworld music
Final Fantasy VII - Main Theme
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFs8-qGaoHU

Obvious there's be at least one Final Fantasy game in any list about video game music. FF7 uses the main theme as its overworld music for the mostpart and it just makes you feel an amazing sense of adventure at the great big wide world - at least it did for me as this was my first JRPG.

Day 6: Music that makes you feel relaxed
Ace Attorney 3 - Godot's Theme
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGcyKEZtWuE

Despite all the sadness and melancholy around the character, Godot's theme is just chill as all hell.

Day 7: Music from an indie game
Undertale - Bonetrousle
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zdeZwAk6ULE

It's hard to remember sometimes that Undertale is an indie with how much it blew up and took over the internet. Anyway, this song is a real toe-tapper.

Day 8: Music from a shooter (first or third-person)
Time Crisis - Stage 2-3
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VFjoFhYiW20

I'm not sure if a lightgun shooter is really in the spirit of this one, but I couldn't go through a game music list and not give a shout out to the original Time Crisis - a game with great music and basically perfect sound design.

Day 9: Music from a licensed game
Hokuto no Ken - Fatal KO
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mVyEw2Rh0wM

It may just be a version of Ai wo Torimodose, but it's a damn good one and super satisfying after landing an instant-kill.

Day 10: RPG battle music
Resonance of Fate - Battle To Pay The Debt
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fcvrfEBrdaM

I really wish I could get into Resonance of Fate for the cool fashion and amazing battle music, but the combat system just wouldn't click for me.

Day 11: Puzzle game music
Tetris - Music A
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3ZiVn5L9vM

The Tetris music is just iconic, nothing else I need to say here.

Day 12: Music that makes you sad
Kingdom Hearts - Simple & Clean
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1nDzB1P8GM

I've never been a fan of the game but the original version of Simple & Clean is just one of those perfect songs for when you're feeling miserable.

Day 13: Music you like from a game you don't like
Final Fantasy Type-0 - What Becomes Of Us
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F4s2WYCmMH8

Final Fantasy Type-0 has a few absolutely brilliant ideas for worldbuilding that they just didn't do enough with and ends up making the bulk of the game wildly forgettable. Annoyingly, it also features possibly one of the best Final Fantasy songs from the entire series that gets completely ignored because it's from this game and not part of the main series.

Day 14: Music featuring vocals
Lunar: Silver Star Story - Fighting Through The Darkness
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xuZxfRjKm7s

Never played Lunar, probably never will. This song absolutely slaps.

Day 15: Boss battle music
Metal Gear Rising - It Has To Be This Way
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2l0RMGid6vo

Metal Gear Rising and its music have been meme'd to death unfortunately (and somewhat ironically), but the corny nu-metal-ish rock songs for the boss fights were a perfect match of tone with the game and really made the action feel intense.

Day 16: 16-bit music
Desert Strike - Main Theme
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HnkXaLmYG34

Admittedly, I has the SNES version of Desert Strike so didn't get to hear the grimy simulated guitar on the sound chip, but I gotta link to the superior version of the song here.

Day 17: Music you never get tired of
Touhou 6: Embodies of Scarlet Devil - UN Owen Was Her
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8jJZA-O_B78

Being a huge weeb in my late teens and early 20s I heard variations of this song a lot as I browsed Nico Video every day, yet I never grew tired of it. Even now, I'm always happy to see it show up in rhythm games.

Day 18: Music in a game released the year you were born
Space Harrier - Main Theme
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_Tam9lv1KQ

The obvious answer would have been Super Mario Bros, but Space Harrier's theme needs some love too!

Day 19: Cover of music by a different artist
Melty Blood Act Cadenza - The End Of 1000 Years (MintJam cover)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=khHcJvZX8Bk

Melty Blood was the king of ""poverty fighters"" (is that still the term people use?) back in the day, with gameplay and music that rivalled or bettered the more famous and high-budget fighting games. It seems to have had a bit of a burst in popularity again lately which is great. If I remember right, the band that did the cover of the song linked above ended up doing official music for a later version.

Day 20: Music from a racing game
Ridge Racer Type 4 - Your Vibe
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=za5f50e7-j0

I wanted to find a spot for wipEout 2097, but it's just an accepted truth that Ridge Racer Type 4 is the all-time king of racing game soundtracks. Rather than relying on licensed music, RRT4 kept a constant audio aesthetic that really gave the game a personality of its own.

Day 21: Music you associate with frustration
Skies of Arcadia - Battle Theme 1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8EYbUY_NnE

It's a great song for a game with a fantastic atmosphere that I wanted to love a lot, but the encounter rate was just way too high so I dropped off before the end of disc 1.

Day 22: Town/village music
Final Fantasy XI - Selbina
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qfdr70eCKTI

I didn't get very far into FF11, but with both my characters I spent a lot of time chilling in Selbina and jamming away to this banger of a song.

Day 23: Underrated music
Evil Zone - Feel The Mystical
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EBe5mCYN0BA

Evil Zone isn't a particularly well remembered fighting game, but as someone who grew up a huge anime nerd I was sure to love a game where every character was a full-on recreation of the most common 90s anime tropes. The game itself isn't much good, but the music is highly underrated.

Day 24: Music you constantly have stuck in your head
Top Ranking Tennis - Main Theme
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aKOonD8nUpU

No idea how popular this game was with Game Boy owners, but I played an absolute ton of it in car rides as a child and the main title song is legit really catchy.

Day 25: Music that gets you pumped
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Pressing Pursuit ~ Cornered
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UxnvGDK0WGM

The ""Cornered"" songs from basically every Ace Attorney game are a masterclass in how to write hype music.

Day 26: Music you like from a game you haven't played
Baldr Force EXE - Main Theme
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPoJRBNJW7o

I don't think I ever will play a Baldr Force game, but I had this song as part of a Stepmania pack and it always stuck in my head. I think the song itself gained a bit of popularity in some circles outside of the game itself.

Day 27: Music from a handheld game
Riviera: The Promised Land - Inescapable!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mqVcSL1CRHQ

Riviera is one of those hidden gem games that doesn't really get discussed much when people talk about GBA games, but everyone who has played it seems to have loved it.

Day 28: Music that makes you nostalgic
Phantasy Star Online - Pioneer 2
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vBbP7AIcbkw

PSO had so much style to it. The weird fantasy neon cyberpunk setting to the super satisfying sound effects when feeding your MAG and of course the amazing OST. I don't know why the hub area of Pioneer 2 sounded like it was angry at you, but it sounded great and the song brings back so many memories of my teenage years playing this.

Day 29: Final boss music
Guilty Gear X - Awe of She
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9LtKHiVRCw

I don't really think of fighting games as having ""final bosses"" as they're short arcade runs normally, but this is as good a place as any to include this song. It's got a surprisingly long build-up for a genre where matches can be over in 30-40 seconds but that just makes the awesome guitar and synth hit so much more satisfying.

Day 30: Credits music
NieR Automata - Weight of the World / the End of YoRHa
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ag7EEGEViAw

If you've finished Route [E] of NieR: Automata you'll know why this song is important, especially when the chorus comes in.