What is the greatest soundtrack in the history of gaming?

Hmm... somehow I missed this thread.

 

djslapdash said:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LB7LZZGpkw - Silent Hill 2, Theme Of Laura

 

I'm glad to see someone mention this.  They may not be the epic, sweeping orchestral scores that some games have, but I've always been a big fan of Akira Yamaoka's gritty Silent Hill music.  Theme of Laura is definitely a personal favourite, both the regular OST version (which you posted) and the early trailer version...

 

 

Another of my favourites - also from Silent Hill 2 - is Promise...

 

 

I also loved the music in the first game but in a different kind of way.  The original Silent Hill had a very "industrial" soundtrack.  It used a lot of metallic, scraping, clanging sounds... that sort of thing.  I recall there being times when I wasn't sure if what I was hearing was music or something in my environment.  It was part of what made the game itself so damned creepy.

Remember going down that alleyway looking for Cheryl?  This is from that part where you're trying to find your way around with just a lighter to see with and you get attacked by those demon children things.  It's from about 1:40 to the end...

 

 

Remember that moment when you unlock the back door of the house on Levin Street (the one that takes three keys to open)?  There's that great moment when you step out into the back yard and suddenly everything goes dark.  To this day, this music makes my hair stand on end...

 

 

 

djslapdash said:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXfuAp4vxCA - Streets of Rage, Fighting in the streets

 

Yuzo Koshiro!  Another of my favourites!  Well, except for Streets of Rage 3 - I really don't know what went wrong there.  But otherwise, he made some of the best music for the time.

Keep the Groovin' - Streets of Rage...

 

 

Long Distance - Revenge of Shinobi...

 

 

Chinatown - Revenge of Shinobi...

 

 

In fact, I love those 16-bit chiptunes in general.  It's always impressed me how they were able to synthesize such catchy music with what was, in retrospect, extremely weak hardware.  Here are some more of my old favourites...

The Grubby Dark Blue - Thunder Force 3...

 

 

Back to the Fire - Thunder Force 3...

 

 

Flugelheim Museum - Batman...

 

 

Gotham City Streets 1 - Batman...

 

 

Gotham City Streets 2 - Batman...

 

 

After Burner Theme - After Burner 2...

 

 

Um... yeah... I could go on almost indefinitely but this is already too long so I'll leave it at that.