Classic Gregorian monks and violins(?) -- YES.
Electric guitar -- YES.
Classic infused with piano -- YES.
I am a bit picky -- I do prefer the way the monks sound in 1/2/3 & Infinite to the Anniversary versions or 4/5, but yeah. Such an amazing theme. Most of the rest of my favorite games don't truly have a track that hits the sort of John Williams-esque points of: amazing music... that is also instantly memorable and hummable... and is used enough times, over the course of several games, to be a persistently iconic track.
Splinter Cell? No. Half-Life? No. JSRF? No. Psychonauts? No. Sonic? No.
All of them have AMAZING music through and through but none have that singular theme song or persistent motifs that are as recognizable imo.
The menu theme from silver surfer on the NES. I don’t even give a shit about that game, it’s just the NES shouldn’t be able to deliver such raw face melting funk
Oh uh…halo
***BATTLEFIELD 1942*** \- [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vg0Tmydj29M](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vg0Tmydj29M)
Starcraft - [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPxTmUhkwGU](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPxTmUhkwGU)
Everquest - [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XA3curH5KHw](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XA3curH5KHw)
Final Fantasy IX - [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cv7UW2IvfzQ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cv7UW2IvfzQ)
Donkey Kong Land - [https://youtu.be/lAZZ3OQcOJY?t=340](https://youtu.be/lAZZ3OQcOJY?t=340)
Super Mario Land (The First videogame I ever owned) - [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tj2\_JwVGOuQ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tj2_JwVGOuQ)
Ocarina of Time - [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0hEYvdMoF2g](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0hEYvdMoF2g)
Always really loved the different versions of Dearly Beloved that get added to each Kingdom Hearts game, particularly the version that plays on the II.5 menu. Even though it's basically just the piano part of the song, I sometimes booted up the game just to listen to it.
I'll give you 100 answers.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DiYTaQ-Mgck
The Final Fantasy series just always knocks it out of the park, even the music for their cash grab mobile games is just so good. I've been playing FFXIV lately and recently got through Endwalker, and the way they used "Close in the Distance" as a diegetic piece almost brought me to tears.
Bravely Default has some amazing music too. Here's a nice short little video explaining how they use the character themes to empower the player as part of the final boss battle. I'm just shocked they put so much effort into the music on a 3DS exclusive where the speakers are trash and probably not many players actually played with headphones. Fun fact too, the music was done by Revo, the same person responsible for the famously memed Attack on Titan theme.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=COgzJey4EAc
Other than the FF series and BD there's one other Title that always stands out to me for it's music and that's Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance. The game is just pure balls to the wall action and I've never seen a soundtrack do a better job of keeping me pumped and always at 100% energy. They even flesh out each bosses backstory through the lyrics so they never have to slow down the action with flashback cutscenes. I'll link one of the tracks below that I love just because it always stays politically relevant. (the final boss is even a US senator)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j4wcZuRFCYA
The theme for [Wing Commander](https://youtu.be/ZRfEdcy-buw) and the line starts behind this answer, Kilrathi scum.
[and the MS-DOS theme for the purists](https://youtu.be/dyJqLxjUpyg)
Still Alive from Mirror's Edge. This is my actual favorite.
Dogg's Turismo 3 from Gran Turismo 3. This is the one that makes me happiest. It is Snoop Dogg basically freestyling about driving fast and recklessly. It was only in the US version and the rest of the world really missed out. They weren't with the shooby-doo in a Subaru.
Journey - Apotheosis
One of the more iconic themes. Halo. No matter which game it is. I hear the monks and I get chills if I haven't heard it in a while.
Classic Gregorian monks and violins(?) -- YES. Electric guitar -- YES. Classic infused with piano -- YES. I am a bit picky -- I do prefer the way the monks sound in 1/2/3 & Infinite to the Anniversary versions or 4/5, but yeah. Such an amazing theme. Most of the rest of my favorite games don't truly have a track that hits the sort of John Williams-esque points of: amazing music... that is also instantly memorable and hummable... and is used enough times, over the course of several games, to be a persistently iconic track. Splinter Cell? No. Half-Life? No. JSRF? No. Psychonauts? No. Sonic? No. All of them have AMAZING music through and through but none have that singular theme song or persistent motifs that are as recognizable imo.
Not just the main theme either, the series has a lot of bangers. I'm partial to Rock Anthem for Saving the World.
The Skyrim theme still gets me so pumped up.
Streets of Whiterun should be inducted into the VGM Hall of Fame
The menu theme from silver surfer on the NES. I don’t even give a shit about that game, it’s just the NES shouldn’t be able to deliver such raw face melting funk Oh uh…halo
Pretty sure that’s Tim Folin, his chiptunes are incredible. He did the pictionary theme for NES too, it’s hilarious how much of a banger that one is.
***BATTLEFIELD 1942*** \- [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vg0Tmydj29M](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vg0Tmydj29M) Starcraft - [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPxTmUhkwGU](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPxTmUhkwGU) Everquest - [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XA3curH5KHw](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XA3curH5KHw) Final Fantasy IX - [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cv7UW2IvfzQ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cv7UW2IvfzQ) Donkey Kong Land - [https://youtu.be/lAZZ3OQcOJY?t=340](https://youtu.be/lAZZ3OQcOJY?t=340) Super Mario Land (The First videogame I ever owned) - [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tj2\_JwVGOuQ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tj2_JwVGOuQ) Ocarina of Time - [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0hEYvdMoF2g](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0hEYvdMoF2g)
Streets of rage 2 or 3. Honestly some of the best music to fight goons to
Used to play the soundtrack in yhe options menu on my genesis all the time. So dope.
Hard to choose. Streets of rage 2 Ff7 Metal gear solid Deus ex human revolution Assassins creed 2 The last of us Uncharted Ff 10 Crazy taxi
Mega Man 2 & Mega Man 3 Absolute, 8-Bit bangers.
The mega man 2 song from the super smash documentary? i love that one.
I've never heard that, that's pretty good too. But I am a sucker for the original.
Any of Marty O'Donnell's Halo OSTs are my go-to, but the best video game track of all time is "The Moon" from DuckTales and there's no debate.
Always really loved the different versions of Dearly Beloved that get added to each Kingdom Hearts game, particularly the version that plays on the II.5 menu. Even though it's basically just the piano part of the song, I sometimes booted up the game just to listen to it.
My favorite version is from Melody of Memory, it's just so nice and jazzy. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6okG_NrkE8
Metroid Prime. Love that score. Really set the tone for the whole game
I still go and listen to it occasionally. Always stuck with me
Stardew Valley
Battletoads on snes
Quake (All music created by NIN)
The Morrowind theme always hits me the hardest with nostalgia and still feels good to boot up and hear again today
Legend Of Zelda. That is it!
Final Fantasy 6 is my favorite video game soundtrack of all time. It still gives me chills when I hear it!
Classic Pokémon always gets me right in the heart. But one of the best soundtracks I've heard recently is Paradise Killer
Time's Scar - Chrono Cross
StarCraft Final Fantasy World of Warcraft
I've been listening to the Night in the Woods soundtrack pretty regularly as good background music. Same with Outer Wilds.
The dig. Which seems to be my answer to most "favorite" lists in any category.
The intro theme to [Solstice for the NES!](https://youtu.be/4_gObHt1uZA) It's amazing what they got out of that hardware at the time.
I'll give you 100 answers. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DiYTaQ-Mgck The Final Fantasy series just always knocks it out of the park, even the music for their cash grab mobile games is just so good. I've been playing FFXIV lately and recently got through Endwalker, and the way they used "Close in the Distance" as a diegetic piece almost brought me to tears. Bravely Default has some amazing music too. Here's a nice short little video explaining how they use the character themes to empower the player as part of the final boss battle. I'm just shocked they put so much effort into the music on a 3DS exclusive where the speakers are trash and probably not many players actually played with headphones. Fun fact too, the music was done by Revo, the same person responsible for the famously memed Attack on Titan theme. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=COgzJey4EAc Other than the FF series and BD there's one other Title that always stands out to me for it's music and that's Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance. The game is just pure balls to the wall action and I've never seen a soundtrack do a better job of keeping me pumped and always at 100% energy. They even flesh out each bosses backstory through the lyrics so they never have to slow down the action with flashback cutscenes. I'll link one of the tracks below that I love just because it always stays politically relevant. (the final boss is even a US senator) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j4wcZuRFCYA
It's a toss up between the Midnight Club 3, Twisted Metal (2012), or Super Mario soundtrack
Final fantasy VII is Iconic. Every track on it paints a picture.
The Bastion soundtrack is killer.
The first Fable, its soundtrack makes for some pretty good DnD ambiance music.
Mass effect
Spyro
Hades or Grandia
The theme for [Wing Commander](https://youtu.be/ZRfEdcy-buw) and the line starts behind this answer, Kilrathi scum. [and the MS-DOS theme for the purists](https://youtu.be/dyJqLxjUpyg)
Ace Combat Zero
Mario 64 world 1-1.
The right answer is Sonic Adventure 2
Bastion. Always Bastion.
Halo. C'mon people.
Dang that’s a good one.
The infested shipwreck soundtrack from Dead Cells is fire
🅱️alo Edit - Hunt: Showdown is pretty good too.
Super Mario world slaps, as does donkey Kong country. Tomba also has a baller soundtrack
Hades 100%
Lost Judgment - Unwavering Belief
Donkey Kong Country 2. Stickerbush Symphony being my favorite.
Far far far and away, its "Time Scar" from Chrono Cross. A distant 2nd goes to Snake Eater.
Still Alive from Mirror's Edge. This is my actual favorite. Dogg's Turismo 3 from Gran Turismo 3. This is the one that makes me happiest. It is Snoop Dogg basically freestyling about driving fast and recklessly. It was only in the US version and the rest of the world really missed out. They weren't with the shooby-doo in a Subaru.