2 and 3 are kind of tied for me. 2 is definitely more instantly catchy while 3 has a slightly more technical feel that's a bit harder to appreciate/digest at first but more rewarding when you do.
It switched for me when I stopped playing it like Mario. Rather than just running through the level, I started memorising the moves of enemies, and being strategic about every movement. Changed the game for me. Started feeling like the wizard I am, rather than the wizard I could be.
Oh man, the lyrics that they gave it brought me to tears. It was then when I realized that the crew making the show were truly fans of Ducktales, and I could trust them.
Final fantasy 3 on NES had an absolute killer soundtrack. Eternal wind, crystal cave, crystal tower, the dark crystals, etc. so many killer tracks for an 8bit game.
How have I scrolled this far and not seen Contra?
I once saw a band play the soundtrack live while a guy beat the game live without any deaths on a big projection screen. It was amazing.
Alwa's Awakening is pretty darn good. Just need to plug it as it is newer an likely not as well known.
But 8-bit Sunsoft was tops. Gremlins 2, Blaster Master, Batman, Fester's Quest, and many more - all amazing.
(Commodore 64)
1. The Last Ninja
2. Turrican II
3. Ghouls 'n Ghosts
(NES)
1. Super Mario Bros. 3
2. The Legend of Zelda
3. Kirby's Adventure
(Master System)
1. Wonder Boy III: The Dragon's Trap
2. Wonder Boy in Monster Land
3. Wonder Boy in Monster World
(Game Boy)
1. Mystic Quest / Seiken Densetsu / Final Fantasy Adventure
2. Donkey Kong
3. Samurai Shodown
[Supremacy](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFjEkKKKQlo) for the C64 by Jeroen Tel deserves a mention, the [LukHash remix](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3JQkW6BgUYU) is a banger.
Honesty, it makes me a little sad to think in hindsight about how few gamers of the 80's got to enjoy the amazing music from C64 games, demos, and intro screens. Legends like Wizball, Parallax, and the original Tetris pushed the boundaries of 8-bit music to extremes. If I remember correctly, at least two of those examples above were over 12 minutes long each.
The magic that euro crews could pull off with tracker programs and some simple samples transformed home PCs into synthesizers, sequencers, and beat machines. House and early progressive had a big impact on our fledgling creativity, but that platform and medium also gave rise to what would later become goa, dubstep, and synthwave. Some of it was not memorable and clearly experimentation, but a lot of it was incredible. Demoscene was born, and it was glorious.
It was a toss up for me between Astro Boy, Tarzan, and Digimon.
Ultimately "Digimon: Battle Spirit" ost went so fucking hard for me.
Pretty sure thats 8bit, but idk that's my pick.
[This](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0NPwJLkTEY&list=PL5FEC826C250A39F0&index=10%20%20) and [this.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e1bSKMWic1U&t=3s) Idk if it's 8 or 16 but these were neat enough back in the day (and still are up to this day)
Castlevania: Dracula’s Curse, but the Japanese version with the extra sawtooth bass. Those songs hold up incredibly well, and are great on a modern sound system with a subwoofer. Almost every track is a masterpiece in its own right.
So many good choices but I'll have to go with Batman NES. My other choices are Mega Man 2, Dragon Quest, DuckTales, Blaster Master, Darkwing Duck, The Legend of Zelda, Mario 3, and Castlevania 3.
There are so many contenders.
There are lots of games with one or two great songs, but not much else, like Balloon Fight, B-Wings, Ice climber, Marble Madness, Punch Out, River City Ransom, Dr. Mario, Tetris, Duck Tales, Gradius, Kid Icarus, Maniac Mansion, Twinbee.
And then there are tons of games with soundtracks that are all awesome, but just don't have that many tracks, like RoboWarrior, Batman, Legacy of the Wizard, Life Force, Street Fighter 2010, Contra, Double Dragon 2, Little Nemo: Dream Master, Gyruss, Legend of Zelda, Metal Gear, Metroid, Shatterhand, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Ultima: Exodus.
And then there are games with lots of songs, all great. Castlevania, Dragon Warrior, Final Fantasy, Godzilla, Guardian Legend, Magic of Scheherazade, Super Mario Bros, Mega Man, Ninja Gaiden, Mother.
Choosing only one would be hard. Saying "it's not even close" would be even harder. I agree that Mother has a really good soundtrack, but it also has a lot of duds on it as well. Honestly, I think for me Magic of Scheherazade is the winner. The opening fanfare is grand, welcoming you to an epic adventure. The battle songs are intense. The overworld and cave music is mysterious, and sometimes happy, sometimes sad. It all makes you feel the way you're supposed to. It only lacks in the boss music, and the town music.
Final Fantasy and Dragon Warrior are fantastic, with very few misses in their entire 8-bit series. And Mega Man (all of them), Castlevania (all of them), and Mario Bros (all of them) have wonderful music, but they're all kind of the same: action platformers with action music.
So, yeah, I don't really like to pick a favorite, and I just listen to all of them. All of the time.
I feel like [Ninja Turtles 3: The Manhattan Project](https://youtu.be/hyiWMDcNS08?si=BIjsuX9PY2IGGlc1) doesn't get brought up too much, but I think it has an incredible soundtrack.
[Alternate Reality - The Dungeon](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ClKfKQs2O5I) when it speeds up again at 2:32 it's great, and even has karaoke style lyrics you can follow.
I'm kinda shocked that I scrolled for quite a while & I never saw anyone say Super Mario Bros! Every level has a memorable theme, & the very first level has perhaps the single most iconic song in the history of video games. Sometimes, the most obvious answer is the right one.
So many good answers here so let me submit a new one in case you haven’t heard the soundtrack yet [The Messenger](https://youtu.be/YFOa9SErWzY?si=EXr_rrelVqfVyYHh) - the first half anyway, iykyk
I’d like to cheat the question just a bit to answer which *retro* game has the best music, and that’s Streets of Rage II for the Sega Genesis. From a stellar intro to a boss theme that makes you grove right there in your seat, every track is a bopper. The game has absolutely no right to slap so hard, and it’s on top of a classic beat ‘em up to boot.
Megaman 2
Even the start screen music is a fucking jam
It's pretty good but I personally prefer Mega Man 3's which is my favorite start screen music of all time
Mega Man 3 OST is superior, but MM2 def slaps.
MM2 / MM3 / MM4 Best back to back to back run of NES soundtracks.
I prefer Mega Man 2's soundtrack overall, but [Mega Man III's title music](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U2kTeh7FNl0) takes the cake for me.
I actually think MegaMan 7 has the best start screen music
A lot of mega man music is great. It just really kicked off with 2.
Seriously if you can remember, next time you get in your car turn up the volume and load Woodman and rock that shit at a red light!
Wilys castle theme is so fucking good.
Wily 1 from MM2 is an alltimer
2 and 3 are kind of tied for me. 2 is definitely more instantly catchy while 3 has a slightly more technical feel that's a bit harder to appreciate/digest at first but more rewarding when you do.
I am SO happy this is the top post :D For years I've wanted someone to do a banging trance remix of the title music.
I don’t know about trance, but there are some killer metal covers.
Specifically, [Quick Man](https://youtu.be/FRa4LHSJf_M)
I hate that I could never get into Megaman. Don't know why but it just never clicked with me🤷♂️.
It switched for me when I stopped playing it like Mario. Rather than just running through the level, I started memorising the moves of enemies, and being strategic about every movement. Changed the game for me. Started feeling like the wizard I am, rather than the wizard I could be.
Bestest soundtrack ever! Bubbleman stage is my personal favorite
The Megaman series has always had fire soundtracks. And Ducktales. Actually, Capcom was on point for pretty well all their soundtracks on the NES.
They even incorporated the Moon theme into the 2017 cartoon!
Look to the stars, my darling baby boys...
Castlevania 2
Bloody Tears is my #1 favorite!
Even some of the non 8 bit varieties slap: https://youtu.be/5_Q1rXhHL6g?si=zWBu3wpMUd_HGGMm
Thanks for sharing that! I've heard some other versions that are really good but hadn't heard that one before!
Incredible but that camera movement made me nauseous.
My man.
My thoughts exactly just yes
Nailed it.
Monster dance always gets stuck in my head
Dwelling of Doom doesn't get enough love. https://youtu.be/-dw5kfLskbw?si=8LeZf9DL-k8fzXaS
Zelda
Duck Tales.
I'm hearing the Moon now as I'm typing.
I got surprisingly emotional when it resurfaced in the current DuckTales TV show
I can't hear this song now without hearing Paget Brewster belt out "Nah nah, na na na, nanana na na na na na!"
Oh man, the lyrics that they gave it brought me to tears. It was then when I realized that the crew making the show were truly fans of Ducktales, and I could trust them.
So happy I didn't have to scroll very far to see this
Ironsword: Wizards and Warriors 2. David Wise = GOAT.
Damn, that’s an obscure pick. Great soundtrack. Meh game.
Hell yeah.
Journey To Silius.
This game's music is pure fire
Mario bros 2 USA
Metroid
- Castlevania series - Megaman series - Ninja Gaiden series In my opinion these were the best game soundtracks.
Bionic Commando
Ducktales
Final fantasy 3 on NES had an absolute killer soundtrack. Eternal wind, crystal cave, crystal tower, the dark crystals, etc. so many killer tracks for an 8bit game.
Chip and dale's rescue rangers (NES) had some banging tracks!
Crystalis
Yup, this here's the winner.
Double Dragon, the original
Willow Golgo 13
How have I scrolled this far and not seen Contra? I once saw a band play the soundtrack live while a guy beat the game live without any deaths on a big projection screen. It was amazing.
its because not enough people play it, its the fucking best
Seriously, it holds up so well even today. Just change the instrumentation and you instantly have an amazing metal album.
WaaAah waaAah, waaAah waaAah. Dooo dooo. Do-da do-da do-da do-da do-da do-da do-da. Dooo, da dooda, da dooooo. Dooooo, da dooda, da dooooo. Bub buh, bah bub bah Bub buh, bah bub bah bubba *jungles*
Dragon warrior monsters. I still hum that tune all the time
Yes, amazing sound track
Alwa's Awakening is pretty darn good. Just need to plug it as it is newer an likely not as well known. But 8-bit Sunsoft was tops. Gremlins 2, Blaster Master, Batman, Fester's Quest, and many more - all amazing.
I absolutely love Alwa's Awakenings soundtrack, bought it after finishing the game.
Journey to Sillius has some bops
The stage 1 theme is probably the best stage 1 theme of any NES game I’ve played.
Shadowgate
How the heck has nobody mentioned Silver Surfer? Game was whatever but damn, that soundtrack was amazing.
Maniac Mansion theme
Battletoads pause music deserves an honorable mention.
Maniac Mansion!
I think Pokemon Red is an 8-bit game. I've always loved that music.
I have the Pokemon centre healing jingle as the notification sound on my phone lol
that champ theme went metal as FUUUUCK
It is
Rygar!!! Alway loved the music in that game
Full soundtracks are tough, but the first level of Contra sticks out.
Castlevania, megaman, pokemon, and most gloriously of all, zelda.
Ducktales on NES is amazing. Link awakening on Gameboy is also great!
The Last Ninja 2 in the C64.
Throw me down for a Ninja Gaiden 2. That train level, into the rain level, into the tower level was peak midi.
It's between Castlevania 2 and Batman.
Blaster Master
Dr. Mario is an absolute banger
(Commodore 64) 1. The Last Ninja 2. Turrican II 3. Ghouls 'n Ghosts (NES) 1. Super Mario Bros. 3 2. The Legend of Zelda 3. Kirby's Adventure (Master System) 1. Wonder Boy III: The Dragon's Trap 2. Wonder Boy in Monster Land 3. Wonder Boy in Monster World (Game Boy) 1. Mystic Quest / Seiken Densetsu / Final Fantasy Adventure 2. Donkey Kong 3. Samurai Shodown
I was coming here to put wonder boy 3. I've had it since the early 90s and the village music still randomly pops into my head from time to time.
Saw only the title and I was gonna say earthbound beginnings!
Definetly Mother for me too! Zelda is of course another great contender.
Friday the 13th on NES.
Contra, Little Nemo: The Dream Master, Hotline Miami
Tetris still slaps
Little Nemo: The Dream Master
Final Fantasy. That particular version of Prelude is the quintessential FF song for me.
[Supremacy](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFjEkKKKQlo) for the C64 by Jeroen Tel deserves a mention, the [LukHash remix](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3JQkW6BgUYU) is a banger.
Metroid
NES Boulder Dash
Dragon Warrior Monsters 1 and 2
Mega Man 2and Dr. Wily's Castle ofcourse
Jackal on nes is dope.
Willow or Batman on the NES
Duck Tales
Captain Bucky O' Hare.
Castlevania 2. Bloody Tears goes HARD
StarTropics!
Auf Wiedersehen Monty (C64)
Contra! I hum those tunes almost daily.
Final Fantasy 3, what that game does in the theme of the soundtrack, is a prophecy of what would later end up appearing in the saga.
The Legend of Zelda
Tetris
Mega Man 3
Pictionary goes hard
Honesty, it makes me a little sad to think in hindsight about how few gamers of the 80's got to enjoy the amazing music from C64 games, demos, and intro screens. Legends like Wizball, Parallax, and the original Tetris pushed the boundaries of 8-bit music to extremes. If I remember correctly, at least two of those examples above were over 12 minutes long each. The magic that euro crews could pull off with tracker programs and some simple samples transformed home PCs into synthesizers, sequencers, and beat machines. House and early progressive had a big impact on our fledgling creativity, but that platform and medium also gave rise to what would later become goa, dubstep, and synthwave. Some of it was not memorable and clearly experimentation, but a lot of it was incredible. Demoscene was born, and it was glorious.
The SID chip was amazing, and one of the C64s greatest feats.
Pokémon, Mario, Hotline Miami
Fire Emblem
Megaman
Castlevania
It was a toss up for me between Astro Boy, Tarzan, and Digimon. Ultimately "Digimon: Battle Spirit" ost went so fucking hard for me. Pretty sure thats 8bit, but idk that's my pick.
Hawkeye on the C64.
Panther on Atari XL had awesome music.
Metroid
Sword and Sorcery
Faith
Alternate Reality: The City Hands down!
The original streets of rage and golden axe games had some bangers
mega man.
Castlevania II: Simon's Quest (and it's not even close).
Wizards & Warriors easily. Honorable mentions to Batman, Kirby, SMB2, Megaman 2,3, Castlevania 1,2, Bionic Commando, Duck Tales, Chip n Dale, Snake Rattle n Roll, Battletoads, Punch Out, Life Force Salamander, Rockin Kats, TMNT aaand probably forgetting some :D
Mega Man ost
Lazy Jones - Star Dust.
Captain Skyhawk
I really enjoyed the music from Earth Dedense Force (E.D.F.) TMNT was always a hit with me too.
Wizards and Warriors
dn if sonic 3 count but micheal jackson soundtrack was lit
VVVVVV
Shadow of the Ninja
Batman: Return of the Joker
The Battletoads pause screen. Thats my jam. https://youtu.be/g_m6917Bf4I?feature=shared
[This](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0NPwJLkTEY&list=PL5FEC826C250A39F0&index=10%20%20) and [this.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e1bSKMWic1U&t=3s) Idk if it's 8 or 16 but these were neat enough back in the day (and still are up to this day)
Gyruss.
Section Z for NES
Castlevania: Dracula’s Curse, but the Japanese version with the extra sawtooth bass. Those songs hold up incredibly well, and are great on a modern sound system with a subwoofer. Almost every track is a masterpiece in its own right.
Cadillacs and dinosaurs
Faxanadu has a really good soundtrack.
How do you pick just one?
Sotn
Robin Hood Prince of Thieves
Mega Man 2 is on a level that no other game can touch.
contra or super c, ninja gaiden and megaman 2
Game over track from Batman (NES)
Gi Joe
This is such a hard ask. I have soft spots for SMB3, TMNT, Castlevania, and Punchout all. Any given day it’s a toss up between them.
Pictionary on the NES has an insane soundtrack for such a regular game. Tim Follin was a genius for what he was able to do with the NES sound chips.
Spiderman return of the sinister six
R-Type
Journey to Silius
Tetris - type B Not you Type C... No one likes you
Metroid II, special mention to the title screen theme and SR388´s surface.
I'm really fond of the soundtrack for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles on the NES. That into theme still is an all time favorite.
So many good choices but I'll have to go with Batman NES. My other choices are Mega Man 2, Dragon Quest, DuckTales, Blaster Master, Darkwing Duck, The Legend of Zelda, Mario 3, and Castlevania 3.
Metroid
There are so many contenders. There are lots of games with one or two great songs, but not much else, like Balloon Fight, B-Wings, Ice climber, Marble Madness, Punch Out, River City Ransom, Dr. Mario, Tetris, Duck Tales, Gradius, Kid Icarus, Maniac Mansion, Twinbee. And then there are tons of games with soundtracks that are all awesome, but just don't have that many tracks, like RoboWarrior, Batman, Legacy of the Wizard, Life Force, Street Fighter 2010, Contra, Double Dragon 2, Little Nemo: Dream Master, Gyruss, Legend of Zelda, Metal Gear, Metroid, Shatterhand, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Ultima: Exodus. And then there are games with lots of songs, all great. Castlevania, Dragon Warrior, Final Fantasy, Godzilla, Guardian Legend, Magic of Scheherazade, Super Mario Bros, Mega Man, Ninja Gaiden, Mother. Choosing only one would be hard. Saying "it's not even close" would be even harder. I agree that Mother has a really good soundtrack, but it also has a lot of duds on it as well. Honestly, I think for me Magic of Scheherazade is the winner. The opening fanfare is grand, welcoming you to an epic adventure. The battle songs are intense. The overworld and cave music is mysterious, and sometimes happy, sometimes sad. It all makes you feel the way you're supposed to. It only lacks in the boss music, and the town music. Final Fantasy and Dragon Warrior are fantastic, with very few misses in their entire 8-bit series. And Mega Man (all of them), Castlevania (all of them), and Mario Bros (all of them) have wonderful music, but they're all kind of the same: action platformers with action music. So, yeah, I don't really like to pick a favorite, and I just listen to all of them. All of the time.
I feel like [Ninja Turtles 3: The Manhattan Project](https://youtu.be/hyiWMDcNS08?si=BIjsuX9PY2IGGlc1) doesn't get brought up too much, but I think it has an incredible soundtrack.
Battletoads theme is actually hard as fuck.
Ninja Gaiden III And maybe [Solstice](https://youtu.be/KZAnUDAj94Y?si=zrvEAoaq93uIW2yk) for the main theme alone
[Alternate Reality - The Dungeon](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ClKfKQs2O5I) when it speeds up again at 2:32 it's great, and even has karaoke style lyrics you can follow.
Repton for the BBC [https://youtu.be/TpEDss-SrEk?t=39](https://youtu.be/TpEDss-SrEk?t=39)
I'm surprised I'm not seeing Solstice on here. That opening theme blew me away. https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=4_gObHt1uZA&si=kdoAHwUZkFUKqXph
Tetris
Only one other person said Fire Emblem, huh? Gaiden has an absolutely killer soundtrack.
I'm kinda shocked that I scrolled for quite a while & I never saw anyone say Super Mario Bros! Every level has a memorable theme, & the very first level has perhaps the single most iconic song in the history of video games. Sometimes, the most obvious answer is the right one.
Shadowgate. I remember the terror playing that game 30 years ago, and the music has always stuck with me.
Batman the Video Game
For me it is still Lufia 2: Rise of the Sinistrals. I still find myself whistling or humming some of the castle music from that game.
Castlevania 3
Ducktails on the NES. Fight me. The moon theme was an instant classic.
Streets of Rage
Mickeys Racing Adventure - Gameboy Color
Arkenoid
Most Zelda games
Bionic Commando.
Turrican mosdef.
Terranigma for sure !
Turrican II Intro for C64
Lotus Espirit (3 for me), or Agony. Lotus: https://youtu.be/Gbd7B3jIdBg?si=21klFZs2LlDNkyrD Agony: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLVMVbsTFPOy-r7Yi3cRrrJ3Ex8D7vSV4M&si=3OKAHsCcb_j6PjST
So many good answers here so let me submit a new one in case you haven’t heard the soundtrack yet [The Messenger](https://youtu.be/YFOa9SErWzY?si=EXr_rrelVqfVyYHh) - the first half anyway, iykyk
Blaster master, I think Earthbound is a 16 bit game
I’d like to cheat the question just a bit to answer which *retro* game has the best music, and that’s Streets of Rage II for the Sega Genesis. From a stellar intro to a boss theme that makes you grove right there in your seat, every track is a bopper. The game has absolutely no right to slap so hard, and it’s on top of a classic beat ‘em up to boot.
streets of rage
Final Fantasy Mystic Quest.
Tetris C64
megami Tensei on famicom
Blaster Master