Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory used the DJ Amon Tobin for their soundtrack. I like the idea of selecting a known artist to take on the task. It was pretty good and fit the game. Also, not the greatest but I will never get some of the songs from Zelda: Ocinara of Time out of my head. Its that Kokiri Forest song and sorry for getting it stuck into your heads, heheheh!
I'd have to agree with Final Fantasy X, every now and then I listen to the "Enemy Assault", "Hurry" and the Besaid theme lol, those three make me want to go play the game again. Final Fantasy XIII is looking to have a great soundtrack.
EDIT: Oh yeah and GTA: Vice City had a great soundtrack too, still love the music and radio stations in that game. San Andreas too but you have to be in to that type of music to enjoy it lol.
http://www.destructoid.com/final-fantasy-vi-s-dancing-mad-a-critical-analysis-157570.phtml One reason why Final Fantasy VI's soundtrack is not only the best in the series but one of, if not the, best in gaming. Many pieces were more than just music, they told a story.
For most memorable and not neccessarily favourite, I'd have to say Far Cry 2. As soon as I read the title I got that drum beat from the loading screen stuck in my head, and the african singing in the background as you drive across the plains in your technical, really hits the nail on the head for me.
I'm going to try and narrow it down to 5, maybe a few more.
1 - The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past -I would arguably state this as the quintessential game soundtrack. Sure, there are plenty of games with memorable music, but I swear that the prime themes of A Link to the Past should be scored tops. Why? Well, when OoT was released, the main complaint that I was hearing, and this was from word of mouth and not from publications, was, "where's the Zelda music?" Now if a game that is more often than not considered the best game ever made, why are die hard Zelda fans upset that it didn't more faithfully recreate ALPs music? I mean, c'mon, OoT had some beautiful music as well, so what's the problem. I think it's just a testament to how perfectly implemented the music is[ALP that is]. Even the classic Zelda sound effects somehow fit in with the music, almost to the point of becoming part of the score. Simple but brilliant.
2 - Super Mario 64 - Another thing about this list I should add is that if it's on it, it's also on my ipod. As for Super Mario 64, I'd almost go as far as saying that this is the strongest on the list, as a whole. It's very apparent that a lot of care was taken in not only composing the pieces, but also properly implementing them into the game. Not only does the game progressively get deeper, but the music follows suit and is also a story mechanic, just as much as the visuals. Some people say that there is no plot or story development in Mario 64. If you listen to the music it fills in the gaps nicely, so much so that I'd rather have this wondrous music to listen to that read extensive amounts of dialogue.
3 - Super Mario World - I didn't really realize this one until more recently, when I started playing through quite a few of the old classics. Great bass lines, great piano riffs, and I'm going to cut this one short because this is the current game i'm playing--and it's been awhile--i've only just beat the second castle.
4 - Donkey Kong Country - I would describe this as one of maybe two times that a game as re evolutionized music within the same platform. I think it's extremely rare that a console brings that "newness" back to a system, especially one nearing the end of its cycle. I don't know exactly what to say in regards to the music, other than Rare, a videogame company, more or less influenced not only games, but music/films with its expertly crafted drum/bass/technoish music.
5 - Sonic the Hedgehog - Who can forget the first time you go from listening to 8-bit music, to 16-bit. Not only was it sonically better, but it was beautifully composed as well. I was never a genesis owner, but a relative had one and I remember that a major part of the urge to keep playing, was the music. The thought was almost that of jealosy. That not only does he get to play this great game, but he gets to listen to this beautiful music, as well. So well done that it made losing a life in the game more acceptable.
6 - Halo / Halo 2 - While Halo 2 likely has the better overall score, the first one is implemented oh so well. Halo starts out silent, it even takes awhile to include any music, but when it does, and by the time you reach Under The Cover of Night, you realize you are playing a new experience--one which will be copied by most every fps following. Halo 2 is the same effect. It takes the most heartpumping moments of the game and throws it's most head bopping music into the mix at the same time--it's almost a kind of dance. I remember playing through the coop campaign and being ambushed by snipers. We get trapped underneath a waterfall behind a few weapons crates. The name of the guitarist that provided alot of the music for the game escapes me, but this riff kicks in in this section of the game which puts the experience through the roof. People that dislike halo need to realize what they are playing. How people can't have fun playing a coop campaign with the goal of not getting gunned down once, is beyond me.
7 - Super Mario RPG - Ah, Super Mario RPG. I guess it comes down to playing through this one only once, and occasionally humming its music since its release.
8 - Metal Gear Solid - This would be the second time that music would reinvent itself within the current platform. To this day, the music from this game continues to inspire not only games, but films as well.
9 - Shenmue - If someone were to play the music of any of these listed games, I think Shenmues would be most likely to be confused with Oscar winning music. The production and inspiration on this one continues to exceed top film scores. It's actually rattling my brain that I don't have access to the music composed for the end credits. It was this beatiful take on the main theme, but included more strings and arppegios.
alright, so more than one, and even more than five, and I meant to put Metal Gear a tad higher.
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