Submitted 2 days ago by alx@lemmy.zip to games@lemmy.world
I was listening to my playlist of video game best songs, and I realized that there is probably a ton of hidden gems that I never listened due to never playing the game or never paid attention to.
So I would love to hear what songs you recommend: either from barely mentioned games or soundtracks from known games that you think are underrated.
The ost for the original Mother is the quintessential example of ‘they didn’t need to go this hard.’ For an 8-bit Famicom game, they hired a rock musician to compose the score, who then went and made an entire album - lyrics and all - and collaborated with one of Nintendo’s top musicians to simplify it down for an 8-bit cartridge.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=zS6anrmbG4o
He made this album twice btw.
All on Bandcamp because that’s where I get my official music :
Ridiculous Fishing: a weird fishing game that was available on iPhone for some time, then disappeared due to compatibility issues.
Guacamelee! 2: Kind of famous, but I like the soundtrack.
Eastward: a weird action RPG, like Chrono Trigger but more cozy, I love that game.
Axiom Verge: something something Metroidvania.
I have Ridiculous Fishing on Android as an APK from a very old humble bundle.
Some time ago I still managed to install it, though Android complained a lot because it was not supposed to be compatible (made for a way older version). Only minimal issues with unused screen space.
Just tried again, but now newer Androids just block it completely. For “safety reasons”. Shit.
Same, was just about to mention that - though last time I installed it the motion controls didn’t work properly.
Shame.
👊🏼 Decompile
🤏🏼 Modify
✌🏼 Recompile
No particular order:
It’s kinda cheating, but the game Capsized is a decent XBLA-era side scrolling shooter-platformer with an excellent soundtrack. That’s because it uses the existing album Movements by Solar Fields.
Solar Fields actually scored a different game with an excellent soundtrack: Mirrors Edge
Uplink and Darwinia, Introversion Software’s first two games, have lovely soundtracks.
Nitronic Rush, a student game that got remade into the survival racing game Distance, has one of the greatest Christmas songs ever made on its soundtrack.
The original Lemmings and its expansions used quite good chiptune renditions of classical and classic pop songs. Each platform has a different soundtrack, but Amiga is probably the best.
PPPPPP, the soundtrack to VVVVVV is very crunchy chiptune. The last track is weird though.
Outer Wilds is simply amazing.
Psychonauts and Psychonauts 2 have great, varied soundtracks.
Pseudoregalia https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQpSO8Z8OjY
by stillCrisp
Zero Time Dilemma
BGM08 (BioLab): www.youtube.com/watch?v=B5bUx1-aIJk
BGM06 (Unliberated Library): www.youtube.com/watch?v=YBAD_9r9ZII
BGM03 (Quondam Monitors): www.youtube.com/watch?v=WzNS8Ah139Y
by Shinji Hosoe
X-Universe games. Particularly X3, X Rebirth and X4.
youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_lpPp2cMcDxB-9Td…
Indie Ace Attorney-like, Gyakuten Live, defined its own investigation, objection, cross examination themes. Given how beloved those themes are in the original games, they did a great job.
They sort of took it to another level with the idea of “final confrontation” cross examination themes. Last one for the newest case kind of goes insane, managing to build in both tension and uplifting battle elements. Rather than stop the music on one contradiction, it does the “rising instrumental” approach of layering the track up based on when you’ve found a key flaw in the argument. You can tell a lot of the effort for that sequence went just into getting the music to match up.
One of my favorite indie card rogue-likes, Monster Train 2, has an absolutely amazing soundtrack. Monster Train 1 is also good (same artist, Jordan Chin) but they really caught my attention, the games are criminally underrated.
Monster Train 2 track example: youtu.be/KlS3jkEhi7o
Hopefully more people play these wonderful games.
Warframe is an underrated game IMO and it’s got some absolute bangers:
Ahah they are all already in my playlist! Great choices and Sleeping in the Cold Below is one I replayed so much 😂
Don’t forget Lullaby of the Manifold! It’s simple but it’s one of my favorites.
They go insanely hard with their music. They even made an entire fake nineties boy band for one of their questlines that sounds so authentic it’s scary.
Omg yes On-Lyne completely slipped my mind, they’ve got a lot of great tracks too
The range of warframe soundtracks is insane and they are mostly hits than misses. Lullaby is clearly something i will add to my list.
Also was not expecting boyband stuff from warframe. Curious on the origin of it. Still, good stuff.
Banished has a nice relaxing if not slightly melancholic soundtrack
Mechanicus. To quote the great Mandalore “most music drop the bass, Mechanicus drops a pipe organ”.
Project Wingman. Love letter to Ace Combat that gets the music on point.
Rogue Trader. The most epic track on the OST is used for one minor fight.
I really like the Rome: Total War soundtrack by Jeff van Dyck
In particular Divinitus and Forever, Angela van Dyck singing on those tracks just adds something more.
If we’re talking obscure…
No clue if this counts, but given how little I see it mentioned in online spaces I will suggest Frostpunk’s soundtrack. Even if you don’t play the game, it is an amazing soundtrack that perfectly captures both the hope and desperation depicted in the game itself. Especially “The City Must Survive” is an absolute banger.
dustforce has a great soundtrack by lifeformed. the game is a 2d precision platformer with incredible animation and gamefeel too
The zero escape series has so many good ones. Virtue’s last reward in particular has the best ost. As an aside if you enjoy absolute bullshit storylines ala nano machines from metal gear, I highly recommend playing the zero escape games.
Idk if all of these are obscure enough lol
VTM: Bloodlines 1 had a fantastic soundtrack. I really love the Hollywood Theme, but Santa Monica is also a classic and there are other bangers too.
Damn I miss that game. Yeah they were really fitting and I remember hearing these on loop and somehow never getting old while playing.
Thanks for sharing, it does pull nostalgia heart strings lol.
Don’t know about the obscurity, but:
“Gothic 3” all the way! Kai rosenkranz’s work here is amazing!
Ha I was going to say the same, and wasn’t sure if it’s just nostalgia.
Listened to it this morning on the way to work actually!
If you still have the game, the soundtrack is just .wav files in one of the directories 😊
Romancing Saga isn’t nearly as famous as other JRPG franchises like Final Fantasy or Dragon Quest, which is a shame since the series has some absolute bangers in its soundtrack.
Metal Max is another one, though arguably it only has one famous track that they kept reusing in every game.
Yes I love the soundtrack of Romancing Saga. To me Kenji Ito and Masayoshi are absolute music beasts.
Metal max is less my kind of soundtrack but I can imagine it being liked!
I actually agree on Metal Max. I think I mostly like it because of SSH’s metal covers way back in the day. Not my style of music anymore, but I must have listened to that on repeat hundreds of times when I was younger.
That and it was in this ancient SNES medley, which is also where I first discovered Romancing SaGa!
hypnospace outlaw is absolutely beautiful in every way
Pictionary on the NES had a glorious soundtrack. One of the tracks pops into my head every few months.
TowerFall started on Ouya console, which was based on Android and a total flop, and later ported to other platforms. Name changed to TowerFall Ascension. The game is a 4 player co-op sideways pixel art action game to fight against (or together in story mode) to eliminate in an arena. One of my favorite all time multiplayer games ever.
I recommend the Ascension soundtrack, as its the same as the original but polished and enriched more. It has this oldschool vibe and I don’t know how this sounds for anyone how never played the game. For me listening to this soundtrack has some personal meaning and connection with friends.
since Rome ttw was already mentioned, some of my all time favorite game soundtracks:
Treasure Master on the NES has a track at the title screen that’s best described as a funky fresh beat
That is clearly a funky banger! Thanks for sharing!
Tim Follin. He made Pictionary sound badass.
Fester’s Quest for the NES
chronicledmonocle@lemmy.world 8 hours ago
I’m a huge fan of the soundtrack to a game in development, but not released beyond a demo yet, called “Rhythm Quest”. It’s a button masher that feels like it blends a Guitar Hero and Mario kind of vibe. The person making the game is also the composer of the chiptune music in it.
Trailer can be found here.
They have released the first half of the game’s soundtrack on Bandcamp and it’s pretty good. Can’t wait to buy the full game when it hopefully releases. The developer puts out sneak peak update videos every few weeks.