Great soundtracks can elevate a good game to greatness and the very best games of all time have memorable music that is etched into the memories of gamers forever. Some songs are so good though that they transcend the game themselves and find their way onto our MP3’s players and personal play lists. These songs are more than just background soundtracks, they are artistic accomplishments in their own right.
Now musical taste is thoroughly subjective and your top 5 game songs will be completely different from mine. Don’t be upset if I miss your favourite. Instead, simply tell us about it in the comments below!
5. Still Alive – Jonathan Coulton
I couldn’t leave this one off the list without being lynched. Coulton has a great catalogue of funny songs full of geek references and this is one of the best. Coming at the end of Portal, this song is one of the reasons that people remember the ending of that game to be one of the best of all time. Personally, I listen to Re: Your brains more often, but this still never fails to make me chuckle when I hear it.
4. Space Assholes – Idle Thumbs
Inspired by the mediocre Red Faction, this is another funny, folky number. The accompanying video makes it even funnier, but I can still happily sing along to it on the way to work in the morning. The irony of a supposed hero ruining peoples lives by recklessly smashing buildings is a great juxtaposition with the supposed heroism of the main character. Great music and irony in one!
3. Deadman’s Gun – Red Dead Redemption
I’m not going to talk about the end of this game because its one of the best you can experience in video games. I didn’t love the game, but I did love the soundtrack and Deadman’s Gun comes in at the perfect time. The audio was a high point in Red Dead and most of songs featured are constructed from stems in the game’s dynamic soundtrack. This made the gorgeous Deadman’s Gun remind you of every moment you played of the game while also being a great song in its own right.
2. Xenon 2 Megablast – Bomb Da Bass
I should warn you, its all going to go a bit early-nineties now. When Xenon 2 featured a song written by a real world DJ, there was the tiniest glimmer of a chance that the games industry could be cool and relevant. It was a long time before Sony would arrive with the PSone and blow us away with the Prodigy in WipEout, so any reference to popular culture in videogames was a big deal. This was still a world of geeks in their bedrooms and playing games was absolutely not cool. I don’t know if you could enjoy this without the nostlagia factor, but if you remember this from the first time round then get your glowsticks out and enjoy!
1. Akira Yamaoka – Promise/Theme of Laura
I don’t know what to say about this guy. He created the greatest game soundtrack of all time. Even though theres lots to like about Silent Hill, about 90% of what I really love about it is the music. These are two of not just my favourite game songs, but my favourite songs period. Stop reading this and listen to it in context, in the intro for one of the greatest games ever made!