Originally Posted by MixMasterLar (Post 4668567)

I am legit surprised I haven't posted in this yet. I actually really value OSTs in games and anime, and have been considering doing a video on the topic. A video that will likely never get made because that would be a massive project.

That said---I'll use DPB's category to answer the thread

individual songs?
Are these songs judged in a vacuum, or are they judged in the context of the games they came with?

Assuming we're excluding titles such as DDR and IIDX (which I always found to be weird, but I get they kind of suited for their own thread) the one single track that will always pull me back into the game it's from is The Best is Yet To Come from Metal Gear Solid. This is very much in the context of me playing it as a 9 year old.

I'm also a huge fan of You're Not Here from Silent Hill 3, especially the full version with that kickass guitar in the last half. I don't particularly have strong memories paying this before hearing the song and I think it stands up fine in a vacuum.



Is it the most consistent soundtrack?

The most consistently kickass and recommendable soundtracks are easily Guilty Gear XX, Ridge Racer R4, Medal of Honor / Medal of Honor Underground, Katamari Damacy, Most of the older Final Fantasy titles and Chrono Trigger. I would imagine that if you like any track off of any of these then you probably just don't like the OST itself. I personally think they hold up well outside the game.

In context of their games; Again both Medal of Honors, Silent Hill 2 and 3, The Mega Man and Megaman X series, Parasite Eve and Resident Evil 7 are pretty good and do what they need to.

Somewhere in the middle is Mirror's Edge. I liked it in the game, but it's better on it's own.



"best of all time",
or "best of THEIR time?"

So the thing here is that "Best of their time" has pretty agreeable winners for most eras of gaming. Of course anything Koji Kondo touches is in the running, and honestly the same goes for Hip Tanaka, Nabuo Uematsu, Yoko Shimomura, etc. I find this version of the question to not be near as fun unless you try to find the ones people forgot.

For instance, Pyscho Soldier has the first recorded vocals in a video game on hardware predating the Neo Geo. It was actually a pretty big deal and the 2 pop songs used are catchy enough on their own. For the time (mid 1980s) there wasn't anything near that level and it would get a nod just on those merits. But is it a good OST? Nooooooooooope. Unless you're listening to the 2 pop songs re recorded to not sound like theyre being played on a potato there is nothing there worth going back to.

So I like to try and judge it of all time, the issue there is nostalgia is powerful and makes us think that the Genesis had a good OST on there that wasn't Sonic. So we will likely never come to consensus on Gaming's OST GOAT unless we all still just say Chrono Trigger or Final Fantasy VI like we've been to try and sidestep the arguments....because everyone can kind of get behind those on some level.

But if I had to pick my favorite OST of all time I have way too many found memories of Super Mario Bros 3 not to pick it. More objectively, I might choose Xenogears as the Best of All Time.

I feel like I barely even talked about some of my favorite OSTs and I already gave too many answers, lol. Namco in the late 90s and 2000s had really good music for their games. Yoko Shimomura's work with Capcom was kickass and her work in Square has been a joy. I will always love Koji Kondo, and to be honest I really, really love most fighting game OSTs, especially SNK's (which is admittedly better if you listen to the live versions).