A game can be determined a “masterpiece” by many things but one of the greatest things is not visible. Music can create every emotion ranging from happiness, sadness, fear and anger. It is also one of the strongest pieces of a game as it helps create the world that you are immersing yourself in. There are hundreds of moments that are increased by twenty times because of a bellowing horn or a catchy electronic tune. Some of these songs recall back to the days of 8 or 16-bit while others are great in their own right. These songs are all great in my personal opinion and have made gaming in the past year an incredible experience for me. Over the next 5 days I will be revealing the songs/games that were the best sounding last year. (Note: that I am only choosing one song from each game, this list has to be somewhat balanced!)
21. Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning – Gadflow
Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning has had a seriously tough year, underwhelming sales, studio shut down and a cancellation of it’s series, something no one likes to see in the industry. Amalur had a lot of good things going for it inside of it’s own world though, including it’s soundtrack.
This song just blares excitement, literally, those horns are blaring. Just imagine a mean, brutal Tuatha, hurling at you with all it’s might. Swords clashing and his reinforcements surrounding you, death is just a swing away from you and cold steel.
20. Dustforce – Elvish Piper Time
Platformers have become a brutal, soul crushing experience these days, with games like Super Meat Boy and VVVVVV things only get more intense. While Dustforce is in this category of games, it’s soundtrack gives a calm, unique experience that you don’t even need to play the game to have.
19. Legend of Grimrock – Main Theme Music
Taking it back to the Old School, Legend of Grimrock brings back a lot of feelings gamers don’t have this generation, like a piece of paper. Whether it is the first time you have played the game or the hundreth the soundtrack will make sure that you know the journey in front of you is one that will be hard, treacherous, but in the end worth it.
Not only is the tune to the song catchy, but it transitions into different periods, from the calm and quiet portion in the middle opening into a bigger and better version of what came at the beginning, plus the way that the instruments are all parallel to each other really make this song unique.
18. Fez – Adventure
Unfortunately I have not had the full experience of playing Fez, I have played around with the game’s demo a bit and admired some videos around the net but I have at least had the fun of listening to it’s happy and great soundtrack.
While a lot of indie games have taken the approach of going “retro style” I really feel like Fez’s soundtrack comes into it’s own, even without the game. Take it from me.
17. Sonic & All Stars Racing Transformed – You Can Do Anything – Super Sonic Racing
Sega hit last year hard with the karting game Sonic & Sega All Stars Transformed, everything playing more perfect than a green shell and hitting every note of nostalgia along the way. The soundtrack of course has to come into play when we are talking about nostalgic factors, especially Sonic. I don’t really need to explain why this track is good if you are a Sonic fan, it just is.
If you aren’t, well anytime is a good time for super sonic racing.
Honorable Mention of the Day
Record of Agarest War 2 – Battle Theme
While it is a really good theme, what brings it down is the fact that it wasn’t done very professional. I don’t expect a live orchestra, but it just needs a little bit more polish to make this list.
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