Some of these songs you heard more times than anything on the radio. You just heard them while losing to the same boss for the 40th time. So this is the playlist piece, one game, one track, 30 entries.
30. Hades
Track: In the Blood (Darren Korb)
A rock ballad about a family that can't stop fighting, which is perfect for a game about exactly that.
29. Celeste
Track: Resurrections (Lena Raine)
The sound of climbing a mountain and your own head at the same time.
28. Hollow Knight
Track: City of Tears (Christopher Larkin)
Rain, strings and loneliness. Hallownest in three minutes.
27. Undertale
Track: Megalovania (Toby Fox)
The internet's favorite boss theme. If you know, you know.
26. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2
Track: Superman (Goldfinger)
The licensed soundtrack that put a whole generation onto punk and hip hop.
25. Jet Set Radio
Track: Let Mom Sleep (Hideki Naganuma)
Graffiti, rollerblades and the most Y2K music ever made.
24. Doom (2016)
Track: BFG Division (Mick Gordon)
Metal that makes you play faster and that's the whole point.
23. Super Smash Bros. Brawl
Track: Main Theme (Nobuo Uematsu)
A full choir for a crossover fighting game. And it works.
22. Street Fighter II
Track: Guile's Theme (Yoko Shimomura)
It goes with everything, the internet already proved it.
21. Streets of Rage 2
Track: Go Straight (Yuzo Koshiro)
Club music on a Sega Genesis. Koshiro was ahead of everybody.
20. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
Track: Nuthin' But a "G" Thang (Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg) on Radio Los Santos
The radio station that turned a game into a West Coast history lesson.
19. Katamari Damacy
Track: Katamari on the Rocks
The happiest song in gaming and it's about rolling up the world.
18. Persona 5
Track: Life Will Change (Shoji Meguro)
Acid jazz for phantom thieves. Style you can actually hear.
17. Dark Souls
Track: Gwyn, Lord of Cinder (Motoi Sakuraba)
A sad piano for a final boss. You feel bad beating him.
16. Minecraft
Track: Sweden (C418)
The song that sounds like a childhood you didn't know you had.
15. Red Dead Redemption
Track: Far Away (Jose Gonzalez)
The ride into Mexico. Best song placement in any game and I'll argue it with anybody.
14. Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater
Track: Snake Eater (Cynthia Harrell)
A full Bond theme for a stealth game and it plays at the perfect moment.
13. Pokemon Red and Blue
Track: Battle! (Wild Pokemon) (Junichi Masuda)
Eight bits of adrenaline. Your heart rate still goes up, don't lie.
12. Sonic Adventure 2
Track: Live and Learn (Crush 40)
Earnest rock for a blue hedgehog. Zero irony, pure energy.
11. The Last of Us
Track: The Last of Us (Gustavo Santaolalla)
An Oscar winner on guitar making the apocalypse sound tender.
10. Mass Effect 2
Track: Suicide Mission (Jack Wall)
The best final mission in gaming with a score to match.
9. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Track: Dragonborn (Jeremy Soule)
A choir chanting in dragon language. Instant hype.
8. Kingdom Hearts
Track: Dearly Beloved (Yoko Shimomura)
The title screen song people leave running on purpose.
7. Nier: Automata
Track: Weight of the World (Keiichi Okabe)
The ending is going to wreck you and this song is why.
6. Journey
Track: Apotheosis (Austin Wintory)
The first video game score ever nominated for a Grammy. Earned.
5. Chrono Trigger
Track: Corridors of Time (Yasunori Mitsuda)
Yasunori Mitsuda was in his early twenties and worked himself so hard on this score he ended up with stomach ulcers. You can hear every bit of it.
4. Super Mario 64
Track: Dire, Dire Docks (Koji Kondo)
The smoothest water level music ever written. Pure calm.
3. Halo: Combat Evolved
Track: Halo (Martin O'Donnell, Michael Salvatori)
The chant that opened a whole generation of Xbox nights.
2. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
Track: Gerudo Valley (Koji Kondo)
Flamenco on the Nintendo 64 and it still slaps.
1. Final Fantasy VII
Track: One-Winged Angel (Nobuo Uematsu)
The final boss theme every other final boss theme is chasing. A choir, an orchestra and Sephiroth. Nothing tops it.
Drop the track
For a lot of us game music was the first soundtrack to anything. So what's missing? Drop the track.
Your call
Did I get this ranking right?
In this story
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