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Underrated Game Soundtracks...

I second HL2's soundtrack although i'm not such a big fan of the faster paced tracks but the atmospheric stuff really does kick ass.

Also BG&E soundtrack is really good especially the title music it is so bad ass.

For me the 3 soundtracks that also stick in my mind are M64 soundtrack especially dire dire docks, Pilot Wings 64 for it's super relaxing tunes and waverace 64 everytime i hear the music especially from dolphing park i get a big grin on my face.

Oh and also The Longest Journey really has a kick ass soundtrack.
 
I'm going to go back about 10 years for this topic ...

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The soundtrack for The Dig is one of my all time favorite game soundtracks. I was a Lucasarts PC adventure whore back in the day and I bought the Dig soundtrack as soon as it came out. I don't know if it's underrated or just unknown by most gamers. If you haven't heard it try to get your hands on it. The music is incredibly soothing and complimented the ambiance of the game very well. It's a great disc to pop in if you're studying or just before you go to bed.
 
The music in Dark Wizard, a turn-based war strategy game for the SEGA CD, is almost overpowering with exuberant orchestral pieces.

The Lunar games on the SEGA CD have a variety of well-composed dramatic and upbeat tracks to narrate the plots and turns of their lengthy stories.

Dark Savior for the Saturn has some really nice synthetic sounding songs that play to the story's sci-fi undertones.

The ending credits track in Panzer Dragoon Orta mixes the epic feeling of an orchestra with the exotic beauty of a rhythmic, tribal sound.
 
I've always been partial to Plok's soundtrack...
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My favorites are the stage music for Sleepy Dale/Plok Town and Plok's House/Venge Thicket. The SPC set you can download from Zophar's SPC Archive is incomplete and badly done, so I made my own that I listen to. I wish I knew who the composer was, and what other stuff he's done!
 
The Game Boy Horror music in Luigi's Mansion is astounding!
 
F-Zero X's music is MILES better than GX's. So far ahead of it. Maybe not the quality, I don't much care about that, but the tunes...waaaay ahead.
 
Another vote for the "shitty buttrock" of F-Zero X here, though I actually think GX's music is really good, also. Just not nearly as good as X's!

But then, I would (and do) listen to music like that outside of games, too. I assume most people who hated it have little appreciation for metal, whether in a game or otherwise.
 
Any good soundtrack that isn't japanese. You know it's true.

I'll say Ratchet & Clank 3's OST really, really surprised me. Most of the songs, at least while playing the game, were awesome.
 
aku:jiki said:
I'll say Ratchet & Clank 3's OST really, really surprised me.

I can't remember, did you play 1 and 2? Because the music, while unique to the series, seemed pretty much exactly the same as the stuff in the first 2 games to me. I liked it quite a bit too, though.
 
bobbyconover said:
I can't remember, did you play 1 and 2? Because the music, while unique to the series, seemed pretty much exactly the same as the stuff in the first 2 games to me. I liked it quite a bit too, though.
You know I was the original fan when you and brandonnn were doing nothing but hatin'!

But, yeah, you're right. It's the same style as always, but this time he (whoever he is) outdid himself, I think.
 
I always liked the music from Descent II (both the Redbook and Midi - but more the Redbook) and the Mechwarrior 2 games.
 
Prospero said:
Shadow Hearts

Definitely. Then again, most people never bothered to play the original anyway, so its understandable.

If I had to pick, I'd probably say Tsuganai: Atonement. Its a pretty awful game, which I'm sure I've mentioned numerous times, but Yasunori Mitsuda did the soundtrack and it definitely shows. probably one of the only reasons I bothered to play all the way through it.
 
PuertoRicanJuice said:
F-Zero X (well at least here). Everyone says it's shitty butt-rock. I can't believe how anyone would prefer GX music to X.
F-Zero GX had buttrock tracks as well, though they weren't as good as F-Zero X's. i still prefer GX over X in terms of total soundtrack though. There's a good deal of passable tracks but i like the variation in styles (rock, big beat, techno, trance). i just wish the tracks were longer without looping.
 
Killer Instinct 2. I know nobody ever talks about Killer Instinct 2, some people actually deny its existance, but the jungle track in maya's stage with the screaming monkeys ( I LOVE SCREAMING MONKEYS!) was just great.
 
DonasaurusRex said:
Morrowind hands down.
I really really didn't like the Morrowind stoundtrack, the tunes themselves were nice enough, it's just that they REPEATED AD NAUSEAM in the most inappropriate places. When you have the same damn track playing whether you're on the coast, near an Imperial town, a Dark Elf City, the plains, a Telvanni town or the damn Wastes then that's a game with not nearly enough tunes. Really killed the effectiveness of the music.
 
DaddyZ said:
So, we all agree MSR has the most underrated soundtrack? good.
DC IGN hated it. Personally, i loved it and thought it was one of the things that really gave the things its personality.
 
EarthBound.

That game has the most diverse range of genres and styles it is hands-down amazing. It has the most music of ANY SNES game. One of the most pleasing soundtracks and the funniest sound effects you can find on that generation. The soundtrack is truely something to experience.

My other choice would be rareware OST's for SNES and a good amout of the n64 games they made.
 
I seriously think I'm the only person on the planet who likes the music from Simcity. Simcity 4 has some of the best out there, and nobody discusses it. Ever! It's really sad.

Mama Smurf said:
F-Zero X's music is MILES better than GX's. So far ahead of it. Maybe not the quality, I don't much care about that, but the tunes...waaaay ahead.
How about this? F-Zero GX beats out F-Zero X, but the F-Zero X Guitar Arrange beats everything else. That sound good?
 
Naked Shuriken said:
Killer Instinct 2. I know nobody ever talks about Killer Instinct 2, some people actually deny its existance, but the jungle track in maya's stage with the screaming monkeys ( I LOVE SCREAMING MONKEYS!) was just great.
indeed, that was pretty good soundtrack
 
Wow, some actual good choices. Anyway, I say...

Ducktales
Faxanadu
TMNT
Starfox
Pocky & Rocky
Sonic 3/& Knuckles
Gunstar Heroes
Dynamite Headdy
Ranger X
Crusder of Centy
Ristar
Rocket Knight Adventure
Virtua Fighter
Panzer Dragoon Zwei
Internal Section
Radiant Silvergun
Street Fighter EX Plus Alpha
Gradius V
 
I love the ZOE OST. I don't remember if people enjoyed it or not though.

Tetrisphere has always been a favorite of mine. I think everyone loved it but I don't hear anything about it.

I need to check out Zophar's Domain for some of the old music. Oh how I miss those days.
 
BuckRobotron said:
The thread started off right on the money with MSR.

Got that right. In fact all of Richard Jacques' work is worth mentioning. My personal fave has to be Sonic 3D Blast.

If anyone could be so kind to hook me up with the track that playings during the game set of MSR, I'd be eternally grateful. :)

Oh, and ass Crusin' USA to the list, if only for one ot two tracks.
 
Dare I say Sonic R? Did anyone else notice the part in the Resort Island music where it turns into the Mario invincible tune together with a barely audible laugh mixed in? It's some way into the track so you wont hear it when you're racing unless you're really bad.
 
ourumov said:
Freedom Fighters, I forgot about this one. Really awesome stuff.

I totally agree with that, the same composer does the Hitman scores.

One of my favs is Tempest 2000.

I still have the soundtrack CD that came with the Jag CD attachment.
:D
 
JackFrost2012 said:
BAROQUE

Hold Baroque Inside Yourself!

Oh yeah!

That and Soukaigi are two gems that I still listen to from time to time. I can't say the game itself impressed me all that much, though.
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Some others...

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Blue Stinger - Although a tad repetitive in the context of the game, the actual music is really excellent. This was actually composed by the man responsible for most of Gundam SEEDs soundtrack.

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Elemental Gearbolt - Another stunner that I discovered almost by accident

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Evil Twin - absolutely beautiful and haunting at the same time. The game was crap, but the music was stellar. Sadly, it seems that very few people have even heard this soundtrack. If you get the chance, though, give it a listen. (no official OST available)

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Crimson Sea - An amazing variety of styles come together to form a suprisingly powerful soundtrack. The sweeping orchestral tunes are backed by all kinds of other strange styles. (no official OST available)



More...

Little Big Adventure series
Mafia
Max Payne 2
Kessen II
Red Faction
 
FortNinety said:
Oh, and ass Crusin' USA to the list, if only for one ot two tracks.

Sorry, just had to point that out. To those of you that have played it, is Baroque any good? I was always interested in that, but at the timeit came out, I rarely bought imports.
 
lordmrw said:
Sorry, just had to point that out. To those of you that have played it, is Baroque any good? I was always interested in that, but at the timeit came out, I rarely bought imports.

Hehe, yeah, sometimes I type to fast.

Also adding to the list...

Xevious 3D+G
Bushido Blade
Sega Rally (Saturn version)
 
I've always been partial to Plok's soundtrack... I wish I knew who the composer was, and what other stuff he's done!

That'll be the Follin brothers, and mainly Tim Follin, he made countless soundtracks of C64 games, if you want more info, go here :)

If you've heard the amazing soundtracks to "Bionic Commando", "Ghouls And Ghosts", and "Black Lamp" on the Commodore 64, that was Tim Follin. If you've spooged over the music to classic titles like "Rock And Roll Racing" and "Plok" on the Super Nintendo, then that was the Follins too. And even coming right up to the present day, the amazing music to "Ecco The Dolphin" on the Dreamcast was done by Tim Follin. It's Tim Follin who's perhaps best known (and he's still in the industry, currently working on "Starsky And Hutch" for Empire and "Pillage" for Warthog/Zed Two), but many people forget that a number of Tim's later soundtracks were composed with Geoff (who's now a primary school teacher), and Geoff has a number of genius soundtracks he can take sole credit for. Oh, and the third brother, Mike Follin, nowadays training to be a vicar, was the coder of many of the early Follin-soundtracked games, including the all-time-classic "Sentinel".
 
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