Most Influential Video Game Soundtracks in Music History

Millennial Mind Sync has affiliate partnerships. These do not influence editorial content, though Millennial Mind Sync may earn commissions for products purchased via affiliate links.

In no particular order, the following 12 titles represent some of the most influential soundtracks in video game music history.

In most instances, the music was composed specifically to match the scenes and energy of the world inside the game. However, licensed music has also been used to capture the vibe or era connected to the title.

In both cases, the music has become embedded into the fabric of each of these titles. So, let’s take a look at the video games that have left a lasting legacy in that regard.

Shenmue

There’s a good reason Shenmue is in the Classic FM Hall of Fame. Created with many gorgeous and precious pieces of orchestra scores with traditional Asian instruments, this is certainly Takenobu Mitsuyoshi’s crowning achievement of all the Sega titles he’s composed. The stunning arrangements helped capture the large feeling this beautifully crafted game held. Truly an all-time classic video game soundtrack.

Streets of Rage 2

While discussing influential video game soundtracks from the 16-bit era, you most certainly will hear Streets of Rage 2 in the conversations. This masterpiece of FM synthesis, composed by Yuzo Koshiro and Motohiro Kawashima in 1992, sounds more relevant today than ever. The audio is truly masterful when you consider it was composed using then outdated NEC PC-8801 hardware alongside Koshiro’s own audio programming language. The playlist below showcases the original sounds remastered.

Final Fantasy VI

Final Fantasy VI’s music was composed by Nobuo Uematsu. When it was originally released, the music received very positive reviews. Many considered it to be one of the best video game music soundtracks ever composed. Music from the soundtrack has been published in arranged albums and compilations by Square Enix and other publishing groups. The below album is the original soundtrack in its entirety.

Bastion

Darren Korb produced and composed Bastion. Bastion was the first video game that Korb had scored. Brought onto the team in the beginning stages of the project, Korb developed the musical style that he described as “acoustic frontier trip-hop”. His main objective was to bring to life this American frontier and exotic fantasy world. The songs combine “heavily sampled beats in layers, along with acoustic elements”, and he determined that he wanted to create the soundtrack in that style as it was different from video game soundtracks that he had heard before.

Journey

The music in Journey was composed and orchestrated by Austin Wintory. Wintory’s musical compositions tie in to both the actions of the player and sound effects caused by nearby game objects, and feel as if it were “unfolding in real time”. Johnson felt having short pieces of music that looped without reacting to the player would be a “missed opportunity”, and wanted to create music that changed while still containing a composed emotional arc. He worked on the soundtrack for three years, experimenting and discarding many of his original ideas before finalizing this masterful achievement in video game soundscapes.

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

The original score of this 2017 release was composed by the dream team of Manaka Kataoka, Yasuaki Iwata, and Hajime Wakai. Kataoka and Wakai had a history of working on Zelda titles, but this soundtrack was primarily written and performed on a piano. The core melodies were focused on ambient music and sounds rather than the melodic and upbeat music in previous Zelda titles. According to Wakai, the goal was to add “authenticity” to the environments, and was taken on as a challenge by the rest of the sound team.

Chrono Trigger

Haunting melodies. Powerful fanfares. Combat music. Despite the musical limitations of the 16-bit era, the Chrono trigger soundtrack still captured the imagination of all those that entered its world. The game receives heavy praise both as one of the best games and soundtracks of the 16-bit era thanks mostly to the work of Yasunori Mitsuda and several additional tracks by Nobuo Uematsu.

Super Mario 64

It’s a me, Mario. The 64-bit era of gaming brought in a wide array of visual possibilities. Unfortunately, it paled in comparison to competitive CD ROM-based consoles in defining a sound that was fine-tuned and fully developed.

Super Mario 64, however, is one example of the 64-bit cartage gaming console that did it absolutely right. The opening track, for instance, remixes the original Super Mario theme with steel drums and a drum machine. It wasn’t only detailed and crisp, but also ushered players into the game by showing them how much the series has evolved since its 2D days.

Sonic the Hedgehog

The music for Sonic the Hedgehog was composed by Masato Nakamura, bassist and songwriter of the J-pop band Dreams Come True. Just starting with his band, Nakamura was said to be surprised when asked to create the soundtrack. He accepted as he was inspired by the team’s desire to outperform Nintendo. He adapted the Genesis’ sound chip, and believed the hardest part of creating the soundtrack was the number of sounds that could play concurrently: he was limited to four, and said that his lack of knowledge of music on computers made it “impossible”. The outcome however was gaming soundtrack history and a true masterpiece that worked so well with Genesis’ capstone title.

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

Jeremy Soule composed the music for Skyrim, who previously worked on Morrowind and Oblivion. The game’s main theme Dragonborn was actually recorded with a choir of over 30 people singing in the fictional dragon language used in the game. Creative director Todd Howard envisioned the theme for Skyrim as The Elder Scrolls theme sung by a choir of barbarians. This became a reality when the idea was passed by Soule, who recorded the 30-man choir and layered three separate recordings to create the effect of 90 voices. This was an instant classic when it comes to video game music composition.

GoldenEye 007

The music of GoldenEye 007 was primarily composed by Graeme Norgate and Grant Kirkhope. Norgate previously penned the music of Blast Corps, while Kirkhope composed the music of Donkey Kong Land Robin Beanland, the game’s third composer, only wrote the elevator music that can be heard in certain levels. As an innovator of the first-person shooter for console gaming, the music composed here matched the heart-racing gameplay to perfection.

Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2

When you think about a game that had purely licensed music, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City is likely what comes top of mind. Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2, however, should not be forgetting in this category. If you want to feel like you’re in a time capsule of late-90’s skater music, this soundtrack matches that vibe perfectly. The whole feel of it seems like something a teen would’ve created for his discman after burning a CD comprised of Napster downloads.

Grand Theft Auto: Vice City

When cruising in the various vehicles inside Grand Theft Auto: Vice City one can access all the radio stations within the game. The licensed songs in each station serve as the game’s soundtrack which can also be played in the Audio menu, while the game is paused. Some of the songs appear on cutscenes, and some songs are programmed to be played on certain parts of a mission. Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean” starts to play when the player enters their first vehicle at the start of the game.

The arrangement of the soundtrack of GTA Vice City was a big move on the part of Rockstar Games: unlike previous games in the series, which relied to a great extent in original creations, GTA Vice City has an overwhelming majority of licensed content, with just 5 original songs. The majority of the soundtrack is comprised of 80s music; however, the soundtrack also features a few songs from the 50s, 60s and 70s.