Yeah, I know this is very hard, but then, not all things in life are supposed to be easy.

If you absolutely had to choose one piece of game music (original or arranged) as the best one you have ever heard, which would it be? Nothing too serious, just name the first one that comes to mind. Also, the question isn't about "if you had to convince a person who's never listened to game music with one piece, which would it be?" or shit like that, its about your own personal favourite.

My pick would have to be Kenji Yamamoto's "Brinstar Overgrown with Vegetation Area" from Super Metroid on the SNES. It plays in the first half of Brinstar, in the green area... uh... overgrown with vegetation.

To me, this track captures very well the qualities I look for in game music, and it strikes the perfect balance between atmospheric, melodic, and mysterious. I still remember the first time i heard it 14 years ago, it really made a deep impression. It is also one of those tracks (together with the rest of the Super Metroid soundtrack, as well as Castlevania 4, Equinox, Demon's Crest, Clock Tower, the Donkey Kong Country trilogy, and others) that showed that the SNES was fully capable of producing excellent and deep atmospheric music.

So, what's yours?

No doubt, "ZERO" from ACE COMBAT ZERO.

I think I've already talked a lot about this track in years, so I won't hype it anymore. My major problem with this track is, however, the guitar solo is not interesting that much and even the other guitar which only strokes chords sounds less boring to me (what's worse, the demo version had a more rasgueado-ish solo!), and I think the chorus section could have been more 'thick'. Still, this is by far the best piece of music in my VGM, or music in general experience.

"The Liberation Of Gracemeria" from ACE COMBAT 6 is probably #2, but nowhere near "ZERO" (unless it's redone with the same formula as "ZERO", or with a real orchestra, which is what "Chandelier" and "Ace Combat 6 Main Theme" should have been, respectively).

If you love something epic and heroic, Keiki Kobayashi is your mecca.:)

Sorry but one just ain't happenin'.  I tried, really   In no particular order...

Panzer Dragoon "Main Title" - Gorgeous melody, gorgeous orchestra and with an exquisite exotic touch.  Best VGM opening theme ever?
Final Fantasy VII "Still More Fighting" - Old-school Uematsu melody with an essential dose of testosterone.  Insanely intense.
Orchestral Game Concert 4 "Together, In the Glory of the Legend" from Albert Odyssey II - A complete cinematic epic condensed into five minutes.
Azel: Panzer Dragoon RPG "Sona mi areru ec sancitu" - Vocals of this sort would fall flat on their face in most OSTs.  Here they're sublime.

Honorable Mentions: "1st Movement" and "4th Movement" from Symphony Ys '95, "Ending Theme" from FF6

The first track that came to mind when I saw this thread was "The Mystic Forest" from Final Fantasy VI. Instead of fighting it and scrolling through thousands of songs to find other tunes, I'm going to go with my instinct and say that this is it.

This theme captures Uematsu at his prime, and it holds a very nostalgic part of my heart. When I was a kid, playing through FFVI was one of the first experiences I had with game music that really stuck with me throughout my life. It's a beautiful song and pretty much sums up everything I like about: a) game music, b) the SNES sound chip, c) Uematsu and d) that nostalgic VGM "pull".

Ooo boy. This is a toughie. One of the themes that have stuck with me through and through is "Battle with the Devil" from Tsugunai. It's just a wonderful fusion of Celtic soundscapes, ambience, and dark atmosphere. I really enjoy Mitsuda's experiments, for the most part, and I think this is one of his best!

What's really bizarre is that I have my iPod on shuffle right now, and that song was playing while I checked this thread! Freeeeaky.

I'll rattle off some top favorites:

Mega Man Legends: At a Place Nobody Knows
I can't imagine a piece that makes me think about a cold and souless Reaverbot city more than this.

Wild Arms 2nd Ignition: Atomic ARMs, Dungeon: Ruins Type 3, Life Reflector
Dungeon: Ruins Type 3 is one of my favorite dungeon themes of all time. Atomic Arms deserves mention because it's a vocal track that isn't really a vocal track but gets its message across loud and clear.

Rockman X5: X vs Zero
Again wow. This piece just captures everything about this fight: a brutal and sad fight between friends. Hell, that was the only part of the game that made me think twice about unloading such a mediocre game.

And I totally second Zane's comments on Nobuo's "The Mystic Forest."

Well, if we're only supposed to go with one, I decided a while ago that if it were to come up, Airman would be my answer. That song is THE evergreen of the forest.

.

First one that came to mind: Kikuta's Into the Thick Of It from SD2. That track, tied with Jun Ishikawa's Float Islands from Kirby's Dream Land, is the reason I got into VGM. Something about that track just fits the game world like a glove; its like mana from heaven

Dunno for sure if it's my favorite VGM piece ever (I mean, who can really say), but the very first song that popped in my head when I read the first few lines of this post was "Dr. Gigglymen" from Sonic the Hedgehog Remix, the remix of the boss theme from Sonic CD for Mega CD.  It's probably the most elaborate and ingenious arrangement of a single game track I've ever heard, and right up my alley style-wise with its funkiness and jazzy groove.

- Justin Pfeiffer

This is probably the best way of going at it.  And although I hate to pigeonhole myself with a poll like this, since I know my instinct will be to instinctly choose something else in twenty-four hours, I'm going to have to go with..... Kazunaka Yamane's "Double Dragon Main Theme."

For myself, the Double Dragon theme has few equals in the realm of classic VGM themes.  My personal memories of both Double Dragon as a game and music are particularly strong.  I remember heading over to my corner drugstore at least four times a week after school when I was eight or nine years old just to play - and my knees buckled every time the title theme song kicked in.  One November day, I went out with my handheld tape recorder and recorded the theme at the drugstore - and actually, when I say drugstore, it was more of a tiny tent-based kwik-e mart than anything else.  And the tent flap was open, and it was raining, and windy, and freezing.  I remember for a while, I listened to that tape nonstop, with all the accompanying sounds of the outdoor elements whooshing in the background. 

And then there were the days where I would just sit and doodle Double Dragon drawings with that tape's music on -- or the NES or Sega Master System playing the game's theme in the background.  (I remember liking the SMS version a lot; if I recall, they played the theme on the title screen, but cut the song mercilessly short -- and then I had no choice but to tough it out to Mission 4 all the way up to Willy just to hear the theme in full.  And for some strange reason, I don't think I ever recorded that version.)

...Yep, here's the SMS version.  Man, watching this video reminds me how oversaturated the color blue was in this port. o_O 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZurY3DWyZ00

Is the theme officially titled "Dead Or Alive",  by the way?  Or would that only apply to the vocal version on the DD2 Arranged Album?

I know its an unfair poll, that's why I wrote "Nothing too serious, just name the first one that comes to mind". Most of the time we might not even really be aware of our absolute favourite, but "the first thing that comes to mind" might still count for something. The more you think about this, the harder it gets to pick one at all (for example, if I made the poll now, my pick might have been Kurt Harland's "Ozar Midrashim" from Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver).

Great variety in the choices so far, and many surprising picks! It would be cool to make a "best of STC" mix-tape out of this thread.

Going with Zane and Angie's "Choose from instinct" . . .

Oh, man. Probably "Astaroth" from the Shadow Hearts 2 OST. Amazingly layered track. I could listen to it for hours.

Edit: Just like many other people, my choice will probably change in the next couple hours.

Oh, and Angie: great Double Dragon art. I remember when I was 7, 8 years old I used to draw the boss creatures from Zelda 2 on the NES, and also make up my own. None of those priceless pieces of art gameau survived to posterity, however.

At Zanarkand, Final Fantasy X.  Probably my favorite piano piece ever.  So moving, so emotional, so addicting, and yet so simple compared to a lot of other piano pieces out there.  Seriously, if you have the game in your possession, go pop it in your PS2 and just watch the intro.  You will be moved.  I remember hearing this performed live at one or all of the VGM concerts I've attended and it brought a tear to my eye every time.  Way to go, Uematsu!

Also, mad props to those who chose X vs Zero, Still More Fighting, and Astaroth.

-Mike

.

It still stuns me when I read about people recording music from games. I'll never forget DJ Pretzel's story about Alex Kidd. He recorded it to tape and would listen to it while his parents drove him to school. It's just unreal that other people also do this. It's so isolated from mainstream behavior that I tend to disbelieve other people actually do it. It's easy to believe you are the only one that does it.

  My favorite piece changes frequently. While thinking about my listening habits of late, Iron Blue Intention comes to mind. I set it up in this order:

1. Bloodlines original.
2. Portrait of Ruin full sound version.
3. Dracula Battle II arrangement.

All the original SNES FFIV battle themes.  For me, these have been the best themes of all time.

Hmm...I'll go with Ice Valley from Metroid Prime.  I think it's a flawless track that captures the pristine beauty but also the awe and mystery of the Phendrana Drifts.

Some nice picks, especially Super Metroid's first Brinstar theme (my long-time personal favorite from the soundtrack) and FFVI's The Phantom Forest (I should say that for me, Devil's Lab was my first great love from the score; I'd load up the appropriate save file just to listen to it).  Oh, and the Double Dragon theme.  There's a surprising pick.

.

first thing that comes to mind,
'climax of the graylands incident' - hitoshi sakimoto, vagrant story

just a few others that are really significant for me

'theme of laura' - akira yamaoka, silent hill 2
'forest of illusion' - yasunori mitsuda, chrono cross
'endure and resist' - matoi sakuraba, trusty bell
'karma city' - shoji meguro, digital devil saga 2

For me, the first big "record to tape projects" were Castlevania 3 and The Guardian Legend on the NES, both of which have excellent music. Recording from them was fairly easy, since they had sound tests (you could record every track from the title screen without any annoying sound effects). Good times.

The first track that comes into my mind is "Final Battle" from Shin Megami Tensei III Nocturne Maniacs. Okay, it's obviously not the most polished Meguro piece, but goddamn, no other piece of music has touched me like this one does. It somehow manages to kick deep in the heart, healing it in the process.

One thing is for sure: If I ever happen to be on the verge of dying, I'm not going to give up until I can hear this track one more time. Only then can I rest in peace.

Masanori Adachi, Sotaro Tojima - The Forest of Monsters

This thread is stupid, lol. I already want to chose another song, but whatever.

I'll mention a few others:

The Follin bros. - Cotton Island ...so yeah, this was the first time I actually told someone "This music is awesome" (referrring to music in a videogame) when I was playing the game over at my cousin's place, over 15 years ago. He and his friend laughed at me and asked "This music is what?"...fools. Pretty much the whole PLOK score is incredible, Beach, Creepy Crag etc.

Sotaro Tojima - Silence ...Axelay's stage 4 music, errr ppl know this, right?

Konami Kukeiha Club - Dead End Cell

Neil Voss - Azule Lux

Jun Ishikawa - Credits ...to Kirby's Dream Land

Nobuo Uematsu - Searching Friends

Bah, and many more.

Anybody know who did which song for Super Castlevania 4? Also, did Tojima ever compose sucky music?

I liked the choice of the topic starter, great tune. Mystic forest is just too good as well.

I have always seen Highbrow, from Star ocean: till the end of time as my favorite piece of vgm. It has so much going on. And I have to admit that I'm quite a Sakuraba nut anyway, always liked (most of) his works.

Other tunes that deserve to be mentioned:

- Theme of Grandia, from, well, Grandia. A fantastic orchestral piece with a bit of guitar and everything you could ever hope for. Wonderful composition with all its different sections.

- Love psalm, from Silent hill 2. My chart topper track at Last.fm, need I say more.

- Dancing mad, from Final fantasy VI. Yes, the whole damn thing. Just pure jaw-dropping awesomeness.

- Time for love, from Secret of mana. Nothing much to say about this little piece other than it's very beautiful while staying energic. Kikuta knows his stuff.

Now I already feel like I should change some of these to other picks, but I knew this was going to be such a task, so I let them stay. Haven't listed my favorite albums for the reason, it's just way too difficult, especially when they need to be in order.

I'm another of those people who used to record stuff from games on tapes and listen to them. One of the very first was, and you must've seen this coming, Megaman II. I may still have that tape somewhere. The memories...

i can narrow it down to three:

-Forest from Silent Hill 2
-Wish from Seiken Densetsu 2
-Life Stream from FF7

any of these 3 are so serene and relaxing i could fall asleep at night leaving the game on while they looped over and over and over and over and over and over.

It was TJ&E, Bubsy, and a little DKC (I only recorded a few select tracks) for me.  Oh yeah, and I have an old tape with one side that has Lorenzen's Soil looping over and over again.  I have no idea why I kept it going for so long.

Also, it's no fair that some people are picking more than one, so I'm going to do it too:

DuClare Chateau - Deus Ex
South Shrine - Shining the Holy Ark
Akrillic - Plok!
The Trick Manor (Clockwork Mansion) - Super Castlevania IV

There, I turned it into a top five dealy.  Also, I second Climax of the Graylands Incident and Dancing Mad wholeheartedly.  I might've picked Dancing Mad as my favorite, but it kind of has an unfair advantage, what with the four parts and all.  The VS track is also quite lengthy and complex.  It's an intro sequence track, and those kinds of tracks tend to have those kinds of advantages which aren't necessarily consistent with the spirit of a topic like this.

You know, I'm really surprised no one said "Wily Stage 1" from Rockman 2 considering it's a pretty famous piece.

Not a VGM piece by any means, but listening to "Forces" from Berserk a lot lately. This song is incredible.

The FFVI ending. Kinda surprised no one else has mentioned it.

That one almost feels too easy   I came close to listing it as one of my picks.

No one said Time's Scar or MGS2 Main Theme either.  Or, *gasp*, One-Winged Angel.

FFVI's Ending Theme is obviously the ultimate though.  Certainly my favorite ending/credits theme.

I considered it, but I had the misfortune of coming across the Okkusenman BS infecting Youtube and it's kind of tainted for me right now. I understand something worse has been done to Crashman's theme, but luckily I've avoided it thus far.

Personally, I think Metal Man's stage theme is the best MM2 piece. Even on such a stellar soundtrack, it manages to own all the other themes hard.