Okay, so I think I've covered Fighting and Shooting game soundtracks, now, how's about Racing game soundtracks?

I just picked up Racing Lagoon the other day; I like all the jazz they do, and the techno's good, e.g., what must be the actually racing battle scene musics, but there's not very many of them.

What recommendable racing game soundtracks are out there that offer some really good techno, or rock n' roll, preferably stuff that's still in print?

For Techno, the Wangan series is great. Can't go wrong with Yuzo Koshiro.

RIIIIIIDDGGEEE... Racer! My vote goes for RIDGE RACERS direct audio for a great mix of new stuff (disc 1) and older tunes and remixes (disc 2). It's a good contrast between the older NAMCO "sound" and more progressive and wacky newer one.

http://www.chudahs-corner.com/soundtrac … A-1366%7E7

Initial D, has great racing music, but it's all stuff taken from previous albums. Most of it is not original stuff. Eurobeat just has that charm.

That oughta be nice! All manner of my favorite Super Sweep and Nanosounds composers seem to have contributed to it.

I got Initial D down, though mostly stuff from the anime.

...

Keep 'em coming (if there are anymore of mention still left!)

Hmm, no love for Gran Turismo?!

Bernhardt, silly question about your avatar... is that Albert from Legend of Dragoon? I didn't like that game but I liked him - he kicked Lavitiz's ass in terms of character IMO.

An old Amiga game Jaguar XJ220 had a rocking soundtrack.

Wangan Midnight 1 (pre-Maximum Tune), Gran Turismo 1-2-4 and the Battle Gear series. There's also the soundtracks for F-Zero and F-Zero X (plus the F-Zero X Guitar Arrange). You could also look into Rock N Roll racing for the SNES, purely for the novelty of having "Highway Star" done on SNES synth.

Ridge Racer 4 and 7.

Racing Lagoon and Rockman Battle & Chase.

Gah...Had my copy sitting right in front of me and forgot to mention it. Definitely.

The Ridge Racer series from 4 on. I'm still pissed that RR6 never got a soundtrack release. R4 got me into collecting VGM. The internet was a huge help at the time, too

The Shutokou Highway Battle 1, 2, and 0 soundtracks are excellent, as well. I tried to stick with the series of Genki games, known as Tokyo Xtreme Racer here in the states, but the dwindling quality and the sheer number of titles that are produced made me give up on the franchise. I have Import Tuner Challenge (also produced by Genki) for the Xbox360 but I have yet to play it.

For racing game soundtracks, the first thing you need to do is run out and get Wangan Midnight Maximum Tune 2 OST.  Finer techno you will not find.

After that, pick up the following:

Ridge Racer Type 4 (Jazz/Fusion)
Racing Lagoon (Jazz/Fusion)
Wangan Midnight Maximum Tune 3 (Techno)
Enthusia (Mix of jazz/fusion and techno)
Automodellista (Electronica)
F-Zero Arrange Album (Jazz)

Or if you want more traditional game music sounds:

Rockman Battle & Chase (Fast Synth)
Chocobo Racing (Extemely lively remixes of classic FF tunes)

I forgot about these, very good choices as well.

Eh, about half the soundtrack is synth-lead, but it's more straight rock overall and just every track has some semblance of live guitars in them. There are some crazier tracks overall on it that probably defy that categorization though (Springman and Gutsman, which is inexplicably done with an oriental touch, complete with flutes/shamisans). Worth looking into in any case.

My initial entry into the wonders of racing game music was Ridge Racer for PlayStation. Just excellent, pumped tunes in there by the sampling masters Shinji Hosoe, Ayako Saso among others. The essential crank-the-volume racing music.

Racing Lagoon has always been a blast because of the various forms of jazz infused tunes with electronica, acid, funk and lounge goodness. I don't care much for the "rockier" tracks on there but most of the material across the two-disc set is an absolute listening classic in my book. Racing Lagoon has always had a plush goodness, a velvet smooth sound that has not been tried elsewhere.

Automodellista is an interesting one because it's both lounge jazz (most looped) and heavy rock and electronica. I prefer the menu and garage musics, but some of the racing tunes are funky (Cruisin', In The Light, Opaque Air) albeit repetitive on the disc release.

Gran Turismo, the album release, was always nice to relax to with Isamu Ohira's jazzy menu themes. To American gamers, the Japan-based disc releases always confused me but lured me because of the two-faced side of the disc; some jazzy and some instrumental rock (with a saxophone or some other cheese like GT1) without any of the licensed crap. As far as the album releases, GT2 got a little cheap (Ohira had no orchestra, Ando was nonexistant), and GT3 was not very catchy (didn't care for any of Daiki Kasho's noisy tracks). When you get Ando on the project, you can only expect jazz-fusion and most of it good stuff.

F-Zero; original tunes were excellent, classic. F-Zero X was flat, the Guitar Arrange Edition was what "X" should've been, and F-Zero GX was fantastic. Of course, I throughly enjoyed the "fusion" arrangement album.

Enthusia continues to impress. Anything with Shusei Murai on piano is enough to keep me listening. Actually, my favorite tracks from the album were the outstanding jazz arranges on the end second disc which really came out of nowhere. This one also came by surprise because of the different sounds; rock and dance electronica with the occasional jazzy interludes. Enthusia stole the thunder from the Gran Turismo 4 soundtrack which came out within weeks of each other, which had me disappointed.

Other favorites: Driving Emotion Type-S employs "Street Fighter EX+a" standards by the same crew who did that game (Hosoe, Saso, Aihara) with an overall fusion sound in there. "A light turn" and "Best tone" are eternal artist favorites. Sega Rally is a solid Sega rock soundtrack, Daytona USA is self-explanatory.

Hope I didn't forget any...

I think Gran Turismo is good only for the first part. Nice laid-back jazz and an excellent opening theme. I was so dissappointed to find out they had replaced it with some licensed crap in the European version. I don't remember much about 2 and I never liked Daiki Kasho's stuff in the third. GT4 seems to have some pretty good tracks in game though.

Wangan Midnight Maximum Tune 2 & 3 are my favorites. Great, high speed trance, 3 being a bit more technoish.

I hated Ridge Racer for a long time, but nowadays I've grown to like some of the stuff. Ridge Racers Direct Audio is pretty good, even though there are some repetitive and boring tracks. I liked Ridge Racer 7 for the most part too. I really have to take RR4 to listening again because at the time I couldn't stand jazz or anything similar and it's supposed to be quite good. But I have to say that RR5 is only good if you like to get a headache.

F-Zero series mostly has great tunes, but unlike the above poster, I can't stand F-Zero GX. There are only like 5 tracks that I like to listen, otherwise it's too noisy and repetitive. Original SNES F-Zero and F-Zero X Guitar Arrange are my choises.

Wipeout series has some good techno/electronica tracks, the first and third being my favorites. First game has many excellent tracks by Cold Storage (I don't remember the exact capitalization) and the third has various techno artists. Some of the tracks are licensed, some exclusive for the game, but pretty good still. And the good thing is you can listen to the game cd's if you skip the data track.

Driving Emotion Type S is good, it's Super Sweep after all. I kinda like SNES Mario Kart and Stunt Race FX too, been a long time since I listened those.

Oh come on people!!

Super Mario Kart (SNES) is chock-full of nostalgia.  That one had the best in terms of original songs.  The one for the 64 had one or two decent tracks, and I can't really recall anything monumental about Double Dash's OST either.

Right you are about Super Mario Kart, and I'm inclined to include Mario Kart 64 in there too.

And Ridge Racer 4 / R4 is not jazz. It's techno/dance/house music. Not jazz (arguably a few tracks were jazzy inspired like "Naked Glow").

Not to get a negative vibe going through this thread, but I would probably play F-Zero GX a lot more if they'd have kept the music similar to the original or X. This type of music just gets old before they even begin withholding social security from it. Some of the character themes are nice, but...uh, you don't really get to hear them too often (only when you're looking at profiles and I think when you win).

Seconding Mario Kart. Very overlooked music (though partly due to overexposure from playing). Star Road is still pretty badass for a "final level" song. Also the first Ridge Racer on PS1, if only for "Ridge Racer" and especially "Rare Hero"..."Rotterdam Nation" is cool for racing, but not something I'd listen to by itself. Also love having Sahara Hotnight's "Hot Night Crash" in Burnout 3...Licensed or not, the irony is too delicious (people who've played a Burnout game and have heard the song know what I mean).

Kind of odd how trance/techno seems to have become the dominant style of "racing" music, especially in recent years.

And congratulations everyone...This far into the thread and not a single mention of Sonic R. There is hope for the sanity of the world.

Oh man!  I can't believe I forgot this one.  What's the matter, Goldfish?  Can't you feel the sunshine?  Doesn't it brighten up your day?  Living in the city, you have to survive, you know, keep the dream alive.  You need to work it out.  Talk it out.  When the day is done, the race is won, listen to some Sonic tunes cause Sega's ultra cheese can never be outdone.

セガサターン、シロ!

I recently began playing racing games again, and I only like the games with music that I feel i can really cruise to.

My recent revivals that I like are

Gran Turismo 1 & 2 (2 being the least fave)

Extreme G (I'm still searching for that elusive soundtrack) but I love the music

Ridge racer - I never finished the game after I got the soundtrack ;P

My general thoughts on Sonic R, lyric by lyric (which is what is subconsciously there when I hear it normally):

Can't you feel the sunshine? 

-f--- the sunshine

Doesn't it brighten up your day? 

-No.

Living in the city,

-f--- the city

you have to survive

-Kill me,

you know, keep the dream alive. 

-The dream is dead.

You need to work it out.

-Too much work.

Talk it out.

-Not saying a word.

When the day is done

-The world is doomed.

the race is won,

-So f---ing doomed, it hurts.

listen to some Sonic tunes cause Sega's ultra cheese can never be outdone.

-Sonic Adventure 2. Knuckles Stages. And all of Sonic and the Seven Rings. Otherwise, nothing comes close.

セガサターン、シロ!

-Hmm...Nah, this would've been awesome on Sonic R.

Damn me for forgetting Richard Jacques and TJ Davis on Sonic R, and MSR (Metropolis Street Racing). Sonic R has some of the most energetic music in any racer. About MSR, most of it was forgettable except for the "jazz-funk" tracks which were excellent.

Not a single mention of Wipeout XL/2097?  Color me surprised...for that matter, not a peep about OutRun?!?

A bump two and a half years in the making.  Just thought I'd mention here that 2009's Gran Turismo Original Sound Collection is quality.  Some of the higher-intensity trance tracks I find a bit grating but there's some surprisingly good chill-out electronica to be found, and while the rock tracks feel slightly out of place in the context of the album, a couple boast fun, freewheeling 80s'esque guitar melodies to their credit.  Racing fans check it out.

I'm not really a huge promoter of obtaining music beyond CD purchases unless it's rare, unavailable, or virtually unattainable. With that said, someone REALLY needs to check out a racing game called F-1 Sensation by Konami. It was one of their last Famicom releases before the whole trend completely jumped to the SNES. F-1 Sensation was released in 1993 and never saw a US release.

For what it's worth, it's excellent!

I don't know how I missed this one. Maybe I didn't care at the time.

I feel compelled to mention the Shutokou Battle series (Tokyo Extreme Racer). This little fenderthumper is a pleasant defiance of friction:

http://vgmdb.net/album/9608

Woah, somehow I missed this thread.  Thanks for slamming on the accelerator and bringing it to the front of the pack, Adam.

Some of my essentials:

Gran Turismo series - mainly one and four, best music to blast while taking a relaxing drive on a nice day
Wangan series - Yuzo Koshiro does techno/trance, need I say more? one, two, three
Daytona USA - the original is best with the Mitsuyoshi vocals, but the ones on this disc are excellent as well
Sonic R - big time guilty pleasure if I ever had one, awesome vocal-filled CD to put you in a good mood and great to drive to
Out Run - again, the original is the best (this CD is a must own, and apparently I suck because I don't own it.... yet)
Chocobo Racing - awesome FF remixes by Kenji Ito and a beautiful vocal.. this is guilty pleasure #2, haha
Perfect Selection Sound Racing History - another essential driving CD.. Is it "Domingo" Today?
Combat Cars - a pretty unknown Genesis racing game with a short but sweet soundtrack that I've always adored
Road Rash series - not as unknown as Combat Cars but still pretty unappreciated.. one, two, three

It's funny you mention that.  I hooked up my Dreamcast last week and I've been looking into games that I never played/finished.  Sure enough, the Tokyo Xtreme Racer series came up.  I must admit, from what I've played and heard so far from this and this, it looks to be a pretty solid series.

Also, speaking of Dreamcast, its version of Daytona USA (Daytona USA 2001) has some decent remixes from the original game.

Indeed those are must-haves. I'd also like to mention SEGA Touring Car Championship. While it is a bit hit or miss, it has one of the best racing songs in history.
Also Top Gear 2 for the SNES had some amusing and fun tracks.

I really should give the Gran Turismo and Ridge Racer series a more thoroughly listen someday. The little bits I listened from Ridge Racer were quite promising upbeat techno.

After several listens of Shutokou Battle Original Sound Track, it's easily my favorite old-but-new-to-me album of the year so far.  All of Tomoyuki Kawamura's tracks are pure genius.  They make up about 2/3 of the CD, but the other tracks from T's Music, Tsutomu Kudo, and Futoshi Sato are solid too.  A bunch of the tunes here could be dropped in a Cave-like 2D shmup and they'd fit perfectly.  I highly recommend you hunt this CD down if you're a fan of upbeat racing game music, shmup soundtracks, or just awesome foot-tapping music in general!

Yet another "rare and always goes for wicked high amounts on YJA" CD for me to add to my wish list.  Ugh!  I should just stop listening to new music.  Naaah.

One racing soundtrack that I can't recommend enough is Cyber Speed by Knight Mark for the PSX.  The music is entirely redbook so just track down the game.  It may sound a little dated and cheesy by today's standards, but it has some really catchy, mid-90's techno.  ...if that's what you're looking for.

- Justin Pfeiffer

Here's one that hasn't been mentionned yet...

Gran Chaser

An early Sega Saturn racer with music from Koji Hayama.

Pretty solid overall, plenty of synth and his trademark "guitar" sound in there.

Sounds so '80s despite being made in the next decade.

I've no idea how obscure it is to find, but if it can be obtained for a good price, why not ?