It would be nice if people were more detailed in this thread instead of just listing their favorite soundtracks. Sure, it's cool that you like those twelve soundtracks, but why? Share some of the weath, everyone.

On to my picks:

Final Fantasy X

I'm not a huge fan of Uematsu's tracks (although "Calm Before the Storm" is awesome), and there are too many summoning songs throughout the discs, but Hamauzu and Nakano absolutely tore this album up. I'm a big fan of Hamauzu and Nakano regardless, but nothing else that they've done separately or collectively has had an impact on me like their work on FFX. From the crazy electronic layers of "Blitz Off" to the intense ambience of "Deep Sea Ruins" and the awesome final battle tunes... it just doesn't quit. Even the Hama/Uematsu collaboration of "Spiran Scenery" works wonders; I can't stand "Suteki da ne", but the melody line is interwoven so smoothly and effectively in this song that it's impossible to not like. "Luca" is my favorite town theme ever (EVAR), and "Challenge" gets me pumped up like no other Hamauzu song can.

But, yeah. FFX is awesome, despite the Uematsu-filler and the occasional spotty track. I'm a little disappointed that a couple of Hamauzu tunes didn't make the final cut, but what's here is fantastic. I even have a "Real FFX" playlist on my iPod that shanks most of Uematsu's tunes and delivers the Hama/Naka assault as it should have been on the OST. FFX is definitely my favorite Final Fantasy soundtrack to date, no questions, and something is telling me that it will never be superseded in the future. A+ yo, A+.

Honorable mention goes to my man kt2 with his lesser known For you... from here the edge album. It's short, only about 30 minutes with six tunes (including one remix), but he really lays down his depressing yet surprisingly uplifting new-age style with his usually effective backbeats. Once the album hits "tower" the CD takes an emotional turn, layering soft harmonics over some awesome synth swells. It's intense, for sure, and was worth the trouble and cash to hunt this sweet little treat down. Just like all of kt2's work, this comes highly recommended. I can't even picture my VGM collection without his albums, and "from here the edge" is riding high at the top of my favorites right now - both in general and within kt2's small but awesome catalog.

Falcom Special Box '94.  If ever there was a soundtrack that deserved a bold tag, this is it.  Three discs packed full of everything that made Falcom great in this era:

Ys IV Super Arrange Version, presented by Ryo Yonemitsu
Legend of Xanadu Super Arrange Version, alternating between Tamiya Terashima's Electric Orchestra and Tomohiko Kishimoto's JDK Band
Popful Mail Super Arrange Version, chock-full of JDK Band shredding, with the occasional Terashima interlude

Individually, each of these discs would rank in my top fifty, and when you put them together in one package, nothing else comes close.  It's got it all:  Falcom power rock courtesy of Yonemitsu, a metal attitude thanks to Kishimoto, and some of the best synth orchestra that Terashima ever produced.  This is easily my favorite soundtrack of all time, and I doubt anything else will ever knock it from its perch.

My pick is FINAL FANTASY V OST.

Honorable mentions:

Falsion (Konami Famicom game)
Fighters' History (Taito game with music by Zuntata)
Fatal Fury (series)
Fire Emblem (series)
F-Zero, F-Zero X
Fighting Layer
FEDA (Super Famicom game)
Furai no Shiren (made it to multiple systems, music by Koichi Sugiyama)

Oh yeah....FAXANADU.

And...FROGGER!

Winner: Final Fantasy VI OSV

1st RU-F-Zero X Guitar Arrange
2nd RU- For Brighter Day Phantasy Star Universe OST
3rd RU-Falcom Special Box 94

See Crash's post for FSB. PSU is literally fresh off the press, but I already like it more than what the same team did for the PSO games and it's among my favorites this year. F-Zero Guitar Arrange is an arrange album that doesn't get enough respect, but it's great rock from start to finish.

Really though, FFVI is the forerunner here with zero question (and my policy of not doubling up franchises remains in play). VII was fine, X was great, but VI is still the definitive RPG soundtrack. Not a single wasted or "filler" track and its' highs are definitely among the highest seen in the genre. No-brainer pick.

Fire Emblem ~ G.S.M. Nintendo 3 (PCCB-00029)

This CD contains some of the best arranged VGM I've ever heard, and definitely gets my pick for the best 'F' soundtrack!

Final Fantasy Tactics. I'm a fan of Sakimoto's particular orchestral style anyway but this score accompanied me through dozens of hours of battles - often lasting a fair while - yet I never tired of the magnificent battle themes he came up with.

Going with a double-shot for my top picks.

Fantasy Zone
Happiest music on Earth, and some of the most infectious melodies as well, courtesy of Hiroshi "old Sega tunes are FRIGGIN' AWESOME" Miyauchi. Opa-Opa!, Dreaming Tomorrow, Hot Snow (<3), they're all marvelous.

Final Fantasy VI
I'm sure my love for the FF6 soundtrack is mostly nostalgic, since I'm not a big fan of Uematsu as a whole. (In fact, my second favorite FF soundtrack, FF5, is from the only other FF game I've ever beaten.) However, damned if it doesn't seem to me like Nobuo hit his stride with this one, since it feels to me that, like GoldfishX, that there's no filler; it's just all good. Searching for Friends in particular is my favorite SNES track of all time (and with soundtracks like Arcana, Earthbound, Kirby Super Star, etc., this is saying a LOT).

Runners-up
Falcata is an old Gust S-RPG from before they started the Atelier series. The Red Book audio, by Toshiharu Yamanishi (previously from Technosoft), is F'IN METAL. 26 minutes of unholy rock.

And F-ZERO (the jazz arrange) because I like jazz.

Final Fantasy VI takes it easily considering that it's still my all time favorite game soundtrack overall.  I could go on and on about why it's so great, but everybody should already know unless they've been hiding under a rock, so I'll just say that as GoldfishX suggested, it still sets the standard for what a great RPG soundtrack is supposed to be.  With Dancing Mad, Aria Di Mezzo Carattere and the Ending Theme doing much to impress even today, this is Uematsu's masterwork that remains peerless in the world of VGM.  Everything that was Final Fantasy came together in this soundtrack in a more mature and evocative way than ever before his experimention (and lack thereof outside of FFVIII I suppose) began to yield mixed results in future Final Fantasy soundtracks.  Uematsu may have gone downhill since Final Fantasy VI, but that does nothing to diminish the moment of clarity and inspiration he seemed to achieve here.

My honorable mention goes, of course, to Final Fantasy Tactics.  Lots of aural awesomeness spread throughout in this one.  I like to look at it as a more sophisticated Tactics Ogre.  And like Tactics Ogre, it's full of exciting battle themes and gripping event themes.  Sakimoto is my all time favorite VGM composer for good reason and Iwata does a really good job here too.  SRPG fans may argue over whether or not the game itself is overrated because of the Final Fantasy label, but if one thing is certain, it's that the music is not.  Sakimoto does a great job of holding the soundtrack together with his various memorable recurring motifs like Ovelia's Theme and Iwata does a great job providing some nice battle tracks and the wonderfully dark Zodiac monster tracks.  The Pervert and Kourin ftw?  You better believe it!

Hahahahaha, F.

Ok, let's see.

NOTE: REMEMBER, THIS IS A LIST OF /ALL/ THE F-SOUNDTRACKS I OWN, AND I PICK FROM THEM AT THE END:

-Final Fantasy I-II
-Final Fantasy I-II Remix
-Final Fantasy III
-Final Fantasy IV
-Final Fantasy V
-Final Fantasy VI
-Final Fantasy VII
-Final Fantasy VIII
-Final Fantasy IX
-Final Fantasy IX Plus
-Final Fantasy X
-Final Fantasy XI
-Final Fantasy Symphonic Suite
-Final Fantasy III Eternal Legend of the Wind
-Final Fantasy IV Celtic Moon
-Final Fantasy V Dear Friends
-Final Fantasy VI Grand Finale
-Final Fantasy VIII Fethos Lusec Wecos Venosec
-Final Fantasy XI Star Onions - Music from The Other Side of Vana'Diel
-Final Fantasy IV Piano Collections
-Final Fantasy V Piano Collections
-Final Fantasy VI Piano Collections
-Final Fantasy VII Piano Collections
-Final Fantasy VIII Piano Collections
-Final Fantasy IX Piano Collections
-Final Fantasy X Piano Collections
-Final Fantasy Pray
-Final Fantasy Love Will Grow
-Final Fantasy Songbook
-Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles
-Final Fantasy Mystic Quest
-Final Fantasy Tactics
-Final Fantasy The Black Mages II
-Front Mission
-F-Zero X OST
-F-Zero X Guitar Arrange

It's really hard to choose....I think out of all FF CDs, FFIV just edges out VI in the OST department, but FFX Piano is the best of the rest.

-Joshua

FFVI. Pretty much every damn track is brilliant. I remember playing the game back in 1993 and being memorized by it (and a good part of that was thanks to the music).

My runner-up is FFXII. Some of Sakimoto's finest work. I find almost every track to have layer upon layer. Certainly makes repeat listening a joy.

This is an outrageously difficult pick.

I think I'll go with:

Final Fantasy VIII: Fithos Lusec Wecos Vinosec

Best orchestral album in recent memory IMO.

Honorable mention goes to Feena ~ Shoko Minami.

Ramza

My word this is a hard letter to pick a fave from.

Actually, maybe it isn't as Final Fantasy VI is my first favorite Final Fantasy OST, most likely for now and forever.  As everyone has said, each and every track is awesome, though "Kids Run Through The City" is really not a favorite of mine.  Like CHz said, "Searching For Friends" is an all time favorite of mine too.  And much like Wanderer said, this soundtrack gave me chills when I played the game the first time.  I have so many favorite tracks from this cd too, but, "Tina", "Cyan", "The Phantom Forest", and the "Ending Theme" stand out for me.  And what an epic ending theme it is!  Uematsu even included themes for the game's two bonus characters, something that I really missed in FFVII.

I'm quite curious to hear how the GBA handles the emulation for this OST, as, IMHO, it's the SNES soundchip that makes the instruments sound unique.

Runner up:  Final Fantasy X like Zane pointed out, so much about this OST is awesome.  With the exception of the aformentioned "filler tracks" I can listen to this OST clean through.  Standouts for me are: "To Zanarkand", "Besaid Island", "People Of The North Pole", and "Decisive Battle".

Hey Zane, do you have a link to where I can find the tracks to this "unabridged' FFX OST?  I'm curious to hear it.  Even though I've played through the game several times, I'm at a loss to think of any unpublished music. 

Honorable Mention;  Front Mission, this is the soundtrack that introduced me to Junya Nakano's style.  Since then. Nakano has been an easy favorite of mine.

For the most part, I would say that Finaly Fantasy is overrated, although one FF soundtrack does make my favorite list.  The older FF stuff is better than the new in my opinion.  But at anyrate, my list is:

Falcom Neo Classics -gorgeous stuff
Final Fantasy Tactics -the best FF soundtrack BY far!

honorable mention:

Fire Emblem G.S.M. Nintendo 3

cheers,

-avatar!

There was a Faxanadu soundtrack released?

-avatar!

Off the top of my head I think I'd have to go with Feena ~ Shoko Minami.  Perhaps entirely for Tears of Love, but still...wonderful arrangements.

But the original Front Mission was composed by Yoko Shimomura and Noriko Matsueda.  I believe that Nakano's only contribution to the entire series consists of just four tracks in Gun Hazard.

My favorite "F" soundtracks in no particular order:

-FF4 OST
-FF5 OST
-FF6 OST
-FF Mix (it rocks, just admit it!)
-FFMQ OST
-F-Zero (the sweet jazz arrange one)

No - I just wanted to mention that I really like the music.

Best Arrange: F-ZERO (fusion-jazz arrange). It's a classic, one of my earliest ventures into game music arrangement.

Other contenders: Final Fantasy XI - Music from the Other Side of Vana'diel THE STAR ONIONS, there were a few pieces that were off-kilter (like the 'piano collection' pieces) but they were redeemed with superb rockin' saxophone fueled tracks like Kazham, the Disney-esque Metalworks, the nocturnal Sanctuary of Zi'Tah, the superb Selbina, and one of the best game music vocals I've ever heard to finish off the disc.

FZ Series ''AXIS'' was forwarded to me by a friend. The arrangements are just melodic and fun - they also include a good wealth of guitar and sax and stay very close to the original tunes included on the disc.

Falcom Special BOX '89. David Matthews Fusion disc is just flat out fun, different takes on some classic Falcom tunes. These have been long time favorites.

Falcom SPECIAL BOX '91. Disc 2. The electronica-rock weirdness of Yuzo Hayashi. Again, love the little saxophone parts in each tune.

Falcom SPECIAL BOX '92. Disc 2 (only), the Super Arrange Version of Legend of Heroes. Incredible stuff here, very distinct arrangements of the music in a new-age, jazz style.

Best Original: Final Fantasy VII. Simply marvelous music that came in at a time of 16 vs. 32 bit sounds and my first foray into Uematsu's music.

The original music of F-Zero. Some of my earliest game music favorites from watching and learning from my dad and brother on the ol' Super NES where even back then dreamed of having the music on soundtrack form.

Always been a huge fan of Final Fight 2 music composed by many of the same members who did the earliest Rockman games including the legendary Rockman 3 composer, Bun Bun. Really should've been an arrange for this game.

Final Fantasy VI & VII -- It's the reason I have this hobby.
Falcom Special Box '91 -- Legacy of the Wizard (Dragon Slayer Family I think) music = amazing and the game was so clutch.

Ack!  My bad!  I did mean Shinomura.  When I was thinking of her other contributions, for some reason I was thinking Dew Prism, rather than Kingdom Hearts.

Did anyone else feel that the OST for Front Mission 2 just wasn't as strong as FM1?

I dunno, it just didn't strike me like FM1. 

Thanks for pointing out my error, Megavolt. 

http://slyph.org/index/content/view/188/156/

It looks like they went over their bandwidth limit for the month, but the tracks are there. Most notable is Wakka's Theme. There is never such thing as enough Hamauzu.

No prob.  And I like Shimomura too.  Especially for Parasite Eve and Legend of Mana, which are sure to be among my mentions as this thing continues.  Super Mario RPG is also forever memorable to me.

I like them both, though I'm not sure which I like more, as I never gave it too much thought.  FM1 has many great beats and FM2 is a bit more airy in its approach.  Listen to some tracks again now, I may like FM1 a little more thanks to the unique influx of energy and rhythm that Shimomura provides.  It meshes together well with Matsueda's more moody and atmospheric approach.

I need to get to playing Front Mission on ZSNES.

Final Fantasy USA (amazing battle themes) and Final Fantasy Origins OST (for FF1 music) are both top notch, but I have to agree with Crash:

Falcom Special Box Nineteen Ninety Four takes the cake in terms of being packed with awesome from start to finish.  Unlike the other Special Boxes it doesn't have a weak disc or pretty much a weak track.

It has to be either Final Fantasy VI or Final Fantasy VII OST. Back when I first heard the music for either game, I was awestruck by the majesty of Uematsu's compositions for those titles. The synth was good for a SNES game, too. Some of the best music for a game ever recorded.

FFVII music was, like a certain reviewer put it, half of the game.

I absolutely love those OST's.

Since I can never pick just one:

- Falcom Special Box '92
- Final Fantasy 3 - Legend of the Eternal Wind
- Freedom Fighters Original Soundtrack
- and some more love for Final Fantasy VI OSV

As you can probably guess by my username, Final Fantasy VI takes the top spot in my heart, for all of the reasons previously stated. My brother and I were so enthralled by the music that we actually recorded our own soundtrack using a tape recorder. Sure, the quality was terrible and recording "Ending Theme" proved to be a hassle, but I have fond memories of listening to those tapes on long car trips.

The fact that the game had no real central character lent itself really well to the music, I think, as we weren't constantly bombarded by numerous variations of the same theme. Yes, "Tina" doubles as a main theme, but I thought most of the characters got fair representation throughout the game, which is something I can't say for other games in the series (I'm a huge fan of "Melodies of Life," but didn't need to hear it every other scene).

Special mention goes to FF Mystic Quest, which had some fantastic town themes and even more rockin' battle themes. I honestly wish Square would go ahead and do a remake.