Best NES/SNES era videogame soundtracks?

I always enjoyed the sparse, moody soundtrack to Secret of Evermore

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uyJYQVpnf9c

castlevania 3 is prob my all time fave:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4SJaF8no9t0&feature=related

earthbound is pretty much sick:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jd1njB6SQok&feature=PlayList&p=E4A1A079AF6E3EA3&index=0&playnext=1

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gKhydxrZCqY

boards of canada!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLaqz900Q8I

this sounds like Early Underground-era Moby
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D20dF5Ao1mE

Castlevania seconded - the first game is just one SWEET 8-bit metal tune after another.

Also love the one, single, long looping tune from River City Ransom. Karnov's theme is fun too.

Oh! And SONIC! A lot of it is kind of nakedly trying to sound like outtakes from Michael Jackson albums but that's a good thing. The first two have a lot of good tracks, and I also have a soft spot for the theme song (with vocals!) from Sonic CD. YouTube for that I think.

Most of my favorite music from this era isn't on consoles, though - this was the golden age of MIDI soundtracks for PC games. Mark Seibert (I think was the name) did some great stuff at Sierra - love Hero's Quest for one. Also whoever did Conquest of Camelot. But the real winner is Origin - the soundtracks for Ultima 7 and Ultima Underworld are just burned into my brain, and the looming, not-quite-Imperial-March Kilrathi theme music in Wing Commander 2.

Oh, and DOOM and DOOM 2 had great, GREAT music, exactly what the games needed.

The great thing is you can find the actual midi files from the games out there on the net! Bliss.

IMO Donkey Kong Country factory/warehouse levels music rips heavily from "Tonight x3" by Genesis.

doot doot doot da-doot doot doot da-doot doot doo-doo dooooo dadadoot doot
BONEY WHALE APPEARS
dododoodododododododotododoo dodododododododdodododod dadada

Have you ever played Pocky and Rocky?

why yes, I rented it from my local video store back in 94 or something. You should check out Parodius if you like that stuff.

For years my brother aspired to write music for video games and his idols were Nobuo Uematsu (Final Fantasy), Hip Tanaka (Metroid) and Dan Forden (Mortal Kombat).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D65TT5Ieb4M&feature=PlayList&p=28A6F84189D36D57&index=7

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KF32DRg9opA

koji kondo in link to the past - kakariko village is wicked.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2xCp6ngH_mQ

Duck Tales moon theme OTM! I used to imagine that the mouth motions of the enemies on that stage were them sounding out the main riff. That game had pretty great music in general though, nice long elaborate tunes with several parts. The Amazon track is pretty clear in my head.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZ9xwkMr3e4&feature=related

OMG YES. Worth it if only for the loopy, unbelievably irritating but still kind of jaunty "you're about to die" theme.

Also great bassline on the main gameplay theme music.

Reminds me indirectly of GAUNTLET.

Also great bassline

yes! i remember this.

opening of rygar used to get me pumped to battle the beast that says aoooogah

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bNrzw8wKjkQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I05_AU3vjfY

that DK Country one is brilliant

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=11wAyy4gOqo&feature=related

x-post

dk country is a pretty overrated game but the music is dope, no doubt.

Switchblade

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yjloIU9zSN4

Link's Awakening for Game Boy had some inspiring shit:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cg87Fn6Jnbg

Blades of Steel!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Zfn_ape5Qw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kwaTdxHU4l8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HFcSBLP_4n4

Mt Tamaranch music is epic; it certainly infused the experience of being near a big egg with a lot of gravitas

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2NZrPluLQ6Q&feature=related

Adon's stage theme has good duelling fake metal guitars

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gtRPfkq29U8

have bizarre association between this and a christmas day grandparent death false alarm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=92CRWLx_zBg&feature=related

OCEAN LOADER

needs Phil Oakey vox

FTW

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CRKigUZjmMY

C64 mention reminds me how much I'd like to hear the Last Ninja soundtrack right about now.

whoever's actually playing Super Turrican in that video above is blowing my mind.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qSXyn-2GIhs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hW3HTUA8MHI

No Ecco the Dolphin love?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLk04DibLWs

Plok! (SNES) had fucking great music.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2jbJSftFr20

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uzRjk6Ioqd0

lufia 2 was doooooooope

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVSEzF_qDcQ

Another personal fave:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8A6dKv62hc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pis_Y2bkPhY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jd9Ufvc3vcw

this is such a pimp ass thread

SMB2, Blaster Master and Jackal all seconded.

BTW, this is off topic, but what is the deal in Jackal, when you finish a level but don't really kick ass, instead of showing you the image of the dudes in the jeep going top speed and yelling "YEAHH!!" the game displays the dudes kind of rummaging through the jeep asking... "Here?" That always baffled us as kids. Are they trying to remember where they stowed their lunch?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LtLVxW0T9HE

whoa theres actually stuff in that thats not in the game..

The song that plays when you lose the game (after you die 3 times) is pretty awesome also.

I woke up with this stuck in my head the other morning:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oY60LfUyGD4&feature=PlayList&p=A8687A01480F0DDE&index=11

Maybe it's because I played this as an impressionable young child but the music from the end of Metroid II is straight up haunting.

Ducktails NES moon theme

― Adam Bruneau, Wednesday, November 25, 2009 5:38 AM (1 month ago)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8L6c0GkpsgA&feature=PlayList&p=A024CD20E2B13667&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=41

still occasionally haunts mah dreams

Nevermind that it's a Power Rangers game, I always loved this theme:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t3LY4TtJjo8

One time on my birthday a friend gave me a CD with the complete Streets of Rage 3 soundtrack. Some of it is absolutely crushing industrial techno.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8S0UG6auhzs&list=PL0D7D875A11C51ECE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZnIWJA0WN0&list=PL0D7D875A11C51ECE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ofmHCsZMMjw&list=PL0D7D875A11C51ECE

Yeah, those are some pretty great soundtracks. Always was fond of this Enigma ripoff:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AdloNuj-RhE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2IIKv9e6q4

Not sure if this quite the right thread, but, man, I always dug the Last Ninja soundtrack but I'm not really sure how far I ever made it as a kid and the second level ("Wilderness") theme is blowing my mind right now. The sounds they got out of the SID chip!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RsRszs2_9U

I remember Kirby's Adventure having a pretty ahead-of-its time soundtrack, all blippy and minimal, and unless my TV's audio is weird, surprisingly deep bottom end on some tunes

these are pretty amazing. Wolvertine Adamantium Rage for SNES and Genesis both have mind-blowing OSTs in completely different ways. Genesis has some kind of fantastically noisey slowcore industrial stoner metal thing going:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vcV4lduB1uQ

SNES has some really crazy electro drum kit sounds and samples of thing like record scratching and someone going w-w-w-w-wolverine:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JBwVsgLYP9Y

lol Wolvertine

https://laurelrusswurm.files.wordpress.com/2009/09/maxhead.gif?w=320&h=200

B-be-be sure to drink your W-w-Wolvertine

Genesis had some pretty epic soundtracks:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7-AHModlMA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oTQIiIKummw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2-PtDDS2Lw

most of the Terranigma score is generic, but it has some pretty weird / worthwhile moments like this one

https://youtu.be/J3vk5N8TyYU?t=51m3s

god i love that Genesis synth sound

NES

duck tales
bugs bunny birthday blow out
bubble bobble
meagman
castlevania
battle toads
river city ransom
pac-man
contra
dr. mario
legend of zelda
kirby's adventure
ghosts n' goblins

The Gunstar Heroes soundtrack is my all-time favorite Genesis OST, but you almost don't notice it when you're playing because the game keeps you busy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjuyQP__4kI

You all ought to check out Smooth Mcgroove’s acapella (probably autotune assisted) covers of videogame classics. There’s almost a hundred of them so here’s a sampler with my three favorite game songs:

Ducktales - Moon
https://youtu.be/Nhy2aNEPshw

Chrono Trigger - corridors of time
https://youtu.be/JtKCt8Afk9s

DKC2 - Stickerbrush symphony
https://youtu.be/_fxEPM8OKFU

xpost to Moka, that guy rules

yeah wow this is a major songwriting step up from the last couple of AC records