Here's the list we have on the mainsite so far:

1. Super Mario Brothers - (1985, Koji Kondo)
2. Final Fantasy VII - (1997, Nobuo Uematsu)
3. Castlevania: Symphony of the Night - (1997, Michiru Yamane)
4. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time - (1998, Koji Kondo)
5. Sonic the Hedgehog 2 - (1992, Masato Nakamura)
6. Super Mario Brothers 3 - (1988, Koji Kondo)
7. Wing Commander - (1990, George "The Fat Man" Sanger)
8. DOOM -(1993, Bobby Prince)
9. Deus Ex - (2000, Alexander Brandon, Dan Gardopee, Michiel van den Bos & Reeves Gabrels)
10. Sonic the Hedgehog 3 - (1994, MJ, Howard Drossin, Brad Buxer, Bobby Brooks, Darryl Ross, Geoff Grace, Doug Grigsby III & Scirocco)
11. Outlaws - (1997, Clint Bajaikan)
12. Sonic the Hedgehog - (1991, Masato Nakamura)
13. EarthBound - (1995, Keiichi Suzuki, Hirokazu Tanaka & Hiroshi Kanazu)
14. Chrono Cross - (2000, Yasunori Mitsuda)
15. Mega Man 2 - (1989, Ogeretsu Kun, Manami Ietel & Yuukichan's Papa)
16. Grim Fandango - (1998, Peter McConnell)
17. Final Fantasy VI - (1994, Nobuo Uematsu)
18. Chrono Trigger - (1995, Yasunori Mitsuda & Nobuo Uematsu)
19. Phantasy Star II - (1989, Tokuhiko Uwabo)
20. Kirby's Adventure - (1993, Hirokazu Ando & Jun Ishikawa)
21. Super Metroid - (1994, Kenji Yamamoto & Minako Hamano)
22. Metal Gear Solid - (1998, KCE Japan Sound Team, TAPPY, Aoife Ní Fhearraigh & Rika Muranaka)
23. Super Mario World - (1991, Koji Kondo)
24. Final Fantasy VIII - (1999, Nobuo Uemetsu)
25. Contra - (1988, H. Maezawa &K. Sada)
26. Resident Evil 2 - (1998, Masami Ueda)
27. Final Fantasy IX - (2000, Nobuo Uemetsu)
28. Silent Hill 2 - (2001, Akira Yamaoka)
29. Ecco the Dolphin - (1992, Magyari András, Spencer N. Nilsen & Brian Coburn)
30. Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty - (2001, Harry Gregson-Williams)
31. The Legend of Zelda: A Link To The Past - (1991, Koji Kondo)
32. Zombies Ate My Neighbors - (1993, George "The Fat Man" Sanger & Joe McDermott)
33. Wild ARMs - (1996, Michiko Naruke)
34. Ghouls 'n' Ghosts - (1988, Tamayo Kawamoto & Tim Follin)
35. Command & Conquer: Red Alert - (1996, Frank Klepacki)
36. Halo: Combat Evolved - (2001, Martin O'Donnell)
37. Silent Hill - (1999, Akira Yamaoka)
38. Headhunter: Redemption - (2003, Richard Jacques)
39. Homeworld - (1999, Paul Ruskay & Yes)
40. Tales of Symphonia - (2003, Motoi Sakuraba, Shinji Tamura & Takeshi Arai)
41. Duke Nukem 3D - (1996, Bobby Prince & Lee Jackson)
42. Katamari Damacy - (2004, Yu Miyake & Charlie Kosei)
43. MechWarrior 2 - (1995, Gregory Alper & Jeehun Hwang)
44. Final Fantasy Tactics - (1998, Masaharu Iwata & Hitoshi Sakimoto)
45. Legend of Legaia - (1998, Michiru Oshima)
46. Civilization II - (1996, Jeff Briggs)
47. The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask - (2000, Koji Kondo)
48. Resident Evil - (1996, Masami Ueda, Makoto Tomozawa & Akari Kaida)
49. Ico - (2001, Michiru Oshima)
50. Grandia II - (2000, Noriyuki Iwadare)
51. Wolfenstein 3D - (1992, Bobby Prince)
52. Xenogears - (1998, Yasunori Mitsuda)
53. Total Annihilation - (1997, Jeremy Soule)
54. God of War - (2005, Gerard Marino, Mike Reagan, Winifred Phillips, Ron Fish & Cris Velasco)
55. Wing Commander III: Heart of the Tiger - (1994, George Oldziey)
56. Skies of Arcadia - (2000, Yutaka Minobe & Takayuki Maeda)
57. Shenmue - (2000, Yuzo Koshiro)
58. Shadow of the Colossus - (2005, Kow Otani)
59. Jazz Jackrabbit 2 - (1998, Alexander Brandon)
60. Baldur's Gate - (1998, John Winski)
61. The Neverhood - (1996, Terry Scott Taylor)
62. Interstate 76 - (1997, Arion Salazar)
63. Mega Man Legends - (1997, Makoto Tomozawa)
64. DOOM II: Hell on Earth - (1994, Bobby Prince)
65. ToeJam & Earl - (1991, John Baker & Mark Miller)
66. Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater - (2004, Harry Gregson-Williams & Norihiko Hibino)
67. Lufia & the Fortress of Doom - (1993, Yasunori Shiono, Aki Zaitsu & Naomi Kuroda)
68. Final Fantasy IV - (1991, Nobuo Uematsu)
69. Command & Conquer - (1995, Frank Klepacki)
70. Outcast - (1999, Gil Damoiseaux)
71. Diablo - (1996, Matt Uelman)
72. Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six - (1998, Steve Rockett)
73. Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings - (1999, David Rippy & Stephen Rippy)
74. Rayman 2: The Great Escape - (1999, Eric Chevalier)
75. F-Zero - (1990, Yumiko Kanki & Naoto Ishida)
76. HeXen - (1995, Kevin Schilder)
77. Star Control 2 - (1992, Aaron Grier, Erol Otus, Eric E. Berge, Riku Nuottajärvi & Dan Nicholson)
78. Tomb Raider - (1996, Nathan McCree)
79. Crusader: No Remorse - (1995, Dan Grandpre & Andrew Sega)
80. Rise of the Triad: Dark War - (1994, Bobby Prince)
81. Half-Life - (1998, Kelly Bailey)
82. Arcus Odyssey - (1991, Motoi Sakuraba)
83. Fallout - (1997, Mark Morgan)
84. Heavy Gear - (1997, Jeehun Hwang)
85. Bubble Bobble - (1986, David Whittaker)
86. Castlevania - (1986, Kinuyo Yamashita)
87. Hitman 2: Silent Assassin - (2002, Jesper Kyd)
88. Operation Flashpoint: Cold War Crisis - (2001, Ondrej Matejka)
89. Max Payne - (2001, Kärtsy Hatakka & Kimmo Kajasto)
90. Blast Corps - (1997, Graeme Norgate)
91. Thief: The Dark Project - (1998, Eric Brosius)
92. Herzog Zwei - (1989, Naosuke Arai & Tomomi Ohtani)
93. Syphon Filter - (1999, Chuck Doud)
94. Space Harrier - (1985, Jas C. Brooke & Mark Cooksey)
95. Ninja Gaiden - (1988, More Yamasan, B. Hasake & Miyazaki)
96. Commander Keen in Goodbye Galaxy! - (1991, Bobby Prince)
97. The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion - (2006, Jeremy Soule)
98. Warcraft: Orcs & Humans - (1994, Gregory Alper, Rick Jackson, Chris Palmer & Glenn Stafford)
99. Battletoads - (1991, ?)
100. Mega Man X - (1993, Setsuo Yamamoto, Makoto Tomozawa, Yuko Takehara, & Toshihiko Horiyama)
101. Blaster Master - (1988, Naoki Kodaka & Marumo)


My first suggestion is to add Earthbound relatively high-up (Top 20 or so). Its soundtrack has considerable acclaim for being original, innovative (sampling other music to pay homage to different genres) and helps to define the game as it is.

You should change the apostrophe in #19. It's non standard and does not show up in some browser fonts.

Done. But how does Earthbound at 13 or 14 sound? It's definitely not better than Sonic the Hedgehog, but it's probably better than Mega Man 2. I'd also like to switch Final Fantasy VII with Super Mario Bros. if that's okay, even though I like FF7 better because I feel the Mario soundtrack is much more iconic.

Yeah, I agree that Super Mario Bros. should probably be #1. Every one of its tunes is practically ingrained in the psyche of every person under the age of 40.

Earthbound is probably Top 20 worthy. I don't suppose #13 or #14 is too high. Go for it.

Damn, F-Zero needs some major uppin'. Songs like "Big Blue" and "Mute City" rank among the greatest racing themes ever. I'd say Top 30. The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past seems a bit low, too.

I'd also consider adding the PC game Myst. Great ambient work.

I haven't played any of those, although I plan on it at some point. I'll let someone else decide what to do with them.

On the other hand, I'm in the middle of Final Fantasy VI and the soundtrack is epic. Should it be moved to the Top 50?

Also I just added Earthbound at 13.

Needs more Tim Follin.

FFVI not being in the top 10 is the most laughably embarrassing thing I've seen in a while, forget about top 50. That's a top 5 honestly, no questions asked. I honestly don't entirely get why VII is ranked higher, but I won't say anything about that.

As well

As someone in the process of playing through both VI and VII, here's my opinion.

VII is heavily orchestrated in the way it's written. This gives it a nearly cinematic quality that allows practically perfect accompaniment to every possible moment. The character themes also happen to be a lot more memorable (Aerith's Theme, Tifa's Theme, One-Winged Angel, etc.).

VI is much more rock/metalish than VII except for the opera scene. It has a much better battle theme, but other than that, it's not nearly as memorable as some of the music in FF7. I will be moving it up significantly though. (EDIT: Just moved it up to 24, and switched it with Final Fantasy VIII, putting it at 17).

I can't comment on Chrono Cross, as I have not played it yet, but Trigger definitely deserves its high placement. I am thinking about bumping Earthbound up to 10 though.

Grand Theft Auto Vice City should really be included on this, unless you're talking about the scores in which case you should change the title and include Skyrim.

That's extremely subjective though. "Character themes happen to be a lot more memorable?" I don't think any of those are as memorable as Terra's or Kefka's or Cyan's theme. And much more rock/metalish? Aside from the battle themes (which are always rockish, including FFVII) I really don't see it. There's definate techno influences, which were a first for the series and were rather creative, which actually works to the credit of the soundtrack.
VII's soundtrack is great, but Uematsu himself has stated that FFVI's soundtrack is the apex of his career, a statement which is backed by many critics and fans. Hell, Uematsu was actually so disappointed with the way the character themes turned out in VII that he completely did away with them for the most part for the following games.
Dancing Mad, the opera sequence, and the ending theme were extremely original and innovative at the time and are still lauded whenever video game music is discussed. Dancing Mad rivals OWA for its acclaim and popularity, and musically it is leagues deeper than that song.

Not nearly as memorable? That's some laughable stuff right there.



Oh definately, just that Chrono Cross over Trigger doesn't make any sense to me.

Killer Instinct might be a good one to add. Some versions of the SNES game even came with the soundtrack on CD as a bonus.

Also, the PC game The Journeyman Project, while not widely popular, has an exceptionally great soundtrack.

And then there's Quake, whose soundtrack has the notoriety of being composed by Trent Reznor. It's very minimal, even for dark ambient, but it set the tone of that game so well.

VII is also infinitely more popular and its character themes are much more well-known. And you're right, this is a rather subjective list. I personally think Tifa's Theme, Aerith's Theme, and One-Winged Angel (arguably one of the most famous video game themes in the world) are better than those in FFVI, although I think the Opera Scene in VI was just pure brilliance. I can move it up even higher, but putting it above VII is pushing it.

And again, I don't feel comfortable commenting on Cross vs. Trigger, as I've only played Trigger. I'll wait for someone else to chip in.

And as far as I know, Uematsu never said anything about VI being the apex of his career. In fact, I read that multiple times, without even thinking about it, he's said IX's soundtrack is the best he's ever composed.

I don't mind it so much being ahead of FFVII, I was just using that as reference. Like the games themselves, they both have lots of different things going for them, and sparse weakpoints in different areas.
I do think it should be moved into the top ten though, and probably just outside the top 5.

Chrono Cross actually has a very good soundtrack, but Trigger is the legend. Acclaim-wise, it's one of the top soundtracks.

What would your ideal Top 10 look like? The current one looks pretty good, although I could imagine Earthbound in it somewhere.