So I've been playing Skyrim a lot recently in an attempt to break my horrible Battlefield addiction (seems to be working! Woo!) and there is a ritual that I go through every single time I play. I sit at the title screen until the entire theme song is finished.
I know that sounds nerdy, but it is a really powerful, well written piece of music. People are putting more and more effort into video games these days with a lot of AAA title having larger budgets and making more income than top Hollywood blockbusters. So listening to the Skyrim theme the other day I got to thinking about all the other classic pieces of video game music that I've enjoyed over the years. Here they are in convienient list form, linked to the video on YouTube.
10. Final Fantasy VIII - Eyes On Me
To understand why this song means anything you really need to play the game from start to finish. I always felt that it really captured the fractious relationship of the main characters and it's also not often that you hear a fully written song with lyrics in a video game.
9. Halo 2 - Halo 2 Theme (Mjolnir Mix)
This is the first FPS game that I really enjoyed the music for. There wasn't many songs throughout the course of the game that I didn't enjoy, however the main title theme is so epic it makes me want to grab my Shotgun and go hunt some Convenant!
8. Lufia 2 - To The Future (Ending Theme)
There remains to this day only a couple of video games that have had such a strong emotional effect on me that they have literally influenced the way that I live my life. Lufia 2 is one of those games and the ending theme, even though it's in 8-bit midi was such a bittersweet song that complimented Maxim's pyrrhic victory perfectly. (Careful - Video contains end of game spoilers).
7. Mortal Kombat - Mortal Kombat
Yes, I know that this song is not from the actual game, but come on! This song was just outrageous. If you claim you didn't like it, YOU SUCK!
6. Super Mario Bros - Super Mario Bros Original Theme
This game makes the list because basically it's the most recognizable video game tune ever created. There are people living in caves in Botswana, Africa that will instantly know this tune if you start whistling it.
5. Gears of War 3 - Heron Blue
This song was from the trailer and edited versions are in parts of the game. I saw a comment on a Gears video a while ago that sums it up for me; "Halo music makes you feel like a hero. Gears music makes you feel like you've been through hell and back."
4. Resident Evil 2 - Police Station
This game scared me shitless when I was a kid and a lot of it had to do with the music. Sitting up at midnight with all the lights off and a blanket over my head, just peeking out enough to see the screen. I'll always remember the pants shitting terror I felt every second of playing through this game.
3. Bioshock - Andrew Ryan's Introduction
I love the intro to Bioshock. You're thrown out of a plane wreck into this crazy, underwater, dystopian world. I think it needs to be watched/listened to with the voice over from Andrew Ryan to fully appreciate the piece. Skip to 0:46 in the video.
I've had to throw three in here because they are all gorgeous pieces of music. Morrowind is slow, graceful, building. Oblivion is a bit more urgent, adventurous and grandiose. And as for Skyrim, another famous internet commenter said, "Listen to this song in the morning at full volume. Guaranteed to make you want to go to war with your day!" and I think that sums it up nicely.
Bonus Elder Scrolls Song - The Dragonborn Comes
This is an actual bard song that you can hear the bards signing in Taverns throughout Skyrim. There are heaps of covers of it, but I think this one is the best.
1. The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past - Overworld
Everyone who's a serious gamer knows this song in some form or another. My personal favourite piece of video gaming history. Enjoy the Boston Symphony Orchestra's 25th Anniversary edition of this song.
There are a lot of epic game themes out there so feel free to add your own favourites in the comments.
Until next time dear readers. Until next time.
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