You know what I love? A nice coffee in the morning. You know what else I love? Great video game soundtracks. I find that as I get older, soundtracks in video games are becoming more and more important to me. The more observant amongst you may have noticed that I gave Shatter an 8/10. While the gameplay is pretty cool, I don’t think that I would have given it that score without its amazing electro soundtrack that I’m still listening to today.

What relevance does this have to this article? Well, considering news is a little slow in the post-Gamescom video game world I thought I’d do a little run down of my top 5 favourite soundtracks of all time. (This list doesn’t include games with licensed music, for example GTA 4, or music games, such as Lumines)

5) Shatter

This game has an incredible, heart-thumping electro soundtrack which perfectly complements the game’s arcadey action. I loved this soundtrack enough to buy it online for more than the price of the actual game.

Highlight: Neon Mines

4) Breath of Fire 3

I may be biased because of nostalgia here, but this game’s upbeat and jolly soundtrack matches the game’s mood perfectly.

Highlight: The Town Loved By The Wind

3) Mirror’s Edge

This game’s trance-y soundtrack really suits the game’s art-style and gameplay well. Also, I generally tend to stay away from the trance/rave sub-section of electro, but this really swayed me.

Highlight: Still Alive

(Note: Matt may or may not have a huge crush on Lisa Miskovsky)

2) Final Fantasy 8

Final Fantasy 8’s music was incredibly necessary in the narrative of the game. Back on the PS1, facial expressions couldn’t be used to show emotion, and there was obviously no speech. As a result of this, Square had to use music to show what the characters were thinking and what the general mood was. This game’s soundtrack is so good that it was performed live in front of sell-out crowds all over the world.

Highlight: Fithos Lusec Wecos Vinosec

1) Bully

Bully isn’t well known for its music. In fact, it’s not really known at all, forgotten in the dying days of the last console generation. This is unfortunate because it has an astoundingly good soundtrack that ranges from 70s style rock-pop to electro to good old chip-tune. I can’t stress enough how much you need to play this game, even if only for its soundtrack. Bully truly is a modern classic.

Highlight: The Big Game

P.S. Sorry about not posting in a while, had some crazy University business to sort out (I'm going to York :)).

Labels: Breath of Fire 3, Bully, FF8, Matthew Meadows, Mirrors Edge, Shatter

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