Quote: Original post by Splinter of Chaos
Also, if anyone can get their hands on Mario & Zelda Big Band Live, it's an incredibly interesting take on koji Condo's songs in Mario, Zelda, and Yoshi.

I brought this CD off of Amazon.com several years ago and was severely disappointed by it. Yes there are plenty of really cool arrangements, by the performances are poor and the recording itself could have been better. I'm a huge fan of video game music and love buying CDs but wouldn't recommend this particular title. The worst part for me was when a vocal quartet tried to do the mario bros theme a-cappella and ended up with some chord tones I've never heard in that song before. It would work if the new chord tones worked and sounded cool, but it just comes off as mediocre musicianship.

In fact, I'm having a hard time remembering all of the songs because I've not listened to it in such a long time! I do remember thinking the jazz band was okay, at best.

Long story short: not a good buy, especially when you can find other CDs out there that feature game music performed at such a high level.

Nate

Personally, I enjoy the orchestral versions of the legend of zelda.

Ok, I'll bite.

-Regardless of the quality of the game, the soundtrack to Quest for Glory V: Dragon Fire has got to be one one of the best I've ever heard. When possible, I usually insert it into other games, it's that good.

-Anything by Jesper Kyd is good in my book. His work in the Hitman series was superb.

-The soundtrack to Splinter Cell 3: Chaos Theory by Amon Tobin is something I find myself coding to all the time.

-I don't usually go for really 'abstract' techno but I found Yoshiyuki Usui's work pleasurable and appropriate in Phantom Dust.

And don't forget the excellent (and freely available) soundtrack to World of Goo.

Baldur's Gate I/II, Icewind Dale I/II, Stacraft Terran tracks, Total Annihilation, Chrono Cross. Some of my favorites, but there are so many good ones out there. I really like the hollywood film-score style put into games, with game flavor, of course.

I'm not saying Halo had the best of music, but it certainly was a very good representation of what kinds of sounds can be used in a game and cover so many genres at the same time.