Favorite game soundtracks of 2010

1. Symphonic Fantasies - Music from Square Enix
2. Dragon Quest IX Symphonic Suite
3. Last Ranker Original Soundtrack
4. Final Fantasy XIII Original Soundtrack Plus
5. Final Fantasy XIII Piano Collections
6. Red Dead Redemption Original Soundtrack

It's been slim pickings for new VGM for me this year compared to last, but Symphonic Fantasies matches any orchestral album I've heard from recent years (I can't wait for Symphonic Legends next year).  Dragon Quest IX Symphonic Suite isn't quite on the level of the series' best (IV and VI) but is very nice nonetheless, and though Last Ranker is quite the traditional fantasy JRPG soundtrack it has the high production values and memorable compositions you find only in the better ones.

Final Fantasy XIII Original Soundtrack Plus and FFXIII Piano Collections feel more like 7th-10th place picks but get the higher rank due to lack of competition.  I'm insistent on the "Plus" part though - I'll have no part of the full four-disc FFXIII OST (except for the very best tracks, which is mostly what Plus is).

Red Dead Redemption pulls off the Western genre better than many Western films, with some subtle contemporary touches for good measure.

Close contender:
Darius Burst Remix Wonder World

The rest (in order of quality):
Xenoblade OST, Halo Reach, Gran Turismo 5 OST, NieR Gestalt & Replicant OST, Sekaiju no MeiQ³ Super Arrange Version, Benyamin Nuss Plays Uematsu, Lord of Vermilion II OST, R10 Image Album, FFXIV Battle Tracks, FFXIV Field Tracks

Last edited by Adam Corn (Jan 17, 2011)

1. Xenoblade OST
2. Last Ranker OST
3. NieR OST
4. End of Eternity OST
5. Mega Man 10 OST
6. PPPPPP

I'm not going to write an elaborate explanation for everything, but these were the ones that I found myself listening to most this year.
Xenoblade is amazing, no matter how long I listen to it. Last Ranker has to be one of Shimomura's best so far, which is damn SAYING something, NieR is captivating and mesmerizing, End of Eternity combines the beautiful melodies of Kohei Tanaka with some good old kick-ass Sakuraba ROCK (what MORE could you want!?), Mega Man 10 may not be as good as some of the previous outings, but even a mediocre MM soundtrack is still damn good, and PPPPPP (the soundtrack to VVVVVV) is just some of the best chiptune action I've ever heard.

Perhaps I'll mention my favorite tracks in the other music thread.

Last edited by Amazingu (Dec 28, 2010)

1. Espgaluda II Black Label Original Soundtrack
2. Final Fantasy XIII Original Soundtrack
3. God Eater Original Soundtrack
4. Opoona Original Soundtrack
5. Dodonpachi Daifukkatsu Black Label Original Soundtrack
6. Lord of Vermilion II Original Soundtrack
7. NieR Gestalt & Replicant Original Soundtrack
8. Sekaiju no MeiQ III Super Arrange Version
9. Deathsmiles IIX Original Soundtrack
10. Darius Burst Remix Wonder World

Honorable Mention: Atelier Totori, Ar tonelico 3
Dishonorable Mention: Tactics Ogre (PSP), Akai Katana

1. Lord of Vermilion II Original Soundtrack
2. GUWANGE Arrange Album + Original Sound Track
3. Ketsui ~Kizunajigokutachi~ EXTRA Limited Edition Bundled Bonus Special Soundtrack
4. Dracula Densetsu ReBirth & Contra -ReBirth- Original Soundtrack
5. DO-DON-PACHI DAI-FUKKATSU BLACK LABEL Original Sound Track
6. ESPGALUDA II Black Label ORIGINAL SOUND TRACK
7. Sekaiju no MeiQ³ *seikai no raihousya* ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK
8. Sekaiju no MeiQ³ *seikai no raihousya* SUPER ARRANGE VERSION
9. Contra 4: Rocked 'n' Loaded
10. Tyrant Honey - Dangerous Mezashi Cat Alicesoft Arrange CD


1. I chose LoV II due to the strength of the compositions and the fusion of electric guitars with orchestration. I wasn't particularly impressed at first (like a Galouye novel), but it gets better as you increase your exposure.

2. This is for the arranged side of Guwange. I have already talked about this one.

3. This is a double pick, since it packages Ketsui and DoDonPachi Dai-ou-jou together. Both have been remarkably rearranged and have been a workplace savior over the past few months. I get requests to play this stuff.

4. I am addicted to Namiki's Castlevania arrangements.

5. Everything about this is amazing, especially the piano arrangement.

6. Better than the previous ESPgaluda II.

7 + 8. The Etrian Odyssey III OST is rated higher than the AST because I like the FM sounds a lot. Much more than the DS sounds. Plus, there are a few arranged tracks that I don't like.

9. Infinitely enjoyable.

10. Dangerous Mezashi's Cat latest album. MUCH better than their Ys arranged album. This is one of their very best, despite the complete unfamiliarity with the music.

Other notable 2010 releases:

Dariusburst OST + Wonder World Remix
End of Eternity (Sakuraba had some good stuff on there)
Xenoblade (too many boring tracks)
Nier Gestalt & Replicant (again, too many boring tracks)
Shooting Love. 200X
Last Ranker
Falcom jdk Band 2010
Rockman 10 Image Album

Still need to listen to Nier Arrange, Opoona, Sonic Colors, new Ogre Battle Basiscape arrange, and a few others.

1. ViViD SOUND x HYBRiD COLORS SONIC COLORS ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK
2. Gran Turismo 5
3. Deadly Premonition
4. Rockman 10 Uchu Kara no Kyoui!! Original Soundtrack
5. Sonic the Hedgehog 4 -Episode I-
6. FINAL FANTASY XIII Original Soundtrack
7. Heavy Rain: Original Soundtrack from the Video Game
8. FINAL FANTASY XIV Battle Tracks & FINAL FANTASY XIV Field Tracks
9. Super Mario Galaxy 2 Original Sound Track
10. SONIC FREE RIDERS Original Soundtrack - Break Free -

1. Sonic Colors is easily my favorite soundtrack of the year.  Some of the best stuff the Wave Master crew has done in a long time.  The lack of Hataya tracks (he only did two) was a little disappointing for me since I'm such a big fan but Ohtani definitely made up for that.  He's responsible for one of my favorite tracks of the year, Aquarium Park - Act 1.  Little trivia: Takahito Eguchi of The Bouncer and FFX-2 fame played the electric piano on that track.
2. The game itself, not the OST.  While the OST does have a lot of the best tracks, it's also missing a lot.  The game has 13+ hours of music though so I really can't fault them for not releasing it all on disc.  GT5 also wins for "best soundtrack to rock out to in the car while speeding and sipping coffee."
3. The best game soundtrack nobody heard this year.  I already went into extensive detail in other threads so I won't go on and on here.  Fans of horror/dark game music should check this one out.  A couple of my favorite tracks of the year are on here, "The Woods and the Goddess" and the cover of Amazing Grace.
4. It's another Rockman game with chiptunes, and a bunch of the previous composers returned.  What's not to love?  Liked this one a lot more than 9.
5. Sure, it had a few meh tracks but overall I really love how Senoue approached this.  He did a good job of keeping with the "modern retro" theme of the game itself and I thought his compositions were stellar, even if the synth itself wasn't as "Genesisy" as I would have liked.  With that said, do I wish Nakamura came back for this and let Senoue participate in Colors?  Hell yes!
6. On the fence about this one.  I loved it in game but I rarely find myself wanting to listen to it otherwise, except for the standard "best of" tracks.  As far as main FFs that aren't MMO, Sakimoto did a much better job with FFXII.
7. This is another one that I only seemed to love in game but never really listen to.  Damn good music here though, Hollywood needs to take a lesson.  The game had a very bleak plot and this score really heightened it.  Probably my most emotional gaming experience of the year and I give a lot of credit to the score for that.
8. I lumped these two together because essentially it's one album split into two releases just to make more money.  Lots of good stuff from Uematsu here but I'm pretty sure it's safe to say his signature Final Fantasy charm died with FFX, maybe even FFIX.  Also, if we were rating the packaging instead of the music, these two would not be on this list, ugh!
9. Only listened to about half of this but I can already tell that I'm gonna love the whole thing.  Still need to play/finish the game!  This OST has another one of my faves from the year, Throwback Galaxy!  Super Mario 64 Main Theme jazzy edition?  More like this please.
10. Wasn't expecting this to be good at all but gave it a shot anyway and was more than pleasantly surprised.  Go ahead, listen to "Theme of Metropolis Speedway" and try to get it out of your head.  Also, Crush 40 returns for one amazing song on this one!

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Honorable mentions:

Castlevania: Harmony of Despair
FINAL FANTASY XIII Original Soundtrack PLUS
Flower: Original Soundtrack from the Video Game
MEGA DRIVE LAST ACTION HEROES
NieR Gestalt & Replicant Original Soundtrack
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World: The Game Original Videogame Soundtrack
Tactics Ogre Unmei no Wa Original Soundtrack

Haven't (fully) listened to Opoona, RE Darkside Chronicles, Alan Wake, 3rd Birthday, No More Heroes 2, Valkyria 2, Last Ranker, Xenoblade, Vanquish, Sekaiju no MeiQ 3, Radiant Historia, or Yakuza 4.  When I do, I'm betting some of them will require me to edit my current top 10.  Man, 2010 was one hell of a year for good VGM!

Also, nod to the Dracula Box.  I know it doesn't count since there's nothing really "new" on it in terms of Castlevania music but it was my most expensive VGM purchase of the year so damn it, it's getting mentioned!

Last edited by the_miker (Dec 29, 2010)

1. God Eater Original Soundtrack
2. PrismRhythm Original Soundtrack -SPRING SNOW-
3. Symphonic Fantasies - Music from Square Enix
4. Yuusha no Kuse ni Namaikida:3D Giant Recital
5. Dark Void Original Video Game Score
6. Kisaragi GOLD★STAR Special Soundtrack
7. Tales of Graces ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK
8. Hanayakanari, Waga Ichizoku Original Soundtrack
9. Summon Night X ~Tears Crown~ Original Soundtrack
10. Ikusa Megami VERITA Sound Collection

Since the beginning of March 2010 I knew that God Eater would be my #1 by the end of the year. Before that I hadn't even listened to a single song by Go Shiina. Within 2 hours my entire view of modern game music was turned upside down.
PrismRhythm was less of a surprise, but Shigenobu Okawa's absolute masterpiece and a great performance by Masaru Teramae.
The best concert that took place in 2009 received the best symphonic game music CD of the decade. It will be difficult to top Symphonic Fantasies in a long time.
As for retro game music feel, I think Yuusha no Kuse ni Namaikida:3D Giant Recital delivered this better than Classic Dungeon. Loved the instrumentation.
It seems to me that Dark Void didn't receive much praise, and before it I didn't really have any opinion of Bear McCreary at all. Yet after reading the score discussion on his blog it was clear to me that he is a game music enthusiast and had put all his passion into this work. His attitude is admirable and Dark Void was certainly underrated.
Kisaragi GOLD★STAR was the first time three of my favorite composers worked together. Some game producer seems to share my tastes. The outcome was as expected, though perhaps a bit overkill.
Tales of Graces showed to me that Motoi Sakuraba still got it. While I would describe End of Eternity as my biggest disappointment, Tales of Graces took me back to the days where people would criticize that all of Sakuraba's music sounded similiar. In fact, never before has Sakuraba's music sounded so fresh.
Hanayakanari, Waga Ichizoku, what is there to say about this? The fact that Vingt et un Systems chose Yoshitaka Hirota to write the opening theme shows that they had some big plans for this game. Whoever the BGM composer is, his work really stands out among their games.
Summon Night X ~Tears Crown~ managed to sound more old school than any of the next-gen "retro" games, and it's not even trying to be a tribute or something. A rare treat in 2010.
Ikusa Megami VERITA Sound Collection showed once again that Choir Co.,Ltd. and RPGs match up. I like epic game music as long as it's not overused, and my places #1 and #10 gave me plenty of it.

Last edited by Teioh (Dec 29, 2010)

XLord007 wrote:

Since I clearly missed it, can someone link me to where one can purhcase this Contra 4 Arrange CD that's mentioned many times above?

"Come get some."

Angela wrote:

XLord007 wrote:

Since I clearly missed it, can someone link me to where one can purhcase this Contra 4 Arrange CD that's mentioned many times above?

"Come get some."

Order placed.  Thanks!

1. Remastered Tracks Rockman Zero: Mythos
2. VanQuish Original Soundtrack
3. deathsmiles IIX original sound track
4. BLAZBLUE SONG ACCORD #2 with CONTINUUM SHIFT II
5. Final Fantasy XIII OST
6. ESPGALUDA II Black Label ORIGINAL SOUND TRACK

1. Final Fantasy XIV Field Tracks
2. Final Fantasy XIV Battle Tracks
3. Scott Pilgrim vs. the World: The Game Original Videogame Soundtrack
4. Metroid Metal - Expansion Pack
5. Espgaluda II Black Label Original Sound Track
6. StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty Soundtrack
7. Rockman 10 Original Soundtrack
8. Super Mario Kart Album
9. Söldner-X 2: Final Soundtrack
10. Sounds From The Lighthouse: Official BioShock 2 Score

I missed out on a lot of great VGM this year. Even so, I still think my list is pretty solid. Note the distinct lack of any FFXIII albums and the fact that the FFXIV "promo" albums occupy both #1 and #2. I think that alone says quite a bit about my list.

Scott Pilgrim, Metroid Metal, and Espgaluda II Black Label all rocked my world through and through. The bottom five were all excellent as well, but there's a definite gap between the top five and bottom five. I suspect many of the soundtracks I missed would have fought fiercely to be in my top 10.

1. Final Fantasy XIII Original Soundtrack
2. Nintendo DS Pokémon Black · White Super Music Collection
3. Super Mario Galaxy 2 Original Sound Track
4. NieR Gestalt & RepliCant Original Soundtrack
5. Vivid Sounds x Hybrid Colors: Sonic Colors Original Soundtrack
6. LAST RANKER Original Soundtrack

1. Finally, my favorite composer got the big project that he's deserved for so long! Easily my favorite Final Fantasy soundtrack of all time, and I don't see that changing anytime soon. Sorry, Uematsu! Now that Hamauzu is a freelancer, he can finally branch out and get more soundtracks to himself. Sooooo excited for him!

2. The most ambitious soundtrack in the series yet. Combining a varied team of composers, amazing battle tracks, and that classic Pokemon sound make this an album that I just can't stop listening to. Plus, it's POKEMON! How could I not love it?!

3. Mahito Yokota makes yet another masterpiece. Combining Mario's whimsical musical style with an orchestra makes this nothing short of awesome. If Skyward Sword's soundtrack winds up being orchestrated, I really hope that he's at the helm.

4. If I had to describe this soundtrack in one word, I'd call it... "unique". I don't think anything like it has been done before, and that definitely scores it quite a few points. Emi Evans' voice is absolutely breathtaking, and the score itself is beautiful. On a technical level, I'd say that this was the best album of 2010. Before this soundtrack, I'd never even heard of Keiichi Okabe, but now I'm hoping that I can hear more of his stuff in the future!

5. It's Sonic the friggin' hedgehog. Next.

6. Yoko Shimomura + orchestra = HNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNG. I find it amazing that she seems to be getting better with each soundtrack she composes, even with her workload. Pretty much the opposite of Sakuraba, IMO. At this rate, her soundtrack for Final Fantasy Versus XIII will likely make my head explode. XD

Last edited by Electivirus (Jan 06, 2011)

TerraEpon wrote:

I honestly hate ordering. But both Nier and Last Ranker are two utterly fantastic entries...

...but what the hell is up with Last Ranker's sound quality? It sounds like a mid 80s recording from Eastern Europe (and that's not even mentioning that mono track, which I assume is some sort of radio source).

Either your CD player is broken, or you have a defective copy, because the sound quality is perfectly fine.