Video game music is easily my personal favorite genre of music. There really is not too much of a reason as to why I love video game music so much; it just gets me hyped up and ready to take on the world as soon as I plug in the earplugs, put on my exercise gloves, slip on my running shoes, and bust out random dance moves for a good two minutes straight. With that said, I’m going to recommend some great video game soundtracks for you guys, some “hot, fly beats” if you will. The theme for this post is- no, forget it, no themes, I’m just going to recommend some hot soundtracks for you guys that’ll pump you up to take on tomorrow’s math test like it was the final arcade boss in a King of Fighters game (though really, that’s just more demoralizing than anything else, but whatever).
#1: Radiant Historia
Radiant Historia isn’t that well known in the states, unfortunately, and for those who knew about the game had a hell of a hard time finding a copy because there were so few prints out. Thankfully, Atlus and their godlike selves decided to make more copies of the DS JRPG for us Americans gamers. Radiant Historia is awesome for several reasons: the story is actually pretty damn amazing, the battle system is well-developed and entertaining, there is a (well implemented) time travel system that is used to forward the plot and go on sidequests, and the soundtrack (especially the boss theme above) just gives me a sense of feeling badass. Radiant Historia’s soundtrack is not heavy with drums or bass or anything, but the flow of the instruments and the fairly unique style really give the soundtrack some kick.
#2 Persona 4: The Ultimate in Mayonaka Arena
The Persona 4 fighting game is only out in Japanese arcades so far, but thank goodness that the guys at Mayonaka Midnight managed to get the songs up on Youtube. Like many fighting game soundtracks out there, the Persona 4 Arena OST gets me pumped up and in the mood to start random fights with people (unfortunately, I just have to opt out and shadow box). Shoji Meguro’s music has always appealed to me ever since I came into contact with the Shin Megami Tensei world with Persona 4. His beats are amazing, to say the least, and I have no shame blasting them in the car with people that only listen to mainstream radio music tagging along. Digital Devil Saga and Devil Summoner also get a mention for their pimptastic soundtracks.
#3 King of Fighters 2000: Arranged Soundtrack
To be quite honest, I only came across this particular soundtrack a few days ago after becoming infatuated with the music on the King of Fighters XIII soundtrack (buy that game if you love fighting games and have a good local scene, by the way). There is a variety of musical genres on this soundtrack ranging from a jazzy theme, to rock, to. . . whatever the hell Kula’s epic theme is supposed to be. Give the soundtrack a listen, you won’t be disappointed.
#4 Guilty Gear x Blazblue
Daisuke Ishiwatari is a musical genius, and if I were a woman I would want to have his babies and exploit their musical talents for. . . various purposes, let’s just say. But unfortunately/fortunately, I am not a woman so. . . . Regardless, several people that are into Japanese culture are aware of Guilty Gear’s phenomenal soundtrack, and the Blazblue soundtrack has definitely grabbed the ears of a few more geeks. So, how does one improve their musical portfolio after releasing two amazing soundtracks? You make arranges of songs on both soundtracks, play them in a live concert, and mix them together in one album. Enough said. Just let your ears listen.
#5 Touhou games (Perfect Cherry Blossom, Scarlet Weather Rhapsody, Embodiment of Scarlet Devil, etc.)
Touhou music in general is just spectacular (in fact, apparently ZUN, the creator of the Touhou universe, simply made the video games just so he would have a place to include his musical masterpieces). Whenever people mention Touhou music to me today, the first things that I think of are 1) the actual game soundtracks, 2) the awesome metal/rock/techno arranges on ChaosAngel209’s channel, 3) Bad Apple, and 4) MASTER SPARK! Words cannot explain just how good the music of the Touhou-verse is; it’s just something that you have to check out yourself.
These are just some soundtracks to check out and get started with; more posts concerning video game soundtracks will be made in the future and they will surely make your media players very happy and feeling wanted. Be sure to recommend some tracks of your own in the comments section (don’t bother mentioning Xenogears because it’s already pretty damn obvious how gangster that soundtrack is.
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