Favorite Franchises for Music

[Sir Quaffler]

Which series has your favorite soundtracks?

To qualify, they must meet these two requirements:
1) There must be two or more games within the franchises which you enjoy the soundtracks of. This is to avoid only having one game within a franchise with an enjoyable soundtrack. This disqualifies Okami in my personal list, since I really like its soundtrack but don't care for Okamiden's.
2) Of these games, the music you like must make up a significant portion of their respective soundtracks. This is to avoid games that have maybe one or two really awesome songs in an otherwise forgettable soundtrack.
And as a general rule, this isn't about which franchises are your favorites as a whole; I'm strictly interested in the soundtracks themselves.

My personal top 5 franchises for music are:
1) Zelda. Obviously. I like the music in pretty much all their games, and there's quite a few which I love darn near every song in its soundtrack.
2) Chrono. Yasunori Mitsuda is a mad genius. I love pretty much every song in Chrono Trigger, and Chrono Cross has quite a few that I love as well.
3) Final Fantasy. For all the bellyaching I do about the franchise as a whole, the soundtracks to these games are all of theme superb.
4) Pokemon. Complain all you want about how the series is repetitive and non-innovative, but you can't deny the music is really awesome.
5) Metroid. These games ooze atmosphere, and the music is a very large part of that.

 

[Spirit]

Ohhhh let me have a go at this then.

1. Metroid - especially Prime 1 with the Crashed Frigate Orpheon, Phendrana Drifts, Tallon overworld and the Impact Crater, amazing Stuff. Also Super Metroid was so atmospheric with its music back when i played it at a young age that it scared the hell out of me.

2. Golden Sun - I've played all three games now but the first one really sticks with me. The first thing to impress me in the GS franchise was the music with that wonderful theme that accompanied the title screen. The battle themes are always catchy as hell and for being a handheld franchise the music has been stellar each and every time and no tune is easily forgotten.

3. Zelda - recent titles have failed to impress me but the series is pretty varied at least in its 3D installments, WW has a wonderful array of folk-like music and the ocean theme always gets me in the mood to keep on sailing for as far as i can. TP has some epic music and is probably the greatest use of midi i have ever heard, its music is so powerful, and it was so wonderful to hear remade tunes from ALttP in modern glory.

4. Mario - Can't not say Mario in a chart of greatest video game music and while I'm not the biggest Mario fan it'd be naive of me to ignore it completely since the music always brings a smile to my face when it comes up in conversation and its always fun to sing along with. That being said i really enjoyed the music in Mario 64, the first world (can't for the life of me remember what it was) was wonderfully upbeat and catchy whereas that level with the giant eel (again, forgotten the name) was so serenely fitting that i just had to make Mario stand still for a while while i soaked up the music which made the world feel so very real.

5. Killer Instinct - my personal favourite beat em up. Such a shame it died after gold on the n64. Like golden Sun one of KI's greatest strengths was its music and even Rare new this considering they released an album with the first game. the second game itself was also accompanied by an equally impressive album. The music was dark, intense and yet wonderfully danceable. The Way U Move is full of 90s cheese but is still very awesome the KI theme itself still sounds fantastic <3

 

[Terminus]

Zelda. It's pretty much what I listen to, plus Moody Blues, Jimmy Cliff, U2 and Bob Marley thrown in for good measure.

 

[MW7]

Banjo Kazooie is definitely my favorite. Pretty much every sound in the two N64 games captured my attention which is very atypical for me with video game music.

Second I'd go with Castlevania. I've only played Circle of the Moon and Symphony of the Night, but I enjoyed much of the music from both of those games. Also while watching the Angry Video Game Nerd I heard much of the music from the other games, and I specifically loved several of the tracks for Castlevania 2. In fact I looked up the video game music for Simon's Quest on youtube which is pretty much the only time I've ever gone out of my way to listen to video game music.

Third I'd say Donkey Kong- specifically the DKC series. DKC 1 and 2 were my favorite games as a child, and the music was really enjoyable for me. I also played DKC 3 and Returns later and enjoyed the music from those games as well.

In Zelda my top two games for music are Wind Waker and Majora's Mask. I don't want to offend anyone, but I never really connected with any of the other games' music. In fact I can remember plenty of playthroughs of Ocarina of Time in which I had the game muted, and I listened to Smashing Pumpkins and Weezer songs while playing instead. Plenty of other series I've muted as well while playing different music such as Mario, Pokemon, Call of Duty, Halo, Ghost Recon, and Elder Scrolls. I don't do this all the time though.

Also for a jerk answer- Rock Band and Guitar Hero.

 

[surferguy7]

Zelda, Kingdom Hearts, Mario (Especially Galaxy 1 &2), Pokemon, and Kirby come to mind.

 

[Musicfan]

Well persona (espetialy 3 and 4) so mutch emotion in them.
Zelda just simply blows me away every time.
Other then that my games are all not seris just indvidual games.

 

[A Link In Time]

1. Halo-The Halo franchise has one of the most emotional and stirring pieces I've ever heard. The slower beats sink the player into the despondency as the onslaught of Flood and Covenant appears to consume the world ever more. With a new sound director for Halo 4 the series appears to be taking a drastic turn with faster, epic music but I have no doubt the transition will be successful.

2. Metroid-Classic through and through. Metroid music gets under your skin and makes you feel as though you're part of a dynamic environment, blending with the isolationist tone permeating most installments. My favorites would have to be the Prime games; their music was more developed and varied. While traditionally associated with ambiance this very fact bolsters the effectiveness of the staple theme of isolation.

3. Mario-Every gamer knows the Super Mario Bros. theme song. It's so popular in fact that some non gamers recognize it. The evolutionary step, however, was taken with the Galaxy games which featured rich orchestration. The selection is also stellar. One moment you're listening to a joyous tune, the next pressure ramps up as you enter a castle area. The two Galaxy games are undoubtedly the best games on Wii and the soundtrack does much to propel them to that podium.

4. Kirby-Absolutely joyous. Listening to the 20th Anniversary soundtrack preview on youtube, I couldn't help from smiling. Yes, the pink fluff ball is childish but it's this nostalgic factor which wins hearts over as people reminisce over their youthful days.

5. Zelda-Ocarina of Time cemented the franchise's status as a musical marvel. Not only were the area soundtracks out of this world but the incorporation of the ocarina as an instrument was ingenious. This subtlety has greatly complemented the series and SS's orchestration only pushes the bar further.

 

[CynicalSquid]

Anything he does
so basically Mario and Zelda

 

[Ronin]

This topic makes me feel right at home...

1. Sonic: Although the games might not be so good, Sonic has always been a top producer of invigorating and motivational rock. Sonic himself is upbeat and hasty, and I think the music does well to convey that.
2. Zelda: Koji Kondo is an undisputed master composer. Typically he touches on the frailer side of emotion, but also produces adventurous and timeless masterpieces.
3. F-Zero: An abundant source of fast-paced rock and techno that'll be sorely missed. If you asked me, F-Zero set the stage for a consummate soundtrack consisting of rock long before any other franchises.
4. Kirby: While many series have moved away from MIDIs, Kirby still uses it as a prominent root of its musical core, and does a tremendous job of it. For the majority of the music; some of it was made into renditions of rock, such as the video I have linked.
5. Super Smash Bros: All of the above.
6. Mega Man: Mega Man has a history of offering up many diverse styles over the years, especially considering its unprecedented number of games over the years.

Anything he does
so basically Mario and Zelda

Kondo-San has worked on more than Mario and Zelda; I know he composed tracks for certain Donkey Kong games (DK 64 comes to mind). But it's undeniable that whatever he composes fits the games.

 

[Shadsie]

1. Team ICO's works. To be fair, I'm mostly thinking Shadow of the Colossus since ICO didn't have much music (actually, both of those games have long portions without a soundtrack), but ICO's save-music "Heal" comes to mind, and the end-song for the game. As for SotC, much of the pleasure I derived from that game is in listening to the game-entry music and the music during the battles. I forget who did the (very limited) music for ICO, but the composer for SotC is the same composer who did the soundtrack for one of my very favorite animes. I'm of the opinion now of "I like anything that Kow Otani ever does."

2. The Legend of Zelda - all of it. There's a reason why most of my MP3 player is full of music from various Zelda games.


That's just of series you've *played* more than one game, right? If we get to include soundtracks from series-games in which we've only played one game of the series but have listened to music from other games on YouTube and the like, I might include Wild ARMS. I've only played WA 3, (and never even finished that), but I've listened to and viewed the intros to other games of the series - the High Fantasy-Western sound of the music in those games appeals to me.

 

[Sir Quaffler]

To answer Shadsie's question, no, you don't have to necessarily play more than one game in the series, just that you enjoy the music from multiple games within it. I've only really played FF6 but I've listened to most of the other games' soundtracks and I really like Uematsu's work in the Final Fantasy franchise.

 

[Link-of-Lylat]

Zelda, KH, pokemon, and Mario.

 

[Honorable Hero]

Final Fantasy, Zelda, and Kingdom Hearts.

 

[Gannon]

Zelda, Sonic, Metroid, Mario, Mother/Earthbound.

 

[Mudora]

Without a doubt The Legend of Zelda! Koji Kondo is a god. I also enjoy his work in the Mario and Star Fox franchises.