Zelda Games That Have the Best Soundtracks.

[TheGreatCthulhu]

Simply put, which of the Zelda games do you think have the best tunes, themes, and soundtracks?

For me, it's ALttP, OoT, MM, and WW.

 

[MW7]

I agree with your four. My personal top pick is Wind Waker. The title screens for that and Majora's Mask have such good songs that I always wait before starting up the game itself to listen.

 

[thePlinko]

It’s truly hard to narrow it down. Your four are all on the list, though I’ll also add LA and maybe even ST to it.

 

[Chevywolf:30]

Twilight Princess takes the cake. Wind Waker and Ocarina of Time are pretty good as well though.

 

[Grogson]

ALttP, it's superb and very atmospheric. Especially Seal of Seven Maidens which is one of my all-time favourite Zelda songs. The sound effects in that game are great, too. Honourable mentions to OoT and ST.

 

[twilitfalchion]

WW, ALttP, LA, and OoT stand pretty tall above the rest, IMO. WW being the peak.

 

[Ghost of Mikeys Past]

Best is difficult to say for me since there are so many good ones
I think wind waker gets a fair shout for "Cursed Overworld"
And as much as I hate it I have to respect botw's soundtrack doing exactly what it needs to do from a critical perspective

 

[Uwu_Oocoo2]

Is Cadence of Hyrule too obvious?
I think my all-time favorite zelda soundtrack has to be Ocarina. So many of the songs from there got carried into future games too. It's just built with pure nostalgia. Lost Woods and Goron Village are a couple favorites of mine. A lot of the later zelda games I find don't have very memorable soundtracks in them.

 

[TheGreatCthulhu]

Is Cadence of Hyrule too obvious?
I think my all-time favorite zelda soundtrack has to be Ocarina. So many of the songs from there got carried into future games too. It's just built with pure nostalgia. Lost Woods and Goron Village are a couple favorites of mine. A lot of the later zelda games I find don't have very memorable soundtracks in them.

The Link's Awakening remake soundtrack is a wonderful demonstration of rearrangement, which is quite trickier than it seems.

And the BotW soundtrack has some surprising depth that I still need to explore in a blog properly.

That said, what I feel people mean by "not very memorable" is apparent absence of clear, distinct melodies that there were in the past.

But that's just me.

 

[Uwu_Oocoo2]

That said, what I feel people mean by "not very memorable" is apparent absence of clear, distinct melodies that there were in the past.

But that's just me.

I think I get what youre saying here. I feel like a lot of the older games made the music more present. Wherever you are, you really hear the music. The later ones are built to be more atmospheric. The music in tp and botw is really good, but because it acts more like background music and isn't as up front as the music in certain older games its harder to recall clearly.

 

[TheGreatCthulhu]

I think I get what youre saying here. I feel like a lot of the older games made the music more present. Wherever you are, you really hear the music. The later ones are built to be more atmospheric. The music in tp and botw is really good, but because it acts more like background music and isn't as up front as the music in certain older games its harder to recall clearly.

Well, what I think is going on is that the music of the overworld tells a story of the overworld itself.

Strong, distinct melodies, clear strong cadences and chord progressions, and a defined rhythmic figure all display security, strength, and most importantly, stability. Because it reaffirms the expectations that music has set for us for a long time now.

Going for a more ambient soundtrack with less distinct melodies, chords that only create a mood or vibe, and a mostly free time all display insecurity, weakness, and instability. Because it's not clear, distinct, or defined, just sorta, whatever, it translates to us as indistinct, I guess.

Both are effective at telling the story of the overworld, it just becomes a matter of what's most effective for the narrative they want to tell in that moment.

 

[alexanderraimo]

Overall I like Ocarina the best, but Twilight Princess had Midna's Lament which was such a great song.
I wish the Symphony of the Goddesses would go on tour again, those were some fun shows.

 

[Kat23]

I personally think that Spirit tracks has the best soundtrack...

 

[Vanessa28]

I love WW soundtracks! And of course good old OoT. But it's hard to choose one specific game for me because all games have soundtracks that ate memorable to me

 

[Hylian Viking]

I love The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess' soundtrack, I especially loved the music for The Lakebed Temple, but the one that I really loved was the Hidden Village theme. It sounded like a vintage western film from the 1960s. My only complaint is the music from the temple of time
is reused from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, If anything they could of used it to sound more like more solemn Gregorian chant or something more mystical and quasi-holy.