List of video game soundtracks considered the best

This is a list of video game soundtracks that multiple publications, such as video game journalism and music journalism publications, have considered to be among the best of all time. The game soundtracks listed here are included on at least three separate "best/greatest of all time" lists from different publications (inclusive of all time periods and platforms). Achievements, such as certifications or Grammy nominations, are separately noted.

List

• 1985
• 1990
• 1995
• 2000
• 2005
• 2010
• 2015

Video game soundtracks considered the best

Year	Game	Lead composer(s)	Notes	Ref.
1985	Super Mario Bros.	Koji Kondo	The Super Mario Bros. theme was the first musical piece from a video game to be inducted into the Library of Congress's National Recording Registry. [1]	[A]
1988	Mega Man 2	Takashi Tateishi		[B]
1989	Tetris	Hirokazu Tanaka	Game Boy version	[C]
1991	Street Fighter II	Yoko Shimomura		[D]
		Isao Abe
1992	Streets of Rage 2 (soundtrack)	Yuzo Koshiro		[E]
		Motohiro Kawashima
1993	Doom	Bobby Prince		[F]
1994	EarthBound (soundtrack)	Keiichi Suzuki		[G]
		Hirokazu Tanaka
	Final Fantasy VI (soundtrack)	Nobuo Uematsu		[H]
	Sonic the Hedgehog 3	Brad Buxer		[I]
		Sega Sound Team
	Super Metroid	Kenji Yamamoto		[J]
		Minako Hamano
1995	Chrono Trigger (soundtrack)	Yasunori Mitsuda		[K]
		Nobuo Uematsu
	Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest	David Wise		[L]
1996	PaRappa the Rapper	Masaya Matsuura		[M]
		Yoshihisa Suzuki
	Super Mario 64	Koji Kondo		[N]
1997	Castlevania: Symphony of the Night	Michiru Yamane		[O]
	Final Fantasy VII (soundtrack)	Nobuo Uematsu		[P]
1998	Grim Fandango (soundtrack)	Peter McConnell		[Q]
	The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time	Koji Kondo		[R]
2000	Jet Set Radio	Hideki Naganuma		[S]
2001	Halo: Combat Evolved (soundtrack)	Martin O'Donnell		[T]
		Michael Salvatori
	Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney (soundtrack)	Masakazu Sugimori		[U]
	Silent Hill 2	Akira Yamaoka		[V]
2002	Grand Theft Auto: Vice City	Various		[W]
2004	Katamari Damacy (soundtrack)	Yuu Miyake		[X]
2005	Shadow of the Colossus	Kow Otani		[Y]
2007	Portal	Kelly Bailey		[Z]
		Mike Morasky
		Jonathan Coulton	Composed the ending song "Still Alive" [3]
2010	Red Dead Redemption (soundtrack)	Bill Elm		[AA]
		Woody Jackson
2011	Bastion	Darren Korb		[AB]
	The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (soundtrack)	Jeremy Soule		[AC]
	Minecraft (soundtrack)	C418	Volume Alpha was labeled Certified Gold by the RIAA, [24] and was nominated for Top Dance/Electronic Album at the 2022 Billboard Music Awards. [25]	[AD]
2012	Hotline Miami	Various		[AE]
	Journey	Austin Wintory	Nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media [26]	[AF]
2013	BioShock Infinite	Garry Schyman		[AG]
2014	Transistor	Darren Korb		[AH]
2015	Crypt of the NecroDancer	Danny Baranowsky		[AI]
	Everybody's Gone to the Rapture	Jessica Curry		[AJ]
	Undertale (soundtrack)	Toby Fox	As of 2023 [update] , "Megalovania" has the most listens on Spotify of any video game song. [27]	[AK]
	The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	Marcin Przybyłowicz		[AL]
		Mikolai Stroinski
2016	Doom	Mick Gordon		[AM]
	Persona 5	Shoji Meguro		[AN]
2017	Cuphead	Kristofer Maddigan		[AO]
	Hollow Knight	Christopher Larkin		[AP]
	Nier: Automata (soundtrack)	Keiichi Okabe		[AQ]
		Keigo Hoashi
2018	Celeste	Lena Raine		[AR]
	God of War	Bear McCreary		[AS]
	Red Dead Redemption 2 (soundtrack)	Woody Jackson		[AT]
2019	Sayonara Wild Hearts	Daniel Olsén		[AU]
	Jonathan Eng

Publications

The reference numbers in the notes section show which of the 21 selected publications list the game.

• Canaltech  [ pt ] – 2022 ^[17]
• Clash – 2013 ^[12]
• Classic FM – 2023 ^[11]
• Digital Trends – 2021 ^[4]
• Fact – 2015 ^[3]
• Game Rant – 2023 ^[20]
• GameSpot – 2021 ^[14]
• GamesRadar+ – 2022 ^[8]
• The Mary Sue – 2022 ^[22]
• Metal Hammer – 2023 ^[13]
• Mixdown – 2023 ^[9]
• NME – 2015 ^[10]
• Paste – 2020 ^[23]
• PCMag – 2022 ^[7]
• Red Bull – 2018 ^[19]
• Rolling Stone – 2013 ^[2]
• Spin – 2024 ^[5]
• Tom's Guide – 2018 ^[6]
• Universo Online – 2021 ^[15]
• USA Today – 2023 ^[21]
• VG247 – 2023 ^[16]

See also

• List of video games considered the best
• List of video game soundtracks released on vinyl

Notes

The reference numbers show which publications include the game's soundtrack.

1. Super Mario Bros. : ^{[2] [3] [4] [5]}
2. Mega Man 2 : ^{[3] [6] [4] [7] [8] [9]}
3. Tetris : ^{[2] [10] [3] [11]}
4. Street Fighter II : ^{[10] [3] [8] [9]}
5. Streets of Rage 2 : ^{[12] [10] [3] [7] [9]}
6. Doom (1993): ^{[3] [8] [13]}
7. EarthBound : ^{[3] [4] [7]}
8. Final Fantasy VI : ^{[3] [14] [7]}
9. Sonic the Hedgehog 3 : ^{[3] [15] [7]}
10. Super Metroid : ^{[3] [9] [16]}
11. Chrono Trigger : ^{[3] [4] [14] [15] [17] [7] [9] [11]}
12. Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest : ^{[3] [4] [14] [15] [7] [9] [16] [18]}
13. PaRappa the Rapper : ^{[12] [10] [3]}
14. Super Mario 64 : ^{[3] [8] [16]}
15. Castlevania: Symphony of the Night : ^{[2] [3] [9]}
16. Final Fantasy VII : ^{[12] [2] [10] [3] [19] [8] [9] [20] [5]}
17. Grim Fandango : ^{[3] [14] [15] [7]}
18. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time : ^{[3] [10] [15] [4] [8] [21] [20] [16] [5]}
19. Jet Set Radio : ^{[3] [6] [16]}
20. Halo: Combat Evolved : ^{[2] [3] [11] [20] [5]}
21. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney : ^{[3] [21] [18]}
22. Silent Hill 2 : ^{[3] [17] [22] [8] [13]}
23. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City : ^{[10] [13] [16]}
24. Katamari Damacy : ^{[3] [14] [7] [8] [16]}
25. Shadow of the Colossus : ^{[12] [3] [15] [17] [22] [7] [21]}
26. Portal : ^{[2] [3] [10]}
27. Red Dead Redemption : ^{[2] [3] [10]}
28. Bastion : ^{[3] [23] [4] [14] [7]}
29. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim : ^{[2] [10] [17] [22] [7] [11] [20] [13] [16] [5]}
30. Minecraft : ^{[10] [4] [8] [16]}
31. Hotline Miami : ^{[23] [14] [7] [16]}
32. Journey : ^{[12] [3] [19] [4] [14] [15] [17] [7] [8] [9] [11] [16] [5]}
33. BioShock Infinite : ^{[3] [4] [8]}
34. Transistor : ^{[4] [22] [8]}
35. Crypt of the NecroDancer : ^{[14] [7] [8]}
36. Everybody's Gone to the Rapture : ^{[14] [9] [11] [16]}
37. Undertale : ^{[23] [4] [14] [15] [7] [8] [16] [18]}
38. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt : ^{[19] [17] [7] [20]}
39. Doom (2016): ^{[6] [14] [17] [8] [16]}
40. Persona 5 : ^{[23] [4] [17] [7] [8] [22] [21] [18]}
41. Cuphead : ^{[23] [14] [15] [17] [7] [16]}
42. Hollow Knight : ^{[17] [9] [16]}
43. Nier: Automata : ^{[23] [4] [14] [17] [8] [16] [18]}
44. Celeste : ^{[4] [14] [15] [21] [16] [18]}
45. God of War : ^{[4] [14] [11]}
46. Red Dead Redemption 2 : ^{[14] [20] [13]}
47. Sayonara Wild Hearts : ^{[23] [14] [21]}

References

1. Shearon, Andrea (April 12, 2023). "The Super Mario Bros. Theme Is the First Video Game Music Enshrined in the National Recording Registry". IGN . Archived from the original on April 12, 2023. Retrieved August 29, 2023.
2. Deane, Donald (October 4, 2013). "Nine Legitimately Awesome Video Game Soundtracks". Rolling Stone . Archived from the original on October 18, 2018. Retrieved August 29, 2023.
3. Stabler, Brad; Twells, John; Bowe, Miles; Wilson, Scott; Lea, Tom (April 28, 2015). "The 100 best video game soundtracks of all time". Fact . Archived from the original on April 29, 2015. Retrieved August 29, 2023.
4. Gurwin, Gabe; Hicks, Michael (October 24, 2021). "The best video game soundtracks of all time". Digital Trends . Archived from the original on August 25, 2017. Retrieved August 29, 2023.
5. "The Best Video Game Soundtracks of All Time". Spin . April 11, 2024. Archived from the original on May 16, 2024. Retrieved May 17, 2024.
6. Carnevale, Robert (August 30, 2018). "The 16 Best Video Game Soundtracks". Tom's Guide . Future plc. Archived from the original on August 7, 2020. Retrieved March 5, 2024.
7. Jensen, K. Thor (August 25, 2022). "The 25 Best Video Game Soundtracks Ever". PCMag . Archived from the original on March 2, 2020. Retrieved August 29, 2023.
8. Bentley, James; West, Josh (June 25, 2022). "The 25 best video game soundtracks of all time". GamesRadar+ . Archived from the original on November 25, 2020. Retrieved August 29, 2023.
9. Colliver, Jacob (March 1, 2023). "The 20 Greatest Video Game Soundtracks of All Time". Mixdown. Archived from the original on March 1, 2023. Retrieved September 11, 2023.
10. Barker, Emily (July 20, 2015). "23 Of The Coolest Ever Video Game Soundtracks". NME . Archived from the original on January 4, 2017. Retrieved August 29, 2023.
11. "The 20 best video game soundtracks of all time". Classic FM. March 20, 2023. Archived from the original on June 15, 2022. Retrieved August 29, 2023.
12. Diver, Mike (September 16, 2013). "7 Of The Best: Video Game Soundtracks". Clash . Archived from the original on September 24, 2013. Retrieved August 29, 2023.
13. Alderslade, Merlin (August 7, 2023). "The 10 greatest video game soundtracks ever". Metal Hammer . Archived from the original on August 7, 2023. Retrieved September 8, 2023.
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15. "As 10 melhores trilhas sonoras de games de todos os tempos; veja vídeo" [The 10 best game soundtracks of all time; see video]. Universo Online (in Portuguese). Grupo Folha. July 2, 2021. Archived from the original on May 18, 2024. Retrieved May 20, 2024.
16. Raynor, Kelsey (September 1, 2023). "The best video game soundtracks to revisit in 2023". VG247 . Archived from the original on September 3, 2023. Retrieved September 8, 2023.
17. Arraz, Lucas (March 26, 2022). "As 20 melhores trilhas sonoras originais dos games" [The 20 best original game soundtracks]. Canaltech (in Portuguese). Magazine Luiza. Archived from the original on March 26, 2022. Retrieved May 20, 2024.
18. Brandt, Oliver (August 10, 2024). "Video game music: the best soundtracks in gaming history". Sports Illustrated . Archived from the original on August 10, 2024. Retrieved August 20, 2024.
19. King, Candice (July 18, 2018). "Our Favourite Soundtracks in Video Games". Red Bull . Archived from the original on March 26, 2023. Retrieved August 29, 2023.
20. Cunningham, John (July 16, 2023). "6 Best Video Game Soundtracks". Game Rant . Archived from the original on July 16, 2023. Retrieved February 20, 2024.
21. Woodrow, Ryan (July 15, 2023). "The 10 best video game soundtracks of all time". USA Today . Archived from the original on July 22, 2023. Retrieved August 29, 2023.
22. Carpou, Madeline (November 28, 2022). "The Best Video Game Soundtracks of All Time, Ranked". The Mary Sue . Archived from the original on June 15, 2022. Retrieved August 29, 2023.
23. Martin, Garrett (May 5, 2020). "The Best videogame Soundtracks of All Time". Paste . Archived from the original on May 9, 2020. Retrieved August 29, 2023.
24. "American certifications – C418". Recording Industry Association of America . Retrieved August 29, 2023.
25. Atkinson, Katie (May 15, 2022). "Here Are the 2022 Billboard Music Awards Winners: Full List". Billboard . Archived from the original on May 15, 2022. Retrieved August 29, 2023.
26. Conditt, Jessica (February 11, 2013). "Journey soundtrack loses Grammy to Girl with the Dragon Tattoo". Engadget . Archived from the original on October 20, 2020. Retrieved August 29, 2023.
27. Thomson, Cody Nery (March 31, 2023). "Titan Ice Does Science: Most Influential Gaming Soundtracks". NAG. Archived from the original on March 31, 2023. Retrieved August 29, 2023.