My Top Ten Favorite Video Game Music and Soundtracks

Introduction

While this may be odd to some people, I have always loved to listen to video game music. It is my favorite genre or music to listen to. My personal music collection has over 30 albums and 1000 files! I love to listen to game music while studying and editing documents.

I spent some time thinking about what my favorite video game songs are and in this article, I list what they are, and I explain why I like the songs. I will link to a sample file of the songs listed on Bandcamp. You can buy all of the soundtracks I have listed on there.

Some Things to Mention First

As with any top ten list, this is all based on my opinion and personal tastes. Also, keep in mind there may be some great video game music I have never heard before. This list is in no particular order as ranking the songs would be very hard for me to do

1. Diptera Sonata

Song Sample

This song plays in The Basement which is the first stage in The Binding of Isaac Rebirth. "Diptera is the order of true flies. Thus, Diptera Sonata literally means Fly Sonata." This quote is from The Binding of Isaac Curse Wiki page.

The soundtrack of this game has some weirdly named songs, and this is one of the songs that stands out to me. I hear the song often since it has a chance to play on the first level. I like the upbeat feel of the song, and it sounds very exciting. It makes me feel like I am starting a huge adventure

2. Fundamentum

Song Sample
This is another song from The Binding of Isaac Rebirth. This song plays when you have the Afterbirth expansion (Yes this game has some odd names). The Burning Basement is an alternative first stage that you can start the game on.

I love rock and metal sounding music, and I love the sounds of the guitar and the theme of this song. I tend to favor heavy instrumental music, and this song is a great example of something I love to listen to. The Burning Basement level has a strong atmosphere to it. The standard basement is now lit by torches, and the song fits the theme of the stage very well. I think this is true for most of this game's soundtrack.

I know some people prefer the original game’s soundtrack by Danny Baranowsky. While that is a great soundtrack as well, I tend to like the Rebirth version because the songs fit the theme of the levels more.

3. Lead Lords Keep

Song Sample
Lead Lords Keep is a song that plays on the first level of Enter the Gungeon which is Keep of the Lead Lord. The Enter the Gungeon soundtrack has many great songs and this one is one of my favorites. Since this song is on the first level, you will hear it often but it is good I don't really get tired of hearing it. I love how upbeat this song is, and it makes me feel like I am starting something big.

4. Abbey Bells Yell

Song Sample
This is another song from Enter the Gungeon. This song is my favorite song from the game’s soundtrack and is a good pick to be one of my favorite video game songs ever. This song plays in in a secret area of the game called the Abbey of the True Gun, and it sometimes plays randomly on the first level. I absolutely love the first half of this song, and the build-up is amazing.

5. At Doom’s Gate

Song Sample
This song plays on the first level of Doom (1993), and the level is called E1M1: Hangar. This song features multiple guitars and one guitar performing what sounds like a crazy impossible solo. It is one of my favorite songs from the game.

6. I Sawed the Demons

This song is from the original Doom game and plays on the stage E2M1: Deimos Anomaly. I love how the song repeats itself but at the same adding on and building to a final conclusion. I think the guitars in the song sound very good as well, and it is my favorite song from the game.

7. Lamprey

Song Sample
This song is from the video game Rogue Legacy. Almost all of the songs in this soundtrack have aquatic names, and it is something that stands out about it to me. The song plays during a boss fight that takes place in a tower. One of the reasons that this song is my favorite from the soundtrack is the fusion of video game synthetic sounds and rock music. The song flows together perfectly to me, and I love both sections. This boss you fight in the game is also hard and pretty interesting to fight, so I heard this song very often.

8. Bynn the Breaker

Song Sample
This song is from a game called Bastion, and it plays during a type of challenge stage in the game. The challenge stages are hard, and I spent a lot of time trying to beat them. I love the instruments in this song, and I like the overall feel to it.

9. Disco Descent

Song Sample
This is a song from Crypt of the NecroDancer. This is a rhythm-based video game that unsurprisingly has some great music. This song plays on the very first level as long as you have the default soundtrack selected. Like most first stage songs in video games, the song is good at getting you excited to start a new run of the game. The song like others from the first area has a disco-like funk feel to them. Even though I have heard this song countless times, I still love listening to it outside the game.

10. Igneous Rock and Stone Cold

Song Sample - Igneous Rock
Song Sample - Stone Cold
These songs are both from Crypt of the NecroDancer. Yes, I am slightly cheating somewhat as this is two separate songs. However, I have my reasons for picking both of them. Both of these songs play on the first level of the third area of the game and the game switches between them based on current terrain. If you are in the fiery area, Igneous Rock plays. If you are currently dancing around the icy area, Stone Cold plays.

I love the way the area seamlessly switches between both songs as you dance around the level. The songs are both versions of the same tune. Igneous Rock is a hot and metal version of the song, and Stone Cold is a colder techno version of it. This is a very unique and interesting concept for a video game to do. The music helps shape the tone and temperature of the current area. All of the songs in the third area work like this, but I like the first pair the most.

Conclusion

There you have it my current top ten favorite video game songs list. I should note my favorite video game music has changed through the years among other things. What are your favorite video game songs? Feel free to leave a reply in the comments.