Summary

  • From 8-bit chip-tunes to live orchestral scores, music plays a central role in creating iconic and memorable gaming experiences.
  • Games such as Gothic 3, Hollow Knight, Assassin's Creed 2, Genshin Impact, Sonic Unleashed, and The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim have all been praised for their immersive and emotional music, which enhances the player experience.

The music of video games plays a central role in keeping games iconic and memorable years later. The 8-bit chip-tunes of Super Mario Bros is instantly recognized today, even by non-fans. As technology grew more powerful over the years, live orchestral music could be implemented into games, which in recent years has become very popular.

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Indeed, some video game music has such a large fan following that many live concerts have been performed. Franchises like Sega's Sonic the Hedgehog, famous for its quality music, have spawned a large musical following due to its iconic songs. Similarly, other games continue to be well known for their music and many have beautiful orchestral scores written by some very talented composers. This quality music helps immerse players in the landscape and aesthetic of the games they were composed for.

8 Gothic 3

A memorable orchestral score

Gothic 3

Action RPG
Platform(s)
PC
Released
November 20, 2006
Developer(s)
Piranha Bytes

The third game in the Gothic series was the first to utilize an entire orchestra to perform the game’s music. The Bochum Symphony Orchestra from Germany performed music composed by Kai Rosenkranz.

As well as an orchestra, the sound team also utilized a variety of instrumentation from around the world. From a Gospel Choir, to a Japanese taiko band, Gothic 3 introduced players to a richer and more varied soundtrack than anything that’d come before in the series. The result is a truly memorable, iconic, and engrossing score. The tracks are each beautiful and dramatic in their own right, reflecting each part of the game. It helps give a powerful and immersive player experience.

7 Sonic Frontiers

Brilliant and beautiful music

sonic-frontiers-promo-art-sega-buyout-denied-microsoft

Action
Adventure
Released
November 8, 2022
Developer(s)
Sonic Team
Metascore
75

The bestselling 3D Sonic game has a phenomenal soundtrack, the official release being titled “Stillness and Motion” for a reason. Away from the pulsating hard rock songs and beaty electronic level themes, much of the music is beautiful and gentle, including a variety of musical instruments. The themes of most islands are arranged into seven “movements;” as Sonic unlocks more of each map, the music steadily builds into sweeping orchestral pieces. Each theme was composed by notable Sega musician, Tomoya Ohtani.

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Ohtani’s music is much more experimental than in previous games. The island themes are each unique and highly emotional in their own way, melancholic and beautiful. Ohtani brought in a lot of varied sounds, from Celtic-inspired vocals to Iranian percussion, and included the Nashville Scoring Orchestra. This unique flavor, supported by gentle electronics, creates moving musical pieces. In The Final Horizon update, the game's main theme "I’m Here" received an orchestral rendition.

6 Super Mario Galaxy

An instantly iconic soundtrack

Banner image for Super Mario Galaxy

3D Platformer
Platform(s)
Wii, Nintendo Wii U
Released
November 1, 2007
Developer(s)