Underrated and unnoticed video game music?

[The 1 2 P]

Nes

Contra
Gunsmoke
Life Force
Ninja Gaiden II
Skate or Die
TMNT

Gameboy

Spider-Man
TMNT:Fall of The Foot Clan

Genesis

Sonic The Hedgehog 1-2
Spider-Man

PS1

Medevil
Star Wars: Rebel Assault II
Syphon Filter 2

Xbox

Burnout 3
Halo 2
Star Wars: Knights of The Old Republic II

Arcade

Double Dragon
Spy Hunter

Although many of those games are popular you rarely hear about how good their music is. You normally just hear about the gameplay. I would say that Gunsmoke and Star Wars: Knights of The Old Republic II are the two most underrated. Both of those games have fantastic soundtracks.

[dreamcaster]

The entire soundtrack to Jet Force Gemini (N64).

It's epic and more impressive than any other video game I've heard, yet no one sings its praises.

[fahlim003]

The Ooze.

Word.

PC
Transport Tycoon & Transport Tycoon Deluxe (both jazzy and easy listening soundtracks)
Age of Empires (maybe not too good, but some memorable tunes here)
Doom 2 (some really fine music here, at least from what I've seen DII gets a bad rep., oh well)

Genesis
Jurassic Park

Arcade
Sonic Wings 3 (some weird music abounds, but it's otherwise a nice evolution from SW2/AF2)

[Aussie2B]

Although many of those games are popular you rarely hear about how good their music is.

I'd never put "underrated game music" and Contra or Sonic the Hedgehog in the same sentence. o_O Same goes for Life Force/Salamander, Ninja Gaiden, and TMNT to slightly lesser extents.

[Ruudos]

Solstice (NES)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8hGWMeazlhg

The Smurfs (NES) (some of these play too fast (pal game on ntsc machine))
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHL_g-hoZPw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xr_FLIZ-ACQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MfuskX7MIj8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qXuIP7zLFBs

Faxanadu (NES)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OcJBonKLhqU

Gremlins 2 (NES)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IoiZOFC_dBk

[shertz]

If you like video game music, I DJ for a Video Game Music Show every Friday from 4 - 6pm (westcoast) on KSPC 88.7FM radio. You can listen to the live webcast at www.kspc.org. I have a wide range of VG music....

http://kspc.radioactivity.fm/show.html?showoid=779

[vxkens]

Mega Man Network Transmission on GameCube

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wh95W14ZkBY

Also, Mega Man Battle Chip Challenge on GBA.

And the arcade version of UN Squadron

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3UHe1UWgVs

[Kitsune Sniper]

The Terminator on Sega CD. Buttrock FTW.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-utO7xpuZdA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SnGt2w6JHOw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UTGNKXFxeaM

Well, most of it is pretty cool. Some of them just... sound awkward.

The music turned an average game into an absolute classic for me.

[The 1 2 P]

I'd never put "underrated game music" and Contra or Sonic the Hedgehog in the same sentence. o_O Same goes for Life Force/Salamander, Ninja Gaiden, and TMNT to slightly lesser extents.

I just mean that none of my friends(today and back when these games were new) ever commented on the quality of music in those games. But it is quite good, which only adds to the overall feeling of immersiveness.

[buzz_n64]

Sparkster (snes)
Level 1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SDgqjxzOuc0
Ending http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPNBcc8EyQA

[vxkens]

Sparkster (snes)
Level 1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SDgqjxzOuc0
Ending http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPNBcc8EyQA

Sparkster on SNES is filled with awesome music. Here are some more good ones.

Level 3 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=laEbKNVUi7A
Level 4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=upyEC...eature=related
Level 7(shooter stage) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oezLSEFgN7c

Also, speaking of Konami, Sunset Riders had some really great music too.

Stage 1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVKgY-xQsZI

[BetaWolf47]

Here's a good track from Pandemonium, the game I mentioned in my first post:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nv77tIKRmDs

[Xexyz]

I don't remember the composers (I think there were 4) but Masaya's Gley Lancer was not only an awesome import only Mega Drive shmup, but one with fantastic tunes to boot. I finally got to experience this gem and its music last year thanks to Sega and Nintendo's Virtual Console:

Stage 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWutrB0BL1U&fmt=18

Stage 4: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OqZH1F8DItw&fmt=18

Stage 5: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DSSebHIDcb8&fmt=18

Stage 6: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0IhO0xjKUY&fmt=18

Stage 8: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iEpwXVZkHLM&fmt=18

[ShinobiMan]

I always loved the music in Black Hole Assault for Sega CD.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4YnFOt_LZ0Q

This is gameplay footage, but check out the music!

Highly underrated game IMO. The story is great! The gameplay may be simple, but so is "Boxing" on Atari, and I love it.

[Amnion-Chorion]

I've always felt Smart Ball for the SNES had a very underrated soundtrack:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=djtlz...eature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aeAH_mENOnI

The moon stage especially has a very nice and peaceful tune to it.

[ShinobiMan]

I've always felt Smart Ball for the SNES had a very underrated soundtrack:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=djtlz...eature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aeAH_mENOnI

The moon stage especially has a very nice and peaceful tune to it.

Yeah! Love Smart Ball (Jerry Boy in Japan, which is the version I owned.) I totally agree, the music in that game is top notch. And it's funny you mentioned the moon stage's music, because that's my favorite from the game.

That game was seriously butchered in the US. In the Japanese version there was an actual story, with towns thats you visited in between levels and people you talked to. You even get swallowed by a whale at one point and go to heaven where you talk to angels! It was awesome.

Some people don't like Smart Ball, but I say give the Japanese version a chance and you'll find a lot to like.

[Kamille01]

I think the music in the Gaia trilogy (Soul Blazer, Illusion of Gaia, Terranigma) is really good. Although I am biased towards the series so it might just be me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KelnHjOateU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oiW2DbKa_dI

ActRaiser is also fantastic but I guess that was never really underrated or unnoticed.

I agree that Tempest 2000 had some of the best techno beats. Extreme-G for the N64 was also great.

It's not a classic game but the symphonic suite in the American version of Dragon Quest VIII was amazing.

[ReTrO-pLaYeR]

My vote's in for Tradewest's "PLOK" game OST. It's just incredible, incredible music. It's hard to believe some of the sounds are even possible for the SNES, with only 4 out of 5 sound channels utilized for the music. Hudson's Air Zonk also has a lot of awesome songs, my favorite being the Baseball Stadium one.

[NerdXCrewWill]

Also I forgot to add 'Mr. Bones' for the Saga Saturm. Actually the tune 'Mr. bones' was quite cool at the time...

I came into this thread to specifically add this game. Awesome blues soundtrack. You gotta love that weird spoken word track.

[Wraith Storm]

I am glad to see Dark Wizard and Solstice have already been mentioned. Solstice is at the pinnacle of NES sound programming and Dark Wizard is at the pinnacle of soundtracks in general.

I have to add Mystaria/Blazing Heroes on the Saturn.

The video HERE has several of the games classic tunes. Its easily among the greatest soundtracks ever made IMO. The only bad thing is, like Dark Wizard, there are only a handful of tracks that repeat through the game. But when they kick so much @$$, who cares?