I love choosing game soundtracks from generations gone by but the more modern music is pretty lit, too. Take Shantae: Half-Genie Hero, a late 2016 release. This game's soundtrack is full of bangers, my faves being Counterfeit Mermaids, Tassle Town and The Sky Bridge.
You know that moment that hits when you just know that you're in for something special? Well for me when it comes to the music from ActRaiser, that moment was the first few notes of Opening. Those blasting trumpets and those drums going to town. Talk about winning them over from the beginning! Of course, this glorious soundtrack comes from Yuzo Koshiro so the beats do not disappoint after the initial track. Filmoa, The Beast Appears, Blood Pool Casandora and the entire score sounds like big budget Hollywood pieces. And yet they are coming out of the SNES! I will never stop being amazed by that 16-bit sound chip.
This soundtrack, even by the exceptionally high Gradius standards, is really freaking good. Hearing the music of Graius Gaiden has always been bitter sweet for me because it is game I've never played. I mean, with SHMUPs blowing up on the Switch, we could sure use a re-release of this one. The one time Gradius Gaiden made it outside of Japan was on the PSP's Gradius Collection, so we're well past time for another re-release of this one. Anyhoo, Speed is without a doubt my top choice for the best song in this soundtrack.
The third game in WayForward's Mighty series, this puzzle plaformer has you flipping switches to defeat the baddies progress through the level and trying your best not to be in the place of a flipped switch. Music is handled by the very wonderful Jake Kaufman, who has yet to turn in a soundtrack I didn't like. Do you enjoy upbeat music? Disco? Funky beats? This is the soundtrack for you! Not into that stuff? This soundtrack is still for you!
One of the best Mega Drive/Genesis soundtracks many have not heard. The game was never released outside of Japan. If you've played Sonic Megamix, a popular Sonic ROM hack, you may have heard a song from this game. The Hybrid Front did come from Sonic's parent company and even share's one of Sonic's music composers, Naofumia Hayata of Sonic 2 on the Game Gear/Master System and Sonic CD fame. Credit also goes out to his co-composers Junko Shiratsu and Sachio Ogawa. Combat Scenario sounds like it came out of a ToeJam & Earl game and Earth ~ Sakurabe Fight BGM 2 doesn't sound all that far off. This soundtrack is full of toe-taping, finger snapping tracks , often kicked off with samples like "Let's do it!" or "LET'S GO!"
Upon initial release, FINAL FANTASY MYSTIC QUEST didn't get a warm reception by the hardcore RPG crowd. Billed as an RPG for entry level players one could look at it as "RPGs for Dummies." At the time, RPGs were still a niche genre and FFMQ's very existence seemed like a slap in the face. Sure, the game doesn't hold a candle to the three mainline FF games on the SNES but it is hardly garbage. More importantly, the soundtrack rocks, both figuratively and literally. Yeah, there are some more somber tracks in there and if you're look for some tunes to relax to, you'll find a few sprinkled throughout such as City of Forest but all three battle themes in this game are the bangiest of bangers.
