Undervalued Soundtracks

[TheZeldaPianist275]

Hey everyone.

I was chewing on this the other day while digging through some old sheets.  There are a lot of games that are extremely well-represented on NSM, either because they are wildly popular or because they have a small, devoted following.  What's interesting is that the amount of sheets being turned out on NSM doesn't always correlate with how strong a game's music is.

If you asked me what the three best game soundtracks I know of are, I'd have to go with Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze, Fire Emblem Fates, and Xenoblade Chronicles 2.  Two of those have gotten a lot of love over the years (hi, Libera), but Tropical Freeze doesn't have a single sheet to its name, which is a bummer, because that soundtrack is a masterpiece.

What game soundtracks jump to mind as ones with world-class music that largely fly under the radar, either on NSM or more broadly?  Curious if there are some sleepers I don't know about.

[LeviR.star]

I don't think the reason such games don't have much representation on-site is because they're under appreciated, I for one have heard lots of praise for Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze's music. I think the real reason is that certain games just have music that doesn't translate to piano super easily, or they're hard to transcribe or interpret. Personally, I feel bad I haven't contributed to many "newer" soundtracks, but the fact of the matter is that I'm not experienced enough to arrange for them. That's my own personal reasoning, others will have their own. But arranging for chiptune OSTs has proved to be my forte, and I think the updating staff can attest to this.

[Static]

What game soundtracks jump to mind as ones with world-class music that largely fly under the radar, either on NSM or more broadly?

Mostly stuff that isn't by Nintendo (go figure), though there are some specific series that I've personally noticed with excellent music that isn't represented very well (if at all).

Here's just a few widely-known IPs from various famous studios, all of which have great music:
- Capcom (e.g., Dead Rising, Devil May Cry, Final Fight, Resident Evil, Street Fighter)
- Konami (e.g., Metal Gear, Silent Hill, Suikoden)
- Microsoft (e.g., Gears of War, Halo)
- Namco (e.g., Ace Combat, Katamari, Klonoa, Ridge Racer)
- Sega (e.g., Jet Set Radio, Streets of Rage, Super Monkey Ball, Yakuza/Like a Dragon)
- Sony (e.g., Ape Escape, Gran Turismo, Team Ico [Ico, Shadow of the Colossus, Last Guardian])

[Atcero]

TES is also under represented, but those games it can be hard sadly to translate to piano (and there are some other good free arrangements online for quite a few for Skyrim)

[Kricketune54]

Some great soundtrack picks named already. I think Star Wars games with original soundtracks such as the Rogue Squadron Games, Force Unleased, anything Jeremy Soule has done, and even some of the recent games have some great music. Star Fox Assault also has some great arrangements and originals in its soundtrack but they are a bit tough to translate.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons is one that has okay representation on site... I would arrange more of it because to me it is a standout of the past 3 years, but it's just a matter of time I can devote, and I often just go with what I like the most/Pokémon.

OP makes a great point though with Tropical Freeze that is a bit of a gap though I only know a few tracks from compilations.

I find myself arranging personal favorites from games I've played quite often, so I see my contributions more as me putting out my tastes to the wider world and seeing what sticks lol.

[BlackDragonSlayer]

OP makes a great point though

reddit moment :morton2: