30 Best GBA Soundtracks - Game Boy Advance Music Tribute

[@shenloken2]

The Castlevania GBA trilogy is still godly after all these years!

[@agreedboarart3188]

It seems like the GBA games in most given series are always the best. Mega Man, Sonic, Metroid, Donkey Kong, Castlevania, etc.

[@Gaven7r]

@Luigi Aprea indeed, it had a great game repertory

[@jclkaytwo]

@@agreedboarart3188 you think king of swing is the best DK game?

[@mintstarmari]

The GBA’s sound chip was pretty limited for sure but that didn’t stop composers from making auditive masterpieces.

[@sguinn91]

Well, here's the strange thing. Technically, the GBA never had a dedicated sound chip. They technically turned the GBA''s CPU into a 8- bit DAC to run the sound for it. Which is probably why it sounds so compressed and scratchy at times. I think Game Sack can give you better details than I could.

[@joaofernandes9756]

@@sguinn91 Maybe Nintendo did this to make the sound chip cheaper to produce, after all it's a 2001 handheld, so they must have had some difficulties.

[@sguinn91]

@@joaofernandes9756 Maybe so, but it was still kind of cool to hear something that sounds like real instruments at that time on a handheld while also maintaining the sound of the Original Game boy and Game Boy Color. Man, I miss it.

[@jc_dogen]

@@sguinn91 No, the GBA has 2 8-bit hardware DACs with built in timers to tell the CPU when new samples are needed. The only time the CPU really has to do much work is when mixing more than 2 samples down into to 1 or 2.

[@zynet_eseled]

And yet, to me, that is what makes it so special.

[@commandertaco1762]

I loved the gba sound despite it being lower fidelity, it kinda felt like a retro platform before retro became really popular, the sound quality is in line between the nes and snes but with much greater levels of experience with these types of sound profiles

[@Oysterblade84]

I tend to think of it as a superior Master System/NES console because some games on the system sound very much like 8-bit hardware but advanced to include a few PCM channels for sampled sound on top of the PSG, the Sonic Advance series, Puyo Pop Fever and Super Street Fighter II Turbo Revival are notorious for using the PSG squares and sawtooths in a heavy dose over the sampled channels making the music sound vastly inferior to what is heard in these games in this video which is amazing! The music in this video comes from games that use the pcm channels more making the music sound superior.

[@yasskb]

01. Donkey Kong Country 2 - David Wise - Stickerbrush Symphony 00:00 02. Mega Man Zero - Ippo Yamada, Setsuo Yamamoto - Zero's Theme 02:00 03. Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow - Michiru Yamane, Takashi Yoshida, Soshiro Hokkai - Castle Corridor 02:57 04. The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap - Mitsuhiko Takano - Temple of Droplets / Minish Village / Vaati's Wrath 04:27 05. Fire Emblem - Yuka Tsujiyoko, Saki Haruyama - Companions 06:43 / Together, We Ride! 07:53 06. Golden Sun - Motoi Sakuraba - Venus Lighthouse 09:00 07. Ninja Five-O (Ninja Cop) - Aya Tanaka, Hiroyuki Tsuboguchi - Hostage Situation (Stage One) 10:36 08. Metroid Fusion - Minako Hamano, Akira Fujiwara - Yakuza Boss 11:27 / Neo-Ridley Boss 12:20 09. Advance Wars - Taishi Senda - Andy's Theme 13:16 10. Wade Hixton's Counter Punch - Bart Roijmans - Mimi Li's Theme 14:39 11. Scurge: Hive - Jake Kaufman - Ending 15:33 12. Iridion II - Manfred Linzner - Cloudy Stairway 16:29 / Two Years Gone 17:30 13. F-Zero: GP Legend - Kenji Hikita - Fire Field 19:01 / Big Blue 20:01 14. Donkey Kong Country 3 - David Wise - Water World 20:58 15. Sonic Advance - Tatsuyuki Maeda, Yutaka Minobe - Egg Rocket Zone 22:20 16. Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga - Yoko Shimomura - Battle 23:35 17. Final Fantasy VI Advance - Nobuo Uematsu - Terra's Theme 24:46 / The Decisive Battle 25:27 18. Riviera: The Promised Land - Minako Adachi, Shigeki Hayashi - Fierce Clash! 26:19 19. Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance - Soshiro Hokkai, Michiru Yamane - Successor of Fate (Juste Belmondo's Theme) 27:20 20. Mega Man Zero 2 - Ippo Yamada - Departure 28:40 21. Banjo-Kazooie: Grunty's Revenge - Jamie Hughes - Spiller's Harbor 30:06 22. Kirby & the Amazing Mirror - Hironobu Inagaki, Atsuyoshi Isemura - Rainbow Route 32:02 / Dark Mind's Second Form 32:34 23. Mario Kart: Super Circuit - Kenichi Nishimaki, Masanobu Matsunaga, Minako Hamano - Sky Garden 33:24 / Cheese Land 34:01 24. Mario vs. Donkey Kong - Lawrence Schwedler - Final Boss 34:51 25. Final Fantasy Tactics Advance - Hitoshi Sakimoto, Kaori Ohkoshi, Ayako Saso, Nobuo Uematsu - Battle of Hope 36:09 26. Tales of Phantasia - Motoi Sakuraba, Shinji Tamura, Ryota Furuya - Be Absentminded 37:52 / Fighting of the Spirit 39:06 27. Castlevania: Circle of the Moon - Sotaro Tojima, Hiroshi Mitsuoka, Taro Kudou - Awake 40:05 28. Pokémon Ruby, Sapphire, Emerald - Go Ichinose, Morikazu Aoki, Junichi Masuda - Legendary Battle 41:22 / Vs. Elite Four 42:02 29. Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories - Yoko Shimomura - Dearly Beloved / Sinister Sundown / Struggle Away 42:34 30. Mother 3 - Shogo Sakai - Porky's Porkies 44:15 / Unfounded Revenge 44:56 / Love Theme 45:50

[@GameDjeenie]

God I miss the Gamecube/GBA era...

[@skifullydone8165]

Why miss it? Still playable. Go get a Gamecube and/or GBA if you haven't gotten any. I've just played Secret of Mana for the SNES, and I missed out. Relive those classics in modern day.

[@MarkoTulio]

I don´t , I still live there.

[@MarkoTulio]

@@skifullydone8165 X2

[@wienerschnitzel1739]

Glad to see MOTHER 3 is number one where is belongs, its soundtrack is legendary

[@Young_Gil]

This isn’t a list nor a ranking

[@thomasleathers7018]

The GBA was like a swansong of mainstream hardware designed purely for 2D games, and its clear a lot of developers had fun giving it a go one more time... Its to the point that even licensed games managed to be decent at times...

[@Asf_932]

💯💯💯i agree

[@tomyrobinson3196]

Technically the GBA could handle 3D games too. Asterix and Obelix xxl has PS1 quality graphics.

[@mattheww.4726]

Hot damn what a great selection, and you went above and beyond to incorporate footage from the games themselves! GBA= best system ever!

[@AlessandroCussino]

I 100% agree with you !!

[@miskitoragee6296]

As do I

[@Sigusen]

Man the GBA had some great games on it! Some of my absolutely favorite gaming experiences were on that device: Fire Emblem? I must have put 80 hours into that game. FF6 I played for the first time on that device. Minish Cap? 'Nuff said. Ahh so many great memories.

[@marx4538]

Zero 2, Advance 1, Amazing Mirror... such amazing games.

[@MrMarinus18]

Mother 3 really hasn't aged a day. It could easily pass for a modern pixel art RPG.

[@TamaOne]

Your music collections from different systems are the best compilations i've seen in years. So much respect!

[@agreedboarart3188]

A GBA playlist isn't complete without Mega Man Zero tracks.

[@Xscalibur64]

Aw, nothing from the Megaman Battle Network series? There are a few gems in those games.

[@MadCyantist]

The OST for those games absolutely SLAPS, I can't believe nothing from there was on this list

[@БрухБрух-щ7и]

@@MadCyantist yep

[@MaoRatto]

Megaman Zero is just considered the better OST.... I guess... Hey atleast Megaman was ackowledged somewhat?

[@gabrielhenry7237]

@@MadCyantist SLAPS harder than my dad

[@rafaspyra9776]

Castlevania music is one of the most iconic in video game history. But MY GOD, Golden Sun has by FAR the best soundtrack i heard, and ON GBA AS WELL:O Venus Lighthouse is not the best one in my opinion, Sol Sanctum, Aqua Rock are for me the best of them.

[@joaonitro5149]

Mother 3 is better.

[@caiocochrane2446]

What a system the GBA was!

[@user-bootlicker]

I finally managed to find a list that included Mother 3. Woah.

[@EpicPrawn]

The way that Stickerbrush Symphony on GBA makes your brain fill in the blanks with the missing nots is so clever.

[@ChristopheKonig]

Excellent playlist ! This is retro sound at its best. The Castlevania songs are so good.

[@MultiTrey111]

2:57 Best Castlevania don't @ me!

[@somacruz7759]

:D

[@6kine6tic67]

Man the first iridion and megaman battle network series have certified original bangers and not just one or 2. Surprised thats not on here, but stickerbrush symphony is.

[@saph100]

What amazes me most about Golden Sun is how much they could place into a GBA game in just 2001 alone, the graphics and music are all just phenomenal.

[@Appreciation-Community]

As I get older the memories seem to fade. It's not until I'm reminded by things like these videos they come back. And never like they used to be. It's like looking through a window that keeps getting more foggy. Sometimes you can wipe some fog away but you can't ever see the full view.

[@ByondRAGE]

I didn't see GBA coming, good work man, i love these and please don't stop they get me through my work days.

[@derrickdavis5390]

Came here to see if Golden Sun's masterpiece soundtrack was represented, and was not disappointed :p

[@jackomecamorfo6060]

i just want to say that is very hard to classify the Castlevania Harmony of dissonance ost because even thought is a gba game it uses a gbc sound chip,great video btw

[@Cpt_crabhammer]

I would love one of these for the original Game Boy

[@DhinCardoso]

Man there isn't a single game on this list I haven't finished, such selection was like a big punch in my face, nostalgia sold me hard now! Congratz

[@Monika_ddlc.real.18]

24:46 omg this is one of my favorite games

[@NinjaCacodemon_IsSus]

I always think Sonic Advance 3 Chaos Angel act 1 or 3 will make on a list of the best GBA music

[@dr.shakib9961]

Oh man when I listen to the Golden Sun music I get full of spirit.

[@momaniasfc]

Thank GOD Mother 3 is on here. And as the last one too!

[@chrissysmith9450]

WOOOW STICKERBRUSH SYMPHONY SOUNDS GREAT

[@HotEmeraldX]

Sonic Advance - Egg Rocket is by far my favorite GBA soundtrack out there, with Pokemon RSE - Rival Battle in second and Mario Kart Super Circuit - Cheese Land in third.

[@AbTz95]

Wow that's good man miss those old times.

[@Adristar90]

Good stuff! Would love any song from Banjo pilots or Tony Hawk pro skater on the list tho. Guess you can't get everything. Thank you for posting these awesome game track compilations on youtube! True hero

[@rafaspyra9776]

Golden Sun is on the list, i can now approve of this. The whole GS soundtrack deserves a list of it's own. Motoi Sakuraba is a GOD. Also, GBA Castlevanias were the shit

[@piticusomancuso953]

omg, great video! congratulations

[@MrHakubi]

Awesome music!

[@MrEdge6677]

Hell yeah, Megaman Zero baby!

[@rob0nemusic369]

27:33 It hears like a nes music with VCR6 external soundchip, like the castlevania III version with the VCR6.

[@jackcimino8822]

It sounds like that because a couple of high quality songs in the game took a lot of space, so the rest of the songs have to use single cycle waveforms

[@DlcEnergy]

25:27 installing wad files on the wii again.

[@zzz43344]

???

[@DlcEnergy]

@@zzz43344 you haven't homebrewed your wii???

[@zzz43344]

@@DlcEnergy Yeah I have, but what I'm asking is what does that timestamp have to do with that?

[@DlcEnergy]

@@zzz43344 have you not used wad manager 1.7 before? kzbin.info/www/bejne/d6mypGRroMt3h5I

[@KorotasGeckoGamingCorner]

Surprised this list doesn't include anything from Pokemon Mystery Dungeon, but its still good

[@somacruz7759]

2:57 Oh look, it's me xD

[@megamarsonic]

Before you make a sequel of this (assuming you haven't made one already), I'd seriously consider giving the soundtrack to Bomberman Tournament a listen. The soundtrack as a whole is all good stuff but the two songs that stand out in my mind are the Arctic Valley and Deadly Bomber Battle themes.

[@Drifting_Daily]

All of the Pokemon RSE battle music are fire.

[@chrism2027]

Wow really a very nice soundtracks here.

[@Joe_334]

I was in the sixth grade when most of these came out. It was a great time. Sonic Advance was my first, with Yoshi's Island. Puzzle League that came with Dr. Mario, had some great original tracks too.

[@samcardoza708]

Nice choices :)

[@fannyfannyshi2816]

Golden Sun, Fire Emblem, Riviera ❤️ the psp version of Fierce Clash is great too

[@kani6690]

*sees megaman zero twice* Honestly, not surprised

[@SuperCartoon96]

Спасибо за подборку! Будет подобная по Nintendo DS?

[@urielandrelim2439]

Battle Of Hope - FFTA brings back of my childhood

[@jshadow9184]

Buddy. I really wish the main theme for Wario Land 4 was in here.

[@tumbletunes3101]

came to say this lol wario land 4 has one of my favorite soundtracks in general, sad they didnt include it in this list

[@jshadow9184]

@@tumbletunes3101 same man

[@jogsosog]

Could definitly use more Megaman Zero (especially 3 and 4)

[@Spybionic]

maybe next time

[@tb3411]

Emerald has a great soundtrack, but... Red Rescue Team is the best GBA OST ever

[@MrZabersuv]

mad respect man for doing this

[@dgtamer43yt]

Jess' and Flak's theme songs from Advance Wars 2: Black Hole rising are also bangers :D

[@Supermariohoops24]

Y’all sleeping on Mario Kart Super Circuit. Top 3 soundtrack in the whole series.

[@dreadhavoc]

Yesses but I also like Sonic Advance music, I grew up with both Super Circuit and Sonic advance

[@SirJeeble]

thank you for this

[@Bob_Beaky]

Subbed in the hope that you compile another GBA set list. ;)

[@yamiryushi]

Huh, never knew Ridley's theme was in fusion...its kinda hard to hear it over its.....dulcet...tones -_-

[@rob0nemusic369]

30:06 It's Sonic's instruments !

[@ChevyCamaroIsBetter]

yeah wtf gba.. lol

[@PhirePhlame]

I mean the sound is handled by the CPU. If waveforms free up cycles for other things, I'm not complaining (unless asked about Sonic Genesis for GBA, which just became that much worse for it).

[@wesley7753]

Retrogamer Feminist it does sound like it came from a genesis

[@FlameAdder]

Wade Hixton's Counter Punch (and the best song in the game at that)? That's a deep cut, man

[@solofalcon]

GBA is the 2nd best SNES console!

[@KidPrarchord95]

It's the second best SNES console? How does that make sense?

[@iiroimmonen8144]

SNES is the best console, GBA is the best handheld. Retro gaming 4ever! \m/

[@jaeger6919]

+Alex Olmsted There are too many SNES and NES ports to him I guess.

[@skinwalker69420]

The GBA Isn't the SNES

[@skinwalker69420]

@@BrunoidGames asshole

[@cheko7757]

This makes me emotional :

[@psichotropic]

Спасибо.

[@yeetusdeletethis9697]

Sinister sundown is great!!! AND DONT YOU FORGET IT!

[@kota3192]

YUS POKEMON!!

[@dodomongrosqc7614]

You guys need to go listen to “Zoids Legacy” battle theme ! One of the best song in all gba list

[@jorgenishidalgo9026]

castlevania circle of the moon is the bet

[@carystenbertoliniguerra5965]

O melhor dos melhores

[@bedraniaymen198]

Mega man zero has an awesome ost for sure

[@Raikaska]

Thae gba could hold that kind of "3d" cutscenes? That Kingdom Hearts part blew my mind

[@doganerlucien-etienne-simo6438]

If you pick an Emerald song, why not the Champion themeeeeeeeeeee

[@rubozee3690]

I ended here and yeah such really good soundtrack, missing at least one from django from 2 or 3

[@Ri.DoBravaDo]

Braaaaaambles! Best DK track

[@bananaking-bf2hk]

Why is the version you used for Spillers Harbor from Banjo Kazooie:Grunty's revenge not the original GBA one?

[@primeoctober]

So glad that Mother is in this compilation, almost thought it wouldn't be

[@haroldgarrett2932]

David Wise is a legend. the DKC music is so memorable, especially the underwater areas

[@yakkoyuuzou3816]

23:37 this sounds too good and with a lot of bass to be a gba game

[@rob0nemusic369]

Will you make a GB/GBC compilation ?

[@Spybionic]

maybe...

[@rob0nemusic369]

And a master system/game gear compilation ? Maybe it's not a good idea because there's not a lot of awesome OST with this soundchip... And I find it sounds flat... What do you think about it ?

[@Spybionic]

Not everyone will like. But there are good soundtracks: Sonic, Ninja Gaiden, Wonder Boy III, Golvellius, Phantasy Star and more. Maybe I will do. I can not promise.

[@luisgalvan8963]

What!! you didnt include the venus` lighthouse song from Golden Sun? That song is legendary!!

[@alondite3318]

It's in there...

[@cbednarz02]

FE trilogy as well. Not quiet SNES/SFC level but a great successor to the gb color

[@shefvomdienst7635]

Pkmn frlg champ theme???

[@saulschneider4880]

I'm surprised nothing from wario land 4 appears, or is it just my nostalgia

[@LairdDeimos]

Sims Urbz has a sweet RnB soundtrack.

[@bobalinx8762]

Rhythm Tengoku should’ve been here.

[@powwie1rodriguez605]

only ONE sonic game on this list?

[@fedorjavagamer]

You forget Shrek Swamp Kart Speedway title screen music!!!

[@FerGL]

Golden Sun the best RPG for GBA

[@easter-man]

the gba brought us advance wars and mother 3

[@chipler2199]

i came here just to see if pkmn gen 3 and mother 3 was here

[@williamfiuza8328]

Nice.

[@tediz8280]

Nintendo is really stupid for not continueing the Mother games... :( i loved those games!

[@brattmatt6017]

Dude where’s the Zelda- link to the past music. That shit hit different

[@threed971]

Вот бы подборку с оригинальным Гейм Боем / Гейм Бой Колором!

[@samsonbelmont9027]

Te falto "INVADER"

[@keedar99]

Hey Spybionic. What sort of program do you use to make these videos?

[@Spybionic]

Sony Vegas

[@keedar99]

Thank you.

[@boeuf-in9oe]

So is gba music considered 16 bit or what? I can’t seem to find anywhere that tells me.

[@x2bounty]

I think I remember reading it being 32 bit. Which I find strange, as it sounds very similar to the SNES.