The definitive Top 10 C64 music of all time

Here it is, The definitive top 10 C64 music of all time.
Period.
10 - PaperBoy, Mark Cooksey, 1986 Elite
9 - Warhawk, Rob Hubbard, 1986 Firebird
8 - Last Ninja 1, Ben Daglish & Anthony Lees, 1987 System 3
7 - International Karate, Rob Hubbard, 1987 System 3
6 - Commando, Rob Hubbard, 1985 Elite
5 - Grand Prix circuit, Kris Hatlelid, 1988 Accolade
4 - Shadowfire, Fred Gray, 1985 Beyond
3 - R-Type, Chris Hülsbeck & Ramiro Vaca, 1988 Activision
2 - ?
1 - ?

[@Meisterqn]

I will never forget the soundtrack from the last ninja 1&2. Absolutely genius

[@8BitKeys]

Yeah.. Sorry, can't agree that this is the definitive top 10.

[@chainsawplayin]

He has a very bad music taste indeed :/

[@ZEUSDAZ]

Target Renegade Title Screen should be no.1 (in fact the entire soundtrack), other mentions: Rambo II Title music, Rolling Ronnie Stage 1 music, Double Dragon II & III title music, Not Even Human, Ghosts 'n Goblins.

[@nicolesproducerpack]

I love the sound of the C64 soundchip. It is raw and rusty.

[@nicolesproducerpack]

Top 3. Shadowfire has the best music, and the one after it next, then Ninja 2 in that order of this list imo. I never owned a C64 but really appreciate the music. 😍

[@sizzxrk]

Phantom of the asteroid.

[@Then00bhunt3r]

I'm a simple guy, I see Tim Follin, I hit like. I see Jeroen Tel, I hit like. Unfortunately neither of them are here.

[@tatsujincorp]

literally this!!

[@andyhodgson7692]

No Martin Galway either. Plenty of Rob Hubbard but no Monty on the Run. Not a definitive top 10 at all.

[@andyhodgson7692]

@I Live In A 16-Bit Van Down By The 8-Bit River Yes I've just listened to that after you mentioned it. Very very good :).

[@longtallshorty5791]

@@Leonardo-iz4quyou….. have no idea wtf you’re talking about.

[@tastybrains]

wow some of these songs are so burned into my brain i recognized them without even seeing the game name 30 years later. wish my history class lessons had stuck that well

[@walterpex6850]

Same here

[@venni82]

My favourites ever: Last ninja 2, Tusker and Forbidden Forest. Still remember fondly those times i was 6 years old listening in awe to those tunes

[@BlisterHiker]

No C64 list is complete without Forbidden Forest!

[@OceanLoader]

Green Beret, Rambo 2, Wizball, Retrograde, Stormlord, Turbo Outrun and Ghouls'n'Ghosts among the notable absentees here. The latter is definitely one of the best C64 soundtracks ever made.

[@Zontar82]

also no monty on the run? seriously?

[@Puschit1]

And Goldrunner!!! Game itself wasn't good but the music ... still can't get it out of my head. But you know, that's on purpose. Include "definitive" in your top 10 list title to generate more clicks and then, when we write comments about all the obvious games that didn't make it, we generate extra traffic. And we fall for it every - single - time :)

[@brian.mcgroarty]

Username checks out, is an expert on this

[@Peterplayingguitar]

Commando theme is my fave - so badass!

[@eleftheriabarla3700]

Mondy on the run as well...

[@landleven1088]

I'm with you here.... the first part is beyond exciting.. that last part, not in this video, is sweet memories!

[@rodzandz]

Where are such classics as Ghosts and Goblins, Cybernoid, Giana sisters??

[@lewis72]

or Monty on the Run & Roland's Rat Race !

[@rodzandz]

@I Live In A 16-Bit Van Down By The 8-Bit River You have to admin though, that Giana Sisters theme was one hell of a catchy tune. It's been 33 years since I first played it and I still find myself whistling that tone from time to time.

[@Leonardo-iz4qu]

In my option Ghouls 'n Ghosts commodore 64 has a better soundtrack than Ghosts and Goblins commodore 64

[@Tasarran]

The Master of Magic

[@roger_VK2VRK]

Ha who remembers (8:32) with international karate+ when you could make the pants fall down of the karate player while playing the game.... oh man the memories!

[@swervezeroindefinite8]

Needs to do a 2019 remake with the same music score but updated millennial style.

[@paid_didnt_win6527]

Master of Magic, Rob Hubbard....by far the best music on c64

[@patsfan4life]

Yes! Even though it was a reimagining of an existing composition

[@eclipseaus]

jereon tel is kinda better

[@alanbenson1505]

@@patsfan4life Just like I-Ball was. Two tracks from Cabaret Voltaire if i remember correctly.

[@julienbraudel7109]

Tel better than Hubbard ? No way. I am almost sure he would even admit it.

[@viruse388]

So where's Jeroen Tel's music?

[@VRShow]

Exactly, as i stated below Myth, Cybernoid 2 or Hawkeye are 3 of his that could best songs on this list.

[@heatmandwn-015]

VR Show and robo cop 3

[@hollywooda111]

No Monty on the Run!!!!?... sorry but that's No 1 all day long.

[@miulimau619]

I Love the music in that game (Monty on the run). Also "the great Gian(n)a sisters" has great opening music and "Spelunker" (C64 version by Tim Martin) was one of the best games with great music.. :)

[@blahblahblah7250]

+Scott Lee Clayton Monty On The Run wasn't just the best C64 tune, it was one of the greatest computer game theme tunes of all time. To not even have it in the top ten is clueless.

[@jyidorne8042]

Not only one of the greatest, but pretty much the greatest. I challenge anyone to name a better videogame tune.

[@hollywooda111]

Jyi Dorne that's just how I feel about it. if you listen to it played by an orchestra (it's on here somewhere) some of the movement he's written are bloody genius.

[@keithland1063]

Sanxion loader

[@AmigosRetroGaming]

I must say, i'd not heard your number one pick before, and this is awesome!

[@eggbert333]

The last Ninja 2... Hell yeah. They really pushed the SID chip to its limits with that one.

[@jammerc64]

No, SID hasn't been pushed to its limits those years even a bit. Get acquainted with demoscene stuff nowadays ;)

[@djangofett4879]

Grand Prix circuit sounds like its going to fry the chip 😆

[@adgloride]

I agree with number 1. Best music to grace the c64. Why they ever made a remix and changed the music I'll never know.

[@drumstick74]

Paper Boy theme is still so jamming, even nearly 40 years later. I also enjoy International Karate theme by Rob Hubbard. ♫

[@NotZDH]

I'm not too big of a fan of the C64 sound, but this is incredible

[@user-tu8ym7es1u]

Yeah,gotta agree. On some releases it almost felt like a cheap genesis But man, when it's done right, it is done RIGHT

[@manicminer3830]

Dragons Lair 2 would be well up there in my opinion. Rob Hubbard is a Genius! What he dragged out of that SID chip is beyond belief.

[@kanolano5106]

Song of the C64 is magic because it makes me remember the good old days of the 80s, incredible, like these songs an 8-bit computer, are current and pleasant and emotional, parabens, the authors of this music, they are brilliant, loved this remix, this superb, this music is pure hypnotic magic.

[@bacardi666]

+Kano Lano agree :)

[@GTElwood]

I agree, LN2 was amazing, even the level loaders in the cassette version. Difficult to find in a single game with many and so good tunes. I don't have a chart but i was pleased by Driller, Wizball, the resonances of Rambo, Cybernoid, Hawkeye, Monty on The Run, Mega Apocalypse was a masterpiece imo.... and so on....

[@UberAlphaSirus]

Ohh man driller was scarry back then. And the game took an age to complete because of the 5 frames per minute. My mate and I made a map and figured it out in the end, being 12 back then it was hard work haha.

[@kojsbarv]

Still regularly listen to LN tunes, still as fresh as ever, not for nostalgia just amazing music.

[@Radek0582]

As a whole game soundtrack defiently overall LN2 is the best

[@frederickrueger7861]

Parallax, too :-)

[@AdamSuperAC]

Thanks for the nostalgia, just experienced my second childhood. Ah!

[@miulimau619]

"Monty on the run" has great music! Also "the great Gian(n)a sisters" has great opening music and "Spelunker" (C64 version by Tim Martin) was one of the best games with great music.. :)

[@Halligen1972]

I like "W.A.R" from Rob Hubbard: kzbin.info/www/bejne/b2GscomEbZ6Aibs

[@TASTEGROUND]

Monty now:

[@PEMBYSGAMINGWORLD]

I think Shadowfire's main theme is a briliant c64 track that always gets overlooked.

[@danaadalaide5648]

Rob Hubbard did the music for Formula 1 (1985 mastertronic) , and Matt Gray did the music for Last Ninja 2 (1988 System 3)

[@AmigaRulez_parallax]

Nice music. I also recommend music > Meeting after years with the C-64

[@AmigaRulez_parallax]

Yep :)

[@_Lukpery]

@Amiga Rulez Fantastic music i love SID

[@Yuda36]

C64 eternally alive :)

[@BlokeOzzie]

Where the hell is the Turbo Outrun loader, huh? One of *the* most kick-ass sounding C-64 songs out there. Worthy of the top 10.

[@AlexOjideagu2]

I agree, as a kid I thought that was amazing. It won an award too I think at the time.

[@mrbronstein]

No Wizball, no Knucklebusters, no Parallax, no Sanxion, no Ghouls and Ghosts. Those ones just reeled off without much effort. You may want to reconsider your list.

[@andreap9869]

I used to love playing Wizball

[@davidmyablonsky2294]

Thank you for posting this compilation.

[@speedut2004]

Best c64 music without contestation is crazy comets.

[@nutbreaker22]

Warhawk's music is in it's own class..

[@tobytoxd]

Awesome! Thank you so much for sharing!

[@maz9422]

Last Ninja 2 has incredible music. Gives me the shivers. Did it 20 years ago and does it today.

[@robgoog]

Commando #1 !

[@colossal_velocity]

Shadowfire overwhelmed me with a nostalgic overload!

[@RMJ1984]

Same here! This song gets me nostalgic and emotional.

[@iconofsin4578]

I understand its Hard to make list from c64 music because there were so many great tracks. I ❤️ C64

[@perge_music]

IMO (sticking to games) 10: Zamzara 9: Lightforce 8: Hunter's Moon Loader 7: Retrograde Loader 6: Dominator loader (demo version) 5: Wizball title 4: Cybernoid 2 3: Tetris 2: Rambo 2 1: Armalyte title

[@glennwoddle8272]

Matthew Stringer Wizball is ace...Hypaball is the greatest ever piece of music ever.

[@johnstringer9037]

Dude, no Turbo Outrun Loader by Jeroen Tel, Ninja 3 by Reyn Ouwehand, Secret Project by Martin Walker, Bionic Commando by Tim Follin, X-Out by FAME, Bangkok Knights by Matt Gray, Hotrod by Jeroen Tel etc?? Jeeeez man!

[@user-dr9vj8xq7b]

The music , it will stay with me forever and i recorded it in my brain 40 years ago.

[@nikamota]

Well,who could argue with No 3. The R-Type music is just astonishing,I only heard it a few years ago,it is an incredible use of the SID,the sounds eminating from it are just wonderful!

[@JeroenTel]

This definitely not the "definitive" top 10... just your opinion! :-)

[@PaulCampbell74]

Jeroen Tel No Cybernoid 1 and 2? No Turbo Outrun? No Hawkeye? Poor. Nice to see Last Ninja 1 and 2 in there though.

[@MichaelmfoxdoggFox]

Truth be told, its extreamly difficult to do a top10 of C64, top 100 maybe, but definatly not top 10

[@tychobra1]

Some months ago I came across this very top 10 video and was kind of disappointed. PaperBoy and Shadowfire are in but Cybernoid is missing... Are you kidding me? At least the winner is worthy to be on top: last ninja 2 is king. But I must admit that you can't discuss taste. So it is like Jeroen said: it's just an opinion...not mine though

[@robmilner2628]

No 'Myth: History In The Making' ? - pfff.

[@gildan]

You are right Jeroen... it needed more Charles Deenen ;)

[@raphael.cavalcanti3301]

No Jeroen Tel? No Tim Follin? No Reyn Ouwehand? You must be kidding...

[@VRShow]

Exactly, Just talking about Jeroen you could argue that Myth, Hawkeye or Cybernoid 2 are all 3 better than some of the entries here but hey its subjective i get that but still...subjective or not some masters are missing...

[@Leonardo-iz4qu]

They'll call me crazy but the only Commodore 64 composers whose music I like are Jeroen tel Tim Follin and Chris Huelsbeck and Rob Hubbard just a little bit for skate or die and Monty on the Run

[@KesMonkey]

"The definitive Top 10 C64 music of all time" Yeah, no. This video should have been titled "My 10 favorite C64 tunes".

[@MrReyRomantico]

Warhawk love Warhawk. Last Ninja. Love Last Ninja. Currently working on restoring Old Breadbin 64. Might have to rework the unit since it has add ons and its just switching on. My Summer Project. May end up having to restore a Heathkit Oscilliscope to top it off just to check waveforms. There are other songs here, but dude, nothing is wrong with your list. Thanks for posting!

[@LeRoi81]

Nice list! But 10 Tracks cannot cover the richness of the great SID-Chip. I missed Cobra, Last Ninja 3 (Intro and Level 1), Rambo, Shadow Of The Beast and Turrican.

[@JETJOOBOY]

Shadowfire... I m going to buy me a C64 to play that game.

[@Violentic81]

There is no definitive, always a own choice, but gosh all these games from my childhood

[@helgestegemoen73]

My favorites are C64 Rob Hubbard's "Lightforce" and Martin Galway's "Yie Are Kung Fu".

[@spencerl9897]

No Robocop 3? REALLY?

[@Elscorpio606]

Commodore 64 - such good childhood memories, I played IK+ several times

[@ragnaroik]

I remember playing last ninja, i sometimes just left sound running to hear the music. At the time and still to be honest it still is awesome. Also i agree the definity to 10 is clickbait tbh, there are "scene" music that top alot of this. in my personal opinion by far the top one. that said i appreciate the share, and and i enjoyed all 10.

[@PeterDoornbos1981]

I'm totally missing Thunderblade, Giana Sisters, Hard n Heavy Yie AR Kung Fu (Boss battle) Those were catchy songs...

[@casachezdoom2588]

Something very satisfying about that R-Type pixel art...

[@johntucker23]

Born in 1983, and a little bit of wee just came out listening to this...

[@sod0m]

No Jeroen Tel, list invalid.

[@SupaBlank]

Yes! PaperBoy and Ghosts and Goblins are my Jams!

[@intheclarts]

No Parallax, Monty On the Run, Ocean Loader, Thalamusik Shite

[@SilentGin]

Moar Parallax Loader pls

[@ziko-Official]

Paper boy is so good, retro

[@willeysingleton3057]

Dude you rock I love this

[@peaches4fwee]

myth history in the making though?

[@SaiakuHito]

Boring...

[@retrogamer33]

No way it is boring - Your playlist is boring SaiakuHito

[@brunswick1ful]

The folks who made this are geniuses.

[@500res]

1982 release and still held its own till the very early 90s.

[@bengroothuis5061]

you just need 2. last ninja and last ninja 2. all others can be whatever you want

[@MonkeyForNothing]

Title should obviously be "My own weird c64 top ten"

[@catinabox2878]

I would of put Zoids on the list. But thats just my opinion.

[@hshmanowin]

Last Nina 2. The best of the best of the best of the... i can't stop hear it on youtube! ;-)

[@DrMcFly28]

Haven't heard the Warhawk music in 30 years... don't even remember the game, just jamming to that intro screen

[@XxHordakxX]

can remember, sat in front of the screen and staring the intro for minutes for the music. :P

[@Lucasrainford]

No:1 Sanxion by Hubbard. End of!

[@MichelMOURET]

No "Crazy Comets" or "One Man and his Droid"? Really? You must be kidding me!

[@sluggotg]

One man and his Droid had a killer sound track, was very surprised back in the day when I bought it. It was a Mastertronic title, very low budget, but they certainly had some gems in there. Like Non Terra Aquious, One Man and His Droid, Deceptor.. etc. Sluggo

[@izzzzzz6]

OMG Crazy Comets. I had to go and listen to that to bring back the memories. Funny how it's still there after all those yrs. I must have played that one a-lot!

[@XxHordakxX]

pfffff for the possibilities that was amazing and extremely creative

[@ZatohRondohoon3227]

I Love Myth's Title Music. No Offense.

[@RapideWombaticus]

I used to rule at Grand Prix Circuit... but had forgotten the tune. Awesome!

[@goddamnfuturama]

Jeep command, the music in that game is just awesome!!

[@numberjack2286]

Last Ninja 2 is the best Commodore 64 game music - agreed.

[@miltonsilva6371]

in "old" days people knew their artists, musicians, gffs' ians (lol) etc. now days not (even on games related magazines), they don't state a name or two about the people working in those projects ..They all came from sky...

[@ManuTheGreat79]

I played all those games. Great memories.

[@kingjohnbigboote]

When i watched this whole video and realized that none of the music from myth: history in the making was not on the list, the first thought that came to my mind was "AW, THIS DUDE FUCKED UP"!!!

[@rmkeijzer]

Nice list! Only I definitely miss 'the new wilderness' from the last ninja. That's the best ever. he sotundtrack of Rambo was also great.

[@celinestromback2860]

Nice list!

[@JensGamerausLeidenschaft]

Einfach herrlich wenn man bedenkt wie viel Aufwand das ist sowas hinzubekommen top

[@Ballbusteress]

Ja. Die Musikstücke sind sooo wunderbar und zeitlos, während die Spiele jedes Jahr weitergealtert sind.

[@jimi_jams]

The title theme for Myth: History In The Making is missing.

[@JFK1180]

A tip: on android play store there is a app called ZXTune. Has all the songs and composers to C64, Sinclair and many more and you can download songs as ringtones. Right now i use the intro from Armalyte as a ringtone.

[@McShave]

Oh man, I remember playing this when I was the Paperboys age. Meh smash a few windows who cares. Now I wish someone would just make a sequel where I could snipe the little bastards that post junk threw my letterbox.

[@nasalang01]

Love it!!!

[@akirahideo6904]

what's the tune in the begining - before the num.10 kicks in ? reminds me of Brave Starr intro :)

[@Realmasterorder]

So many great tunes its very hard to make a top 10 i would easily put another 5 in there

[@greedo_rodian]

great sounds. my favorite sounds:: nemesis the warlock, stormlord and the last v8.

[@AndyMitchellUK26]

Number 2. I had that song in my head from the start and there it is! Good man!

[@ArjanHummel]

I remember it being from a demo or musicdisk or something but not from the game. It was something with stuff moving over the screen.

[@emmap4339]

Hello, thanks for the nostalgic journey. *Can you record all this sequence of music as a wav file at 44KHz or higher (32 bits float) and upload it somewhere for download please?* I want to use those sounds without any mp3 / video encoding huge loss of frequencies. Thanks to post there the link for download. Regards and thanks

[@scottieperkins8647]

Suicide Express a glaring omission.

[@pauloneill2538]

Scottie Perkins awesome tune, used to listen to that for hours

[@markgresch9944]

No Power at Sea, Robocop, Project Stealth Fighter, California Games, Golden Axe and they stole a million to name a few others.

[@uriituw]

You didn't include Cybernoid or Cybernoid II.

[@VRShow]

late reply but exactly, omitting Jeroen Tel from a top 10 list is pretty criminal ;)

[@sevennine1584]

Its a crime that great giana sisters didnt make this list.

[@bedientvondeutschland1779]

My favorite is from the C64 Game Sanxion "Dance of the knights" (Prokofiev).

[@dispater5023]

If you play the video at 1.25x speed, you'll have the same music as Commodore 128 :)

[@LordmonkeyTRM]

This is the definitive collection in your opinion... might have to post my own.

[@dangrimes970]

Music on the c64 sounds better than it has any right to.

[@kirbytrooper]

monty mole better be here

[@eddiecampion2410]

commando number one for me all time best arcade music

[@johnboomer985]

That paperboy....were they trying to warn us about who delivers the news

[@daxxravebusters]

I think you can't make a definitive top 10 list. There are hundrets of great tunes on C64. :) But you made a good choice.

[@alchemy-tsa71]

I Love the "Last Ninja 2" Traxx.