Top 10 SNES Soundtracks!

[@orchNEStra]

The problem with the SNES is trying to limit it to ONLY 10 games... one could easily do a top 25 SNES soundtracks and still have the quality on par with the 10 you listed.

[@Fortefyre]

If I did that it would be an hour long video!

[@jafrica]

The soundtrack to Axelay being decent is the biggest understatement of this video! It's one of my all-time faves from the SNES era, mainly due to the unexpected jazz influences in a number of the tunes. It's also a fantastic shooter overall, with some truly unforgettable graphics. I hope you get to play it soon!

[@Fortefyre]

Me too! I am focusing on pc gaming at the moment though:)

[@daveretzlaff8391]

Great video mate, you've earned a sub! Great selection of soundtracks too! My personal favourite though has to be the Super Castlevania IV soundtrack. Having loved the games on the NES & I'll never forget the first time I played it & Simon's Theme kicked in!

[@Fortefyre]

Thank you Dave! Welcome to the community! It was hard not adding Castlevania IV, because it fell in that hole of "horn based sounds" that Konami was known for on the SNES, but I totally agree it's great. Hearing Vampire Killer or whatever the name of the theme is, is always an epic time!

[@seanfeld-]

I like how you actually let us listen to the songs instead of trying to explain them.

[@seanfeld-]

I'm happy super metroid made the list. The songs in that game were the most epic songs I knew as a kid.

[@Fortefyre]

Some people DO that and it's like "please stop talking". I wanted to avoid that!

[@patrickholt8782]

The best thing about snes music is it varied soundtracks with in the games itself. One game could have a metal song, jazz, rock, blues and it would all work together.

[@Fortefyre]

Oh absolutely!

[@asukacross]

To this day I tear up everytime I hear the Opera. Celes is my favorite character hands down. I was really surprised to not find SUper Mario RPG not mentioned but everyone enjoys different things. As always fantastic video brother.

[@Fortefyre]

So, to me, the only big standout song from Super Mario RPG is Geno's Forest Theme lol.

[@Dashawn2007SigmaBlood]

16:07 - This song is a banger.

[@Fortefyre]

That synth drop is EPIC.

[@mikeburkhart8336]

Storm Eagle stage:MegaMan X Simon's theme:Super Castlevania 4 Blast Hornet stage:Mega Man X3 Dark World theme:Zelda,Link to the Past. Opening Story theme:Super Metroid. My top five SNES themes.

[@Fortefyre]

Good choices!

[@RaptorZX3]

Look up "Final Fantasy VI Grand Finale", an orchestral album released only nearly 2 months AFTER the game got released in Japan! Most likely the very first version of "Aria Di Mezzo Carattere" to have a voice, by Svetla Krasteva, a Bulgarian soprano singer.

[@Fortefyre]

Yep!

[@smallmj2886]

Good to see FF6 at the top. The moment Terra's Theme started I knew that this was going to be a special game.

[@Simon0]

It's so good. I'm playing it for the first time now. Phenomenal and it's gonna always be one of my favourites (unless it has a terrible ending 😛)

[@Fortefyre]

How far have you made it Simon?

[@Simon0]

@@Fortefyre hi! I'm on kefkas tower right now. Feels to me this is the final dungeon. Truly moved by this game. Brilliant

[@Fortefyre]

Good luck!!!!!

[@robertthompson5084]

I recorded the DKC underwater theme (Aquatic Ambience) onto a tape and used my dual cassette deck to record off of each other to extend the track and essentially loop it for an hour. Hit record, hit play, hit pause record, rewind, replay the track, unpause the recording, etc. Took forever, but it was worth the effort being able to fall asleep to it....

[@Fortefyre]

That's actually really cool lmao.

[@robertthompson5084]

@@Fortefyre that I had Aiwa desktop stereo with DUAL cassette decks? I know, right?! 😛 TWO cassette decks.. boggles the mind! You young whippersnappers don't know what it's like having to wait for the radio to play your favorite song and running over to the tape deck to hit 'record' so you can make your own mix tape. Inevitably, you cut off the first couple of seconds or ended up with the DJ voiceover at the beginning or end of the song.

[@tidepoolclipper8657]

Super Metroid is the first game in the series where the soundtrack truly helped the environments feel alien.

[@Fortefyre]

I think it's the first game PERIOD to do that for me.

[@m0ocow_love783]

Tim Follin man, what a body of work. Again, love the format, it's so good to actually hear the tracks.

[@Fortefyre]

God among men! Thank you for the kind words :)

[@low_e_music]

Great list, hard to argue any of those. Kind of surprised that Act Raiser wasn't listed but it's all good.

[@Fortefyre]

I think the best track from ActRaiser was the lullaby sung by one of the stricken villages when the sickness comes. I don't remember if it's Bloodpool or Fillmore.

[@gridly.todd.h]

Super awesome list. Glad to hear Uematsu on top, but no Relm's Theme? That's my favorite. Also, Empire Theme from Secret of Mana is exceptional. Glad you got that in amongst so many bangin' tracks.

[@Fortefyre]

It was REALLY tough to choose a few out of such amazing songs lol.

[@ParkTower1151]

Caleb really loves the Dwarf theme from Mana

[@Fortefyre]

Beats it off with both hands lmao

[@mr.y.mysterious.video1]

Super adventure island showed what yuzo koshiro could do with the snes chip. Would have loved to hear him do a version of the streets of rage them on the snes sound chip

[@Fortefyre]

Isn't it such a smooth sound?

[@srkestel]

Another excellent video! I appreciate that you played several tracks from each game. I would have been frustrated if you hadn't included Corridors of Time 😅. Some other games with excellent tracks are Mario RPG, Jurrasic Park, and Earthbound. Thanks for your community feedback, it is appreciated! I hope your channel goes viral because the hard work you put into your videos is awesome!!

[@Fortefyre]

Glad you enjoyed it! It means alot to me!

[@bildo1977]

I’m surprised that Super Off Road wasn’t an honorable mention. Another gem of a soundtrack from Tim Follin that featured the Toyota commercial jingle at the time: “I love what you do for me Toyooooooota.”

[@Fortefyre]

GOD BLESS TIM FOLLIN

[@fr33ko]

Actraiser? Super Castlevania 4? Two that come off the top of my head that feel like they belong on any list regarding top snes soundtracks. That is the great thing about lists though, yours and mine are very different. Secret of Mana has a few tracks that are great, but I think the overall body of work is not there. LoZ: Link to the Past is another fantastic one. I think F-Zero might be another one that was overlooked. I think aside from Super Metroid and FF6, I can come up with 8 just as worthy games that make my top 10 list. Perhaps to make it more of a challenge to get the top 10 list, only one game per developer? That will make me have to decide between F-Zero an LttP for the inhouse Nintendo games to possibly challenge Super Metroid for a spot. Dare I bring up the dark horse of Earthbound as another challenger to the title? Personally I think Earthbound ends up in the honorable mention section as I feel the whole body of work is not as complete compared to other games. Konami had great music going for them in this age of gaming as well. I am partial to SCV4, but you can easily make a case for any number of maybe 5-7 games depending on personal taste. Keeping in the K section, lets take a detour over to Kemco and have a listen to the Top Gear soundtrack perhaps? So many games in all honesty that I do not think I could easily narrow it down to a top 50 without adding in some criterion so that I am not shoving all the RPGs of old. Thanks for the trip down memory lane!

[@Fortefyre]

Thank you for riding along with me on that journey!

[@universeexpandingbooksandt2821]

This is a very great list. I agree with every single game, at least the ones that I played. When Final Fantasy III came out I was 14 when it was $75 dollars, 90s money! Somehow I convinced my mom to go in for $30 extra to get the soundtrack on CD. I get that you are only going for originally composed music, but I feel like a shout out needs to be made for Super Star Wars. Its conversion to the SNES was something I didn’t think was possible. Horns sounded like horns. Strings were strings. Oboes were oboes. It’s a perfect SNES score conversion IMHO.

[@Fortefyre]

I WISH I payed $75 for my copy of Final Fantasy III haha. Super Star Wars almost got an honorable mention!

[@ChaseNScooter]

@@Fortefyre I’m glad I wasn’t the only one who thought of that Trilogy

[@thomaswilson59]

Hard to have a top ten without actraiser

[@fr33ko]

100% agree!

[@Fortefyre]

I mean. It mostly sounds like horns to me. ActRaiser is a top 10 game for me period, but the only song I like is the lullaby that the town sings lol.

[@ChaseNScooter]

Thank you for doing my request! Great list overall and you got some on here that I really need to look into. I’m surprised that no Mega Man X games or Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island didn’t even get an honorable mention. I would definitely add Maui Mallard in Cold Shadow soundtrack in the list as well.

[@Fortefyre]

Thanks for the idea!

[@ChaseNScooter]

@@Fortefyre my pleasure

[@TheColourOfSpring-]

the waterworld soundtrack is incredible

[@Fortefyre]

Isn't it?

[@Simon0]

I'm playing ff6 right now and soundtrack is phenomenal. I can't help grooving in the veldt section with those drums 🕺

[@Fortefyre]

I truly hope you enjoy FF VI! It's a MASTERPIECE.

[@mattb6522]

Awesome choices! There are way too many SNES games with amazing soundtracks! Man, I remember the first time I booted up Super Adventure Island and was just blown back by how groovy the music was just in the first level alone! My favorite soundtrack of the SNES library is probably *Tetris Attack* Though, honorable mention to both *Super Castlevania IV* and *Mega Man X* as both their soundtracks were absolutely amazing as well!

[@Fortefyre]

Those are great choices!

[@mccmavpower9340]

Are you going to do a 10 Genesis games you should play video?

[@Fortefyre]

Once I have enough on my list to make one I will :)

[@dilbertfish]

I don't think I could limit it to just ten, that's a tough one.

[@Fortefyre]

You're telling me! Top 10s for me are DREADFULLY difficult.

[@InnocentSoul0283]

I am proud to own most of these masterpiece titles. They are still truly some of the best in the industry, even today. The music is top tier and deserves the praise it gets.

[@Fortefyre]

Absolutely it does!

[@d-fyant1925]

I disagreed with you once on a previous video but this one is really good man. Glad to see FFIII at number 1. One of the best games ever made hands down!

[@Fortefyre]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@pharmcat8484]

I like how you can put games on this list that you didn’t actually like.

[@Fortefyre]

It's part of accepting that what we personally don't like still matters.

[@GT-dh5nk]

I asserted right at the start of this that FF6 has to be on the list, glad to see it made the #1 spot.. Searching For Friends from the WoR overworld is one of my very favorite pieces of video game music, maybe only second to Time's Scar from Chrono Cross.

[@Fortefyre]

Dream of Another Shore from Chrono Cross is one of my tops soundtracks on the PS1.

[@imaxjunior6531]

Yes - Super Adventure Island has some really super tunes. Loved Axely's music as well. One of mine is Gradius III. All the tunes in that game is great in a special kind of way. Any games where you just didn't like the music?

[@Fortefyre]

Oh yeah. Absolutely lol. Rocky and Bullwinkle, Death Crimson on the Saturn is horrid, I mean Action 52 is just hot garbage in every single possible way.

[@tidepoolclipper8657]

@@Fortefyre There's also Bebe's Kids SNES, Mega Man II GB (ironically not due to the solid compositions, but due to an audio rendering bug), Mega Man X3 Sega Genesis (bootleg), San Francisco Rush PlayStation, Sonic Eraser, Sonic Genesis GBA (except for Starlight Zone), EA's version of Marble Madness Sega Genesis (the Tengen version is not as beloved, but the soundtrack arrangement is significantly better), Fantasia Sega Genesis, Super Street Fighter 2: The New Challengers Sega Genesis (not awful but still a major downgrade compared to Special Champion), Resident Evil: Director's Cut Dual Shock Version, and Taz-Mania Sega Game Gear & Genesis.

[@jamesrdgrs]

PLOK game play could be the stinking pile of S**T, in a dumpster fire, in the middle of a CAT 5 hurricane, but I'm still buying it. That soundtrack was on fire! That Boss track is one of the best game tracks I've heard! I'm starting to become a Tim Follin fan boy.

[@Fortefyre]

Tim Follins is one of my favorite composers, to me he's the equivalent of Nobuo Uematsu in England.

[@bildo1977]

Fortunately PLOK is an excellent game. 😁

[@Loffter]

There are certainly some correct answers here =D I actually sleep to the FF6 sound track. its my go to "My insomnia is kicking my ass" let's play. I'm usually unconcious by the time the Ultros fight happens. it also **is** my favorite game.

[@Fortefyre]

As it should be!

[@frank68x]

Good list. If it were a top 12, I'd add UN Squadron and Actraiser.

[@Fortefyre]

UN Squadron was a LITTLE too standard sound for me. I would add Actraiser though. But even for being a Yuzo Koshiro design, it definitely doesn't have the same vibe as Super Adventure Island.

[@vertigov5303]

I think that final fantasy 3 is not only the greatest snes soundtrack, but final fantasy soundtrack. Have you ever checked out shadowrun? The soundtrack might be my second favorite. It truly embodies not just the vibe of the game, but the vibe of the pen and paper world.

[@JustinAnthony86]

The castlevania soundtrack was absolute 🔥🔥🔥 too! Great list bro!

[@Fortefyre]

Glad you enjoyed!

[@tidepoolclipper8657]

Other games that deserve to be mentioned are; Super Mario Bros 3 (Super Mario All-Stars), Super Mario World, Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island, Super Mario RPG, Mega Man X1, Fire Emblem: Thracia 776, F-Zero, Super Mario Kart, Donkey Kong Country 1, A Link to the Past, Final Fantasy 4, Dragon Quest 5, Doom (best rendition alongside Resurrection 32X and 3DO)... Gradius 3, Super Castlevania 4, Earthbound, Lufia 2: Rise of the Sinistrals, Kyuyaku Megami Tensei, Shin Megami Tensei 2, Romancing SaGa 3, Terranigma, Super Street Fighter 2: The New Challengers (an improvement over the previous SNES soundtrack rendition; especially with it having the best rendition of Sagat's SF2 theme), and Yu Yu Hakusho 2: Kakutou no Shou.

[@Fortefyre]

Super Street Fighter II almost made the list!

[@mickwritesmaui]

How do you feel about Earthbound’s soundtrack? I personally think it tops all of these by miles.

[@Fortefyre]

I like it, but it just didn't "pop" to me. I could, or more-so should, have made it an honorable mention.

[@mickwritesmaui]

@@Fortefyre fair enough, that’s your opinion, you’re entitled to it. I think the soundtrack fits the story and level design so perfectly. Take “boys meets girl” for instance. There’s a playful, yet mysterious bass and horn section that feels inviting, yet there’s a somber undertone that really takes over in the breakdown section of the piece. It makes you feel the sadness of this hometown sweetheart, Paula, and the pain of the townspeople at news she’s been kidnapped. And everything is so damn jazzy! I still get scared thinking about running away from aliens in peaceful rest valley, and the accompanying song still makes the hair on my arm stand up. Maybe you should start your 2024 with a play through? 😀😀

[@Fortefyre]

I will have to beat Mother on Famicom first, I play games in order :P What I will say, is that Earthbound seems to appeal to different people in different ways, and I feel that speaks volumes about the creative direction of the game itself, in a good way of course! if you like the music, I would suggest you check out some of vector U's remixes! I actually used to use this song as an intro to my stream 4 years ago! kzbin.info/www/bejne/eIi6noGkrZKsfLs

[@tidepoolclipper8657]

The SNES sound-chip may not have been perfect; you can tell the music is compressed sometimes. However, the sound-chip was quite good for platformers and rocked for RPGs.

[@Fortefyre]

Absolutely!

[@mikeburkhart8336]

How can you not have Mega Man X on this list?! It had some of the greatest themes on SNES!! (Only gripe....otherwise great list!)

[@Fortefyre]

It just BARELY missed the list.

[@bastiaan0741]

castlevania.

[@Fortefyre]

CV 4 sounded a little too normal to me!

[@Shoqtheropy334]

No F-Zero or Final Fantasy Mystic Quest? Those 2 are my top 2 SNES soundtracks, with Mystic Quest being my alltime favorite video game soundtrack

[@Fortefyre]

I'm sorry! Haha, I just didn't get into Mystic Quests vibe as much as other games.

[@pharmcat8484]

My best friend had Sparkster. Twas a hard game. Never got far.

[@Fortefyre]

I need to play it myself!

[@RefTrades625]

A few I would add would be Gradius 3, Mega Man X 2 and Super Mario RPG. Still a good list regardless.

[@Fortefyre]

All great games!

[@Erwin-h9x]

No love for mario world 2?

[@Fortefyre]

Not this time around!

[@ohtheforlanity3205]

Terranigma and Killer Instinct both missing from the list

[@Fortefyre]

When I mentioned SNES, I don't include Super Famicom titles. Killer Instinct, I don't really think it has that many great backing tracks, Cinder's theme is awesome though!

[@ohtheforlanity3205]

@@Fortefyre Terranigma made it to Europe where it was also called the SNES. Fair enough tho :)

[@Fortefyre]

Yeah yeah :P

[@kenthegamer]

In no particular order Super Castlevania IV Mega Man X Super Mario RPG Final Fantasy III DK Country Super Metroid Street Fighter II Super Mario World F Zero Star Fox Honorable Mentions Turtles in Time Aladdin Earthbound

[@Fortefyre]

That's a wonderful list!

[@mariusvent3809]

No F-Zero, Rock'n'Roll Racing , Street Fighter 2, the Star Wars Games, Zelda 3... come on great vid nevertheless

[@Fortefyre]

I'm picky lol

[@theakkusor]

Yeah man, DK country and HANDS DOWN ff3 are my favorites.

[@Fortefyre]

Easily! I added Waterworld to my playlist lmao.

[@MajinGatomon]

Well, I can agree with almost all of them... but somehow somewhere F-Zero needs to fit into the list.

[@Fortefyre]

Outside of Mute City and Big Blue or whatever, I couldn't get into the other tracks.

[@tkg4me]

Super Metroid should be higher on the list. The soundtrack goes beyond hard.

[@Fortefyre]

It does!

[@jdpc9391]

I must say I had to go and check if Chrono Trigger was on your list before I was to start watching the video... Any TOP music from SNES that doesn't include Chrono is wrong from the start lol.

[@Fortefyre]

XD I appreciate your due dilligence!

[@WobblePizza]

Man you just didn't gel with Secret of Mana. Banger after banger. Into the thick of it wouldn't make my top 10 personally.

[@Fortefyre]

I mean...there are SO many powerful songs across SO many JRPGs it's insane.

[@hellboundTX333]

CaslevaniaIV!!

[@Fortefyre]

It was a little too rooty tooty for me! But it is one of the best games!

[@miekwavesoundlab]

I agree w chronic trigger and FF3-US being best snessound tracks , I’d throw in killer instinct honorable me tion

[@Fortefyre]

So for KI I only found certain themes relative. Like Cinder's is dope.

[@terrycrist3]

Megaman X is up there for me.

[@Fortefyre]

That's a great soundtrack as well!

[@DGJ206]

Im sorry that was a good list but David wise DK2 has the best soundtrack in any game on the snes. Nothing could change my mind lol

[@Fortefyre]

And I wouldn't argue it, but TIM FOLLIN lmao

[@Marc_Araujo]

I'm partial to "Fear Factory" from DKC1 but DKC2 has the better overall soundtrack...and it's the best game of the trilogy. P.S. Final Fantasy II > Final Fantasy III

[@Fortefyre]

No way! Haha! I will never bow down to FF II :P

[@bildo1977]

One-Winged Angel has NOTHING on Dancing Mad.

[@tidepoolclipper8657]

Both are very good for different reasons.

[@bildo1977]

@@tidepoolclipper8657FFVII did not make very good use of an improved version of the SNES sound chip in the PlayStation. FFVI’s soundtrack was better sounding overall than FFVII’s for that reason.

[@Fortefyre]

Dancing Mad is a masterpiece.

[@metabolizm4438]

No Super Castlevania 4?! The blasphemy! Dracula won’t be happy when I tell him about this catastrophe! 😝

[@Fortefyre]

WHAT IS A MAN?!?

[@metabolizm4438]

🤣I’m a little conflicted with your response. I’m trying to figure it out. 🤷‍♂️🧐 I like to try to add a little good humor with my responses at times. Besides that, as usual, I enjoy your work/videos! Keep that awesome content coming! 💪🙏🏻

[@Fortefyre]

It's what Dracula says when you approach him in Symphony of the Night haha

[@metabolizm4438]

Ah! Got it! 🤣 I appreciate the clarification. 🙏🏻

[@Fortefyre]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/a6W5ZGZ7rMuSntkfeature=shared

[@pharmcat8484]

I’m running out of your videos to watch.

[@Fortefyre]

I have plenty of them :) feel free to check out the Generations episodes!

[@pharmcat8484]

Paused at #2. If Final Fantasy 6 isn’t #1 I’m unsubscribing.

[@pharmcat8484]

You got soooooo lucky 🤪

[@Fortefyre]

🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@ianswift3521]

Space Megaforce / Super Aleste soundtrack is 100x better than axelay, that overrated pile of garbage.

[@Fortefyre]

I see you're passionate about the Aleste series!