Top 10 Video Game Soundtracks Ever

Music is an extremely underrated and under-appreciated aspect of video games. Every avid gamer has those songs that remind them of a game they used to play, whether it be a timeless classic or a recent release. We took your suggestions and compiled this list of the best game soundtracks of all-time. This list doesn’t include music-based video games (such as any of the Rock Band or Guitar Hero releases) because those games are made to include great soundtracks. Also not included are original scores.

Here we go:

10. NHL 2003

• Blindside – “Pitiful”
• Celldweller – “Stay With Me (Unlikely)”
• Dead Star Hotel – “Frustrated”
• Default – “Deny”
• Default – “Slow Down”
• Dragpipe – “Simple Minded”
• Greenwheel – “Strong”
• Gob – “I’ve Been Up These Steps”
• Gob – “Sick With You”
• Jimmy Eat World – “Sweetness”
• M.ill.ion – “Showstopper”
• Papa Roach – “She Loves Me Not”
• Queens of the Stone Age – “No One Knows” (above)
• Trapt – “Headstrong”
• Treble Charger – “Hundred Million”

To this day, I still can hear No One Knows, Sweetness, and Headstrong in my head blaring over the PA system when my team skates out on the ice while playing NHL. This was one of the first games I ever owned on the PS2 and I clearly played it way too much, but NHL 2003 definitely had the most memorable soundtrack of the series to date. (You know, minus the NHL 94 SNES theme.)

9. Def Jam Vendetta

• COMP- “Do Sumthin”
• COMP- “Stick ‘Em”
• C-N-N- “Stomp”
• DMX- “X Gonna Give it To Ya” (above)
• DMX- “Intro” (It’s Dark and Hell is Hot)
• DMX- “Party Up”
• Ghostface Killah- “Buck 50″
• Joe Budden- “Focus”
• Keith Murrary- “Oh My Goodness”
• Keith Murrary f/ Def Squad- “Yeah Yeah U Know It”
• Method Man- “Bring the Pain”
• Method Man- “Uh Huh”
• N.O.R.E- “Nothing”
• Onyx- “Throw Ya Guns”
• Public Enemy- “Fight the Power”
• Redman- “Smash Sumthin”
• Scarface- “In Cold Blood”

A game that features some of music’s best rappers has to have a dope soundtrack, right? Right. The first ever Def Jam game didn’t disappoint, as you got to listen to some kickass beats while kicking ass in this rapper’s fight club. DMX’s “Party Up” is one of the best on this list, but did you know it was also the theme song for Tiger Woods 2004? Pretty strange combination…

8. MVP Baseball 2004

• Chronic Future – “Time & Time Again”
• Hometown Hero – “Robbers”
• Hoodoo Gurus – “Bittersweet”
• Jonny Lives! – “Get Steady”
• Lucky Boys Confusion – “Hey Driver”
• Maxeen – “Please”
• Seven Wiser – “Take Me As I Am”
• Snow Patrol – “Splitting Games” (above)
• Stellastar – “My Coco”
• Steriogram – “Walkie Talkie Man”
• To My Surprise – “Get It To Go”
• Trust Company – “Surfacing”
• The Von Blondes – “C’mon C’mon”

I may have played MVP 2004 and 2005 more than any other game on Playstation 2 and pretty much every song from both game will be stuck in my head forever. The 2004 installment had a great bunch of songs with a summer feel perfect for a baseball game.  The soundtrack on 2005 was very good also but had less than 10 songs, meaning you had very little variety.

7. Madden 07

• 30 Seconds To Mars - “Battle Of One”
• AFI - “Summer Shudder”
• Al Fatz – “Came Down”
• Anti-Flag – “This Is The End (For You My Friend)”
• Atreyu - “Ex’s And Oh’s”
• Audioslave – “Revelations” (above)
• Bishop LaMont feat. Chevy Jones – “The Best”
• Cartel – “Say Anything (Else)”
• Cord – “Go Either Way”
• Damone - “Out Here All Night”
• Dashboard Confessional – “Reason To Believe”
• Dynamite MC – “Bounce”
• Feezy 350 – “Playa What”
• Glasses Malone – “Right Now”
• Hit The Lights – “Until We Get Caught”
• Keane - “Is It Any Wonder?”
• Less Than Jake - “Still Life Franchise”
• Lupe Fiasco feat. Jonah Matranga – “The Instrumental”
• Matchbook Romance - “Monsters”
• Omnisoul – “Not Giving Up”
• Rise Against – “Drones”
• Riverboat Gamblers – “On Again Off Again”
• Saves The Day - “Head For The Hills”
• Shorty Da Kid – “Get Loose”
• Spank Rock - “Backyard Betty”
• Sparta - “Future Needs”*
• Taking Back Sunday – “Spin”
• The Panic Channel - “Teahouse Of The Spirits”
• The Pink Spiders – “Easy Way Out”
• The Rapture - “WAYUH”
• The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus – “In Fates Hands”
• The Sleeping – “Don’t Hold Back”
• Trae – “Real Talk”
• Underoath – “Ever So Inviting”
• Wolfmother - “Woman”

The earlier days of Madden used to have some badass soundtracks with really catchy songs and I think this is the last edition of the NFL franchise that falls under this category. The 07 game had a huge list of hits that featured a great mix of genres and is the last time I really remember enjoying the track listing as much as the gameplay.

6. Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3

• Adolescents – “Amoeba”
• AFI – “The Boy Who Destroyed The World”
• Alien Ant Farm – “Wish”
• Bodyjar – “Not The Same”
• CKY – “96 Quite Bitter Beings”
• Del Tha Funky Homosapien – “If You Must”
• Guttermouth – “I’m Destroying The World”
• House Of Pain – “I’m A Swing It”
• KRS One – “Hush”
• Mad Capsule Markets – “Pulse”
• Motorhead – “Ace Of Spades”
• Nextmen – “Amongst Madness”
• Ozomatli – “Cut Chemist Suite”
• The Ramones – “Blitzkrieg Bop” (above)
• Redman – “Let’s Get Dirty”
• Red Hot Chile Peppers – “Fight Like A Brave”
• Reverend Horton Heat – “I Can’t Surf”
• Rollins Band – “What’s The Matter Man”
• Xzibit – “Paparazzi”
• Zebrahead – “Check”

Tony Hawk’s games have been renowned for over the past decade not only because of their fun gameplay, but also because of their awesome soundtracks. THPS3 was just one of many with countless jams to skate around to.

5. Tony Hawk’s Underground 2

• 25 Ta Life – “Over The Years”
• Aesop Rock – “No Jumper Cables (Remix)”
• Atmosphere – “Trying To Find A Balance”
• Audio Two – “Top Billin’”
• Brand Nubian – “Punks Jump Up To Get Beat Down”
• Camaros – “Cheesecake”
• Cut Chemist – “Drums Of Fire”
• Das Oath – “Awesome R***”
• Dead Boys – “Sonic Reducer”
• Dead End Road – “Sin City”
• Disturbed – “Liberate”
• Diverse – “Certified”
• Faith No More – “Midlife Crisis”
• Fear – “I Love Livin’ In The City”
• Frank Sinatra – “That’s Life”
• Grand Puba – “I Like It”
• Handsome Boy Modeling School – “Holy Calamity”
• Iggy & The Stooges – “1970″
• Jimmy Eat World – “Pain”
• Johnny Cash – “Ring Of Fire”
• Joy Division – “Warsaw”
• Lamb Of God – “Black Label”
• Less Than Jake – “That’s Why They Call It A Union”
• Libretto feat. Lifesavas – “Volume”
• Living Legends feat. Slug – “Night Prowler”
• Melbeats feat. Kool Savas – “Grind On”
• Melvins – “Sweet Willie Rollbar”
• Metallica – “Whiplash”
• Mike V & The Rats – “Never Give Up”
• Ministry – “No W”
• Nebula – “So It Goes”
• Operatic – “Interested In Madness”
• Pete Rock & CL Smooth – “Soul Brother #1″
• Rancid – “Fall Back Down”
• Red Hot Chili Peppers – “The Power Of Equality”
• Steel Pulse – “Born Fi Rebel”
• Suicide Machines – “High Anxiety”
• The Casualties – “Unknown Soldier”
• The D.O.C. – “Whirlwind Pyramid”
• The Distillers – “Beat Your Heart Out”
• The Doors – “Break On Through (To The Other Side)” (above)
• The Explosion – “Here I Am”
• The Germs – “Lexicon Devil”
• The Hiss – “Back On The Radio”
• The Living End – “End Of The World”
• The Ramones – “Rock N’ Roll High School”
• The Sugarhill Gang – “Rapper’s Delight”
• Three Inches Of Blood – “Deadly Sinners”
• Ultramagnetic MC’s – “Ego Trippin’”
• Violent Femmes – “Add It Up”
• Ween – “It’s Gonna Be A Long Night”
• X – “Los Angeles”
• Zeke – “Long Train Runnin’”

After Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater series ended the gameplay got a lot different, but the soundtracks still remained pretty damn awesome. My favorite of the post-THPS era was definitely T.H.U.G. 2. The Doors, The Ramones, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Sinatra, Sugarhill Gang, and Johnny Cash all on the same soundtrack? Comeeee onnn!

4. Madden 04

• Adema – “Unstable”
• AFI – “The Leaving Song, Part II”
• Alien Ant Farm – “These Days”
• AM Radio – “Taken for a Ride”
• Avenged Sevenfold – “Chapter Four”
• Blink-182 – “Feeling This”
• Bone Crusher – “Never Scared”
• Bubba Sparxxx – “Back in the Mud”
• Gob – “Give Up the Grudge”
• Jet – “Are You Gonna Be My Girl?”
• Joe Budden – “Pump It Up”
• Killer Mike – “Akshon (Yeah!)”
• Nappy Roots – “Roun’ the Globe”
• OutKast – “Church”
• Red Cafe – “May I”
• Serafin – “Day by Day”
• SOiL – “Pride”
• The Federation – “Mayhem”
• The Roots – “Rock You”
• Thrice – “All That’s Left”
• Unloco – “Crashing”
• Yellowcard – “Way Away”

Remember those badass Madden soundtracks with really catchy songs I was talking about earlier? Well, Madden 04 was no doubt the peak of those soundtracks. With a great mix of rap, rock, and punk songs, this soundtrack was absolutely unstoppable. Not as unstoppable as Mike Vick’s character in the game though.

3. Dave Mirra’s Freestyle BMX 2

• Rage Against The Machine – “Wake Up”
• Ozzy Osbourne – “Paranoid”
• Sublime – “Doin’ Time”
• Sum 41 – “Makes No Difference”
• The Cult – “She Sells Sanctuary” (above)
• Tribe Called Quest – “Buggin’ Out”
• Methods of Mayhem – “Hypocritical”
• Godsmack – “Keep Away”
• Fenix TX – “All My Fault”
• Gang Starr – “Moment of Truth”

This is also one of the first PS2 games I’ve ever owned and it’s undoubtedly one of my favorite video games of all time. I used to come home every day from middle school and play this game with my friends, just dicking around for hours and yet it never got boring. Sure, the soundtrack is a short one…but every single one of those tracks is an absolute jam and made for great free-ride music. Anytime I hear any of those songs I immediately have flashbacks to Dave Mirra 2. If the game was re-released tomorrow exactly the same, I would be one of the first customers in line to buy it.

2. Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2

• Alley Life featuring Black Planet – “Out With the Old”
• Anthrax/Public Enemy – “Bring the Noise”
• Bad Religion – “You”
• Consumed – “Heavy Metal Winner”
• Dub Pistols – “Cyclone”
• Fu Manchu – “Evil Eye”
• Lagwagon – “May 16″
• Millencolin – “No Cigar”
• Naughty by Nature – “Pin the Tail on the Donkey”
• Papa Roach – “Blood Brothers”
• Powerman 5000 – “When Worlds Collide”
• Rage Against the Machine – “Guerrilla Radio” (above)
• Styles of Beyond – “Subculture”
• Swingin’ Utters – “Five Lessons Learned”
• The High & Mighty – “B-Boy Document”

And now, for the best video game soundtrack of all-time…

1. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas

• Foghat - “Slow Ride”
• Creedence Clearwater Revival - “Green River”
• Heart - “Barracuda”
• Kiss - “Strutter”
• Toto - “Hold The Line”
• Rod Stewart - “Young Turks”
• Joe Cocker - “Woman to Woman”
• Tom Petty - “Runnin’ Down a Dream”
• Humble Pie - “Get Down to It”
• Grand Funk Railroad - “Some Kind of Wonderful”
• Lynyrd Skynyrd - “Free Bird”
• The Who - “Eminence Front”
• America - “A Horse With No Name”
• Boston - “Smokin’”
• David Bowie - “Somebody Up There Likes Me”
• Eddie Money - “Two Tickets to Paradise”
• Billy Idol - “White Wedding”

1. Kool G Rap & DJ Polo - “Road To The Riches”
2. Big Daddy Kane - “Warm It Up, Kane”
3. Spoonie Gee - “The Godfather”
4. Masta Ace - “Me & The Biz”
5. Slick Rick - “Children’s Story”
6. Public Enemy - “Rebel Without a Pause”
7. Eric B. & Rakim - “I Know You Got Soul”
8. Rob Base and DJ E-Z Rock - “It Takes Two”
9. Gang Starr - “B.Y.S.”
10. Biz Markie - “The Vapors”
11. Brand Nubian - “Brand Nubian”
12. Ultramagnetic MCs - “Critical Beatdown”

• 2Pac (feat. Pogo) – “I Don’t Give a Fuck”
• Compton’s Most Wanted - “Hood Took Me Under”
• Dr. Dre (feat. Snoop Dogg) – “Nuthin’ But a “G” Thang”
• Too $hort - “The Ghetto”
• N.W.A - “Alwayz Into Somethin’”
• Ice Cube (feat. Das EFX) – “Check Yo Self (Message Remix)”
• Kid Frost - “La Raza”
• Cypress Hill - “How I Could Just Kill a Man”
• Dr. Dre (feat. Snoop Dogg & RBX) – “Fuck Wit Dre Day”
• The D.O.C. - “It’s Funky Enough”
• N.W.A - “Express Yourself”
• Ice Cube - “It Was A Good Day”
• Eazy-E - “Eazy-Er Said Than Dunn”
• Above The Law - “Murder Rap”
• Dr. Dre & Snoop Dogg - “Deep Cover”
• Da Lench Mob (feat. Ice Cube) – “Guerillas in tha Mist”