Top 10 Lists : The Top 10 Best Handheld Game Original Soundtracks

It’s worth noting that Hideo Kojima himself was disappointed that so much work had gone into this innovative game’s soundtrack, but nobody really noticed or listened to it, because people don’t pay enough attention to handheld soundtracks – even major review sites just didn’t bother to take notice. Boktai is a lot more than the gimmick most people think it is, and more people need to play it as well as listen to its music. It’s like a couple of the games further down the list in that the style of the music is really distinct, and it perfectly syncs with the plot and the gameplay, and the focus on nature, the sun, light and darkness. As far as memorability and catchiness goes, yes, there were other deserving games fighting hard for this tenth place that even I’m kind of wondering if I should have picked instead (Fire Emblem comes to mind), but Boktai is a lot more than that, and for an isometric sprite-based game, the atmosphere in the music almost rivals that of certain other games Kojima is known for. Also, it wouldn’t be a GameFAQs Top 10 without at LEAST one entry everyone will call the list crap for.

This game’s soundtrack, composed by Yoko Shimomura of Mario RPG and Kingdom Hearts fame, REEKS of nostalgia. Endless remixes of music from various Mario games, even combinations of multiple classic tracks… The only downside is that there is that the main Mario theme feels a little TOO overused at times. The important tunes, however, are mostly new and sound great, especially the battle music. This game’s sequel, Partners in Time, also has a good soundtrack, despite battle music that is not quite as awesome.

While Zelda soundtracks are considered some of the greatest around due to Koji Kondo’s incredible compositions, this Capcom co-developed title obviously had less involvement from him, but is nevertheless great. There are, of course, the usual classic tunes, which are becoming far too predictable (such as the main overworld theme and file select screen). More importantly, there are also some surprisingly great new tunes, which deserve mentions up there with the greats of Zelda past: the Minish Woods BGM (with a clear Capcom influence there), and the Cloud Tops music, which consists of the game’s own original theme (also used in the title screen and credits) mixed with the Zelda overworld theme – a perfect blending of old and new, which is what TMC’s soundtrack is. To top it off, sound quality is fantastic by GBA standards; no less than SNES quality. There are a couple of places where it felt like there could have been more effort made to use an original track instead of an old one (such as the indoors music), but mostly, it’s great.

What do I have to say? The soundtrack, just like the game, is Castlevania at its best. With a combination of new music and amazing remixes of old music (you can’t not love Vampire Killer), Castlevania establishes the perfect mood, but at the same time still functions as a perfectly listenable, entertaining soundtrack. I was unsure whether or not to put it on the list, because all DoS does is achieve the standard that all Action and Action/Adventure DS games should be able to. But nevertheless, Castlevania was first (apart from Kirby Canvas Curse, with its 100% remixed OST), and it deserves acknowledgement for that. DS game composers, look no further for what you need to aim for.

I apologise for not picking any particular game here, but it was too hard to decide between the pinnacle of music in the series and the point where it began, both being very impressive just because most music on the Game Boy sounded like ass. The Pokemon games are among the few on the GB/C where a lot of effort was put into music, including a great main theme, and the various battle themes throughout the two/four/six games filling this spot, especially Gym and other boss battles. The second generation surpassed the first, providing a huge variety of memorable tunes for each area, despite the sound hardware.

Sonic Rush is a really unique offering as far as music goes, and it would be a mistake to leave it out and let the world forget it. Rather than having an entirely synthesised soundtrack as most handheld games do, it was one of the first to use original vocals (although not exactly ordinary vocals), especially quite so well, and the sound quality is extremely high. Due to the funk-ish style of the music, composed by Jet Set Radio’s Hideki Naganuma, some people consider this music un-Sonic-like and bad. It does have an entirely different style to the rest of the Sonic soundtracks, and yet at the same time, it’s a perfect fit for the franchise and the energetic feel of Sonic Rush. Love it or hate it, Sonic Rush’s OST is a great accomplishment. It’s amazingly catchy and fast-paced, it’s fresh and original for the series, and racing through the game’s levels while listening to it feels exactly how Sonic should.

Phoenix Wright covers every kind of atmosphere and situation in its story, and so does the music: there are sad times, happy times, funny times, scary times, dramatic times, and reminiscing scenes, and there’s different music for all of them. But despite the focus on atmosphere, many of the tunes are still quite catchy and nice to listen to. In a sense, the music tells the story: as events progress, so do the tracks of the OST, and they always explain what is going on very well, providing intense and powerful atmospheres. The music means everything in Phoenix Wright – due to the game’s incredibly linear nature, nearly every track is for a situation or event rather than a location or area as in most games. The composer was well aware of this, as every song suits an event, covering the entirety of the plot. The two aspects of the game are so well intertwined that it would be impossible to deny Phoenix Wright a placement in this list – few handheld games have ever been this intense. Anyone with an objection to Phoenix Wright being here needs to play the games for some hard evidence that this is among the greatest portable OSTs.

Yes, a Game Boy game in the top three. If you thought they all have terrible quality, sub-NES music, you’re wrong. The entire theme of Link’s Awakening revolves around collecting musical instruments, and like many Zelda games, it draws heaps of attention to sound through clever use of MIDI. LA was Nintendo’s counter to the commonly held belief that because the GB had weak sound hardware, it was incapable of good music. LA didn’t just have a lot of firsts in plot and gameplay for the series, but also firsts in music that we now see all the time in Zelda. It was the first time every dungeon in the game had its own unique theme, instead of a single track used repeatedly. And it was the first time the ability to play different songs played a part in gameplay, something Ocarina of Time took to a whole new level. The game’s most memorable song, the one that represents the game as a whole, is the Ballad of the Wind Fish, a song connected to the story itself, something (mainly 3D) Zelda games do that is rare in most games. As a whole, the game sounds fantastic; it’s easily the greatest musical achievement on the Game Boy. Also deserving honourable mentions are the two Zelda Oracle games on the GB, which use the same music playing code and many of the same tracks as LA, but due to the lack of originality, aren’t on this list. Now, please Nintendo, give us a remake on a system with better sound capabilities!

Metroid games have always had a unique style to their soundtracks; emphasising atmosphere and not catchiness, which was considered very unusual in the 80’s. Metroid Fusion’s soundtrack is quite varied, successfully managing to be everything at once. For starters, it’s the most atmospheric and powerful soundtrack on the GBA, in which the music is always composed to suit the situation or location and nothing else. As Metroid Fusion has a much larger focus on story than the other Metroid games, there is also music used for events and used solely to establish the right mood when something is going on. And, as you would expect in any game that effectively uses music for atmosphere, there will be times when the music stops altogether – such as when the unstoppable, Samus-hunting SA-X approaches, while footsteps echo through the room... In every way, sound is used perfectly. Every little touch makes Metroid Fusion a scary game, because you never know what will really come next. While the primary goal for sound in Metroid usually is an incredible level of ambience, Metroid Fusion is far from devoid of catchy, exciting, motivating or heroic music, especially as the game nears its dramatic conclusion. The music reflects the blur of good and evil in the plot, and only intensifies as Samus nears her goal. No matter what kind of musical style Metroid Fusion goes for, it always gets it right, and still fits in perfectly with the mood of the game.

Just a forewarning: DO NOT PLAY Golden Sun or The Lost Age without headphones or the DS’s stereo speakers. If you do, you are missing out. It seems unfathomable that in 2001, at the very beginning of the GBA’s life, that someone had already mastered the GBA’s sound hardware and was able to make a soundtrack that went above and beyond anything expected, in atmosphere, sound quality, and quality of composition. And yet if anyone could have created what remains to this date the best soundtrack on the GBA and the most impressive handheld audio accomplishment of all time, it was Motoi Sakuraba, the composer for all of Camelot’s games (Golden Sun being one) and Namco’s RPGs. “Epic” is a word rarely used to describe handheld soundtracks, but here it’s appropriate. Sakuraba’s entire style matches perfectly with every other aspect of Golden Sun, and it comes together beautifully. This becomes especially apparent with some of the best music in the games, such as the Saturos battle music (on Mercury Lighthouse). The atmosphere the music creates is stunning, and there are only a couple of times when a track doesn’t feel perfect for its usage. Once again, there is NO game I recommend headphones fo r more than Golden Sun – it almost feels like the soundtrack was composed for stereo speakers; you can only half-hear it if you don’t have them. Golden Sun is the greatest thing to happen to handheld music, and it makes every game to come after that still had beeps or low quality MIDI in it look terrible.

I’ll be the first to admit that this list isn’t perfect. For one, it’s missing any PSP games, most notably Lumines, as I haven’t played them. I left out Meteos because while I think the game’s sound design is incredible and it deserves acknowledgement for that, it’s not so much a “soundtrack” as an amazing aural experience made up very largely of small bits of music and sound effects. The Zelda Oracle games are also great examples of GBC music, but due to their similarity to LA, they aren’t there – even if they have awesome original tracks as well as ones shamelessly reused from LA. There are other games might have deserved to be on the list as well, but I haven’t played every handheld game out there to be able to place them. I’m sure that as soon as people read this list, I’ll start hearing about games I forgot, even if I never heard them suggested earlier. Overall, though, I think the games here are pretty strongly representative of the greatest music achievements handheld systems have seen, and prove that you can’t discount them when talking about great game music.

List by Impossible (08/21/2006)

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