ROTT is up there. Probably the best soundtrack of any apogee game period (though certainly not the best of all time)
Tyrian would be another for technical excellence, but that's rather repetitive and the new 2.0 tracks suck and destroy it.

^^ Good choice with ROTT, the music in that one made the game for me. 😀

One soundtrack that always stuck out IMO was Zone Raiders, if anyone remembers that game. 😜 It's not particularly poppy "listening" music but is amazingly tense & atmospheric, and the composer did a hell of a good job conveying the right feel for the game. Not every track is a masterpiece but the ones that are good, are really good.

It was done in XMI (extended MIDI) files and the game loads a custom soundbank on Awe32.

Does FF7 count? 😜

Sink or Swim

Tyrian - Come Back To Me Savara.

Tyrian - Tunneling Trolls.

Strike Commander - Ending Credits. Not the ending theme itself, but the song that starts when the credits roll (starting from minute 2:16). The song is soooo eighties, and I really love playing it with proper sound font. It's easily my most favorite game song. Very eighties.

TIE Fighter - Intro.

I can't believe nobody mentioned Wing Commander yet.

X-Com - Intro. Starting from minute 0:32, the song almost sounds like anime theme song, and that's why I like it.

Any in-flight music from Janes's Advanced Tactical Fighters.

Super Street Fighter II - Cammy Theme.

I know it's obvious, but I can't get over it. Doom always sounded fantastic, whether it's on the worst crap MIDI (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5gBZOPQZ0Is), OPL FM, or the good stuff. 😀

For me, one the best tracks out of Doom is the very first one (E1M1).

This is also one of the tracks I use when comparing the quality of the samples of different MIDI hardware (you can then quickly tell how good or how crap the samples are 🤣 ).

I would have to say my favourite is Quest For Glory Shadows of Darkness. Haunting but powerful score.

Of honourable mention is also Daggerfall, I loved a lot of the music from that game.

jesolo wrote:

For me, one the best tracks out of Doom is the very first one (E1M1).

This is also one of the tracks I use when comparing the quality of the samples of different MIDI hardware (you can then quickly tell how good or how crap the samples are 🤣 ).

Gotta agree with that. Within the first 5 seconds of the song you can tell by almost just the guitars and percussion alone whether if you have a keeper or not 😀

Personally I find Akumajö Dracula x68k sounds fantastic on any Sound Canvas modules. First time I ran the game using XM6 and my SC-8850 I was astonished by the distorted guitars on 'Bloody Tear'. For a second I thought it sounded like a voice coming from the PCM channel 🤣. Descent 1 on GS is awesome too, as well as Hi-Octane on an AWE. 😀

Besides Wing Commander I and II (MT-32 only), WC3 and Privateer have some pretty amazing General MIDI music. I also really grew to enjoy the Lands of Lore music, in particle Castle Cimmeria and Betrayal at Krondor is amazing.

edit: here is an Origin Systems Audio CD with a great selection of compositions from their games:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjJMixm2CVA

xjas wrote:

One soundtrack that always stuck out IMO was Zone Raiders, if anyone remembers that game.

Never played the game, but just downloaded the soundtrack and it is good!

leileilol wrote:

Does FF7 count? 😜

I'd say so. IIRC, it was composed for the Yamaha XG MIDI standard..

Just wonder: when you like a particular MIDI game soundtrack, do you like the music itself, or the quality of the instruments when the game is played in a typical PC at that time?

I'm asking that is because quite many MIDI sound track doesn't sound too great when played by typical period-correct hardware, but sounds better when played with certain sound fonts. Strike Commander - Ending Credits (the song that starts from the minute 2:16), sounds significantly better with SGM sound font and Drums! by Slavo. It probably doesn't sound too great on a typical period-correct hardware, but when played with the right sound font, it becomes very nice.

TIE Fighter opening theme also sounds painful on a typical Roland Sound Canvas hardware --the brass is too sibilant. But it is musically nice, and it could sound better with proper sound font, so it's my favorite nonetheless.

On the other hand, WarCraft II human theme song (HUMAN01.MID) sounds really great on a typical Roland Sound Canvas hardware (which is period-correct for the game), but musically, the song itself is never really my favorite.

Shponglefan wrote:

leileilol wrote:

Does FF7 count? 😜

I'd say so. IIRC, it was composed for the Yamaha XG MIDI standard..

Surely it was composed with the PSX synth in mind? Though it definitely gave me a new impression of what MIDI was capable of.

Dare to Dream has stuck with me for quite some time. The documentation hyped up the soundtrack significantly and I recall going to great lengths to get it working.

And for some strange reason I recall Superhero League of Hoboken very well. I was thinking that one of its tracks bore a distinct resemblance to the theme from Now You See Me.

Kreshna Aryaguna Nurzaman wrote:

Just wonder: when you like a particular MIDI game soundtrack, do you like the music itself, or the quality of the instruments when the game is played in a typical PC at that time.

I think it has to be both. Most of us, back in the day, have played/heard the MIDI tracks that today we call our favorites. So our brains know how they are "supposed" to sound from past experience and if you hear it today with a different sound font, our brains say "Wrong!" But the music must still be good, as well as the game, or it wouldn't create the emotional response in the first place. For me, the case in point are the Ultima and Wing Commander series. I played Ultima 4 and 5 on an Apple II with a Mockingboard, so if I hear those songs on a C64 or Atari 8-bit, they are familiar but not as pleasing. WC1, WC2, and Ultima 7 I played with Adlib music, so today I prefer the Adlib version to MT-32, even though when I listen to the MT-32 track outside of gameplay, it is obvious it sounds better, but it does not evoke the same emotional response as when I originally played the games, so it sounds "wrong". And originally, I played Ultima 8 and WC3 on General MIDI, so today if I listen to the Adlib versions, they sound like cheap imitations. But I bet someone who played WC1, WC2 and U7 originally on MT-32 would think the Adlib versions sound like cheap imitations.

clueless1 wrote:

Kreshna Aryaguna Nurzaman wrote:

Just wonder: when you like a particular MIDI game soundtrack, do you like the music itself, or the quality of the instruments when the game is played in a typical PC at that time.

I think it has to be both. Most of us, back in the day, have played/heard the MIDI tracks that today we call our favorites. So our brains know how they are "supposed" to sound from past experience and if you hear it today with a different sound font, our brains say "Wrong!" But the music must still be good, as well as the game, or it wouldn't create the emotional response in the first place. For me, the case in point are the Ultima and Wing Commander series. I played Ultima 4 and 5 on an Apple II with a Mockingboard, so if I hear those songs on a C64 or Atari 8-bit, they are familiar but not as pleasing. WC1, WC2, and Ultima 7 I played with Adlib music, so today I prefer the Adlib version to MT-32, even though when I listen to the MT-32 track outside of gameplay, it is obvious it sounds better, but it does not evoke the same emotional response as when I originally played the games, so it sounds "wrong". And originally, I played Ultima 8 and WC3 on General MIDI, so today if I listen to the Adlib versions, they sound like cheap imitations. But I bet someone who played WC1, WC2 and U7 originally on MT-32 would think the Adlib versions sound like cheap imitations.

Well, there are cases where Adlib sounds better than Roland, such as this. The music is great too!

i've already had been a fan of uematsu before ff7 came out on pc, so there's a bit of bias there. Had previous FFs had PC releases with MIDI that answer would have been different. 😀

The MIDI in the cancelled Super Star Wars port is pretty good too, but truncated John Williams scores probably doesn't count as original video game soundtrack music

Jorpho wrote:

Shponglefan wrote:

leileilol wrote:

Does FF7 count? 😜

I'd say so. IIRC, it was composed for the Yamaha XG MIDI standard..

Surely it was composed with the PSX synth in mind? Though it definitely gave me a new impression of what MIDI was capable of.

It was composed with MIDI, but for some reason I thought I had read it was original composed for the XG format. I could be wrong though. No idea what Sony's MIDI format specs are, tbh.

Kreshna Aryaguna Nurzaman wrote:

Just wonder: when you like a particular MIDI game soundtrack, do you like the music itself, or the quality of the instruments when the game is played in a typical PC at that time?

It depends on the track. Certain music (i.e. the Doom soundtrack) has always been memorable to me regardless of format. Hearing it with higher quality sound modules allows me to really appreciate it.

OTOH, certain soundtracks I've dismissed until hearing them with a good module. For example, I always thought Duke Nukem 3D had a mediocre soundtrack until playing it with a Roland SC-88. I then realized there are some good tracks in there, they just never translated well to FM-synth versions on Adlib or Soundblaster cards.

Oh boy let's see here...

-Sierra adventures (too many to list)
-LucasArts adventures (too many to list)
-Warcraft II
-Blackthorne
-Descent
-Thexder 2: Fire Hawk
-Zeliard
-Dark Forces
-Tie Fighter
-Heretic
-Hexen
-Arena
-Daggerfall
-Hocus Pocus
-System Shock