Not Your Mom's 8 Bit

[trachalio]

1. “Rub It” by Sega from Feel the Magic XX/XY
   (site) (wiki) (buy game)
2. “Mexican Flyer - Original” by Naofumi Hataya and Kenichi Tokoi from Space Channel 5
   (wiki) (buy game) (buy soundtrack)
3. “Driving Test” by Masaya Matsuura from Parappa the Rapper
   (site) (wiki) (buy soundtrack)
4. “Humming The Bassline” by Hideki Naganuma from Jet Set Radio OST
   (gamerankings) (wiki) (buy soundtrack)
5. “Slaughter Club” by Jesper Kyd from Hitman Contracts Original Soundtrack
   (site) (wiki) (buy game PS2 Xbox) (buy soundtrack)
6. “The Moon and the Prince” by Akitaka Tohyama and Kenji Ninuma from Katamari Fortissimo Damacy
   (site) (wiki) (buy game) (buy soundtrack)
7. “Soft Machine (Opening Theme) feat. COIL” by Tomohiro Harada from Gitaroo-Man OST
   (site) (wiki) (buy game) (buy soundtrack)
8. “Everlasting Love” by Alisa from Minna Daisuki Katamari Damacy Original Soundtrack
   (site) (wiki) (buy game) (buy soundtrack)
9. “Shinin'” by Mondo Grosso from Lumines
   (site) (wiki) (buy game)
10. “Buggie Running Beeps” by Keiichi Sugiyama from Rez: Gamer's Guide to...
    (gamerankings) (wiki) (buy game) (buy soundtrack)
11. “Feisar” by Sasha from Wip3out
    (site)(wiki)(buy game)
12. “Ghost In The Shell” by Takkyu Ishino from Ghost In The Shell Megatech Body Co.
    
    (gamerankings) (wiki) (buysoundtrack)
13. “Pain Fade Down” by Trash80 from Darwinia: Listen To Us
    (site) (wiki) (buy game) (buy soundtrack)
14. “El Cargo” by Amon Tobin from Splinter Cell 3: Chaos Theory OST
    
    (site) (wiki) (buy game Xbox PS2 Gamecube) (buy soundtrack iTunes amazon)
15. “Roll Along” by Laugh & Beats from Vib Ribbon
    
    (site) (wiki) (buy soundtrack)
16. “Katamari” by Boxes
    
    (download)
    

An old room mate of mine once said to me that he couldn't stand being in the living room when I was playing video games because the "bleeps and bloops" of the game drove him nuts. I was thinking about that the other day, and how game music has really come a long way in the last 5 years. I've put together a little compilation of tunes that I feel are exemplary examples of good, modern game music that really defy what people perceive video game music to be.

I didn't include games like DDR, Guitar Hero, Taiko Drum Master because I wanted to focus on titles that have original scores, not rehashed pop songs that everyone's heard already. Nor did I want to have a mix of songs from music games; that would have been to easy. God knows there's like a bazillion Dance Dance Revolution soundtracks out there already! Instead I tried to focus on songs that really grab you when you listen to them. I defy you to not want to crank your volume around 2:50 while listening to El Cargo. I challenge you to not bop up and down to "Driving Test". Try to tell me that both "Soft Machine" and "Everlasting Love" arn't killer rock tunes. I dare you.

Unfortunately because I focused mostly on pop-friendly songs, I wasn't able to include some other soundtracks that are amazing examples in their own right. Games like God of War, Ico, Intelligent Qube, and Shadow of the Colossus. These four have very lush, orchestral soundtracks that, while gorgeous and stunning, just wouldn't fit into the flow of this particular mix.

Feel free to download it and let me know what you think. Tell me what you think is missing, what you like, what you don't like, and all that jazz.

[EDIT]: Thanks to the lovely nfotxn, no more rapidshare because he's hosting it! *SMOOOOCH!*