Hi all! First off I wanted to give kudos to all for sharing some really top notch stuff here in this forum. I have discovered some great orchestrated game scores here...
This got me into thinking about what other gems I have yet to discover.
I do have a weekness for retro game soundtracks getting re-orchestrated, so I was wondering if anyone here could recommend some of their favorite orchestrated game music scores here (new and old).

I prefer the fully orchestrated kind, as I am not a huge fan of synthesized scores, however, if the scores are done well, then I will check them out for sure. Below is a short list of some that I discovered that I really like. Feel free to reply to the thread and leave some of your recommendations too!

Thanks for the help everyone.



Game Music Concert-The Best Selection 1-5 (really awesome stuff in there)
Jeremy Soule - Amen the Awakening
John Debney - Lair
Michael Giacchino Scores - MoH Frontline, Airborne, CallofDuty1, etc
Normand Corbeil - Heavy Rain
Legend of Zelda - 25th Aniversary Album
CoD Modern Warfare 3
Hitman 2
Final Fantasy Albums - 20020220, Distant worlds 1+2, Orchestra Album, Symphonic Suite (any more I may have missed?)
Dragon Quest - Symphonic Suites
Uncharted 2 (the best score of the UC series for me)

I remenber Soul Calibur III had an epic full orchestra soundtrack, you should check it out

Thanks Tarenki, I will check it out...

I recommend Actraiser Symphonic Suite.

Ah yes, I forgot to include that one in my list, its quite an awesome suite.

Final Fantasy VIII: Fithos Lusec Wecos Vinosec (Nobuo Uematsu): Incredible orchestral renditions of previously synthesised themes.
Outcast (Lennie Moore): A real stunner, no video game music fan should miss out on this one.
Small Soldiers (Michael Giacchino): fun, fun, fun all the way. From Giacchino before his glorious MOH days.
Castlavania: Lords of Shadow (Oscar Araujo): LOTR for the video game audience. The expanded score is even better than the official release.
Ogre: Grand Repeat (Hitoshi Sakimoto & Masaharu Iwata): the overture of this one brings me to tears, powerful stuff.
Star Wars: The Old Republic (various composers): has some great orchestral tracks as well (by Lennie Moore among others)

There are more, but I love these in addition to some of those you already mentioned.

---------- Post added at 04:22 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:19 PM ----------


I remenber Soul Calibur III had an epic full orchestra soundtrack, you should check it out

Nah, it's pseudo orchestral, as in sampled, but very nice samples nonetheless...

You may want to give a try to the Kessen II Original Soundtrack (Composed by Reijiro Koroku, performed by the Moscow Symphony Orchestra), too. A rip of my CD is still available over at the Download Links sub-forum.

EDIT:
And since you've mentioned a weakness for re-orchestrated tracks, grab the BIOHAZARD/Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles Original Soundtrack.

Not a big fan of orchestrations (too boring and film-like for my taste) but I'd say anything by Basiscape would be good, even though it's synthesized most of the time. I also thought the Dark Souls soundtrack was really well produced (as with anything else by Sakuraba). Jeremy Soule's stuff is pretty good, although a bit too minimalistic and ambient for some. I know I'm missing a lot more atm, but I can't think of them.

You probably already knew about this stuff, but I thought I'd chime in with my opinions. :P

The Giacchino MoH scores are fantastic, and Jesper Kyd is pretty much the best composer working with games at the moment.

Kingdom Hearts franchise, being helmed by Yoko Shimomura. Her repertoire also includes

- Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars
- Final Fantasy XV (her first time orchestrating a Final Fantasy game)

Super Mario Galaxy & Super Mario Galaxy 2 too

As far as a nostalgia hit goes - someone (uncertain as to whom) rescored the music from The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall. Happy to provide a link if it's wanted. It's a colossal nostalgia kick to hear it (after having listened to the original midi files several million times).

S.