There's a meme going round where you have to choose your top 10 video game songs but because I hate trying to choose a top 10 from about a bazillion choices, here's a select 10 songs that are completely unordered (in fact, I shuffled them in Winamp just to create the order of posting!) but which are all bound by them being awesome.

Sonic Adventure 2 - Believe in Myself (Theme of Tails)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6XfRGxKd0Q

I used to be a pretty hardcore Sonic fan; I still follow the games and such these days but I've somewhat distanced myself from the overtly cynical fandom and generally don't listen to a massive playlist of hundreds of Sonic songs every single damn day. I still consider the series to be a shining example of fantastic music throughout its history. Here's a story from a few years ago: this song had somehow found its way on my old mp3 player despite the fact that at the time I had more or less alienated from the games and such. This came on randomly during a shuffle and pretty much every good nostalgic memory ever flooded into my mind as it played. It's painfully cheesy to the point of cringe but goddamn, it's one of my favourite things ever.

Outcast - World of Temples
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2S5w86wxCk

Outcast is my favourite game ever so obviously its soundtrack means a lot to me. I could pick any song from it to be here but this one continues to give me the most shivers. It's the song for the first full area of the game after the brief training area. Just seeing the world open up...

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 - Sky Chase Zone
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0FCHk_gSwKo

My favourite retro Sonic tune. It might be an off-beat choice but god, I adore it. There's also a fantastic remix for it here: http://ocremix.org/remix/OCR00337/

Deus Ex - Main Theme
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1yUvMuple5I

Classic.

Unreal - Dig
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6YWfb3ti4V8

Unreal is such a criminally underrated game and its soundtrack is similarly never spoken about despite being wonderful. I suggest listening to the above song in full - the switch from the tranquil march to the action-sequence dance-a-thon around halfway through is excellent.

Arcanum - Arcanum (Main Theme)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ftvpi-6Z6qw

Arcanum is one of my very favourite RPGs and its soundtrack one of my favourite soundtracks. The unique "fantasy world meeting its industrial age" setting is wonderfully backed by the hauntingly melancholy string quartet soundtrack: the world is moving on, old ways are becoming history and soon there's no going back to the way it used to be. The game has a tinge of sadness everywhere and the soundtrack really pushes it forward. And you can download the whole thing for free here: http://www.terra-arcanum.com/sierra.....oundtrack.html

Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver - Ozar Midrashim (Main Theme)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e54tu2XGfGU

The bit that starts around 2:30... *backspine shivers*

StarFox Adventures - Early Thorntail Hollow (Night)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7he9YgTX5AY

I'm a weirdo who not only loves Starfox Adventures but thinks it's the best Starfox game. One reason for that is the excellent soundtrack. Like this beautiful moment of peace and tranquility.

The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker - Ocean
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gN_x1rpGbY8

I like the sailing. And this song is the best in bringing back all the fantastic moments spent with the game to me.

World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King - Garden of Life
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w6ORD6bXkgA

There are many great moments in the WoW music history. There are many fantastic moments in the Wrath soundtrack, too many to choose from really (Blizzard upping up the ante in everything also reflected in the music). But when I first heard this song in one of the dragon zones in Dragonblight, I stopped doing what I was doing and just stood there, listening. Completely unlike anything else ever heard in WoW, and utterly wonderful.