I've been thinking about how the music in a game we play, influences our opinion of that game. Obviously, the game play is core, but really how much do the music and jingles keep us entertained.

Kirby's Dreamland i think had one of the best Soundtracks. I just loved the little jingles every time you got through a stage. =]

Half Life 2 (plus episodes)
Halo
Silent Hill FTW

Guitar Hero series

Music can make a real difference. Few games have music worth listening to outside the game though.

Wipeout series - the original especially, but also 2097
and kudos to them for adding the music data as CD data so it could be easily played / ripped.

Darwinia: The title sequence by DMA-sc is some great old school chip, whilst trash80's pieces on the rest of the album are just beautiful.

And, of course, nothing beats DooM's soundtrack. I defy anyone to hear the first few chords of the E1M1 track and not smile...

Homeworld 2

What lay beyond hushed every voice in the galaxy

Red Alert had a pretty nice soundtrack, especially the Hell March. Pretty much all the games on the Orange Box had excellent sound tracks(Portal being the best). And finally we have Bioshock. While none of the music in the game was original, it did wonders for the atmosphere of the game.

Total Annihilation.

Jeremy Soule is one great conductor.

Almightyjoe:
Still Alive

yeah, i know, it gets overplayed, but when your watcing it after playing the game through (especially the first time), its like being a fat kid in a cake castle

Amen to that. First time i finished portal was one of those moments i'll never forget. That song was the best reward.

Probably Halo: CE

Half-life is a close 2nd but the music, while being ace tends to kick in a the wrong times e.g. when you've just rambo'd through a town and no enemies are left.

Dealin Burgers:
Half Life 2 (plus episodes)
Halo
Silent Hill FTW

Halflife nearly doesn't have a soundtrack! When there is music its just run of the mill angry techno that can be heard in dozens of other games.

As for my choices, I'd have to go with FF6, which is by FAR Uematsu's best work, and StarControl 2. The latter is really strange actually: the two developers got the tracks by posting a request for people to submit their work to a BBS (back before they were called forums). The soundtrack was pieced together out of the work of about a dozen amateurs musicians. For it to come out so well is mind-boggling.

METAL SLUG FTW!

Total Annihilation
Total Annihilation Kingdoms
Supreme Commander
Red Alert / Red Alert II
Conker's Bad Fur Day
Metal Gear Solid 2
and above all else, the Battlefield series.

The GTA series, especially GTA:SA
Tony Hawk 2
Total Overdose

I've always loved the Final Fantasy soundtracks, especially FFVII and FFIX. Other than that, Sonic the Hedgehog 1 - 3, Bully, and Ocarina of Time (of course).

Wait! I forgot! Streets of Rage II - best soundtrack ever!

I'm pretty certain we've had this thread before? I remember listing about 20 of mine. Any way we could find the link to the original thread?

If not, then my main ones I guess are Klonoa: Door To Phantomile, Panzer Dragoon Saga, Vagrant Story, Ridge Racer Type 4, Guardian Heroes and Tenchu: Stealth Assasins

Silent Hill (all of them, I love Akira Yamaoka's work). Most other game music drives me nuts.

Chrono Cross, Guilty Gear series, Silent Hill, GTA San Andreas

and just because it brings back a sense of nostalgia in me,

Street Fighter II.

Vampire: The Masquerade Bloodlines.

Truly added to the atmosphere. Some places where creepy if not horrifying, others, downright seedy. The mood was always excellent, and the music added to the air tremendously.

I agree with Silent Hill, excellent compliment with the game. Shadow of the Colossus, Koh Ohtani's stuff is epic.

Grim Fandango had a mean Jazz Track

Halo's symphony is cool.
There's also Rome: Total War. The woman who sings in latin has a beautiful voice.

Red Alert, Halo, Orange Box, I Wanna be the Guy, Bioshock.

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time and RUSH for N64.

FFVII music was legendary, it was truly epic. especially the world map music.

mass effect had perfect music, it really fits the sci-fi mood. Galaxy map tune anyone?

half lifes of course. you know shits about to go down when you hear some sick techno.

Metal Gear Solid always resonated with me, God of War always feels epic, Devil May Cry gives me my rock fix, and Zelda always was just good. Oh, and Megaman 2.

Smackdown Vs Raw! The first one, had a fantastic soundtrack. Burnout 3 had some good songs aswell. The Tony Hawks series will consistently have a good soundtrack. I enjoyed the one off of DMC4 aswell.

Final Fantasy VII. Not my favourite FF, but I still remember most of the music. The post-battle music (during the experience and items gained screen) is especially awesome.

Star Wars. I'm playing KotOR right now and this music (and the music in most Star Wars games) is really good and helps set the mood.

Warcraft II. I loved the music in this game.

Zeus: Master of Olympus. I only played this game for the music.

Overall:
Need For Speed: Underground 2
particularly the Black Betty song by Spider Bait.

For the NES:
Blaster Master

Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. I loved the 80's music. San Andrea's music was too limited for such a large area. You could listen to a whole radiostation in one sitting, and I have done it before. Gran Turismo has some good tracks, but Daeki Kasho or whatever it is, is HIGHLY overrepresented in that soundtrack. I Don't like Pop music, and I don't care for Japanese culture, so J-pop or techno (whichever they are technically) is definitely not my cup of tea. I prefer Earl Grey. I love Russian cultural music, and Red Alert had some good Russian sounding music. Can't go wrong with Star Wars music either...

DOOM.
And Sonic 2.