Video games have always had banging soundtracks. In recent years, the best have taken on a life outside of their virtual homes as well. The music of Stardew Valley, Final Fantasy, Elden Ring and Death Stranding have inspired global concert tours while Spotify’s official Top Gaming Tracks playlist has been saved more than 6.9million times. Even ClassicFM are getting in on the action with their weekly Next Level show, hosted by gaming YouTuber DanTDM.
“We’re taking two worlds, mashing them together and hopefully finding some common ground,” he tells NME. The mission is to celebrate gaming music in all its glory, from orchestral blockbusters to the retro beeps of the 8-bit era. “Without music, games are just not as impactful. I just want to show people that there are, and always have been, incredible composers creating amazing music for video games.”
So, we got DanTDM to pick 10 incredible soundtracks that you need on your playlist – five for chilling, five that’ll get you motivated.
The best game soundtracks for relaxing
‘Fallen Down’ – Undertale (composed by Toby Fox)
“Undertale is a very cool, pixel-based game that’s inspired by Earthbound [a goofy ‘90s role-playing game with a cult following]. It’s just a really well-written game and I highly recommend it. Toby Fox developed it but also did the music. What he can do with minimal sounds, the way he can convey such emotion, it’s really impressive. I like a lot of his stuff but ‘Fallen Down’ kinda forces you to [stop and] take a breath.”
‘Awake’ – Celeste (Lena Raine)
Lena Raine makes music similar to Fox, but hers isn’t quite as minimal. She’s done some great stuff in Minecraft but I’ve just started playing Celeste and honestly, I don’t know why it’s taken me this long. It’s another pixel game with a very twinkly, laid back soundtrack. There are some tracks later in Celeste that are more intense but ‘Awake’ is near the start, so it’s a bit more chilled out.”
‘It Takes Two Theme’ (Kristofer Eng)
“It Takes Two is such a beautiful game, visually and with the sonics. This track might not be 100 per cent relaxing but does a really good job of conveying the emotion of the game and how things pan out. It starts off slow, quiet and takes a while to ramp up to become something a bit more intense. There’s a lot of emotion for such a short track and it definitely hits harder after you’ve played the game. The whole thing just feels adventurous.”
‘Sweden’ – Minecraft (C418)
“It’s just a really relaxing tune that takes me straight back to playing Minecraft. I hear those first few notes and I see the Minecraft hand, the empty hotbar and a lot of green, ready to become a new world. There’s something very peaceful about a new Minecraft world. I enjoy that first half a day before things get more serious and you have to hunker down for the night.”
‘1am’ – Animal Crossing: New Horizons (Kazumi Totaka)
“You can only hear this track if you’re playing at 1am. Some of the earlier ones are a little less relaxing but this one hits the sweet spot where you can imagine yourself walking around a peaceful town full of adorable animals. It really sends you to a space of serenity. Animal Crossing: New Horizons is just a proper, chilled out game. You don’t have to take it seriously. Like Minecraft, you can just do things at your own pace.”
The best gaming tracks for getting stuff done
‘Donkey Kong Country 1 & 2 Orchestrated’ (Dark Grunt Music)
“It’s upbeat, it’s high energy and it just makes me feel inspired. Like a lot of my picks, I chose this one because it’s nostalgic. As soon as I hear it, I’m taken straight back to being a kid playing my Game Boy Color. I picked the orchestrated version because it’s a medley of all the great tracks from both those games and it proves that even those tiny Game Boy soundtracks work on a massive scale.”
‘Escape From The City’ – Sonic Adventure 2 (Jun Senoue)
“My favourite band of all time is Bring Me The Horizon and right now, I’m loving the new Architects and Spiritbox albums – but this was my first experience with proper rock music. The game starts with you jumping out of a plane and you end up grinding down a helicopter blade, so it doesn’t waste any time in throwing you into the action. If you’re not prepared, this music makes you believe that you can do it.”
‘Gusty Garden Galaxy’ – Super Mario Galaxy (Mahito Yokota)
“This is another game intro that’s very in your face but this music makes you feel like you’re ready for an adventure, whether that’s in the game or in real life. It really sets you up for the day. There are a few tracks from Super Mario 64 that could have been in this playlist as well because [Mahito Yokota] is just an incredible composer. Mario always has the most hype tracks.”
‘Route One (Road to Viridian City’) – Pokémon Red & Blue (Junichi Masuda)
“I could have chosen a few different tracks from the original Pokémon games because ‘Versus Wild Pokémon’ is also great. As soon as I hear either of those songs, I want to go back and play those games again. I probably spent hundreds of hours playing them when they first came out. I adore the pixel art and the old school music. Now Nintendo just needs to make them available again.”
‘Wii Sports Theme’ (Kazumi Totaka)
“The Wii was such a massive, ground-breaking console. I remember how difficult it was to get one when they first launched but I got lucky, and Wii Sports was the first game we played. The music is very different [to previous Nintendo games] because it’s a little orchestral with brass instruments but it just sounds epic. The Wii Shop music is iconic as well but that intro for Wii Sports is so good. The top comment on YouTube is ‘this is what plays at the end credits of life’, it’s that sort of track.”
Next Level with DanTDM Saturdays from 9pm-10pm on Classic FM and Global Player