I would argue that Vice City has a great soundtrack, one of the best. but it has real music, not "video game music" in other words music written specifically for it.
Katamari Damacy. It’s got one of the most infectiously joyous soundtracks of all time – an eccentric, richly-produced, and incredibly catchy melange of funk, salsa, bossa nova, experimental electronica, J-Pop, swing, lounge, bamboo flute, hair metal, buoyant parade music, soaring children’s choirs, Macintalk fanfares, and the single best theme song this side of Super Mario Bros. And beyond being insane earworms, many of the tracks have surprisingly deep and meaningful lyrics.; my favorite is probably the beautiful “Cherry Tree Times”, which I’ve seen described as “[using] the gameplay mechanics as a metaphor both for the twinge of nostalgia we could feel even in childhood toward our younger selves and for the experience of falling in love.”
Tony Hawk was a big one. The EA sports games always have some bangers that get stuck in your head. One of my favorite video game moments, though, was bombing the tobacco fields to Bomba Estereo’s “Fuego”, in Far Cry 6. They employed music well, throughout, but that moment was really enveloping.
Lots of great answers here already. To me not only is this extremely subjective, this is highly dependent on how you define “best”.
Is it the one that exposed me to the most new music, and most help shape my music tastes today? Then I’m going with Tony Hawk or Guitar Hero.
Is it the best entire original soundtrack, the one that best creates the aesthetic of the game? Bastion comes to mind, but I think there are good arguments to be made for quite a few RPGs. Mass Effect doesn’t have a lot of hummable tunes, but damn do they nail the feel of the world.
Is it the most technically impressive? I’m going with the original Mario soundtrack. What they did with so few possible notes and so little memory to create different sounds is nothing short of miraculous, and they are tunes and riffs that are instantly recognizable worldwide.
Is it the best individual song? Hard pick but I really adore the main theme of Skyrim to this day.
Is it just my favorite overall? I think I’d go with Earthbound.
I’m surprised that no one mentioned the Metal Gear Solid series. The music was incredible, and it’s got one of the most memorable songs in Snake Eater. I’m also a big fan of Can’t Say Goodbye to Yesterday .
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