I don't know man, I get a huge nostalgia kick out of some of the old NES games too, but I wouldn't say they are better.

I haven't played Rise of the Triad and I don't think I will get around to it either, but I have enjoyed listening to the soundtrack. Not fueled by nostalgia, I do find this to be a great track - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xX_Kb0cDN98

I'm also interested in C64 music. If C64 games were sold, I don't think I'd even be that interested in playing the games other than to listen to the music. This from Last Ninja makes me pretty sure that C64 music would have blown the NES out of the water, if I would have owned one back then - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ExftoivJ_EU On a side note, are those Samurai committing seppuku if the ninja is able to run past them? That kind of stuff wouldn't have been allowed past the damn Nintendo censors :p Anyway, a game distributor is missing out because I'm just ripping them instead.

C'mon.. You guys know this one.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VVOFibwVMw0

I do know that one. I played through the PS2 remake of it, and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. I'm pretty sure its a console exclusive though.

Yeah it was console only. That's what I get for not reading the title thoroughly. I need to go to bed

I have to say the Duke Nukem 3D MIDI music surprisingly sounds fantastic considering how it seems to be completely overshadowed by the main theme, Grabbag. It has some pretty good sounding atmospheric tunes that actually give Duke Nukem 3D kind of a dark feel to it at times.

Here are some of my personal favorite selections from the game:

Gotham - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2_V7MNO9l8
Stalker - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZVQryGciw4
Sneaky Snake - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9hS1vNLc5Q
Calypso Factor - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azkNREQyQ3U
Plasma - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5SoaqDeWjs
The Call of Death - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJYZVCZaEe8
Pissed Office Box - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPqHu8TLMkA
In Hiding - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AqdSW64xKrE
Preparation D - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=44cHKcjutl8
Taking the Death Toll - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Gd89L0Dshc

Vampire Bloodlines <3

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=znc1m36BYng&amp;list=PLBD52E8E1408D64B5

My point is that if I had also had only a Soundblaster or Adlib to get only OPL-2 FM music from my PC games, I probably wouldn't have cared about it either, and I wouldn't be naming any "best PC game music" from that pre-Playstation era (besides maybe Dune 1 and 688 Attack Sub Sim).

Moving from Amiga games' music to PC's Adlib/Soundblaster FM synthesis music was a definite downgrade in quality for me. Quite frankly, in my opinion 99% of Adlib/SB music in PC games simply sucked (with the exception of some games that used Amiga-like MOD tracker/sampler music with Soundblaster, like Pinball Fantasies, Jazz the Jackrabbit etc.), mostly due to poor quality of the underlying hardware. You can't make great symphonies with a fipple flute.

So in essence, in that case I would definitely agreed with you that e.g. SNES had superior game music to PC games in the early 90s or so. IMHO SNES music sounds similar in quality to Amiga games overall.

But back in those days, I think the likes of Sierra sometimes released CDs with their game music. That music was not the Adlib/SB music, but played with e.g. Roland MT-32 or Roland Sound Canvas. So they used quite a lot of effort to make great game music, but unfortunately most PC gamers never heard it back then due to the high prices of Roland MT-32 compatibles and high-end General MIDI cards..

Yeah I have that game on PSX. Below the same(?) spaghetti western music genre, and this time from a PC game (Outlaws):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yqdKWIv14dA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jhoM0nph_fE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7Q6RZJmEbw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JWTmAc4TEnI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4x22xkpdBjM

Sampling:

Age of Conan
Alan Wake
Alone In the Dark IV: New Nightmare
Bioshock I
Black Mesa
Call of Duty 1
Call of Duty: United Offensive
Call of Duty 2
Call of Duty: World At War
Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3
Company of Heroes: All Heroes Rise
Crysis 1
Darksiders I
Darksiders II
Dear Esther
DIG
Dustforce
Ether Vapor
Fairy Bloom Freesia
Fractal
Freespace 2
Ground Control
Homeworld 1
HALO 1: Combat Evolved
HALO 2
Immortal Cities: Children of the Nile
inMomentum
INCA
Interstellar Marines
Left 4 Dead
Legend of Dragoon
Lord of the Rings Online
Lost Odyssey
Medal of Honor: Allied Assault
Medal of Honor: Pacific Assault
MYST
Outcast
Penumbra: Overture
Psychonauts
Pulse
Red Orchestra I- OSTFront 41-45
Red Orchestra II- Heroes of Stalingrad
Rome: Total War
Scrapland
Shadow of the Colossus
SHATTER
Silent Hill 2
Silent Hill 3
Silent Hill 4: the Room
STALKER I: Clear Sky
STALKER II: Shadows of Chernobyl
Star Wars: Force Commander
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic I
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II- Sith Lords
Star Wars: Republic Commando
Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty
Super Crossfire
Thomas Was Alone
Tomb Raider: Angel of Darkness
Tomb Raider: Legend
Tomb Raider: Underworld
Unmechanical
Warhammer 40k: Dawn of War II
Warhammer Online
Witcher I
Zu Online

Rollcage and Neverhood + Skullmonkeys

Flying on the Wings of Steam Remix (A.M.'s Alice)

Skat Radio (The Neverhood)

The Lighthouse (SC: Chaos Theory)

Chinatown (VTMB)

Budoar (Samorost 2)

I'm unsure if this music was made specifically for the game, but:

Heavy Metal FAKK 2

Outcast! Not everyday that you get the Moscow Philharmonic to do your ingame music.

This soundtrack from Alan Wake. My partner was raving about it. :D

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GeSUvoY2oUk