*Best Video Game Music*

Winner: Super Smash Bros. Brawl

How could Brawl not win best music? With a collaboration of the most renowned video game composers, remixes and re-imagined tunes galore and even a few preserved classics, Super Smash Bros. Brawl’s soundtrack is something special all its own. Sometimes I even just go to the soundtest for a while just to hear the beautiful music. Like Super Mario Galaxy, Brawl proves that when Nintendo meets an orchestra, magic happens.

Runner-up: Megaman 9

Megaman 9 seemed to do the opposite of Brawl, and proved that even in this day and age, synthesized music can be just as memorable as an orchestrated score.  Many of these tunes brought feelings of nostalgia and childhood memories flooding back even without having heard them before. But nostalgia alone isn’t enough to make a great soundtrack, the music even holds up on its own and is an example of the magic classic video games can make.

Runner-up: Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts

The Banjo series has always had memorable music, but Nuts & Bolts really made for something wonderful to listen to. Whether it was classic Banjo themes like Treasure Trove Cove and Rusty Bucket Bay or completely new musical pieces, the entire score is lovingly orchestrated and expertly executed.