For me, one of the standout soundtracks back in the day was the one for Master of Monsters. While I'm sure some would still call it "background music" for various reasons, virtually the entire soundtrack has an orchestrated structure to it that makes it feel like more than some catchy diddy done to keep the game from being quiet. Whether it's the haunting and solemn "
," the opening march of "
" that was getting you ready for battle, or the sinister and impending
," the whole soundtrack felt like something made more for cinematic punctuation, rather than to be hummed as you played. All of the songs also run the gamut of moods, from upbeat and almost playful, to sad, to dark and brooding, to inspiring.Hayato Matsuo did one hell of a job with his debut soundtrack.