Mentioned this on Tuesday's stream a bit, but I've been sort of haphazardly putting together a top 100 playlist of my personal favorite VGM tracks, and I figured I would share it here, because...what else would I do with it? This is, to reiterate, my FAVORITES, not "here are the essential 100 best pieces of VGM." There's no One-Winged Angel or Gusty Garden Galaxy. There's a lot of weird picks in here, but also some standards.
Most of the tracks are ones that I actively seek out when not playing the game-- I tried not to let KH dominate the list, but there's a good handful from throughout the series. Playlist linked above, list of songs below!
“Title Theme” - RoboCop (1988)
“Lava Reef Zone” - Sonic & Knuckles (1994)
“Obstacle Course” - Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island (1995)
“Harmony” - Rayman (1995)
“Inside Monstro’s Stomach” - Pinocchio (1995)
“Lavender Town” - Pokémon Red and Green (1996)
“Forest Maze” - Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars (1996)
“Shinra Company” - Final Fantasy VII (1997)
“Cosmo Canyon” - Final Fantasy VII (1997)
“Encounter” - Metal Gear Solid (1998)
“Title Screen” - Spyro the Dragon (1998)
“Windy Hill” - Sonic Adventure (1998)
“Mysterious Age ~ Dark Ruins” - Ape Escape (1999)
“Title Theme and Main Menu” - Pac-Man World (1999)
“Far Out” - Pac-Man World (1999)
“Down the Tubes” - Pac-Man World (1999)
“Gateway to Glimmer Forest” - Spyro 2: Ripto’s Rage!! (1999)
“Azalea Town” - Pokémon Gold and Silver (1999)
“Pirarucu Hooked” - Big Ol’ Bass 2 (1999)
“Midnight Mountain” - Spyro: Year of the Dragon (2000)
“View” - Pikmin (2001)
“Tidus’s Theme” - Final Fantasy X (2001)
“Spira Unplugged” - Final Fantasy X (2001)
“Auron’s Theme” - Final Fantasy X (2001)
“Servants of the Mountain” - Final Fantasy X (2001)
“A Fleeting Dream” - Final Fantasy X (2001)
“Fight With Seymour” - Final Fantasy X (2001)
“Staff Credits” - Luigi’s Mansion (2001)
“Fountain of Dreams” - Super Smash Bros. Melee (2001)
“Multi Man Melee 1” - Super Smash Bros. Melee (2001)
“Rayman’s Theme” - Rayman Arena (2001)
“B-Doing Woods” - Pac-Man World 2 (2002)
“It Began with a Letter” - Kingdom Hearts (2002)
“Traverse Town” - Kingdom Hearts (2002)
“A Very Small Wish” - Kingdom Hearts (2002)
“Hollow Bastion” - Kingdom Hearts (2002)
“Casino City” - Ape Escape 2 (2002)
“Snowball Mountain” - Ape Escape 2 (2002)
“Battle with Specter!” - Ape Escape 2 (2002)
“Ricco Harbor” - Super Mario Sunshine (2002)
“Littleroot Town” - Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire (2002)
“Slateport City”- Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire (2002)
“Sootopolis City” - Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire (2002)
“Dragon Roost Island” - The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker (2002)
“The Fairy Council - Under the Starlight” - Rayman 3: Hoodlum Havoc (2003)
“The Land of the Livid Dead” - Rayman 3: Hoodlum Havoc (2003)
“Pyrite Town” - Pokémon Colosseum (2003)
“Main Theme (Title Screen)” - Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door (2004)
“Petal Meadows” - Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door (2004)
“Snake Eater” - Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater (2004)
“Hunting Betrayal” - Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga 2 (2005)
“Piroli” - Dance Dance Revolution: Mario Mix (2005)
“Miror B. Battle” - Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness (2005)
“Pokémon Square” - Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Red and Blue Rescue Team (2005)
“8 P.M.” - Animal Crossing: Wild World (2005)
“Sanctuary” - Kingdom Hearts II (2005)
“Lazy Afternoons” - Kingdom Hearts II (2005)
“Roxas” - Kingdom Hearts II (2005)
“Working Together” - Kingdom Hearts II (2005)
“Organization XIII” - Kingdom Hearts II (2005)
“Gloam Valley” - Super Paper Mario (2007)
“Floro Sapien Caverns” - Super Paper Mario (2007)
“The Price of Freedom” - Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII (2007)
“Stickerbrush Symphony” - Super Smash Bros. Brawl (2008)
“Song of Storms” - Super Smash Bros. Brawl (2008)
“Signs of Love” - Persona 4 (2008)
“Specialist” - Persona 4 (2008)
“Alone” - Persona 4 (2008)
“Heaven” - Persona 4 (2008)
“Ezio’s Family” - Assassin’s Creed II (2009)
“Terra” - Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep (2010)
“The Silent Forest” - Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep (2010)
“Want You Gone” - Portal 2 (2011)
“Rooftop Run (Classic)” - Sonic Generations (2011)
“Mice on Venus” - Minecraft (2011)
“Shadow World” - Persona 4 Golden (2012)
“7 P.M.” - Animal Crossing: New Leaf (2012)
“Martini Rag” - The Great Gatsby (2013)
“Waterfall” - Undertale (2015)
“Reunited” - Undertale (2015)
“Fall (The Smell of Mushroom)” - Stardew Valley (2016)
“Beneath the Mask (Instrumental)” - Persona 5 (2016)
“Layer Cake” - Persona 5 (2016)
“The Whims of Fate” - Persona 5 (2016)
“Rivers in the Desert” - Persona 5 (2016)
“Simple and Clean -Ray of Hope MIX-” - Kingdom Hearts 0.2 Birth by Sleep (2017)
“Field of Hopes and Dreams” - Deltarune Chapter 1 (2018)
“Frozen Altars” - Spyro: Year of the Dragon Reignited (2018)
“Bounce-O-Rama” - Kingdom Hearts III (2019)
“Edge of Existence” - Kingdom Hearts III (2019)
“Don’t Think Twice” - Kingdom Hearts III (2019)
“Gym Leader Battle” - Pokémon Sword and Shield (2019)
“Last Surprise” - Persona 5 Strikers (2020)
“5 P.M.” - Animal Crossing: New Horizons (2020)
“Due Recompense” - Final Fantasy VII Remake (2020)
“Dearly Beloved” - Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory (2020)
“SSD” - Astro’s Playroom (2020)
“BIG SHOT” - Deltarune Chapter 2 (2021)
“We Are Pac-Man” - Pac-Man World Re-Pac (2022)
“Fight For Us, Stamp” - Final Fantasy VII Rebirth (2024)