Best Soundtrack
Best Soundtrack of 2008 is actually a bit of a loaded category – there was a surprisingly large amount of software this year with memorable soundtracks. Most of the ones that stuck out in my head are pretty obvious – Bionic Commando Rearmed featured the original 8 bit music tracks remixed and reinterpreted for the current gaming generation. Super Street Fighter 2: HD Remix featured hip and imaginative reinterpretations of the classic tracks by the fans themselves, a feat that was unprecedented in quality and scope. While both of these games’ soundtracks were definitely impressive in their own right, it was actually the music choice of LittleBigPlanet that really shocked me with its quality this past year.
Jim Noir – My Patch
LittleBigPlanet is an important game because it represents the advent of user-generated content to the home console. With everyone all over the world creating their own unique levels, it’s only fitting that the music actually comes from all over the world. The end result is an eclectic, multicultural collection of songs that captures the essence of the LittleBigPlanet community so perfectly.
Cafe Tacuba – Volver a Comenzar
While the soundtrack of LittleBigPlanet is more notorious because of the subsequent recall of the game, the lack of the true version of the Tapha Niang doesn’t sour the fact that it is my most memorable soundtrack of the year: it remains the only game music that kept me smiling the entire time in 2008.
Toumani Diabate’s Symmetric Orchestra – Tapha Niang
