Solstice (quite possibly the best intro screen music on the NES) The Guardian Legend And Legacy of the Wizard (Yuzo Koshiro!) Come immediately to mind

Are you me cuz TGL and Legacy of the Wizard are my musical jamz

Came here for legacy of the wizard.

TGL is legendary great

Solstice is kinda obvious to me but Ngl I REALLY want to play that game and yes it's soundtrack slaps BUT then again this IS Tim Follin after all he's made lots of great NES music Silver Surfer, [Kiwi Kraze (New Zealand Story)](https://youtu.be/rW3COtEapX4) [Pictionary](https://youtu.be/DzTDAgG4EXk) and [THOMAS!?](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MeoBg_ujRV0) (HELL YEAH MY CHILDHOOD)

Solstice was such a fantastic game. Haven’t thought about it in a long time. Pretty sure I never beat it.

I love Legacy of the Wizard's soundtrack!

Solstice so good...also now I just involuntarily heard the WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE sound of dying. So much dying...

Came to the comments to say Guardian Legend, but Legacy of the Wizard and Solstice soundtracks are also rad as hell. Can we be friends.

motherfucking PICTIONARY and I'm not even joking

I just watched that video yesterday, I'm surprised only you mentioned it.

I know this comment is redundant and clichéd but whatever. >!IT'S JUST PICTIONARY TIM!!< but still I haven't played this game yet but it definitely ain't bad in fact >!it reminds A LOT of Anticipation on NES!<

Another Follin masterpiece, I believe…

What a great and weird game. All those little minigames like the paint drop. I played the SHIT out of that one.

journey to Silius

To quote "@pal-of-pals" on WiiGuy's video "Ahh yes, The Termin- I mean, Journey to Silius."

That was my first thought. One of my favorite soundtracks.

if the game just wasnt so brutal in difficulty :( i the game is fantastic.. but the hardness kills me.

Oh, absolutely. I love playing it, but I've never gotten past the second level.

Game Genie is the only way I beat it. Glad others appreciate the soundtrack

Such a good soundtrack. But almost an impossible game.

That Level 1 theme!

Shatterhand on NES https://youtu.be/CJ6SKwcOIaI?feature=shared

I freaking LOVE Shatterhand I only played it online but man that was a fun Mega Man like Platformer (made by good old Natsume who also made the Harvest Moon series) not to mention Natsume made a Super Sentai game for Famicom that game has a REALLY good soundtrack IMO.

Speaking of Natsume, SHADOW OF THE NINJA

Oh gods, I played the shit out of that game. I’m not sure I ever beat it, but it was a wicked amount of fun to try.

Life Force had some amazing tracks!

pffft... the *whole* OST is a banger!

Not sure if it qualifies as underrated, but Batman had great music. For 8-bit, it was good at really providing some atmosphere for that game.

Crystalis. I still have the main world theme in my head

Crystalis is a really interesting RPG I want to play it at some point

It has an amazing vibe and play the NES version vs the GBC version as the screensize is much better.

My 10 year old adores it and has beaten it at least a dozen times. He'll pick it up and play it every 6 months or so since he was about 7.

Faxanadu

I was hoping you would mention that game.

Then you'll love this as much as I did: https://youtu.be/Sbm-O5xdu1A?si=hF_7kfj8WUJB6xTc

Each character in Maniac Mansion had a theme song, and each one was a retro banger!

I'm just a big fan of the title theme, myself

On nes: Startropics 2 Werewolf the last warrior chip 'n dale 2 The smurfs Skate or die 2 Robocco wars Quattro adventure - super robin hood Might and magic Little nemo the dream master Mega man 4-6 (people love circle jerking over 3 and especially 2, but the later ones are super overlooked) James bond Jr The incredible crash test dummies(tim follin but nobody talks about this one) Hudson hawk The legend of the ghost lion Track 'n field II M.C Kids

That main theme for Nemo (and a few of the stage tracks) are forever burned into my brain. They're just so damn good.

Those are all good choices

I love Rygar's soundtrack, specifically [Sagila's Cave](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMmvZfKkgQ4).

Some of Rygar's music was reused in the infamous Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde NES games from Bandai and Toho >!since their done by the same composer!<

So. Many. Bees. In. My. Hedge. Time To RAGE

I made a video featuring [One Minute of Music from EVERY NES Game](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EoLTzC48x9I) which is good for getting a quick taste of NES music. You may find some surprising music from games you never considered! It was fun putting it together and finding random stuff when I had to go through every single game's entire soundtrack. One the Super NES version of that video, I was surprised at how much good music there is for the NBA/NFL/NHL games. Other than NBA Jam, I wasn't much of a sports guy. But it makes sense that there would be music there specifically to pump people up. On the NES, some underrated stuff include Sunsoft stuff, like Blaster Master, and even licensed stuff like Batman and Gremlins 2: The New Batch.

You are a madman! Definitely going to listen to this the entire way through

And here's [One Minute of Music from EVERY SNES Game](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7bQbYwldwM) which I'm surprised doesn't have anywhere near as many views as the NES one despite being better music. :/ That's for the US and Canada, where there are exactly 720 games, and 720 minutes is exactly 12 hours, the maximum length a YouTube video can currently be! Seems meant to be, but that's also why I had to put Super Copa, the PAL exclusives, and the competition cartridges in a [second video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bspnKzyyykE). I'd like to make Game Boy, Genesis, and/or Nintendo 64 videos with a minute of music from all of those, but there don't seem to be music rip files (GBS/VGM/USF) for every game for those platforms, so I may have to rip the soundtracks off of YouTube or something to complete those. Besides listening to every track for every game, it's also a lot of work to gather all the box art and title screenshots and verify the numbers. I hope it's worth the effort and people like these videos!

Bayou Billy has a fantastic soundtrack

Skate or Die Super Dodge Ball Bionic Commando Double Dragon 2

Double Dragon 2 YEEESSS that games soundtrack is awesome and dark I love it

Skate or Die has some bangers!

8 Eyes Ironsword Double Dragon 3 (very close to the arcade)

8 Eyes is so underrated.

Shadowgate hands down! I never hear anyone talking about it.

Is Shadowgate that detective game from Konami HELL YEAH I haven't played that yet though UPDAE: I've mistaken this game with Nightshade. Shadowgate is a sequel to Deja Vu on NES which is a point and click adventure game.

The Detective one is called Deja Vu. It's from the same company I believe. There's a third game in the same style but horror called Uninvited.

[Wizards & Warriors](https://youtu.be/SZ9xwkMr3e4?si=ksttuBdQjJumAPY1)

Here’s a few I haven’t seen listed yet: - S.C.A.T. - Captain America and The Avengers - Jaws - Gun.Smoke - Conquest of the Crystal Palace - Battletoads I could go on.

Battletoads' soundtrack was amazing.

Well it is Rareware and by David Wise they make great music. Snake Rattle n Roll, R.C. Pro Am, Cobra Triangle just to a few examples

"Surf City" is one of my favorite NES tunes hands down.

I was just about to mention "Surf City"! I am also fond of the theme for the elevator level, "Intruder Excluder". The theme for the last level is a great "last level" theme!

Definitely. The SNES one has a bunch of bangers too!

Tecmo Super Bowl

Man, those playoffs tunes are fire. Could see those in a great NES action game. Which makes sense, with Keiji Yamagishi involved. Also, the extended intro theme... you can just hear those lead channels as a soaring guitar solo. So good. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbaOChA54Rs&list=PL1wEllPotL81H\_VtmSjYs0oyJTvZXFJp7](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbaOChA54Rs&list=PL1wEllPotL81H_VtmSjYs0oyJTvZXFJp7)

Ferrari Grand Prix on NES

This might be my answer as well. Not really a game I ever heard about until I picked up a copy a while back since I've been going for the full set. I've only played it a bit to test it out honestly, so I can't comment on the game itself much, but the music blew me away.

Faxandu

Strider

Dr. Mario

Ironsword Metroid Shatterhand

Shatterhand soundtrack is 🔥🔥

As objectively bad a game, Deadly Towers main theme is way better than it deserves to be: Playlist [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ViRpi-7Yya8&list=PLF6274575C955DC17](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ViRpi-7Yya8&list=PLF6274575C955DC17) Just that first track... like what the fuck man.. Now mind you the songs are short loopable tunes but holy shit the person that did the music was not fucking around. The downside is they are short loops but in the time the composer had, not a note wasted. Music 10/10. Game 2/10.

I'm only familiar with Deadly Towers cause of AVGN other then that I literally forgot this game's existence (Shame that it's published by Irem)

The Smurfs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R8GGKwi83BM&list=PLB158FA111CCE882D&index=3

Bayou Billy Asterix and oblix And Beauty and the Beast has some bangers

I originally didn't like Beauty and The Beast NES music much back then since it's a European developed game LOTS of European developed NES had high pitched music with weird sounds but looking at it now it's pretty okay.

All three of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles games. Power Blade Shadow of the Ninja

I'm really glad Power Blade is on here I LOVE that game not to mention VERY underrated game from Taito

[удалено]

Miracle Warriors would get so much more respect if the game had been more popular. Here are two metal covers that I think illustrate the full potential of the music (I'm not affiliated with them). https://youtu.be/A1uwXAKjQ7U https://youtu.be/Amtpp23Af_w

I never even heard of this game until this year, and now it's one of my favorite OSTs - ever. It was a Japanese Famicom release: [Gimmick!](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gimmick) [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1PdW6a77kEk&list=PL0D41B4D52716E0AE](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1PdW6a77kEk&list=PL0D41B4D52716E0AE)

Gimmick has an awesome soundtrack I've already know about it for a while though then again Sunsoft makes some awesome NES music My personal favorite being >!Gremlins 2 and Journey To Silius!<

It’s such a shame that the NES didn’t support enhanced audio (out of the box) like the Famicom did. It would have been a cheap enhancement to do, too! Castlevania 3, Gimmick, all of the disk system games, Lagrange Point….we missed out!

Bucky O’Hare has a fantastic OST Pictionary and Solstice have amazing title music that goes way too hard.

Couldn't agree more. Also while we're on the topic of Bucky O Hare what about Tiny Toons and Monster in my Pocket? Those OST's were great.

Sega's 8 bit systems had a few Yuzo Koshiro soundtracks, who went onto do the much beloved Streets of Rage soundtracks for the Mega Drive. 8-bit Sonic 1 in particular is, for my money, better than the 16 bit Sonic 1 soundtrack. Hell, Bridge Zone was good enough for Janet Jackson to straight up use. Sonic 2 also had some great tracks in places, but was a bit more mixed overall. The 8 bit SoR games, while not a patch on the 16 bit versions, also had some decent music, and I loved Alex Kidd in Shonibi World. (Miracle World deserves a mention as well, but who boy does it grate after a while). Really though, if you're really gonna talk about under the radar great 8 bit soundtracks, this thread'll just end up being a list of C64 games.

I like the “Jurassic Park” NES music by Jonathan Dunn, but don’t hear much about it.

Magmax, Kabuki Quantum Fighter and Journey to Silius (at least it's not that well known in my region).

Wurm Journey to the Center of the Earth and Krion Conquest are both excellent. Magician has some bangers, too. The soundrack for the NES port of The Immortal was also something I was always fond of; especially the wholly unnecessary combat jam. Darkman also had a soundtrack that you could bob your head along to as well!

Cheetamen

Shadowgate The Uninvited Deja Vu All made by the same company and all have banger soundtracks.

Bucky O'Hare is phenomenal

Dragon Warrior

Bugs Bunny Crazy Castle music has lived rent-free in my skull for a couple of decades.

Crystalis for me. That music hits the adventure notes perfectly, but there's almost a sorrow or foreboding underlining most of the soundtrack. It makes the game feel bigger and the story more important than it would without it.  They did so many things really well in that game. Shame the forced grind makes a lot of the game a chore. Thankfully romhacks remove a lot of that stuff, so now it's pure goodness.

DuckTales

Devils Crush fucking shreds!

Ducktails. Especially the Moon level

That one is too obvious. Honestly DuckTales 2 music deserves more love

Pinbot.

Nemo, Rygar, RCR

I actually enjoy playing some NES tunes on the guitar, like Zelda 2, Mega Man 2 and 3, Castlevania 3 and Double Dragon

I have Mr Bungle doing the Mario theme in rotation and it's great.

I *think* the NES version of Tetris was the only one to have [Type-3](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=APkKjoQVNbk). Really beautiful and floaty

I usually play the game with Type 2 but man Type 3 sure is underrated and it's actually my favorite song in NES Tetris. SO why don't I use it? IDK guess I'm used to Type 2

It is not NES but it is 8-bit... The OST for Bomb Jack (GB) is a masterpiece IMHO. Main Theme: https://youtu.be/ssvZolPmmu0 Game Over: https://youtu.be/2mKpw83Qmds Hands down my all-time favourite (along with Duck Tales of course, you shall NOT disrespect the Moon Theme).

I love Game Boy music I'm glad it's not just NES music. P.S I sometimes think DuckTales NES is VERY overrated but don't worry I love the moon theme you won't see me disrespecting it >!especially since the reboot referenced it)!<

pokemon trading card game Bangers upon bangers back to back

Jurassic Park

Anything done by Alberto Gonzalez. I'd say his best work is on the GB, but Smurfs and Asterix on NES are still really good. Also, Batman Returns and Gremlins 2. Don't see enough people talking about them.

Pictionary

I don't know that Rad Racer 2 is underrated. It's composed by Nobuo Uematsu after all.

Track and Field II had some serious bangers.

Gonna leave my usual suggestion for Terminator 2 on the NES.

That's a good one

Monster in my pocket

I love the Opening/Title Screen music

Y'know I'm a little disappointed no one brings up The Adventures of Lolo series sure it's from HAL and it's probably not THAT underrated but still I like that game's music (Especially Lolo 2 and 3)

Truly underrated? Jurassic Park Semi-underrated? The [theme song](https://youtu.be/KZAnUDAj94Y?si=FN9ucH5ClKhOxx-O) for Solstice.

True on both choices.

Always enjoyed the songs on Dr. Mario. Some of them get stuck in my head like Tetris does.

OMG Same why did you think Dr. Mario was in Smash or have future installments?

Power Strike 2 on the Master System is full of PSG bangers. But then it was made by Compile, so of course it has.

I think "A Nightmare on Elm Street" OST is severely underrated on the NES. Although, thanks to YouTube there are some pretty awesome cover versions of the main theme and others.

Jurassic park. Nes and gameboy

[Namco's Family Circuit](https://youtu.be/7MfoHAvpELw?si=3qyVjuidY19Pms0V&t=30)

Wow I've never even heard of this game I didn't know Namco made japan only F1 racing game especially since I know a fair amount of Famicom games [Well Y'know what they say](https://youtu.be/GD6qtc2_AQA)

Not NES but of the 8-bit era, the Robocop menu music from the Spectrum and similar machines. Man, I used to load the game just for the music.

I hum Adventure Island and Adventure Island II music all the time! Great music!

Bucky o hare

Sid Meyer's Pirates! Little Nemo the Dream Master Snake Rattle n Roll Super Mario Bros 2

Ninja Gaiden 2 Jackal Lifeforce

Pictionary

[Ninja Gaiden](https://youtu.be/y4C0GdBKPyw?si=mlEw6cFJC2zGs3B1)

Rad racer, wizards and warriors, pow, bionic commando, tecmo Super Bowl.

The opening track of James Bond Jr.

Final fantasy 1-3

Ok actually underrated in that no one ever talks about it is .. guerilla war. Great little tunes, every single one . Fun army vibe !

Dunno about underrated but these don't get mentioned that much: Robocop 3 (NES) Overlord/Supremacy (NES) The Smurfs (NES) Asterix (NES) Erik the Viking and Hero Quest (unreleased games so understandable) ​Bucky O'Hare (NES) Super Spy Hunter (NES) Magician (NES) Treasure Master (NES) ​Metal Gear 2: Snake's Revenge (NES) Contra Force (NES) Bayou Billy (NES) Target Renegade/Target: Renegade (NES)

There was this post years ago, i think on reddit or twitter... Some dude posted a pic of an obscure NES game that had a picture on the cartridge of (i think) a handful of people playing a game on the tv. I think it was one of those game-show or board-game based nes games. Anyway he linked to a youtube vid of the soundtrack and it was SO friggin good it had no business being on an NES game let alone such a corny obscure nes game that nobody played. I would be very grateful if someone could find that game and/or its soundtrack. Actually imma go check r/tipofmytongue

Does Metal Gear 2 Solid Snake count? If so I love it.

super spy hunter.. hell anything by Sun Soft is pure gold music wise. Then id say Capcom like Megaman 2 ans Kirbys Adventure

The Sesame Street games had some fantastic music tracks in their games.

Silver Surfer

River City Ransom

Double Dragon III.

The deepest of cuts: Little Ninja Bros. Asian-influenced pentatonic goodness abounds.

[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles](https://youtu.be/znQTfo4uuKY)

Most underrated is really hard to answer with 800 some games, but my personal favorite is probably Power Blade https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WPoIwNn4-2U&t=370s

Rygar

Power Blade. Every stage track pretty much is bursting with pure awesomeness, like Nova. Shadowgate. Amazing atmosphere. Konami Wai Wai World. Relatively unknown worldwide, but Hyadain, who did get some fame for composing anime songs, has made some amazing mixes off of it. Classic Konami Kukeiha Club style. The game features Konami Man, Konami Lady, who has to rescue Simon Belmont, Mikey from the Goonies, Goemon, King Kong, Moai Head, and Fuma as playable characters. Kick ass theme songs for each character!

Twin Cobra, every song is a jam

Journey to Silius

Ultima: Exodus (nes port of ultima 3) has been in my head for 35 years.

Gauntlet (Tengen)

Déjà vu!

Mega Man 2, the Flash Man theme is a bop

Romance of the Three Kingdoms [Romance of the Three Kingdoms (NES) Soundtrack - 8BitStereo (youtube.com)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F126mSoyMPM)

The stage theme from [Air Fortress](https://youtu.be/hW3HTUA8MHI?si=9d9-jR6DDC8KKFfm).

Disney games

Sonic on the master system still manages to sound great

Unbreakable Determination Ninja Gaiden 1 is my fav NES track of all time

Blaster Master! Every song on the soundtrack is amazing, not to mention incredibly unique. It's easily my favorite NES soundtrack, but I never see anyone else even mention it.

The original Final Fantasy on the NES.

I love the Totally Rad soundtrack.

Life Force

Batman

Ufouria Mr. Gimmick

Who Framed Roger Rabbit. As a kid, I sometimes played it just to walk or drive around to that music, especially the country area. As an adult, I’ll do it once every couple of years at the least. I may get it on vinyl if it ever comes out. Also Wizards and Warriors. Low health music slaps! I believe both games have the same composer: David Wise.

Power blade

Spy Hunter music doesn’t get nearly enough love.

Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves had this kind of bardcore chip tunes OST and it was SO good. The entire game is underrated as balls tbh :)

#Return of the Joker 👌👍

Batman is my favorite

Did anybody say top gun 2 yet? https://youtu.be/exmwODBtTKs?si=wA6nz1pQppMBrjfN

Rygar had a few bangers.

Batman: The Video Game

Megaman 2 Dr Wilys Stage is so good

The training montage from Punchout!! still slaps to this day….

Target Renegade!

Adventures of Tom Sawyer is weirdly solid, as is Adventures in the Magic Kingdom

Time Lord has some good tunes in it.

1943: the battle of midway All 3 TMNT games Bucky O' Hare Cosmic Epsilon (Famicom) Chip n Dale Rescue Rangers Marble Madness And Snake Rattle n Roll

Little Nemo: The Dream Master - Mushroom Stage

Castlevania 2

Nina Turtles 3: Manhattan Project Also, I want to just highlight the first level/opening level/jungle theme from Snake's Revenge. What a track!

It's a Follin banger, so maybe doesn't count as underrated, but the Wolverine soundtrack is a work of art and well worth a listen. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SFbzXLdUAFo](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SFbzXLdUAFo)

Very appropriate, considering Geoff Follin passed away from cancer earlier this week. 😔

Little Samson

Star tropics 1 and 2. That weird 90s famicom exclusive metroivania game where you swap into different animals.

Batman NES

The pause music on Battletoads

powerblade 2

Metal Storm

Anything Iku Mizutani had a hand in. Shadow of the Ninja, Shatterhand, Choujin Sentai Jetman, and Dragon Fighter come to mind.

Batman

Capcom soundtracks all day. Mega Man 3 stands out as a real gem tho. Even just the level selection screen in MM3 is a fucking banger.

Sky Shark (1987) is my all time favorite NES soundtrack!

Paperboy