The Greatest Video Game Music, by the London Philharmonic Orchestra
AllMusic; Amazon; Apple Music; Discogs; Spotify; Wikipedia

This came out in 2011, and I actually got it that year, as an mp3 album which I burned to disc. The Amazon link above is to a CD that includes both volumes 1 and 2, because volume 1 is no longer available on mp3 and the CD is like $100 now, compared to $20 for the two-volume set. From what Wikipedia says, it sounds to me like the original volume 1 CD included 22 tracks, one of which was a bonus. That bonus track is not included on either the Amazon or iTunes versions, but each of them has a different bonus track. So there are a total of 24 tracks, of which I have 22 (the Amazon version).

1. Advent Rising: Muse - As is the case with most of the music on this album, I'm unfamiliar with the game. But this piece is beautiful, sweeping, and majestic.

2. Legend of Zelda: Suite - One of the few games I am familiar with. So listening to it is nostalgic, energizing, and uplifting. Of course, it's a suite, so it includes various themes from throughout the game, which evoke different moods, sometimes even a little sad. But the whole suite is really good. (And sometimes I get a hint of the Superman theme, oddly enough.) It's fairly short, as suites go, not much more than 4 minutes, so you're not really getting the whole game experience. But I like it.

3. Call of Duty - Modern Warfare 2: Theme - Despite never having played the game, the music isn't entirely unfamiliar to me. I'm not sure if it reminds me of something else that I can't put my finger on, or if I know it from commercials for the game or something. (Or maybe it's just familiar from having listened to this album before, but I don't usually remember music I don't know from elsewhere, as well.) In any event, it feels somewhat foreboding, to me, but also hopeful and sort of heroic.

4. Angry Birds: Main Theme - Another game I'm familiar with, as I used to play it on Google Chrome (I've never had a phone I could play it on). This one's not really nostalgic, as it's not a game from my youth, but more recent. I'm not sure how to describe it, besides sort of perky, a little impish, playful.

5. Final Fantasy VIII: Liberi Fatali - This is rather operatic, and frantic.

6. Super Mario Bros.: Themes - Another game I'm nostalgic for, like Zelda. I'm not sure why this isn't also called a suite, because it also includes themes from throughout different parts of the game. There's the main theme, the underwater theme (which is sort of a waltz), and briefly Bowser's theme I guess you'd say, before returning to the main theme, and then a sweet little finale. The whole thing is fun.

7. Uncharted - Drake's Fortune: Nate's Theme - This is really short, less than 2 minutes. I'm not sure what to say about it, but it was okay.

8. Grant Theft Auto IV: Soviet Connection - As with Call of Duty, this is a game I've never played, but the music still sounds familiar. It's kind of dark, as you might expect for a GTA game. Not too dark, but whatever. You can definitely tell something unsavory is afoot. But it's cool.

9. World of Warcraft: Seasons of War - It's kind of... adventurey. It's got that sort of operatic vibe to it, with both highs and lows in terms of mood. A good fantasy piece.

10. Metal Gear Solid: Sons of Liberty Theme - Yet another game I haven't played, where the music somehow isn't exactly unfamiliar to me, though this feels less familiar than the other games I said that about. It's also something of a suite, I'd say, with moods that aren't necessarily different, but they have different intensities. It's mostly rather militaristic, but it ends on more of an upbeat segment than most of the piece.

11. Tetris: Theme - This is another game from my youth that feels nostalgic (I believe I played it on both NES and Gameboy). It takes a little while for it to get to a part of the music that seems familiar to me, but mostly it's quite familiar. Of course it's based on Russian folk music. And quite appropriately, it gets a bit quicker toward the end, though never quite as quick as it got in the game.

12. Battlefield 2: Theme - This is militaristic in a way that seems to me to sound a lot like music in other military games on the album. It's not bad at all, though I don't feel like it really needs to be one of the longest tracks on the album, as it is, at over 4 and a half minutes. I like it, but I think I like it just a bit less than the other tracks it reminds me of.

13. Elder Scrolls: Oblivion - This is one of the shorter tracks, under 2 minutes. I'd say it evokes fantasy, kind of like WoW, but there's not much else I could say about it.

14. Call of Duty 4 - Modern Warfare: Main Menu Theme - Well, there's more to this than I would think is necessary for a menu theme, but it's good.

15. Mass Effect: Suicide Mission - This is the longest track, at nearly 5 minutes. It starts out reminding me of, like, "Tubular Bells", oddly enough. It soon moves on from that to being yet another piece of militaristic music. The mood rises and falls throughout the track, though not with so much variation that I'd call it a rollercoaster, or anything like that. It's good, I would definitely say I like it more than the Battlefield theme, though still not necessarily as much as some of the earlier tracks.

16. Splinter Cell: Conviction - I don't know what to say. A description just isn't coming to mind as I listen to it. I think at this point I'm just getting a little fatigued with the album. But it's good.

17. Final Fantasy: Main Theme - This is lighter than most of the music up to this point, which is a nice change of pace after all the military stuff. It feels like just the upbeat portion of a fantasy adventure, after winning some great victory, but without getting all bombastic about it.

18. BioShock: The Ocean on His Shoulders - This is very melancholy.

19. Halo 3: One Final Effort - Um... jaunty. I can't quite tell if this is supposed to be a military mission or a road trip. (I mean that in a good way.)

20. Fallout 3: Theme - This is another one about which I don't really know what to say.

21. Super Mario Galaxy: Gusty Garden Galaxy - This is fairly lighthearted and upbeat and fun. I really can't think of anything else to say about it, but that feels like enough.

22. Dead Space: Welcome Aboard the U.S.G. Ishimura (Amazon exclusive) - This starts out quiet. Eventually it picks up somewhat. It's all rather dramatic, in an understated way. Parts of it sound quite ominous. And I was wrong before, this is the longest track at nearly 6 minutes. (I was going by Discog's runtimes, but it doesn't list this one.)

Well, I think the whole album is pretty good. Regardless of game genre, I feel like it's a good album to listen to while playing any video games. (I mostly play Pokemon games.) Or you can just listen to it any time.