What Pokémon game(s) had the best soundtrack?

[Sweet Serenity]

Pokémon games have had a different themes for towns, cities, routes, wild Pokémon battles, trainer Pokémon battles, different characters, and so on. Which game(s) do you think had the best soundtracks? What were some of your favorite songs in those games?

 

[Adam Levine]

The Mystery Dungeon Explorers games, BW/B2W2, and Rescue Team DX are pretty strong contenders on my list, with Scarlet and Violet not too far behind. The soundfonts from the first two are extremely iconic and the overall soundtracks for those are great as well, Rescue Team DX is the perfect example of how to "remake" music (not to mention the fact that they bothered to add a GtI medley and it sounds amazing), and Scarlet and Violet are full of bangers and tracks that push the envelope when it comes to what Pokémon music "should be."

 

[Sheep]

Bit of a hard choice since so many are good but... SwSh. I am absolutely obsessed with some of the music there, like all the rival battle themes (especially Hop's). BW/BW2 are also excellent. SV recently entered the top list for me too thanks to the incredible music playing closer to the end of the story. <3

 

[Zeostar]

I like Hoenn and it's unique sounding instrumentals

 

[_confused_piplup_]

It's gotta be Sinnoh for me and without any doubt. Hoenn comes second.

 

[Iceshadow3317]

I'll be honest, I don't listen to the sound track much, but out of all the music, the most that makes me nostalgic is the Ruby and Sapphire music. Specifically the Legendary Music and Opening Credits Scene.

 

[Alex_Among_Foxes]

I don't remember enough of the music in the older Gen games to say for certain which one had the best soundtrack for me.
But I do know that all the Gym/'Elite 4'/Champion music from Sword & Shield is some of the best universal (not just for Pokemon) battle music I've
heard in a while.

 

[Squirtkipfan01]

B/W 2 no doubt, but lets be real most pokemon osts range from passable to really good

 

[Floria]

SHEILD HANDS DOWN

 

[Sweet Serenity]

SHEILD HANDS DOWN

Hey! Welcome to the forums!

Thanks for sharing your opinion in the thread as well. 😊

 

[PageEmp]

I don't have a personal favourite soundtrack of the series, but now that I'm replaying it, I must say gen7 has a really great soundtrack.

 

[CoolKid575]

Definitely a hard choice. The soundtrack is something that Pokemon has never faltered on, even with BDSP and Sw/Sh. I'd say HGSS just BARELY has the best soundtrack but RSE and SV are very close behind it

 

[Drayton]

between SwSH and BW2 as well DPPT and the remakes so it's pretty rough choice

 

[Harmonie]

My favorite soundtracks are from Gen 6, 2, 1, 3 and 8.

I'm listening to the B/W OST and I do think that I've been underestimating it a little just because I didn't find it too memorable on my playthrough. It has some route themes that remind me a lot of Gen 2's (Route 4, Route 6). Also DragonSpiral Tower is great, it has to be an homage to the Palace theme from Zelda:ALTTP, which is one of my top favorite VGM tracks ever.

 

[Soaring Sid]

I like Hoenn and it's unique sounding instrumentals

Hoenn, Unova and Sinnoh are my favourites.
Hoenn remakes had amped up those sounds and i vividly recall the goosebumps i got as a thirteen year old listening to Maxie and Archie's theme for the first time as the screech at the outset moved from one ear to the other.

In case of Sinnoh it's my nostalgia for Pearl but also the PMD games from that generation:

Time tower, Through the sea of time, wigglytuff's guild, that one pokémon's fight to the finish are some of my favourite tracks

 

[Corveone]

Hard to tell. I'd say that for me having good battle themes is more important, so I guess the Sinnoh and Hoenn games since they have my favorite battle songs all around. SV also has a few ones I liked a lot, like Team Star grunt's. And SwSh was basically the worst for me (I hate the gym leader theme).

I remember the Gen 5 games having some nice town/event songs, but don't recall liking the battle themes much, except probably the villain ones.

 

[Setsuna]

It's like picking a favourite child, oh god. ;;

I'm so biased towards Platinum, but so many songs from the first 5 gens are ones I can identify from only a single note or two. If you forced me to answer, I'd maybe say Black 2 and White 2? But I think HGSS has a really strong aesthetic identity. Songs like Ecruteak, Sprout Tower, and Bell Tower all emit that traditional vibe and that's the kind of thing I wish something like Legends Arceus capitalized on more, given its setting.

 

[miragespot]

Main series: Hoenn for sure!

Side games: Pokemon Mystery Dungeon (Red/Blue Rescue Team)