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Ever tried to buy a gaming soundtrack only to discover the exorbitant fees that come with importing? You don't want to be a dirty pirate and download them for free, so what's a gamer to do?
Well, you're in luck, because musically inclined fans release remix albums that showcase your favorite tunes in new ways. And they're free for anyone to download and enjoy. Sometimes you can even score a game's original soundtrack for the low cost of zero.
So, where can you find these albums? Right here, of course! Here's a few of the free video-game albums that hit the Internet in October…and an extra bonus cut, as well.
Girls Lost In Time
Girls Lost in Time is a fan-arranged soundtrack from the bullet-hell shooter series Touhou. The album takes tracks from each of the Touhou games and lovingly remixes them. If you want to download it though, a warning first: You can only download .OGG and .FLAC formats. .OGG doesn't run with all media players, and .FLAC takes up a surprising amount of hard drive space, though the sound quality is second to none.
More Info: VGMdb, Album Site
Sample Tracks: Get Out of My Garden//Psychotropic Body (Preview Version)
Super Dodge Ball: Around The World
Every month or so, OCRemix comes out with an album featuring a conglomeration of artists working on the tracks to a game or game series. This month's release features a nicely remixed set of tracks from Super Dodge Ball. Super Dodge Ball is known for featuring characters that looked as if they were ripped out of River City Random (which makes sense, since they are both part of the Kunio-kun series), but it also had some pretty awesome tunes. Even if you haven't played the game, this is worth a listen.
More Info: VGMdb, Album Site, OCRemix
Sample Tracks: Nairobi Hop [Vs. Team Kenya], Go Balls Deep! [Versus Play]
Frets of Valmar: Grandia 2
Frets of Valmar is a short (four tracks) Grandia 2 arranged album, though there's an interesting story behind this one. The artist held an auction to choose what game he'd remix for the album, and the proceeds would go to the Japanese Red Cross to help with the relief fund. The auction winner choose Grandia 2 and picked some tracks to remix. Then the two decided to put the album up for free on Bandcamp, although any donations would still go to the Japanese Red Cross. How generous of them! It's a worthwhile album to download, too.
More Info: VGMdb, Download page
Sample Tracks: Sorry, nothing on YouTube. You'll have to download it!
Dungeon Defenders original soundtrack
Dungeon Defenders is an interesting little game released for Steam, XBLA, and PSN. It combines tower-defense elements with an action-RPG and throws in nice multiplayer to boot. The music represents what you'd find in a game of its type: Nicely done fantasy-esque tracks that mainly build up tension as defending your castle gets harder. If you like the game, give this a download, too.
More Info: VGMdb, official site, download link
Sample Tracks: Grand Dragon Boss, Castle Combat Phase
Halloween by Minibosses
Minibosses are a relatively well-known video-game band; they've released many albums in the past and have also gone on live tours. Halloween is the new set of tracks for October's holiday, and it's…indescribable. The five "songs" (one is only three seconds long, so it's really only four) are creepy, Halloween-themed remixes of some game tunes. Which tunes they are, I'm not sure, since the remixing sounds more like original compositions than remixes. It's worth checking out if you're a Minibosses fan, but it's a little hard to recommend otherwise.
More Info: VGMdb, Minibosses MySpace page, download link
Sample Tracks: Sorry, nothing on YouTube or their MySpace page.
Vampire Variations
Vampire Variations is a Castlevania tribute album, made by the fans to celebrate the series' 25th anniversary. It was also released on October 31st, making it a nice album to put on for the holiday. And although Halloween has already come and gone, don't be shy about downloading and listening to it; it's worth the time! The album remixes some popular and some not-so-popular tracks and serves as a nice tribute to the Belmont legacy.
More Info: VGMdb, album page
Sample Tracks: Vampire Variations – Final/Launch Trailer
Legend of Zelda: The Essence of Lime
Musically inclined gamers have put out tons of arrangement albums for The Legend of Zelda series. But The Essence of Lime, released for free back in June of last year, is a bit different. The entire album features remixed tracks from Oracles of Ages, one of Nintendo's and Capcom's Game Boy Color love-children. Many people missed out on playing Oracle of Ages, but it is best remembered for its fantastic soundtrack. Lime takes those tunes and lovingly arranges them into two full discs bursting with Zelda goodness. (And they're not all tropically themed, as the name might fool you into thinking.) If there's any Zelda soundtrack you should own (without paying money, of course!), it's this one.
…And yes, all the sample tracks seem to be remixes of the Zelda theme, but I swear there's more than that, really! I just didn't want to include solely OCRemix artist links, because this actually isn't an OCRemix album.
More Info: VGMdb, album site
Sample Tracks: Past, Present, and Future Perfect, Essence of Melon, Linking the Legends