PixlBit

When you load a video game and arrive at the title screen or main menu, chances are, a tune will start playing. In some menus there's no music, in others there may be ambient noise providing atmosphere, and sometimes there's a short song full of melody and maybe even lyrics. Occasionally a game will have an unforgettable theme that will trigger memories of my experiences in the game, memories of what life was like around the time I played through the game, and even become synonymous with the game itself. It's fascinating to me how a song playing at the menu screen of a game can come to be a defining characteristic of the experience, and such a prominent part of your memory generation, every bit as powerful as the gameplay and characters themselves within the game.

I got the idea to do this feature last week and I thought it was going to be easy. I believed I would throw it together in an hour, post it, and have a simple blog in the books for readers to see. It turned out that the more I thought about my favorite themes, the harder it became to choose my 5 favorite. I spent the past week remembering the great themes I've heard, organizing, cutting out a lot of good songs, and settling on a list that represents me the best.

Feel free to list your own favorite title screen themes in the comment section!

#5 Mass Effect

This is an example of a more atmospheric and ambient theme. Mass Effect is one of my favorite series of games, and this theme sparks hundreds of positive memories pulled from hundreds of hours of gameplay I've seen over the course of the games.

#4 Two Worlds

I'm a huge fan of gothic metal, so I fell in love with this song in the Two Worlds menu. This is one of the rare cases in my gaming history where a title screen song basically sold me on a game all by itself. I played the demo, heard this song, became emotionally attached, and knew I had to have the game. This isn't a very good game, it's like amateur designers trying to copy Elder Scrolls, but I love this song so much that it almost blinds me to the poor design and execution of the game. No matter how poor the game is, I can't stop having fond memories because of this song. Almost single-handedly, a song sold me a game.

#3 Deadly Premonition

I originally had this song at number one because I love it so much, but I knew something else already needed that spot. When I get to the main menu of Deadly Premonition I almost always listen to this song at least once before loading my save and starting to play. There's a lot of funky music in this game that doesn't make any sense, but this song makes perfect sense. It's folksy, relaxing, melodic, and a little bit haunting. It gets me in the right mood before I go into the mysterious, eccentric, and darkly humorous world that Deadly Premonition offers.

#2 Halo

 There are a lot of great themes in the Halo series, but they are all derived from this original gem. From the haunting choir to the African drum inspired beats, and all the orchestral bombast in between, this theme is a classic. Listening to this pulls from more memories than the previous three games in my top 5 combined. Between all the Halo games, the campaigns, Firefight, building my own levels in Forge, and even all the Halo novels I've read, I haven't only spent hundred of hours in this universe, but I've invested over a decade of emotion into it across different mediums. You would have to go to a parallel universe in order to find a version of me who isn't a fanboy and doesn't have this on the list.

#1 Morrowind

The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind is my favorite Elder Scrolls game, and it had the number one spot locked-in since the get-go. This theme basically set the stage for all the amazing orchestral music in Elder Scrolls games to follow. It has it all, from epic and loud to soft and subtle, the horn, wind, and string sections are magic. This game changed the way I thought about RPG design, and this song enchanted me every time I started the game.

So, what are some of your favorite title screen themes?