Poll:
https://linkto.run/p/0XRGR9MO

Home computers only, no other platforms. This concludes the poll series for now, so thanks to everyone who participated and talked about their faves! If someone else would like to continue it from here, go for it.

Consider creativity, sound chip limitations and technical achievement, composition (melody or hook, progression, complexity), dynamics (range between quiet and loud, soft/diminuendo and hard/crescendo), pitch range, punch, instrument and instrument envelope variety and quality, how well the music fits the game, and so on. We're going by original release dates.

Try to say something about your favorite(s), it's more fun to read!

Music links (multiplatform list - if a game you want to vote for isn't in the poll list then do a search here with ctrl+f, it's probably included and not forgotten about. If I did completely miss an OST though then please mention it in the thread). Note that I haven't researched cd audio OSTs from 1996 onwards so I went with mobygames' list and my earlier tier list template for those:
https://minirevver.weebly.com/vgm-1999.html

Previous winners:
1987: Ys 1 followed by The Last Ninja 1
1988: Last Ninja 2 and Ys 2 followed by IK+
1989: Ys 3 followed by Quest for Glory
1990: Secret of Monkey Island followed by Lost Patrol
1991: MI2 followed by Turrican 2
1992: Ultima VII followed by Monkey Island (CD ver.)
1993: Doom followed by Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers
1994: Beneath a Steel Sky & Colonization (tie) followed by Warcraft 1
1995: Crusader: No Remorse and Warcraft II (tie) followed by Transport Tycoon Deluxe, Tyrian, C&C and DreamWeb CD ver. (tie)
1996: C&C: Red Alert followed by Quake
1997: Age of Empires & Interstate '76 (tie) followed by Jazz Jackrabbit 2 & ​Blood

Now this is really difficult. A lot of contenders here... Will take me a while to decide.

Also, not sure if Heroes III should have Armageddon's Blade as a separate entry. IIRC, there was only a single new track, that being the Conflux town theme.

Oh I see, I wasn't quite sure about it so I included it just in case.

I don't like 1999 (too much).

It's the year that market the end of eurodance and more of that silly dance music, a year filled with angst from media about the pending doom when crossing over to 2000 (just like they do today), that hilarious My (fecking) Space, The Euro was established, more wars, MS Explorer 5 came... Have I forgotten anything else?

Certainly.

On the bright side we got Napster, TLS, Direct Connect and CUPS, and I bought my first AMD PC (AMD K6-III) to test BeOS Pro.

Well, few games stood out this year... Return to NaPali isn't a new game, same with Secret Files.

HoMM3, C&C Tiberan Sun and UT are the only ones that stands out. I think I'll give my vote to Frank Klepacki this year...

I hate to say it, but each year after 1996, I'm finding it harder and harder to find something with standout music. I'm not sure whether it's because they're moving to MP3 type music (and so it's more licensed/background), or because it's just not my cup of tea as much. I miss the days of strong MT32/GM music.

I voted for "Other", namely Ultima IX. Until this final entry in the series it was only midi (which was also wonderful), then it went all out with a 40 piece orchestra! It's widely lamented that such a great OST had to be associated with such a disappointing game. Take a listen here.

If this post gets no love, then I'll get behind Heroes of Might and Magic III because that too was fantastic.

Unreal Tournament

Outcast's music definitely, as performed by the Moscow symphony orchestra.

Either Outcast or Soul Reaver, from those that I recognize in the list.

I picked Soul Reaver, mainly for its intro music:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNWSDvDqm9g

Narrowed it down to Heroes III, AoE 2 and Rayman 2. But picking between these 3 is gonna be super hard... Don't think there is going to be a harder year to pick for me.

Was thinking about Soul Reaver too but while Ozar is awesome, it is the only track that really sticks out to me, so can't pick it as a whole.

Tiberian Sun too, but it is one of the weaker C&C soundtracks to me.

Unreal Tournament, while good, didn't seem that awesome to me.

Na Pali is good, but not as groundbreaking as the original.

EDIT:
Went with Heroes III in the end. I still remember the town themes off the top of my head, the battle music was great. Everything just fits. But it is still a very close victory.

I played surprisingly many games from this year, but I can't really remember any of the soundtracks as memorable.
I guess Soul Reaver is the only good one I can remember. It has a very nice 90s 3D era synth feel to it.
Outcast on the other hand is a taste of what to come in the 2000s: Epic orchestras all around, for every game. At least that's what the 2000s felt to me. It's not necessarily bad, but it really all blends together in my mind compared the SNES and PC era of the 90s.

I'll go with Age of Empires 2.

Same as above, but replacing "Empires 2" with "Wonders"
It has always been one of my favourite musical scores in a game.

Oh my God - I didn't see Outcast on the list. That's some epic in game music.

Yeah, I gotta give it to the Jazz.


The Jazz in Sim City 3K, that is.