been donloading all of the Super Nintendo Entertainment System™ Original Sound Tracks (in the spc format) and have listened to a good number of them. in the process, i have found many Obscure(?) Oddities that are very Interesting, and maybe even among the best on the console. so i figured it might be fun to talk about soundtracks/music (including homebrew stuff!) from the Snes Gaming Console.

Do-Re-Mi Fantasy
really cool and unique ost that never left japan. reminds me a lot of some of the stuff on dami's snes album "distant islands", but i have 0 clue if it was an influence lolololol EDIT: i ended up asking dami, it was not

Bounty Sword
Neat Japan-only SRPG ost. definitely on par with some of the best on the console, but the game lacks a fan translation

Dharma Dojo
Japan-only Puzzle game with a neat OST

I like to listen to the snes tom and jerry soundtrack on loop for as long as I can take
most of my favorites aren't unknown or anything cause it's just the normal turtles in time sparkster actraiser soyo oka shit. but I fucking love the stunt race fx ost. and I like the game a lot too once I psych myself up for the slideshow

This is my favorite piece of music on the SNES
https://www.smwcentral.net/?p=section&a=details&id=32975

I think the OST of 2048 is underrated too

The Turrican series has long had a following, stemming from their Amiga roots but my intro was Super Turrican. The SNES publisher really enjoyed playing the dolby sound. The game itself is really over the top and I feel like all parts were put together separately, so I find a good chunk of the soundtrack to still be enjoyable without reminiscing on the game. Good on the original composer for selling on bandcamp
https://chrishuelsbeck.bandcamp.com/album/turrican-soundtrack-anthology-original-sound-version-vol-2

Clock Tower's soundtrack is sparse and is mostly a reworking of one song over and over, and I might associate my fonder memories with how the songs fit perfectly for the tension of the horror in this game. Of course the stand outs are "Don't Cry Jennifer" and "Kerosene" but I know it's the same freaking song with different treatments.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TKGj-NyL544
I was genuinely angry when I finally got around to playing the PSX sequel. Forget the cheezy voice acting, I was pissed they didn't keep this melody


Demon's Crest - I guess a capcom game isn't obscure and I know a lot of people prefer the gameboy game over this for gameplay, but I just love the soundtrack so much
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ue7ZrhXB-og&list=PL89B635DF21CEF816

Chris Huelsbeck, also known for making the VERY FIRST tracker-like program called Soundmonitor, even before Ultimate Soundtracker! Anyways,

my favorite obscure SNES OST is called Akagawa Jirou: Majo-tachi no Nemuri. It's apparently a spooky visual novel game, so it has a number of spooky tracks, but my favorites are the more melodic and more rhythmic ones. But this OST is always on my vgm playlists.
https://youtu.be/i2WzM15_C-A?si=JVrLRTOmvuzHeFTp&t=1690

Another fun one is 4-Nin Shougi, with some really cool meditative tracks.
https://youtu.be/rv5kO_eQgUc?si=VDajhCFe6CeqOxlP&t=426

RPG Tsukuru Super Dante (aka RPG Maker) actually has some really good music! Really well done versions of some kind of 'standard' jrpg songs
https://youtu.be/SidDJg8nzDE?si=J7m58SAiThME3ZUO

Inazuma Serve Da!! has some good music, especially the Staff Roll:
https://youtu.be/RW-I_E7OJSE?si=GE2wGAZahSN_Qcju&t=647

Gundam Wing: endless duel is a really great guitar-centric ost, almost rivaling mega man X

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhPt7n-ALrSBV8vjtao7my13ce9I8eWc6

you don't gotta recommend obscure stuff exclusively!!

4ChannelsOfNoise already mentioned it, I love the Clock Tower OST too :D

Last bible iii gets an honorable mention from me, as does terranigma

There are so many that are good though

well if we aren't talking obscure we got https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRvYkrrpMKo

Last Bible III - People mostly know it for the Underworld Forest song that got popular on SMWC, but the whole OST is really magical. The fact that it doesn't use any echo at all continues to be impressive to me, and some of the samples used are really awesome. A very ethereal, extraterrestrial sound.

Dragon Quest VI: Realms of Reverie - This soundtrack is like taking a walk along the rolling green hills of the valley countryside nestled in the mountains. Some of the peak of SNES orchestra music, the instruments almost dance around each other.

Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War - The number of motifs racing through the game is hard to track, but it ties the world together so wonderfully. Most of the Chapter themes, especially in the first half, are bangers just by themselves, and even though the samples aren't always top-notch quality, the compositional chops here is phenomenal.

Ys V: Lost Kefin, Kingdom of Sand - I've never played an Ys game but this just has a lot of good and cozy tunes.

Just a few. I could think of way more though, haha.

I just remembered the soundtrack of ISS International Superstar Soccer (normal and deluxe) has pretty good OST too

what no earthbound?????

straight up would stand out on a warp artists' compilation
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P6TEXfM3x5c
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-EGzXG4W_dc

Here listed are games with music I like, and some standout tracks from each.

I think all the Dragon Quest games on SNES have really evocative soundtracks, even I and II, there's something so quaint, yet grand about the way the small instruments are orchestrated. Good echoey sounds.
I - Overworld

III - Prologue

VI - Town

Drakkhen has a pretty weird soundtrack, but there are some really relaxing and interesting tunes in it. Has that early SNES vibe to it. I find early SNES game tunes using stock sdk sounds to have really fun music! (Super Mario World, SimCity, Pilotwings etc.)
House in Air Area

Staff Roll

SimCity - Budget

The JP exclusive Nintendo published games on SFC have good music too! Sutte Hakkun and Marvelous: Mouhitotsu no Takarajima are ones that come to mind.
Sutte Hakkun - Stage 6

Sutte Hakkun - Stage 9

Marvelous - Gina

I'm a big fan of Kentarou Haneda's music composed for Wizardry, and he certainly does not miss on the SNES ports of Wizardry V and VI, they both have a very classical vibe to the music, with Wizardry V almost sounding like a film score at times, and Wizardry VI having more ambient and immersive tracks while still having score-like tracks.
Wiz5 - Title

Wiz5 - Inn

Wiz6 - Dungeon 1

Both the Uncharted Waters games on SNES have very cozy seafaring tracks done by Yoko Kanno, although the first game I will admit is an acquired taste, with the simpler and sometimes detuned sdk instruments, though I like it. The second game however, has really good music with great piano sounds and latin/jazz elements!
1 - Occidental Port

2 - Wind Ahead

2 - Empty Eyes

As a really big Puyo Puyo fan, I've played the crap out of almost every Puyo game, which includes the SFC games. I would say for normal listeners, Super Puyo Puyo 2 has better music than Super Puyo Puyo 2 Remix, because Remix has kind of crusty instruments, but for some reason, I really prefer the crusty, detuned, sound that the Remix version has. It tickles my brain in a funny way. The spinoff Nazo Puyo games also have fun tracks with a lot of variety.
Area B - 2

Remix

Area C - 2

Remix

Nazo 2 - Intro

For you fans of Earthbound music wishing for more, I recommend Snoopy Concert, a JP exclusive Peanuts game for SFC that has some fun tracks, with a familiar sound to them. Hirokazu Tanaka worked on the music for this game, as well as Earthbound.
Pine Crest Elementary

Theme of Linus

Theme of Peppermint Patty

For a cute, silly, and overall jolly vibe, I really dig the soundtrack to Motteke Oh! Dorobou, a SFC game by Data East, which is full of fun-spirited tracks. The game itself is kind of like a board game centered around stealing and heists, but there is no translation and no .spc rips of the soundtrack for some reason, so I don't know where most of the songs play.
Overview

Board

???

Lord of the Rings on SNES is a boring game, and not a good adaptation of the source material, but it has some absolutely epic music. I even like the Moria themes and the stuff that is more on the ambient side, it's pretty immersive.
Title

Town

Nazghul

and a bonus!!!!
The Might and Magic III soundtrack for Super Famicom! An unreleased Japanese localization of the game was planned, but it was ultimately canned, and recently a YouTube channel by the name of Xeen Music miraculously managed to upload recordings of the soundtrack from the composer, Takeshi Abo, and the music is awesome! I truly think if the game was released, a lot of video game music enthusiasts would be listening to it. Sadly, probably will never see the game or a .spc rip of the soundtrack, since it is ultimately lost to time.
The Playlist on YouTube

TBH I don't think these are particularly obscure but here goes:

Equinox: By the late and great Geoff Follin, also the sequel to Solstice on the NES which Tim Follin wrote for that everyone seems to know about. It's like a nice varied mix between orchestra and luscious atmosphere or something.
Overworld

Tori

SD The Great Battle 3/4/5: It's a JP series and it's a crossover between Ultraman, Gundam, and Kamen Rider if those ring a bell?? It's a bit more in line with standard SNES fare as far as the style goes but it's got some pretty catchy tracks.
SD The Great Battle 3 - Turbulent Airship Flight

SD The Great Battle 4 - The Battleship of General Black X

SD The Great Battle 5 - Mountain Path

Waterworld: Luigi64 already mentioned it above but more fun calm, lush stuff on SNES.
The whole soundtrack

The Flintstones: IDK how to describe this one, Euro-ey/UK Garage-ish I guess? Cool unique sounds outta the SNES either way.
Quarry

Bedrock

Staff Roll

Unused Song 2

Unused Song 3

Chrono Trigger: Okay this one's not obscure at all but I don't care it's still damn good RPG fare!
Wind Scene

Secret of the Forest

Battle with Magus

Corridors of Time

Undersea Palace

I know these are like everyone's favorite tracks but let me gush anyway okay

The SPC700 is probably my all-time favorite soundchip. Good that not only obscure recommendations are allowed because I'm into the most usual SNES stuff.

I'll start with the most obvious. Chrono Trigger. It's perhaps not only my favorite SNES OST, but my favorite video game OST ever. The main theme (Chrono Trigger) and Secret of the Forest are my top 2, and they're probably Yasunori Mitsuda's masterpieces IMO.

Link to the full soundtrack

in a single video, just in case.

I'll then list my favorite soundtracks (very common, I'm not very knowledgeable on obscure Japan-only hidden gems; which I'm glad I'm hearing thanks to your previous posts), linking only some of my favorite individual songs, in no particular order.

Super Metroid. Brinstar (The Jungle Floor)

, Maridia (Swampy Caverns)

.
Final Fantasy VI. Dancing Mad is probably Uematsu's masterpiece.
Terranigma (perhaps my most "obscure" entry since it was released in Japan and Europe only). Dark Side Field

... Ooops, wrong link. Here

.
Plok! Been trying to cover the Beach

theme in 2A03 Follin-style for ages.
Starfox. The credits theme impressed me when I played the game as a kid, good ol' Corneria impressed me as an adult, but my real favorite is the super groovy Fortuna

.
Donkey Kong Country series. Forest Interlude, Aquatic Ambiance and Stickerbush Symphony are among David Wise's finest pieces, They're my favorite in that order.
Super Castlevania IV. I don't think I have a clear favorite, but, as a kid, I was amazed by hearing a beautiful free jazz

in the middle of a video game.

Others: Killer Instinct, Waterworld.

I'm probably forgetting many more right now.

Thanks for your recommendations above ^^ . (Edit: and below ^_~).

I'll post some other recommendations, too:
3x3 Eyes: Juuma Houkan...
...is based on a manga series, and a glance at the track names makes it seem like an RPG, but it's actually a 2D sidescroller... adventure game??? It's weird. But the music is super good for some reason...
Aero Fighters
Really cool arcade port OST. I don't think this one is terribly obscure, but it's got a lot of neat, high-energy rock-y tunes with some unqiue chord choices.
Biker Mice From Mars
Holy shit dude. This OST is crazy. It's pure 80s/90s "rad-sounding" rock and some of the craziest I've heard come out of a SNES... Apparently, also a TV show I'm too young to know of.
Alberty Oddyssey (both 1 and 2)
2 neat RPG soundtracks.
Do-Re-Mi Fantasy
Legally, I am required to recommend this OST again. Don't know why. Law just says that.

As I download more OSTs off of Zophar's Domain, I'll come back with recs!

How has nobody said any of the Top Gear games yet? First and second games in the series are nothing but bangers

If you like Waterworld and is not familiar with the cancelled Green Lantern, it's by the same composer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t0hpQIKQ-Hs

The lead here has the most refreshing sound design I've heard in a SNES song, with multisampled resonance filtering.

Definitely Plok. But I mostly listen to Custom SMW Music. Imma list some of my favorites:

1. Pastel Wind by Moose

2. Potential for Anything by Maxodex

3. Cold by RednGreen

There are more, but these are the ones that first came to my mind ^^

ok!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

so i've got three soundtracks that i enjoy and would recommend, and i will elaborate:

Plok
(particular picks: Akrillic, Boss, Creepy Crag)

It's a bit of an obvious pick, sure - a Follin brothers work, so naturally it's full of progressive licks and picks, as well as just, how to put it... getting jiggy with it in 16-bits? It also all just happens to fit the game really well - it's cartoony, it's up-beat, and it also demonstrates a sound scape that's not very typical of what people think of SNES outside of BotB? It's very Amiga, which makes sense, but it takes that 64kb RAM limit and just runs with it and makes a soundtrack that manages to sound decently "real" for SNES standards.


Rockman & Forte
(particular picks: Astroman, Groundman, Museum)

Perhaps another obvious pick, it's a (classic, non-X) Mega Man title - one that didn't get released in the west. It's a shame, because the soundtrack accompanying it might be one of Capcom's best SNES outings, the samples are a blend of high-quality, punchy and smooth sounds, and barring some slight tuning issues, also manages to deliver an incredibly diverse soundtrack, from the opening stage theme to Dynamoman (which isn't one of my picks here, I try to keep them diverse and not "what people go to every single time"). I think Mega Man 7, which DID get released overseas, is a more consistent and typical pick, and I do rather enjoy that soundtrack - but this one picks some choices that I rather like and I find it the more iconic of the two.


Super Metroid
(particular picks: Maridia Rocky Underwater Area, Brinstar Green Area, Theme of Super Metroid)

This is one of, if not my all-time favourite video game, of course it'll get a spot here. It's not the most high quality soundtrack in terms of sample selection, but what I appreciate is what the quality AND selection here perfectly fits the game. It manages to sound atmospheric, heroic, tense, you name it - perfectly fits the game in my eyes.
Of course, within the franchise a lot of these songs would become mainstay staples, but unless you've played this game, you won't really care. I find it doubly impressive what was made, considering the probably really limited sample space, especially when accounting the many global sound effects that, for sound effects, are high quality - they're not just cycle-looped samples that alter in volume or pitch or whatever, but recordings for each action it seems. Sure, some songs in the soundtrack will lose meaning divorced from the game, but seeing as I *have* played this... yeah.

a long time ago i made a mix of more obscure ones i enjoy, and agargara actually made a video adding images of the carts / boxes which was amazing

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pmGt7wzRsrY

here's some random interesting stuff:

wagyan paradise
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPpmD2FCcJU
yamyam
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=irT0-h0vVZ4&t=963s
moryou senki madara 2
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NY7n4c24gGA
jungle wars 2
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=woq2ZGVPpsg&t=200s

+1 for Terranigma, that soundtack is incredible. Other favourite mentions (although not obscure). are:

Starfox(starwing)
F-zero
Donkey Kong Country 3
Chrono Trigger
Yoshis island
Simcity!
Final Fantasy 3

There's a lot of OSTs I like for the composition, but sometimes they lack in the sound design department. Conversely, there's games with great instrument design that I just don't vibe with.

Castlevania Dracula X hits that sweet spot for me. Granted it's easier to focus on sound design when half your songs are recycled from older castlevanias but man it hits that 80s pop meets baroque period niche that I try to emulate.

Waterworld is another great all-rounder. If you like SNES for ambient or for funky, it DOES NOT MISS

I love the composition on Nintendo first party titles, but their sound design on early SNES games is just not it. That being said, the super mario world slap bass is actually pretty good and man I love the athletic them from yoshi's island.

I have a soft spot for Mighty Morphin power rangers mainly because I grew up watching the show, but also because VOCALS AND A NOT CRAP RHYTHM GUITAR ON A SNES TRACK AT THE SAME TIME!!!

oh and super double dragon is pretty cool

Get deadbeef, or anything that can play spcs
toreent the snesmusic archive
let it shuffle, there is some cool stuff

This is not an OST but definitely worth a check, and one of my favourite chiptune albums ever, SNESology by Shnabubula

I remember SNESology from all those years ago (and I know it's not one of the genuine SNES music ones as well: projects like these, combined with my own misguided ideas from way back in 2007 are why I am usually more convinced with .spc files rather than just with audio renders). I briefly considered it, but abandoned it because I preferred authenticity... and also not recycling soundsets (I did eventually recycle a couple of them for Super Famicompo foe ther eal deal, one of them unintentionally, and I recycled a third one for Soundchip Pastiche Collection Vol. 1

without going through that process... which is also a case of something that I think will not be returning for a volume 2). And then the SNESology name was reused by someone for some kind of web app that... well, I'd say over time abandoned the project for... well... oh boy. No further comment.

Fun little detail about the 2048 OST... if you're talking about the SNES version, I'm the musician of that particular one. It's not very large given the nature of the game itself, though. I usually prefer those to go on a similar discovery process that I did with these soundtracks when it comes to my own homebrew soundtracks. Other ones I've done are MazezaM Challenge by Alekmauk, Tchou by dieudunet (plenty of unused stuff here!) and Space Rescue Squad by undisbeliever (a SNESDev 2025 game jam entry!)... and I'm the arranger of Uwol: Quest for Money, ported by Alekmaul and the who-knows-when-but-just-about-complete Mysterious Song ported by Rafael Daniel.

I have a lot of stuff I can carry over from this thread since I primarily listed SNES music. So in no particular order (links are present for the ones that weren't commonly found at the time)...

Aladdin ~ Abu Blows It, The Genie's Lamp, "Only in Trouble If You Get Caught...", "You Little Fool!"

Appleseed ~ "All Your Base Are Belong to Us" (deliberate naming by me to substitute for a generic "Boss 2" from the sound test), Tuning, Final Battle against ESWAT Spider Machine, Unused Boss Theme

Cool World ~ Slash Club (Ah yeah, so groovy!)

Daffy Duck The Marvin Missions ~ Boss, Mission Info, The Greatest Show Off Earth

Darius Twin ~ Introduction

Drakkhen ~ Title

Dolucky no Puzzle Tour '94 ~ Final Battle

Eurit ~ Planet Music 5 & 6

Equinox ~ Boss

Fireteam Rogue ~ The entire soundtrack

Foreman For Real ~ The entire soundtrack

From TV Animation Slam Dunk SD Heat Up ~ Theme of Tsukubu Team (Just plain catchy... especially the opening)

Haisei Mahjong Ryouga ~ Opening

Hi no Ouji: Yamato Takeru ~ Main Menu, The Jumas Are Driven Mad!, The End

Isozuri Ritou Hen ~ These two

jingles

, played back and forth over and over again... they're not identified, but they're infectious when played back and forth over and over.

Jelly Boy (the one only released in Europe) ~ Select World, Over the Top

Jim Lee's WildC.A.T.S. ~ Staff Roll

Logos Panic ~ Battle Against Robot

Mahjong Touhaiden ~ Dark Side King, Lady Luck

Metal Marines ~ Storyline

Mohawk and Headphone Jack ~ Headslot's ~ Funbot, Mohawk ~ Bogus Finale

Pachinko Tetsujin 7ban Shobu ~ Last Mission

Pinkie ~ Title Screen

(I like this one... pulling off vocals on the SNES without needing to stream samples!)

Porky Pig's Haunted Holiday (I prefer the Beta versions) ~ The Haunted Forest, Dry Gulch Town, Ruins of Atlantis, The Abandoned Mine, Something Strange in Wackyland, Inside the Creepy Castle

Ruin Arm ~ Baldoa Castle, Battle with Emperor

Shaq Fu ~ Vagabond Temple

Shougi Fuurinkazan ~ Unused Song 1 and 2

Spider-Man ~ Coney Island

Super Drift Out ~ Normal BGM 1

Super Dunk Star ~ Title Screen (Strangely catchy, honestly...), Winner!, Loser...

Super Ninja Kun ~ A Lark in the Dark! (Unused Song 7 in the SPC set...)

Tactical Soccer ~ Theme, Defeat

The Shinri Game 2 ~ The entire soundtrack

Tin Star ~ Title Screen

Wakataka Oozumou ~ Staff Roll

Wondrous Magic ~ Boss Battle, Storyline

WWF Wrestlemania: The Arcade Game ~ The Undertaker

Yokoyama Mitsuteru Sangokushi Bangi Sugoroku Eiyuuki ~ Character Introduction

(This is more interesting for me being able to get a SPC dump... of a song with actual singing vocals! No data swapping, either!)

Yume Maboroshi no Gotoku ~ Horrific Event

Yuu Yuu Hakusho: Tokubetsu-hen ~ Subspace

Zig Zag Cat ~ Battle with the Ostrich Club, Inside the Castle, Unknown Song 1