People are such graphic whores. After complaining ‘til the hills turned brown that the Wii graphics were on par with the Gamecube’s, they forget to mention how great the music was in games like Metroid Prime 3, Super Mario Galaxy, and Twilight Princess, three first party games that pushed it to the limit in terms of excellent soundtracks on the consoles. But isn’t that how it always is? The deaf always marvel at the eye candy, but the blind never bop their heads to the audio wonderlands.

It’s true, though, it’s true. While certain games get kudos points for having marvelous soundtracks, everybody always focuses on how much such and such a game is pushing the graphical capabilities of a system (remember Gears of War?), but never about how the soundtrack enhances the experience of the game tenfold.

Take Shadow of the Colossus for instance, which had a riveting, heartfelt score equivalent to no other. Sure, the brave new gameplay warranted the media lust, but what about that soundtrack? Whether trekking across the desolate landscapes on your horse, Argo, or finally figuring out the puzzle and scaling your towering beast, the music darted you off to a different land much better than the dreary graphics and the deteriorating temples ever could. Shadow of the Colossus was just another example of how the entire package needs to be spot on to make for an unforgettable experience.

Or what about Chrono Cross, one of the last great RPGs for the Playstation 1? Never had a soundtrack contained more oompth, more gravitas, for exuberance than Chrono Cross, a game that called for a soundtrack of epic proportions. There was actually such great music in the game, that I actually imported the soundtrack from Japan, which was something I’d come to do later with games like Katamari Demacy and Jet Set Radio, two gems that melded music in the gameplay so seamlessly that they practically created the worlds you wound up playing in.

I mean, seriously, just think of those two games played on mute. It’s nigh impossible.

And you know how much I love music in video games? I’ve actually been searching local game store bins for the past five years just for a used copy of Soul Blade, which had the best music in the sword slashing series. (And yes, I’ve heard of amazon.com, and I don’t care).

I implore you, fair gamer, next time you play a game, think deeply about the music accompanying it. You might just be surprised at what you’ve been overlooking all these years.