Blue Dragon

He may be best known for writing the music for Final Fantasy, but the score for Blue Dragon is worth seeking out too

Nobuo Uematsu has rightly plonked himself at the very forefront of video game music composers thanks to his work on Final Fantasy, but this little gem is also worth mainstream attention.

Blue Dragon was an innovator on its release in 2006, being the first to span multiple discs on the Xbox 360. Simply put, this means the scope of the game is huge, with vast open worlds for the player to explore as part of the meandering narrative.

For Uematsu's part, he leaps upon the scope of the game. There are huge choral segments, Lisztian piano cascades and, memorably, some heavy metal riffs chucked in for good measure (Ian Gillan of British metal legends Deep Purple was drafted in to sing during one of the boss fight themes). Basically, Uematsu holds nothing back here, and the results are impressive.