This is a list of video game soundtracks that have consistently been ranked among the best by video game journalists, critics and publications. It is largely based on "Top 10 / Top 100" type lists that purport to describe a publication's views of the soundtracks in gaming of all time. While any single publication's list often reflects its own taste, when the lists are taken in aggregate, a handful of games with a notable soundtrack have achieved something approaching critical consensus by multiple repeat appearances in such lists, and often ranking highly when they do appear.
Methodology
A number of sources taken from across publications, from 1985 to the present, were used to compile the list. Games which consistently showed up in multiple lists are featured below. Note that some of the lists are "outdated" in the sense the same publication made a later best-of list to gain a wider chronological spread. In general, contemporary reviews do not necessarily reflect the long-term consensus and open player-submitted polls, while obviously measuring an important facet of a game's reputation, tend to be easy to rig or otherwise influence, hence the primary usage of critic lists.
Note that as most of the sources used are from the English-language press, this list naturally reflects the preferences of the English-speaking world, primarily North America, and to a lesser extent, Western Europe, downplaying the preferences of other heavy video-game-playing areas, such as Japan and South Korea. Very recent games are not always represented either. Another issue occurs when a publication lists an entire video game franchise as having a consistently high-quality soundtrack. These situations have not been counted for this list.
This list mostly happens to includes games from the third generation of console gaming onwards. The minimum criteria for the list is at least three sources for any game.