Of all the video game publishers out there, Sega has been one of the best when it comes to getting its vast back catalog of killer soundtracks up on music streaming services. Its page on Spotify alone has dozens of soundtracks, from the 8-bit bloops of Alex Kidd to the genre-surfing brilliance of Jet Set Radio, and in the last few days, the publisher has gone and added a ton more tunes from classics and modern releases alike.
Of the new material, there are three multi-volume collections that standout. First and foremost is the Out Run Original Soundtrack, which brings together music from the original 1986 racing game and its various sequels, including all-time great jams, like “Passing Breeze.” Also added were over 50 songs from the beloved Sega Saturn game Nights Into Dreams and its sequel, Journey Into Dreams, as well as a collection of music from the first two Fantasy Zone games and their various incarnations. That last one’s an especially interesting artifact for video game music nerds, as it lets you listen to the series’ spirited tunes as they appeared across various sound hardware with drastically different capabilities, from the primitive Famicom and Sega Mark III versions to the comparably lush System 16 arcade machine. There’s even a soccer-chant version of the main “Opa Opa!” theme that was included in Virtua Striker 4. Now, if only they’d get around to the Streets Of Rage 2 soundtrack.