Ranking Every Final Fantasy By Their Soundtrack

Throughout its three decades of existence, one of the many things that the Final Fantasy series has become renowned for is its scores. Each game has been accompanied by a soundtrack masterfully crafted by Square's composers, chief amongst them Nobuo Uematsu, who was solely responsible for almost every one of them before his 2004 decision to depart the company and become a freelancer.

Tracks from the games are regularly performed in concert by orchestras around the world, whilst several have soared into Classic FM's prestigious Hall Of Fame, deservedly ranking amongst classics by the likes of Bach, Brahms and Beethoven.

Through the course of this article, each game's soundtrack is ranked in turn. The criteria for inclusion has been as follows:

· Each numbered single player entry from the series (including direct sequels) has been individually included.

· Online titles have been included as a single entry each (so each is judged on the soundtrack of both its main game and its expansions together).

· Spin-offs have either been individually included, grouped together when part of a collection or omitted entirely to avoid cluttering the list (such as mobile titles that received their own soundtracks or the Crystal Chronicles series).

Final Fantasy III OST: Tracks - 61, Composer(s) - Nobuo Uematsu

Final Fantasy III is something of an anomaly within the series given that Western audiences didn't get a chance to officially play it until 16 years after their Japanese counterparts, when an adaptation was released for the Nintendo DS in 2006. Like the many remakes of I and II that both preceded and followed it, it's soundtrack has long since been remastered from the chiptune NES original.

It wasn't until several games in that music truly started to become a crowning glory for the franchise and the score from III has the unfortunate distinction of being unremarkable in nearly every way. This is despite it being twice the length of the ones featured in Final Fantasies I and II. Coming in last place on this list isn't exactly a bad thing mind, given the pedigree of the entries that follow.

It's unfair to say that it doesn't have its fair share of highlights, however - 'The Boundless Ocean' is a wonderfully relaxed world map theme, 'Priestess Aria' is a fitting tribute to the game's sacrificial lamb character and 'Doga and Unei' was fondly remembered enough to be included within Final Fantasy IX. The addictive 'The Dark Crystals' also stands out, making the slog through the game's final dungeon a much more enjoyable one.