5 soundtracks that carried mediocre games to cult status

Video game soundtracks have been home to some pretty incredible music over the years, with iconic soundtracks accompanying some of the most iconic games in history. But, there isn't a correlation between great soundtracks and great video games, so some of the best tracks around come from some pretty mediocre games. An iconic soundtrack can elevate a mediocre game to cult classic status, even if that great soundtrack isn't necessarily the reason a game has reached cult classic status. While the games on this list are widely considered to be mediocre, there's a good chance you really like one of the games here, but that just further contributes to their cult classic status.

5 Final Fantasy XIII

One of the lesser Final Fantasy games, but the soundtrack still goes hard

Final Fantasy XIII gets a ton of hate from Final Fantasy fans, largely due to its underbaked combat system and hallway-like level design. That said, it has become a bit of a cult hit in the franchise, and part of that redemption arc for Final Fantasy XIII has been the stellar soundtrack. Composed by Masashi Hamauzu, the soundtrack has some all-time hits in it, and considering Final Fantasy is a franchise known for incredible music across all the games, that makes this soundtrack even more impressive. It has a mixture of classical orchestral music, with a bit of modern flair to it, best shown by the battle music "Blinded by Light," the main battle theme, and a motif for Lightning, the main character. There are four total discs for the soundtrack, amounting to almost four hours worth of songs, making that an ideal way to enjoy Final Fantasy XIII if you don't want to actually play it.

4 Shadow the Hedgehog

A nasty soundtrack for a nasty video game

Shadow the Hedgehog is a bad video game, but considering that it comes from a series that is composed of mostly bad video games, with a few great ones mixed in, that shouldn't surprise anyone. It also keeps the tradition of having banger soundtracks from the main Sonic the Hedgehog series alive, by featuring a more grunge-feeling soundtrack for this edgy game about a hedgehog with a gun. It doesn't have the same upbeat music as the main series, but that dirty sound matches both the early 2000s, when Shadow the Hedgehog was released, and the darker main character. It features another great track from Crush 40, who have composed songs for several Sonic games, "I Am... All of Me." There are also more techno-forward songs on the soundtrack, like "Waking Up" by Julien-K, but they all have a similar and cohesive sound.

3 Fire Emblem Fates

A controversial game with a solid soundtrack

Fire Emblem Fates is a controversial entry in the series for two reasons, both of which negatively impacted the game's quality, even if it did receive decent reviews at the time of release. First, it was split into multiple versions, with the different in-game routes split up. Fire Emblem Fates: Birthright and Fire Emblem Fates: Conquest, with a third route sold as a digital download called Fire Emblem Fates: Revelation, frustrating fans that they had to buy multiple versions to experience all three routes. To make matters worse, all three routes of writing and stories were maligned, exacerbating the issue. The soundtrack, however, doesn't miss. While the combination soundtrack is sort of cheating, including songs from all three versions, a classical Japanese style, featuring flutes and a naturalistic tone that fits the feudal Japanese aesthetic featured in the game.

2 Kirby Air Ride

One of the most cult classic Nintendo games ever made

Kirby Air Ride, which has a sequel coming to Nintendo Switch 2 called Kirby Air Riders, is a cult classic Kirby racing game released on the Nintendo GameCube. The racing isn't anywhere near as smooth or fluid as a Mario Kart: Double Dash, and a limited number of modes, characters, and vehicles resulted in middling review scores at the time of release, although it certainly has its fans. The soundtrack, which includes great track-specific songs, like "Phantasy Meadows," even the main menu music hits. It was composed by a combination of composers, three of whom, Shogo Sakai, Hirokazu Ando, and Tadashi Ikegami, also worked on Super Smash Bros. Melee, and a fourth composer, Jun Ishikawa, who was a veteran Kirby game composer. It's got the whimsy of a Kirby game, with both great orchestral tracks and a few electronic ones. I can't tell you if the sequel Kirby Air Riders will surpass the original, but it will probably have a banger soundtrack.

1 Sonic the Hedgehog (2006)

Sonic is the undisputed king of bad video games with great soundtracks

A second Sonic the Hedgehog game on this list might feel like overkill, but the soundtrack might honestly be the only reason the series was able to survive its low periods. Sonic the Hedgehog (2006) is the lowest point, a 3D Sonic game featuring several main characters, a ridiculous story including a bit of romance between Sonic and a human woman, and some of the worst platforming to ever grace a video game console. Still, the soundtrack, which consists of three discs' worth of tracks, features a combination of great in-game tracks, along with new vocal tracks. The three standout songs are the main themes for each character: Sonic, Silver, and Shadow, named after each character. All three are vocal tracks, but each one is done by a different artist, giving a unique feel to each character. Sonic the Hedgehog (2006) has achieved cult status partially because of how terrible of a game it is, but the banger soundtrack has given it a legacy beyond being terrible. Don't play this game.

A soundtrack can be enough for a game to have a legacy

While all of these games are anywhere from not great to downright awful, they have maintained relevance. Part of that relevance comes from being terrible games in popular series, but the memorable and robust soundtracks have offered a way for these games to live on. While nobody is going to recommend you play these purely for the games themselves, they might recommend them just to hear the stellar music within them.