Poll:
https://linkto.run/p/7MN0G7U5

Edit: Please disregard warcraft 2, it's a 1995 game and was in that poll. It ended up in 1996 because I misread its entry on mobygames (battle chest release). If you already voted you can still change your vote and it will register
Home computers only, no other platforms.

Consider creativity, sound chip limitations and technical achievement, composition (melody or hook, progression, complexity), dynamics (range between quiet and loud, soft/diminuendo and hard/crescendo), pitch range, punch, instrument and instrument envelope variety and quality, how well the music fits the game, and so on. We're going by original release dates.

Try to say something about your favorite(s), it's more fun to read!

Music links (multiplatform list - if a game you want to vote for isn't in the poll list then do a search here with ctrl+f, it's probably included and not forgotten about. If I did completely miss an OST though then please mention it in the thread). Note that I haven't researched cd audio OSTs from 1996 onwards so I went with mobygames' list for those:

https://minirevver.weebly.com/vgm-1996.html

Previous winners:
1987: Ys 1 followed by The Last Ninja 1
1988: Last Ninja 2 and Ys 2 followed by IK+
1989: Ys 3 followed by Quest for Glory
1990: Secret of Monkey Island followed by Lost Patrol
1991: MI2 followed by Turrican 2
1992: Ultima VII followed by Monkey Island (CD ver.)
1993: Doom followed by Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers
1994: Beneath a Steel Sky & Colonization (tie) followed by Warcraft 1

The Neverhood was pretty unique:-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gSGk1bQ9rcU

Easy Duke 3D. Grabbag still rocks in 2020.

This is the version I and probably everyone else remembers https://youtu.be/hFX63IGmbwY?t=252
None of the new covers, remakes or anything. Just the classic theme.

The City Streets track also deserves mentioning as one of the more recognizable Duke songs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CDANXA33bFo

I like this choice. :)

From the poll I've chosen Quake. Excellent atmosphere builder by Trent Reznor.

Steange that this isn't on GOG yet.

No Neverhood? Seriously?

instead there's yet more DOS/PC version (eg Warcraft II) nonsense.

mate, tbh I was always a bit skeptical about your little game, but whatever floats your boat. Not including Neverhood however is purely criminal.

1996 on the other hand is pretty easy. As iconic Duke Nukem 3D was with it's fast-paced first person action, Command & Conquer Red Alert is unmatched; excellent gameplay accompanied by excellent music by Frank Klepacki.

I wasn't really impressed with the Descent II CD Redbook OST (though, the OPL version was cool), and WarCraft 2 had too few really good ones (which seems to be common on Blizzards games).

1996 also marked a major switch as this is the year that effectively killed off almost every consoles out there and several was discontinued. Many even tried to give new life to the console marked but only Sony's Playstation and Nintendo 64 made it and had a good run.

In any case, 1996 really marked the switch to PC's as the dominant gaming platform.

Here goes another poll where the most hyped pick is slated to win. Even tho it's debatable whether it even had any music to begin with. Bo-ring.
At least I can pick Archimedean Dynasty yay! Thanks for including it. Credit where its due.

I agree. Unlike Unreal and others, the Quake series had/has little to no background music to speak of.

Wasn't the PC version of Tomb Raider lacking the music cues ingame? Or was that only true for the later Steam and GOG versions?

With the little game I was referring to your polls, not Warcraft II obviously. The latter's OST is excellent, but didn't we all ALREADY picked it in the previous year? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Also if with cd audio you mean Red Book specifically, Neverhood doesn't have it.

I know, those are two different sentences with clear separation to show that I'm responding to different things. Anyway, shit happens. Chill out dude.

Edit: So what format is neverhood using then?

Between Duke Nukem 3D & Red Alert, i went with the latter; good soundtrack overall.

So I can choose between the nice string and ambient sounds of Tomb Raider and the 90s techno soundtrack of Schleichfahrt (Archimedean Dynasty). How do you decide between those 2? They are so different and do completely different things to the listener. This is why I am never a fan of voting for the 'Best of' something.