What video game music is burned into your brain?

I have spent a decent amount of the last few weeks in the Eco-Domes of K’aresh, but I have found that when I’m not there my brain is still looping their haunting soundtrack. There is something about the music of video games that allows it to lodge itself squarely into our minds.

Perhaps it is the repetitive nature of game soundtracks. I’m not likely to listen to a great song from my favorite band on loop for two hours, but that’s exactly what happens when I’m exploring a new area in a video game. I submit that these songs are also entering our brains during a time of heightened activity — your brain might be more likely to analyze and store a song playing while you’re solving a puzzle or frantically dodging void bolts than while you’re taking out the trash.

One song that seems to be my brain’s default set of noises is the soundtrack to the opening mission of Final Fantasy VII. As we meet Cloud Strife and his iconic comrades in their quest to sabotage a Mako reactor, a fast-paced bouncy tune plays through both the map and battle scenes. I have found myself recreating this song with my mouth in various ways far too many times to count since I first heard it at my buddy’s house in 1997.

After detailing many other well-known songs from a variety of video games from my youth, it occurred to me that I could sum it all up with “Koji Kondo.” As one of Nintendo’s original composers, he is responsible for the first few decades of music across several major franchises such as Super Mario Bros. and The Legend of Zelda. On top of that, he can claim credit for about 75% of all music rattling around in my brain during idle time.

At this point it’s definitely infectious. I have heard my kids walking around the house humming tunes like Slider from Super Mario 64, and I’m positive that the few times we played that game together weren’t as much of a factor as me absentmindedly whistling the tune three of four times a week.

Compiling this list makes me realize that all of my entries are from my youth. Can the Eco-Dome soundtrack match the decades-long staying power of the Super Mario Bros. 2 theme? Are we more susceptible to permanent musical burn-in during our younger years?

So what video game songs do you never seem to be able to remove from your brain? Do they match my pattern and come from your early days? Are there any recent melodies that you’ve found yourself humming or whistling?