Topic: Past Music & Present Music in games.

@Shirma_Akayaku Its not that I don't like modern music. Its just that if you expect it to be catchy, it either works or doesn't.

Music used to be about simple, memorable tunes that set a distinct atmosphere. That was great in many ways, since iconic music is just as effective for advertisement as the game itself. And we got many unique tracks through that.
Nowadays, it has more to do with production value. Developers have the means and methods to create much more complex and multilayered music by now, and it's important to value such possibilities. Without them, some games could hardly work (Twilight Princess with it's seamless dynamic music changes comes to mind). The melodies are often more complex, but less catchy. But when looking at retro games like Megaman 9, Shovel Knight, or Cave Story, it's impressive how catchy 8-bit tunes can be even now - be ause they're simple, yet extremely fitting.

I personally tend to more enjoy music from the SNES to the Gamecube (Schala's Theme from Chrono Trigger, the Luigi's Mansion theme, basically all the Animal Crossing music). I kind of agree that music since 2006 has been a bit more soulless than music from before, which makes me tend to either play with the volume off (all handheld games) or just forget it's even there (Mario Kart 8). I don't want to say that video game music in the modern age is bad, because it isn't by any means, but it just isn't that interesting to me.

Kaze has a point about Cave Story, though. That theme is rockin'.

I think the video Shirma_Akayaku posted is dead on.
Video game music nowadays is just here to go with the visuals exactly like in a movie where before it was meant to complement what was happening on screen or even tell what was happening: would you know looking at a screenshot of Chrono Trigger or FFVI if a particular scene is supposed to be dramatic? Most of the time you would have no clue but play the tune accompanying the scene and you would instantly now what happens and to whom.
Handheld and indie games very much follow the old school way of composing. It doesn't mean game music is completely dead since the WiiPS360 era: Super Mario Galaxy, Xenoblade and NieR are some of the best soundtracks I heard in a game and even AAA games like Deus Ex: HR or Assassin's Creed 2 have memorable themes.