The beauty of those eerie high solitary strings as you walk through a cave, as it gets darker and darker, and those strings start to sound more dissonant and ugly as you noticed "something" quickly moving by, as a sudden lonely sneaky irregular high-pitched woodblock sound gets through your already-pressured mind, tingling you down the head and the spine.

It's good music in good games that used to do that to me.

Too much talk into the spoiler tags :)
Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 
As a composer/artist/musician I've always been interested in music for games, 'cause it seems that's the only other place -- besides films -- where music needs to be hitting the player or viewer as he or she interacts or views the product, emotionally and in other ways.
Where it needs to give suspension, where it must instantly and subconsciously tell an interacter what's going on, and add to the clear visual explanation on-screen and describe one's actions.


So now I ask you: what game -- or games -- does that to you; music in-game that makes you "FEEL" what's going on, that immerses you? Music that's so nicely in tune and sets the mood of the play?


Personally, one of my favourites has always been the Metroid series. From Super Metroid (SNES) on the music was just becoming better and better. The two Metroid titles on the GBA are even better at it!
Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 
In Metroid 4 not only are the gameplay, the areas, the story and such, designed to work heavily onto the player as usual, the music does a VERY GOOD JOB at immersing you. The way it all fits together just makes you feel an urgency, or terror, or relief, or shock / amazement, etc. It's art and has been very inspiring to me.

Another favourite would be the old-school Final Fantasy music by Mr. Uematsu. He's one of the most innovative videogame music composers and earned his credit well. A real creative mind.