When a game feels the need to drive you evenmore insane...
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Mega Man
I can't beat Air Man, Okkusenman, and this other song by a Japanese music group lamenting the frustration factors of Elec Man/Guts Man's stages, as well as the Yellow Devil's attack pattern. The first and third ones mentioned above were both made by Team Nekokan.
Kuria Made wa Nemuranai (No Sleep Until Clear!) is the name of the song about three of the factors that made the first Mega Man 1 game so Nintendo Hard, and Team Nekokan, the band who made this, also has a couple of versions of Airman Ga Taosenai as well.
This troper has driven his co-workers nuts because Zelda's Theme and Saria's Song won't. fucking. leave. his. brain! Has actually been banned from whistling while at work.
The Wind Waker's Great Sea Theme. Since you'll be spending a good chunk of the game sailing, expect this theme to take up lodging in your head and never leave.
And while on the subject of the Wind Waker, the Wind God's Aria and the Earth God's Lyrics. You'll hear them so much in their respective temples you'll be humming them for weeks.
The Essence of Lime and Threshold of a DreamOC Remix album homepages. There's so much worminess you should grab a bunch of memory bleach so you can get it out of your head.
ScrewAttack.com's "Top 10 Video Game Themes EVER!": they play the first three notes of World 1-1, pause, and then claim that they "don't even need to play any more, 'cause you already know what it is!" But they do anyway.
Or for those of you in the PAL region: Toot-Toot, Sonic Warrior! The 8-bit version they used in Sonic 2 for the 8-bit consoles, which Toot-Toot, Sonic Warrior! was based on.
The Chao ((BROKEN))Race and ((BROKEN))Garden are particularly insidious ear worms, especially the "Challenge Race", and especially the freaking "Normal Chao Garden".
Sonic the Hedgehog 4 had to have the Lost Labyrinth Zone 1 song just so it sould play it in your head.
Or Super Sonic theme.
The final boss theme at the end of Episode 1 also counts, as does Mad Gear Zone's theme for all three acts.
Likewise, the first section of Kingdom Valley of the same game (Sonic's Kingdom Valley, anyways) is said to be ripped from Chrono Cross' battle theme.
Final Fantasy
Dozens of songs in the Final Fantasy series. ((BROKEN))This for example, which plays during the interminable chocobo-related side quest. And the victory theme from the games up til VI (also reused in IX and XII).
((BROKEN))Freya's Theme from Final Fantasy 9. Oh, it doesn't seem like an Ear Worm at first. Then you realize that you left your Windows Media Player on auto-replay, and you've been surfing for more than three hours with it as a continual background track, and it was actually kinda nice that way...
If you Campaign with any degree of frequency, for God's sakes, turn off the music unless you want 'Roar of the Battle Drums' permanently seared into your brain.
The NES version of Shadowgate has some prettycatchytunes. The one that will burn into your brain, though is the death theme, since you will be hearing it so often.
Go play Mass Effect 2. Mine resources for an hour or more. Try to get the galaxy theme out of your head.
Even if it's not ingame music, the Commander Shepard fan video. "You can fight like a krogan, run like a leopard, but you'll never be better than Commander Shepard!". You'll be humming it in the shower in no time.
The Battlefield Heroestheme music is so catchy there's even a loading screen tip asking you if you can whistle the whole song yet.
The core "dun-dun-dun da-DUN DUN" riff has been earworming gamers since the original BF1942 in 2002. I'd say it's more catchy in its raw form. Although, since BF2 was made of loading screens, the MEC theme oft appearing there is a pretty wormy version too. Recurring Riff much?
Here's "Congratulations Everybody, Again!" from Justice For All. Get ready for it, it'll play pretty much every time someone from the circus or Oldbag is on screen! Also from the same game is Investigation: Opening, which plays several times throughout Case 2.
How about Psyche Lock? Such a simple melody, but haunting and mysterious all the same. It doesn't help that you'll hear it a million times because you keep failing to break the psyche lock over and over again.
Hotel Dusk, having a heavy emphasis on dialogue to move the story along, has a mountain of ear-worms to help keep you interested: Namely Hangover Blues, Rainy Night and Monochrome; the latter of which will get stuck in your head.
The theme from the second game. The fact that it's arranged a million different ways during the game and plays at basically every menu screen doesn't help either...
The Saboteur: "Freedom is mine, and that's how I feel! It's a new dawn, it's a new day, it's a new life . . . for me. And I'm feelin' good!"
If Vampire Killer won't get stuck in your head, chances are that "Bloody Tears", "Heart of Fire", and/or "Opposing Bloodlines" will be the tunes bouncing about in your bonebox.
"Three Minutes Clapping" off of The World Ends With You soundtrack. It's mitigated by the fact that the song is awesome. Be reminded that the game loop starts on the actual "three minutes clapping" starts and ends after the chorus. And repeats, and repeats, and repeats.
I WOKE UP THIS MORNING BABY! Doesn't help that most of the endgame content will have you hearing this song...a lot.
Don't forget "underground": it's the very first song you hear when running around the map, on top of which IT REPEATS EVERY MINUTE. Good luck with that. Or "emptyness and": no one knows what the lyrics are, but anyone who's played The World Ends With You knows that song.
If you plan on doing La-Mulana 's Bonus Level Of Hell, be sure to turn the in-game music all the way down if you don't want Hell Temple's insanity-inducing background music to ring in your ears for all eternity.
The Hunter's March (originally the theme to Super Metroid, which has since been co-opted as Samus' theme) will get stuck in your head like nobody's business. ((BROKEN))The ''Super Smash Bros. Brawl'' version is particularly infectious.
From the Prime trilogy, we have ((BROKEN))Dark Echoes (the ending/menu of 2), and the Rundas Battle theme (from 3). There's one part of the Rundas Battle theme that just screams out to be someone's ringtone.
The escape theme from the original Metroid. Time Bomb Set! Get out fast!
Ridley's battle theme from Super Metroid onwards.
Most of the songs from Metroid Fusion were catchy, particularly boss themes. To name a few, Sector 1, Vs. Arachnus and the SA-X's theme.
Anything in Elite Beat Agents. Nintendo Power said it best; "In EBA, even songs we don't like get our blood pumping." - and the set list includes "Sk8er B01", "Material Girl", "Walkie Talkie Man", "La La", and Cher's "Believe". Made worse by the fact that in order to win you have to pound the beat of each song into your head until you memorize it. "Jumpin' Jack Flash" would be one of the worst if it weren't so awesome.
"Walkie Talkie Man". "He's fat and he don't run too fast/But he's faster than me..."
Everything in the Grand Theft Auto series: Good Thing, Change, See Through You, Bump to The Music, Feels Like I Just Can't Take No More, Joyride [the theme song,] I've been Waiting [for A Girl Like You,] especially Tempted,Keep on Loving You, ''[I Just] Died in Your Arms Tonight, Sister Christian, All Night Long, Owner of A Lonely Heart, Video Killed The Radio Star, One Thing Leads to Another, Dance Hall Days, Billie Jean, You've Got Another Thing Coming, Fist Fury, Yankee Rose, I Wanna Rock, Cum on Feel The Noise, Two Minutes to Midnight, Working for The Weekend, Cars, Fascination, Obsession, I Ran [so far Away]" and many more.
It's quite fun to gun down criminals in an Apache while blasting Running Down a Dream or White Wedding, part 2.
Greenkeepers' "Vagabond": "I'm gonna shoot you down now for the things you've done..."
With a helping of Platinum Lucifer as a side. Extra points if you not only get the song stuck, but also spontaneously start hearing Excellen's wisecracks over the music as well. "Ges-chan JUMP!"
To say nothing of Shippu! Jinrai!, Touma's theme in the DaiRaiOh, which is one giant love-song to old-school super robots.
Nightfall: "A voice from the north whispers to me, all that I am is what you can be, I forsake the light, I forsake the cold, with unholy steel, I'll serve his throne. Within Ebon Hold, I am born again— my deeds will bring the fall of Man!"
Speaking of, World of Warcraft has some very nice music, particularly with the expansions.
The Wrath of the Lich King main menu song is one of the best openings songs for a Warcraft game: once you listen to it a couple of times it really gets stuck.
For instrumentals, the theme from 2 (also the Metal Gear theme)... and "Encounter" (the one that plays when Snake is discovered).
((BROKEN))"Yell 'Dead Cell'" was MGS2's boss theme. It became so popular that it now a rule that when old MGS music is used in a game, Yell "Dead Cell" must be included or remixed. And its percussion makes it insanely catchy, too.
Sing, from Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker (yes, it was originally from Sesame Street, but it still counts). La-la-la-la-la, la-la-la-la-la-la, la-la-la-la-la-laaaa...Sing, sing along, sing a song...
Also from Peace Walker: The haunting "La, la-la, la-la-la, la-la-laaaa...La, la-la, la-LA, la-la-laaaa..." song.
Mercenaries 2's Oh No You Didn't is painfully catchy, especially if you hear the full length MPE (linked on that Youtube page).
The orchestral title theme from the original Mercenaries will also get into your head.
((BROKEN))WAKA LAKA!! For added ear-worm amplification, this link leads to the "For Osaka" AMV. If the song doesn't get stuck in your ears by itself, the video will ram it in there full-force.
You haven't heard anything until you've heard TOMORROW. FREAKING. HILL. "IIII KNOW TOMORROW SHINES BRIGHTER AT THE TOP OF THIS HIIILLLL...IT ALWAYS WILLL"
Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn Has the 'Galdrar Of Rebirth", vocoded in the Simlish-esque language of the herons. Rafiel sings it: once to free Maurim from being turned to a feral,And Reyson uses it after that to restore Renning A.K.A Bertram.
Any of the background scores for Kingdom Hearts could get stuck in your head if you play in a certain world/area for long enough. As mentioned above, This is Halloween could drive everyone crazy. It's worse if you know the lyrics to the Disney BGM. You will be singing the Mickey Mouse Club theme for DAYS. Not to mention 'Bibbidi Boppidi Boo' while you're playing BBS.
What's the worst is the songs from Atlantica in KH2. It's a bit better in Japanese, where you can't understand them if you don't know Japanese. Fortunately, the visual cues are obvious enough that you can still beat the required Rhythm Game with your television muted.
At least they have decent renditions of songs from the actual movie, but God help you if you manage to get "Swim This Way" stuck in your head. Swim this way, we'll dance and we'll play...! ... Oh goddammit.
Also, within a year of the game's release, its theme song ((BROKEN))Simple and Clean became pretty well known.
The Japanese version, 'Hikari', is just as awesome. Listen enough times and you will start picking up on the words.
3D World Runner. There is only one song for most of the game. It loops constantly. Apparently, Nobuo Uematsu composed that before working on Final Fantasy. Strangely enough, if not for this simple little Ear Worm and its game, Final Fantasy as we know it may have never come to be. Suddenly, this game is a lot more important.
Devil May Cry: "The flinch in your eye calls your bluff/Feel free to die when you've had enough/Useless cause is breaking your back/Your life will end when you attack"
Steal a soul for a second chance/But you will never become a man/My chosen torture makes me stronger/In a life that craves the hunger/A Freedom and a quest for life/Until the end of the judgment night!
Bless me/With the/Leaf off of the tree/On it/I see/The freedom reign~
Praise to my father/blessed by the water/black night, dark skies/the devils crrrrrrrrrryyyy!
Now you've really crossed the line/Your hate for me is divine/My love yearns for your suffer/On your grave lurks my prosper
The time has come and so have I/I'll laugh last 'cause you came to die/The damage done, the pain subsides/And I can see the fear clear when I look in your eye
Hail to a father of divine/To the son the light will shine/From the angst of lost memories/A just revenge to cure misery
Also, the incidental battle theme (whenever you fight a Shikimi no Kage or a sub-boss).
Persona 3's songs: BABY BABY BABY BABY BABY YEAAAAAHHHH...
I will—BUURRRRNNNN MYYYY DREEEAAAD....
Don't ease your pace/Cuz enemy is brutal/Moment of truth/There ain't no truce/You're the only one/One world/One love/But the battle goes on/Shadows of mass destruction OOH YEAH!
In Persona 3Portable, brand new music is added to the female protagonist's route, and it's just as ear-infesting. For example, the regular battle musicis possibly catchier than the original.
You cannot run away! /(Hell naw no man can run away)/For me I stay in your head as one big threat!
Write me an endresssong! It may not be Burn My Dread but it sure is catchy!
Persona 4 continues the ear-worming with: "EVERY DAY'S GREAT AT YOUR JUN-ES!"
We are living our lives...(dunit doo do doo dunit doo do doo)...Abound with so much information...
How about with every battle, having this wriggle in your brain: "I FACE OUT, I HOLD OUT, I REACH OUT to the truth of my life seeking to seize on the whole moment to now. Break. AWAAAAY! Will you LET ME OUT? Can you LET ME OUT? Can you set me free..."
How about the fact that the absolutely gorgeous orchestral mix used for part of the Izanami boss battle is not on the included soundtrack?
Although this was mentioned on the main page, the Satomi Tadashi Pharmacy song from Persona is such a mighty earworm, it is actually referred to as such in-game. And it gets remixed a fair few times in Persona 2, guaranteeing that it won't leave your brain without a fight.
Haa~, peru peru Persona! It's on par with the Satomi Tadashi Pharmacy song in terms of sheer Ear Worm and plain old WTF-ness. It doesn't help that the song is an Ondo, making the beat very easy to remember.
Persona2: Innocent Sin's remake opening has a really crazy beat and a classic Lotus Juice rap— oh, and the female singer's lyrics are actually understandable! Have fun!
Gungrave has its theme, Gunlock Overdrive. "Ba-bum da-bum bum bum doo liddle doo doo doo doo dododo...dum, dum duum dum...dooom dumm dumm, one moment please..." (It's the trumpets man...the trumpets...)
((BROKEN))"This is True Love Makin'", the London stage BGM from Capcom vs. SNK 2. This is true love we're makin', this is true love we're makin', this is true love we're makin', all the time!
"Falalalan, fala, falalaleera..." If you're a Europa Universalis II fan, you're welcome.
Most Paradox games have Ear Worms. For EU2 in particular, there is "The Whip Song".
EVERYTHING from Loco Roco has shades of this, no matter if the song is song by a locoroco, mui mui, moja or bui bui.
The main theme to Loco Roco is already mentioned in the Web Original section of this entry, but "Bu Bu Poruche" deserves equal mention.
Since we're on the subject of Hideki Naganuma (the Jet Set Radio soundtrack guy), pretty much everything from Sonic Rush counts as well. See the "Sonic the Hedgehog" section above.
None of Fallout 3's original music is particularly catchy, but Galaxy News Radio is a collection of some of the ear wormiest Ear Worms from the first half of the twentieth century. Examples include:
Fallout: New Vegas is getting off to a very promising start. I got spurs that jingle, jangle, jingle / (Jingle, jangle) / As I go ridin' merrily along...
Daigasso Band Brothers. Just everything in the entire game. One thing that helps is that Nintendo deliberately placed several earworms on the game (from this list alone, there's a medley from WarioWare, the Super Mario Bros. theme, the Zelda theme, "Dragostei din Tei", "Japan Break Industries", and "Ready Steady Go!"). In fact, the songs that might not otherwise be earworms end up becoming them due to proximity.
Most if not all of the music from Lemmings, both the original tracks and the remixes of public domain music.
This game and Loom have both worked to solidify the insurance that "Dance of the Little Swans" from Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake will never, ever leave you.
Sensei's theme from Advance Wars: Black Hole Rising and Advance Wars: Dual Strike. Combined with the Goddamned Bats effect of his Mech- and Infantry-spawning CO Powers, this makes Sensei doubly annoying to play against, and doubly hilarious to play as.
"Toppy's Theme" from World Destruction, also composed by Mitsuda, is similarly capable of lodging itself in your head. The guy just does epically catchy heroic leitmotifs so damn well...
The Mad Hatter track AFS, based on the music from Bubble Bobble, actually references "this is the song that never ends". The lyrics added only serve to increase the Ear Worm properties of an already Annoying F*** in' Song. It may be found here
Speaking of Spore... Believe it or not, the music your tribe plays to impress another is an Ear Worm. It can be made worse by combining it with Jazz Jackrabbit above, yielding this.
There's also the song that plays in Adventure Town(from the expansion pack).
Nobody has mentioned the main theme yet? It's incredibly long, but it gets stuck in your head easily.
And the opening song for Talesof Destiny 2: Key to My Heart Get ready to hum the words "You will always have the key to my heart" countless times without realizing it.
It doesn't help that half of the theme songs in Tatsunoko vs. Capcom consist of the Tatsunoko guys' ear-wormy Anime Theme Songs. If the fact that we already listed the Gatchaman theme lines and lines above doesn't tell you anything...
Just listen to the extremely cheerful and peppy Bonus Round/High Scores music for Super Monkey Ball Banana Blitz. Now imagine the effect of it being heard again and again across the levels.
Half the music in the original Star Fox (1993 on Super NES). Musical chocolate dancing on the neurons over and over and over again, such that we're still annoyed as hell that Hajime Hirasawa quit game music after that game. At the very least: the Training Mission, Corneria Boss, the Andross Space Armada, Sector Y, the Planet Fortuna (HOLY SHIT!), the Planet Macbeth, Macbeth Boss, Boss Roll...
The Space Quest theme. It's very catchy and Sierra have scattered at least a dozen versions of it throughout the Space Quest installments that have music. Probably the best version is the one heard in the opening credits of Space Quest 1 VGA.
Also of note from the Space Quest series, the Monolith Burger music from the third and fourth games is irritatingly catchy.
Another catchy tune is from Space Quest V. It's played when Roger's pet face-hugger is around. It sounds really goofy, but it's certainly catchy. You're likely to wind up humming it after listening to it a couple of times.
Killer7: "Next, please. Where to? To the Vinculum Gate? Yes, all received. Proceed."
The soundtracks of anything done by Taito Corporation's Zuntata team are likely to give you multiple Ear Worms, especially their shmup soundtracks. Try one of them out for yourself!
Some of the songs found in the Gallery in the PC game Simtunes.
In Patapon, you order your minions around beating your talking drums in certain patterns. The repetitive nature of the game tends to mean that long after you've finished playing it the beats that you play tend to stick in your head.
Totaka's Song. It's 19 notes. You will find yourself whistling it at random moments for weeks.
It doesn't help that the song has appeared in 14 games over 16 years.
Panzer Dragoon has some gorgeous, catchy tracks. Some of it just has an excellent beat, some of it makes for great driving music, and some of it just stirs within your mind. A review even called Orta's boss theme "genius".
The Ultramarine Chant (the music itself starts at 1:00, and is one of the better quality sounding versions on YouTube) has it all. Gratuitous High Gothic? Check. Ominous chanting? Check. Strong rhythm? Check!
And then there's Sheep Grassland from Tekken 6. Yodeling in a Tekken game? Oh hells yeah.
Street Fighter stage/character themes really need not be mentioned anymore, but ever since SSFIV added some voice clips to a few of them, we now have these:
Anyone who's played Cave Story and gotten to the Bonus Level Of Hell is sure to have the theme for that stuck in their head... for quite some time.
The title theme and the music that plays in the Labyrinth after the fight with Balrog are also ridiculously catchy.
Balrog's theme itself. HUZZAH!
The theme song for Plants vs. Zombies will never leave your head. Ever. Even the Japanese version is this way.
Rhythm Heaven. With 50 minigames, there's 50 songs to get stuck in your head. By the time you get a Perfect (play without any mistakes) on every single game, you'll never get them out. Nintendo Power puts it best, saying that "you can play some of these games without even watching, just by hearing the music". Overlaps with Crowning Music of Awesome, though it's up to personal preference as to which tunes are the coolest stuff you're ever heard. (requires link to playlist on youtube)
Tears of A Dog Ninja, which you will start humming very time you start cutting vegetables.
There's also Saikyou Pare Parade, which was originally the opening for the radio show.
Not to mention Bouken Desho Desho and the Hare Hare Yukai are made even more catchy by having complete dances to them, as well as several of the Image Songs...
Playing BlazBlue? Try not to pay too much attention while ((BROKEN))Thin RED Line is in the background. Once you notice how many simultaneous layers there are to the song, it will graft itself directly to the nerves in your brain. At least it's a hella badass song— just like every one of the themes in BlazBlue.
Ever get Taokaka's theme, Catus Carnival, stuck in your head? You will now.
Relius' theme, Plastic Night. It's the whole "orchestral music meets rock" thing. And the guitar/violin combo.
Bioshock has "Bei Mir Bist du Schön" and "You're the Top." It doesn't help that the former is played in three places in the game, more than any other track.
Freaking Splosionman. "Everybody loves donuts, I know I do-o-o-o, everybody loves donuts, so, you and I should share a few, donuts, donuts, donuts, donuts..."
Two words do it for me when it comes to rhythm games (Which this troper plays rarely): ((BROKEN))July-Euromix from Stepmania. The music is ALL TECHNO, and the first strings of beats repeat constantly for two full runs then it goes into a piano solo which also repeats twice then back to the beginning. Oddly enough this troper loves it to death and can recognize it off of a few chords of the intro stage.
Battlefield 2: Modern Combat. 'Headshot'. The last 30 seconds (AKA the traditional Battlefield theme in it's most badass form) will stay in you brain forever.
Battlefield: Bad Company has The Beast. The organ is awesome.
How about everything about these games? Yeah, there's Humoresque of a Little Dog, the Fourside theme, both both of the Eight Melodies, but one song that the Super Smash Bros. series doesn't have is the goddamn Dusty Dunes Desert theme from Earthbound...
While Mother 3's soundtrack alone is filled to the brim with these, Mother3i really tops them all by being offical remixes OF the ear worms, usually at least three mixed together into one song. Examples:
Oh, Buta Mask is a mix of Unfounded Revenge, Piggy Guys and various bits from other songs.
Theme Of Bad Boy is a mix of a whopping 9 songs - first Porkies Pokies, then Master Porkys theme, then Mischievous Blues, after that comes More Audacious March, quickly followed by Etude For Ghosts, then comes Battle with Mecha Drago, followed by (would someone help me here), predictably, Piggy Guys comes afterwards, and Intense Guys tops the whole song off.
Twist And Battle makes the Batman-esque Mister Batty's Theme and Rock And Roll (Spicy) into one song.
If you want a really nasty one, try 'kill or be killed', a kicking disco theme of all things combined with some killer backup music.
The sequel is just as bad. Infamously, we have Margaret's battle theme, but many of the remixes from the Dark Side album that have been used in the game are just as earworm-y as the original tracks.
Let's not forget Nathan Copeland's rap theme, and a boss theme so fan-frigging-tastic they used it for multiple boss fights! Good luck getting those guitar licks, or that Japanese rapping, out of your head any time soon.
It doesn't help that most of the songs in the game are based off of the main theme. Seriously, good luck getting this (amazing) theme out of your head.
Even Travis himself isn't immune; he can heard heard whistling along to it whenever you start a new file in the first game.
Pretty much the entire soundtrack of Cave Story, but in particular this one. It doesn't help that it's the best 6 second loop ever.
Take you to my magic tower/In my land of make believe./All sweet lovin' in my power/You won't ever want to leave./Take you to my magic tower/In my land of blue and red./All sweet lovin' in my power/You're the prisoner of my bed.
How can you talk about Silent Hill without mentioning the main theme from the first game. It'll stay with you forever (but that's probably not a bad thing).
The song from the Halo 3: ODST Live Action Trailer is pretty, epic, an ear worm, and... there is nowhere to buy/download/whatever this version of the song in its full, amazing glory.
Plus it's not even in English, adding another level of ear-worminess...
And the Overworld theme. It's like something out of an animated Disney movie, almost.
Anyone who's ever played one of the games in the Professor Layton series knows exactly which theme is the ear-wormiest. The best part is that on more difficult puzzles, you get to listen to it for a good solid twenty minutes and it starts to get slightly grating.
Maxis brings us Sim City 4'sdeluxe soundtrack with...
Or the closing credits for Mass Effect for that matter. Sure, it's 8 minutes long, and most of the text is repetetive. But the song (Faunt - M4 Part 2) will probably give you second thoughts about skipping it.
This. Doesn't help you can choose to have it playing in the captain's capin in Mass Effect 2.
Planning to do side quests in the first Mass Effect? Enjoy having this stuck in your head for weeks.
Telefang, pirated as Pokémon Diamond (for GBC, not the real one for DS) and Jade, has many awesome tunes, though the T-Fanger theme is totally awesome and gets stuck in my head A LOT.
Has no-one mentioned those infernal sailors from the original Black and White and their boat yet?
Harvest Moon has a lot, with Back To Nature as the biggest offender. The title screen alone, to say nothing of the various seasonal and character themes, and the song you sing with your friend in the prologue....
Thing on a Spring is another great Hubbard tune. Do note that YouTube quality doesn't really do the SID sound justice, but you can use a SID player and the appropriate SID file (many SID's are lying around on the Internet; grabbing a copy of the HVSC is the de-facto way to get your SIDucation these days) to listen to something much closer (it's emulated and doesn't sound exactly the same as the real thing, but is still much better than hearing it with audio compression artifacts).
Everything Akiko Shikata has contributed to the Ar tonelico series. EXEC_PAJA/.# Misya extracting and EXEC_EP=NOVA/. are especially bad offenders.
Transport Tycoon. Every single song. Jazz with some gospel touch to it, and it feels so appropriate when you're just watching all those trains and cars going around. It's better with a good MIDI sound sample set, but it's still remarkably catchy using even the default Windows/QuickTime sounds (sample here).
MARDEK has a soundtrack that you would assume was made by multiple people, and especially less, the person who made the game himself. You'd be wrong.
Need for Speed:Underground has a bunch of Ear Worms, notably "Get Low" (Perrrrum-Dum-Dum, Da-Dum-Da-Duh-Dum!) and "The Only" (I'M WINNING! YOU'RE LOSING!).
Plok has some seriously good tunes like the beach theme and the rocking Creepy Crags. The music for this game really pushed the SNES's sound-chip to its limits too.
From the obscure Putt-Putt series, we have the extremely catchy (and pretty well-written) "Welcome to the Zoo" song.
Oh war, what is it good for (what is it good for?) It strengthens the ee-con-uh-meeeeeee...
More Than Jerks, from Season 1, Episode 1. Especially if you got stuck on the Chasing Specs segment for 10-15 minutes, not knowing what exactly you're supposed to do.
Little Peepers, Specs, and Whizzer,/Toiling at the soda works,/Guzzling with tiny gizzards,/Soda fountain special perks...
The Tristram town theme from Diablo (or Diablo II, in this case, as it was exactly the same as the version from the first game but with an extra 3 minutes or so of new music added to the end).
This theme is so memorable that at the end of Diablo II, after killing Diablo himself, the game plays this theme for five seconds. Every single person who has ever played the first game hears this and shivers at the very sound.
Don't Cry, Jennifer from the SNES Clock Tower. A hell of a thing to have stuck in one's head, given the connotations of "OH SHIT SCISSORMAN RUN HIDE AAAAAHHHHHH!!!"
.hack: Mecha Mecha Mecha MECHA GRUNTYYYY! (do doo doooooo!)
Empire Earth Theme. The first had such epic music. So did the second, for that matter. The one German theme with the pseudo-Latin Chanting is chilling.
The sequel adds the Japan battle theme. Between them the two Shadow Hearts games scored 4 of the top 100 RPG battle themes, of which we currently have three listed.
I'm suprised Spyro didn't get a mention yet. Lofty Castle, Glimmer, Sunrise Spring/Evening Lake, Midday Garden, Midnight Mountain, Sunny Villa, Cloud Spires/Haunted Tomb, Molten Crater/Dino Mines, Seashell Shore/Crystal Islands, Sheila's Alp, Buzz's Dungeon, Icy Peak, Enchanted Towers/Sgt. Byrd's Base— hell, let's just say all of 3's soundtrack bar the speedways and the Sparx worlds.
The main theme from the original Spyro is just absurdly catchy.
As actually acknowledging this trope, in Saints Row 2 there is at least two songs that comes on the in-game radios - A-ha's "Take On Me" and Europe's "The Final Countdown" - that if you simply drive around for a while without engaging police or the like, your character will actually sing along to the song. As there are six difference voices you can pick for the character, someone created a chorus version...
There was a Nintendo game made for the G.I. Joe franchise (the first one of two), and while it was relatively novel for its time with a mix of stage types, the real reason to be there was for the music. While the stage music was interesting, the really catchy songs were the bossbattlethemes. The tune that stuck around with burr-like tenacity, though, was the vehicle theme, which triggered whenever your Joe climbed into a captured Cobra war machine.
The machine shop music from Samorost, on an endless loop, burns its few seconds into your brain for a long time.
Manly games above? Pfft. Namco is a producer of such earworms too. And unless this page is dedicated to English-only earworms of videogames like NFS or such then it is a crime not to include The idolM@ster series.
"YOU CAN DO IT, YOU CAN DO IT! YOU CAN DO IT, YOU CAN DO IT!"
Golden Sun: There's the Garoh Theme May not be fast, but it sure can keep you up at night for hours...and its sounds pretty. And also Dark Dawn's Battle Music.
Angry Birds. Just listen to its theme. Whistling it? Thought so.
Bayonetta has Fly me to the Moon as a significant portion of its background music. All together now: In other words, please be truuuueeeeee. In other words, I love you! Repeat ad nauseaum.
