Damn, the memories...
I think it's the fact the sound effects play (Epona's hoof beats) that really makes it, and the general layering and build up.

To be honest I think this is the only title screen I really remember though...

Someone mentioned Age of Kings, that does seem to be one I recall too but that's probably about it...

For me it would mostly be console games anyway as I largely play PC games with no sound...


Edit: Actually this one from Xenoblade Chronicles is quite nice.

Commodore Amiga 500:

Alien Breed

Denaris

F/A-18 Interceptor

Fighter Bomber

Flashback

Lotus Esprit Turbo Challenge

Lotus Turbo Challenge II

Mega Lo Mania

Populous

Silkworm

Speedball

Super Cars

Super Cars II

SWIV

Turrican

Turrican II

Turrican 3

U.S.S. John Young

Whale's Voyage

X-Out

Z-Out

Zone Warrior


PC:

Baldur's Gate

Command & Conquer Tiberian Dawn

C&C Red Alert

Duke Nukem 3D

Enclave

Gothic

TES: Morrowind


That's all that came to mind right now. Hope it's enough...

Ah, I had tried to not mention amiga titles, because there would have been too many of these (hybris, r-type, netherworld, cannon fodder, kult, dune, etc). I'm not even sure why. Was it lower standards and expectations, or objective quality, or the fact that most games had just one tune, or my age, I don't know. Feels like there's 20 striking amiga musics, stuck in my memory, for each modern pc one.

Anyway, on the PC front (not a well defined one, as it actually overlaps with the amiga one), I'd add that I also got stuck on the title screen of :

- Deus Ex
- Fallout 1 & 2 (of course)
- Monkey Island (of course)
- Some very jazzy Blackwell episode, but I'm not sure which one in particular. I'll check in a moment.

Mechcommander 2

I've spent countless hours on the title screen. Unfortunately I can't play Mechcommander 2 on modern computers.

Icewind Dale

Icewind Dale II

Legend of Grimrock II

Heroes of Might and Magic 2

Wolfenstein The New Order

Brigador

Battle Brothers

Vampire The Masquerade - Bloodlines

Jagged Alliance 2

Diablo

Diablo II

Diablo II Lord of Destruction

Gothic 2 Die Nacht des Raben

Pillars of Eternity

Phantom Doctrine

Hard West

Shadow Tactics Blades of the Shogun

Ori and the Blind Forest

UT2k4
UT2k3
UT1999
Dune 2k
Jazz Jack Rabbit
Unreal
Unreal 2
Turrican
Lemmings
DeusEx
Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit
Jurassic Park
Doom 2016
Battletoads
Bubble bobble (One of my favourites)
Diablo

And yes, countless other NES/SNES/PSX/DOS games had really great title scores. Especially those with tracker music.

Apropos; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dmhtc5S4atU

yes, AMIGA !! :D my fav system .. of all time ever, too bad these times wont return...

countless games inspired me to listen to the title tune(s) or just checkout the highscore lists of the game (sometimes saved on floppy media)

Ok, right. I also re-listen to the Dune tracks a lot, and I adore them. But, at the risk of being a tad off topic (I hope the OP will forgive me one day), I need to add : do not diss the Toto/Eno soundtrack for Lynch's movie. Whatever your opinion of the film, its whole soundtrack is completely brilliant, and is my main escape hatch to Arrakis.

Absolver

Into The Breach

The Witcher 2 Assassins of Kings

System Shock 2

Fallout

Wasteland 2

Arcanum Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura

Temple of Elemental Evil

Darkest Dungeon

Anvil of Dawn

Shadowrun Returns

Shadowrun Dragonfall

Shadowrun Hong Kong

Tahira Echoes of the Astral Empire

Kingdom Come Deliverance

Torment Tides of Numenera

Dead in Vinland

Hellblade Senua's Sacrifice

Ash of Gods Redemption

Soma

State of Mind

myst https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VVdfgFr2-EU

rivenhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7U6H3mpDtA

this war of mine https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMXN8xClCrU

gabriel knight beast within https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJLIn3zT03s

tesla effect https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJq7p7nY8-U

lands of lore guardians of destiny https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqJQ6pOy19E


what a great thread, music is so important to games and our memory centers. alot of intro music immediately sends me into that time i played the game, whether it be dread... (unreal , silent hill) or anticipation (riven).... that intro music for alot of games gets me right in the feels

I fixed that for you. ;)

All jokes (yeah, as if) aside: I usually don't spend more time on the title screen than absolutely need be.

I'm pretty sure I didn't "diss" anything or even make mention of the film's soundtrack but if I had, then that would be my right. I am not required to share your opinions.

In fact I think the 1984 Dune film did some things well. The soundtrack is good, the set design and costumes are fantastic, and the casting was mostly pretty solid too. I even like the look of the stillsuits and ornithopters, despite being quite different in appearance to those described in the novels. Although David Lynch took a number of questionable liberties trying to cram the book into two hours and make it comprehensible, I actually had more problems with the miniseries than the film.

That being said, whenever I have reread the books I would sometimes play the soundtrack from the Dune game for atmosphere and just get lost in the story.

Not to mention that many games had a music menu - countless hours spent there too.
IIRC the original cut was 6 or 8 hours long, but it was shown only once.

I'm currently re-reading them - first time after about 20 years. It's always a risk, but so far I found I still find them brilliant.

How can I have forgotten to put in my list System Shock and GODS?
Too bad.

I do recall once seeing an Alan Smithee version of Dune which I think ran about three hours. It had an illustrated narrative bit in the beginning discussing some of the history of the Dune universe, including mention of thinking machines and the Butlerian Jihad.
I love them more each time I read them. I certainly find different meaning among the words due to noticing something I didn't pay much attention to before or because I've gotten older and my perspective has broadened.
System Shock and System Shock 2 have great, haunting intro tunes.

As for Gods: Into...the wonderful. :)