Top 10 Satisfying Level Up Sounds In Video Games

Howdy gamers! Josh here, you may recognize me from WatchMojo’s gaming channel, MojoPlays! Feel free to check us out after the video, or find me anywhere @ Chiptroid!

(Eeee) I’ve waited my whole life to say this...
Welcome to WatchMojo! n’ today we’re counting down our picks for the Top 10 Level UP Sounds in Video Games!

For this list, we’ll be looking at the most satisfying sound effects that players are greeted with for sinking time into their character. Typically by means of collecting experience points, to fill up an xp bar.

For this reason, we’re excluding “level complete” sounds, such as The Legend of Zelda’s famous chime, or GTA’s “mission passed” [EDIT: GTA Mission Passed Song]

It may sound silly, but leveling up is a major thing that drives us to keep playing. The audio experience is a core element to any game, and solid sound design can be the deciding factor between: three in game hours, or three-hundred! Tons of games across multiple genres have adopted the experience points system to give their players a sense of progression.

So without further ado, drop your HIGHEST level character from any game in the comments, I wanna’ see ‘em, and let's honour who did this video game staple, the best!

This grindy gaming giant took the world by storm(wind), in 2004 and has to have a spot for introducing leveling to the masses!

WOW’s gameplay loop is just engaging enough that you’ll be earning shiny new gear at every turn. From such adventuring, your level continues to rise once completing quests, defeating dungeons, and all the great fantasy MMORPG, shtuff!

Certain character levels are designed to be suited for the harder zones of the game, so I'm sure tons of players stayed up many a' restless night, just to hear this sound. [EDIT: W.O.W. “Ding”].
It notably popularized the beloved term “I Dinged”, for when someone is excited about reaching a new level.

Honestly, this sound is probably what you’d hear if you discovered magic in real life. That, and Warcraft aficionados have popped this sound upwards of hundreds of times, thus it holds a special place in many Azeroth travelers hearts. “Gratz’ on your ‘chieve!”

Yes sir, the legendary FREE team-shooter features leveling, introduced in the 2016 “Meet Your Match” update. Purely for aesthetic purposes, much like Overwatch, TF2 allows you to flex your mercenary killin’ skills by earning XP based on performance and game victories. Containing the 150 possible levels, are 8 unique tiers, and six “stages” of... rank ... Man, TF2 has gotten meaty since I last played... Regardless, earning the titles of: Civilian, Freelancer, Mercenary, Commando, Assassin, and Elite, be it cosmetic or not, makes you feel like a badass merc on a mission the moment that tune kicks in. You’ll likely recognize it from the “Meet The: So-and-so” trailers, which stand up as some of the best promotional material for any game. It’s iconically tf2, Only problem is, some of the lower levels are the best sounding ones! What’s up with that?

This puppy has it all! Mining, firemaking, fishing, cooking, PRAYER! Level up ya’ connection to Jesus! Isn’t that awesome? I can’t help but think if real life had visual xp bars for when I was going to get better at something, dude, I’d be the Mozart of ...Youtube videos(?) … or something more impressive than that... This variant of Runescape, re-released in 2013, features the aforementioned skills and more, along with your expected questing fair. Well deserved for its place on this list, each skill type presents it’s own jingle for specific occasions, namely LEVEL-ing UP! They immediately scratch the itch for a feeling of retro-nostalgia, like warping back in time to play on a clunky old pc after getting home from school. I can only hope our smart-assistants will become so advanced one day, that they play the cooking jingle for me when I successfully warm up a mac-and-cheese [EDIT: Level up cooking in Runescape]

If you want to “be the very best”, you’re going to need some muscle! How does one achieve such strength when all you have is a little ‘critter? There’s no better way than to hit the grass, grind those birds and bugs into the dirt, and watch the magic! Soon you’ll find your favorite pocket monster chalk full of crazy abilities. Like being able to shoot flames from his face or, y’know...explode! Levelling up has continued to remain a staple of the series, and likely the first thing you think of in terms of direct progression systems. The iconic sound that accompanies, is both charming and gratifying, as with each ding you’re one step closer to filling out your ‘dex. Plus, it's been around for so long, while remaining mostly unchanged throughout every installment. This “da-da-da-ding” has been ingrained in the minds of millions, as a symbol of your growing strength, and, of course, friendship…. If that’s what you call this

Crossover spectacle, meets looter shooter, meet the infamous “Battle Royal” mode, it’s an industry phenomenon that’s achieved the impossible. Millions of players have left the battle bus in hopes of obtaining that fabled last-dude-standing victory. Along the way, Fortnite-rs gain xp to contribute to their personal battle pass. A system that has proven as a successful alternative for devs to turn away from loot boxes. Though, it does contain similar promises for big rewards that you may not reach in a set time. Regardless, earning these accurately named “epic” skins, is an easy way to show off your battle-royale-ing prowess! With each level up sound effect changing between the different seasons. Hearing these fan-fairs pop off mid game stirs something inside of you, like you’re the main character in an endgame level battle! Which should be accurate, as some of the mid seasons were Marvel-centric, whereas others have been everything from, horror to sci fi themed. The sound design overall does an awesome job of hyping us up, and putting you into the shoes of your avatar, even if we don’t win too often!

Picture this, spotlight, stage, you’ve just slain a dragon with a cricket phobia, star points fly into the air, the audience goes WILD! Mmm, that’s the good stuff... Paper Mario’s stage fanfare, hit its stride in it’s Gamecube iteration. The chipper tune loops until you decide where to distribute your XP (known as badge points in this game). Best of all, finally hitting the 100 star point goal fills your health, and the audience to max, as a little pat on the back and pick-me-up for future battles. No grinding is necessary here, as far as the main storyline goes, but if you’re feeling up for the toughest challenges she has to offer, buckle up. Although to some discourse, this system has been almost abandoned in recent attempts on the series. Though, we just can’t help but smile, when the drumroll kicks in, and Mario takes centre stage for a signature “wahoo!” That's a reward in itself, well, that and I guess you have the option of unlocking fun new abilities to toy around with. Everybody wins, except Bowser of course… [EDIT: Bowser cutscene at Twilight Town]

Even if you don’t know it, you’ve probably heard it! This victory tune sings your praises, and there’s no questioning you’re the hero that succeeded in vanquishing the foe! Plus, it blends seamlessly into the "battle complete" fanfare. So yeah, it just feels good all around, and continues to return in some form for each installment. Final Fantasy is known to experiment or flat out replace their battle systems from game to game. Some are more successful and beloved than others, though all attempts have unique advantages that are worth trying out. Hitpoints, spells, and xp are major elements of this JRPG franchise, so you can obviously expect your characters to become increasingly powerful as you hack and slash through all sorts of horrors. With Final Fantasy XVI confirmed albeit with no set release date yet, we’re looking forward to hearing this diddy be re-incarnated once again!

A game that needs no introduction. Minecraft is a landmark in gaming culture, and like a phoenix, it is reborn time and time again. You’ll find the level up chime as a trending meme on platforms such as TikTok, at the time of this recording, and for good reason. It's well worth it's goofy status, with the effect itself only describable as wind chimes meets rinky-dink jingle bells. Players can exchange their levels for powerful, occasionally game-changing, enchantments. Changing tridents into lightning rods, or pickaxes into high-speed mining drills, among other wacky effects. Take caution, as you’ll lose all your collected xp upon death, and you’ll have to do your minecraft chores all over again to get it back. Tasks such as trading, breeding, or farming… (farming the undead that is). Though crafting veterans may just head straight to the Enderdragon for maximum xp orb profits!
Let’s hear that glorious sound again!

This list has a disturbingly low amount of nordic chanting, allow me to correct that! The Elder Scrolls is known for building its massive worlds, that we all love to walk through and experience for ourselves. None does it better than the fifth chapter to the series, best known by a single name, “Skyrim!” To hype you up, your dragonborn blooded ancestors chant their approval to the heavens, met with their unsheathing swords!... Even when all you did was make a leather coat... or, hold a bowl perfectly still with your mind… Hey, as long as it works. Honestly, this single handedly makes leveling exciting! It signals the opportunity for awesome abilities in your chosen skill tree, and with every raised level the odds of rare item drops increases in the world. So count me in! Even if that means just sitting there getting wacked to level up my armour skills… Seriously if we had skill trees like this in real life, I’d be the Mozart of… uhhh.

Alright soldier, on today's mission you'll be assigned a personal heavy metal band to absolutely shred it every time you accomplish a task! MW2 perfected the level up sound itself, returning in MW3 thereafter because how can you get any more metal… Amidst the gunfire and warfare, it’s easy to lose track of when you’ll level next, so it almost always comes as a complete surprise. The riff doesn’t stick around too long, nor does it distract from the moment to moment gameplay. Plus you’ll be rewarded with new guns, scorestreaks, and emblems, to continuously have something new to look at or decorate yourself with. Warfare 2 is one of the highest rated, critically acclaimed call of duties of all time, due to its quality AND quantity of content. We got terminal, rust, nukes, the ac-130, memorable characters like Soap, and a ton of legendary game ending kill-cams.