Mega Man Music --- MM5

Hey y'all.

You know, after writing reviews for all those other Mega Man games, I was starting to feel a little depressed.  Mega Man 5 really was the downturning of the series in certain ways, and honestly, it's my favorite game.  I remember playing and enjoying this series as a kid, and it means a lot to me.  Charge Man was the first robot master I ever defeated without Game Genie (who remembers Game Genie?).

So I just posted on the fourth game, and then I started listening to five's soundtrack.  That brought me out of the funk I was in, because whatever you want to say about the game, the music was definitely not one of its faults.  It pwns, doing a great job being what MM music is supposed to be. 

Oh no, all 5's flaws are in gameplay.  The plot is great, making it look like Proto Man actually kidnapped Dr. Light and held him hostage.  Of course Wily's behind it all in the end, but it's still a great plot.  The graphics also rock, and it's a fun good time for all.

Trouble is, by MM4 the classic series was all figured out.  That became trouble for the game because it then had to concentrate on making more unique gaming features for the robot master stages.  This might have been easier if Capcom hadn't been in such a rush.  MM5 (and 6) came out in the latter days of the NES, when the Super Nintendo was rising and becoming the thing (and no console has ever truly beaten the SNES in awesomeness).  I guess maybe Capcom wanted to make money so that they could move on to SNES games and still have some cash flow coming in while they work.

They did try.  I'll give 'em that.  One of the things they did wrong was make the Mega Buster's charged shot more powerful, and also larger in size.  This makes it too easy to kill bad guys.  Even worse, the weapons from the robot masters weren't great.  Crystal Man's was too random, Stone Man's couldn't hardly hit anything, Gyro and Napalm Man's were unwieldly, Gravity Man's wasn't strong enough, Wave's couldn't hit very high, and using Charge Man's was more likely to get yourself hurt than a baddie.  Star Man's shield was okay.  You're better off just going on as your normal Mega Man self in the end though.

The real doom of this game was the Proto Man and Wily Castle stages.  If these alone had been improved, then the whole game would have been much better.  Trouble is, there were a lot of great stage gimmicks during the robot master parts, but none of these gimmicks (or anything particularly interesting) were used in the castle stages.  Actually, at one point they reused the gimmick from Dust Man's stage in MM4, but you know...how about something new? 

The bosses in the Proto Man castle were extremely uncreative.  What happened to the big mammoth baddies in the other games?  Come on...

Bah, let's get on to some positive things.  First of all, they did try very interesting gimmicks for a lot of the stages.  Gravity Man's stage could have been developed more to be more challenging, but having gravity switched up and down was a great idea.  Everyone who played this game remembers the crystal drop segment of doom.  Then there's the Wave Man bubble ride that Splash Woman copied (in a better way), and Wave Man also had a fun jet ski segment.

So that's the problem with the gameplay.  They come up with good ideas, but they just didn't bring them out enough to be the right level of challenging (besides the crystal drop, which was fine as it was).  If they had just taken these same gimmicks and used them in the Proto Castle (Wily's castle should have its own gimmicks). It was a good game just done too fast.

However, gameplay is the one downside to the game, and this by no means ruins it.  The graphics are perfect 8-bit fare, the plot is good, and the music is definitely awesome.  Seriously, I love this soundtrack.  It's my favorite soundtrack.  I won't call it the best, but it's definitely the closest to my heart.  I was thinking about all the other games, and you know what?  You can talk all the crap you want to about MM5, but its music owns, and forget you if you don't agree!

Alright, so I'll tell you what I'm talking about. MM5's music is not out to be more epic, or more party, or darker than any other Mega Man soundtrack.  It's just out there being itself: relaxed, fun, and just good to sit and listen to.  Honestly, I don't even have to play the game.  I could just listen to this stuff on its own because it's so darn good.  It's actual music, not just vgm fare.  Not to talk down about other MM soundtracks, it's just that there's video games out there with music it's just weird to listen to if you're not playing the game.  You know what I'm saying?

So anyway, the introduction starts out a little dramatic, giving the apparent betrayal of Proto Man a proper and suprising sound.  The title theme is just awesome.  It's powerful and even a little sad.  It's like Mega Man's saying "Proto Man....why? I....I'll do what I have to!" 

The password screen theme is a nice tune.  It's not annoying, and it does exactly what it needs to do by urging the player to go ahead and input the password.  I like it.  The screen select theme is also good...man...I can't believe how much I love that song.

Robot Masters!  Whoohoo!  Remember that these are in order of quality, not my personal favorite.

#8 One of the robot masters with a fun level was Gyro Man, who had his elevators of doom with death spikes on them.  I wish they had more of them in the game.  But anyway, his music is good.  It's a little too mellow and dragging in my opinion.  It's a perfectly good song, but it's not as evocative as the others.  Chillin' in the clouds...

#7 Wave Man's music is nice and relaxing.  It's about just cruising along in the water, just going on and enjoying everything.  Honestly, it's really too happy to be a robot master theme, but you know what?  I dang well like it.  It would be awesome if the sun in the background set while you're on the jet ski segment.

#6 I really like Star Man's theme.  It's perfectly reminiscent of space, stars, science fiction, and machinery.  Like Crash Man's theme in MM2, it serves as the randomly wonky piece of the game.  I can just see the little jet mets now, cruising in space.  Honestly, I think this level in particular was perfect.  Hard, but well designed.  And the music was exactly what it needed to be.

#5 Charge Man's music is great.  I seriously need to write lyrics to it.  Words come to mind as if it's a song about a guy asking a girl to run off on a train with him to go have adventures or something.  It's be so great in a movie...

#4 Now, one of the robot masters, Stone Man, is in a long line of Guts Man rip offs (Hard Man, Concrete Man, etc), but his theme is awesome.  It's intense without forgetting how to be an MM song, and it keeps you going during his level, easily the longest in the game. 

#3 This is how you know I'm trying to go by quality and not play favorites.  Crystal Man isn't coming in at first, though he's my favorite robot master with my favorite theme of all time.  His theme has an intense beginning, with a very dramatic middle, and an ending that sounds as if it's mocking Mega Man.  Seriously, this is good stuff.  Weird and dramatic, just how I like.  I can still remember hearing this as a kid and trying my hardest to remember it over the years.  Praise God for youtube.

#2 Gravity Man's theme is just what you expect a robot with a unique power to have.  It's fun and just a little wonky, with a nice mechanical layer to it.  It represents the true spirit of what an MM song should be.  It makes me want to play a video game.

#1 Was number 1 really going to be any different?  It's all about Napalm Man.  Seriously.  This guy's music is just so dang Vietnam, just like the game designers intended.  Honestly, this makes me think of shopping in California (you also await lyrics, Napalm Man theme...), but it's such a happy and yet equally fierce tone that well, it's a true masterpiece.  So it wins.

This soundtrack also has a great boss battle theme.  It's one of the favorites, and it's really good.  It's a fun theme with perfect melodic layering.  The "get a weapon" bit is simple, but to me it sounds like a really great background for a rap. 

One of the things I will never forgive MM5 for is for having two castles (Proto Man's and Wily's) but each castle of four levels only gets one theme.  That's stupid.  Four levels of the same song?  The other games castles had two songs each.  What gives?  Luckly, the theme for Proto Man's castle is a great song and is probably the most well liked track from this entire game. 

Wily's castle theme is also really good, I think.  It's dramatic, enjoyable, and dang does it bring back those memories.  It's great, sending you off to Wily guns blazing.  If only you didn't have to hear it four darn levels in a row.

The game over theme wasn't really that much of a theme in this game.  Ah well, didn't need to be.

Y'know how I said MM4's Wily battle music was the best in series?  I take it back, this is.  Honestly, this is is such a powerful theme here.  I enjoy it so darn much.  The ending theme is so much dang fun too.  It's the perfect ending for a fun game where you find out your brother really didn't kidnap your dad after all and just might be a good guy.  I remember downloading the MM5 soundtrack once (before I freaked out about legality) and I would just listen to this song over and over because it's just so darn happy.

That's the thing about this whole set of music.  It's happy, good times.  It's not trying to go anywhere outside of itself, and I love the honesty.  This is definitely my favorite soundtrack ever, and if it were the soundtrack to a movie, it would be one of those movies where the protagonists are a group of friends roadtripping through California.  Some bad guy is doing something evil and the only people that can stop him are the not particularly smart but still well meaning roadtrippers.  It's like a group of friends just doing what they can to stop an evil they never really believed could exist.

Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZoURky2zdoc

Fun stuffs! 

Mega Man Music -- MM3

Hey y'all.  I'm going to continue to review Mega Man music, and I'm a little frustrated right now because I just wrote out a whole bunch, but one errant keystroke deleted it all.  ARRRGH.

Anyways, Mega Man 3, in my opinion, has the best music out of all of them.  One was wonky, two was story-esque, but three was always about the party.  If these songs weren't in 8 bit tones, they would be the stuff of parties.  Dance the night away!  It's very fun and exciting music, remaining party until the Wily levels.  But we'll get to that later.

First, a comment on the game itself.  Capcom was starting to establish more of the things that would make the Mega Man universe what it would later become, though they hadn't quite got it right.  They did good things, like create the slide (which remained a staple of the games until 9), and turned items 1, 2, and 3 into a dog called Rush. Rush converted into different forms for Mega Man to use, like the coil for extra high jumps, the jet for flying, and the Rush marine for water.

However, there's a bit of a problem for gameplay.  The Rush marine is essentially useless, particularly because there are no water robot masters in this game and little opportunity for water at all.  The Rush jet is the opposite; you can make it go in any direction you want, thus rendering many obstacles worthless.  To make it worse, you only consume its energy when you're riding on the actual jet, so if you constantly jump it lasts longer.

Also, one of the things they do is make you replay harder versions of four of the robot master levels.  I don't mind this, but during each of these levels you have to fight two masters from MM2 again.  Well, technically it's robots with their powers, but still.  Come on, it's the third game in the series.  Ain't it a bit early to be nostalgic?

The plot also makes a change, and it's handled a bit badly.  First of all, there's this thing where Dr. Wily pretends to be a good guy again and ends up building these robot masters with Dr. Light, as well as a peacekeeping robot named Gamma.  However, none of this is in the actual game, and I still remain pretty darn  confused about what the plot was actually supposed to be, mostly because I didn't own the manual as a kid and the wikia page is confusing.  If you play the game without reading anything, for all you know they're all just more Wily robot masters.  That's just lazy...I mean, if this is the plot, it really should have some affect on how you play the game.

Also, this game introduces Proto Man, which is handled much better.  He shows up mysteriously in several levels, and only at the end of the game do we actually find out that he is Mega Man's older brother.  Since this actually appears in the game, it's very relevant and even us kids who bought games from used bookstores could know about it.

But hey, this game rocks out on music, gameplay and plot aside (admittedly, I really dig the graphic design for this one, better than 1 or 2).  You can argue for the other games and say they have better soundtracks, and because none of them suck it's just fine for you to do so.  I'm still gonna say three is the best, though.

Alright, let's go!

Okay, so this starts off with a very classic and fun title screen song, probably the best of the game series.  Holy crap is it fun and catchy.  It really gets you ready to play an exciting game.  The stage select screen is likewise fun, and after the intro, it kicks the mood into "alright, pick your destination!"

How I hate picking the order for these robot master songs!!!  They're all so awesome in this game.  Well, as usual, I'm picking them in order of quality, not my personal favorite.

Needle Man's theme is good and fun, but it's not quite as quirky as the others.  Still, it's fun stuff, and I can't decide if it makes me want to dance or relax.  It feels so dreamy and reminiscent and yet also happy....I just wish I could write decent lyrics for this.

Shadow Man.  To me, Shadow Man's theme suffers a bit in rankings because it becomes a bit cheesy at one point.  That just doesn't seem very ninja-ish to me.  But whatever.  It does have a great intro.  This is such a fun, great theme that you can't help but dance to it.  Party in ninja lava land!!!

Gemini Man...how I love your candy rave-colored glowy cave.  Seriously, my favorite level design other than Crystal Man's (in a later game), and it's a close competition.  As for the music, well heck, it's mysterious, wonky, and fun as mess.  I really, really want Gemini Man's to be higher on this list, but dang are the others good!

Spark Man's theme makes me happy.  It's like electric adventure party with just the right amount of intensity and excellent layering.  It matches the glowing of his level with perfection.  For some reason it makes me think of electric cowboys.

Not enough people really give Hard Man's theme the credit it deserves.  This is fun stuff.  It's strange, mechanical good times.  I guess his name throws a lot of people off, and as a robot master he really doesn't stand out in design or weapon.  But this is about music, not the robot master. 

Top Man may be the second lamest robot master in all of the Mega Man series, but his theme is rockin'.  The fast theme really fits in with his spinning nature.  High intensity.  I really wish someone on Dancing with the Stars or some other show on TV would use this song for something.

Magnet Man's music makes me think of innocent romance, like a sweet guy asking a girl to dance with him.  It's not as adventurous as a platformer might normally require, but what the crap ever.  This is just fun, soothing music that you can listen to over and over again as you play the game.

Snake Man's theme is Mega Man.  Period.  It is the thematic representation of what Mega Man classic should be: fun, a little weird, and enjoyable for a long time.  Honestly...how can it get better than this?  Some people might feel this song is comparitively overplayed, but at the end of the day it is for a reason.  SNAKE MAN!!!!

The game over theme for this one is finally one that Capcom got right.  It's sad without being depressing.  In fact, it's actually a little funny.  It gets the job done. 

As for the boss battle theme, it's really good.  I'm not sure how it compares to other boss fights, because Capcom is always good at them, but it rocks.  Good times.  It goes without saying that MM3 has the best get a weapon music.  This is an actual song versus a little clip of noise that most of the "get a weapon" bits are.

Okay, now, up until this point the music is very party and fun, and only with Spark Man's theme do things get a little dangerous sounding.  Wily's castle themes start to change that.  The music for levels 1 and 2 start to get a little more suspicious, anticipating danger ahead.  It's not a terribly noticable theme, but it's fun to listen to. 

Levels 3 and 4 really kick it up a notch.  As I listen to this soundtrack, I think of a story where the lead is supposed to save the day, but in the end he goes to a techno party instead (the robot master themes).  This song openly mocks my made up protagonist, and here he fully realizes that by partying to all the techno he has let a bad guy out of his grip and the world will soon be doomed.  It's a weird plot idea in my head....don't ask.  I even made up some silly words to it.

Fighting bad guys
Is what I should have done
Fighting bad guys
Is what I didn't do
Techno party
(It was such a waste)
It will not save the world

Yeah....those need some work.  In any case, levels 5 and 6 further raise the level of absolute dread.  The song isn't as good as the previous, but the horror feel of it is just right.  The Wily boss fight song is great and hyper too, showing off in its coolness.

After a peppy winning bit, you get to hear the most depressing Mega Man song ever (unless you think MM4's ending is more so).  This is Proto Man's theme, and this is the part of the game where you find out that Proto Man is really Mega Man's lost brother (and in my demented little story it's the part where the lead was successful at stopping the baddie, but must reflect on all the things he lost because he didn't stop the baddie fast enough). 

The real gem of this song is that it's not just sad, but also sort of contented.  It's tragic without being emo.  It's very touching, and it's the balance of this sadness with the happier robot master themes that really makes this soundtrack (imo) the best. 

But of course they can't end the game with such a sad song.  They finish the credits with a song that's similar to Proto Man's theme in that it's both sad and content.  With PM, his theme relies more on being sad, while this one is more so content and happy, as if Mega Man is looking forward to a future despite all he's been through.

Listen here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUS_gytmTh0

So yeah, that's MM3, one of the best MM Classic games ever.  It wins the best music award.

Mega Man Music -- MM2

Hey y'all.  Time for more Mega Man!

I really love all Mega Man music.  A lot of people say the second game had the best, and I personally disagree.  I'm not sure why.  Maybe I find the songs of the other games more cohesive to each other or something.  But whether or not MM2 is my first favorite is really beside the point; it's a good, solid soundtrack with a lot of fun stuff to listen to.  Definitely one of the better ones.

As far as the game itself goes, it's very good.  MM2 establishes permanently what the Mega Man games are stylewise, with its influences stretching out beyond the Classic series.  It extends the number of robot masters to eight, cleans up the graphics, eliminates the point system, and creates some classic enemies like tellies, sniper joes, and pipies.  MM1 was wonky in pretty much every way, and MM2 straightens things up.  It actually gives an intro and intro music to Mega Man, of which MM1 had none.

As far as the music goes, MM2 ends the notorious short looping and allows the music to extend further and take the time to really develop into the fun stuff it is.  The music becomes the storytelling of the game, which is highly necessary when your game has basically no on-screen plot.  Video games aren't obligated to be storytellers, but dang if the music doesn't try.

The intro explains the happenings for the first Mega Man game, and in fact actually uses the music from the ending of the first game for this intro.  It segways perfectly into the title screen music of this game, going from a mellow, tragic intro into an action packed title with Mega Man standing on a skyscraper with his hair blowing in the wind.  It's perfect.  Hey wait, why isn't this soundtrack my favorite again?

Anyways, this game definitely has my favorite password music ever.  It's short, repetitive, and squeaky, but it's awesome and I love it.  Yay!  It just makes me so happy.  The boss select screen music is good.  Sounds like a great intro into the danger that one will surely face on an adventure.

Okay, so here's the list of robot master themes from what I think are the worst to best written for this game.  Note that I didn't say my favorite, but most skilled.  Also note that "worst" only means compared to the other robot master themes.  All the themes in this game are awesome.  Each of them evokes the proper emotion and imagery related to their robot master.

#8  Notedly, I really enjoy Heat Man's music, and it evokes in my mind images of lava and gunfire, perfect for a fire-element baddie.  Trouble is, they went though a lot of work making the other songs on this soundtrack, and this one seems like its looping is still too short.  Still, it's funny when you play the level, mess up, die, and be mocked by the music as you try again.  Well, you have to deal with his disappearing block segment from hell with some sense of humor, or you'll get pissed off.  Go play Air Man first. 

#7 Crash Man's theme song is kind of weird.  It's a lot more goofy than the others, and this makes it really stick out.  It's completely enjoyable, though.  It gets a bit too goofy for me in parts, which is why it isn't higher in this list, but hey, it's still Mega Man music.  Party on.

#6 Air Man's theme is so much fun. A lot of the time I get "I Can't Defeat Air Man" stuck in my head and forget about this song, but this song is great game fare.  It's interesting enough to enjoy, and not too weird to distract or annoy as you play the level.

#5 As a kid, I never really cared too much for Wood Man's theme.  It's good video game stuff, but it didn't evoke too much for me.  As an adult I enjoy it, and I see why a lot of people like it the best.  It's dramatic adventure stuff.  I guess the problem is it just doesn't seem unique to me.  It just doesn't say "Wood Man".  All the same, it's a good song, and it reminds me of being a fighter pilot for some reason.

#4 Metal Man has some great music.  He's known for a lot of his stage hazards, like those drills that pop up through the floor and ceiling, and also his metal blade weapon.  Honestly, Metal Man is all around awesome.  The song gives a great, adventurous tone, and really deserves its higher spot on the list.

#3 Bubble Man's theme reminds me of Air Man's in the sense that it's more relaxing than otherwise.  It has a sense of calm without losing that nice drive and oceanic wonder.  It's such a deep song with lots of yummy layering.  Good stuff, good stuff.

#2 Flash Man's theme is a lot of people's favorite.  It's just a fun theme with mysterious tones. It wasn't my favorite, but y'know it's solid and a lot of fun.  The level just wouldn't be the same without it.  You get the sense of foreboding as you wander the glowy maze of mischief.

#1 That leaves Quick Man for the number one slot.  Yeah, this theme is weird.  It feels odd that the little "vrrreen" from the instant death lasers isn't playing along with this song.  It's the best because not only is it good, but it's also unique. 

Now, the Mega Man universe has always had good fight themes, and this is no exception.  However, MM2's just isn't as good as the ones from other games.  It's solid, but doesn't carry the strength of others.  Also, the game over music is too darn cheerful.  I mean heck, Mega Man just died here.  No need to laugh at him.

Next up is one of the greatest Mega Man songs ever.  Any true classic gamer recognises this as one of the best pieces of gamer music of all time.  That would be Wily levels one and two.  The theme played there is magnificent and has spawned many a set of person making up lyrics to it.  My favorite is the ridiculously fun Okkusenman, a Japanese song about missing the innocent past and how the years slipped away.  Seriously, you gotta hear it.

Okkusenman: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FzSR_TFMirs

Notedly, some people don't like this theme, but it has been kinda overplayed in gamer circles.  That, however, doesn't take away from its genuine quality.

Wily levels three and four cut out all the fun.  It's like, "okay guys, you spent the last two levels partying, so now it's time to focus and kill the mad scientist".  It's very focused on this, and you won't be thinking about the theme that much at all.  Let's move on.

The Wily boss fight doesn't have a separate theme, but there's a short victory theme.  It's okay.  The real gem of the ending plays along with a melodramatic ending scene where Mega Man is walking home through petals, leaves, snow, and rain.  Once the sun comes up, Mega Man reaches his home in the country, leaving his helmet behind on the hill.  The song evokes drama as if Mega Man regrets war or is just tired and ready for peace.  This begins the trend of super melodramatic Mega Man endings, one that doesn't end even until the Zero series (or maybe ZX; I've never seen playthroughs of those).  It's a sad, touching song, but I miss having happy endings.

Fortunately, MM2 doesn't leave me hanging.  They pep it up for the credits with a very much underrated song.  It's fun, party, and leads right back into the title theme as it closes off.  Yay!  Rock on!

Oh hey, you can listen to the soundtrack here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uVn96gyZ5cM

So yeah, MM2 has a great soundtrack.  Though I played this game (ie watched my brother play it) as a kid, it's the one out of the first five that I remember the least.  Looking back at it on youtube evokes fond memories, and I do start to remember certain things, like the spike blocks in Air Man's stage, the dragon in Wily 1, and the giant chicken thingies in Wood Man's.  It represents what Mega Man is supposed to be as a game, and it's fun as mess.  Some of the kinks as far as gameplay go aren't really worked out, but whatever.  Glitches in small doses only improve a game.