Oct 142015
The second NES trilogy keeps the mega music moving with amazing jams like Skull Man, Stone Man and Mr X Castle.
0:00:00 – Opening 2 (MM4)
0:10:50 – Ring Man (MM4)
0:12:17 – Bright Man (MM4)
0:13:36 – Dust Man (MM4)
0:23:27 – Dive Man (MM4)
0:25:12 – Skull Man (MM4)
0:26:56 – Cossack 2 (MM4)
0:37:31 – Gravity Man (MM5)
0:40:11 – Charge Man (MM5)
0:42:33 – Stone Man (MM5)
0:49:32 – Dark Man (MM5)
0:51:33 – Wave Man (MM5)
1:00:28 – Flame Man (MM6)
1:02:27 – Yamato Man (MM6)
1:04:16 – Tomahawk Man (MM6)
1:09:50 – Centaur Man (MM6)
1:11:18 – Mr X Stage (MM6)
1:12:56 – Last Boss (MM6)
1:19:36 – Ending (MM4)
Looking forward to this during my commute. I just love Pharaoh Man’s–
(takes a quick look at the playlist)
…where is Pharaoh Man’s Theme? All of the so-so music in Mega Man 4 and you play nearly everything but? Here’s hoping there’s a good explanation for why you skipped it. At least you got Wave Man and Gravity Man in for Mega Man 5.
Thanks for these episodes Brett. It sounds like you got alot going on but I love VGMpire and all the effort you put in.
(hours later, after a grueling day at work…)
Thank you for reminding me why I love all of Mega Man music, not just the popular songs I come back to time and again. See you next week!
Liked this episode even more than the last. Your gushing over Mega Man is totally expected; you gush over all of the games that are on your show. Incidentally, how is it that nobody’s yet mentioned Mega Man was partly inspired by Astro Boy?
I really liked the music to 5 and 6. While the composition on all the Mega Man games are very good, I feel like the sound design lagged a little bit more behind Konami and Sunsoft with each sequel, with 4 being the most noticeable. The drums in 4 are kind of C64-esque, and the instruments are really basic sounding beeps.
With the sound design in 5 and 6, the MM series jumps right up there with the best the NES had to offer. Gravity man’s track is amazing with all its counter melodies and that sick breakdown just before the track loops. Waveman’s music really reminds me of Shovel Knight, with less caffeine and the happiness turned up from 3 to 6. I guess that makes sense; although Kauffman did SK with Konami’s VRC6 chip in mind, the
music sounds more like a nervous Duck Tales on amphetamines.
The Arrested Development reference was hilarious. The Japanese Developers/Mole/jet pack punchline definitely ranks in my top 10 punchlines of all time. Mr. X was an alias for Dr. Wily? Alias is a SHOW about a spy!
I should have shared this Mega Man 3 memory last episode, but better late than never. I’ve shared it before in other forums, but its worth a repeat.
I remember the Christmas when my parents bought me Mega Man 3. I had found the secret present stash and through a series of repeated visits, identified the NES shaped present and carefully opened the top of it to see which game it was. Too excited to wait for Christmas day, I worked up the courage to more fully unwrap the present and take the game out of the box. Realizing afterward that the present would be too light with no game in it, I unwrapped it one last time to substitute in Rygar. If you are reading this Mom…. I’m sorry.
Never did get that lunchbox…. : (
this is great
Ahh great ep! Bright Man reminds me of a time in my Sophomore year of college when I decided to replay Mega Man 1-8 on the Anniversary Collection before buying Mega Man 9 on WiiWare when it came out. I was playing Mega Man 4’s Bright Man stage and his theme became ingrained in me and my roommate’s minds for the rest of the day, we’d be randomly humming it to each other, it was great.
Skull Man’s another favorite theme from that game, primarily for that catchy drum break before it loops. *nananaaaaanuhhhnaa- pakupaku-pa-pa-pa-pa! naaaaanuhhhnaa pakupaku-pa-pa-pa-pa!*
This ep. reminded me of how awesome Cossack 2 is, I forgot how fresh and different it was compared to the rest of the music.
“Gravity Man” and “Dark Man” are some of the best tunes to come out of the Classic MM series, Mari Yamaguchi is truly brilliant (funny how she only chipped into 3 or 4 Breath of Fire tracks and one of them turned out to be one of the best – the first world map theme “Starting the Journey”). Absolutely love the jazz breakdown before Gravity Man loops, and Dark Man’s melody is just ridiculously beautiful.
For fans of MM4 – 6’s music, there’s a great Japanese remix album called “Rockman Famicom Series Arrange Album ROCKMAN Kai Arrange shitemita!!” that has amazing vocal remixes of Dive Man & Dark Man:
Dive Man / Diving Day (super big bandy/jazzy): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bGeXleXuKBY
Dark Man / Imitation Castle: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QeYyaQVBgPY
There’s also a great rock remix of Yamato Man from 20th Anniversary Rockman 1~6 Rock Arrange Ver. – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PXU9p4gBqDw
It’s interesting to me, of all Capcom composers, the one whose style I can recognize across all platforms would have to be Yuko Takehara. Maybe it’s because I’m so enamored by her Breath of Fire II soundtrack, but when I listen to Mega Man 6, 7, Marvel vs. Capcom/X-Men vs. Street Fighter, etc. I almost immediately know when a track was done by her. Of all the composers from that era, she’s the one I want to interview the most. As far as I know, no English interviews with her exist, and I’m not even sure if she’s still in the music biz.
In any case, looking forward to the next episode! Mega Man 7’s one of my biggest classic Mega Man faves musically and game-wise!
Long-time listener, first-time commenter. I know these eps are going to be legendary, even in the hallowed halls of VGMpire history. I remember trying to learn the bass lines of MM4—which was my first MM game—in middle school on my new, shiny, cheap bass guitar. The simple descending fifths were easier to pick out than the fast arpeggios of other NES bass lines, even those of earlier MM games. All these years later, still rocking my VGM bass lines whenever I can.
Thanks for your hard work in helping us reconnect with our younger selves.
now we’re getting into unfamiliar territory. outside of the 20th anniversary arrangement album, i had never heard any of these.
I don’t think you realize how happy I am that you mentioned that Battle Network has good music 🙂