- Blog #20: I'm in the midst of my February vacation break and I'm lost in boredom-ville. To ease my mind in a way that makes me happy, I've decided to write another music blog. Video-game music has always been a guilty-pleasure of mine. The Megaman original soundtracks (OST) are no exception to the rule. For this blog, I'm going retro. I'm only going to be focusing on Megaman game's 1-10. If you've never played a Megaman game before, I'll give you an outline of what this blog pertains to. You usually start a Megaman game off with an intro (usually) explaining what the crisis is that Megaman must deal with. Most (if not, all) of the trouble comes from Megaman's arch-enemy, Dr. Wily. After that, you're given the option to fight one of Dr.Wily's robot-masters. You'll have the option to pick from 8 robot-masters, except for the first Megaman game where you pick from 6. After picking and defeating one, you keep the cycle going until you've defeated them all. Then, you reach some evil castle, go through it, and defeat Dr. Wily. The main focus here is on the robot-masters. Each one has their own stage music, thus making this their own individual theme. Which ones do I favor? Let the cure of boredom flourish!
1. Chillman (Megaman 10) - Megaman returning to 8-bit, after a few years of other Megaman franchises, should have been a big green light for Megaman fans. After seeing how Megaman 9 turned out to be a little less exciting and a little more disappointing, I was worried about Megaman 10. My fears went away as soon as I started playing. The themes in this game stand out a lot more than Megaman 9 robot-master themes. There was a lot of great music in this game, but one of the stages stood out. The stage of the ice-robot, Chillman. I love this icy theme! Ice seems to be one of those reoccurring robot-master traits, along with elements like fire and water. Previous ice-robots (Iceman, Freezeman, Frostman, Coldman) had themes that didn't really fit my interpretation of "cold, icy emotions." Ice-robot masters should have that chilling cold theme that almost sounds too dark and depressing. That's how I like it. Coldman came at a close second, although not even being a member of Megaman's 1-10. He was only denied a "Top 10" spot because of that and that the beat of his stage music was a bit too "fun" funky for me. Chillman's theme comes out more...chill. When you hear this theme, walking along a night sky, you feel a little cooler on the inside. I'm including two other remixes that I loved of Chillman's theme. Enjoy being chill!
2. Flashman (Megaman 2) - Electric robots should have anything BUT dark and chilly music. For a design like Flashman's, you'd expect something bright and catchy for music. Flashman's theme delivered exactly what was anticipated. While traveling through Flashman's stage, you almost get the sense that the flashing floor/ceiling lights are flickering to the beat of the tune. Capcom producers also did a good job of re-designing Flashman and his stage music composition for the Battle Network series. It's just too bad that Flashman's weapon doesn't do much, except freeze time and disable your weapon for a short span. Flashman's theme is one of the only robot-master themes I've seen remixed into a hacked Guitar Hero program...weird.
3. Cutman (Megaman 1) - Cutman may very well be the first robot-master you ever face, seeing as how he is weakest to Megaman's mega-buster attack. That is, he would be the first, if you actually knew the weaknesses of each robot-master here afterward. Anyways, Cutman's design is simple and yet it seems to hold some significant purpose for Megaman games. Another weird thing about Cutman is that he is a robot-master that appears the most in other Megaman games. He appeared in Megaman 8 (Sega Version), Megaman: The Power Battle, Megaman 2: The Power Fighters, and he even made a showing in Megaman X8 as a hidden boss. Of course, he also appeared in Megaman: Battle Network 2 with a very similar design as his counterpart (the only difference being the "C" on his chest). He's KUNG-FU CUTMAN! YAHHH!
4. Waveman (Megaman 5) - Waveman's stage was very unique compared to the other stages. Unlike the other stages of Megaman 5, Waveman included some bubble puzzles and a water-cycling addition to his level. I don't know whether it's the stage I liked more or the music. There was just a nice ebb and flow to this piece. It wasn't too complex, it wasn't that simple, and it just felt like a wave in motion. It was one of the more memorable themes from Megaman 5, to me. Waveman was never redesigned for the Megaman: Battle Network games. However, some YouTube user created his own Megaman sprite series, where Waveman WAS redesigned and was the main antagonist in the story's plot. This would only be discovered if you're a video-game nerd like me, though...
5. Topman (Megaman 3) - I'm not sure why Capcom decided to make Topman a geezer in the Battle Network series, but I digress. Topman's theme and abilities put a nice little "spin" on things (Ha-ha-haaaaaa). The ironic thing about Topman's weapon is that you may absolutely need it for the final battle. A weapon that doesn't shot crazy crap...it just makes you spin at a small range? Who would have thought? I guess it makes sense, seeing as how Gamma's head doesn't move at all in the final battle. This stage is full of spins, twists, and tops. A less than normal boss for a less than normal musical number. A robot-master on roller skates....HA!
6. Knightman (Megaman 6) - Megaman 6 had a very strange setup. For one thing, the minute you start a robot master's stage, you see a screen that shows the stats of the robot-master before you begin. Just a trivial fact. Moving on. As one might figure, Knightman's stage takes place in a castle. The first 6 seconds of this piece reminds me of entering a castle via a drawbridge. There's something very royal and valiant about this theme. You really just have to listen to it to understand what I'm getting at. Now, Knightman is strongly defensed, but he's surprisingly easy to defeat in battle. He's harder in Battle Network than he is in the classic series of Megaman. Knightman is a pretty basic design of a knight who wields a ball and chain with a shield. Nothing too fancy, but it's a pretty cool stage. The music makes the environment all the more heroic.
7. Tornadoman (Megaman 9) - While I said in #1 that I didn't think Megaman 9 held any importance to the creation of Megaman 10, that meant by no means that Megaman 9 couldn't have been a possible establishment for modern-day "Classic Megaman." In fact, it was the internet promo for Megaman 9 that got Megaman fans hyped up for the retro-days again. It was Tornadoman's theme that played in the background. It was the concept of Tornadoman's stage, in the promo, that brought fans attention to the Wii market. Some say that Tornadoman's design is a ripoff of Gyroman, but I think not. The only similarities I see between the two are the usages of cross-blades and that they're both green. Other than that, you can't really call it a ripoff situation. That's like saying the wind element was ripped off of Windman, but they're nothing alike. Tornadoman's music is screwy and certainly makes you feel...up. That's how I sum it up. You're on the clouds with tornadoes in the air. It certainly makes me think of weather all of a sudden.
8. Astroman (Megaman 8) - How very fitting for a spacial dimensioned stage! Moving away from the 8-bit Megaman for a second, Astroman is the weirdest designed robot-master and is probably Dr. Wily's wimpiest creation of Megaman 8. He's a wimp, but that doesn't make him an easy target. He's hard in Megaman 8, but you should see how difficult he is in the game, Megaman and Bass. This stage is very tricky to maneuver yourself around and that's why the music is so fitting, and so awesome. It's a galactic groove that suits the different dimension. I was going to put Tenguman's theme on here instead, but I thought that his theme song was a tad too weak for his overall look. Astroman's theme fit more...and that's all there is to that.
9. Pharaohman (Megaman 4) - I don't really have much to say about this one. It's one of the better themes in Megaman 4, which only beats out Ringman in competition. It's pure epic and one of the most recognizable Megaman themes of all. Capcom did a great job of redesigning Pharaohman, for the Battle Network series, and making his stage music in Megaman: Network Transmission an awesome theme. It's very Egyptian.
10. Junkman (Megaman 7) - It's surprising to me that this robot-master makes the list. Megaman's 4 and 7 soundtracks don't stick out to me as much as the other Megaman games. Junkman's made out of...junk. His stage is made out of...junk. His stage music is...magnificent for such a disposable stage and not junk. Very odd. The irony fascinated me and it's the main reason why Junkman wins a spot on my list. The design for his Megaman EXE debuting was a strange transition indeed. It was a total change from a human-like android to something that was completely composed of trash. With that said and done, Junkman completes my 20th blog!
- Done. (Keep on reading!)
Very interesting blog and a great top 10 of MM robot master themes if I've ever seen one.
ReplyDeleteWhat would you say are now the 10 WORST robot master themes?? How would you rank all the rest in between (the 66 others) from 1 to 11!?!?