Time for my next music reviews series. This one's gonna be a beast, too. I'm reviewing the soundtracks to every classic Mega Man, X, and Zero/ZX game. I'm sticking with these three series because I think they just have the most worth talking about.The Battle Network and Legends games do have their fair share of great tracks, but I just don't have as much to say about them on an individual track level. But for the platformers? Yeah, I have a lot of thoughts.
Let's start with the first game, shall we. I actually think the original Mega Man holds up better than you'd expect, it's certainly more balanced and has a better Wily Castle than several of its direct sequels, but the soundtrack definitely pales in comparison to nearly every game that followed it. It was Manami Matsumae's first soundtrack and a very early NES game so it's impressive by those standards, but compared to most of Matsumae's future soundtracks and every Mega Man game that followed, it's nothing too special nowadays.
Select Screen
This is a very 80s track, almost sounding like it could be in a Rocky movie. It does do a decent job at getting you pumped in game, but it is a very short and repetitive loop otherwise.
2/5 Stars
Cut Man
Well, we're already at the best track in the game. Cut Man's theme is one of the most iconic tracks in the series and I think it holds up the best out of any of MM1's tracks. It's catchy, surprisingly lengthy for an MM1 tune, and has a great sense of intensity to it. It feels like the progenitor of the 8-bit rock that would define the series.
4/5 Stars
Guts Man
Guts Man's theme, on the other hand, is a lot less interesting. It's a pretty simple melody repeated throughout the entire track, with barely any variation to it. It does a solid job at conveying Guts Man's power and the buzzing in the background is cute, but otherwise, this is one of the weaker Robot Master themes.
2/5 Stars
Ice Man
All the way back in the first game, Ice Man's theme managed to establish the calm ice theme that would a staple of the series. It's still really short like most MM1 tracks, but the more laid-back vibe helps Ice Man's theme stand out a bit.
3/5 Stars
Bomb Man
Bomb Man is always my first Robot Master of choice when playing this game, and this theme is a big reason why. It just screams "first level", with a cheery and heroic melody that sounds like the start of an adventure. And like with Cut Man's theme, it's decently lengthy, with a defined verse and chorus to prevent it from getting too repetitive. Definitely one of the best MM1 tracks.
4/5 Stars
Fire Man
Fire Man has the same buzzing sound of Guts Man, but with a way better melody. While still pretty short, Fire Man's catchy verse and classical-sounding chorus makes for one of the better tracks in the game.
3/5 Stars
Elec Man
I don't have too much to say about Elec Man's theme. It's pretty catchy and upbeat, particularly the opening that feels like a slow-paced version of the select theme, but it's as usual way too short.
3/5 Stars
Boss Battle
I'm not a fan of MM1's boss theme, sadly. While iconic, it kinda just sounds like a jumble of out-of-sync notes to me. The Powered Up version is way better in this case (somehow the Wily Wars version is worse?!).
1/5 Stars
Dr Wily Stage 1
Speaking of out-of-sync, the first Dr Wily theme suffers from exactly that, which is a shame. Composition-wise, it's a solid, haunting track that sets the tone really well. In practice, all the instrumentts just don't line up to each other. Thankfully, the Wily Wars and Powered Up versions fully realize this track's potential.
1/5 Stars
Dr Wily Stage Boss
Despite how short and repetitive this theme is, I absolutely love it. It does such an incredible job at inducing a state of panic in the player, befitting the infamous Yellow Devil fight. It's such a clean loop too, almost impossible to get this track wrong.
4/5 Stars
Dr Wily Stage 2
The second Dr Wily theme isn't out-of-sync like the first one is, it's just very boring and short. Most of the track is composed of droning notes and it gets old very quickly. Not even the remakes make me like this track that much more.
1/5 Stars
Ending Theme
MM1's ending theme is obviously iconic for being reused in Mega Man 2, but I'm honestly a bit split on which version I like better. MM1's version of the theme starts with these really high pitched notes I'm not a huge fan, but it also has an extended melody afterwards that the MM2 version doesn't have.
3/5 Stars
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