Memorable Music

The music of the Mega Man series is one that has garnered much praise in the gaming community. Whether it’s classic Mega Man, MMX, Legends, Battle Network, Zero, ZX, etc., you can be sure the music is going to be good. For me though, my appreciation for Mega Man music, let alone MMX, wouldn’t begin until my early teen years (early 2000s) Like other games that I never managed to own (or stopped working), my memory of the music in MMX became forgotten. It wasn’t until I gained access to dial-up internet in the early-mid 2000s when I would look up videogame music. Since Youtube wasn’t created yet, my only choice was though midi-sites like vgmusic.com. I looked up the music for Mega Man X, and the nostalgia just poured in. While they weren’t perfect recreations, it helped me to remember the music of MMX and to really appreciate the music. I pretty much like all the music in Mega Man X. But for the sake of this article, I can only talk about three of them. But do give the rest of the soundtrack a listen, it’s that good!

That intro riff. Hearing that when “Ready” blinks on-screen is such a kickass moment. In the background when you first teleport in, you can see the runway to the airbase. But at first glance it looks a bit like a highway or a racetrack. So in a weird way this relationship between the stage and the song make it seem like you’re about to start a race, Highway Star style. For the song, its interesting that the guitar actually takes a backseat after the intro riff, remaining as the rhythm guitar and letting a sort of synth-trumpet handle the melody. Suddenly the song goes from rocking to heroic.

Before continuing into the songs, my appreciation for rock music escalated after playing Guitar Hero. I really liked rock music before this, but it was probably Guitar Hero that really cemented my love for the genre. Rock Band later on helped me to understand the nuances and effort that come from the other instruments and working as a team. So when I listened to the Mega Man X soundtrack again, All I could think of was, “Man, that would be so cool in Rock Band.” But listen to the song. The melody the guitar does is amazing. The bass is consistent, prominent, and fast paced. And the drums. That drum solo, as short as it is, is a testament to videogame music. The industry needed the horsepower granted in the 16-bit era, and the composers answered with “Hey, we got enough tech to do this!” You never heard a drum solo like this in videogames before Mega Man X came along.

Whenever I hear this song, I always imagine some sort of New Orleans jazz band playing this song. It’s got the rythym, the swing, the funk… Imagine someone playing the trumpet and doing the melody (I know it’s a guitar playing the melody, but hear me out), and they’re doing that little dance to keep in tune with the beat of the song while playing the melody. Everyone is moving to the beat of the song: the trumpeter, the bassist, the drummer, the guitarist. Anyway, going into the song, Armored Armadillo’s stage theme is just such a fun song to listen to. Every instrument is energetic. Repeated listenings sorta bring a bit of satisfaction, as you notice the sort of dual melody, call-and-response going on between the deeper guitar, the more high-pitched guitar, and the synth. And that scene I mentioned earlier with that plaform going down the track near the end of the stage? It’s such an awesome moment when you play it yourself and this song is playing. It’s like everyone’s having a party there and everyone but you is blowing up!

I never managed to beat this game during my time with it. As a kid, Sigma was just a bitch to defeat. I haven’t had a chance to beat the game, but I probably didn’t need to as it seems Sigma is like Dr. Wily and just won’t go down. Next week, we skip a couple of entries and jump consoles, and dive into a game that went against the norm of other games released alongside it. The Z-Saber and the X-Buster become fully playable the series’ fourth entry, Mega Man X4.