SURGE OF POWER - The Hype-est track from Mega Man Battle Network

[@avaleeva52]

Fun fact, the main composer for the battle network series (Akari Kaida( also composed Breath of Fire III. Thanks for showing everyone how talented she really is!

[@SeeleSO02]

Such an underrated composer! Akari Kaida was also one of the composers for Mega Man and Bass (Rock Man and Forte.) They have such a distinct style, you can totally tell which tracks they worked on.

[@Jyukenmaster95]

And what do ya know: I grew up loving both games as a kid! :D

[@MechanicalRabbits]

I just looked it up, and Akari Kaida didn't work on this game, she worked on BN5. Yoshino Aoki made the BN6 soundtrack, but both of them worked on Breath of Fire III

[@shalpp]

@@SeeleSO02 iirc Kaida only did the intro stage

[@byg4299]

@@MechanicalRabbits Just to add to this, Akari Kaida did BN1 and BN5. Yoshino Aoki did BN2, BN3 and BN6. BN4 was done by Toshihiko Horiyama (Mega Man X4)

[@mason4882]

Ayeeee, get that sponsorship bread

[@WhitePaintbrush]

Ayeeee

[@jeffcruzmusic]

Just in time for the collection to drop !

[@WhyHandlesIMeanFroggchamp]

Ayyeeeeeeee

[@Kiaulen]

Thisistheway.gif

[@blackcitadel37]

Nice

[@DobieMeltfire]

1:19 "Surge of Power takes advantage of the fact that no human ever has play this music on a real instrument" I guess you haven't heard GaMetal's take on this beastly tune!

[@VoiceofMidnightStorm]

Or ToxicxEternity's!! And *I* was the one that paid him to make it!

[@KnuckleCuts]

@@VoiceofMidnightStormty for your service 🫡

[@mainmanstan7405]

Thanks for that.

[@aloysiusdevadanderabercrombie8]

Or insaneintherainmusic's, bro killed that shit

[@setsers1]

HELL YEAH!! Perfect Sponsor! I'm glad to see Battle Network again

[@Gnurklesquimp2]

A while back I went looking for childhood games that hold up for me today, I ended up settling on the Battle Network series and SSX 3. Then I learned they're remastering MMBN, now there's even this video that made me double take, awesome! Currently on the 4th game in the series, absolutely blasted through the first three before I also remembered SSX 3.

[@nosajsamaniego4512]

​@@Gnurklesquimp2THEY'RE SO GREAT, I'VE EVEN GOT MY SIBLINGS ON THEM NOW; 😍😍😍

[@setsers1]

@@nosajsamaniego4512 Awesome

[@momorarr]

damn capcom recognizing your work congrats!

[@levigr]

Seen Capcom sponsoring this unique content fills me with joy. Let the people know how much effort and creativity is poured into videogames through music besides graphics and gameplay. Also the launch of MMBN Legacy Collection brings me great memories of when I used to play the first two games during the time I was practicing Weber and Stamitz repertoire for clarinet. One more thing... This channel rocks! ❤

[@angelcarrillo980]

I think it's also important to note, from a technical standpoint, the music technicians had no way of using chords (they lacked enough audio channels). The arpeggios and syncopated notes avoiding an overlap was a intentional, clever, and creative way to maximize musical ideas and minimizing musical limitations from the Gameboy's small number of channels. This was more than musical mastery. This piece is engineering genius.

[@OdaKa]

Well actually 🤓 if you listen closely to the exerpts in this video you can actually hear that chords are being used. The Gameboy Advance was capable of using a system similar to MIDI, but more like DOS modules like xm, it, mod, etc.. to play sequences of audio samples, like the N64 and SNES for example. Most GBA titles used this exclusively. The thing that makes this a unique Gameboy Advance soundtrack is that along with using the audio sampling capabilities of the system with as many channels as you'd like, it also utilized the 8bit soundchip from the original Gameboy that was embedded in the GBA for backwards compatibility with older gameboy and gameboy color games. The 2 pulse channels for leads and counter melodies, the wavetable synth channel for bass, and the noise channel for percussion, combined with drum and melodic instrument samples to fill out the sound with chords, riffs, and more fleshed out percussion. It really emphasizes the dualistic nature of the real world + the cyberspace internet world by using the 2 different sound systems in tandem

[@romajimamulo]

That's more a limitation of the original Gameboy and the color. The advance actually does a lot of sample playback instead

[@josephd183]

you’re so right, and i’m getting shovel knight vibes because of it since shovel knight tries to stay within the technical limitations of a nintendo console from that era

[@blara2401]

The guitar is so exactly overstepped by the bass that I swear to all that's holy I would have never known it existed, were it not for you isolating it.

[@pokeperson1000]

It’s quite surprising, considering how usually in music it’s the other way around, with the bass usually being the hard to notice supporting role while the guitar being what people normally notice. I guess the low range that the guitar plays is a decently large chunk of the reason for that, basically acting like a second bass?

[@blara2401]

@@pokeperson1000 I suppose that does play a part. If my estimations are correct, the guitar hovers around an F2 note at around 90Hz. Although a bass guitar starts as low as 40, human ears aren't well tuned to make a lot of difference between lower frequencies. Still though, it sounds to me like a guitar and not a bass ; but it simply can't be heard in the original arrangement which, personally, I find just too muddy for its own sake, _especially_ considering the GBA's poor hardware.

[@pokeperson1000]

@@blara2401 yes, I agree that it definitely sounded like a guitar. What I meant was that it was playing a role similar to that of what normally would be the role of a bass in other music, supporting the other parts and sinking into the obscured background as a result. The muddiness doesn't help either, and I can only hear smatterings of it after straining my ears while trying to ignore the rest of the music.

[@omegazeeeez]

One of the Best songs in the franchise so far, not only this song but the entire OST of 6 could be summed up by EMOTION, it has a lot of emotions going all the way around and that is why I love this game so much.

[@neuworldgames5006]

Agreed!! Probably my favorite OST in the series 🙏🏿

[@FedEx867]

🔥

[@monday_oddity2770]

The 8 year old in me is so validated that you’re able to explain why I liked this track so much. I have no musical talent so having it laid out like this helps so dang much

[@GlitchedVision]

so... the more I considered things while listening to your video here, the more I started to realize that this track is essentially a musical representation of a player's journey through a boss fight. The dissonance at the start is when you're first learning the patterns, not confident and often caught off guard by the incoming attacks but eventually you learn that pattern and become confident until phase two where the boss switches it up with a mid fight special. After this this pain in your neck decides to change the pattern, even if ever so slightly so while it's familiar there are things that may still throw you off until you get your confidence back. Even the fact that the track loops is significant as this process repeats itself every time you fight a new boss. not sure if this was intentional, or even meant to happen but your musical analysis made me come to this realization. I don't think I've heard many songs that can portray this journey as well as this one does, perfect boss song in my book.

[@Karen-0]

Almost definitely intentional - great observations

[@blara2401]

I love me a good analysis. Thank you for this read.

[@fou-luthedragonemperor8648]

MMBN is full of battle music bangers, MMBN3 grand prix song is another one I love.

[@1fareast14]

yep, was thinking of that one too :)

[@soulcleaner3578]

Great Battlers is so hype, you have keen taste my friend.

[@mattieboombatti]

Capcom was really on top of it in this era. The Zero/ZX series came out at around the same times, and those soundtracks were absolutely amazing too.

[@blackbulls9725]

N1 grand prix makes bn3 my favorite in the series I love tournament arcs and the fact that you build up to the tournament over the course of half the game made it so hype when you take the stage and all the battlers in your block are introduced

[@odd_cup_of_coffee]

The battle themes in BN3 are absolute bops

[@kcsupersonic1]

YES!!!! I absolutely love Mega Man Battle Network and would totally welcome any more coverage from this gem of a series. My personal favorite track is "A Total War," from Battle Network 5, but honestly all of the Final Computer Comp tracks are excellent from, BN3's "Final Transmission, to BN6's "Two of Braves."

[@MFMegaZeroX7]

My favorite is probably "You Can't Go Back" from BN2.

[@soulcleaner3578]

Great Battlers is my favorite. Maybe tied with Light in the dark.

[@LadyTsunade777]

The music composer for the MegaMan Battle Network series is truly incredible. It takes a real magician to make such incredible and timeless music through the limited GBA soundfonts and low track number. There are _so many_ great songs throughout the series that still sound just as iconic and distinctive and great even today. Composers for other games often lament how they're "limited" by the hardware, or just try to imitate real life music, and never think outside the box like Akari Kaida and Yoshino Aoki did. Video games aren't real life, so you're not limited to what kinds of music real life performers can physically play. MMBN's Akari Kaida and Yoshino Aoki (and also FFXIV's Nobuo Uematsu and Masayoshi Soken) realized that they can make incredible music making full use of the facts that they don't have to be constrained by the limits of real life performances or genres and can make _anything they could imagine without limit._

[@ReloGP14th]

yeah my composer teacher said that "If it sounds nice, why complaining?" It is true some people wants to limit to real life limitation. But as long as the music is enjoyable, i dont care if i need 7 arms to play a music

[@Inhaledcorn]

Ayo, Soken getting praise on a completely unrelated video. Love to see it.

[@BoomTheGuardian]

Remember: the gba doesnt have a dedicated sound chip, all music on there had to be hard coded by scratch

[@VideoGameAnimationStudy]

I'm glad lots of us decided to time videos with the release of this collection! Great video!

[@8bitMusicTheory]

Thanks man! Love your stuff!

[@VideoGameAnimationStudy]

@@8bitMusicTheory Ahw shucks, thanks!

[@handaranda]

0:51 the grass seed landing to the beat drop

[@LinkEX]

1:16 Arpeggios are a trademark of Megaman music in general, aren't they?

[@keltzar1]

In classic and battle network it really comes about from the limitations of the hardware. It's an interesting case of "limitations breed creativity"

[@FCEngine]

Only Megaman 10 used arps

[@nwcr_]

@@FCEngine Its true that Mega Man 10 used the more common quick arpeggio sound of chiptune, but arpeggios as an overall concept have been used since Mega Man 1 all over the place

[@pikmin4743]

nice sponsor, congrats! wow, those illogical bass and guitar tracks smushed together is insane but works so damn well

[@certainmisterbrick]

To this day, this track is still my favorite boss track in the series. It's just a straight banger.

[@Force95042]

I'm actually crying remembering this soundtrack lol. Great vid man thanks for the feels

[@LordEgilYGO]

If you wanna cover more MMBN please do Proof of Courage!

[@nabilsalha1941]

YES

[@taggerung890]

yes please!

[@LadyTsunade777]

Also cover You're Not Alone, and all the other "hero themes"! MMBN5 was my absolute fav of the series, so You're Not Alone (specifically the GBA version) holds a special place in my heart with the sheer feels it induces.

[@FoxyPercival714]

@@LadyTsunade777 Imagine the DS version. That slaps.

[@blara2401]

PLEASE YES!

[@Dudeman23rd]

All I needed to see was "Surge of Power" and I _KNEW_ I had to watch this

[@storminajar]

TWO MEGAMAN BATTLE NETWORK VIDEOS IN ONE DAY AND ITS ABOUT MY FAVORITE ASPECTS OF THE GAMES. BLESS YPUR VIDEO, MY DUDE

[@TheMurasakiProject]

This has gotta be the first time I've ever popped off for a KZbin sponsor before. Glad to see you're getting recognized + paid for some of the best content on KZbin

[@Jyukenmaster95]

I know you're doing this because you were sponsored to, but from the vibes of final fantasy 9 to the phoenix wright to Battle Network, I'm glad you keep covering music from my favorite childhood titles

[@booyah344]

2:15 **casually triggers my PTSD**

[@falcie8505]

2:17 Those dread notes, alone, represent MM fighting a boss... who ends up doing the yoinky sploinky

[@VworksArt]

I freaking love this song so much. Thank you for this breakdown.

[@taggerung890]

yooo! as a MMBN fan, I love the breakdown of the score and playing each individual part and showing how it all came together. This was amazingly detailed, and I loved it! Immediately subbed! Please do more

[@nabilsalha1941]

NO WAY i was listening to it all week and watching your videos for an assignment, this is just what i needed

[@TitansTracks]

Great choice of music, Surge of Power is such a sick track! Gotta be one of the funnest tracks I've remixed from the series so far! 💎

[@bluphantomexe8279]

I think the best part about surge of power is that either in the player's hands or in the enemy's. For example, if you are so used to fighting Blastman you'll feel the power and control go to you as if you are there to cause the chaos. BUT if for instance you run into Bass or Colonel unprepared it takes that power and chucks it into their court. It's like the ultimate battle song for two powerful forces clashing in a tug of war. lol

[@chrismansi4855]

I appreciate the shot of Hiromi at the end, because she so wonderfully embodies both sides of what you were discussing - there are definitely times where she starts at a lower intensity than the ultimate goal, to provide room to grow, but there are also definitely other times where she just goes absolutely all out from the very first notes right up till the end, and it's all so wonderfully satisfying. Another great video, thank you for posting!

[@Qwazim0d00]

Forgot about these games I played on the GBA 20 years ago. Great video

[@icekiller1594]

God this boss theme still hits just as hard as it did when I first played the game

[@danielpayne1597]

Amazing to see such a chaotic, excellent piece of music cut apart and explained! Now to inject Surge of Power hype directly into my veins when my Legacy Collection arrives!

[@asianpengi680]

The funny thing about the GBA’s sound chip is that it doesn’t exist. They had to dedicate part of the CPU to music and only had 4 channels to work with. They were given dirt and pebbles and cooked up a Michelin Star worthy meal.

[@turnkey_hole]

Congrats on the sponsorship! Love Surge of Power and your breakdown! I forgot how good that track was.

[@nothingelsetodoZ]

Not gonna lie, one of the best youtube videos I've watched in a while. Congrats for the sponsorship and the high quality work. Subscribing even if not knowing a single thing about music theory.

[@cjt217]

I am so excited this collection is out!

[@quesocowboy]

i want to give you a hug for selflessly dissecting and uncovering all the incredible value of this game’s music. thank you so much!!! i’ve been obsessed with this music since launch and it feels good to not be alone!

[@uuu12343]

I just finished all 6 games in the legacy collection and I literally teared up from nostalgia overflow + just a banger of a game series No joke, the level of detail connecting every game together is insane and I still havent found any games with this level of collection

[@uuu12343]

*Level of Connection

[@user-et3xn2jm1u]

Whoaaaa Capcom sponsor for 8BMT?!?! That's awesome!

[@PianoMan2501]

Now I want a MegaMan Network Transmission analysis video!!

[@GrimBTemplar]

I only just discovered your content, but I'm so glad you're growing and becoming successful on KZbin!

[@BrandDude24]

The way you broke down the instruments in this video was fascinating. I love the music in the Battle Network series and I feel like it needs the praise it deserves. Kudos to you man!

[@PaulKassebaum]

I am so happy that you're getting sponsors from game publishers! You deserve it, dude. Keep up your wonderful craft.

[@peterslempers]

MMBN is a title I played a lot as a kid and in college I did an arrangement on this piece :’) Love to see this video and that you got the CAPCOM sponsor!!

[@zacharywong483]

Impeccable video, as always! And congrats on the sponsorship!

[@SapphireLibra3]

It's almost like you can hear the Cybeast seething, waiting, and then you hear the dissonance between them, Mega Man, and Lan.

[@grimms-vi1874]

That was definitely accurate about the whole inscrutable guitar thing. Whenever I listened to this in an attempt to transcribe by ear, I tended to hear the longer notes as a synth instrument of some sort while the shorter strumming as part of the percussion like a record scratch when combined with the high-hat/maraca sound in the actual drums.

[@Caesar_Online]

Finally getting the real music theory I needed 😌 dope sponsor btw

[@courierz9451]

Got damn. This guy goes over music notes like a quick football play and i dont know jack about either and im pulled in

[@sephreed1938]

The drum line seems like a really important part of the song to bring up as well

[@zephyralfasl4058]

Up

[@lebureauweb2229]

Waouw, what a nice sponsor you got ! Congratulations, it is well deserved, your channel offers great content !

[@Runningwritingreading]

The sickest 5 years on the gba I still replay them once every 3/4 years especially for travel or vacation they can be beat so quick and the progression is great alongside insane OST I like this song but the main menu themes are super iconic too. No idea how they did this on gba soundfont all these are sick

[@TechnoL33T]

I LOVE arpeggios!

[@LS151]

Battle Network 6 is an all time favorite of mine, amazing game

[@dexi6111]

I love this battle theme and its peak boss battle no theme comes close to the fighting spirit this theme pushes out

[@EngrossingEnigma]

I love CAPCON even more for sponsoring this channel. I love this channel. It's what I wanted growing up as a musician and RPG video game nerd in the 90s. Feels good to knowbI wasnt the only one passionate about RPGs and music thory and answers a lot of the questions had. Even simple ones like ... what scale is the saga frontier opepening theme in. I didnt have the tools or education.

[@PMattiolo]

This series has very good music and this piece brings back a lot of memories. Thanks for covering it!

[@dacomputernerd4096]

Interesting how it contrasts different types of intensity instead of different levels. Always interested to learn from your analysis of these songs!

[@train4292]

This video made me appreciate Surge of Power so much more than I already did. And I loved this song to death before

[@hyun1539]

no way you made a video on this song, seriously feel like the only person who ever knows about battle network

[@keiyakins]

Battle Network was also downright prescient with "smart" appliances. I honestly thought no one would be so stupid as to attach an oven to the internet... now we have stories of people's smart ovens refusing to turn off (fortunately, cutting the power still works.)

[@redflameken]

A video that talks about music, especially the OST of my favorite game? the channel name is 8-bit music theory??? instant sub!

[@JoshDR09]

An all time great song. Glad you made this

[@LegendBegins]

Best game series of all time! Glad to see this covered!

[@ezc24]

8:42 Pretty sure thats Hiromi Uehara isn't it? I've been to one of her concerts back in the day and the way she plays her music you can really feel the mood in such a way that it makes you feel like its more than just frequencies flowing into your ear, like you can feel what she's trying to say with her music. Cool that you put her in a video about Megaman games its a fun niche reference for me lol 😃

[@KilleRoy_NL]

I've loved this theme from the second I heard it, it's amazing. ❤ That section where you layered 3 parts over eachother one by one was lovely, I never noticed the little guitar-like sound going along with the bass, that's really cool. Man I love video game music. 🙏🏻

[@catsozen]

Quickly clicked because I thought this was a Surge of Power remix, but stayed for the cool analysis. Awesome breakdown, fav Battle Network music!

[@eduardoespinosa5299]

Battle network is my favorite thing. Just dropping a comment to show support ! I also loved learning about the music theory behind the composition

[@webmeisterBud]

This was so cool. Good sponsorship! I played every MMBN except 6, so I'm looking forward to this hype finalé when I play it on the Switch! 🙏🏽 =)

[@OptimusCrlme]

I had never even heard the guitar and bass part at the beginning until this vid. So awesome

[@911meltdown2]

Man you've grown quite a bit since I first found you. You deserve it though. Respect!

[@mist666999]

I'm not enough of a music buff to understand the specifics, but this video still explains to everyone what those specifics actually mean. Excellent analysis!

[@Telekrus]

Awesome analysis! Soon as I heard the track I had a huge nostalgic grin. Only thing missing is discussion about how this track is remixed for the final boss battle music alongside motifs from the rest of the game

[@ocarinalover1214]

yoooo i never expected a video on my favorite Battle Network game!!!

[@Waywren]

Oh, exquisite. What a masterful analysis of a grand song!

[@VolundMush]

I think someone took the line "no human was ever meant to perform these arpeggios" as a challenge, because someone did it on a saxophone.

[@OdaKa]

Always loved how this soundtrack combines the backwards compatible classic 8bit Gameboy soundchip along with the Advanced system's audio sampling capabilities

[@EphemeralPseudonym]

That was actually the intended way to play back music on the GBA, as purely sampled music would either be crusty or present a significant load on processing

[@MegaRockReborn]

I can't believe my crummy old mod of the game still sees use even as B-roll in 2023. Still, good content and analysis of the piece. I don't understand it all, but I can definitely appreciate it more now on a different level.

[@fortisch]

Congrats on the sponsoring. Hyped for the megaman nt rerelease

[@idonthavealife2327]

Pretty great video,i t made me appreciate this song a lot more and i discovered knew things about the composition that i couldnt hear before but now im aware of,hope to see more megamanBN tunes in the future!!

[@paulpiche8370]

The music in this game was great. The title screen is my favorite. The first time I heard that song I knew that this was going to be the series finale.

[@Mahaveez]

I only played the first three games, but I still recognize this as the most iconic of the boss themes. It's just that powerful. And how often do you see the sixth game in a series blowing it away like this!?

[@OlleLindestad]

The sixth game really felt like Capcom trying to go out on a high in many ways. I really recommend giving it a try.

[@varenoftatooine2393]

*laughs in Final Fantasy VI*

[@Mahaveez]

@@varenoftatooine2393 This is like the only other notable one tho

[@frds_skce]

@@varenoftatooine2393 Definitely one of the most iconic boss themes under Capcom, man. Square Enix's VGM OST is whole different level to talk about.

[@EphemeralPseudonym]

​@@varenoftatooine2393 Final Fantasy and similar titles don't count so much imo as they don't follow the same continuity and setting, which gives them much more freedom and basically makes sequels be sequels in name and theme only.

[@FCEngine]

2:20 🐆 That #Cheetahmen remix goes hard! 🐆

[@HaveYouTriedGuillotines]

8:40 Examples that go against this expectation are all over video game music, especially older stuff. Secret of Mana's boss theme, Danger, is one of the best examples of this: It starts out incredibly intense, with this chaotic, repeating, descending line of staccato hits, as well as tense string stabs... And then drops into a slower, softer part much further into the piece, right before this big uplifting rise that then drops back down into the loop. They actually put the more soft, subtle part of the piece at the end, rather than the start, and it works great. I'd argue it has the same overall structure as Surge of Power, and it's equally as effective as a result. You should do a video on Danger at some point, it's super chaotic and syncopated.

[@exxon101]

I don't understand hardly any of the words you used in this video, but the music is hype for sure.

[@edmabasogan3728]

I really appreciate this vid, not only as a 2nd semester music major currently taking theory, but as a die hard megaman fan, finally watching BN’s hardest track get its flowers and get explained. Could you do an analysis of “battle pressure” from the 4th game?

[@ix8750]

Your analysis of this was not only amazing but pretty concise as well. Bravo man you fuckin rock.

[@LuluTeala]

The song had strong vibes in terms of the fight for survival, and it wasn't your fight to survive, it was theirs.

[@lukamagicc]

BN3's main web theme (not sure what it's called) has such an amazing bounce to it. My favorite track in the whole series.

[@Pandachu123]

Mine, too! BN3 was my childhood, honestly. 🥰

[@chriss.249]

I really like how u explained this. Its crazy to think of how much goes into music composition. I dont think i got the feeling of "threat" from the music. But the idea of fighting an opponent u dont have to hold back against. U can let the "beast out" as the hunger for battle takes over and increases as the fight rages on.

[@pjwafflewar]

Eyyy this is the video that pushed me over the edge. I'm getting the game

[@Omugiku]

One of my favorite tracks from my favorite Battle Network game. A lot of the songs in that game are sooooo good. I'm so happy to play it again now that my gba is too small for comfort for my hands.

[@TetraBitGaming]

Yesss! What an amazing song

[@Chocotiaa]

Damn you got sponsored by Capcom itself !! BIG GUY YOU ARE, IM SO HAPPY TO KNOW IT..

[@ShredmasterScott]

video game composers are so underrated

[@SPIRE_FAN]

That's one of the best sponsorship deals on this website because Mega Man Music is the cream of the crop when it comes to what it takes to be the best Video Game music out there.