The Mega Man Music Did NOT Need To Go THIS Hard

[@CharlesCornellStudios]

Which Mega Man game has the BEST soundtrack in your opinion?? There is literally so much to go through it could be an entire channel on its own. What else do you want to see me break down?? ALSO, time is running out to grab the Intro to Piano course at 50% off, check it out! betterpiano.com/intro-to-piano

[@shloakmehta]

ALL OF THEM

[@RhymesWithCarbon]

Mega Man 2 is my favorite - almost FORTY YEARS later!

[@w1nt3r_mut3]

Mega Man 4 & 5 are hella underrated when it comes to their soundtracks. Def recommend

[@RoyalDrummr]

Mega Man and Bass! EASY!

[@RoyalDrummr]

@@w1nt3r_mut3true friend. very true.

[@reaonford8590]

45 year old man here, who used to record video game music like this on cassette tapes when he was a kid, and got widely mocked by his classmates as a result. It's somehow vindicating to have that music finally recognized for its genius, so thank you Charles. If I may humbly suggest, please do the Castlevania franchise next.

[@AlbertoCasanova]

A 46'er here, I do agree.

[@1974dodgecharger]

Dude did you see his castlevania video?

[@reaonford8590]

Absolutely!! Great stuff!

[@peterplaatjies9267]

You da Mahn bra!! 👍

[@rororororobobobobobo]

OMG! Same, same, same! I didn't care too much about what other kids said though because I also had access to my older brother metal/early thrash music collection hahah! I also used to record various games' play through/ or partial play through on VHS for my friends when they were stuck (growing up in a rural area made it hard to just bike to see my nerd friends when they were all 10-20 km away in about every direction hahaha)!!

[@sitsat789]

Charles opened the Megaman box. No going back now

[@kendallcurtis7863]

2 and 7.. and X.

[@SeanSMST]

​@kendallcurtis7863 3 had bangers in it too, like the opening and ending being so good

[@kendallcurtis7863]

@@SeanSMST I beat 3 right when it came out and then almost immediately forgot it. Then I played it 30 years later on Switch. SNAKES!

[@TheAce736]

I've been waiting

[@Elec.Balloon]

Plot twist: Next Mega Man thing he'll cover is MM2 Wily Castle 1 and nothing else

[@NotJustBikes]

Literally last night I was telling our son (who loves chiptune) that Megaman 2 was peak NES chiptune. Amazing soundtrack. And Charles didn't even get to the Dr. Wiley's Castle theme in this video. That will definitely have to be a follow-up.

[@cooldebt]

Can I recommend the brilliant cover of Dr Wily's tune by The Consouls - it's so good seeing it played on real instruments

[@_LightningRod_]

Funny seeing you here lol. Great content btw

[@yoavshati]

So you're really not just about bikes

[@Fr0st_Tea]

I love your videos!!! I hate cars too!!!

[@BrofUJu]

One of my fave KZbinrs commenting on one of my other fave KZbinrs, awesome.

[@viper2681]

I love how the opening theme is telling a story, without even reading the text on the screen. "There was a time of peace, UNTIL THE BAD THING HAPPENED. Things are grim, but there is hope! Someone out there will save us. They will go through many trials and tribulations, but they will succeed and deliver us from the bad thing! Now go, BE THAT HERO!"

[@LoneWolf_Cub_Ogami_Itto]

True. My favorite story and tune is Dr Wily's Castle, most people love this track.

[@Impaled_Onion-thatsmine]

You can listen to it and beat the whole game as an 8 year old make teenagers look stupid they literally wanted me to put me 4 years ahead in school skip all elementary

[@SilverKnight16]

One of the cool things about Mega Man music is that the composer for the original game deliberately gave its music a sort of sad, tragic sound to it--Mega Man wasn't supposed to be a fighting robot, he was forced to fight his brothers to save the city. They gave a lot of thought into the game's music.

[@Somerandomjingleberry]

To be fair, “forced” isn’t exactly the right word… it’s even more sad than that. He wanted to make a difference and save innocent lives, and so he actually all but ordered his creator to modify him for heroism. He just… didn’t realize exactly what that entailed until it was too late. Some of the robot masters are said to have been rescued and repaired and made good guys again, but others not so much… to say nothing of all the minion robots he has to fight. And he can’t just ignore them because half the time they’re trying to kill him anyway.

[@ohdaUtube]

His name, Rockman, was because the entire bgm category was in the style of rock. It's why some of the character names goes with this like roll (rock n roll), bass, treble, etc. The reason they couldn't use that name in the US was because there was a company named rockman so they had to make the switch but i still refer to the game and character as Rockman

[@matiasgodoy399]

@@ohdaUtube wow thanks for this info! I always referred to him as Rockman as a kid, as I got to play it on the "Family Game" console in Argentina. And never knew why it was called Megaman later. Go Rockman!

[@darth-megaman919]

I thought the game soundtrack originally had a happier vibe, and the dev team was directed to redo the songs just to sound less "anime". Aside from the comics, which I understand are not canon, in what game does Mega Man ever show an inner conflict? I know he gets fed up with Wily, but it always seemed that the lament over all the fighting was more X's thing

[@ItsPyrus]

​@@ohdaUtubeCapcom never actually made the switch, nintendo did and that was way later than rockman on the nes.

[@JosephTavano]

I love that Charles discussed this important about the Mega Man 2 theme. The opening part with the F sharp? That's the ENDING theme of Mega Man 1. That ending theme cuts to new score as the screen starts to rise and follows to the top of the building. So, the Mega Man 2 theme is, structurally, a bridge between the two games. That's something few people ever notice but a masterful construction of the composer.

[@VictorSilva-lj4wy]

Not like he mentions it near the end of the video or anything

[@JosephTavano]

@@VictorSilva-lj4wy Yeah, that's why I love that he mentioned it.

[@tait316]

Yeah I noticed that as a kid actually. Maybe I was a teen by then but yeah I always thought that was super sick to do that. Then you start to notice it in other places, like how Tina/Terra's theme is in multiple parts of FF6. Neat stuff.

[@daywalker3735]

And so crazy how so many people never beat the first game to even realize that

[@JosephTavano]

@@daywalker3735 I was firmly in my 40s when I discovered it myself. Lucky to have experienced it not read it even in such a recent year. Save states, mwah.

[@sabin10]

The game was called Rockman in Japan because of it's rock inspired soundtrack. Suddenly it makes more sense that his sister is named Roll, his dog is named Rush, there is a bird named Beat and Protoman was called Blues (the precursor to rock music) in Japan. Lets not forget the Megaman Killer Robots, Enker (Enka), Punk and Ballade. There is also Treble and Bass (known as Gospel and Forte in Japan) and to top it all of there is a bird that Dr Wily created and named Reggae. So yes, the music really does have to go that hard, it's the backbone of the driving theme of the entire franchise.

[@jerfuhrer2581]

That's so cool! I only knew Rock, Roll, Rush and Bass. And Bass always seemed out of place to me.

[@mikesainz7]

God tier comment

[@RedEyesBlackDragon0]

​@@jerfuhrer2581And his dog, Treble.

[@Landoverse]

Holyshit, I always knew it was called Rockman, but I never knew why! Thank you!!

[@Avantasia133]

Also to add: Tango (style of music), and Quint (derived from Quintet, a group of 5 musicians and/or vocalists)

[@pavifart]

Lifelong MegaMan 2 aficionado here. I was trained by my awesome Aunt Jenny (RIP) on the intricacies of this game and her memory lives on for me in the nostalgia of this game. Thank you for breaking down such an iconic theme that, agreed, had no right going that hard!! Respect to you and your channel!

[@han3wmanwukong125]

The fact that the people of the 80's, with the new technology of MIDI music, were able to use classical music and create a story with sound. With just a bunch of blings, bongs, plinks and plonks.

[@chrismaverick9828]

One of the largest frustrations old skool PC gamers had was the use of MPU-401MIDI on decent audio cards and in top tier games, but hardly anyone had the gear to use it. There are a few places on YT that have the properly emulated (with the real hardware!) versions of Wing Commander's music, and it sounds absolutely fantastic for coming out of that time.

[@Salamandaa]

Yeah man, I remember playing Megaman 3 and the intro music hit me like "oh shit, this isn't like Excitebike, this is a STORY." And then at the end when it takes Protoman's whistle, turns it into a whole song and it's this whole capstone on the original trilogy, so beautiful.

[@chrismaverick9828]

@@Salamandaa 3 was the first one I finished. That ending....

[@rabiroden]

Thing is, these NES soundtracks didn't even use MIDI! These were songs produced through raw text programming, using sounds created through raw sound wave manipulation. It was equal parts creative work as it was technical.

[@Phobos11]

When there was actual technical and artistic creativity in the industry and not just “MUCH TEXTURES, SUCH 48k”

[@xnik_]

Yeah, in my opinion, Mega Man 2 has one of the best soundtracks of all time. These go so hard.

[@biltrex]

I couldn't even choose a favorite track from it. They're all great.

[@Gearhart_Music]

Mega Man 2 and Castlevania II both had really great music, and I loved both of those games.

[@myboatforacar]

Yoko Shimomura ❤ went on to compose for Kingdom Hearts among other things.

[@leeartlee915]

There are so many good soundtracks from the 8-bit and 16-bit generation. The composers had to do more with less. It really made for some tunes. The stuff is so iconic, they made an entire genre based around it (i.e. chiptunes).

[@rebeccaschade3987]

ABSOLUTELY. Few game soundtracks are as memorable as Mega Man 2. Every single track is an absolute banger.

[@safetinspector2]

“We could go on and on about the music of Megaman” Yes, please!

[@patrickbossio8044]

💯!!!!!

[@Novusod]

Megaman 2: Metal Man theme rocked kzbin.info/www/bejne/q4K7cmyIoKiSY8U Flash Man stage as well kzbin.info/www/bejne/aGewoKOPaamHkLc Electro Man from Megaman 3

[@TeflonSoul]

Yes, definitely!

[@tnh723]

This opening theme has stayed with me all these years and its absolutely wonderful that people like you are noticing and helping us appreciate things to a much higher level. Thank you so much for your videos. Subbed!

[@MrSweeperUSA]

Needs a video for every stage in Mega man 2 to do proper justice to this masterpiece

[@markbrowning4334]

That would be about a 900 part series, based on the pace he's moving at.

[@andyto629]

Exactly. Why is no one talking about airman theme?

[@Dziaji]

and then mega man X, please

[@Antwan86]

@@DziajiStorm Eagle L approves

[@MrNb22]

the tracks from MM 2 and 3 would be fantastic

[@djmagichat1721]

The theme from Dr. Wily's stage in Megaman 2. Hands-down one of my favorite themes that screams "This is it, the final fight is almost here." So, so good.

[@jaygee599]

Yes OMFG I STILL LISTEN TO THAT TRACK

[@jaygee599]

THIS ONE kzbin.info/www/bejne/l4XFl6Ohd958g5osi=3GoOj7KU98z690nF

[@Dziaji]

metal man goes hard too

[@Sentinel82]

Quickman is pretty good too

[@rudowakening3638]

It’s my ringtone and has been for like 15 years now

[@MongooseForm]

This was beautiful! I wanna mention my favorite renditions of a lot of Mega Man music were done by a band called "The Megas". Mega Man 3's theme has a similar progression and their "History Repeating" parts 1 & 2 turn it into an amazing sort of haunting then exciting rock ballad that brings out (or invents, I'm not sure) the story and emotion of the characters. Some of their early stuff can be a little rough but the History Repeating Blue and Red albums are solid bangers all the way through that got me to finally beat Mega Man 2 and 3, so I highly recommend them!

[@GreenArrow609]

Was coming here to say this. the Mega Man 3 opening, even the non Megas version is amazing.

[@cybercifrado]

When I was a young boy, we had a Nintendo. A good friend of mine at the time was lucky enough to have Mega Man 2. He was also kind enough to record all the level music onto cassette for me. I listened to that cassette quite often. Brian, if you're out there - thank you, man!

[@Omni0404]

Thou art a warrior, and a master swordsman!

[@Potatis1337]

That slaps bro

[@MLBlue30]

Those were the days, I recorded video game music to cassette myself.

[@jonathanrfisher]

Whoa, I feel like I missed out on an amazing idea during my childhood 😆

[@celuiquipeut6527]

​@@jonathanrfisherYou would ug in the audio in a sound system. And the output go thru a casette deck. I would record my favorite cartoons muaic/song on cassette and play them! We used to double VHS and casette back then. Thats how i got the idea. My dad had a very good sound system.

[@jstymie]

Fun fact: Mega Man 2 - Wily Fortress 1 theme DID go too hard and scared Charles away. :P

[@kiwiklogg]

So many guitar shredding remixes of that one. It's a ripper

[@Odincdaj522004]

I was gonna say, Wily 1 is the easy favorite, just because it's iconic. Okkusenman and all that wild shit.

[@ChaosKnight7000]

@kiwiklogg Yeah. Sixto Sounds' remix is my personal favorite, but there are lots of good ones.

[@banonKING]

To be fair, Skull Castle is that boss stage

[@ToyKeeper]

Five minutes on the first two chords. Zero mention of the iconic songs the game is actually famous for. I'm reminded of his Streets of Rage 2 analysis, where he heard someone playing a FM synth with one finger, and thought it was a genius chord progression. It helps to use the instrument before trying to analyze it.

[@user-oy7gz5bf2h]

Megaman III's intro theme is the first melody I remember working out on my father's keyboard. It would take years for me to study an instrument properly, but those themes are absolutely in my DNA as a musician! My appreciation of harmony is in part rooted in that era of videogame soundtracks.

[@Critter145]

Awesome!

[@crnkmnky]

_I am Megaman, I'm blue & cyan._ _The creation of Dr. Light, or Right if you are from Japan._ _(I eat all my Mega Bran!)_ - Brental Floss

[@Zogun_85]

Best intro in the series for sure! MM3 is my favorite OST

[@TangoWithTheCobra]

Mega Man 3 has the best intro and overall soundtrack of all the Mega Man games. Mega Man 2 is great and all, but 3 is god tier.

[@randorandora]

i had to look up the mm3 title song and omg. a part of my brain lit up i hadnt felt in ages. i think that track might have been part of why i became a musician.

[@shield0fjustice778]

Hello sir! I was a public school band director for 14 years. I did beginning band, middle school band, and high school band. (I'm doing something else now but that's another story for another day lol) but I have recently discovered your channel. Anyway, as a lover of music AND video games, I just want to say what an awesome job you do explaining AND SHOWING (which is key.. no pun intended lol) things to an audience that may or may not have a musical background. I kind of wish I discovered your channel when I was teaching lol, would have been a cool in-class video to show the ki. With a lot of your content being video game related, I think it would have been intriguing to them. Anyway, cheers my friend!

[@DrBjamin]

And now that it's on piano you can actually hear it sounds like a classical piece.. VG music has had some of the best composers in history and most people never knew it

[@SeanSMST]

These composers likely played them on a keyboard only, so no wonder they would sound classical from a pianist composer lol

[@protogenxl]

You should hear Kara Comparetto playing Big Blue

[@enzolumare5680]

Until the title screen drops. Then it turns into rock clearly after the bVi-bVII-I

[@stapidomcazfaikeurmom4935]

This is a nice comment, but it seems to imply that to be one of the best composers you need to make classical music, and that the reason VG music composers are considered great is because they're classical adjacent. I don't know if that what you mean but that's definitely not true. Also the main part is definitely not classical sounding, it's full of b6 b7 1 and parallel fourths, which are rock tropes.

[@jessicapinto3817]

I see what yopu mean yeah, how Charles breaks it down shows how much thought goes into the music and what journey just listening to the music we go on. And most people thought it was probably somebody just hammering on a keyboard producing these "weird" sounds. Glad we are in 2024 still listening to and breaking down chiptune music so we can see it's actual brilliance.

[@bradwilliams7136]

You have to look at the Wily Castle theme from Mega Man 2. It's the opening level for the end-game, after you beat all the individual robot bosses. You're faced with this frightening, imposing castle full of traps and enemies with the final boss at the end. Instead of going dark and scary or punishing, the music just hits you in the feels so hard with this pulsing, Rocky-like montage music that makes you feel freaking invincible.

[@GretaThanos]

You should check out wintergatan and his “modulin”. He absolutely murders that song.

[@GretaThanos]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/h5K6Zn5uarp3iJI&si=TbnJK9G7764rlX_j

[@linearstream]

Literally one of my favorite songs, all time. Unashamed.

[@Everrrrr]

Lets gooo bro have you heard the minibosses song megaman 2? Its so good

[@zero_x93]

yup. it's crazy how good that was. it really matched the adventure the game put us through

[@kc_jones_gaming]

My favorite Mega Man song is Storm Eagle Stage on Mega Man X. The counterpoint during the bridge is actually insane

[@SouthernersSax]

You have great taste. Storm Eagle's stage music is an excellent track, outdone only by Spark Mandrill's stage. To quote the great Terminal Montage: "Woah. This song is really good." I'd also like to give a nod to some gems from Mega Man X3's soundtrack for your consideration. My personal favorites are Toxic Seahorse and Zero's theme during the opening.

[@billoo13]

@@SouthernersSax I love both of those tracks. Only other Mega Man song that immediately pops in my head is Clown Man from Mega Man 8. I loved that stage as a kid and the track is very different than most of the other Mega Man songs.

[@schaezar]

I never noticed that counterpoint before, I knew that Storm Eagle was in a class of its own even amongst the best MMX-X3 songs but I always wondered why I loved it so much. It's a bit of a shame that the song is REALLY short.

[@whoshotya117]

Boomer Kuwanger tho 👀

[@pedrooscar1890]

Spark Mandril, stome Eagle Armored armadillo and Boomer Kuwanger are just gold

[@patrickcole7896]

I was hoping you'd move o to Wily Stage 1 (the fist boss level), it really makes the most of the limitations of the sound hardware for the time and is probably the most interesting track in megaman2. However, I was also very pleased by your analysis of this title track. Great video, man. I love the enthusiasm you show for the tracks you cover on this channel.

[@Kylora2112]

Mega Man X is just Setsuo Yamamoto making love to a guitar.

[@TNGfan8794]

That's the best way I've ever heard someone describe that masterful soundtrack! Bravo! 😂

[@gametheus1306]

I haven’t been able to stop listening to it lately, basically every song is a banger. The level themes are absolute earworms

[@BeltwaySmoke]

Jon Baptiste rendition of Sonic The Hedgehog's Green Hill Zone is one of the most magical things I've ever heard. He also performed The Guile theme from Street Fighter in different eras of music when he hosted "Live From Here".

[@loremnir]

I was going to throw Mega Man X out but it looks like I'll be adding my like and comment here.

[@affsteak3530]

I feel like every early SNES soundtrack was written with tears of joy running down the composers' cheeks. MMX's guitar, Link to the Past's sweeping strings and brass, and Super Mario's World's bouncy percussion would never have been possible on the NES.

[@samueldelbosque]

Growing up, the mega man 3 soundtrack hit so hard. I played that game over and over again just to jam out and never skipped the intro theme. So so good.

Agree wholeheartedly! MM3 was my first introduction to MM and thus has a special place in my pixelated heart. That intro!! 😍 But I was certainly completely blown away when I heard the MM2 soundtrack as well. Play that on an electric guitar and I have all the metal I ever need in my life 😂

[@bennorrell6411]

Snake Man’s level…so, so good. 👍

[@V.F.D.DaleSalvador]

6:04 we did it guys, he played Snow Halation

[@huttserl]

LMAO I was wondering why that sounded so damn familiar

[@Bangaudaala]

"I will never forgive the japaneeeeese!!!"

[@daruinosui7782]

I hate you, take my like

[@TainoMoya]

lol forreal

[@XxguaxinimxX.]

This comment needs 10k likes, at minimum! 😂

[@KeithPhillips]

My 8yr old son and I LOVE your videos, and this one blew him away. We've been "speedrunning" the Mega Man NES games and comparing our times, and MM2 has been his favorite. After he watched your video, he texted me how to play this on the piano, note by note, and gave me an audition over FaceTime 🤣

[@Mike-ge7pe]

Mega man 3, Wily Castle 1 does this great “bass repeats every 4 measures while the lead pattern cycles over 6 measures” thing. The whole soundtrack is amazing

[@CodeXCDM]

Mega Man 3 intro track is also pretty sweet.

[@eggsngaming]

Charles would go crazy over that one

[@skeome]

Can't wait for Chrono Trigger/Cross music analysis

[@Bobbias]

Hell yes.

[@cybercifrado]

i hope he does Frog's Theme. :D

[@chemicals8582]

I've never heard anything like the 12,000 BC / Land of magic theme.

[@CodeXCDM]

And the Rick Roll... Erm...Robo theme.

[@Novastar.SaberCombat]

Phantasy Star 2. 🐲✨🐲✨🐲✨

[@michaelmccombs2959]

He could literally breakdown the music from each boss stage.

[@kurtdewittphoto]

This needs to happen. Every stage has a banger of a theme.

[@ResortTV1]

Wow… I didn’t realize how deeply this music, especially the intro is ingrained in my memory. Really hits me in the feels… wow.

[@JeremyRobson]

The fakeout at 8:09 is the Royal Road chord progression. It appears quite frequently in Japanese music, especially in game and anime soundtracks.

[@SomeRando92]

Says a lot about his musical background being western, rather than hard focusing on eastern influence.

[@ExperimentIV]

it appears in a lot of western music too, especially stuff written by Stock Aitken and Waterman! Never Gonna Give You Up is a variant, but Together Forever by Rick Astley uses the royal road prog perfectly

[@damonbradshaw7086]

The first part of the Mega Man 2 intro music, right up to where it starts to pick up tempo, is the bittersweet/nostalgic intro music for the ENDING cut scene/credit sequence of Mega Man 1. Edit: a fact with Charles goes on to mention later in the video '-.-

[@davidolinger3948]

Lol I was about to comment the same thing haha

[@JosephTavano]

Came here and just posted this too. It's a masterful part of the score.

[@canaljuunin]

I barelly understand anything you say about notes and harmony but I find it SO amusing to see your excitement that I keep coming back every new video

[@FindingsOfAnArmouredMind]

0:32 WHAT THE F!? Earthbound?!?!?

[@The_Real_Goodboy_Link]

Bingo

[@explosivegreen]

technically earthbound was made after MegaMan 2

[@tanicadoliodavinci5709]

Megaman Zero and Megaman X series have beautiful soundtracks and themes like Zero First Encounter, Zero Battle, Stages, Omega Fight, etc. Give them a try!

[@EmptyKingdoms]

Shivering and in tears the whole time. This franchise saved my life. And it has some of the best music ever made in human history. Thank you. Cheers from Brazil.

[@Mythriak_]

Cheers from Brazil! Early Megaman series music shaped my whole musical taste.

[@patinho5589]

Parabéns!

[@Steeveeo]

A soundtrack I have to wholeheartedly recommend has to be from the game Celeste. The OST, by the wonderful Lena Raine, does an incredibly good job at echoing the story of Madeline's quest to reach the summit and conquer her inner turmoil. You can almost track the entire story from the OST alone. There are some extremely notable tracks that I'd recommend taking a look at, both from story, and musical composition perspectives (spoilers for the game below): - Resurrections: A mysterious, dream-like sound, where the game's main antagonist "Badeline" makes her appearance. - Anxiety: Madeline and Theo escape on a cable car, and the player hears an somewhat-off version of the Level Complete jingle. Then, the cable car malfunctions and shudders to a halt, and the player is taken along into Madeline's panic attack by the overbearing pressure of this track that sounds like alarms going off. It finally releases to a muted, ringing version of the intro once Theo teaches her a technique to regain control. - Quiet and Falling, followed by In The Mirror: The former track is just beautiful and full of wonder, while the latter track is oppressive and full of horror; a corrupted mirror image of the first. The reversed speech in the latter track is just... ouch. - Reach for the Summit: After getting dragged off the mountain and sent even lower than she started by the literal personification of her self-doubt and anxiety, Madeline has come to terms with Badeline, and they start working WITH each other instead of AGAINST each other. This track is a reprisal of the entire journey through every area up the mountain with a new-found determination, with an adventurous, almost giddy backing behind Madeline and Badeline's major leitmotifs. Then, the track begins anew in the final sprint as the pair make it back to where they were and have the peak in sight. This track feels like the personification of "we can do this". This is not to say AT ALL that these are the only important tracks in the OST, there are indeed MANY. However, these are the ones I'd recommend specifically.

[@akselgrdum9844]

I aint reading allat, sorry

[@spoonerooneyy_]

@@akselgrdum9844tl;dr track recommendations + spoilers

[@nebulaayt]

so true i love celeste

[@BryanLu0]

​@@akselgrdum9844I will never understand comments like these. Are you expecting a TLDR for your monkey brain?

[@derekthedullard]

Omg yes. I'd love Charles to do an analysis of some of the Celeste music. Especially the Summit level that revisits all the themes from each level as you finally make your last ditch effort to reach the top

[@GoodGuyPlayer2]

If you want to go over an extremely underrated megaman game, in both the game itself and its amazing soundtrack, I must suggests Megaman & Bass (or Rockman & Forte)

[@saphcal]

the MM2 intro is so beautiful. like listening to it on an NES when it was new you almost imagine the first parts of it building up as a piano playing, but then right when it hits the main theme its like it swaps to an electric guitar and just starts SHREDDING. its so damn good.

[@DoctorOctoroc]

After creating chip-tunes using the original NES hardware for over a decade and a half I can all but guarantee that the composers at the time had to be doubly genius in order to not only compose but also program the music, and they made some of the most creative choices when composing because a) the limitation of only five monophonic channels forced their hand much of the time (only three with actual 'tones' while the other two were basically static and 1-bit sound samples) and b) the two primary channels (square leads) had a top and bottom limit that likely forced them to use these types of very creative chord progressions so they didn't end up below or above these limits on pitch. That's not to say that they haphazardly 'fell' into some of the most bangin' tunes of all time (nor is it to say they didn't), but that they leveraged the limitations to their best advantage. This is why I love chip-tunes - the limitations breed creativity and this is prominently showcased among OG NES game soundtracks.

[@xXNickPXx]

Well said, it's what makes this music its own genre, and what keeps me interested in writing new authentic NES-style chiptunes as well.

[@georgelacatus1495]

It always cracks me up to know that composing music for early video games is more akin to filling an Excel spreadsheet than anything else lmfao

[@BboyKeny]

I imagine that the limitations push the creativity to awesome heights. I'm thinking of buying such a NES sound chip and hook it up to a raspberry pi

[@DoctorOctoroc]

@@BboyKeny Now THAT is a project! I use peripherals to control my NES and Gameboy (DMG) using Midi CC's sent from...well, any DAW with programmable parameters, but personally, FL Studio is what I am most familiar with and is more than capable of manipulating a variety of external synth hardware, including vintage video game systems with the right peripherals.

[@BboyKeny]

@@DoctorOctoroc That sounds like a really cool setup! Noted down the programs to check them out, thanks!

[@kyubikirby]

I'm super fond of MM3 soundtrack, particularly Snake man and Gemini man. it amazing how they could fit so many different genres of music on that 8bit board, but they did an amazing job.

[@JesseRockey-r2l]

Snake Man theme is incredible. I've legit heard it played at bars and people danced not knowing what it was! No remixes, just the OG track.

[@MasSehdev]

I have been passionately loving Megaman 2 music for over 30 years, and your enthusiasm for this piece of music brings me a lot of joy. Love your setup and breakdown! Wish I could play piano.

[@DigitalPegasus]

The Mega Man 2 intro is probably one of if not the most iconic and recognizable Mega Man tunes, but right on their heels I would say is the Mega Man 3 intro and Proto Man's theme. Please do a video or two breaking down these two pieces also! I love video games like this that I grew up with, and I play and love music, so your videos are just so fun and awesome and wonderful to watch with these! Thank you so much for this content!!!

[@tursilion]

There's an internet rumour that the composer on Mega Man 2 was ashamed of his production. I wish he could see the pure joy you have studying it. :)

[@ARUCARDFTEPES]

Imagine how great it would have to be for him to be proud.

[@BeefJerkey]

Odds are that is an untrue rumor. I've heard plenty of internet rumors that are completely false.

[@Omni0404]

Will Smith was ashamed of Wild Wild West and that was the best movie ever made. Full stop.

[@AnklebiterTypeR]

MegaMan 2 Wiley Stage 1 is one of the greatest video games tunes of all time and gets you so hyped

[@crankfastle8138]

Hope he knows he is absolutely GOATED after this game. I've covered so many versions of Megaman 2 themes. It's too good

[@Benobot99]

Mega Man 1, 2, and 3 sure have fantastic soundtracks.

[@MrRetrostage]

Actually, all 6 NES games have awesome soundtracks. 🥰

[@adamdesanti6713]

The gems abound.There are orchestral, rockestral and dance remakes of multiple tracks from all three.

[@nickcliche]

Way to tell us you haven’t played 4-6 bruh

[@Benobot99]

@nickcliche I haven't, and 5 is quite expensive (although collections exist on Steam). Most people generally agree the first three are the best though (from what I've seen online).

[@Mike-ge7pe]

I really like the first 5. I find 6 to be very bland

[@stu729]

And of course the bonus to this is that the ending of Mega Man 2 starts with this, but then goes HARD with the final movement (is that the right term?) Would love to see a part 2 to this with the ending sequence.

[@Phantoon]

Mega Man 3 is my favourite Mega Man game, and also has my favourite soundtrack. There's too many good tunes in that to easily pick a favourite, but the opening theme and Spark Man are really good.

[@richardbaker308]

That top man level tho

[@landomYT-cs7zg]

Mega Man 3 music slapped even more than MM2.. suggestion while on older game music.. the king of SNES soundtracks - Secret of Mana

[@VindoViper]

Yeah 2 set the groundwork but gets way too much credit when 3 was the actual GOAT of NES music.

[@landomYT-cs7zg]

@@VindoViper agreed!! If you look at most of the remixes people have done over time, so many are from MM3

[@Sushidrew]

I agree! I loved 3 more than 2 music wise!

[@Lloocii]

Spot on. With MM3 and with the Secret of Mana request.

[@kiwiklogg]

This

[@Astral52_]

Megaman 2 was the first Megaman game I've ever played. The intro and Dr. Wily's Theme were the 2 songs that really stuck with me for the longest time and still to this day my favorite songs from Megaman 2

[@rdkap42]

For me it was Woodman's Theme. I actually named that one "It Gets Harder From Here" I had my own lyrics and everything.

[@digitaljanus]

​@@rdkap42That was one of the first video game themes I figured out by ear. Still love it! 🤘

[@TankyCrobat]

This might be aging myself, but when KZbin was young, I started wigging out when both Brentalfloss and Duane and Brando did lyrical covers of megaman 2. So silly but was awesome

[@myislander]

Yes! I was singing along Brentalfloss the whole time I was watching this!!!! “If I had to guess I’d say on the roof, let’s pan up in search of proof, perhaps he is there and flaunting his hair?????” Hello fellow old person!😂

[@matthagen67]

I prefer Mega-Man 3's intro, but both are amazing tbh.

[@Zappers42]

Keep in mind that 8 bit music like this was only capable of producing three tones at any one given time. Chords had to be 3 notes only

[@Novastar.SaberCombat]

Unless you're Tim. In which case, the Solstices award limitless possibilities. 💪😎✌️ 🐲✨🐲✨🐲✨

[@BrunodeSouzaLino]

That depends on hardware. The NES sound chip only had three voices (two square waves and a triangle), one channel for PCM samples (which had to be really small since the NES only has 2KB of RAM) and one noise channel. Those were static. The Commode SID chip only had 3 voices as well, but each voice could use one of 4 waveforms available and those could be changed mid song. Games like Commando and Monty on the Run would dynamically change these voices mid song and take advantage of masking to make it seem like there were more than 3 voices happening.

[@mohhingman]

The workaround to get bigger chords was rapid arpeggiation.

[@snuq]

highly inaccurate. while 3 melodic channels was common on a lot of 8bit devices, some could produce many more. even the nes has 3 melodic chip sounds, but also a dpcm channel which was occasionally used for melodic sound (see the super c soundtrack). additionally, the famicom (tho not the nes unfortunately) could be expanded with additional sound channels produced by chips in the game cart. the namco 163 was particularly crazy as it added EIGHT channels

[@adamdesanti6713]

Holy crap, CC is doing a Megaman (1-3) track! And it's the Megaman 2 intro, _completely_ worthy. I always knew it took me on an emotional journey as a kid, and now the Master shows us why as he breaks it down and pulls out all the chord progression glory! 5:43 - is where it really starts to go Beethoven.

[@ZeroBlues]

First time stumbling upon your channel and LOVED your walkthrough of one of my favorite Mega Man songs of all time. Got a new subscriber here. Keep being amazing!

[@Whitewingdevil]

The One Must Fall 2097 soundtrack (small dos-based pc fighting game, nobody remembers it lol) went way harder than it had any right to as well, the original composer ended up remastering some of the tracks for youtube almost a decade ago now, still in my personal playlist :D

[@TwinOpinion]

Hell yeah! That one definitely goes HARD!

[@Kilsot]

Loved that game as a kid. I still suck at fighting games though.

[@smartbart015]

I played that one when I was a kid, I have no memory of the soundtrack though

[@TwinOpinion]

@@smartbart015 Do yourself a favor and play the theme song on youtube, It's 🔥!!!

[@LawrenceSeetoh]

oh yeaah, this is an awesome OST to break down

[@InvestmentJoy]

Now it's time to go listen to a few YMO albums and hear one of the major influences of megaman's music.

[@jaredsbarto]

My music brain loves the content. My marketing brain loves the smooth flow into promos. Just love it all.

[@Altrag_]

MM2 is my favorite video game soundtrack of all time. 10:08 That second into theme goes so damn hard it's stupid. It will forever be THE Mega Man theme in my mind. Thanks for this breakdown.

[@tylerlane2579]

Crash Man was the first level of the first game I ever played on NES. Also, can confirm on how hard MM1 was. There was a trick to beating the first end game boss that I didn't know until I was in my 20s. I got to that point in the game approx a billion times in elementary/middle school.

[@cooldebt]

My favourite is Crystal Snail - that alternating 6 & 7 in the opening motif is 🔥 (not to mention the Consouls randomly quoting it in as many solos as possible 😂)

It was my ringtone for a long time

[@llamasarus1]

The Airman stage is my favorite song in MM2, but it has many other good one's too.

[@RougeSprat]

Mega man 3 - Magnetman. It’s a ringtone for me. It’s always been a favorite.

[@sidnew2739]

Killer. You can't help but humm along. If course, that's the case with all of them.

[@JesseRockey-r2l]

Just learned the bassline for this! It used to give me PTSD because it always reminded me of those horrible tile jumping rooms but now I appreciate it for its beauty.

[@andybaldman]

4:00 It's two fucking chords. But it's SO GODDAMN GOOD.

[@povilasl5383]

the #5 diminished is actually very common in modern j-pop and I absolutely ADORE IT. One of my favorite sounds for sure aside from the chromatic minor chord walkdown - im glad it finally got covered in the video!!!!!

[@memonomoto7419]

Modern jrock as well, you can hear it in songs from Lisa, Milet, Yoasobi, man with a mission, the list goes on. Man japanese composers are amazing!

[@Project_OMEG4]

10:09 - Goosebumps activated Such a nostalgia trip, thanks for the ride!

[@beanmachine00]

Your enthusiasm is so infectious! And mega man 2 is literally one of those legendary games. Partially because of that music. I find myself randomly walking around humming it from time to time haha. Too many hours playing it as a kid. Great video!

[@MekaRamen]

3 seconds into the megaman2 intro music, I hit like and subscribe button.

[@smacdad]

Bubble Man's theme from MM2 is my favorite.

[@JGibbons513]

Mine too! I used to watch my brother play it just so I could listen to the music.

[@HELLOFRAYDO]

Same! Such a great theme!

[@notjackiechan9420]

Your channel is exactly what youtube was made for

[@colincolin7237]

I love how excited you are about all the nerdy things. Your passion definitely comes through and this is a great way of breaking the monotony of 'read scale run scale mindless practice'. Keep it up!

[@kylegarcia1509]

Bro NEEDS to get on the MMX soundtrack

[@albertlevins9191]

MMX was bangertastic.

[@RandyLott]

​@@albertlevins9191boomer kuwanger-tastic 😅

[@tookmyjob]

I love how Quick Man's theme from Mega Man 2 is basically a double-speed bossa nova.

[@justintrapp6271]

Now I want to hear a full orchestra play this.

[@Creepindeth69]

Wish granted music.kzbin.info/www/bejne/m3Kvmn2cd8h6ldU&si=N712pTNrm9iMWYy4

[@dellapj]

The chord progression at 9:00 is the DNA of almost all the great Mega Man bangers. That very Japanese rocky earnest aspirational sentimental progression. I love it so so much. I just realized this is why the Mega Man X Boomer Kuwanger track sounds instantly familiar. Also Flying Battery Zone in Sonic and Knuckles!

[@jojobeanz2981]

I remember as a kid loving mega man music. Also castlevania sticks in my head musically.

[@gilarmellini8346]

Dear Mr. Cornell, I stumbled upon your channel by accident and I almost instantly got emotional just thinking about the MegaMan 2 intro. It brought back so many memories. Thank you for this. If you find the time, please review the Wing Commander intro, make sure to listen to the Amiga version. IT was a beast of a sound machine back in the day. Be well, Sir.

[@jasondolph2785]

Oh man, the Amiga was such an insanely good soundscape. The original Shadow of the Beast soundtrack, all the hacker demos, even the shareware game Drip's looping BG

[@jbivphotography]

I appreciate you are going through so much video game music. I use it to help my kids with ear training, and your videos go along with that.

[@shanedilanchian4668]

Mega man X was my favourite game and music. The ending credits had amazing music.

[@asgeirsoe]

The nostalgia hit hard with this one. In the more recent «Shovel Knight», I think some of the sound tracks were written by the same composer as Mega Man 2. They have a very similar sound profile, at least!

[@paranoid97]

I was texting that until i read this message hahaha yes that OST needs more recognition too! slaps hard

[@brianthibaudeau8081]

The ending theme to MM1 is the opening to MM2, thus linking the two games together plus the recap Edit: Commented before I got to Charles talking about it at 15:45

[@-Devy-]

So why not just remove your useless comment then, instead of editing it?

[@henrikslotte4781]

Great vid as always! While you're doing game music, how about Ducktales Moon Theme? A real Nintendo classic and a piece of art.

[@cooldebt]

Yes! I discovered that when The Consouls covered it.

[@CodeXCDM]

They even made it the canon lullaby for Della Duck to her boys in the Reboot DuckTales cartoon.

[@UmildisTV]

Mega Man 2 OST slaps so damn hard. Little me at 12 years old lost it when I first heard it, and to this day I get goosebumps and a big smile every time I hear it!!!

[@Tinpinming]

Megaman 3's screen select theme is another kick ass track =)

[@sidnew2739]

And the boss theme. My god, that EPIC boss theme. It sounded as if you fought something big and scary- when in reality it was always an adorable little (more or less) robot with big eyes.

[@RoyalDrummr]

Bro finally found the goated music! Megaman is one of my favorite series! Bro just needs to look at the Ristar ost now!

[@BharatLagali]

5:55, very Dream Theatre like transition

[@aurelio3532]

i know that my soul will transcend

[@RayneAngelus]

I... was waiting for you to do a full piano rendition of the opening/theme song...

[@RushJet1]

MM3 has always been my favorite soundtrack.

[@traumatizedgeworth]

oh hey it's rushjet1

[@r0gu3mus1c]

oh hey its traumatized edgeworth and rushjet1

[@neospriss]

my favorite will always be WW3 Wiley Fortress 2, so full of rhythm and vibe

[@RushJet1]

@@neospriss Yeah it's one of the best tracks. Right up there with the Cossack themes from 4.

[@jasons9663]

Mega Man 3 was the peak of Mega Man OST. The opening theme goes hardest out of all the original games, and Magnet Man is easily the best cut from the entire Mega Man franchise.

[@WorthlessGeek]

I know 8Bit Music Theory already has a video on it, but I'd just like to see Charles' reaction to Surge of Power from Battle Network 6

[@halfimp]

Now you have opened MegaMan. It's time to open Castlevania 3

[@metastase895]

Megaman 2 OST is impossible for another Megaman game to beat but I'm particularly fond of Megaman ZX for both gameplay and the OST. Grand Nuage and Green Gradation are such iconic songs.

[@MikeChi23]

My ringtone for over a year now and when he warps is my message tone.

[@JesseRockey-r2l]

Ooh I may need to steal that idea for the message tone. Brilliant.

[@1stAricopolus]

This went from Megaman to Final Fantasy REAL QUICK.

[@dzmcm]

Mega Man 2 was one of the best NES games I ever played. This intro had a great pacing for the storytelling too. It's tough to want to continue receiving the punishment without the auditory enjoyment. It's also important to keep up the energy and focus with such a challenging platformer that sends you back to replay each level when you die over and over trying to learn the bosses moves. It's like a toxic relationship that somehow keeps you begging for more. I only owned 2 and 6 in the series, but I understand those where the standouts. Music-wise the whole series is a deep goldmine.

[@christophergallagher3721]

1:24 - thought he was about to just play "Brick" idly

[@resell_enjoy6]

The Dr. Wily theme 2 from MegaMan 2 is one of my favorites

[@Neccboi]

5:15 "I believe the morning sun..." Oh wait Wrong game

[@CuteCuteJames]

EVERY TIME!

[@fadran11]

The Melody started playing and I immediately said, "Hold up - is that Earthbound?" ...which remind me. You should check out some music from the Mother series.

[@paranoid97]

and the initial melody sounds like Polyanna for a sec lol

[@cooldebt]

I second this

[@zenverak]

Yeah I thought of mother 1

[@Antics253]

The Mother series is my favorite series ever, and I had the immediate same thought. Totally thought I clicked a different video for a bit. I'd -LOVE- a Mother2 video, so many fun little tunes.

[@zrayburton]

Definitely 2 and 3. For games as well as soundtracks/compositions. Brilliant all around.