LogFAQs > #951944567

LurkerFAQs, Active DB, DB1, DB2, DB3, DB4, DB5, DB6, DB7, Database 8 ( 02.18.2021-09-28-2021 ), DB9, DB10, DB11, DB12, Clear

Topic List	Page List: 1
Topic	Para ranks every classic Mega Man stage theme
Paratroopa1 03/21/21 7:27:48 AM #4:	192. Robot Museum (Mega Man 7) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BPOXSlzlbKo Oh hey, I remember all of these songs in much better games and much better soundtracks! The hot butchering of Heat Man's theme alone here is grounds for last place on this list. This is one of a surprising number of stage themes that just play in a single hallway and that's probably for the better because it's thoroughly aggrivating. 191. Capsule Room (Mega Man & Bass) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PWJykjMie0 I ONLY included this one for the sake of completionism. This way, nobody can go "hey Para, there's a stage theme you forgot! Your list is incomplete!" No, fuck you, here it is. Here it is, fucker, I hope you're happy that I remembered it. It sucks. 190. Challenge (Mega Man 10) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LAQEFfZ-WH4 Again, I only included this for the sake of completionism - I nearly cut it because it's a really short loop and it only plays in empty rooms. It's not very good! Carries the sad distinction of being the only NES-style track you'll see on this list for another 15 placements or so. 189. Dr. Wily 4 (Mega Man 8) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ViTB2toib6E This is just an extended version of the pre-boss theme for the capsule room, and there isn't really a whole lot to say about it. It's certainly weird. Kind of interesting reuse of a track, I guess, but I'm being nice at this point. Moving on. 188. Block Man (Mega Man 11) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=56xw3mryadY The first meaningful track on the list and uh... is it going to be controversial? I honestly have no idea, since the reaction to MM11's soundtrack seems to be lukewarm at best. When I heard this one in the Mega Man 11 demo, it was a big 'uh oh' for me that things weren't quite right - this one's got a melodic hook at the start that's grating, repetitive, and not very interesting, and I couldn't really tell you how the rest of the track goes. The B section sounds like a reject from Mega Man ZX and the C section sounds exactly the same as the denouement of every other MM11 track. MM11 songs have a real problem with creating hooks that get stuck in your brain, and given that this is the defining feature of Mega Man soundtracks, it's a pretty big problem. 187. Torch Man (Mega Man 11) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LdrWb2PzDD8 A stage concept that's already been done in Mega Man & Bass, and the musical take on it here isn't as good. After that playful little 'imp setting things on fire in the woods' opening that isn't so bad, the rest of the track is about as forgettable as can be - there's no sense of the art of creating memorable melodic hooks here at all. The idea of the track, as well, is totally lost and becomes totally indistinguishable from the rest of the soundtrack. I really sort of hate this. 186. Blast Man (Mega Man 11) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHGubB_nZBQ No, the entire bottom of the list isn't Mega Man 11, but I'm slashing quite a few of them early. Much like Torch Man, I can kind of remember the opening bit, but then ask me what follows after that, and I couldn't tell you - and listening to it again honestly rings no bells, despite the fact that I played through this game twice and I've listened through the soundtrack a few times. Keep in mind, I really pride myself on a keen musical memory, and even the briefest flashes of other pieces in this series are instantly recallable to me - but here? Nothing. It's damning, almost moreso than creating something outright bad. 185. Impact Man (Mega Man 11) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JB95G_wrRzk I feel bad for the composer, Marika Suzuki, that I'm starting this list off by trashing Mega Man 11. Following up a mostly-storied series with an iconic soundtrack was never going to be easy to do, especially when you don't have a lot of game soundtrack work under your belt (although to be fair, almost none of the composers on this list did, either), and I don't blame her for creating a soundtrack that wasn't to my tastes. Impact Man starts off with something that has a little more bite to it, but then it all kind of devolves into this happy-hardcore sameyness as usual. Have I mentioned that MM11 has an instrumentation problem? It's ironic, given that the NES couldn't really do a whole lot of instrumentation to begin with, but every track in MM11 seems to lead with this same airy synth and it makes every track sound the same. I get pretty sick of it, quickly. 184. Clown Man (Mega Man 8) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=afqO9Cm-dM8 No, fuck you Dr. Wily, why did you make a Clown Man. I could shrug my shoulders and say, well, this theme does a good enough job portraying what it's supposed to, which it does. But this is my list and this happy-go-lucky circus theme makes my blood pressure rise. It isn't poorly constructed by any means, but I don't have to like it. 183. Dr. Wily 2 (Mega Man 8) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4XKjAwEs2RQ "Man, I'm trying to put this Dr. Wily stage theme together for Mega Man 8 and it's just not coming along, it's disjointed and not very exciting..." WHOOOOOSH "Whoa, holy shit, it's Hoshimaru, Master of the Pan Flute! Dude, oh my god, can you play a fucking sick solo over this track I'm working on? Hahahaha oh holy shit FUCK yes. No, yeah man, that's perfect. Okay, my track still sounds disjointed and unexciting but now it has a DOPE flute solo. Goodbye, Hoshimaru! Thank you for everything!" 182. Dr. Wily 1 (Mega Man: The Wily Wars) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3fl3JWdI9s8 Oh goodness, that opening is loud, isn't it? I can practically feel the G-forces from the sudden tonal shift of the excessively bright opening to the typical minor key of the main body of the theme. As much as I dislike the first ten seconds of this track, it's almost anxiety-inducing that the song never returns there - it feels like it's just stuck in a particular gear when the track comes around to its looping point. The opening promises a lot of movement, then never delivers. 181. Intro Stage 2 (Mega Man 8) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PUH3mLjGPuY This one plays in the brief underground section of the opening stage of MM8, only in the PS1 version I think, and I don't really know why! As far as I know, it's the only stage in the series that switches themes. It's nothing special, but it's kind of silly and makes me smile. It's nearly a direct ripoff of the underground theme from Super Mario Bros, and that's hilarious to me for some reason. <cite>Paratroopa1 posted [p:951944567] in Para ranks... [t:79360411]...</cite> <quote>192. Robot Museum (Mega Man 7) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BPOXSlzlbKo Oh hey, I remember all of these songs in much better games and much better soundtracks! The hot butchering of Heat Man's theme alone here is grounds for last place on this list. This is one of a surprising number of stage themes that just play in a single hallway and that's probably for the better because it's thoroughly aggrivating. 191. Capsule Room (Mega Man & Bass) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PWJykjMie0 I ONLY included this one for the sake of completionism. This way, nobody can go "hey Para, there's a stage theme you forgot! Your list is incomplete!" No, fuck you, here it is. Here it is, fucker, I hope you're happy that I remembered it. It sucks. 190. Challenge (Mega Man 10) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LAQEFfZ-WH4 Again, I only included this for the sake of completionism - I nearly cut it because it's a really short loop and it only plays in empty rooms. It's not very good! Carries the sad distinction of being the only NES-style track you'll see on this list for another 15 placements or so. 189. Dr. Wily 4 (Mega Man 8) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ViTB2toib6E This is just an extended version of the pre-boss theme for the capsule room, and there isn't really a whole lot to say about it. It's certainly weird. Kind of interesting reuse of a track, I guess, but I'm being nice at this point. Moving on. 188. Block Man (Mega Man 11) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=56xw3mryadY The first meaningful track on the list and uh... is it going to be controversial? I honestly have no idea, since the reaction to MM11's soundtrack seems to be lukewarm at best. When I heard this one in the Mega Man 11 demo, it was a big 'uh oh' for me that things weren't quite right - this one's got a melodic hook at the start that's grating, repetitive, and not very interesting, and I couldn't really tell you how the rest of the track goes. The B section sounds like a reject from Mega Man ZX and the C section sounds exactly the same as the denouement of every other MM11 track. MM11 songs have a real problem with creating hooks that get stuck in your brain, and given that this is the defining feature of Mega Man soundtracks, it's a pretty big problem. 187. Torch Man (Mega Man 11) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LdrWb2PzDD8 A stage concept that's already been done in Mega Man & Bass, and the musical take on it here isn't as good. After that playful little 'imp setting things on fire in the woods' opening that isn't so bad, the rest of the track is about as forgettable as can be - there's no sense of the art of creating memorable melodic hooks here at all. The idea of the track, as well, is totally lost and becomes totally indistinguishable from the rest of the soundtrack. I really sort of hate this. 186. Blast Man (Mega Man 11) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHGubB_nZBQ No, the entire bottom of the list isn't Mega Man 11, but I'm slashing quite a few of them early. Much like Torch Man, I can kind of remember the opening bit, but then ask me what follows after that, and I couldn't tell you - and listening to it again honestly rings no bells, despite the fact that I played through this game twice and I've listened through the soundtrack a few times. Keep in mind, I really pride myself on a keen musical memory, and even the briefest flashes of other pieces in this series are instantly recallable to me - but here? Nothing. It's damning, almost moreso than creating something outright bad. 185. Impact Man (Mega Man 11) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JB95G_wrRzk I feel bad for the composer, Marika Suzuki, that I'm starting this list off by trashing Mega Man 11. Following up a mostly-storied series with an iconic soundtrack was never going to be easy to do, especially when you don't have a lot of game soundtrack work under your belt (although to be fair, almost none of the composers on this list did, either), and I don't blame her for creating a soundtrack that wasn't to my tastes. Impact Man starts off with something that has a little more bite to it, but then it all kind of devolves into this happy-hardcore sameyness as usual. Have I mentioned that MM11 has an instrumentation problem? It's ironic, given that the NES couldn't really do a whole lot of instrumentation to begin with, but every track in MM11 seems to lead with this same airy synth and it makes every track sound the same. I get pretty sick of it, quickly. 184. Clown Man (Mega Man 8) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=afqO9Cm-dM8 No, fuck you Dr. Wily, why did you make a Clown Man. I could shrug my shoulders and say, well, this theme does a good enough job portraying what it's supposed to, which it does. But this is my list and this happy-go-lucky circus theme makes my blood pressure rise. It isn't poorly constructed by any means, but I don't have to like it. 183. Dr. Wily 2 (Mega Man 8) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4XKjAwEs2RQ "Man, I'm trying to put this Dr. Wily stage theme together for Mega Man 8 and it's just not coming along, it's disjointed and not very exciting..." WHOOOOOSH "Whoa, holy shit, it's Hoshimaru, Master of the Pan Flute! Dude, oh my god, can you play a fucking sick solo over this track I'm working on? Hahahaha oh holy shit FUCK yes. No, yeah man, that's perfect. Okay, my track still sounds disjointed and unexciting but now it has a DOPE flute solo. Goodbye, Hoshimaru! Thank you for everything!" 182. Dr. Wily 1 (Mega Man: The Wily Wars) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3fl3JWdI9s8 Oh goodness, that opening is loud, isn't it? I can practically feel the G-forces from the sudden tonal shift of the excessively bright opening to the typical minor key of the main body of the theme. As much as I dislike the first ten seconds of this track, it's almost anxiety-inducing that the song never returns there - it feels like it's just stuck in a particular gear when the track comes around to its looping point. The opening promises a lot of movement, then never delivers. 181. Intro Stage 2 (Mega Man 8) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PUH3mLjGPuY This one plays in the brief underground section of the opening stage of MM8, only in the PS1 version I think, and I don't really know why! As far as I know, it's the only stage in the series that switches themes. It's nothing special, but it's kind of silly and makes me smile. It's nearly a direct ripoff of the underground theme from Super Mario Bros, and that's hilarious to me for some reason. </quote> ... Copied to Clipboard!
Topic List	Page List: 1