LogFAQs > #955300198

BONUS RANKING: ROBOT MASTER THEMES

I had a real hell of a time figuring out what to do with these. If I included every boss theme together it's almost 50 themes and that is kind of its own ridiculous list - I wanted to separate the robot master themes and the final battle themes to their own list, at least. That kind of leaves an awkward middle list of "Wily stage bosses but also special bosses like Bass" but I'll rank them as such anyway, it's fine.

I was kind of arbitrary about things here, since I basically use different rules for inclusion every time - if I feel a theme is different enough then it gets a separate entry, otherwise it doesn't. So Mega Man III is a no here, but the first boss theme in Mega Man IV is. That'll hold for the other boss theme lists too.

18. Mega Man: The Wily Wars
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pUvTiIiSUxE

I wasn't sure if I should include this as a robot master theme or a Wily stage theme but I think it fits better on this list. It doesn't really fit well on any list, though, because it's really dull. About as generic as a boss theme gets.

17. Mega Man II (GB)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPcqyo8WwsI

I would confidently say that this is probably one of the five worst tracks in the entire franchise. It's so bad, it's funny, and for that alone I'm going to elevate it one spot on this list over the terminally boring WW theme. This is downright amateurish, which is one of the harshest criticisms I can give, but it really sounds like a new composer's first attempt at writing a boss theme - that uninspired chromatic bluesy riff just screams "this is what sounds like a boss theme to me" and that snare beneath every note is exactly the sort of thing a newbie composer does when they don't know how to use drums. And then it all goes WACKY at :23 and I literally laughed out loud at how terrible it sounds. It's certainly creative!

16. Mega Man 8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCWbcQxkXls

Competent, but really not my style. Not really into the whole style of playing a bunch of discordant notes to try to convey, like, the panic of fighting a strong enemy, especially when MM8's bosses aren't terribly intimidating.

15. Mega Man 11
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWjgV67d-nM

I can't remember this one at all, honestly. It really does just sound like every other MM11 theme, yet again - it's not bad but it pretty much immediately leaves my brain after I hear it. Kinda goes on longer than necessary.

14. Mega Man 1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S0Mm4M211bM

Kind of a hot mess, but it's a classic hot mess! I don't even know what you have to do to get the rhythm to sound that completely off the entire time. It's memorable enough though so it does its job.

13. Mega Man V (GB)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iAmKgnnMNtA

Mega Man V sure does love its chromatic scales, doesn't it? This one's fine, but not a standout. It's not really as creative as most of MMV's soundtrack, unfortunately.

12. Mega Man IV (GB)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zbcz9GtUblY

Just the theme that plays for the MM4 bosses at the start. Since they already used the MM4 boss theme in MMIII, they made a new arrangement here, which is kinda neat, although I don't like this one as much. It sounds darker and more intense but it doesn't really suit the theme that much for me.

11. Mega Man: Dr. Wily's Revenge
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=74m_48N6UGc

This one's actually an arrangement of MM2's battle theme if you listen closely enough, and it's not as good as the original but it does have kind of its own take that I still think is pretty fun. Much like MM2, it's the only boss theme in its game at all.