LogFAQs > #955300207

10. Mega Man & Bass
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMVRsnINsgU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8gWXSCavy0w
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0NBMHB5VZpc

Three different versions of the same theme again - you can guess which one I like most and which one I like least. I think the extremely vibrato-laden synth of the GBA gives it some much needed vocality; I think the SFC version just sounds too muted, the lead mixed too quietly to really stand out. And then there's the Challenger From The Future version, which is pretty bad, but I actually genuinely like the lead synth in it more than the one in the SFC, which is horribly damning.

9. Mega Man: Powered Up
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbz-JIsIhXw

Because of just HOW MUCH this cleans up the original and arranges it into something that makes sense, I decided to include this one separately. No completely bonkers rhythm issues here, just a pleasant boss theme that reminds me of the original enough to be nostalgic.

8. Mega Man 4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QLjz19Vs6ig

This song is a - DEE DEE DEE DEE DEE DEE DEE DEE DEE DEE DEE DEE DEE DEE DEE DEE DEE DEE DEE DEE DEE DEE DEE DEE DEE DEE DEE DEE - aggressive pace suits it well so it's pretty good.

7. Mega Man 9
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rOo5IzBATgQ

Points for being different - it's a lot less melody-driven than most of the other boss themes, which works to this one's advantage, since it's got an especially frantic tempo that would probably make it kind of overwhelming if there was too much going on. Catchy theme, doesn't get too old while you're waiting 2 minutes for the Twin Devil to become vulnerable again.

6. Mega Man 2
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GPVDroHSUic

It's the classic! And yet, this is somehow the easiest decision I've ever made in my life - I like the top 5 more than this but it beats everything else. Shrug! I like how, because the boss health bar fills up and covers part of the intro, you get a longer, more dramatic intro when you fight Wily, sort of by accident, since his health bar fills up later. It's a cool effect.

5. Mega Man 10
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9mWgrAibVEA

One of the cooler openings out of any of the boss themes. Really like the bass in this one. The slower, more melancholic pacing is an interesting choice. Like this one a lot. It's just cool. Yeah that's the best analysis you're getting from me here.

4. Mega Man 5
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9Hxd8Qx3iU

Oh man, I want to talk about this one so much, because it's got one of my favorite little composition tricks. You know how in Mega Man 1-4, the boss themes are interrupted by the sound of the boss's health bar filling up? Especially in MM4, where their completely insane solution, for some reason, was to pause the music entirely. Mari Yamaguchi was a genius, so she employed a clever sleight of hand here - the intro of the song is just the bassline, leaving space for the boss's health bar to fill up cleanly without getting in the way, since there's such limited space on the NES's soundchip. Brilliant solution to a problem they basically made for themselves, and also the theme itself is great.

3. Mega Man 6
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUESH4vWIos

Love this one. It's got another one of those classic chromatic, bluesy boss riffs, but this one is very *fancy.* It's too bad that this theme makes the bosses in this game seem much cooler than they are, since most of their attack patterns are mostly to just jump around and wait a couple of seconds before jumping again. And it also employs the same trick that MM5 did, which was to only have the bass play during the intro, which is really neat.

2. Mega Man 7
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yooYiGn6GRo

I've been giving Mega Man 7 its dues lately, I guess. I've always had a guilty pleasure for this theme. The bass and the percussion totally slap - the lead is a really weird sound but it works for me I guess. I like the slower pacing of this one that gradually builds to a climax, rather than the more frantic tempos of previous themes. I really fucking love that little drum fill at :33. It's so neat. It's good that MM7 has a rockin' boss theme since all of its bosses spend about 80% of their time in i-frames.

1. Mega Man 3
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y3t6peqsorE

Mega Man 3 is pretty much unbeatable - I don't think there's a single track in the entire game that isn't top 3. Anyway yeah I just think this is obviously the best boss theme. It kicks ass. It also has that weird effect that MM2 does where the doc robots' health bar fills up later so they accidentally get a more dramatic intro. Always thought that was neat.

1. Mega Man 3
2. Mega Man 7
3. Mega Man 6
4. Mega Man 5
5. Mega Man 10
6. Mega Man 2
7. Mega Man 9
8. Mega Man 4
9. Mega Man: Powered Up
10. Mega Man & Bass
11. Mega Man: Dr. Wily's Revenge
12. Mega Man IV
13. Mega Man V
14. Mega Man 1
15. Mega Man 11
16. Mega Man 8
17. Mega Man II
18. Mega Man: The Wily Wars

I'm sort of worried I might be missing boss themes for this one that I should have ranked, but I've like triple checked my work and I'm pretty sure these are all the themes that are proper Robot Master-fighting themes.

I was gonna do the others tonight but I'm sleepy so I'll do them tomorrow! Then the list shall continue.