LogFAQs > #955446610

21. Toad Man (Mega Man 4)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xcveCmdLaNI

Oops, the game that got eliminated was Mega Man 4.

Oh, and it was hard to eliminate Mega Man 4, because we have definitely crossed into 'all-time fave' territory here. How can I not love Toad Man! It has all of my favorite things - an extremely funky bassline, and that's it! This theme really suits the level - I could swear for all the world that I can hear the rain in the background of this, even though you can't hear it. There's a couple of little things here that I really love. First, the 'voices' chosen for the instruments here are superb. I have no idea how that 'rippling' lead at :22 was created but it's marvelous, and it fits the character of the theme perfectly, and same for that more aggressive 'organ' sound that comes in at :33 - again, no idea how it was done. That's just some really spectacular use of waveforms for the NES. The other thing I like is really teeny tiny. In the A section, it repeats the same bit of music twice, but the chord at the very end resolves just slightly differently - a major 6th the first time, but then the harmony comes up a half step and provides a surprising resolution with a minor 6th instead. It's a small little bit of attention to detail that not every theme has. Mega Man 4 has a lot of that, but alas, it is out of the running now.

Final Mega Man 4 rankings:

1. Toad Man (21)
2. Drill Man (22)
3. Bright Man (23)
4. Dive Man (46)
5. Pharaoh Man (50)
6. Dr. Cossack 1 (61)
7. Dr. Wily 2 (75)
8. Dust Man (76)
9. Ring Man (81)
10. Dr. Cossack 2 (92)
11. Dr. Wily 1 (121)
12. Skull Man (132)

Thoughts: A really great soundtrack, at least as far as stage themes that doesn't contain any of my top 20 hits mostly by a weird fluke. I really admire how ambitious every stage theme was, for better (Drill Man) or worse (Ring Man) - it's certainly one of the most experimental and creative, compositionally, and that always makes it interesting to listen to. Barely manages to hold its own against the musical titans that it's surrounded by, but I think it's got a leg up over any of the non-NES soundtracks. It's a shame you can't really hear any of it because you'll have your mega buster charged the entire time.

Regrets?: Nope! I'm finding I composed this list pretty well all things considered. Putting some of these as low as they did hurt, but the competition was tough. Still don't care for Skull Man's theme much months after getting through that part of the list, but I might have been a LITTLE harsh on it, thinking back. Just a bit. Dr. Cossack 2 is in the right place for me though, despite being a popular theme.