LogFAQs > #957101415

8. Dr. Wily 1 (Mega Man 2)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ukDYkaN5Ekw

This theme stands so far above its contemporaries in terms of sheer notability and recognizability that ranking it on this list almost feels a little bit unthinkable. If I were writing a listicle of the best Mega Man songs for Kotaku or something, I'd just write this down as #1 in pen - it's the safe, easy answer and the one least likely to receive strongly worded emails.

Writing about this feels simultaneously like a monumental task, while also being sort of pointless. This theme kind of feels like a whole self-explanatory thing unto itself. I can write a paragraph or two about most of these themes - MM2 Wily 1, I could probably write an entire book documenting the enduring, popularity of this motherfucker if I really felt like it. There's something that's always kind of fascinated me about it. Mega Man 2 was my favorite game growing up, and while I loved every song in this soundtrack, I really gravitated towards this theme in particular, and I've always kind of described it as a big awakening to being really interested in music as a kid. The weird thing was, growing up, to learn that this song wasn't just a personal experience for me and me alone - there was a weird sort of synchronicity to the simultaneous discovery that everyone had of this theme. I played this game by myself and didn't really talk to any of my friends about it, and had no idea anyone else even really played it until I got a hold of the internet in 1998, and it was a bit of a shock to discover that not only was Mega Man 2 a phenomenon, but this particular song from the soundtrack was especially popular. It was a lot of other peoples' favorite, too. It's hard to deny that there's something to it.

I can't really think of a lot to say about the piece itself. You've heard it, you know what it is. It's almost passe, at this point, but putting that aside this song still holds a lot of sentimental value for me, and I still love it to this day.

Want to hear something really funny, by the way?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2T8jn4YFcyU

This was another soundtrack that Takashi Tateishi wrote in the short few years that he wrote music. Sound familiar? I mean, I've always given away the answer, it's just the Wily 1 riff again. Takashi Tateishi might have had exactly one good soundtrack's worth of music in him, but goddamn was it a good soundtrack.