My Gaming Audio History: Mega Man II (1989)

Mega Man II is another game I was obsessed with in the third grade.  I used to talk with my friends about the best order to beat the bosses.  I also used to be able to beat Quickman's stage FIRST without the flash power!  Not possible now!  What happened?  Love this game!  It's so hard, but somehow I stuck with it and finally beat it one day.  I actually didn't own the first Mega Man but after I got MM 2, I rented the original from the video rental store and played it.  This one was a big improvement from the original.

Even though this game series changes composers for new games (Castlevania does the same), a couple tracks of the original music are reused.  The opening music is actually the ending music from the first game, the same key, even.  It's almost as if you're picking right back up where you left off!  The boss name screen music is also a remake of the original music.  Numerous sound effects are reused from the first game too.

Silence is rarely used in a game, but in the cave on the way down to the final battle with the Wily projection, there's silence except for the acid dripping.  It really creates an eerie atmosphere since the rest of the game has been wall to wall sound.  Builds expectation.  I love the sound effect of the hologram projector winding down and breaking!

Composer: Takashi Tateishi.  Also reuses some music (Opening music and Boss Name music) from the original Mega Man, and those tracks, though slightly reworked were written by Manami Matsumae.

This game has a lot of music!  Even though sections repeat quite a bit (saving memory), in terms of musical form, there's about 13 minutes of music here!  That's a ton for a NES game!  Wow!  Several of these tracks make use of the theme and variations form.  The Wily Stage 1 and 2 track is a good example of that.  When the main theme repeats (A) it has variations to it and a different voice plays the melody.  A-A-B-A'-A''-B-C.  Several other themes use that form as well.  Maybe that helped to save space to allow for so much music as well.  The Wily Stage 3 and 4 track is a good example of modulating music to save space.  It's a 6 second loop that moves up chromatically.

Here's my normal breakdown by track with notes:

-Opening: 40 secs.  Begins in Gb major-- changes key, speeds up; when panning up the building (@ 25 sec), modulation begins with deceptive cadence- D-E-F-G (V) of C.  This is the same music (even in the same key) as the ending of the first Mega Man game.  It's as if we're picking up where we left off.
-Title screen: C major.  43 sec.  Superb piece of music.  Don't know if I ever heard it all the way through as a kid... too excited to press start!  A-A'-B-A''
-Password screen: Db major.  6 sec.  Short loop that I heard incessantly!
-Boss select: Bb minor.  6 sec.  1 sec percussion intro and then a 5 second repeating loop.
-Boss name: C minor to G major.  7 sec.  i- V aural feel so that the start of a level feels like an arrival.  This music is a remake of the original game music, different key.
-Airman: Bb minor. 45 sec A (10)-B-B-C.  Does the percussion seem to not line up with the melody at times to you?  I hear it that way...
-Crashman: G major.  1:16. Variations over bass.  Intro-A-B-A-C-C'  Intro doesn't repeat.  Only B section moves to IV, otherwise, the bass repeats and the melody in C and C' changes over the bass.
-Metalman: Bb minor.  38 sec.  A-A'-B.  Really like the interaction between the melody and countermelody.
-Heatman: D minor.  25 sec.  A-A'  Never leaves tonic (D drone in bass).  Driving rhythm.
-Bubbleman: C minor.  43 sec.  Intro- A-A'-B.  Sounds very electronica.  Love the countermelody!
-Woodman: F# minor.  40 sec.  Intro(6) A-A-B.  8 sec intro doesn't repeat.  Pretty straight forward.
-Flashman: E minor.  51 sec.  Intro A-B.  Intro (25 sec) doesn't repeat in loop but happens twice right away.
-Quickman: C minor.  38 sec.  A-A'-B
-Boss: C minor.  19 sec.  6 sec intro doesn't loop.  Music almost syncs up with the start of the boss battle, it takes just a little less time to fill the meter than the music does to play.
-Boss victory: E major.  5 sec.  A 2.5 sec percussion beat loops when you get power-ups after battles.
-Game over: Db major.  3 sec.
-Wily's Castle: Ab minor.  7 sec.  Very chromatic.
-Wily Level 1 and 2: C# minor.  1:15.  Love the countermelodies in other voices while a less prominent voice plays the main theme.  I disliked how hard this level was, but this music is genius!   A in the form is a repeating bass and variations in melody happen above it.  A-A-B-A'-A''-B- C.
-Wily Level 2 and 3: Eb minor.  1:16 sec.  This is the same 6 seconds of music looping and rising in pitch.  Makes for a crazy buildup of anxiety in the player!
-Beat Wily: C major.  8 sec.
-Ending: 66 sec.  Between F# minor and A major.  Ends in A, though.
-Credits:  65 sec.  Plays the Title Screen music and then goes into new material that uses motivic material from other tracks in the game.  Uses Power up screen drum beat.

My Gaming Audio History: Mega Man (1987)

If I recall, I played the original Mega Man after I played Mega Man II.  I was totally engrossed with the second installment and thought: I've got to play the first one too!  I'm sure I rented it and played a friend's cartridge as well.

Who created the audio experience?  Manami Matsumae.  Here's a cool interview where she discusses in detail her work on Mega Man.  Really enjoyed reading that she compares composing for game systems (like NES) with the three melodic channels with playing Bach three part inventions.  Interesting that back in this era composers, along with many game designers, aren't listed in the credits of the game.  By '87, we're nearly a decade after Atari got started with Combat and I think about the split in Atari that led to the creation of Activision largely because game designers weren't recognized in credits or some way for their work in the games!  I'm not sure why there wasn't more credit given in this era, but luckily game fans have pulled out the truth on the internet over time.  As a note, in the game credits, the only audio mention is Sound Programmer: Yuukichan's Papa, a pseudonym for Yoshihiro Sakaguchi.

What is the audio experience?  For any Mega Man lover, here are the beginnings of many iconic sound effects for death, 1-ups, power ups, damage, etc.  As far as music is concerned, there's different music for each boss level as well as boss select music on the main menu, victory music, game over music, and several tracks right at the end of the game, for the final boss, when you beat him, and the ending of the game.

How does the audio draw the player more deeply into the game?  Each level having its own music obviously helps to give even more atmospheric differences to the levels.  Also, each level starts with a short vamp that doesn't repeat unless you die, instead the loop point is a few seconds into each track.  Boss music indicates that something more difficult and challenging is happening and doesn't need to be as long as the music for different levels because, one way or another, the boss battles are relatively short.  In the Wily stages, the music doesn't have short intros, instead, the music starts right in with the beginning of the theme.  The music at the very end of the game (Wily stages 3 and 4) gets very chromatic and thus more eerie.

I hear such a similarity between the Boss Victory music here and Uematsu's Battle Victory music from Final Fantasy.  It's the bVI-bVII-I progression.  Is this just a typical fanfare or were the composers referencing each other?  It's very interesting to hear victory music sound so similar!  More investigation is needed.

Also, check out the end game sequence and think carefully about the music as you watch.  First of all, there's a clear key relationship between the theme when you beat Dr. Wily and the beginning of the credits music (both F# major).  Also, there are very distinct music/visual cues that are hit in the final movie: music picks up when Mega Man beams down, the key change from F# to A major happens roughly around the same time as he is shedding his uniform (what's with the Elvis hair?), and as soon as he reaches the edge of NY, we're established in a new key.  Considering the key changes, musically, it's as if we're moving from the depths of the evil palace back to home.  This is the first track I've encountered that changes keys as it continues and also that matches so closely with a series of visual events.

Alright, now to break it down track by track.  Mega Man has just over 6 minutes of music.  Give a listen to the Mega Man soundtrack.

Main menu: 4 sec, Ab major -- simple chord planning between Ab and Gb
Boss select: 6 sec, G minor-- love that this ends on V!
Gutsman: 28 sec (26 w/o stage start) G minor-- starts on V
Cutman: 41 sec (38 w/o stage start) A minor-- longer track with AAB form-- Matsumae's favorite
Elecman: 41 sec (38 w/o stage start) B major
Fireman: 30 sec (26 w/o stage start) F# minor-- a huge sequence at the end of this tune-- earworm!
Bombman: 37 sec (30 sec w/o stage start) Db major
Boss: 9 sec, Ab minor, Passacaglia?
Boss victory: 6 sec, E major.  Compare Uematsu's FF battle victory
Game over: 3 sec, Db major
Wily 1/2: 32 sec (starts right on it) F# major
Wily 3/4: 22 sec G minor-- very chromatic
Wily Boss: 13 sec D minor-- very chromatic
Beat Wily: 14 sec F# major
End Game: 90 sec F# major to A major (!)  This is the only track that changes keys.