My Gaming Audio History: Mega Man III (1990)

I had a student in Video Game Music class last fall who said to me: "please, can we look at anything Mega Man?"  Thinking of you today!  Today's post is on the last Mega Man game that I played, Mega Man III.  I loved the Mega Man series, but it was extremely difficult and I left it behind when I moved past the NES.  Somehow, this progression seems fitting, especially considering that the credits to this game list the original bosses.  Loved this series as a kid.  Tried to learn the best way to play through the stages, etc.  In searching around for all this Mega Man info, I found some episodes of a Mega Man cartoon series.  Want to waste a bit of time?  Check out this retro 90s goodness.  

One disappointment I have with this game is that there's no introductory movie.  Mega Man II does such a great job of giving a brief story and panning up the building with a musical build starting with the end game music from the first Mega Man and then launching into the new Mega Man II theme that equates for an awesome intro.  Nothing here, just a title screen.  A bit disappointing to say the least.    

  

Who composed the audio experience?  Again, a change from either of the earlier Mega Man games.  Composer: Yasuaki Fujita credited as "Bun Bun" in the game credits, and his wife Harumi, who is listed in the "special thanks" section of credits.  VGMPF lists Harumi as having written two tracks before she gave birth and turned the project to her husband.  However, VGMPF's list of game tracks only credits her as working on the staff roll track.  My searches for more information led me to learn about a new blog, similar to my own, Classical Gaming: An academic study of video games, sound, and music.  Here, Steve lists Needle Man and Gemini Man's themes as composed by Harumi.  It's unclear to me where he gets this information, and it's at odds with VGMPF, so I'll simply leave this as unsettled.  I'd love to know more specifics.  

Want a bit of a time waster?  BrentalFloss has created lyrics and sung to the end game music.  His video has over a million views!  This is interesting to me because I often made up lyrics to game music when I played.  Not this particular track, but it's also something I did with other games.

Thinking across the NES Mega Man games...

I took a bit to read through my other entries on Mega Man I and Mega Man II to see how this game compares.  Many of the sound effects are the same across all these games.  Also, the function of the music is very much the same: music for various levels to create different atmospheres, boss selection music, boss music, victory music, Wiley stage music, end game music, etc.  The purpose of music is virtually the same.  However, there is quite a bit more music here than there is in earlier Mega Man games.  Compare: 

Mega Man: ~ 6 minutes of music.  Average stage music length: 29.5 sec.  

Mega Man II: ~ 13 minutes of music.   Average stage music length: 44.5 sec.  

Mega Man III ~ 15 minutes of music.  Average stage music length:  50.25 sec.  

In Mega Man III, tracks are generally longer, especially stage music.  Needle Man's music is a 73 sec loop, quite a bit longer than any of the other tracks.  Crash Man's music in Mega Man II is also quite a bit longer than any other music, but that seems to be because it's a series of variations.  In Needle Man's case, the music continues into various sections.  Really cool and interesting.  

Boss battle is significantly longer here as is the music when you get a new weapon.  I don't actually think I ever heard all of that track through until doing this project.  End game music is also significantly longer in this game, over 3 minutes compared with about 2 minutes for Mega Man II and 1.5 minutes for the original Mega Man.  

My detailed notes are below.  They were made using this soundtrack.  

-Title screen: 53 sec.  F# minor.  A A' B (12) C D.  Only C and D loop.  Intro sounds like blues.

-Select screen: 9.5 sec.  G# minor.  i-bVI-bVII motion.  

-Proto Man whistle:  13 sec.  G minor.  Melody only.  Blue notes.  Fascinating to read his original name was "Blues"  

-Gemini Man: 55 sec.  C minor.  A (10) B C.  B section uses minor scale which sounds exotic, appropriate for the setting.  

-Hard Man: 46. 5 sec.  A minor--> D minor.  A B C (4) D.  

-Magnet Man: 40 sec.  F# major.  Intro (5) A B C (3).  Intro doesn't repeat in the loop.  

-Needle Man: 73 sec.  Bb minor.  Intro (10, Eb) A B C D Fascinating how much longer this loop is than other stages! 

-Shadow Man:  58 sec.  F# minor--> E major.  Intro (2+4) A B B' (10) C.  C section is in E major and uses bVI-bVII-I.

-Snake Man: 41 sec.  F minor.  Intro (2) A B C.  Intro doesn't repeat as part of the loop.  

-Spark Man: 38 sec.  G minor.  Intro A B.  Intro doesn't repeat as part of the loop.  

-Top Man: 50.5 sec.  D minor.  Intro (2) A (4) B C (4).  Intro doesn't repeat in loop.  Intro has irregular measure at the very top.  

-Boss select: 6 sec.  A minor--> E minor.  Cool to consider how this music fits together in the game.  First screen select, then this, then individual stage music...    

-Boss battle: 32 sec.  Eb minor--> Ab minor.  Intro (4 + 2) A A'.  Lots of tritones, at the beginning and in the melody.  Last two bars of the intro repeats in the loop, but not the initial 4.  

-Stage clear: 3.5 sec.  F# major.  bVI-bVII-I

-Get new weapon: 25.5 sec.  F# minor.  A B.  Also uses bVI-bVII-I

-Password/ Game over: 12.5 sec.  F# major.  Short 8 bar loop.  

-Wiley fortress intro: 18 sec.  C minor.  Intro (6) A.  Compound meter.  Starts with diminished arpeggios.  

-Wiley fortress 1: 48 sec.  Ab minor.  Intro (1) A (6) A (6) B C.  Very end of C section turns to E major.  Intro doesn't repeat.  

-Wiley fortress 2: 40 sec.  B minor.  Intro (1) A B B.  Intro doesn't repeat.  

-Wiley fortress 3: 44.5 sec.  C minor.  Intro (4) A A' B.  Intro doesn't repeat in loop.  

-Wiley battle: 22 sec.  Ab minor.  Intro (4) A (12).  

-Wiley defeated: 5 sec.  C major.  bVI-bVII-I.  Extended version of the stage clear music.  

-Proto man theme: 1:52.5 plus 14 sec of Proto whistle at the beginning.  G minor.  A B C B' (4) C.  Begins the Proto man whistle and then extends into a pop like song form.  Doesn't loop whistle or A section, only B and beyond.  

-Credits:  70 sec.  D major--> G major?  Very different feeling and sound from the rest of the game music.  Somewhat tonally ambiguous.  Intro (6) A A' B C.  

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.