Megaman. Also known as "Rockman" in Japan. Saying his name alone opens the floodgates of gamer nostalgia, and mostly everyone has played or encountered Capcom's favorite "Blue Bomber" hero in one form or another. Like many, I played the original game for the NES in 1987, and I didn't develop a strong following to series until its sequel, Megaman 2, popped up a year later. To say that it improved on what its predecessor introduced is an understatement, as there were more interesting and challenging boss fights ahead in later installments. During the Console Wars era, Capcom introduced a futuristic incarnation of the series, which was appropriately called Megaman X/ Rockman X. It was a semi-sequel of sorts to the original Megaman series, but quickly spun off into becoming one of the "possible futures" the little blue hero would end up in. The original Megaman retained his own adventures, while "X" began his own series after his introduction in the SNES back in 1993. Over the years, the franchise has expanded and incorporated different versions of the blue bomber and his entourage in their own games with unique gameplay, but the fun factor that is the core of the series remains intact, and continues inspire various generations of gamers the world over to this day.
There are tons of popular tracks that can be vouched for in the series, and possibly the greatest theme associated with Megaman alone is the one from Megaman 2's intro. However, if I'm going to pick one track playing in my head now, it'll have to be Frost Man's stage theme from Megaman 8. That track had a nice chill, mellow, and soulful theme to it, and it stands out as one of the finer stage themes I've listened to in the history of the franchise. The 8th installment also happens to be the finest animated entry, so there's a little bias from me considering I loved playing it alongside Megaman X4 (preferred the Japanese version, Rockman X4 specifically) back in PS1 era. Here it is as the 15th entry to my list this month, so give it a whirl.
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