Mega Man CD for PCE/TG-CD with new metal/rock soundtrack!

[vacantplanets]

Mega Man with an awesome rock/metal CD soundtrack for the PC Engine/Turbografx CD! This can be played on real hardware or with an emulator.

This is one of the coolest things ever. I recently discovered Krzysztof's music and instantly realized that this needed to be added to Tom's work. Enjoy!

Google "[MOD] Mega Man CD - Rock Version (with real guitar covers)" to find it and download it. Should be the first result.

Thanks to Tom for all of his hard work!
https://pcedev.wordpress.com/downloads-and-links/

Soundtrack by Krzysztof Słowikowski.

[CrackTiger]

I love heavy metal, but that soundtrack is very much not for me and kills the excitement and pacing of Mega Man. It's basically a smooth jazz take of the bgms, performed with laid back sleepy electric guitars.

[vacantplanets]

I love heavy metal, but that soundtrack is very much not for me and kills the excitement and pacing of Mega Man. It's basically a smooth jazz take of the bgms, performed with laid back sleepy electric guitars.

Haha, I'm confused. You clicked on the youtube link I posted and think that's smooth jazz? You're talking about the soundtrack that I replaced, right? I'm sorry if you don't like it. I love it; I don't see how it could be any better or more faithful to the original. At least check out Wily 2 at 18:19.

Oh, that video is just the soundtrack playing over gameplay footage. Notice no sound effects. It's not a playthrough of the game I uploaded.

[NecroPhile]

I dig the tunes, but the lack of sound effects and missing seek times when changing tracks makes it feel weird to watch.

[vacantplanets]

I dig the tunes, but the lack of sound effects and missing seek times when changing tracks makes it feel weird to watch.

Glad you like it.

Well then download it and play it for yourself, haha.

If I was any good at the first Mega Man, I'd upload my own video. I have no idea what I'm doing in that game. I played the hell out of 2, 3, and 5 though.

[Enternal]

I'm not saying this as an insult, but imo the vid would be better without looking at your crotch while you play guitar. It's understand its very common thing with these videos and you wanna give props to your playing. Perhaps showing yourself playing during the beginning of a track or closing would be better. It distracts from showing the game and yourself having both going on at the same time.

[Joe Redifer]

I hope the new tracks weren't just taken from a Youtube video, but instead an uncompressed WAV of AIF source. Stuff like Youtube vids or MP3s should never be used because the compression destroys them.

[blueraven]

Wow. I just got the new version of Megaman last year from Jodi, which I should say is fantastic, but this really blows my mind! A fantastic display of musicianship. Really liked the Gibson Hawk he was playing too, thats a killer guitar.

I dig the tunes, but the lack of sound effects and missing seek times when changing tracks makes it feel weird to watch.

Agreed, if there were sound effects, I would actually be much more excited, but holy shit this guy is good! 

[vacantplanets]

Wow. I just got the new version of Megaman last year from Jodi, which I should say is fantastic, but this really blows my mind! A fantastic display of musicianship. Really liked the Gibson Hawk he was playing too, thats a killer guitar.

I dig the tunes, but the lack of sound effects and missing seek times when changing tracks makes it feel weird to watch.

Agreed, if there were sound effects, I would actually be much more excited, but holy shit this guy is good! 

If anyone's interested, his covers have also been added to Mega Man X2 and X3 thanks to the MSU-1 playable through the SD2SNES or Higan/BSNES. I also added his X3 soundtrack to the Saturn and Playstation versions. I uploaded them on the same site as I did with Mega Man CD.

[blueraven]

I love heavy metal, but that soundtrack is very much not for me and kills the excitement and pacing of Mega Man. It's basically a smooth jazz take of the bgms, performed with laid back sleepy electric guitars.

I'm gonna have to disagree with you there, bud. He really gets the soundtrack note-for-note, and flies through it all on that Hawk; and I wouldn't put him in the same class as Pat Metheney or that coffeeshop shit we all have to sit through occasionally. This is some fantastic shit. Granted, there are some serious problems: No sound effects, like NecroPhile brought up, and as Joe says, its impossible to tell if this is just him playing to what is on the video. ...But when he gets into it in the boss fights and the Dr. Wily stages, he goes off like a fucking firecracker. I'm not even that much of a metal fan and I sat thru all 25+ minutes of it. I'd hire him Megadeth shirt and all to play leads in my band.

[Joe Redifer]

If anyone's interested, his covers have also been added to Mega Man X2 and X3 thanks to the MSU-1 playable through the SD2SNES or Higan/BSNES. I also added his X3 soundtrack to the Saturn and Playstation versions. I uploaded them on the same site as I did with Mega Man CD.

As long as you're not linking the actual ROM, you're good with posting that link here. An update patch is also fine to link to.

[nopepper]

That was pretty awesome. Thanks for sharing.

One issue I have is that the music is way too loud by default. Can you please explain what the different channels in the options screen represent? I played around with the numbers next to all the channels, but it didn't seem to make a difference. Was it set that way as an ironic joke to the typical CD game, with the comparatively loud SFXs?!?

In any case, this was still great. I made it to the stupid yellow boss and rage quit after. The rock soundtrack fits the game pretty darn well, so great job.

[ParanoiaDragon]

Pretty sweet!  Makes me think about & hope that once I finish my version of the soundtrack, that most people will dig it.  I'm making some interesting choices at times that some may or may not like.  So far, the few that have heard what I've done I'd say have given me mostly thumbs up so far, so that's encouraging, but I know I can't please everybody, including myself!

[TurboXray]

One issue I have is that the music is way too loud by default. Can you please explain what the different channels in the options screen represent? I played around with the numbers next to all the channels, but it didn't seem to make a difference. Was it set that way as an ironic joke to the typical CD game, with the comparatively loud SFXs?!?

Are you talking about the channel volume levels in the options menu? They aren't working for you?

In any case, this was still great. I made it to the stupid yellow boss and rage quit after. The rock soundtrack fits the game pretty darn well, so great job.

Play it in easy mode

[SignOfZeta]

I love heavy metal, but that soundtrack is very much not for me and kills the excitement and pacing of Mega Man. It's basically a smooth jazz take of the bgms, performed with laid back sleepy electric guitars.

You must have watched some other video, or maybe I got the wrong one. I got one where its absolutely first rate power metal covers of tunes previously rendered as barely listenable beeps and bleeps.. I guess I'm lucky.

[CrackTiger]

I

I love heavy metal, but that soundtrack is very much not for me and kills the excitement and pacing of Mega Man. It's basically a smooth jazz take of the bgms, performed with laid back sleepy electric guitars.

You must have watched some other video, or maybe I got the wrong one. I got one where its absolutely first rate power metal covers of tunes previously rendered as barely listenable beeps and bleeps.. I guess I'm lucky.

Some people can't tell the difference between the soundtracks of the Turbo and Sega-CD versions of Lords of Thunder and and some even swear that the Sega-CD version is much better. Too many 16-bit fans can't hear the "performance" of bgms and only listen for how high tech or similar to their prefered console's sound it is. So they'll go on about how great an out of tune track is on a SNES version, because they think that the instruments are "more realistic". This happens a lot with 8 vs 16-bit sound. Mega Man Wily Ways is a good example of how higher tech sound didn't make the Mega Man soundtracks better. The programmed "performances" made them worse. The whole point of the Rockman games is to have energetic bgms with beats and rythm that compliments the stages and gameplay. Being even a little off in the wrong way can break the magic. It can be neat to hear someone doing a cover of game music that changes important elements, but if you put it into the game it doesn't work at all.

[PukeSter]

BT, ever consider the fact that you're wrong? Even zeta disagrees with you

You have a definite opinion about everything while saying stuff that shows you never even listened to the music.

[nopepper]

Are you talking about the channel volume levels in the options menu? They aren't working for you?

I only tried leaving Channel 1 at the default volume and lowered the rest, but that did not make any discernible difference. Care to share your settings, if you were able to dial it down? What channel has the SFX?

[nopepper]

Some people can't tell the difference between the soundtracks of the Turbo and Sega-CD versions of Lords of Thunder and and some even swear that the Sega-CD version is much better. Too many 16-bit fans can't hear the "performance" of bgms and only listen for how high tech or similar to their prefered console's sound it is. So they'll go on about how great an out of tune track is on a SNES version, because they think that the instruments are "more realistic". This happens a lot with 8 vs 16-bit sound. Mega Man Wily Ways is a good example of how higher tech sound didn't make the Mega Man soundtracks better. The programmed "performances" made them worse. The whole point of the Rockman games is to have energetic bgms with beats and rythm that compliments the stages and gameplay. Being even a little off in the wrong way can break the magic. It can be neat to hear someone doing a cover of game music that changes important elements, but if you put it into the game it doesn't work at all.

I agree with you on Wily Wars, and I can tell the difference between the Sega CD and Turbo versions of LoT. I also understand and concur with your general sentiment regarding game music. Hell, you can take RType chip versus Complete CD as a good example of high fidelity and "realistic" sounds killing the vibe of a game.

But in this case, I feel the hard rock soundtrack fits the game perfectly, and I actually found it gives it an extra oomph. Now, I probably would have to play it 4-5 times all the way through before I can say I prefer it to the original, but I think that as a diversion and a fresh take on a beloved original, it succeeded.

[TurboXray]

I only tried leaving Channel 1 at the default volume and lowered the rest, but that did not make any discernible difference. Care to share your settings, if you were able to dial it down? What channel has the SFX?

It depends on the game, for which channel the FX are played on. White noise effects (static sounds) are on the last channel. But the game could use any channel for sound PSG FX. I have no idea which ones it's using (it could be using more than on depending on the sound FX).


L is left stereo, R is right stereo. Each left and right speaker has its own volume; 0 to 15. "PSG" is the master volume for all the channels. On top of that, each channel can be individually set to a volume level (which corresponds to that master volume range). If you can't get the PSG volume loud enough, after you have maxed them all to "15", then you need to edit those CDDA audio tracks to be a lower volume (you can't control CDDA volume levels on the PCE, only fading).

[vacantplanets]

If anyone's interested, his covers have also been added to Mega Man X2 and X3 thanks to the MSU-1 playable through the SD2SNES or Higan/BSNES. I also added his X3 soundtrack to the Saturn and Playstation versions. I uploaded them on the same site as I did with Mega Man CD.

As long as you're not linking the actual ROM, you're good with posting that link here. An update patch is also fine to link to.

I do have the ROMs included. I uploaded the games all put together to make it easier for people to play them. Also, I get less messages from people asking how to run them (specifically the MSU-1 stuff), hah. On that ROM site, I have a link to my uploads in my sig and you can also look at my profile to find them.

That was pretty awesome. Thanks for sharing.

One issue I have is that the music is way too loud by default. Can you please explain what the different channels in the options screen represent? I played around with the numbers next to all the channels, but it didn't seem to make a difference. Was it set that way as an ironic joke to the typical CD game, with the comparatively loud SFXs?!?

In any case, this was still great. I made it to the stupid yellow boss and rage quit after. The rock soundtrack fits the game pretty darn well, so great job.

That's my fault with the music being loud. I didn't want it to be too low so I erred on the loud side. Though the sound effects seemed louder at the time I was editing it. I only tested it with my studio reference headphones and the sound effects don't seem to want to come through other speakers, do they? Are you playing on a console or emulator? I'm not sure, but the emulator might make the music seem louder compared to the SFX. Maybe I'll lower the music next time I play the game. Does anyone else think it's too loud?

Yeah, that Yellow Devil is a pain. Go play Mega Man 3 and get revenge on him; he's much easier when you can slide. I stopped playing Mega Man X5 when I got to him too. Although I should have stopped playing that game well before then; I think X4 is the last good Mega Man. 

[SignOfZeta]

BT, ever consider the fact that you're wrong? Even zeta disagrees with you

You have a definite opinion about everything while saying stuff that shows you never even listened to the music.

They don't get a lot of rock and roll up there.

[esteban]

I will pay someone in cheetos to do this for Order of the Griffon

Seconded.

More importantly....

I will pay in Cool Ranch Doritos for GOMOLA SPEED and/or Blodia/Timeball (only a handful of songs in each game!) to be given the le crotch metal treatment.

PLEASE.

[CrackTiger]

I will pay someone in cheetos to do this for Order of the Griffon

Seconded.

More importantly....

I will pay in Cool Ranch Doritos for GOMOLA SPEED and/or Blodia/Timeball (only a handful of songs in each game!) to be given the le crotch metal treatment.

PLEASE.

I will pay real world money if someone fixes the bug in Order of the Griffon that makes the music cut out as soon as someone attacks.

[nopepper]

That's my fault with the music being loud. I didn't want it to be too low so I erred on the loud side. Though the sound effects seemed louder at the time I was editing it. I only tested it with my studio reference headphones and the sound effects don't seem to want to come through other speakers, do they? Are you playing on a console or emulator? I'm not sure, but the emulator might make the music seem louder compared to the SFX. Maybe I'll lower the music next time I play the game. Does anyone else think it's too loud?

Yeah, that Yellow Devil is a pain. Go play Mega Man 3 and get revenge on him; he's much easier when you can slide. I stopped playing Mega Man X5 when I got to him too. Although I should have stopped playing that game well before then; I think X4 is the last good Mega Man. 

Playing on a Duo R RGB to Framemeister to Vizio LCD. Hopefully, others will pitch in with the same experience or suggestions for a fix. Tonight I played around with the channel volumes in the options menu, but again, it did not seem to make a difference.

Oh, and I've beaten the yellow bastard many times in the NES version, I just have not played this game in years and frankly don't have the patience anymore to memorize the pattern and then execute the jumps with pinpoint precision. IMO, the original Mega Man is one of the most perfect action platformers, until you get to that sob.

MM 9 and 10 are pretty good, and I found Mega Man Zero 3 and 4 to be great as well.

[vacantplanets]

That's my fault with the music being loud. I didn't want it to be too low so I erred on the loud side. Though the sound effects seemed louder at the time I was editing it. I only tested it with my studio reference headphones and the sound effects don't seem to want to come through other speakers, do they? Are you playing on a console or emulator? I'm not sure, but the emulator might make the music seem louder compared to the SFX. Maybe I'll lower the music next time I play the game. Does anyone else think it's too loud?

Yeah, that Yellow Devil is a pain. Go play Mega Man 3 and get revenge on him; he's much easier when you can slide. I stopped playing Mega Man X5 when I got to him too. Although I should have stopped playing that game well before then; I think X4 is the last good Mega Man. 

Playing on a Duo R RGB to Framemeister to Vizio LCD. Hopefully, others will pitch in with the same experience or suggestions for a fix. Tonight I played around with the channel volumes in the options menu, but again, it did not seem to make a difference.

Oh, and I've beaten the yellow bastard many times in the NES version, I just have not played this game in years and frankly don't have the patience anymore to memorize the pattern and then execute the jumps with pinpoint precision. IMO, the original Mega Man is one of the most perfect action platformers, until you get to that sob.

MM 9 and 10 are pretty good, and I found Mega Man Zero 3 and 4 to be great as well.

Oh I know how to fix it; I'm the one who put this music into the game and set its volume, haha. I'm just not sure if I want to fix it because I like it loud. Here's a guide if you want to fix it for yourself: https://www.pcengine-fx.com/forums/index.php?topic=19673.0 Of course, when you get in Audacity and click on amplify, turn it down 2db. That should be enough--but if that's not enough or too much, you can always keep experimenting and changing it until you're happy.

So is the first Mega Man your favorite one?

I haven't checked out 9 or 10 because I don't have a Wii, 360, or PS3. I've heard good things about those and the Zero games. Have you played the ZX games?

[ClodBusted]

Play MM9 for Splash Woman, fuck MM10 for all the scenes were you need patience to advance.

Oh, and nice arranged music, although I prefer the original tunes. Go fix that horrible fake widescreen stretch in the video, please.

[vacantplanets]

Play MM9 for Splash Woman, fuck MM10 for all the scenes were you need patience to advance.

Oh, and nice arranged music, although I prefer the original tunes. Go fix that horrible fake widescreen stretch in the video, please.

I'm not saying this as an insult, but imo the vid would be better without looking at your crotch while you play guitar. It's understand its very common thing with these videos and you wanna give props to your playing. Perhaps showing yourself playing during the beginning of a track or closing would be better. It distracts from showing the game and yourself having both going on at the same time.

It's not my video. Sorry if that wasn't clear.

I just found out that the Side Arms (TG16) soundtrack was composed and arranged by the same person who wrote the Mega Man 2 soundtrack, Takashi Tateishi.

[Joe Redifer]

He did a much better job on Mega Man 2 both in melody composition and overall sound quality.

[ClodBusted]

It's not my video. Sorry if that wasn't clear.

Oh well,I'm sorry for being rude! Merry Christmas!

[vacantplanets]

Update:

I just uploaded a new version of this with higher quality music and fixed volume levels. Google "epforums mega man cd" to find the link.

[sanjo]

I think this is awesome.

do you think it is possible to use the sprites from the megadrive remake of mm1 and 2?