Theme - Mega Man 2 (NES)

Cyril: You really get your money's worth with this Mega Man II theme. It all starts with a slow melody, the type of thing your girlfriend might call a love theme. Dr. Wily has been defeated, the world is safe and Mega Man is free to do whatever robots do in their off time. But just as we start to worry that this is secretly a robot dating simulator, the tempo picks up and the beat starts moving. And then, without warning, the most kick-ass video game rock song of all time blows our socks off. At its core, this is a song about anticipation. It starts off slow and builds, knowing how good the payoff is. But you don't know that going in; you have to trust Capcom's composers. The result is not only a memorable 8-bit theme, but also an incredible song.

Kevin: Capcom has gone a little progressive on us with Mega Man II's theme; starting with a soft, peaceful section as they tell us about Mega Man's creation and his original defeat of Dr. Wily. It then builds and slowly raises in tempo as it tells us Wily is back with eight more evil robots. The music then stops for a moment save for one quick slide down, which gives me the feeling that a bomb has dropped. Immediately we jump into a much heavier section, with a galloping bass line and similarly syncopated disco beat on the drums while the lead guitar takes over. This theme does a great job of getting you excited for the task at hand. There's no way Wily can succeed when you're this pumped up! If he'd known this theme would be so invigorating, maybe he wouldn't have come back!