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[Tizoc]

Starting from the PSOne era, various Rockman games were given vocal anime intros for their releases, one exclusion being Rockman & Forte as that was was on the SNES.

Due to licensing among other things, the English releases of the games omitted these vocals and had a different track played during the intro, which IMO were good but there was a neat little flare for the shonen-themed songs in the JP releases

Rockman X3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2JkMb5M_JA
One More Chance by Kotono Shibuya

Rockman X4: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LCJUoHNCe3w
"Makenai Ai ga Kitto aru" by Yukie Nakama

Rockman X5: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGLO7-hEo30
Monkey by Showtaro Morikubo

Rockman X6: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hlG4_BtmfKI
The Answer by Showtaro Morikubo
Apparently the song was kept in the English release
https://youtu.be/UZkUKfFMaNc?t=10

Rockman X7: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ff_B0fadKeU
Code Crush by Ana Aiuichi

Rockman X8: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q9eNM6ylCdc
Wild Fang by Janne Da Arc.

Rockman X Command Mission: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUnIHcIxL1g
A Moment of Passion by Jounetsu Setsuna

Rockman Battle & Chase: https://youtu.be/x5jlUL7E4l4?t=25
Over the Top

Rockman 8: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hd8abFCMLxI
Electrical Communication by GANASIA
The song is also used in Super Adventure Rockman

Did I miss any? So yeah what do you think of the songs? I personally like them for the most part and it was a nice touch they made for the JP audience/kids at the time.

 

[Piston Hyundai]

the worldwide MM8 track is better

 

[120v]

holy crap i never knew about these. i always thought the MM8 intro in particular felt really off, like they were just looking for bottom of the barrel stock music to throw in there, so it makes sense

 

[BocoDragon]

They're ok and do match the visuals of the super 90s anime sequences better.

I fully understand why they were cut for the international releases though. None of them would "play" for most of the worldwide audience.

 

[Kamui079]

The English Megaman X4 intro is still one of my favorites, my favorite game in the series as well. I feel like some of the Japanese songs don't match the visuals very well for some of'em. The songs are pretty good though.

 

[CypherSignal]

The English/WW intro for MMX5 is so good. https://youtu.be/BYlYHJ4P4A8 Looking at the JP one, I genuinely question if the song was even the original choice, given that it almost feels like the video follows the audio, not the other way. Certainly, the English music fits better not just with the video, but the game as well - it so much sense to have a remix of older tunes given how referential X5 is.

 

[Narroo]

Sounds like a Japanese Saturday morning cartoon theme!

That said, I've always thought that the Japanese intros never really fit with the games or intros properly. Especially the 'Monkey' one.

 

[Marcel]

Those songs always struck me as otaku bait that didn't fit the sequences they were pasted over. Then again, the stock music used for the western releases didn't always fit either.

 

[Rogue Agent]

Thanks to this OT, I've finally discovered a track I was searching for the past 5 years.

 

[Kazuhira]

X6 opening still gives me the chills.

 

[Wonko_C]

I knew something was off with the intros we got, these ones set the correct mood of what's on screen IMO.

 

[RRockman]

X4 really fits the tone of the game! It was actually really dark considering

Spoiler

90% of the cast got wasted in the end no real reason.

Probably still has one of my favorite use of diagetic interfaces with the character select screen.

Spoiler

where before the final level your navigator either betrays you or is turned into a monster against their will. After you kill them the only one in the character select room is your player character and that added an air of melancholy and tension in the endgame.

 

[petran79]

Roll's theme was the best introductory song

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MmgkU3nBxgY

Though it is based on this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ud6sU3AclT4

 

[allenpergallon]

Always liked X3's, Electrical Communication, and especially Command Mission's (really has a classic digimonish 90's/00's vibe during its intro, and good direction on the supporting visuals). The rest never resonated with me in any substantial way, and at times (X4, X5) get blown out of the water by their Western counterparts.

Also, X6's ending theme I.D.E.A. is also pretty great.

holy crap i never knew about these. i always thought the MM8 intro in particular felt really off, like they were just looking for bottom of the barrel stock music to throw in there, so it makes sense

I always thought it fit pretty well, especially since they bothered syncing it up with the visuals properly like X4/5. I think, nostalgia aside, I probably still prefer it to E. Communication just a litlle bit. The sound font it used is also very similar to the rest of the soundtrack, which was also a plus.