Mega Man 2 & 3 (NES) - Hard Man & Wood Man Themes (Consult Doctor 4 Medleys Longer Than 4 Hrs)

Here's a medley I made of the Hard Man theme from Mega Man 3 and Wood Man theme from Mega Man 2, both released on the NES in 1988 and 1990 respectively.
The Hard Man theme is a pretty classic MM3 tune featuring a three part melody at all points that is both melodically and rhythmically complicated. It's a great example of composing a technically sophisticated tune with very few melodic options, a hallmark of classic NES soundtracks.
The Wood Man theme is a classic from MM2, which like several classic NES soundtracks, really sounds like a fusion of Japanese rock/pop combined with Iron Maiden. This tune also features some incredible harmony choices, definitely composed in a way I never would imagine how to accomplish.
For my arrangement, I focused on laying down some solid drum tracks that aren't flashy, but enhance the original minimal NES percussion arrangements, although I did slip in an every 3rd 16th note ride override towards the end of the Hard Man tune. I also purposely held off adding the double kick gallops in the Wood Man tune until the 2nd half to give it more opportunity to groove. I added an acoustic guitar to enhance the original arrangements and just to add a little extra jangle on the track. Once I added that, I didn't feel like there was room for keyboards as the original arrangement of both tunes is just so busy, I felt like keyboards would've began stepping on things.

This was a tricky one ultimately to put together, the guitar and bass parts in both tunes were on the edge of my playing ability. There's a few spots on guitar and bass that I had to play via tapping as I couldn't figure out any other way to get them up to tempo! Either way, super fun to put this together, hopefully you enjoyed it!

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