Weapons aren’t the only thing Mega Man steals

Haha, of course, I’m not actually insinuating that the composers of Mega Man game music actually stole from other songs. Inspired is more like it, if not just coincidence — ‘course a lot of it does come from the 80s. What am I talking about anyway? Well surely you’ve noticed, perhaps listening to the radio. Occasionally, a song out there sounds kind of like a Mega Man song (and in fact, probably songs from a variety of games). Overdrive news site GoNintendo brought this one to my attention earlier today:

Fairly uncanny, no? But of course, this isn’t the only incident of Mega Man music mirroring songs by bands and performers. I think the most well known example is probably this:

Get into the GnR video at about two minutes in to hear the similarities. Incidentally, some figure this is why the Mavericks in Mega Man X5 all ended up with Guns N’ Roses inspired names. Next, another fairly well known similarity:

This one is so close it really does make you raise an eyebrow, but then Elec Man’s theme is pretty short and simple. I’ve heard some people say Elec Man’s theme in Powered Up sounds similar to Journey’s style. Up next, a fairly more obscure similarity that my friend Slash Raptor pointed out a while back:

This one’s a tad iffy to me. I’d say it’s more similar in style than actual melody. But perhaps you’ve noticed that, aside from “I’m a Man,” all of this music comes from the 80s. If all of this proves anything, it’s that the 80s was the best decade for music.

Finally, a runner up:

My friend Splashman reminded me of this one. I don’t think any part of the Mortal Kombat theme sounds too close to Snake Man’s intro riff, but this is a fairly common association.

Incidentally, I do recall hearing a rock song on the radio that had guitar chords very similar to the final Wily stage in Mega Man: Dr. Wily’s Revenge for Gameboy. Don’t recall any of the lyrics though, so I doubt I’ll find it. But, what songs do you know that sound like Mega Man music?