One might think that Protomen have a monopoly on Mega Man based entertainment but, turns out, there’s plenty of room for other creative endeavors. Composer Andrew Goodwin lent his musical skills to a Mega Man inspired short film simply entitled Mega Man X, the results of which are now available as a soundtrack.
As you might imagine, the short film itself has undergone all sorts of copyright infringement issues but you can still find it, with little effort. It’s an impressive technical feat for a new filmmaker – largely showcasing a choreographed battle between two humanoid robots. There’s a bit of plot bookending the endeavor but, on the whole, there’s not much to it.* Fortunately, where the film may feel a little empty, the soundtrack provides a much more fulfilling experience.
The writeup about the soundtrack creation experience adds another level of appreciation for the output. Have a look:
It was the first time I had ever used midi/VST instruments. I was also literally stitching audio string samples together by hand. I only had 2gb of ram and I had to play back the video on a separate netbook by clicking play on both computers simultaneously. But I didn’t care, I was just excited to be writing music. The video ultimately received 4 million + views before being taken down.
Given that the subject matter of Mega Man (in general) is about a dystopian future, it’s fitting that there would be some hardships in all parts of the creation. The track “Mad Robots” edges closest to the OutRun genre but the remainder of the tracks feel part of a broader, more desolate, landscape. It’s sweeping and dramatic without feeling cheesy.
* Look, WOTT is a Positive Energy Vibe Zone so it’s never easy to be critical of someone’s hard work but it’s also inauthentic to not be honest. This is only a subjective opinion, you may love the film.