So, one of my oldest MMX-style "covers" is my cover of Time Man's theme from 2011. It has a decent number of views, but I'm not really happy with how it sounds even for as inexperienced as I was. Not to mention the fact that it's an instrument swap of King Meteor's MIDI and not my own arrangement.

So I felt like making a new version of the song, one that's my own arrangement and designed to better fit the Mega Man X style.

The head of Time Man's sprite is from Mega Man Maker, edited onto X's frame.

Mega Man: Powered Up - Time Man [MMX]

I'm surprised it took me this long to do a cover of this theme, it's always been one of my favorites from any Mega Man game. The "G" must stand for gravitas...

Mega Man: The Wily Wars - Buster Rod-G [VRC6]

I've lowkey been wanting to cover this song ever since I started making music, but I could never think of a way to do it justice. The Chrono Trigger sample library allowed me some interesting arrangement opportunities and I'm happy that I finally got to make my own take on this classic song.

DuckTales - The Moon [SNES Chrono Trigger-style Remix]

For such a short song, this was surprisingly difficult to cover, mostly because of the percussion. I also didn't realize how many times this song changes time signatures, going from 13/8 to 12/8 to 8/8 back to 13/8. 

The mixing was also really hard to get right because volume works a little differently with VRC7 compared to 2A03, but I was able to use one of the FM channels to make some decent percussion, which I'm happy about.

Mega Man X2 - Crystal Snail [VRC7]

Original: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1umD1_CyFyU

Doing something different here and covering an old Mega Man fan song that I really liked back in the day.

The arrangement is largely the same as the original version, just with some additional harmonies and transitions.

blkjock81 - Speed Man [Mega Man 7 SNES cover]

So... yeah. Big Shot. I saw my chance and took it.

MP3: https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/167417478299910144/889518515596460102/Big_Shot_VRC6.mp3
0CC: https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/167417478299910144/889518418548629554/BIG_SHOT.0cc

DELTARUNE - BIG SHOT [VRC6]

Yet another Deltarune cover. This one's been stuck in my head for the past week so naturally, I decided to cover it.

I took inspiration from Manfred Linzner's style on the GBC for the rhythm guitar, as well as David Warhol's signature echo-fadeout.

DELTARUNE - Vs. Susie [2A03]

It's autumn (or fall) in the northern hemisphere, and though I typically don't care for the dreary cold seasons, fall is starting to grow on me as I get older. 

I made this song with the idea of walking down the sidewalk on a breezy day while all the orange leaves are blowing off the trees. The bouncy rhythm and melancholy chord progression really capture the spirit of the season for me for whatever reason.

Leaves on the Sidewalk (original) [3-N163]

Alternatively, the Culex battle theme from Super Mario RPG.

This is a song I have a lot of nostalgia for, but not because of Final Fantasy 4, or even SMRPG. No, my first exposure to this song was as a MIDI in the background of a sprite comic. I figured out how to dig into the HTML of the webpage and save it to my computer, and I've ended up taking it with me across several different generations of computers. Still have it, in fact.

Nothing much to say about the arrangement itself except that this time I used Follin-esque arps that modulate down instead of up. Also liberal use of hardware sweeps because they're underrated imo.

Final Fantasy IV - Boss Battle [2A03]

I used to be kind of indifferent to the this version of Tengu Man's theme, but after I played through the Sega Saturn version of Mega Man 8 recently, it kinda grew on me. 

Mostly I'm curious why they gave him a different theme at all?

Also be sure to check out my 2021 compilation album if you haven't already, it's got downloads to everything I released on YouTube/Soundcloud last year: https://zerojanitor.bandcamp.com/album/2021-releases

Mega Man 8 (Saturn) - Tengu Man [VRC6]

Also the theme used for the Bombchu Bowling Alley!

I'm covering a shorter song this time, but I've got some ideas brewing already for the next thing...

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time - Shooting Gallery [2A03]

This was a pretty simple song for it's length, but it fun to cover as it let me do some interesting things with N163 I haven't done before.

Mario Kart 64 - Rainbow Road [5-N163; 0CC-Famitracker]

Heart of Fire tends to get lumped in with Don't Wait Until Night in both official and fan-made remixes, but I think it has potential to be lumped in with other Castlevania tracks as well...

I'm calling this one "Bleeding Heart"!

Castlevania - Heart of Fire, Bloody Tears [SNES; MMX-style]

AKA the song that plays on Neo Fire Capital.

Ever since the Workshop Pack dropped last month, I've been getting back into Rivals big-time (Pomme is such a fun character!), and it's really made me want to cover another song from the game. 

Fire's Last Hope seemed like a good fit for an 8-bit rendition. Certain little things in the song were difficult to extrapolate, but I tried to at least fudge it in a way that sounds natural.

Rivals of Aether - Fire's Last Hope [2A03; 0CC-Famitracker]

I like these shorter songs, it gives you more opportunity to play around with the arrangement.

Super Mario Bros. 2 - Boss [SNES; Mega Man X-style]

Yep, that's definitely a shopping center!  I can tell from the pixels and from seeing quite a few shops in my time. 

I wanted to do something in a 2A03 style without DPCM for a change, and this song felt like a good fit. 

Check out DynamiteManEXE's channel on YouTube if you wanna hear more awesome 8-bit renditions from this soundtrack: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHe8bJDhvdM

Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers: The Movie (SNES) - Shopping Center [2A03; 0CC-Famitracker]

You'd think this song would be hard to cover, but that's hardly the case. With a little hard work, you'd be hard-pressed not to make something that goes hard!

Nah, but I'm just giving you a hard time. The last cover I did made me remember how much fun it is to work with DPCM. And of course you can never go wrong with duty cycling!

Mega Man 3 - Hard Man [2A03; 0CC-Famitracker]

Beautiful funny monkey music...

This was a fun one to cover, though more difficult than I was expecting. I tried to arrange it in a similar manner to my 8-bit Stickerbush Symphony cover, though I ended up diverging from that style somewhat, as this song has a greater emphasis on melodic percussion and deep bass tones.

Donkey Kong Country 2 - Forest Interlude [VRC6; 0CC-Famitracker]

That 7/8 time sure is something, huh?

I actually really like the treasure-hunting stages in SA2, though I wouldn't call Mad Space one of my favorites. The localized gravity mechanic is pretty neat though, almost like a precursor to Super Mario Galaxy.

Sonic Adventure 2 - 34ºN, 12ºE... for Mad Space [2A03]

Short and sweet like X2's tracks tend to be.

That didn't stop me from taking 3 days to finish it though. -_-

Magnet Mouse (original) [Mega Man X2-style]

AKA the song that plays during The Princess's Secret Slide, Cool Cool Mountain's secret slide, Tower of the Wing Cap, Vanish Cap under the Moat, Tall Tall Mountain's secret slide, both Koopa the Quick races, Tick Tock Clock, Rainbow Ride, and Wing Mario over the Rainbow. 

Yeah, it gets a lot of use...

Super Mario 64 - Slider [MMC5; 0CC-Famitracker]

Truly absurd to think a dog could swap two horizonally adjacent panels in order to match three or more panels of the same color. I sure hope someone got fired for that blunder.

Panel de Pon / Tetris Attack - Forest Stage (Poochy) [2-N163; 0CC-Famitracker]

(insert YTP quote of your choosing here) 

I've got a cover all ready for Halloween, but... well, it's not Halloween yet. So once again I decided to cover something quick and easy just to have something to tide myself over. Plus, this is a song I've been wanting to do anyway, so it all worked out.

Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog - Dr. Robotnik's Theme [2A03; 0CC-Famitracker]

Happy Halloween!

This was quite possibly the most difficult and convoluted song I've ever covered. Jake Kaufman really does go unhinged mode when writing these tracks.

Shovel Knight - La Danse Macabre (Lich Yard) [SNES; Mega Man X-style]

Even though it's short, Centaur Man's theme has always been a favorite of mine; It's a bit more soothing and mystical than your usual 8-bit Mega Man song. 

I tried to expand on that idea here with lots of echos and chords, to give it more of a hazy vibe.

0CC: http://2a03.free.fr/dl.php?file=6976
NSF: https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/167417478299910144/1044321054312636416/Centaur_Man_VRC6.nsf

Mega Man 6 - Centaur Man [VRC6; 0CC-Famitracker]

Hey so I haven't had a new cover in a while, but that's OK because I've got a new Famitracker cover for you! 

The Dr. Wily Stage 1 theme from Mega Man 3 is tragically overlooked in my onion; it's such a jam! So I've made a VRC6 cover, and hopefully I've done it justice.

Mega Man 3 - Wily Stage 1 [VRC6]

Hey what's up! I've done my best to make a Famitracker cover of Crocodile Cacophony's new arrangement in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. K. Rool is really well-represented in this game! 

Here it is on YouTube: https://youtu.be/xVxqQlY-w8c

Oh also I released my compilation of every song I made in 2018 earlier this month, and its free to download, so if that sounds interesting you can check it out here: https://zerojanitor.bandcamp.com/album/2018-releases

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate - Crocodile Cacophony [8-Bit VRC6]

Requested by @SuperMarilink on Twitter!

What can you say about Napalm Man? He's a robot master based on one of the most horrific weapons of war ever created, but more importantly, he has treads for feet! If X were ever to square off against this guy, he'd have a hard time keeping up!

Mega Man 5 - Napalm Man [Mega Man X remix]

Dave's theme from Maniac Mansion is probably one of my all-time favorite songs from a video game. The rhythm, the melody, the sick guitar solos! It's all just really good.

I did a cover of this song a couple years ago in the Mega Man X style, and it came out pretty good, but I always felt like I could have done better on the arrangement side of things. When I heard Master Mi's remix of this song and how it used pitch bends during the main melody, it inspired me to return to this song and try to really hammer in all the things I love about this song.

YouTube: https://youtu.be/FY6z1IRn9x8

Maniac Mansion - The Boys Are Still Back (Dave's Theme) [VRC6]

Also known as Final of Puyo Puyo (Satan's Theme) from Puyo Puyo.

There's a few different versions of this song but the DRMBM version is still my favorite for how hard it goes. Really adds some intensity to a game about stacking goo!

YouTube: https://youtu.be/Dxtbikq6SIM

Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine - 2 Player [2A03]

What does "Get The Punk Out" even mean? Are we evicting him?

Despite being the theme song of a character named Punk, it never felt like a very punk rock kinda song to me. So I tried to make it more thematically appropriate with a fast and wild drum beat and just generally going ham. Incidentally I think that's also a good way to help it fit in with X2's soundtrack.

Mega Man 10 - Get The Punk Out [SNES Mega Man X2-style]

A friend pointed out that Heat Man's theme kinda sounds like Megalovania so I threw this together. It is what it is.

Mega Man 2 - Heat Man [Megalovania arrangement]

Toad Town was always a very cozy place. It's fun to talk to all the different residents and get glimpses into their lives throughout your journey.

I haven't made a straight-up Paper Mario cover in a long time, so I thought it would be cool to return to form, so to speak. I reworked the percussion a little bit to be a better fit for NES sound, as the agogo-style percussion of the original wouldn't have translated as well. I still tried to make it fit the spirit of the original.

It also has a lot of arps, as you may have noticed. I'm generally not a fan of very arp-heavy arrangements, but I wanted the original chords to be represented. If I do another Paper Mario cover in the future, I'll try to pick a song that doesn't rely on chords as much.

Paper Mario - Toad Town [2A03]

You ever watch a Friday the 13th NES speedrun then get the four-second loop of a stage theme stuck in your head, forcing you to make a Mega Man X3-style cover that significantly expands on the original? I think we've all been there.

Friday the 13th (NES) - Stage Theme [Mega Man X3 REMIX]

Nothing particular to say here, it's just been stuck in my head for like three weeks now.

Super Mario RPG - Fight Against an Armed Boss [2A03]

2020 Releases compilation is out now! Download here: https://zerojanitor.bandcamp.com/album/2020-releases

I got this idea after listening to someone hum the Clock Town theme. And since I recently replayed DKC2, it's been on my mind.

I haven't done a Zelda cover since 2016, and I don't think I've done a Majora's Mask cover specifically since 2013, so I feel this was long overdue.

TLoZ: Majora's Mask - Clock Town (in the style of DKC2's Jib Jig) [16-bit SNES]

This was a dumping ground for new songs since I ran out of space on my main account, but now I'm out of space on this account, too. Go to @zerojanitor3 for new releases.

If you wanna send a message, please do so at my main account: https://soundcloud.com/zerojanitor

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