Do note that the series is known as Rockman in Japan, and thus intentionally has rock music in its soundtrack. Therefore, similarities to rock songs are to be expected.
- Mega Man (Classic):
- In Mega Man, the music in Elec Man's stage is pretty similar to "All the Right Friends" by REM.
- Electman's theme strongly resembles Bon Jovi's 'She don't know me', Paul Laine's ' Dorianna', and Laura Branigan's 'Spanish Eddie'.
- More blatantly, it also resembles "Faithfully" by Journey, which was written not long before the REM song. "Faithfully" may be the more likely source, as "All The Right Friends" was a very obscure R.E.M. song at the time and had yet to appear on any official releases. It further resembles the intro theme to the Saturday morning cartoon M.A.S.K.
- The chorus of the Eurobeat song "Back to 80's" by Mega NRG Man and Domino also sounds like those.
- It sounds similar to Cheap Trick's "Way of the World" as well.
- Elec Man's theme sounds like several
different melodic rock songs. - This was finally put to rest when YouTube channel Gaijillionaire asked the original composer, Manami Matsumae, if the song was a homage to Journey. Turns out, Journey was not on Matsumae's mind when she composed the music for Mega Man. The video chalks this up to the phenomena that two people can independently create or discover something at the same time, listing various examples.
- There are many songs using that four note jingle, some of which predate Journey. A small list can be found here.
- Also in the first game, Cut Man's theme is similar to the 1978 theme of Lupin III.
- As mentioned earlier, Flash Man's theme bears similarities to Metallica's "Seek and Destroy" (which, in turn, has similarities to "A Means to an End" by Joy Division. Here's the two played on top of each other for comparison. There are also some similarities to the Spencer Davis Group's "I'm a Man."
- The music in the first part of Dr. Cossack's castle in 4 resembles the Russian folk song "Katyusha" by Matvey Blanter & Mikhail Isakovsky.
- Hard Man's theme from Mega Man 3 sounds a lot like Depeche Mode's People are People.
- Cossack Castle's second theme sounds a lot likeBionic Commando's Bootstrapped Theme (Area 1). In turn, it the second Skull Castle theme in the same game is in turn a Suspiciously Similar Song.
- Then, 5's Skull Castle theme was suspiciously similar to that version.
- Slash Man's theme is reminiscent of "Magical Sound Shower" from OutRun, as well as Quick Man's theme from MM2 and Wave Man's theme from MM5.
- Wave Man's theme itself resembles Michael Jackson's "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough" in certain parts.
- Wave Man's theme
- A riff from Cut Man's theme from the original sounds very similar to the character select screen music from X-Men: Children of the Atom.
- The infamous Dr. Wily Castle - Stage 1 theme from Mega Man 2 opens with nine notes that are remarkably similar to Michael Jackson's 'Beat It.' This same string of notes would go on to show up in Mother 3 in the music that plays during the 'Natural Killer Cyborg' fight.
- Strangely, it also bears a very close resemblance to Elton John's "I Don't Wanna Go On With You Like That", which only came out a few months before Mega Man 2 was released.
- Also in Mega Man 2, Crash Man's theme resembles "Love Roller Coaster" by The Ohio Players, as well as "Chinese Way" by Level 42.
- The Stage Select music is highly reminiscent of the opening chords of AC/DC's Big Gun. Doom would later do something similar for E2M1, I Sawed the Demons.
- The Intro Stage Underground music in Mega Man 8 is reminiscent of the Super Mario Bros. underworld music.
- Search Man's theme resembles the below-mentioned Underground Resistance "Jupiter Jazz" song.
- Search Man's theme
- Also in 3, Snake Man's theme sounds alot like the forementioned Stage 4 theme from Journey to Silius, although it was released just a month after that game.
- The game over/password theme for 3 sounds remarkably similar to the start of the ending theme for the 1981 Dr. Slump anime.
- Some of the BGM's in Mega Man 9 are suspiciously similar to songs from older games, for example, Concrete Man's theme is similar to Wood Man's theme, and Plug Man's theme has elements of Knight Man's theme.
- The middle part of Splash Woman's theme resembles "Angel's Legend" from Touhou Reiiden ~ Highly Responsive to Prayers, while the first and last parts are similar to the chorus of the Eurobeat song "Looka Bomba" by Go2, featured in Initial D.
- Mega Man 9's title theme sounds incredibly similar to the climax of "Armored Bane" from Ys VI: The Ark of Napishtim.
- Cloud Man's theme from Mega Man 7 is suspiciously similar to the Moon theme from DuckTales.
- The intro of Spark Man's theme is similar to the main riff in Europe's The Final Countdown.
- Shademan's Theme from Mega Man 7, sounds too similar to a fragment of Mexican Mariachi song Como Quien Pierde Una Estrella, sung by Alejandro Fernández.
- Skull Man's stage theme sounds suspiciously similar to "Pearlmont Wink (Stage 1)" from the PC-88 / MSX version of Valis II.
- A few notes of Skull Man's theme briefly sound like the Danger Mouse theme.
- Bomb Man's theme is similar to the Stage 4 music from the original Gradius
- The arranged version of Hornet Man's theme from Mega Man 9 uses a riff that's identical to the main riff of Led Zeppelin's Immigrant Song.
- The intro of Top Man's theme is nearly identical to the riff from Deep Purple's "Burn".
- Clown Man's stage theme sounds alot like Scott Joplin's "Searchlight Rag".
- The intro of Strike Man's stage theme sounds similarly to the intro of ''Punch-Out!!'' for NES. Organ part also sounds like Opponent Down also from ''Punch-Out!!'' for NES. Main melody sounds like ''In the Finale'' from ''Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story.
- Solar Man's theme (at 0:36-0:44) uses a very similar progression to SRW OG 2's Inspector From a Malevolent Star (0:28-0:39)
- Mega Man X and Mega Man Zero:
- In Mega Man X3, the music in Neon Tiger's stage bears a remarkable similarity to "My Michelle" by Guns N' Roses. (But the MMX designers are probably GNR fans, considering the bosses of X5 are named after the band members, and the latter installments have a character named Axl). note
- Also from Mega Man X3, Crush Crawfish's theme sounds similar to the Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers theme.
- From Mega Man X: compare Armored Armadillo's theme to "That Smell" by Lynyrd Skynyrd. There's no way that's not intentional.
- The Mega Man X intro stage theme sounds somewhat like "From Out of Nowhere" by Faith No More.
- Also from Mega Man X, the theme for the third stage of Sigma's fortress sounds like the Peter Gunn theme.
- The Mega Man X stage select theme sounds like the intro to "Eternal Loneliness", the second theme song for Tekkaman Blade.
- The main riff of Spiral Pegacion (The Skiver)'s theme from Mega Man X5 sounds similar to the main riff of AC/DC's If You Want Blood (You Got It).
- The last part of Mega Man X5's Final Boss theme sounds similar to "The Final Countdown".
- The unused Mega Man X5 song "Armageddon" sounds very similar to Aerosmith's "I Don't Wanna Miss a Thing".
- The unused Duff McWhalen/Tidal Whale theme music in Mega Man X5 has similarities to "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" by Tears for Fears.
- In Mega Man X6, Infinity Mijinion's stage theme contains synthesizer riffs reminiscent of Europe's aforementioned "The Final Countdown".
- Also in Mega Man X6, the first theme for Gate's Lab sounds like Nirvana's hit "Smells Like Teen Spirit".
- In Mega Man Zero 2, part of "Gravity", the music from Phoenix Magnion's stage (the Power Room), sounds similar to the main riff of Led Zeppelin's Kashmir.
- The first final boss theme "Supreme Ruler" uses a guitar riff note 14 second in which is also prominently used in "Germany" (Schifter) and 1:03 in for Menu (Monster Truck Madness).
- In Mega Man Zero 3, there's "Reborn Mechanics" which is reminiscent to Michael Jackson's Beat It.
- Also in the same game, the Final Boss theme "Cannonball" sounds similar to Blaster Master's first boss theme.
- Also in the same game, the Final Boss theme "Cannonball"
- In Mega Man Zero 4, the main riff of ''Blaze Down'' (Sol Titanion's stage) sounds almost identical to the opening riff of Megadeth's Set the World Afire.
