Who composed the music for the original 1987 Mega Man?

Manami Matsumae composed the music for the original 1987 Mega Man.

Working at Capcom under the alias “Chanchacorin Manami,” Matsumae wrote the game’s background music and sound effects. Her melodies helped establish the energetic, immediately recognizable musical identity that later Mega Man games would build upon.

The soundtrack was created for the Nintendo Entertainment System’s limited sound hardware, so the music had to be represented through compact programmed data rather than recorded performances. Matsumae has described aiming for lively, memorable melodies with the feel of an anime theme song. The result included stage music such as the themes associated with Cut Man, Elec Man, and other Robot Masters.

Players sometimes confuse her with composers from later entries. Setsuo Yamamoto worked on later Mega Man titles, Akari Kaida joined the series in subsequent years, and Yoko Shimomura is associated with other Capcom projects. Yoshihiro Sakaguchi programmed the original game’s sound driver, but that is a different role from composing its soundtrack.