I find often that people like the songs often for the context in which they were played instead of the song itself. With that being said I can say that I have played so many genesis games that I would have to say I like Ecco: The Tides of Time or any of the sonic games most. As far as music composition, Nobou Uematsu has outdone most people by far.
I'll have to say you're wrong [for me at least] on that one.
I recall when I downloaded most the Mega Man songs off of TPH, I hadn't played many of the games (and if I did, I didn't get very far), so I ended up hearing the songs for almost all the Mega Man games before I even got remotley far in them (I was never good at Mega Man games until I really got into the series in 2003)
Plus, as a kid, I'd always listen to the sound test options off my Genesis games. I remember listening to Sonic 2 and Dynamite Headdy songs A LOT, even before I got to their designated levels.
And yes, Tides of Time had an awesome soundtrack (Although I have yet to hear the Sega CD version, which I've always wanted to do)