Friday, April 16, 2010

Rockman X and Rockman 3 Pre-Release Footage

It's been quite a while since we last saw some interesting beta/prototype stuff. Well, we're ending the drought today with a look at pre-release versions of Rockman X and Rockman 3, which recently showed up in video form courtesy of YouTube.

First up is a bit of early gameplay footage of the original Rockman X:


Couple aesthetic things really standout in this beta build, particularity the presence of a "P" lifebar. No idea what the "P" stands for, but it's interesting nonetheless. Other oddities include a strange swirling explosion effect when enemies are destroyed, a lack of BGM (possibly not even produced at this point), slightly alternate title screen text (0:29) and maybe a few more minor things I'm over looking.

Here's a build of Rockman 3 that, to my knowledge, hasn't been documented on any fansites or databases. The version below is near final but does possess a few noteworthy differences from the final retail version:


Differences:
  • No Proto Man encounter in Magnet Man's stage.
  • No cloud enemies or cloud platforms in Snake Man's stage.
  • There's a severe lack of enemies in general.
  • Title screen merely says "START"; no option for password input (see final title screen here)
  • "TM" logo positioned different.
  • Might be the quality of the footage, but Rockman's title screen pose is pretty dull color-wise.
Update: Gauntlet pointed out the following: "N" for the Buster (seen on the pause screen). All Rushes available despite no weapons available, the snake and cat seem to take less damage."
    Though not quite as neat as the other MM3 prototypes, this one is certainly unique in its own light. Care to make any other observations?

    13 comments:

    1. I suppose the ''P'' is based on the classic games, where the Megabuster is ''P'' too. I always wondered what ''P'' was in the classic games too.

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    2. The "P" lifebar in the X footage could have just been "carried over" from when Mega Man would have his lifebar in the weapon select screen be "P". Maybe the icon was meant to change for the different weapons?

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    3. P for Power Buster, I believe.

      Also Protodude, were you aware that youtube links break the RSS feed? If not

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    4. I always thought that the P standed for "Plasma" or something like that (isn't that what Rock Man shoots?).

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    5. I always thought the "P" stood for "Plasma Cannon", before it was later renamed to "Mega Buster"?

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    6. MM3: "N" for the Buster (seen on the pause screen).

      - All Rushes available despite no weapons available.

      - The snake and cat seem to take less damage.

      Very nice! I gotta post these things soon...

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    7. I'd like to say that I really liked the swirly explosions for reasons I don't know nor care to delve into.

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    8. Hey, I actually remember seeing the "P" in a screen shot somewhere for Mega Man X when I was really little. I think a magazine?

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    9. I was hoping to see some footage of build which we saw in that one magazine scan. The one with the very early X artwork by Inafune. Oh wells. P probably stands for what the original games had it stand for, or maybe could stand for "police" because I remember reading somewhere that the early concepts of the MMX series involved him being, well...a RoboCop, lol. I think I read it in that very same scan. The police idea most likely evolved quickly into the Maverick Hunters.

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    10. That isn't Rockman 3, it's Rockman 6. I know because that was the only one I had when I was a kid, that and it says Rockman 6...

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    11. Soultrigger! It was Nintendo Power issue #50. I have that one... and I assume "P" stands for "Power"? As in Power Bar?? Or is that too obvious? And the few screenshots from NP have the daytime version of the Highway Stage.

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    12. Those classic videos are cool makes you remember the those time all those Nes games memories....

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    13. P...? is that the first name before becomes X or theres another character before X and Zero well Axl is different from P him just guessing here....

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