Mega Man 8

Mega Man 8
Also known as: Rockman 8: Metal Heroes (JP) Developer: Capcom Publishers: Capcom (JP/NA), Infogrames (Europe) Platforms: PlayStation, Sega Saturn Released in JP: December 17, 1996 (PS1), January 17, 1997 (Saturn) Released in US: February 28, 1997 Released in EU: October 1997 (PS1) This game has unused graphics. This game has unused sounds. This game has regional differences. This game has a prototype article

Mega Man 8 is the eighth entry in the classic Mega Man series. Dr. Wawry has probably done something or other and must be stopped at all costs!

To do: Document the debug menu that was discussed here.

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Prototype Info

Unused Sprites

Along with "Jump! Jump!" and "Slide! Slide!", there are unused "Shoot! Shoot!" notifiers for the snowboard sections in the Frost Man stage and the first Wily Tower stage. There is no corresponding voice clip, so this may have been removed fairly early on. These are present in both the PlayStation and Saturn version's files, and are not used in either of the PlayStation prototype versions.

Unused Audio

The Saturn version includes a Voice Test, where the clips can be heard. Since the PlayStation version doesn't have a Voice Test, all voice clips that aren't used in-game or in the menus are completely unused there.

Sprites	Description
	Mega Man saying "Metal Heroes", the Japanese subtitle of the game. Its presence is interesting, since every Mega Man up to this game removes the subtitles from the international releases.
	Dr. Light letting you know who it's up to. It's worth noting that the Voice Test only includes clips from in-game and the menus, and Dr. Light never talks outside cutscenes. This voice clip was meant to be played in the Intro Stage during the scripted cutscene after defeating the mini-boss.

Regional Differences

Title Screen

The international PlayStation release added the option to press X in addition to Start on the title screen.

Japan	International (PlayStation)	International (Saturn)

Preview Video

The Japanese PlayStation version has an additional "Game Information" option, featuring a preview video for Mega Man: Battle & Chase and Super Adventure Rockman. This was removed in other releases, including Mega Man Legacy Collection 2.

Introduction

Japan	International

The Japanese intro's theme music, "Electrical Communication" by Ganasia, was replaced by a rather tame synth pop track for the international release. Note that in Mega Man Legacy Collection 2, the Japanese intro music is only accessible in the Japanese version of the collection.

Ending

Japan	International

The first end theme used in the Japanese version, "BrandNew Way" by Ganasia, was also removed, with the second ending theme looping in its place. The above restriction in Mega Man Legacy Collection 2 also applies here. In the Saturn version, the text "THE DR. LIGHT PRIZE" is "THE DR. RIGHT PRIZE" in the Japanese version, unlike the PlayStation version, which uses "THE DR. LIGHT PRIZE" in all regions.

Revisional Differences

Sega Saturn

This page or section needs more images. There's a whole lotta words here, but not enough pictures. Please fix this.

The Saturn version has some extra content that is not present in the original PlayStation version and other releases, which are all based on the latter.

• Despite the Saturn version supporting more buttons from the controller than its PlayStation counterpart, the extra jump button has been removed and cannot be reassigned in Option Mode.

PlayStation	Saturn

• The FMVs in the Saturn version use Cinepak compression, causing additional pixelization, whereas the PlayStation version uses the system's native MPEG, instead causing macroblocking but having a fuller image.

There are several relatively minor visual edits:

• The head icon and life counter were moved a pixel closer in the HUD.

PlayStation	Saturn

• Water has an additional morphing ripple effect, giving an animated wave motion to the scenery and background, though this can unintentionally make judging the spike section in the Aqua Man stage trickier, and it also causes a slight graphical error in the room after said section in which the adjacent mini-boss area is part of the pixel crawl.
• In the opening stage, the group of birds from the beginning of the stage reappears when Mega Man arrives at the boss.
• The Robot Master selection font has been changed from pink to a unique orange.

PlayStation	Saturn

Additionally, there has been a handful of audio changes:

• A red siren (with accompanying sound) flashes in Duo's stage, active on all screens except the outside and boss areas, contrasting with the music.
• The music is slightly different due to using PCM encoded audio rather than the original's sequenced tracks. Tengu Man's stage theme is entirely different, and Aqua Man's stage theme has decreased tempo and a wider variety of instruments to sound moodier.

PlayStation	Saturn

• Sound effects and voice clips are compressed at a lower bit rate than the PlayStation version.

Some additional features have been included as well:

• An option called "Bonus Mode" was added in place of the Japanese PlayStation version's "Game Information" option, this time present in all regions. The default features are Boss Character Postcard, Official Illustrations, Sound Test, and Voice Test. Boss Character Postcard is notable for including more fan artwork, judged by a chibi rendition of Dr. Wily, with an alternate Sword Man-esque drawing and concepts of a pirate and magician seemingly recycled for Rockman & Forte. Holding the shoulder buttons and pressing Start while selecting Bonus Mode unlocks a secret Animation option to watch FMVs, which is hinted at the end of the credits.
• Both Cut Man (in Duo's stage) and Wood Man (in Search Man's stage) appear as mini-bosses, and those levels have added transitions into their respective battles. They each drop a bolt instead of providing a special weapon when defeated; in the PlayStation version, Cut Man's bolt was located where the ladder leading to his boss room is now located, and Wood Man's bolt was located in the dark Flash Bomb area of Sword Man's stage. Both of them have more voice clips in the Japanese version, which are also found at the end of the Voice Test; in the English version, these voice clips are significantly reduced and use alternate takes to be grunting instead of speaking when defeated, which are not in the Voice Test.
• A few additional enemies were added to the stages. For example, the first two enemies of the game are Metalls, and there are many more enemies guarding the bolt in the hidden Flash Bomb area at the end of Sword Man's stage.

PlayStation	Saturn

Mega Man Anniversary Collection

While it may seem like this version is a port, it's actually emulating the gameplay from a PS-X boot file, uses pre-recorded .STR files for audio and boots up special FMVs. Because of Bink Video's participation in the creation of this game, all of the cutscenes are loaded in a .BIK format compared to the Sega Saturn Cinepak compression or PlayStation's internal video format.

• The load times are reduced because of the game running on a DVD.
• Some of the music, such as the Tengu Man and Grenade Man stages, does not loop correctly. This is because each audio clip is split into various sections. The game will incorrectly skip over some of these sections, resulting in broken audio throughout the game. The odd part is that the audio will loop correctly if the game is played on a Wii (via backwards compatibility). The PlayStation 2 and Xbox variants of this game have different loop points.
• A few of the Robot Masters' voice-overs have different pitches and speeds (Sword Man and Aqua Man). This differences also vary between different versions of the game. For example, the different pitch and speed of Aqua Man is more frequent in the GameCube version than in the PlayStation 2 release. This most likely does not have to do with compression, as there are duplicates of these voice clips with the original speed and pitch in the files.
• Proto Man's whistle tune has a noticeably lower pitch than it does in the original and the PlayStation 2 version.
• The "Save" and "Option Mode" portion of the shop menu were removed, leaving two empty spaces where they once were.
  • Likewise, the button configuration screens from the original ended up getting removed for unknown reasons.

Original	Mega Man Anniversary Collection

• Oddly enough, the Japanese voice clips are present within the game's files and are duplicated twice, one at a higher pitch, and one at its original pitch. This overall goes unused in the game, but could be possibly related to a possible international release of the compilation (MMAC was only released in North America).
• All of the 3D menu transitions were replaced with a horizontal/vertical fade to black. The health bar was replaced with a 3D polygon, however.

Mega Man Legacy Collection 2

• Load times are dramatically cut even further.
• For unknown reasons, 1998 was added as a year to the copyright info on the title screen.
• Much like its predecessor, Mega Man 8 had typos of its own that were eventually corrected in Legacy Collection 2:
• The Rush healing item that's obtained from the mini-boss in Aqua Man's stage no longer has its red cross emblem, and is completely blank.

Original	Mega Man Legacy Collection 2
What happend?	What happened?

This line is spoken by Proto Man shortly after Mega Man's battle against Duo.

Original	Mega Man Legacy Collection 2
...Bass. Why you don't understand?	...Bass. Why don't you understand?

This line is spoken by Mega Man shortly after defeating Bass and Treble.

ABS Text

An ABS text file, written in Japanese, can be found and accessed in the directory containing a blurb about the game. This can only be found in the Japanese Saturn version. Text as follows:

...But does it make sense? The translations on this page need to be proofread. If you are fluent enough in this language, please make any corrections necessary!

Original
セガサターン版ソフト「ロックマン８　メタルヒーローズ」は弊社の人気シリーズ「ロックマン」の８作目となる、スクロールタイプのアクションシューティングゲームです。 プレイヤーは正義のロボット「ロックマン」を操り、悪の科学者Ｄｒ．ワイリーの野望を砕くため戦います。 ロックマンは腕に装備された「ロックバスター」を駆使して、各ステージに待ち受けるボスキャラクターと戦っていきます。そしてボスを倒すことで、ボスの持っていた特殊武器を手に入れ、パワーアップしていきます。 また、各ステージ内に隠されている「ネジ」を探して持ってかえると、ネジと引き換えにパワーアップパーツを作ってもらうことができ、好きなパーツを組み合わせて、ロックマンをパワーアップさせることができます。 今作では謎の新キャラクター「デューオ」も登場し、ストーリーをより一層盛り上げます。
Translation
Rockman 8 Metal Heroes for Sega Saturn is a scrolling action shooting game that is the 8th installment in our popular Rockman series. The player controls the righteous robot "Rockman" and must fight to crush the evil scientist Dr. Wily's ambition. Rockman uses the "Rock Buster" equipped on his arm to fight against the boss characters that await in each stage. By defeating the boss, you can obtain the special weapon that the boss had and power it up. Also, if you look for "screws" hidden in each stage and bring them back, you can have power-up parts made in exchange for the screws, and you can combine your favorite parts to power up Rockman. In this work, a mysterious new character "Duo" will also appear, further enlivening the story.